|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2025 10:49 am
There was, Nis thought as she bounced her weird little wisp around in her cupped hand, something to be said for reasonably quiet nights. Granted, she wasn’t getting much doneoutside of amusing her odd pet (was it amused, though? She genuinely couldn’t tell). But sometimes it was good to take breaks, right? Rest and recharge the mind. It all sounded very good and logical in her head, yet she couldn’t shake a feeling in her gut that something was up.
Giving the wisp a final bounce, she whispered to it, sending it back to her Wonder where it would be safe. Then, she stood up, smoothed out her skirts and went hunting for the source of her unease.
Destiny City at night was a sometimes beautiful, sometimes dreadful being. Covered in lights and yet pocked with darkness. There was a metaphor in there somewhere, she thought, lips quirking slightly. Tonight, though… Tonight was going to be the dreadful face. Her gut was rarely wrong and right now it was churning and twitching like a frightened rabbit. Pausing for a moment, she concentrated and willed her weapon to hand. There wasn’t much a stick could do, but she wanted it with her. Just in case.
The startled and fearful shriek of a pigeon being rudely awoken caused the tall knight to nearly jump out of her skin. But she ran towards the noise. Pigeons didn’t just squawk during the night. They roosted too high for a feral cat to get and most owls preferred to stay out of the city proper. As if to punctuate her thoughts, she felt a slimy, loathesome scrape against her senses.
Chaos.
Putting on an extra burst of speed, Nis followed the aura to an older, abandoned building. The air smelled of damp, rotting concrete overlaid with a coppery ting. It was a shorter building, though not what she’d call a one-jumper. Still, it was easy enough to get to the top and then freeze.
A squat, fat youma perched on one chimney, gripping something that made wet, tearing sounds as it crunched away. It hadn’t noticed her yet, but it would. And when it did, she had about as much chance as a snowball in hell.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2025 8:07 pm
Nausea was not a common symptom for her to experience, but the feel of Chaos even just on the periphery of her senses never failed to make her stomach turn in a most unpleasant manner. Waipoua frowned in the direction it was coming from, one hand pinching the muscle between her thumb and her forefinger in an attempt to relieve the growing urge to dry heave.
If she failed, at least she hadn’t eaten yet so…there was that.
It irritated her to some degree that it still affected her at all, and it didn’t seem like that would be changing anytime soon. Or maybe she just had to power up more often to more effectively desensitize herself? Not that that was a very viable option. She barely had any free time on her hands now; if not for her sense of responsibility she might never have taken up the mantle of Waipoua ever again. But she was coming to grips with this…new and admittedly most interesting aspect of her life.
And most dangerous, probably, but so far her worst experience had been those weird trees during Halloween. Since then, maybe a few agents and the occasional small, manageable youma? Nothing bad enough to make her question why she continued to go on patrols at all, seldom as they were.
The Page quietly made her way toward the aura despite her churning insides, along the way sensing the far more comforting aura of Order closing in on it as well. She followed them into an old, abandoned building, and all the way up to the roof. The sight and sound of the thing they had followed here filled her mind almost completely.
And she turned to the nearest wall and doubled over, making horrible retching sounds as she emptied the contents of her stomach onto the ground.
elldritch stardust Her tummy noped. emotion_puke
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2025 11:18 am
The rapidly approaching order aura that brushed against her comforted Nis. She wouldn't be alone and it was like a literal breath of fresh, clean air for her soul. Granted, it didn't feel quite at her level, but that would be fine. Two good guys were better than one against a pigeon eating monster.
When the other knight suddenly appeared and then just as quickly doubled over, the squire made a tiny hissing sound of dismay. The youma, however, quickly honed in on this new source of noise and movement and began growling as it started to move towards this new threat. And now that it was moving, Nis had a better view of the thing that she would have been quite happy to do without.
It was about the size of a full grown chimpanzee and about as well-muscled. Thick, tusk like fangs protruded from its jaws and it even moved like a chimp, knuckle-walking slowly as it tried to determine the level of threat to itself. However, unlike a chimp, this thing had multiple faceted eyes like a spiders across its face and patches of blood red crystal scales. It looked like a lower level boss in a video game. It looked like Very Bad News. And it had clearly decided that this new and noisy intruder was a threat as it reared back to scream a challenge before lumbering towards the girl.
Shaking off her shock, Nis ran towards the other knight as well, but more diagonally. Right now, they needed a better playing field and a rickety rooftop was Not It.
"Brace yourself!" she screamed as she dove in under the youma's clawed hands, intending to knock the other girl as well as herself off of the roof. Without thinking, she clothed herself in her Aspect, hoping that the pure touch of Cosmos would be enough to make the damned monster a little more wary. Wrapping her arms around the other knight, she let out a little scream as the youma's claws raked her back and side.
The only thing that gave her any satisfaction as they fell was she could hear the youma's own pained screams as its flesh touched her aspect. Served the ugly ******** right.
Quote: ASPECT OF THE COSMOS: The silvery sheen of starlight covers the Knights of the Cosmos, and their touch is just as heavenly. It's warm and pleasant to most, but acidic and painful to corrupted beings. For the followers of Chaos, physical contact with one of these Knights feels like a mild chemical burn: although it does nothing in the way of actual damage, it's hard to tolerate it and the effects can last for a few seconds after contact.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2025 12:47 pm
It took a second to get her wits about her, and by the time she did…Waipoua was registering some weird things.
One of the ugliest creatures she’d ever had the displeasure of laying her eyes one, for one, that looked like it came straight out of a graphic novel of the horror variety, and the equally horrific sound that it made just before it started to charge at her.
Her?!
She was chanting f-bombs in her mind as she stood there in quiet shock, watching the thing come at her seemingly in slow motion. Absolutely nothing registered once she locked her two eyes with its countless ones (which she had a feeling she would be seeing in her nightmares), and it wasn’t until the other knight quite literally rammed into her, sending the both of them off of the roof and careening down to the ground floor below.
On contact, Waipoua felt her panic scoot all the way to the back of her mind, much to her surprise. It calmed her just enough that she was able to focus her strength and effort into getting them right-side up, so they landed on their feet rather than on their backs. Or worse.
“Thanks,” she managed once they were safely on the ground, her eyes up on the youma that was screaming in agony as it joined them, kicking up a cloud of dust around its body where it landed. “Think it’s down?” she asked, pulling her weapon out on instinct. Once it was in her hand, though, she remembered that it was fragile enough to break if she tried to actually use it as a weapon. Having it on hand made her feel better, though, so she held onto it anyway.
“And what the ******** was it even supposed to be? Besides easily being the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2025 1:57 pm
Nis hadn't expected the other knight to recover her aplomb so quickly and manage to keep them from splatting, but she was grateful such had been the case. All the same, she felt her ankle bend in a way she didn't like as they watched the youma land hard a few feet away. Shooting a glace at the other woman, Nis wondered if anyone had bothered to tell her, well, anything.
"It's a youma," she said simply. "It doesn't have to try to be anything beyond that. It just is. And I very much doubt it's down for the count. It would have dusted if it was."
As she watched, it was already stirring. Something that sturdily built wouldn't die easy, she thought. Her own weapon, dismissed when she'd lunged for the other knight was called back to hand and she considered their options. This beast could not be allowed to roam freely.
"Have you got any magic at all?" she asked, watching warily as the youma stood and shook it's head, dispelling any daze it might have been in. The many eyes were starting to focus on them and she didn't like it. "If not, you may have to play bait. We can't let it get away from here."
She'd never been a strategist or a fighter. Now, Nis thought, she'd find out if she was actually any good at all. Youma were very different from officers that could be reasoned with.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2025 5:30 pm
”I more meant what kinda of animal is it trying to be,” she said, face scrunched up in obvious disgust at the memory of the thing that had charged them. “I always assumed they stick to average joe tiger type shapes.” She huffed at the thought, the moment of rest suddenly giving her mind enough room to process pain. Lots of it, all over her body.
She was maybe a little too hopeful that landing upright would take away enough of the impact that it wouldn’t be quite as painful.
“Obviously I was wrong.”
Waipoua’s eyes were on the dust cloud, her hopes on the youma meeting its end when it hit the ground dashed twice over–once with the Squire’s reply, and twice when she saw the silhouette of the thing start to get clearer as the dust settled. The grotesqueness of it almost demanded her attention, so she kept her eyes on it as she listened.
“Bait?” she asked, tone a mix between disbelief and resignation. Never in her life did she ever think she would get put into the same position as a worm being put on a hook, but…well. If that thing decided it would munch on bigger animals next?
No, it absolutely couldn’t get away from here.
“I mean I can run, but I'm not sure how long I can keep it up. Where do you want me to lead it?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2025 8:36 am
Keeping her eyes on the youma and considering their options, Nis had privately decided that no one at all had bothered to explain anything to her companion. Which, frankly, annoyed her. How were they supposed to do any good if information was scattered haphazardly? You couldn’t properly fight a war if you didn’t have all the intel possible.
“Never assume,” Nis murmured gently. “Assumptions can get you or an innocent killed. Youma can be anything, even humanoid. Chaos shapes them.”
She was backing up slowly now, taking in the area around them. Abandoned, mostly out of the way. It was unlikely that some rando would waltz through. And if the other girl didn’t have magic, well, there were all sorts of potential weapons at hand thanks to their surroundings. Shooting the girl an apologetic glance, Nis said, “I wouldn’t ask it of you if we had any other choice. But it seems I’m the only one with magic right now and since it is not limitless, we need to play this as smart as possible. Hence, baiting and trapping.”
The squire shook her head sharply at the other knight’s offer to lead it away. No, that wouldn’t work. This was as good a battleground as they were likely to find and they needed to keep the damn monster here.
“Just don’t let it leave this area. We can’t risk it attacking civilians and to be blunt, I can’t move fast enough to chase right now between my back and my ankle…” oh, she hated admitting to any weakness, but she could feel little trickles of blood running down her back from the youma’s claws. But she couldn’t really tell how bad it was. Not yet. She was still moving, so that was something.
“Don’t be afraid,” she said encouragingly before moving to shove the other knight away as the youma screamed and charged. Throwing herself to the side, Nis slid across dirt and broken pavement. Damn thing was fast! As she scrabbled to her feet, her hand fell on a fist-sized chunk of broken brick. That’d work. Standing up, she paused a breath to orient herself and then threw the brick at the youma.
The brick connected with one of the crystalline patches that peppered the youma’s grotesque body and she heard a soft cracking sound followed by a pain filled screech. The patch had cracked open the way actual crystal or glass might and now oozed with something thick and black. They could hurt it.
“Aim for the crystal patches,” she yelled.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2025 9:40 pm
She nodded where appropriate–don’t assume, this plan was really their only option, don’t leave this area. Glancing around, she quickly picked up on the why of the last item. As for the other two, thankfully this knight was happy to explain as they went, so she wasn’t floating, left to wonder what it was she was meant to be doing and why she was doing it, while she was doing it. That was a quick way to frustration and ultimately walking away, though given this was a life-threatening scenario she wasn’t likely to walk away unless she absolutely had to.
“Far from it,” she said, glancing toward the youma as she was shoved aside. She moved with the motion, gaining some momentum as she turned and, hearing the instruction to aim for crystal patches, quickly made for a pile of rubble not too far off.
Spotting half of a broken brick within reach, she quickly grabbed it and turned to aim. The youma seemed to be recovering from a strike from the other knight, and was poised to charge toward her again when Waipoua hurled the brick at one of the mentioned patches. Another soft crack, another pained screech. It would have been satisfying had it not been so ******** disturbing to hear.
“This way, you ugly ********!” she just about growled at the top of her lungs, as though taunting it might do more for her bid to catch its attention.
It worked. Though with the way it turned its attention to her with its many, many eyes made her almost regret it. Furrowing her brows in defiance, though, she gave it the finger before turning and making a break for the rubble.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2025 10:36 am
Torn somewhere between pride and exasperation, Nis could only shake her head at the other girl's bravado in pausing just long enough to make rude gestures at a monster. Still, she was doing the unenviable task of keeping the youma focused on her and she was doing it well.
Which gave Nis the breathing room she needed to really look around and figure something out. And as she scanned the area and various rubble piles, her eye landed on a mostly broken down wall and the rusted, metal branching out. Old support struts, but about the same thickness as her stick. Reaching out, the squire seized on a cluster of them and yanked, feeling them tear from the concrete and even bringing a hammer sized chunk with them.
Well. Wasn't that handy? Her partner didn't have magic, but she could have a makeshift club.
Setting it down for a second, Nis seized up a lovely jagged bit of something tetanus-laden and them, when she judged the youma close enough, threw it with everything she had at the ugly face. She would have been happy with simply dazing it. Overjoyed it she could have managed to break one of those tusks. Neither of those things happened, but she saw the projectile hit one of those awful eyes full-on and heard something squelch even as the youma reared back and clawed at it's face, screaming.
Seizing the makeshift club, she lobbed it to the other knight with an urgent sounding, "Catch!"
The youma's clawed hands moved just enough to see a ruined, oozing spot where an eye had been. Well. That was disgusting, but she had a basic plan now.
Moving as quickly as she could, she took advantage of the brief lull to get close to the other knight.
"Aim for the eyes and those crystal patches," her voice low and intense. "It's slow right now, but it won't stay that way. When I yell go, you bludgeon the ******** thing as hard as you can. You'll have maybe ten seconds to do your worst. Do you understand? Hit hard and fast."
With a nod, Nis backed away and took a shaky breath. Then, she hld her stick aloft and pointed it to a spot above the youma. Concentrating, she channeled everything she had into that moment and grinned tightly as starlight came down and trapped the monster.
"Go, girl! Now!"
its_ p a o Squire - A slightly curved stick with honeysuckle and starry motifs carved into it Spell - The stick is pointed to a spot high above the enemy's head, causing what appears to be a single point of light that traps them in a single, slanting beam of starlight. As long as Nis is channeling, the target will be unable to leave the beam and will feel a seeping cold on any exposed skin. The maximum amount of time she is able to channel at this stage results in an immobilization of up to 10 seconds and seeping cold of up to 30 seconds.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2025 10:30 pm
Not that she lived a necessarily “easy” life up to this point, but never in her wildest dreams did she ever think she’d ever have to literally be running for her life. It was a sobering experience to say the very least, but run she did, and she ran fast. Doing her best not to trip as she went, the Page maneuvered herself in a concentrated effort to not get caught and killed by the youma on her tail, and she was on the verge of getting winded when Nis suddenly made an appearance.
With apparent ease she lobbed something or other at it, and glanced back to see that she had gouged one of its many eyes with whatever she threw. Thankfully mauled and mangled anatomy wasn’t anything that made her sick–at least not anymore–and she was suddenly very grateful for the iron stomach she had developed in her years studying and practicing to be a competent doctor.
Not that there was too much time to stare, though. Next thing she knew she caught a rather hefty makeshift club, and was being instructed to bludgeon the thing into oblivion.
Waipoua gave a wicked grin, more than happy to comply. She tested her grip on the club and the weight of it when she swung, watching and waiting for her cue…
The Page bolted forward the second she got the green light. Weaponizing her pent up frustration–with her past, her family, this new magical aspect of her life, and all things work and school related–she swung hard and fast. Over and over again, until the thing was reduced to nothing more than a pile of dust.
She was breathing hard and fast by the end of it, and when she saw it had ceased to exist she dropped the club and turned to other Knight.
“Nice,” she said with a nod and a usually hard won smile. Nis more than deserved her respect after that, as far as she was concerned. “I take it you’ve been at this a while?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2025 3:03 pm
She had to admit it, she was Impressed. The other knight beat the youma far past the amount of time Nis was able to channel her magic. Clearly, she thought, Girly has some things to work out. Which was fine. The girl was certainly enthusiastic and effective. And it gave Nis a moment to really test her ankle and inspect her back with tentative fingers. She was pleased to note that nothing was broken. Sprained and strained, certainly, but not broken.
Her back, though… the squire grimaced and ceased her clumsy inspections. She could feel the dried blood and the torn edges of her skin. The smart thing to do would be to take herself immediately to the ER and have them check her out. But when had she ever done the smart thing? The irreverent thought brought a tiny smile to Nis’ lips as the other knight seemed to be winding down. Excellent. Stepping closer, she noted the pleased expression on the girl’s face and nodded to herself. Perfectly reasonable given that she’d clubbed a formidable youma into dust with nothing but a bit of concrete.
“Well, I tend to not get into fights if I can help it. And this is the first time I’ve experienced a youma like this, but… yes. I’ve been part and parcel to the weirdness of this town for a few years now,” she said wryly. “You, however, haven’t been doing this for very long, have you? I can’t say I recognize your symbols. I’m Nis, by the by. And if you’re feeling up to it, perhaps you can help me think of a plausible excuse for why my back is shredded. I’d rather not out m’self to the ER docs, y’know?”
She figured she had at least a few more minutes in her before adrenaline took a hike for the evening. Might as well spend them in a friendly game of Make s**t Up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2025 1:11 am
”Since just this past autumn, if I’m remembering right,” she said, recalling the way those trees closed in on her. Had it not been for the power she was granted then, she wondered if she’d even be alive to witness any of what was going on now. The morbid side of her mind sometimes posed the question of, “Would it even matter to you what happens to whoever you leave behind?” whenever she thought about it.
Her pride was enough that she was able to squash such lines of thought out almost immediately.
The point was she wouldn’t be around anymore. And she had a lot she wanted to accomplish, to be taken out by trees of all things…
“Waipoua, a Page of Cybele,” she answered the unasked question about her symbols. She wasn’t one for remembering the other types of Knights, and honestly it didn’t make much difference to her. If they were around and helped each other out, remembering their name was more than enough for her. At least for now.
“Let me take a look,” she said, moving closer and resting a hand on the Squire’s shoulder while she assessed the damage. It certainly did a number on her back…and it was the type of damage that made it hard to give a plausible explanation to any doctor.
“Hiking accident, you ran into a wild animal?” she offered, because it was really the only thing that would make any kind of sense. Waipoua gave a little huff of amusement then, though, before continuing.
“But lucky for you, I’m a doctor. It doesn’t look so bad that you’d need specific interventions at a hospital, so if you wanna come over to my house I can fix you right up.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2025 11:01 am
Thinking back to the wonders and horrors that had been unleashed last fall, Nis winced in sympathy. It was, she thought, bad enough to suddenly be woken up into a world where all the things you’d been taught weren’t true since childhood suddenly became very real indeed. But to go through that cognitive dissonance on top of having to fight ghosts or snowmonsters or trees or… Well. It was a lot. And Nis’ mental estimation of her ally’s toughness shot up.
“It doesn’t really get any better or less weird,” she said with a sigh. “Just so you know. And I’m still trying to figure out if the weirdness is here because this is where all the people like us are concentrated or if we’re all concentrated here because this is where the weirdness is.”
She didn’t recognize the name of Cybele, but that didn’t surprise her. She hadn’t recognized Lysithea either. There would probably be others that she didn’t know in the future so why worry about it? Waipous was here now and it just meant more allies. Allies were always good and appreciated. Especially, she brightened visibly as Waipoua spoke, when they were medical professionals that she wouldn’t have to lie to.
“Oh thank the gods,” she exhaled. “Because I really was not looking forward to trying to keep my stories straight for the nice nurses.”
She stood perfectly still as the other knight checked her over, sagging a little in sheer relief that she wasn’t going to need anything hospital specific.
“I would be happy to follow you to your house,” she said. “And I’ll owe you a dinner out too.”
Glancing at their surroundings, she closed her eyes briefly and ‘listened’ for any other power signatures in the area. Thankfully, there were none. Grinning, she turned and rested a hand on Waipoua’s arm.
“I hope your place isn’t too far. I don’t really want to lead any nasties to your doorstep so.. Just don’t let me fall on my face, okay?”
Relaxing, Nis let go of her power and turned back into Myth in seconds. Hissing a little as her back twinged, she gave the other girl a strained smile.
“Lead on, new friend. The sooner we can get this patched up, the happier I’ll be.”
”its_p a o” I think we can call this a wrap or end on your next post? :3 I appreciate you!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
