thenearshore | Prayer 19

[ Shock crosses her expression briefly, and both the little girl and the grandmother take notice of it. She reassure them both gently, but there is a new firmness in her voice as she tells them that perhaps the grandmother should bring the girl to the crepe cafe just around the corner to comfort her instead of staying here. Thankfully, they oblige.

Sanae will be led outside the house by the grandmother, and she sees them off. After a minute or so, she returns to the house and knocks on the door, expecting Lu Meng to allow her back in. ] Where did you find them?

[The door opens just enough for her to slip in before Lu Meng shuts it carefully behind her.]

In the chimney. [He replies, voice low and quiet so as not to attract any further attention to their presence indoors.] I think there's only one up there, but I can't see all of it, the miserable creature is hiding insi--

[With a screeching, unearthly cry, something purple hurls its way out from the living room. What looks like claws are stretched out, and the dripping maw holds nasty sharp teeth that snap at the two. He can just barely make out a muzzle, but whatever this thing had been in its past, it's gone beyond recognition. Nothing but hollows where its eyes should be, no ears or nose to be seen. Its skin is made out entirely of a sludge that seems to be spilling out from a giant eye on its back. Smaller, bulging eyes decorate the animal-shaped ayakashi, the reddened orbs swiveling and rotating on the spot with a sticky, slick sound before they all suddenly focus on the god and her shinki.

The ayakashi screeches again, and gathers itself for a charge! Lu Meng is barely able to raise a hand and yell out a command before the creature slams into the Boundary he narrowly managed to create.]

[ She won't stand for some monster destorying a human's home with its terrible claws or disgusting slime. And she equally won't stand for it trying to make a swipe at her shinki. Thankfully before she can tell him to dodge, he's already thrown up a boundary. She's surprise, and that surprise turns to being impressed. When did he learn how to do that--?

A hollow hiss cuts through her thoughts as it opens its mouth, more slime and sludge pouring fro its jaw. The slime damages the floor like acid, smoke rising from the wood.

They can't continue the fight in here. ] Throw up another boundary-- push it into the chimney. We need to move it out! [ Five ofuda appear in her hand, the inscriptions shimmering at the presence of an evil spirit so close by. She throws it at the ayakashi, and its reels back when all five of them begin to burst into an impossibly bright light, burning its skin where the paper touches. It starts to move back towards the fire, its amorphous form retreating into itself from the paper. ]

I'll try but I'm not sure that I can manage that just yet.

[He's just learned how to use Boundaries, and even that one that he threw up just now was barely enough to keep the ayakashi at bay.

He cuts another line across the room. When the ayakashi hurtles itself at the barrier with all it can, there's a slight crack in the shield he's set up to protect him and Sanae. However while the creature bounces off the barrier and crashes into the cupboard, Lu Meng can't seem to push it in any further.]

I'm deeply sorry my lady, what you're asking of me is beyond my current abilities.

Edited 2016-09-11 05:02 (UTC)

[ She can't fault him for not knowing how, and she braces herself when the cupboard smashes and splinters across the room. The ayakashi throws out another claw, its talons latching onto the wall and tearing through family portraits in order to stabilize itself.

Is it because he had been too busy lecturing her that he didn't have more time to practice his own new techniques? She feels guilty for that. ] That's fine-- we'll take of this together. Come, Genki--!

[ She reaches out her hand to grab a hold of his phone form and-- yep, he's going in her pocket. Her lips press into a thin line, a sort of disgusted smile at the creature who has ruined this family's living room. ] Not another growl out of you-- ha! [ She throws out five more ofuda, whose writing appears on the paper are they are throw. This time, she's not aiming for the creature, but the ground and the walls, and sometimes the air itself as the charms hover to create a ward. And she throws out five more, and five more again, each time pushing the ayakashi back to the fire place.

Its claw strikes at the paper charms, damaging a few of them. But when one is gone Sanae has two more to replace them, and she steadily but surely the ayakashi is finally crammed back into the fireplace. ] So what are you going to do now, huh? [ She taunts, holding up another charm. ] Stand there and let me exorcise you, or--

[ YEAH NO, it's bolting out of the house. ] Thought so. [ She rushes out the door and leaps into the air to give chase.

Perhaps they haven't fought together enough for him to realize, but she does enjoy this part of her job, too. ]

[He's come to sense that about Sanae, yes. That she enjoys the hunt as much as she enjoys helping the people that are being preyed on. And how can he blame her? There's an energy that runs through your soul when you're in the thick of a fight. The will to survive, the will to win, the thrill of a challenge, the heat of battle...it's all of this rolled up into each heartbeat.

But he never needs to send those feelings to her. Instead he provides the calm to steady out the rush of battle. Getting too wrapped up in that bloodlust can land you in bad places, and he wants her to be aware of her surroundings while she's giving chase.

...especially since the air is suddenly thick with more malevolence. Lu Meng casts his gaze about, and spots it--!!]

My lady, above you!!

[For out of the sky swoops an aerial ayakashi, dripping goop as it dives to attack her!]

[ Now that it's out of its confined area, the ayakashi's amorphous form is much larger. It's made wings out of thick sheets of slime, and they're tucked in tightly to its core for a dive.

Sanae dodges. Not just dodges, but grazes ~~extra points that way~~ the ayakashi as it passes. And as it descends past her, she draws up her gohei, slicing it clean up its side with the blessed paper. It cuts through one of its wings, and as a result its made lopsided, hitting the ground with a spin. Not that it stops the creature. The blob shoots out two more claws at Sanae, reaching for her violently.

She dodges those, too. And when one comes too close, she uses her gohei to slice through it. Either the holy weapon is made not just from paper, or it being used by a miko gives it different properties (spoilers its the latter).

Sanae doesn't give it a moment's rest. ] Enough! [ She throws up her gohei, and a bright red light glows around it. With a sweep, lightening-- not blue, not white, not yellow-- but of a sickly red is thrown at the ayakashi. It shrieks as it is shocked, the fluid of its body steaming at the edges of its form, a strong scent of corpses and rot wafting through the air. And while it's distracted with that, Sanae takes out Lu Meng-- ] You will not haunt this family any longer...!

[ ---And snaps a photo of it. A flash of light gives the singal that it's been rended, and the light and darkness implodes on itself for a brief moment before being washed away with white wind. The ayakashi is no more, and Sanae descends to the ground. ]

That, that was... [Unsettling, is the word. But like heck he's going to admit that the way Sanae had ruthlessly taken down that ayakashi disturbs him. It just...seemed so unlike her.]

...that was outstanding, my lady.

[But it seems they're not done yet. From afar they suddenly hear distant barking, and near the ground where the ayakashi had crashed landed there's a trail of red droplets that lead off in the direction of the barking.]

My lady, could, could that be the pup!?

[ She notices the trail of red droplets, and quickly begins to hover again, following both that and the barks. ] I guess our work isn't over yet--!

[ The trail ends in an abandoned lot, filled with barbed wire and trash and tires. It seems strange to have this lot in a otherwise more clean area of the town, but then again, it is the type of lot that would draw shady dealings-- which would foster resentment and desperation, which would attract the ayakashi. She pockets Lu Meng once again, and then brings out her gohei. ] Fluffy...?

[ She hears two barks, and then she hears a staggered whine being cut short. Not on her watch. ] Fluffy--! [ With a swipe of her gohei, a great gust of wind blows through the area. She uses wind to push back all the trash and debris towards the far side, uncovering what lies beneath:

More ayakashi, at least five of them, all squirming within the pit of the lot. They are all huddled around a group of cats and dogs all cowarding in the center, tails between their legs and black noses buried into the ground. ] These monsters... how could they attack innocent animals!

[So many ayakashi, all mangled limbs and distorted forms. He feels both disgust and pity for those creatures.]

We're not too late! Let's save those animals and dispel the ayakashi!

[Again, whatever anger she may feel towards the ayakashi will be counterbalanced by the calm he's sending her way. He doesn't want her acting out too much on emotions; that might cause her to make rash decisions.]

[ It's a good thing that the calm he sends her comes quickly. Just in time, she changes her first move from an attack that would have blown away the ayakashi that would have hurt the animals within the pit. Instead, sweeps out her arm towards the pit, sending a few beams of light. A cross-latched cage of beams of light appears above the animals. Usually she uses this attack to contain ayakashi, but now she uses it to repel and protect.

Now she can attack. ]

[ The first move is yet another hard hitting gust of wind, and then she activates a move that's quite typical of the exorcists of Gensokyo: a continuous barrage of white-energy bullets coming from her wherever she moves. As the wind disburses and the bullets strike at anything that's directly in front of her, she brandishes her gohei again, slamming it down to send another bomb of white energy against the ayakashi.

That's the first attack, and it separates the youkai from each other. ] Foul creatures--

[ The second attack is towards the first starfish-like ayakashi at her 3-o-clock, tendrils flailing, and with a whip of her gohei she sends two beams of light that look oddly like snakes at it. The attack curves upwards before it doubles back sharply down to rams the ayakashi into ground, impaling it like broad knives crafted of light. Sanae does this same attack in rapid succession at all the other ayakashi on the lot. ] Don't you ever--

[ The sky may seem to darken, but it's only an optical illusion. In reality, Sanae has called down stars from the heavens, spinning and glowing a bright, hot blue. The light it simply so bright that it makes the day time sun look like shadows. With a wave of her hand, she hurls these attacks at the ayakashi. A few of them are quick enough to dodge it, but the two slower ones and the starfish-shaped one are unfortunately at their limit. That leaves three incapacitated and two more to go. ]

Hurt this place or these animals again...!

[The ground trembles in the face of her wrath. Calling down the stars itself to destroy the ayakashi, Lu Meng braces himself in her pocket, feeling himself jostled around in the space from the wind whipping around them.

Meanwhile the animals down below are whimpering in fear and beginning to panic. And Lu Meng is beginning to get worried that Sanae is allowing her anger to consume her. He needs to counteract her temper, he needs her to be less focused on pummeling with brute force, and more precise in her spells to end the ayakashi's suffering, not cause them to die in pain, enveloped in a blast of fury.]

Lady Kochiya, keep your attacks controlled. Apply your spells with the precision of an arrow, not the blunt force of a hammer.

[ As someone who has fulfilled her duties as an exorcist, she hasn't exactly thought about "ending the suffering" of ayakashi or youkai, of those who have turned from being human. It's always been simply about ending them. If they happened to end within a single blow, that's fine. If not, then she'd get them with the next.

But his words and his power does help her calm down. If only to say with the utmost clarity now that she's ready to attack: ] I'm finishing this.

[ She dodges one attack and then another, zipping through the limbs and tails and tentacles and claws. With a twirl one way, she sends two more of those beams of light that home in onto one ayakashi. A second after, she sends a bolt of red lightening through the next, flipping up high into the air, far enough to get them all in one picture as she slips out the mobile phone. ] Genki-- Rend!

[ Again there is a flash of light, again there is the brief final struggles of the ayakashi as they face their doom, but at the end of that flash all five of them implode into shadows constricted by light. What's left is a mess of a lot and a cage of light that still protects the animals. Sanae descends, undoing her barrier around the dogs and cats. ]

[And with a snap and a flash, the ayakashi burst into darkness, and slowly dissipate away into nothingness.

And the instant the cage of light is undone, all the animals make for the hills like they've got a monster behind them, howling and yowling in fear. Only a couple that were previously injured by the ayakashi remain, and among them is their old friend, Fluffy, nursing a bleeding front paw.

But should either of them approach Fluffy, the dog only snarls and growls at them to stay away. Still, the pup's more bark than bite, and its quivering with the same fear that had all the able-bodied animals running for their lives.]

[ This isn't what she expected of the animals... Then again, she doesn't know exactly what she expected. Surely they wouldn't have run to greet her. She reminds herself that they only saw her power and attacks, of course they would be scared!

But Fluffy knows her, doesn't he? She gave him a toy and treats! Sanae quietly approaches the bunch, extending her hand, palm up, towards the animals. ] It's okay, it's okay. [ She says calmly. ] Those evil ayakashi aren't here anymore. You can go back to your families, now.

[ As a side thought, she releases Lu Meng from his phone form. Maybe he has some ideas to help? ]

[Don't look at him, he's not exactly the dog whisperer. But seeing as they're all so wound up, maybe it might be a good idea to get the dog treats.

But before he can say a word, Sanae's stretched out her hand to Fluffy. Bad move. Fluffy just snaps at her hand. Lu Meng's just able to grab her wrist and jerk it away, Fluffy's canines just barely nicking the finger tips.]

My lady! [He looks at her hand and sees the two pin pricks of blood on her index finger. He scowls at the dog, one hand raised for a blow. Fluffy might be freaked out but no one hurts his god, even if it's a cute fluffy animal! He'll teach this dog not to bite the hand that saved it!]

Lu Meng-- wait! [ She shouts, reaching to restrain his hand. She's probably not strong enough to actually stop him, but hopefully this will be enough for him to reconsider. ] It's fine, I'm fine-- he's just scared!

[ Although she thinks Fluffy is only scared that the ayakashi were there, not at her in particular. ]

[Her hand on his is enough to give him pause, and he lowers it. She's right; the dog isn't to blame. The dog can only rely on instinct to tell what's right from wrong.] ...my apologies, my lady. I lost my temper.

[Reaching into his pocket for a bag of dog treats, he sprinkles some on the ground. Fluffy warily sniffs the food, but hunger wins out in the end. As the puppy begins to nibble on a biscuit, the other remaining dogs slowly join him.

Lu Meng sighs, his gaze casting around the messed up lot. She had really torn this place up, hasn't she? There's tarmac and old tires scattered around, and the dirt has been dugged out in some spots--

...wait. He catches a flash of yellow peeking out from the upturned ground.] My lady. Do you see that over there?

[He walks over and bends down to brush the dirt off...revealing an old animal skull. Lu Meng is careful as he digs out the bones, and although he only uncovers a skull and a bit of rib, it's the condition of the skull that sends a chill down his spine. The center of the where the face should be has a terrible crack on it, denting inwards as if someone had taken a blunt tool and smashed it down on the animal's head.]

[ She's glad that Fluffy is eating instead of biting. And the nip doesn't hurt that much. She stands, brushing off her skirt of the dust when she does so, and walks over to where Lu Meng is. ] What is... ah--

[ Sanae quickly covers her mouth in shock as she sees the smashed skull. ] How awful. [ The ayakashi gathered here, the young animals in the lot, the bones of those long past-- it doesn't take a genius to figure out what might have happened. Her vision blurs with new forming tears, and at that she turns away from Lu Meng, trying to contain her emotions like he recommended her to. ]

How could someone be so cruel...? [ She says, sinking to her knees. She dusts off another part of ground, revealing a damaged cranium. ]

[It's a grim find. There are a couple more bones scattered around, bearing similar marks of animal abuse.] It's like a graveyard... [Lu Meng comments, disgusted. How many more lie crushed and buried underneath their feet?

It's at that point that they'll hear the sound of a car rumbling down the road. Immediately the rest of the animals scatter, Fluffy included. The car pulls to a stop near the lot, and a man and a woman step out. Those mortal eyes will not see the shinki and the god there so long as the two of them keep quiet.

"What the hell...?" the man mutters, staring dumb-founded at the destruction. "It's like someone ripped the whole damn place up." He glances back towards the woman, who is similarly bewildered as he is. "Maybe we should get rid of them somewhere else. Could be some construction that's going on around here."

She shakes her head back at him. "Nah. Let's just dump them here. Even if they found anything, they can't trace it back to us."

And as for what they're dumping...the woman reaches to the back of his car, pulling out a bulging sack. The man meanwhile reaches for a shovel, and begins to dig a hole.

Lu Meng frowns at the sight in front of them, the connections between the dead animals and these two slowly forming.]

[ Sanae gasps when she sees the woman toss the buldging sack from the back of the truck. And the moment that the man brings out his shovel to start digging, that's when she steps forward. ] Hey, you two-- what do you think you're doing?!

[ If Lu Meng doesn't stop her, she's going to make herself known to these humans. If not, they'll both look up around, confused at the sudden gust of cold wind blowing past them. ]

My lady, wait.

[One hand firmly grasps her shoulder. Make no mistake that he is equally as outraged by the scene in front of them, but if it's too late for those in the sack (and he believes it to be, seeing as there's not even a squeak or a twitch to suggest that anything is still alive inside), then they can at least help prevent any more of these trips by those two humans.]

We'll intervene if there is a life to be saved, but if we are to ensure that this cruel practice is put to an end, we need irrefutable evidence to take to the local constable. Let's use our smart phones and put this on record.

Ah-- you're right. [ Even when he's not using his ability as a shinki to bring her to a calmer, more rational state, he remains the voice of reason. ] I don't want these... these fiends to ever hurt another living thing again.

[ She brings out her phone, and with a touch of a button she begins recording. The man and the woman are only confused for a moment-- and one even jokes that the place must be haunted-- but then they return to their work. It makes Sanae sick to her stomach, watching them laugh carelessly as they finish their chore. One mentions that it's such a bother to transport these unwanted animals from the warehouse.

But when they move the sack, Sanae sees that there is movement. ] Lu Meng-- [ She starts to say, looking for his approval to intervene. She whispers, ] There must be one still alive in there....! We have to stop them from burying it alive.

[They have enough recorded, especially after the man lets slip more details on the business they're running.

An animal mill. Surplus of kittens and puppies that weren't cute enough to make the cut and proving too troublesome to keep. Disposal of older animals.

He's not particularly fond of animals and animal protection laws were practically non-existent during his time, but this was just sickening to hear. He agrees with Sanae; they cannot allow this to continue any further.

When her whisper catches his attention about one living one inside, that's also when the woman notices the weak rustling from the sack. The timid, weak mewing. Cursing, she stalks over to the bag, and begins to roughly shake it as if to silence the sole survivor.

Lu Meng nods at Sanae; they have to stop them now. Raising his voice, he lets out a loud yell at them.]

Hey! What are you two doing over there!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject