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

[ 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.

[ And she wouldn't answer him even if he tried. In fact, the shinki's presence is startlingly quiet; still there, but muted against those things going bump in the night around them.

Even if the wolf ayakashi hadn't been blinded by the sudden flash of luminescence, the monster has committed to this path. And for all it knows, that light blinded them as well.

It never gets a chance to figure that out one way or another. Jaws open and ready to snap down on both god and shinki both, instead of skin and bone, the ayakashi gets a taste of holy light before being rent in two. Cutting cleanly through the ayakashi, the creature shudders before its very presence explodes out in a billow of miasma before finally dissipating to shimmering nothingness.

The light around them fading to a faint glow, it might seem like the two would get some kind of respite— ]

[ Before the tree they're in lurches back, wood whining and cracking as something knocks into it with the full force of a snarling, frothing freight train.

One hit.

Then another, almost immediately after. Both in the same spot, with the intent of taking the whole thing down. Which it just might, with another hit like that. ]

[ The silence is unusual certainly, loud almost in the wake of the ayakashi's destruction. Is she—he can't turn to see her expression like this, check to see if she's alright, but the feeling that's coming from blade in his hand, so quiet it's almost like she's faded in on herself...

He shifts for a moment, adjusting his grip and looking down to the blade at his side.

...Lux? ]

[ He doesn't have time to ask though. Not before he's nearly knocked clear off his feet and isn't only by virtue of being incredibly tenacious with good balance. What the—

The whole tree??? ]

Like a battering ram...? [ There's a moderately... soul-dead, are you serious way in which he says that, staring down as the determined wolf backs up again to gain speed. As if to say oh look,

it's Just My Luck. ]

Edited 2017-06-03 03:09 (UTC)

[ Yes. The whole tree.

It's debatable if ayakashi have thought processes beyond malice, hatred and hunger, but at this point it seems like rending the first wolf ayakashi might have put the other one into a frenzied rage.

Backing up one more time, its "fur" bristling as the malice-filled miasma grows thicker still, it lets out one deep, furious yowl before rushing forward and ramming the tree one more time full-force. And for a moment all is peacefully silent, until—

CRAAAAAAACK.

Balance and ~~lack of~~ luck (probably) can't save you now! Timber!! ]

[ This is why he can't have nice things.

Stay??? Go??? Ride it out/be crushed??!

Yelping when the tree suddenly begins to give way, Allen hesitates until it begins to pitch—and pick up speed. Going it is then.]

Edited 2017-06-03 03:47 (UTC)

[ Jumping off, Crown Clown billows as it catches the wind—and another ribbon shoots out form his wrist to wrap to a neighboring branch for leverage. Staying in the treetops is just a sodding awful idea right now, so even if the ground isn't much safer...

He swings downward to drop neatly in a crouch, with Lux as Kouki still in hand and held at his side—and raises his head in the direction the ayakashi last was. Expression sobering, eyes narrowed slightly as they adjust to the darkness and the left seeks.

...here they can fight. ]

Edited 2017-06-03 03:47 (UTC)

[ And as the tree comes crashing down and Allen lands both of them in a crouch, the large purple beast seems to have made an all too timely exit. Judging from the crackle of malevolence hanging heavy in the air, however, it can't have gotten far.

Unlike the other ayakashi, however, this one seems less inclined to cover most of its tracks, a purple trail of mist weaving listlessly deeper into the woods. ]

...Are you all right?

[ She speaks! Although it's somewhat hesitant and soft, like someone forcing themselves to focus, or to not be heard. Like someone spooked. ]

[ So quietly...?

Some of the sternness slips from his expression as he looks down to the sword in his hand. To be replaced with concern instead, though his attention is still primarily on the ayakashi and the purple trail disappearing into the woods. Did it really leave...? Trying to get them to fall into another ambush? ]

I'm okay. [ He really is but that isn't the point..! It's still dangerous and it could double back on them at any moment, but should he let her form revert? Was something wrong? ]

Lux, are you...?

I'm glad.

[ Message received, and denied. It's almost terse the way she cuts him off at the chase, those two words coming out too quickly for everything to be fine just with that.

The cold ache gone from his hand, in its stead is the ever present light of her presence, although greatly diminished. ]

...Sorry. I don't know what happened back there. Something about these ayakashi—

[ This isn't like me. She almost says in frustration, but bites it back. Not that she could hide that from him, not in this state. So instead, after a moment of silence, she speaks again. ]

I couldn't see which way it went. Staying here is just asking for another ambush, but we're at a disadvantage no matter what we do.

[ Is she apologizing...? But she seems mad, too. Frustrated. Off.

(But Lux... they defeated it.)

He's a bit bewildered, hesitating before he responds. His fingertips are numb... that light, it had felt cold at first, even through Crown Clown. Was that why?

He looks in the direction the ayakashi departed, silent for a moment. Shoulders back, chin lifting. ]

I know. [ And he does close his eyes and sigh in some resignation then. Haaah, no, it's true... He's used to this.

Existing as bait to lure out monsters. ]

It's alright.

[ She's glad for that, but as far as her own contribution...

It was involuntary. The fear, and her sudden reaction. And even if she's begun to calm down, there's this queasy, wrong sort of feeling in the pit of her stomach. Frustrated doesn't even begin to describe it, doesn't quite do this feeling justice.

But lingering in that feeling was deadly right now, in far too many ways, and the shinki tries to force that cold, worrying feeling out, for the time being. And there were more pressing matters. Like why the ayakashi would act so erratically, doing everything it could to knock them out of the tree only to run off again? Why not just try an assault from above, like— ]

...

[ That might be it. The way it's acting... ]

...Let me revert back, and use Crown Clown to stay out of sight in the trees.

[ Her voice like steel, that note of apprehension from before is gone. If her theory is correct— ]

And be ready to call me back when I tell you.

[ Even if it's with a surprised blink, he'll do so immediately as he was already torn about if he should keep her in her weapon form; it's safer like that for both of them and the only way to truly exorcise an ayakashi, but if she's unsettled...

He gives a smooth flick of his wrist, like holding his hand out, palm up. ]

Revert, Lux.

[ However... ]

Edited 2017-06-03 18:54 (UTC)

[ If she thought that meant he was agreeing to the full plan she's going to be mistaken. Given the instant she materializes again, well—

He's a bit animated. ]

Stay out of sight??

[ No!! No he absolutely will not!! Not to let her be the bait!! ]

[ Oh good, they were on the same page— ]

[ Or not, apparently, judging from the near 180 he takes as soon as she materializes in front of her.

Letting out a long, somewhat exasperated sigh, Lux puts a hand on one hip, leaning to that side. If you were going to gripe, then do it while she's still a sword, so they don't make a scene!! ]

We need to surprise it before—

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