|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 9:10 pm
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.
Note: If you choose to encounter one of these bird-like creatures, your character will recognize they are not youma. It is impossible to tell if it is a single entity or if there are many. The bird does not seem to understand or care to listen to human words. It will always disappear in a malodorous plume of smoke and leave nothing but a foul odor and a clutch of empty, broken eggs behind. This RP can be used as a battle requirement as long as there are two powered characters involved; you must be interacting with another player’s powered character. This does not count as the one youma battle per stage for growth so characters can still use an NPC youma battle as well as this one for growth purposes. This can only be used as a battle requirement once per character, but there is no limitation for how many times a player can use this prompt.
So the shock at encountering the angered poultry was enough that she ran before she even started to assess the situation. And unfortunately for her, that was a signal to it to give chase.
The enraged clucking on her heels kept her from turning back, but Ekstrom ran as hard as she could, shield stowed to allow her arms to swing more freely. She adjusted her trajectory to head for the aura of a squire just nearby, relief starting to pour over her when she soon spotted them in the distance.
"Hey!" she cried out, out breath but still trying her best. "Hey! The thing behind me! Get ready to whack it with something, yeah? I'm gonna try and trip it to give you a chance to swing!"
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 9:21 pm
Cheomseongdae wasn't honestly sure she wanted to patrol near any of the parks today. She had heard about the weird nests at work, talking to someone in the biology department, and she was sure it was in no way good news that there were empty eggs appearing. s**t like that was never good news in this damn city... But she had her duty, even if life was kind of s**t right now and she was tired to death internally all the time, wishing she did not feel so gods damn alone when she was in a serious relationship with the love of her life... She needed to not think about that, not when on duty. It distracted her and she wanted to stay focused. If nothing else, dusting a youma or three might help distract her and make her feel a little better about herself and her life... The feeling of an aura heading towards her at high speeds has her freezing, before she processed that it was a Knight's aura. Not familiar feeling, but it was not an enemy, even if she had a feeling she was going to be needed, because why else would the knight be coming at such a pace? She turned and was going to wave but the words the woman yelled had her going totally still for a long moment. What on earth? There was no youma aura behind her... And then Cheom spotted the bird, if she had to call the demonic looking thing that. Her eyes went huge, but she shifted her wand grip, holding it so that when the bird was in position, she could use the head to give it a good, hard WHACK, preferably on the skull.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 9:34 pm
Thankfully it seemed like whoever it was--though she could at least tell, the closer she got, that it was a Cosmos knight--heard her and was getting into some kind of swinging position. Which was a relief, because they were approaching fast.
"Perfect!" she called out. "I'm gonna try and get close so it might feel like playing a game of chicken." What was that? Irony? "Pretty sure you'll win, though."
And with that she glanced over her shoulder, a cold shiver running through her at the sight of the thing. If it was a chicken, it seemed like the demonic sort. She'd always believed all chickens to be cute, but this one...
Most definitely not.
Ekstrom pulled her focus, eyes on a single spot several feet from the Cosmos knight and, as soon as she made it to that spot, came to a skidding stop and crouched as low to the ground as she could, tilting herself however slightly so the chicken's legs hit her shield.
And it hit hard, squawking and clucking and flapping furiously as it quite literally tripped over Ekstrom and went stumbling forward, having lost control of its footing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 9:35 pm
Cheom had trouble believing her ears at the apparent joke the stranger made. This did not feel like the right time for a god damn joke to her, but to each their own. It just felt like a strange choice. Nonetheless, she got herself into a rather more sturdy stance, her eyes focusing on the demon bird now. She was not going to let herself get distracted... Explaining why she had chicken peck marks at work tomorrow would be an. Interesting experience. At best. She noted the position the... Yes that was a Mercury Knight. Transcended, no less. Impressive, but that was to be worried about later. Now, there was a demon bird. Now there was only battle to focus on, to avoid as much injury as possible. She watched the set up, eyes slightly narrowed as the bird's legs struck the edge of the shield. She tracked it's stumbling process, and struck, hard, at it's head when it was close enough. The bird gave an extremely displeased screeching squawk as it went over sideways... But other than taking, it was definitely not out for the count. "The ******** is up with this damn thing? Why is it not dead? Also... Did you get to close to one of the weird ******** nests?" That last question wasn't at all accusatory in tone, just trying to figure out why the bird was after the Knight. She was moving to try to prepare for another hit as she spoke.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 9:38 pm
Ekstrom sprang back to her feet as soon as the demon chicken went over her crouched body, eyes hopeful for a moment when the Cosmos Squire thwacked it pretty good. She was expecting it to go down fast, but unfortunately the thing was sturdier than she gave it credit for. Focusing, she struck the ground with her shield, summoning her forcefield to effectively be a second skin before making a break for her fellow Knight.
"If I did, I didn't notice it," she said, pushing her shield out to ensure it covered them both before gesturing in the direction she came in and starting to lead the way back. "Though with the way that thing smells, maybe I should have. Sorry to drag you into it..."
The squawking and clucking started to grow in volume again as the creature turned and started to again close the gap between it and its targets. Ekstrom quietly cursed as she picked up the pace, stowing her shield on her back in case the chicken got close enough to reach them with its beak.
Panting, she asked, "Any ideas? Kinda fresh out after that last one..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 9:43 pm
"Damn..." She said, as she considered the situation. "I was hoping a nest was nearby and if we moved away from it we would be ok but... If you don't know..." She followed the Knight, eyes darting side to side in hopes of finding something, some kind of clue at to what to do about this damn bird. "Let's try to find out, see if we can distract it that way..." Cheomseongdae was running in the direction the other woman had come from, but had to literally hold herself back... It would probably be way too easy to accidentally leave her companion behind, given how often she went for runs in her day to day life, given the way the Knight was already panting from exertion. Finally she spotted one and turned towards it, slowing down to circle it. "I know these eggs are empty of anything... I wonder why they're here, if the two are connected..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 9:50 pm
Ekstrom followed the squire when she adjusted her trajectory, soon after spotting what she did--a cluster of eggs nestled quietly under a bush. She curled her lip, clearly none too happy that she very well could have crushed one of these things without realizing it.
"Smelly little landmines," she muttered to herself as she glanced back toward the fast-incoming demon bird. "Good eye, though. How 'bout you work on the eggs and I'll distract the big one?" Divide and conquer was a legitimate strategy, right?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 9:51 pm
"Yeah they are... But I feel like they're the key..." She glared say the stinky weird eggs, before glancing at the other woman. "Yeah? Alright, I'll do that..." She focused on the eggs, trying to figure something out, trusting her companion to keep her word. She circled it, trying to get a clue... Then, frustrated, she smacked one of the eggs out of the nest with the end of her wand, causing it to burst... And the demon bird SCREAMED in rage, refocusing. Her eyes went wide and worried... But it was clear that she had somehow done something... There was a moment of frozen indecision, and she began smashing them all out of the nest and towards trees.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 9:52 pm
The Knight gave a solid nod of her head and left the eggs to her while she shifted her focus to the oversized, horrendous excuse for a chicken. Grabbing her shield, she channeled her magic and expanded her forcefield while sprinting toward the creature, the smallest sense of satisfaction showing in her smile when it stumbled after coming in contact with the glitchy blue shield.
And she kept adjusting her forcefield, willing it close to her and expanding it out again, making sure it consistently passed through the thing each time and causing the it to stutter-step and look a bit glitchy with its movements as a result.
Coupled with the sudden scream of rage, Ekstrom had a very good feeling things were now moving in their favor. Glancing over at her, she spotted the squire chucking eggs this way and that. "Seems like you got it?" she asked, flickering her gaze over to the demon-chicken that was now wailing and flailing about in apparent agony.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 9:53 pm
"Think so! Gotta get the last of these stinkers..." She was almost done... Two left. She just didn't want to touch them, or get in the way of the other woman... She waited a second, waiting for the right moment. When it came, she made a BIG swing, with a large arc carving through the air, and sent both eggs flying out of the nest and into a tree truck, causing them both to explode. With the explosion, the demon bird gave a rather horrible wailing screech and vanished into smoke, which was as rancid smelling as the bird and eggs had been before. Cheom darted back from what was left of the nest, and the smoke, coughing at the unpleasant smell. She finally slumped back against a tree that had not been used to crush an egg, and slowly caught her breath. She glanced at the other woman. "So. Hey, nice to meet you. I'm Cheomseongdae." Her tone was a little ironic at the rather late introduction, but she was also smiling warmly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 9:54 pm
It was sweet but smelly ending. Still, Ekstrom couldn't not smile considering the win.
"Ekstrom," she said, sounding very nasally given the way she was pinching her nose to try and block out as much of the smell as she could. "Thanks again. I'd probably still be running if it weren't for you." She could only last so long in it, though, and when she felt she was at her limit with the smell she pointed in an arbitrary direction.
"Wanna head that way so we can get away from the smell?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 9:55 pm
"No problem... We all encounter weird a** situations like this... Even when not in our standard form." She straightened back up and stretched back, then nodded at Ekstrom's suggestion. "Yeah that sounds good. This is not a pleasant spot right now." She headed in that direction, trusting the other to follow.
The fight was over for the night for her, that was certain.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
