thenearshore | [closed] a special request

Who: Yaone and Sakon Shima
When: April 25th
Where: The Near Shore; top of an office building in Tokyo
What: Prayer #14 - A Special Request. Yaone and Sakon go after a few large ayakashi causing a rash of suicide attempts in an office building.

Warnings: Violence, references to suicide.

[Yaone's still not used to them - the whispers of He Xiangu's followers on the wind. She's not accustomed to experiencing emotions that aren't her own through the bond that ties gods to their shinki, either. Even so, she's studied the materials she's been given with as much care as she can to prepare herself for the task ahead. She has not so much as seen an ayakashi with her own eyes before yet she's come to slay the ones troubling the workers in this office building.

At least, she's dressed to fight in a long-sleeved shirt and pants to protect her skin with her long hair pulled back in its usual ponytail. Yaone doesn't appear to be armed though she's had the foresight to bring her medical bag full of treatment supplies, bandages, and holy water. She's also come stocked with some explosives, carefully chosen with the intent of reducing collateral damage to the building or its personnel.

Yaone is about as prepared as anyone could be for a threat they have no experience whatsoever facing. For this reason, she seems confident and reassuring enough as she turns to Sakon with a smile.]

Are you ready? I believe that we will find what we are looking for on the roof. That is where people keep trying to jump from.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, no problem.

[Sakon is dressed for a fight as well, wearing the clothes he was wearing when he first arrived in this place. He has his swords as well, even though they won't do all that much good against ayakashi. It's more for the sense of security than anything else. It's good to know he has something to fall back on if his rather mediocre spellwork isn't good enough.]

They say idiots love high places so I should be fine.

I am glad.

[There is a very slight hint of a frown when Sakon refers to himself as an idiot but this is neither the time or the place to lecture him about different types of intelligence. There is a threat beyond the door leading out onto the roof. Yaone has to remain focused on that; lives depend on it.]

I do not know what to expect out there so I will be counting on your guidance, Sakon. I, too, will also do my best.

[She's not a natural fighter, after all. It's something that Yaone has to really work at, even against opponents she is familiar with.]

[He rolls his shoulders and hops up and down a few times, full of way too much energy as usual. It's strange, though, knowing that the action is something he's done countless times before when anticipating a fight. And usually he got scolded for it. People let him off really easy here.]

If there's one thing I know, it's fighting! Kinda wish I didn't have to use spells so much, but at least I can manage the basics.

[For a shinki who's been around here as long as he has, he really SHOULD know more than a basic borderline, but it's taken him this long to master that much.]

I guess you haven't seen too many ayakashi yet, but you'll be fine. I, uh, haven't fought too many myself, but you hit anything enough and it's gotta go down, right?

[Given Yaone's charge back home, she's accustomed to being around others with way too much energy. Just as she does with Lady Lirin back home, she simply takes it into stride. She looks thoughtful, considering his word.]

I have studied the Rend spell. I believe that I undersand how it works but I have never performed it. This will be my first time. I have not seen an ayakashi but I have heard that they can take a variety of forms. Touching them directly can be harmful but I do not mind doing so if I must.

[She's faster, stronger, and sturdier than any human and her claws can tear through flesh just as well as any other youkai's despite her calm, gentle nature.]

I suppose that the first step is to see exactly what it is that we are dealing with.

[Yaone moves to open the door.]

Yeah, pretty much

[He probably should offer to go first, but watching her back isn't a bad idea, either. Just because the ayakashi is supposed to be on the roof, that doesn't mean it can't be anywhere else.]

My guess is big and gross with a bunch of eyeballs. That's usually how it goes.

[As she opens the door, he can look right over the top of her head to see out on the rooftop. It looks like it's pretty quiet out there, but it's that really unsettling sort of quiet that really shouldn't count as quiet at all.]

It's giving me the heebie jeebies, that's for sure.

[Big, gross, and with lots of eyes certainly sounds unpleasant. But the sooner it's destroyed, they sooner they can leave.]

It is unsettling, is it not? From what I have gathered, it is a common response to their presence.

[There's an uncomfortable air to the rooftop as Yaone sets up, enough to give her goosebumps. She deposits her backpack of medical supplies by door, far enough out of the way for it not to be an obstacle during combat but in close enough proximity to be easily within reach afterward. Yaone takes a few ball-shaped explosives out of her fanny pack, holding them between fingers with practiced ease.]

Something is here but I do not see it yet. Do you?

Nah...

[But he's looking, quickly scanning every corner of the rooftop. He may be a huge coward when it comes to ghosts and easily flustered by a lot of things, but it seems like he's 100% focused and on guard when it comes to a combat situation.

Well, at least it starts that way.]

But...

[His head tips to the side, like a dog trying to place a sound.]

I hear it, I think. Kinda slithery, like it's spreading itself out. Sounds big. I wonder if it just scares people right off the roof...

[Yaone's fought in tandem with Dokugakuji enough to shift her focus to where her partner's isn't. While Sakon's focused on listening, she starts scanning the area with her eyes, trying to spot any visible sign of what could be causing the sound.]

Maybe. I do not see anyone else on the roof right now. I do not think that we need to worry about anyone but ourselves at this moment.

[As soon as she finishes speaking, she catches a glimpse of some sort of black tentacle creeping up just over the edge of the roof.]

These ayakashi... Can they cling to buildings? If so, there may be waiting to do that or pull them over the edge.

[Sakon shudders at that, but he still tries to follow her line of sight to see what might have prompted her to say that.]

You think they're not jumping at all and that thing's just grabbing them and chucking them off?!

[NOT GOOD!

It takes a few more seconds before he sees the tentacle sneak up again, creeping forward like it's feeling its way around.]

Well, if it's gonna do that, we might wanna come up with a better strategy...ugggh, that's the part I'm bad at...

A strategy...?

[Yaone echoes, biting her lip and glancing down briefly. The last time she had come up with a battle strategy on her own, she had greatly underestimated her opponent, failed miserably, and wound up needing to be rescued. But if Sakon is bad at strategy, then that leaves her.

Uncertainty surfaces in her expression as she looks once more to the ayakashi. It certainly seems looks like it's searching for prey. Hmm.]

Maybe it is. Do you see how that tentacle is moving? I think that it might be searching for its prey. We may be able to use that to our advantage somehow but I do not know how. If one of us lured it onto the roof, the other could strike or stun it perhaps.

[Her lack of real combat experience with this opponent is once again proving to be a problem.]

I am fast and armed with bombs. I could use them to blind or distract them somehow. I brought bottles of holy water as well though they are in unbreakable containers. I had thought to use them to wash away blight if necessary.

[Can she even be of any help in this situation? Something must be done but she is simply unsure of how to proceed on her own.]

However, I will need to transform you into your vessel form in order to Rend the creature.

[She's mostly thinking out loud, distantly hoping for some sort of guidance. Really, Yaone had been counting on Sakon's experience to guide her.]

Uhhh...uh...

[The longer they talk, the more likely it is that the thing is going to hear them. Well, if it can hear things. They don't know that for sure.]

Getting it up here should be step one, yeah. I'm not too hot with spells, but I can do a basic barrier pretty okay. We could use that to kinda move it where we want it.

[But where is that?]

If we knew how big it was, that'd be a real help...

We need more information, then.

[So with her typical direct manner in situations like this, Yaone simply starts walking toward the edge. To be fair, she's being somewhat careful in her advance but still winds up alarmingly close to where the tentacle is feeling around. Depending on the ayakashi's size, Yaone could possibly be grabbed and thrown off herself.

But one of them needs to try to get a better look and she's the youkai of the two. It makes sense in her own mind, at least.]

[closed] a special request

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