thenearshore | [closed] See the devil on the doorstep now

[ It's all right...

It takes him a little by surprise when Lux says that. A hand ruffled through the hair at the nape of his neck and an embrace like he's the one to be comforted and told everything will be alright. Something that makes him freeze momentarily, grey eyes widened. Saying all that... saying what he had said...

...when he meant she shouldn't feel burdened by all that guilt, did he unintentionally put some of his own on her?

A little conflicted, his eyes drop for a moment in thoughtful, bittersweet repose. Apolgetic, but he won't ignore her feelings on the matter so much so as to say that aloud. So instead of nodding to that his head bows a little and his arms shift a bit. A little more relaxed? Maybe. Because mn, that's true...

...they'll be alright. ]

[ Which is also when, from the pen outside—a scream? ]

! [ A bleated scream. But even so it's bloodcurdling and Allen instantly jerks back, towards the sound—and with a surprised but more strict sort of expression as the color of his left eye begins to shift. Blood red and black. It is an ayakashi then..

He's immediately pulling back and rising to his feet, a soft glow lighting the night around them as his Innocence begins to wind down from his collar and take the form of his cloak. But...

Very delicately, he also offers her a hand up as he does so. Somewhat, given how hers rests for a moment against his left wrist. Just offering his wrist, a gold crown protecting it like an armored guard, since his fingers have elongated to almost bladelike claws. ]

Lux. [ It's soft-spoken but clipped. Seamlessly shifting gears like that.

Let's go. ]

Edited 2017-04-16 02:33 (UTC)

[ It's all right...

Because she wants very much to believe that. To feel and to know that, despite this revelation and the danger that comes with it; that even when the knowledge of, ah, this could be the end of me, they would pull through somehow. Not just her, but him as well.

Because this was hard on him too. Knowing yet being unable to do a thing. Having your hands tied and forcing a smile regardless of the fact. Lux couldn't imagine.

So yes, for the both of them, she would be all right, even if it was by sheer force of will. One foot planted firmly in front of the other, balancing delicately on this tightrope she walked, and hoping, praying she wouldn't Fall.

For the both of them.

She would have stayed like that for as long as he (and she) needed, if not for that bloodcurdling bleat. Something that pulled her so far out of this moment that, even before Allen jerks back, Lux moves. Hand pulled away from the nape of his neck and quickly adjusting. And while she can't quite see his eye change, she knew:

Well, there goes our long, quiet night.

Using his wrist to help herself up, she offers him a quick nod before falling in step behind. Time to get to work.

Huddled tightly against the back of the pen were the remaining sheep, shaking and bleating in quiet fear. The one that shrieked... well—

On the plus side, it appears to still be alive, although the ruddy-red tint of the grass nearby wasn't the most promising thing in the world. Hunched over the injured animal is a shifting, almost canine form; its body too large to be a fox or a coyote, but too sleek and lithe to a be a wolf.

Ears twitching as it hears something approach, the ayakashi turns its head to face them, looking out with soulless eyes, its muzzle stained red. And like an animal caught by another predator threatening its catch, it snarls at the two of them. It doesn't look like its ready to back down, however. ]

Edited 2017-04-16 05:17 (UTC)

[ Shifting, too huge for a normal animal, bigger than they are—and something so simplistic and almost see-through about it with colors that are all wrong. Ethereal blue with fur that ripples like it's caught in an eternal breeze.

And Allen—there is something very cautious in how he stops at the sight of it, the predator swinging around to snarl at them. Warning bells in his head at beholding an ayakashi like this, even if it's far from being the first they've fought and destroyed. ]

Be careful. [ He shifts a little, standing with straighter posture even if his eyes stay forward, flicking once to the injured sheep and then back to the ayakashi. Wary, his hand to his side near hers with his fingers lightly fanned almost like he's he's ready to take it in a moment's notice.

(A sword in hand.)

So even to animals...? ]

Something about this one—

[ The sight of the injured sheep turns her stomach, and after swallowing down hard, her hand slowly goes to the hilt of her blade. Keeping close to the Exorcist by her side, she readies herself. No sudden movements, her eyes locked on the ayakashi there.

The one that, at the sight of both god and shinki, after snarling and attempting to exert its dominance decides that maybe fresh mutton and a heaping dose of fear aren't worth all of this.

Charging suddenly forward toward them, kicking up dirt in its wake, the ayakashi looks like it might try to attack the two of them, appearing to go in for a lunge—

But instead leaping up and over the two with ease, past the pen and padding off toward the edge of the farmlands, toward the woods between two properties. Running away?

So it would seem. ]

! [ It charging them—that much Allen was somewhat expecting. But it's fast, faster than he would have guessed for that size, and not enough time to summon Lux to her weapon form. So he reflexively turns to shield her, his cloak after all, it's meant to be actual armor more than hers. One arm flung in front of her as he braces twists from a protective curl to see it coming even if he probably won't be able to do anything more than that...

..but it leaping over them to flee is not what Allen was expecting, fully prepared that they would have to fight it here and try to keep the damages to a minimum. And as the wolf ayakashi turns and sprints off, he blinks for a second.

Seriously?? (Why...?)

There isn't time though, it's going to get away, so he starts to move after it, looking over his shoulder to the shinki as he does so and for a moment seems like he has something so strongly on his lips he's about to say...

But he hesitates. And does not.

"Come, Kouki."

Instead... ]

Lux!

[ Instead he calls out and reaches to take her hand like that. To—hup—hop the fence and bring her with him without any further ado, moving after the creature at a sprint as well. They'll just have to chase this thing then, right?

Which.. they could move faster if he summoned her to her weapon form, it's true. She'd be safer in that form as well. But...

But at the same time—it also seems insulting to just yet, and so he won't. ]

Edited 2017-04-16 06:47 (UTC)

[ Startled by how fast the canine ayakashi moves, Lux braces, ready to meet it head on. But Allen is already at least a few steps ahead, and the leap...

No, she isn't expecting that at all, and look and over the pen, the shinki grimaces. It's agile; landing a hit on this thing is going to be a pain, and her without a functional borderline spell was going to be problematic.

Expecting him to call her into her weapon form (assuming and ready for it), she blinks at him once when he calls her actual name instead, before feeling a distinct tug toward movement.

How were they supposed to keep up with this thing?!

...Which begged the question: if it was something that large and that fast, why was it running away?

Something they would have to address later, as she launches into a sprint as well. She may not be quite as quick as you are, Allen, but she can keep up, which is good because—

It's thick, the group of trees that was more small forest than grove. Once the wolf-like ayakashi breaks through the initial brush, it seems to disappears, save for an occasional flicker of blue, ethereal light and the distinct feeling that they're being watched from somewhere. ]

[ It's fine, if she's technically a spirit she doesn't have to worry about sore muscles, right? ~~Right.~~

Still, when they reach the thicket and the ayakashi's trail disappears, Allen slows, coming to a stop as they come to a clearer area. An ambush?

It's still the dead of night and he steps back for a moment, surveying the area around them. Since after all, even if it is out of sight—his eye will let him see it sooner than normal sight will. But...

But it makes him press his lips together in some frustration as well. The range he has... it's like the first stage of his eye, back before Crown Clown too.

How irritating. It leaves him feeling a bit too exposed, but.

(But he learned how to fight even without the sight of his left eye too.)

He turns to Lux, very cautiously catching her eye from the corner of his. ]

It seems more intelligent than the others... [ It's a thoughtful sort of murmur, looking around the clearing again. Perhaps a broken branch or something else that would let them track it? Not that he's much of a tracker in that sense—or if it's even corporeal enough to leave that.. ]

[ She'll blame him if she ends up feeling it in the morning. ~~No she won't.~~

Stopping as he does, the shinki moves to his right side, unsheathing her sword as she does. Lips drawn together in a fine line, Lux squints slightly, willing her eyes to adjust to the lack of light.

Catching his glance, she gives him a brief nod. He would likely say something if he could see anything, so...

Ah, this was unideal; for some reason, the ayakashi evaded his eye, and her night vision was horrible. She offers him a shrouded, somewhat wry smile, her voice low as she moves closer. ]

If I had known we were going to be invited somewhere, I would have made sure to pick all the hay out of my hair.

[ Unfortunately, Allen won't find any physical traces of a creature here, there are traces of something else. Like the presence of something that was at one point sentient and alive, but now was something quite different. Faint and intermittently spread throughout the area, leading to the west.

Further into the woods. ]

Edited 2017-04-17 04:09 (UTC)

[ Lux are you making a joke. ]

[ Well. When in Rome. ]

Aaah, it's really quite rude.. running off without giving proper directions even. [ There's a mildly... soul-dead way in which he scratches at his cheek lightly for a moment at that. Eheh.. Something horrible is probably about to happen. That's what his instincts are telling him. But no sense being weighed down by that, right? Lighten the mood and all that, that's what she was doing, wasn't it?

(This is going to suck. His sight is so much less useful right now.) ]

[ Yes she is making a joke; her vision here is terrible and they're being stalked, what else is she supposed to do? This is the worst as far as she's concerned.

They won't get much warning before a streak of ethereal blue darts past a copse of trees, flitting between them before charging forward with a snarl and an otherworldly bark. Aiming for Lux first, the blond hardly has enough time to react.

Her body moving seemingly on its own, the shinki darts out of the way, the blade in her hand flaring to life. Quickly slashing with the glowing blade, she manages to nick the not-quite-animal near its midsection. Hearing it yelp out, she looks only to notice—

While it was hardly a deep cut, the ayakashi seemed to glow faintly in the dark. The hilt in her hands felt warm in her hand, light trailing behind it.

More irritable than injured, the wolf ayakashi skids to a stop before charging at them again, much faster this time, its teeth bared. ]

! [ This time he isn't going to hesitate. Not with the wolf-ayakashi rounding so suddenly again on them. So that he moves quickly in front of the shinki, bodyblocking, as he brings his hand up, the left—and slashes down hard through the air in front of them both. Like he means to cut through it with one clawed fingertip but instead leaves a glowing line hanging in the air in front of the charging wolf.

Once. ]

Cross..

[ And back again, drawing the line of a cross in the air. Twice. ]

Grave!

[ And the shield it forms between the points of the cross lights up the night around them in a brilliant glow of Innocence, brighter and far larger than the facsimile holy spell he'd learned in Enprise. If she would have even remembered that one. ]

Edited 2017-04-17 06:02 (UTC)

[ And in the brief reprieve it'll give them because a holy shield like that will repel and bounce back a creature like that once, he twists to face the shinki beside him. Urgently and without ado. ]

Lux.. [ His right hand is extended for her to take. Directly and with a quiet kind of insistence, but with a soft sort of sobriety as well as his chin lifts up for a moment. Left eye awash still in eerie black and red, the high downy collar of his cloak dancing in its own glow from the whispered supernatural wind from the shield. He knows your sword is out too and you mean to fight it like they used to, even if you don't remember that, so he feels a little bad for this still, but..

(But this is how they fight now.)

But it's still his way of trying to let it be her choice as well. ]

[ The wolf ayakashi rams into the shield hard, yelping as it bounces back with the sheer force of impact. Body shuddering, like some residual holy energy seems to shock through it; even still, Cross Grave would not be able to take another hit like that.

And realizing this, Lux bites down on the inside of her lip, readying to strike, only stopping when she heard him speak her name.

Turning her head left to see his hand offered out to her, a battle-ready sort of urgency clear on his face, the shinki blinks once, looking almost confused. Wait, he—

Was that a chuckle from him. ]

All right.

[ You don't have to be such a gentleman about this, you know. I'm ready whenever you are.

At least she looks like she appreciates it? Quickly and firmly taking his hand. Let her name ring, Allen— ]

[ Cross Grave wouldn't get a second chance to repel, however, the ayakashi deciding it had well enough of holy shields rocking its core. Kicking up a bit of earth as it gains speed, the animal hooks around for a quick, indiscriminate back attack. ]

[ Being a gentleman is part of who he is, please.

He also probably wouldn't make a point of it like he does if he didn't remember them fighting side-by-side in so many battles before this as well. But together like this is the only way to defeat a creature like this, to exorcise it and put it to rest. And as a spirit, her form like that...

Her form like that, she can be easily blighted and destroyed. He cannot be. And as a weapon she's better suited to surviving attacks. So yes... he'll be a gentleman about it and look a little apologetic—but also have no qualms about it either.

And he smiles a little when she takes his hand. ]

Come..

[ Perhaps it's the light of Crown Clown, but with how pale his eyes seem to get for a moment—it's almost like they're lit with an inner light too.

White fire. ]

Kouki!

[ No time for pomp and circumstance, sword in hand and with heels digging into the ground he'll spin to face (brace to meet) the ayakashi as it comes at them from behind. ]

Edited 2017-04-17 16:16 (UTC)

[ Guiding his movements as well, giving him added momentum, the two would turn just in time to see the ayakashi shift out of the way, darting to the side with otherworldly speed. Giving them decent breadth.

Still glowing slightly from Radiance's mark, the animal-phantom skids to a stop around another tree, tail flicking irritably as it growled, jowls raising slightly. What it thought would be an easy mark once one was taken care of was proving to be more difficult than anticipated.

Looking like it might charge again, the creature thought better of it, slipping into the brush. Even with Radiance's light, it almost seemed to disappear again into the darkness of night.

(Yet in its haste, it would seem less careful about hiding its presence, a ghostly blue trail leading deeper within.)

Retreating? Seems like. But where?

There's a very notable feeling of mild irritation from the sword in his hand. ]

It's going to keep leading us deeper in, isn't it?

[ I don't like this... ]

Do we wait for it to come back out, or—

[ A howl, not like any canine Lux recognizes. Something that sounded almost wolf-like, if not for the almost guttural, gravely drone that carried with it; almost like one sound layered over another.

And while she might not be physically present, he would feel something like someone gripping his right hand almost uneasily. Reflexively and without warning.

Or wait for the ambush... ]

[ It doesn't take Lux's warning grip to give Allen pause; he's also stopped for a moment with a more sober sort of expression and his eyes fixed ahead. Even if the phantom is beyond the current range of his sight, there's a lingering sense the trail it left as well. But that's also hardly reassuring as—

(that howl) ]

...

[ A little uneasily, he presses his lips together for a moment grips the hilt of the blade she's become, a delicate longsword. A turn of the wrist and way he straightens that's almost like one would take a moment to give an acknowledging (and perhaps reassuring) squeeze. ]

There's no point in waiting.. [ Either it'll ambush them here, ambush them there, or get away then. But... he sounds reluctant to admit it as well. Don't get him wrong, he doesn't like this kind of situation either.

Regardless—she might notice his countenance shift as he makes up his mind—and begins to follow the trail. Deeper into the woods—towards that howl—and with cloak and sword both streaming behind him as he moves at a brisk, fluid pace of his own. Watching as much to the sides as ahead though, looking for any sign of the ayakashi. All too familiar with how these sorts of things can go.]

[ Its not the fear and uncertainty before battle–that feeling like a spring ready to propel her forward. It's deep and unsettled, a visceral reaction to the sound of that low bowl that couldn't possibly be made by any animal of this world. But she's thankful at that bit of reassurance, even if it doesn't change much. ]

...I'll watch your back.

[ Focused and quiet, like a whisper at his ear.

The trail twists and winds, and from time to time, he will see the animal darting through the trees, touched by Radiance's light. Leading gen somewhere, but in a way that is indirect and confusing; like the ayakashi wants them to forget the way. Not to lose them, because it wasn't moving as quickly as it had before.

To get them lost.

The brush thickening and the sky growing dark from tree cover, there is a very distinct feeling as they move deeper into the woods. Dark and nauseating with the overwhelming feeling of something wrong, thick and choking like a miasma. The trail growing stronger and– ]

Allen!

[ The only warning he would have would be a sudden pull from her to his left, the sound of rustling leaves and a small trace of purple out of his peripheral vision, before something large charges at him from the left. Ramming into them if given the chance.

Edited 2017-04-19 14:34 (UTC)

[ A darkness thick with wrongness... It's the same sense he gets when looking at an ayakashi. The same as the sense he would get from the black and purple taint of dark matter.

Malice.

And it helps camouflage the wolf from any added sight of his. ]

! [ Crap. He could dodge if it weren't so large, or— ]

[ —go up instead. Up and over its head, gritting his teeth in an irritated grimace as his whips himself over the creature, palm and hilt flat against its broad forehead. Just... have to stay...

..away from the teeth..!

If he manages to or even if he doesn't, a part of his cloak whips out like a ribbon as he reaches the apex of his vault, wrapped securely to a branch in the canopy above and pulling him along. ]

[ And by the skin of his own teeth, Allen manages to avoid being body checked by the larger wolf ayakashi. Skidding to a stop, it whips around to face the tree they were in, jowls raising and a low, irritated growl cutting through the quiet of night.

Once they were secure, there's a small, almost pinched sigh from the girl-now-sword. ]

Of course...

[ A den, why would she expect something else, a ripple of frustration surging through the sword in his hand, her "voice" sounding so very wry. Why would she think that it would be a lone wolf?

So then where was—

This time she doesn't see it with enough time to warn him, a sudden streak of blue as the smaller ayakashi vaults upward with some unholy force, bounding up and over the brush to meet them with teeth bared.

...And just as fast, the hand around her will feel ice cold, a sort of stinging, tingling ache like being plunged into a frozen lake. And an overwhelming feeling:

Sudden, unbridled fear.

It's the only warning he'll get before a flash of bright light surges from the sword in his hand.

Bright. But not at all blinding to him. He can see just fine, surprisingly. Judging from the yelp that comes from the monster plummeting down at them, the ayakashi wasn't as lucky. ]

Edited 2017-06-02 21:15 (UTC)

[ At her "of course" he lets out a heavy breath as well, dropped in a low, balanced crouch on the tree branch and catching said breath for a moment while the larger wolf-ayakashi paces below. ]

It was trying to lead us to the other one the whole time, then.. [ It's far from ideal and this is going to be a hard fight, but he's calm about it. He's had harder fights—they both have, so... ]

!!!

[ Wolves aren't supposed to jump that high.

Allen is stumbling back to avoid the teeth, but it took him by surprise too much and he has no room to maneuver, so—

...light?

A sheer radiance that's almost tangible—blinding to behold and yet not as well. Sharp and almost icy, like what would be a flash of... fear? It felt like Lux, but— ]

[ But there isn't time to question that, the blinded ayakashi is still coming at them—and wide open. And his countenance shifting as he grips the hilt of the blade she's become, he shifts his weight back as well. No time for pomp or a plea for whatever remained of the soul it might have once been. ]

Come on then— [ Bracing, arm drawn back. One hit, he has one hit that he has to do this in or it'll knock them both off.

Not that Allen notices, but the light begins to draw back in as well. Condensing around Lux and the blade she's become. Something still bright, but fiercer. Golden—and broadening her blade. Strengthening—

And striking out then. ]

Rend.

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transitioning into 33!

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/beats chrome book until it lets her tag this

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