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Post by Beelzebibble on Oct 19, 2009 12:45:47 GMT -5
"Hey! Hey, wait up." Tanner turned back to see the professor, Alfred, jogging wetly toward him. One guessed he hadn't quite cleared the gap with one jump, judging by the state of his trousers. Tanner patiently leaned on his cane to allow the shorter man to catch up.
"You... And..." Alfred was breathing heavily. "That guy... was doing magic, right?" He pointed at Tsubota. "You did magic... right? With the stretcher? And that guy's..." (now at Gideon) "...a werewolf, or something? Is that right?"
Before Tanner could reply, Alfred spluttered on. "Because -- I thought I might just be going insane, but going across the river everything just seemed so normal -- except -- except for what I'd just seen, but -- you know? On the raft I felt calm. Sane. And now that just makes me feel more scared than ever."
Tanner regarded this man carefully. Perhaps it might be wiser simply to erase his memory -- all of their memories -- right now and have done with the blithering. On the other hand, the confusion generated by a momentary strike of amnesia would only give rise to more fuss. Anyway Tanner conceded the possibility that at least some of them would prove worthy to retain their m.s of this incident, and there was no need to write this man off as unbefitting that. So Tanner merely said:
"That fleeting calm you found; please hold onto it. Don't let it elude you, sir. Calm is the most helpful and productive of emotions."
Alfred stared. "What, so you're saying -- you're admitting--"
"Admitting? Well, yes, I suppose I'll admit if that's what you'd like. I am a conjurer. The gentleman over there has already declared himself to be a mage, and yes, the larger fellow does indeed appear to be a werewolf. And if I'm not mistaken, there are one or two others in the group who are adopting a more reticent stance about their powers." Tanner smiled. "Right of you to inquire, actually. The sooner we get these things sorted, the better off we'll be."
Not necessarily so simple as that, but it was a nice thing to say, at least.
"But -- how--?"
"Oh it does seem to be a damned coincidence, a truly unusual happenstance," said Tanner, "so many Powers convening without any knowledge of each other. No doubt a primary contributing factor in spurring that Lord of the Lamp bloke to choose this time and place for his little game. For that, then, I suppose I owe you an apology. But then again, perhaps I don't. After all, we have as much need of groceries as you."
He tipped the c. to Alfred and moved back to rejoin the group, leaving the professor to blink and mumble in his wake.
OOC: Contractual immortality for Alfred begins now. I've got half a mind to pick him up for an Ishkabibble cameo.
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Post by {WW}BetaBloodWolf7 on Oct 19, 2009 22:06:43 GMT -5
"I-I'll be fine." Alyssa replied with a slight stutter. Although others seemed have enjoyed the ride, for Alyssa the experience had been less than pleasurable. Since the trip had began, she felt like something bad was going to happen. Something that would be made all the worse if she continued to be around so many others.
" I don't think I'll stay with the kids though. I... I think I'll just rest up for now. The ride over wasn't all that good for me." She told him, hoping that it would allow her to at least trail behind the group.
Thinking of the rest of the group, she began to look around for other familiar faces. She thought she saw Emily once, but she disappeared into the group before she could make sure it was her. Mr. Tanner was on the outside of the group, talking to someone who was vaguely familiar to Alyssa, but when she tried to recall his name she found that she was unable to.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Nov 1, 2009 19:36:13 GMT -5
"What about food?" Meera approached Tsubota, leaning in discretely.
"We don't have any?" Tsubota turned to face her, while still keeping up a good hiking pace. The woman, evidently in poor footwear for such things, was struggling to keep up.
"I thought you would have known that."
"I didn't really, but I had assumed we'd have enough food. You know, we came from a grocery store, and all..."
"We don't have anything. You didn't really notice?"
"I'm sorry, I'm not used to travelling with a group like this. My usual travelling buddies..." Tsubota jerked a thumb towards the hirsute biker. "Joseph, he and I are good at scrounging up food. And the other one, he can conjure stuff... So this is totally new." He looked at Meera's stressed face, tears welling at the corners of her eyes.
"But I'll do my best. Once we find a good spot to rest, I'll find something. Even if all the fruits and plants around here are poisonous, I can purify them myself."
"That'd be good, I guess..." Meera drifted away, letting herself fall to a more natural pace. -------- "Emily?" The woman astride the scooter jostled over the rough terrain, the motor complaining. She wasn't pushing its limits, but even so, it wasn't built for going off-roading. The children, at least, were enjoying the ride, Billy clinging tightly to the woman's shoulders, and Carol, sitting in her lap.
"Yeah, Miss Tuica?" Emily had been knitting together two remants of the ropes as she walked, clearly not focused on the ground before her. She'd stumble on occasion, but before it could really affect her, she'd stabilize once more.
"Where'd you get trained on throwing stuff like that?"
"Why do you want to know?" Emily's tone was still kind, but her face was slightly blank.
"Well, it's just... You know. All I have is my hands, really. Let's be honest about that."
"Yes?"
"And I want to be more independent. Stronger. I don't want to be 'the weak one' in a group. I've had that too much, already, in my life time."
"Hmmm..."
"So I was wondering if you could teach me how to throw like you can, right? Or at least, maybe, tell me somebody who can? If I could learn that, I... I think I'd feel a lot better about myself. More accomplished, right?"
"Mm-hm." Emily finished knitting together the pieces of fiber, and stepped next to the protesting vehicle. She leaned past Tuica, and handed the fabrication to Carol. It was a doll, with a knotted head. A few long strands of greenery had formed hair and a dress for the figure. The little girl squealed with delight, and quickly set to bouncing her new toy all around.
"I'll tell you, Miss Tuica. When we get home, you can have my number, and we'll sort this whole throwing thing out, okay?" Emily smiled slightly, and cocked her head. "Well, you know. The throwing thing gets sorted out. Not sorting and throwing things out. Though that's pretty handy, too."
"Thanks." Tuica grinned, and goosed the accelerator. Her scooter whined more loudly, but began to pull to the front of the pack again.
"Hyuuuhhh..." Emily yawned loudly, stretching her arms over her head. A black feather was drifting down from the sky above... She reached out, and tried to grab it. Her fingers closed on air. Instantly, she glanced around her. The rest of the group was to either side, most of them in front of her, but a few lagging behind. None of them were near enough for this to be their concern right now.
She spun on her heal, kicking up a clod of dirt. Lurching for a moment as she regained her balance with flailing arms, she then sprinted back towards the lagging individuals. She threw both hands into the air.
"Stop! Don't keep walking, stay here!"
"What's going on back ther-" Tsubota said, but was cut off by Joseph saying something rather impolite. A feather the size of a tugboat crashed into the ground, sending up a wave of dust. A few members of the group were still on the other side, but it seemed that Emily had herded them away.
As the titanic black plume hit, Emily found herself caught on the air from the impact. It scooped her up, flinging her away from the impact. She twisted in midair, catching herself on her feet. She braced as the wind blew around her, flipping her ponytail about wildly.
"What on earth was that?" Elkland's mouth barely let the words past his lips, clearly more distracted by the gigantic feather than a concern for where it had come from.
"I don't really know, but I'm guessing it came from that thing up there..." Emily said without facing Elk, her hand shooting skywards again. She pointed up, to a now rapidly falling pitch silouette. Its movement was like a meteor, too swift for the untrained eye to even hope of tracking. About a hundred feet in the air, two huge flaps extended from its sides, and it banked off. The wind hammered down on the group, knocking Bethany to her knees, and staggering most of the other people. Gideon regarded the events with a growl in the back of his throat, his immense muscles rippling tensely.
The figure's two wings were wide enough to blot out the sky, from tip to tip. It fluttered them once, slowing its descent, and then hit the ground with two immense pillars. Talons the size of pickup trucks, at the end of toes like scaled silos laying along the earth, clenched the ground.
It opened its beak, and let loose a deafening cry.
"Roc?" Joseph asked, still seemingly rather nonplussed.
"Not a roc. Too BIG." Tsubota began dashing towards the laggers in the group, closest to the nightmare bird. Licks of white flame glowed around his hands, dragging in the wind of the creature's flutterings.
"Can't miss a shot like that." Joseph raised his handgun, and emptied a clip at the beast. He was near the head of their caravan, probably a hundred feet from the tailing individuals, but the beast was beyond huge. Each eye was the size of a back yard swimming pool, and indeed, seemed like the best point to take a shot at.
The creature gave no sign of fright or pain, cocking its head. The shots must have went wide... Or, an alternative that Joseph didn't want to consider, had failed to even mar the creature's eye. Consdering that the beast stood what seemed to be almost two hundred feet high, it was a possibility.
It cocked its head again, bringing an eye to bear over the laggers, and then pecked. Emily cartwheeled aside, as the juggernaut's beak dug a furrow deep enough to bury a man. She continued the movement, twisting into a double handspring. The beast drew back, readying to strike again. The civilians had begun to scramble as best they could, but several were still almost directly beneath the bird.
OOC: When action hits Shrinking, it HITS.
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Post by hermes on Nov 2, 2009 5:07:00 GMT -5
Prime ran past Emily, and grabbed one of the birds giant, bony nose holes. He whooped loudly as its head whipped up and around, half in glee, half in pure terror. He landed on the top of the birds head with a dull thump, and rode the bird as it came around for another pass at the group.
Something snapped inside him, and his gun started glowing. More specifically, the chamber of his gun started glowing.
Prime climbed down onto its neck, at the base of its skull.
"Don't care about the eye's, don't care about....anywhere else. How about in the brain stem, ya damn Titanfeather!" Prime yelled, and unloaded three glowing bolts of energy into the birds brainstem. A shrill shriek and a barrel roll sent him flying through the midst of his companions.
He came to a sharp stop as he slammed against a tree, winded from his insane excursion. "Right-o, just...call me wind-runner," Prime said, gasping for air. He gave Emily the thumbs up. "Anyone have a missile launcher?" Prime asked, getting his legs under him again.
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Post by {WW}BetaBloodWolf7 on Nov 4, 2009 2:27:05 GMT -5
Alyssa had been fortunate enough to be a little bit away from the bird when it started attacking people. She stood completely still as she watched it nearly impale Emily with its beak, and continued to remain in place as Prime charged the bird and was eventually flung into a nearby tree.
It wasn't until someone trying to run away from the scene ran into her and knocked her off her feet that she regained her senses.
She turned and began to run when she felt a sharp pain in both arms. When she felt she was far enough away, she rolled up her sleeves and examined her arms.
Once more an angry red began creeping down her arms. It'd been years since she saw it, but she knew what it meant just the same.
Fighting back unshed tears, she began walking back toward the giant bird and the few that had remained around to fight it.
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Post by Beelzebibble on Nov 4, 2009 21:50:28 GMT -5
The wind under the massive creature's wings swept Charles Tanner face-down to the ground, where he wheezed amid the dirt that his fall, and the fall of the figure next to him, had kicked up. Blinking, he put it together that the f. next to him was the young Chinese woman. Xue. Her face was contorted into a mask of sheer terror. To be fair Tanner supposed he probably didn't look a model of stoic resolve himself at this point.
The bird had swooped around to pursue another target, which gave Tanner enough of a pause for one of his most oft-used conjurations. Nearly a reflex at this point, to be honest. He reached out a rumpled sleeve and traced a rectangle on the ground with one finger. A single jewel on his cane glimmed briefly. Though the outline was rushed and sloppy, the form materialized into a perfect, albeit enormous, deck of playing cards: each card had the proportions of a book.
Before Xue's disbelieving eyes, Tanner took hold of the deck and rolled over onto his back. A shame that his jacket was taking such abuse. He tossed the deck into the air.
As the cards fell back to earth, they fanned out into a circle which curved into a dome perhaps eight feet in diameter as they landed around Tanner and Xue. The cards were interlocked in a triangular grid, reminiscent of the edifices built by children and the exquisitely bored. However, Tanner presumed this dome would have a bit more structural stability than the typical house of cards.
The color and motion had attracted attention. The next thing Tanner witnessed, in the spaces betwen the cards, was the bird's massive beak pitching down from the blue, directly toward him and Xie. Then an almost metallic sound resonated through the dome of cards. The bird screeched and receded. The cards held.
Xue, whose mask of s. t. had contorted again to include some curiosity as well, reached out to touch one of the cards forming the top of the dome. "By all means," Tanner muttered. She was in no danger of accidentally dislodging a card. They wouldn't fall until he allowed them to.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Jan 12, 2010 1:25:53 GMT -5
“Everybody, get away from that creature!” Tsubota charged past Emily and Prime, and skidded to a stop behind one of the peculiar trees. He caught at it with his fingertips, and spun around behind it. The ground was shaking from the footsteps of the immense avian, the tree shuddering like a sapling shook by a furious ape. Tsubota's hands were shaking, only partially because of the giant's tremors
He put one upon his breast, the flames stabilizing for a moment before sinking into him.
“Odonata,” Tsubota felt the warmth spreading outwards from his heart, running with his blood. It was like electricity, tingling, touching each nerve and making them feel alive. It came up his neck, feeling almost like a sip of a fizzy drink.
“And...” The mage prepared for the most potent aspect of the spell. Mana extended to either side of his face, shunting the light towards his eyes. If one was to look at him, it'd seemed almost as if his eyes had been stretched to wrap around his temples.
“One...” He glanced around the trunk. The bird was still hammering away at the fortress, the impact alone enough to send boulders and small trees tumbling away from the shelter. He had to trust that Tanner knew what he was doing. It seemed that he was quite the competent Power, but against a monstrosity like that, Tsubota didn't know if even his leader could have faced it on even ground.
“Two... Uh...” He swallowed. It was a gulp, the kind that hurt going down. A few tears formed in the corners of his eyes, looking like streaks of silver in the distortion.
“THREE!” No movement. His legs didn't want to listen. He didn't want to listen. Even with the magic enhancements he had placed upon himself, there was better than even odds that the creature out there would kill hi-
BOOM! There was a flurry of black shreds as something exploded against the side of the bird, blowing through its feathers. The blast didn't seem to mar its flesh, but it did catch the beast's attention. It turned, facing Joseph, and opened its wings.
“Move, now!” Joseph bellowed, clearly to those that were still straggling. Even if Tanner's fortress held, he'd eventually be at the mercy of the predator. Its efforts had managed to open a trench deep enough to bury somebody in, partially extending under the cover of the dome itself.
If he didn't act quickly, the bird would be moving onto the others in the group... Twin coronas of white light exploded around Tsubota's hands, motes breaking free and wafting about him. He jumped from his hiding spot, and sprinted directly at the nearest talon. He avoided the claw, and, extending his arms in front of him, slammed into the gigantic toe.
Two crescents of light exploded from the points he hit, similar to the one that had cleanly removed Prime's arm earlier. They faded in unison, leaving two gashes the length of signposts. Each one just barely penetrated the skin, leaving a tiny bloody spot.
“If that doesn't-” Tsubota was cut off by a bellow from the above, almost like some kind of shrieking roar. The bird had felt it, at least somewhat...
The immense feet immediately lifted into the air, and a moment later crashed down again. The creature had hopped back, easily clearing the distance of a football field without any real effort. At least, it had moved away from the group... Tsubota cocked his head, and immediately threw himself backwards. He caught himself in a handspring, and tumbled away a moment before the enormous beak hammered the earth. The impact threw Tsubota from his feet, leaving him to only barely catch himself. He tilted his head again, observing his hunter. It pulled up, swinging the beak upwards at him. A vision of being flung into the air and then snapped down like a morsel, and Tsubota threw himself to the side.
The wind of the bird's head passing scooped the Summoner up, and hurled him backwards with incredible force. He went head-over-heels twice, and landed roughly on his back. The air left his lungs as he hit, leaving him choking for breath.
Tsubota didn't have any illusions, really. He wasn't a trained fighter like most other Summoners. He couldn't call out Aki Kumo in front of the civilians. All he had were the handful of white magic spells he had picked up before being sent north, and his five years of practice as a cheerleader. It wasn't exactly like he was going to win a battle against a leviathan that would dwarf skyscrapers if it was in the city...
Cheerleading- Tsubota saw it in his mind. A flash of purple, that easy smile...
He was on his feet again. Even if there were a hundred creatures like this, he wouldn't die here. He had to get home, get to see her again. He would not die.
“Come on!” Tsubota threw his hands out to either side, pearlescent lights errupting like flames from a stovetop. The behemoth obliged, its immeasurable head swinging down from the skies like some manner of divine punishment.
“Lampyris!” Tsubota clenched his eyes shut, extending his palms above his head. The gathered magic throbbed once, and then exploded. Even with his head down and eyes shut, everything went white for the caster, and then red. His eyes felt like they were on fire, an instant headache roaring into his skull. The bird vocalized again, this time a higher, rougher call. Its momentum was broken, and the swing of its beak fell short of Tsubota by a buslength.
He opened his eyes, blinking. Even in the sunlight, he couldn't make out more than the blurry shape of the immense bird. He blinked again. His vision still wasn't clearing. Something shifted, and there was the sound of an onrushing wave.
Tsubota, unable to perceive his opponent, was slammed into by the side of the bird's head as it shook back and forth, trying to clear its eyes. The youth was catapulted skywards, a sick crunch accompanying the blow. He had just enough time to take mental inventory, Eight ribs shattered... Left collarbone snapped..., before slamming into the earth again.
He rolled, unable to even slow himself in the least. Each rotation, he hit his ribs again with an agonizing impact. He couldn't think straight. The whole world was just pain and blurred shapes-
Tsubota slammed into a tree trunk with a heavy thud, and slumped down. He groaned slightly, trying to raise his head and figure out what exactly had happened.
The bird, seemingly having regained its sight, turned once more towards the others in the group.
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Post by hermes on Jan 12, 2010 7:46:16 GMT -5
Prime slid to a stop next to Tsubota, quickly feeting for a pulse. The man was barely concious.
"Jesus christ this is just fucked isn't it?" Prime said, gently probing the man's ribs, apologizing when he found the broken ones and caused him pain.
"Alright, I'm going to turn you on your uninjured side. This is going to hurt, but if any of those ribs punctured a lung, I'd rather you coughed up blood than drowned in it." Prime said, gently rolling the man onto his uninjured side.
He nodded once, nothing further he could do, and turned back to the bird.
A light swirling of blue fluttered around his feet, the whites of his eye's turned red. Blood raged in Prime's skull, leaving him dim to the world. Something, broke through a barrier inside of him, flooding through him in a massive wave of sudden understanding.
A wave of power burst from Prime, rustling the tree's, his weapon glowing azure as he aimed it for the massive avian. His aura picked up, blazing brighter until it was the only thing the giant bird could see, allowing the rest of the group to move in relative safety.
"One heroic act deserves another," Prime growled over his shoulder at Tsubota, before he opened fire.
Large and quick, rapid shots of azure energy pounded the bird. They did little more than singe its feathers, and the impact was only enough to stagger the beast, but Prime's snarl just grew wider, and he tortured himself to keep his strength, keep the aura he didn't understand open, and protect a man who'd just given his all to try and protect him.
OOC: I'm...not really doing any damage here. Its more of an impressive, look really bad ass, but is mainly just a distraction thing. If you want to turn it into something a little more heavy hitting Lee, thats all you. This is nuts though, I thought this was suppost to be like low low powered. I think there's only one more character who stands a vague chance of hurting this thing. I'd say we could kill it if we worked together....but both Prime and Tsubota are now critically injured. Hopefully Tsubota can use white magic to heal himself.
Now, if we are otherwise f*cked, I'd suggest someone somehow passes Prime a sword. He's not exactly a gun specialist.
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Post by {WW}BetaBloodWolf7 on Feb 8, 2010 2:24:49 GMT -5
Alyssa watched as the bird pummeled Tsubota and Prime and flung them both out of it's immediate reach. Part of her wanted to dash over to them, to help them in any way that she could. Despite this desire, she continued to walk towards the gigantic bird.
This is the best way to help them, she mentally told herself. The only way to help them.
The bird screeched and gazed upon it's fleeing prey, then looked down at Alyssa and screeched again, causing her to stop. Her hair had been blown back behind her shoulders, revealing her frightened, yet determined, face.
She felt a sudden sharp pain in her left wrist, but firmly kept her gaze on the bird which was now charging towards her.
A force suddenly burst from her arms, leaving deep gouges into the ground in front of her. Another burst cut into the bird, covering it's body in large cuts.
The bird, now sensing how much danger it was in, leaped back away from Alyssa, screeched at her again, then flew away from the group.
Alyssa stood still and watched the bird fly away. Her whole body pulsed with pain, and a ringing sound filled her ears, but a smile still spread across her face.
They're safe... and I finally helped someone...
She then fell forward, and finally caught sight of her wrists. There were deep gouges in them, some of which extended up to her elbow. Her left hand looked like it had nearly been severed. She knew she was bleeding a lot, perhaps even too much to get back up. Her vision grew hazy, and everything slowly grew darker.
"At least... they're safe..." she said, then everything went black.
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Post by hermes on Feb 8, 2010 22:52:33 GMT -5
Prime stood over Alyssa, looking down at her with no small amount of respect. He wished he still had his other arm, so he could at least try to measure up to the girl. He could feel something awakening in him, from a long slumber, but he was still unsure, and he had only a pistol to channel it with.
"I'll take care of you, until you wake..." Prime muttered, awkwardly, gently slinging the girl over his shoulders. He walked calmly to Tsubota, and nodded respectfully to him.
"My power is newly awakened, I recognize that yours is not. Do you have any tips that I could use to focus my, uh, light projectiles, into something more focused and damaging?" Prime asked quietly.
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Post by Beelzebibble on Mar 11, 2010 23:03:42 GMT -5
Charles Tanner lost all patience.
"Oh, good Lord -- heavens, now -- she is bleeding, you thundering git -- Can you possibly bring yourself to stop playing the hero and put her down before she..." He had to prattle on a bit longer before he could get Prime to set the unconscious Alyssa back down onto the ground. A swift prod with the jewelled cane was sufficient to usher the one-armed man away, although Tanner did nothing to stymie the approach of the mother, Mrs. Starre, who with her children had rushed in to kneel at Alyssa's side.
"God, the poor thing," the mother said.
"Do me a great service," Tanner said, twirling a finger to form several circles in the air, "and help me in applying these..." For rolls of bandages, striped red and white vaguely like candy canes, had materialized where the tip of his finger had traced. An odd nuance, the coloration. He hadn't envisioned it. Ah, well, there were small surprises in his art.
Mrs. Starre showed obvious reluctance to take her hands off the shoulders of her children, but after another look at Alyssa, she nodded quickly and accepted a roll from Tanner. Tanner couldn't blame her for deciding that Alyssa was worthy of her care. The girl had done quite well by them all.
"What did she even do," asked the daughter, who had shifted to clutching the mother's leg.
The son had detached himself fully, though, and was wheeling in place with his head back, grinning up at the sky, the seemingly impossibly large and looming dome overhead. "She was so cool," he answered, thus clarifying the matter.
Tanner pushed his hat back to glance up at the sky himself, really more to take care that the son hadn't spotted anything else coming down for them out of the blue, before resuming work. "I should say she seemed to have harnessed the wind itself as a weapon," he muttered, "although at obvious cost to her own well-being. They're a lot who have it rough, those whose Powers are regulated by that kind of toll."
The mother, Mrs. Starre, didn't necessarily seem to have followed that any more closely than her children, but rather than asking further, she leaned back on her heels and gave the bandaged Alyssa a caring frown. "You're okay, sweetie," she said firmly. More of a command than an indicative statement it seemed to Tanner.
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