Poultrygeist (15) : As Destiny City is a bustling metropolis, it’s not unexpected that there should be some strange animals running the streets. Sometimes it’s a tiger, sometimes a monkey, sometimes a chicken. Sometimes it’s something worse. Strange egg clusters have appeared in Destiny City’s parks and officials aren’t really sure what they are; these eggs have nothing inside of them. Though it’s an anomaly, they are chalking it up to teenaged pranks. However, they have advised to just leave the eggs as they are. Nobody wants to say why, but if you’re out late at night, you’ll find out. In the darkness, whispered between the sounds of the city: a guttural, rasping cluck. The creature stands on stilt-like legs, rooted to the ground with razor-sharp talons. It wears a cloak of long, oily feathers that drag on the ground with a sinister scraping. If you stare into the darkness, piercing red eyes stare back at you. That’s all it takes for a confrontation: a mangled bird, maybe a chicken in another life, comes barreling out at you. It stands easily as tall as a person, but the proportions are all wrong. The smell of sulfur follows it as it lunges, pecking and screaming and scratching as it attempts to chase you away. Maybe, from the nests full of empty eggs. The battles are fierce, but fleeting; it will viciously try to chase you away but the effects are always the same: at some point, the eggs are crushed. As always, there’s nothing inside of them, but with one final wail, the bird will vanish into a plume of foul smoke.
Tianyi was beginning to believe that he might be cursed. Or, well, differently cursed. Cursed in a smaller and pettier way than he’d thought before.
He was still not a fighter. Maybe he ought to work to change that, but he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to fight things. And in this situation, he wanted to even less than usual. The whole problem was his fault! He had stumbled upon the strange eggs, examined them for a little too long—and summoned a very, very angry bird of some sort to defend them. It seemed furious, and angry, and Tianyi had taken off running, which was more frequently a mistake than he liked it to be.
He’d stumbled and fallen, and it left him on the ground, turning back to see if the creature was still pursuing—and it was. Relentlessly. Furiously.
“Oh no no no, please, I’m sorry!” Tianyi gasped, wincing back and hoping that maybe, the creature would turn away if he was clearly not a threat. He reached for his magic, but felt it fizzle as he tried to call on it—which meant his only hope now was the bird backing off, or maybe, if he was lucky, some intervention.
Tianyi did not expect to be lucky.
Guine
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2025 6:08 am
Jet had been restless. Agitated. Frustrated that they were once again caught in a loop of not knowing enough but still knowing something was out there. No research seemed to manifest the information he wanted to learn, no pouring over reports from the incident led to new leads. It was as though a creature had appeared to destroy the Earth, was captured, and then… what? Nothing?
Well, not quite. Destiny City was in one of those moods again. Where nothing made sense and everything was dangerous.
He heard the strange sounds, felt the aura, heard the desperate cries. Not necessarily for help, but that was what they got.
It took no effort to teleport between the strange oily feathered creature and the fallen non-human Senshi. He clicked his tongue to the roof of his mouth in irritation as he swung his weapon at the-- was that a chicken??
The sheer absurdity stalled him half a second too long. Talons slashed across his forearm.
Jet let out a low, furious growl as he finished the arc of his swing, striking hard enough to knock the creature back, at least for now.
“You again?” he turned to bark, eyes narrowed as he looked Tianyi over. “Are you hurt?”
The question came out more stressed than he meant. But how could it not? Strange creatures, no matter how ridiculous, were still dangerous. And they were roaming his city.
He didn’t wait for an answer before extending a hand to help Tianyi up, ignoring the throb and heat radiating from his bleeding arm. He hated that he was already weighing the value of keeping this Senshi alive. Hated that it would make sense to do so. This one wouldn’t be any use dead. Not that he’d offered much before, but still.
Tianyi was really not expecting a rescue. His luck just wasn't that good--not on the whole, even though he knew in some ways he'd been very, very lucky since coming to Earth. He'd expected to have to figure out a way to escape, or to get pecked at by a furious chicken until it got bored.
But no.
He recognized his rescuer--Jet, the General-King he'd spoken to before, when all he had to offer was an old log with only the vaguest hints about the entity that had nearly destroyed Earth.
Honestly, Tianyi was glad to see him again--he'd worried, wondered what kinds of casualties might have come form that battle, especially when Jet had seemed so drawn and exhausted when they talked. But here he was--clearly unhappy, but here, and offering Tianyi a hand.
"I'm fine, are you--I'm so sorry it got you--" He took the offered hand and pushed himself to his feet, and then reached within himself, hoping that his magic would come to hand. Logan had made him stronger--stronger than he'd ever been, because no one had needed a Senshi before, really.
Surely that would mean his magic had to work.
"Blossoming Decree," he said, softly, letting the magic flow through him and flowers bloom all around.
"Go AWAY," he demanded of the chicken, and it actually seemed to hesitate, as if his magic really did make it want to obey.
"I think it's protecting its nest," Tianyi said, "I ran into it and I looked too long, and well, um. This thing...showed up."
He sounded like such a pathetic mess. He had to look like a pathetic mess. How utterly embarrassing, but at least Jet wasn't hostile towards him. Just annoyed, which was fair; "annoying" was perhaps the kindest thing one could say about Tianyi.
"I'm sorry for wasting your time again."
Quote:
Tianyi speaks the name of his attack, and in an eight-foot radius around him, a field of kerria flowers blooms. Those within the radius feel inclined to obey his words as they would a royal command, though this inclination can be overcome, particularly if the target is higher ranked than Tianyi or the order would cause the target to act against their nature or cause themself serious harm. At this stage, resisting Tianyi’s orders will cause the target to feel as if a heavy, painful weight is bearing down on them, like a physical manifestation of imperial will. Tianyi can use this magic twice per battle, and the spell lasts for 30 seconds.
xGuine
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2025 5:10 pm
Jet’s grip was steady as he helped the Senshi up, but his expression didn’t soften.
“Don’t worry about it,” he muttered, glancing down at the blood welling on his forearm. He’d had worse, but he didn’t bother mentioning it. The scar that cut down the side of his face spoke for itself.
He turned to brace for the chicken to attack again when flowers bloomed, filling the area around them with life. He saw the way the creature faltered, and for a moment Jet froze.
It wasn’t out of fear or concern, but a moment of curiosity blossoming like the flowers.
Dangerous. The thoughts made his lip want to curl into a sneer but he held himself back. The chicken seemed to be contemplating how it wanted to attack next.
“I didn’t ask you to apologize,” Jet frowned. “And if I thought you were a waste of time, I wouldn’t be standing here.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, but hissed when the movement pulled at the laceration on his arm.
“You said you think it’s protecting the nest. That’s useful. If this thing’s showing up in defense, and not aggression, then maybe we can bait it next time,” he said, brows furrowed with thought. He glanced over at Tianyi, looking at his strange appearance. A very clear reminder that they really were not alone in the universe.
“That magic of yours… does it work on people too?” Tianyi might be more useful than he realized. Better than books with outdated information, at least.
Unfortunately, Tianyi was definitely going to worry about it. Equally unfortunately, he knew there was nothing he could do to fix it, but he would just...have to find a way to make it up to Jet someday. Pay him back for his assistance, and for getting injured in the process.
His eyes flicked between the chicken and the flowers, praying that his magic held and didn't end early or something like that. Please, not now, he needed it not to fail just this once.
And.
And Jet didn't think he was a waste of time.
It was so small. And yet it made his back straighten a little, made his entire posture shift to something just a little more confident.
"Right, yes," he said, and he wished suddenly that he'd been allowed more than a cursory education in tactics. But then, of course, Tianyi didn't prefer to use violence to accomplish its goals. There were other ways of persuasion, other modes of control, that the old empire had practiced. "The nest is back that way," Tianyi gestured in the way he'd come, behind the chicken, "but it's actually pursued me for longer than I'd have expected? Still, it doesn't seem to have any additional offense besides its beak and feet. Which is good. I've heard of birds like this that breathe fire, and things like that."
Most of those were probably extinct, like the ones on Tianyi, but that didn't mean there couldn't be new ones.
"My magic works on people, too, yes, when it works. It's a little..faulty, sometimes. But I don't think we have much longer." The chicken seemed to be struggling, some--the vestiges of Tianyi's magic--but definitely gearing up to make another charge. "Do you think there's a way we can chase it off without hurting it? I understand if not, I just...I don't want hurt something just for protecting its nest."
Guine
Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2025 10:44 am
Jet watched Tianyi with growing curiosity, although his expression hadn’t changed. Not at first.
Tianyi had straightened when Jet said he wasn’t a waste of time. Not the attack of the chicken. Not the blood on Jet’s arm. But that. It caught his attention.
Sure, the report would basically write itself later. He’d have the full list of useful observations about the bird’s behavior, the speculated location of the nest, the creature’s aggression, and whatever else that came up. That was good and all, but it was Tianyi’s subtle response to his words that made him pause.
Do you think there’s a way we can chase it off without hurting it?
Jet tilted his head just slightly, looking fully at Tianyi. “Why?” he asked, his voice quiet but there was a slight sharpness around the edges. It wasn’t that he wanted justification. He asked in a way that made it clear that he wanted to understand. Or maybe to reaffirm something that he once understood but didn’t anymore.
“You think it deserves mercy because it’s defending a nest. What if the next person it attacks can’t defend themselves? What if they don’t get lucky?”
Like with Jet showing up to keep Tianyi from getting torn apart.
“There’s a difference between protecting something and leaving it to be someone else’s problem. To wash your hands and claim moral high ground and not have to think about the consequences of your actions… or inaction. Are you sure this thing is just scared? Because from where I’m standing, it looked ready to kill.”
Jet shifted his stance and shook out his arm, flexed his fingers as though making sure his grip would be okay before calling his weapon to his hand once more.
“And let’s say it is just acting on instinct. Say it’s not malicious. That doesn’t make it safe,” he frowned, watching Tianyi with continued curiosity. “Do you want to protect it because you understand it? Or because you see yourself in it?”
His voice wasn’t cruel when he asked. He wasn’t trying to pick a fight. But if this Senshi was going to be useful, then he needed to understand what Tianyi was really trying to protect.
"What if the next person can't defend themselves? What if they don't get lucky?"
"While you and yours lived large, we peasants starved. But that wasn't your problem, huh, Your Highness?"
....Tianyi could certainly be said to be good at leaving things to be the next person's problem. He hadn't known, then, no, the things that were being papered over to make his world look healthy and fine. But he'd never looked, either. He'd accepted what was in front of him, enjoyed his quiet, indulgent, peaceful life, and never thought to question what it was like for anyone else on his world.
He was supposed to protect them. All of them. And he'd failed, then.
"It's not....entirely either of those things?" Tianyi said, and he wrung his hands together. But he didn't wilt, the way he wanted to. "I have--my family--we spent a very long time being very good at making things other people's problem, and not caring nearly enough about how our actions affected other people. But everyone around me always taught me that we were a peaceful people. That we didn't raise hands in violence. That it was better to try to be diplomatic first, that to kill something was to stain your soul as much as your hands."
He looked down.
"A lot of it was lies. Or pretty versions of the truth that weren't real. But I still...I can't unlearn valuing that philosophy." He looked over at the chicken. Exhaled. "You're probably right. You're more familiar with this world than I am. And I've done too much letting things be other people's problem. I just....hoped."
Guine
Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2025 1:00 pm
Well that was new…. Tianyi didn’t wilt this time. Jet watched him carefully as he spoke, listening to the way he shared about his family, their power, their failures. A philosophy that sounded noble on paper, but once faced against real consequence it collapsed.
Even when Jet disagreed with what Tianyi said, he didn’t interrupt. And when Tianyi finally finished, Jet made a small breath of a noise that wasn’t a laugh or… anything, really.
“Hope’s fine. Until it gets someone killed,” he said his voice quiet, but his words weren’t intended to be cruel. It was just fact. He looked towards the feathered creature as it lingered on the edge of the fading flower magic. Still a threat. Still something to figure out.
“You can hold onto your ideals. That’s not what I care about. What I do care about is whether you act. Whether you do something. Whether you know how to make a choice when you have to. Even if you hate it. Or even if it hurts.”
He glanced back over at Tianyi, ignoring the blood that dripped down his arm and hand.
“Can you do that?”
The clearest test Jet knew to give. It wasn’t a trap, or even an accusation. Because it had never been about a chicken. And maybe…. Just maybe… if this Senshi could face that… Then Jet wouldn’t have to keep looking at him like a liability.
