. all you have's your axe to grind . closed

[shikomizue]

Who: Takasugi Shinsuke (shikomizue) & "Friends" | Closed
What: Catch All For April-May-June
When: Over April / May / June
Where: Mostly Wyver, some Thesa and Olympia
Warning(s): alcohol + graphic violence + bang + will edit as needed

[ closed starters in the comments ]

Comments

[originallutece]

[The same black substance that had pinned Takasugi to the wall a month ago swirls around Rosalind's hands. She's panting, worn out and exhausted, and her head snaps as a sword slides past her. For one horrifying moment she thinks it was meant for her, but--

No. The creature, and her nose wrinkles as the stench of innards floats up towards them. It's no worse than anything else around here, but being so close makes her nauseous.

Belatedly, she looks over at her rescuer. And what a sight she makes: her sclera are black, her irises a vivid electric blue that stands out sharply. The energy in her hands writhes and coils, twisting around her fingers and groping her wrists, but she doesn't seem bothered.

Slowly, she lets the power drain away. The blackness in her gaze fades; her hands loosen and become clear. Soon it's Madam Lutece, human and ordinary, standing before him once more.]

To find a way out of the city.

[Her voice is calm, if not tense with seriousness. But there's none of the terror that surrounds them, nor the panic. She's levelheaded even now (though god knows her mind swirls with questions).]

[shikomizue]

[She isn't left facing his back for long; as Takasugi darted past, he recognized the crackling magic traveling in its erratic circuit. The pain she'd delivered with such an inexperienced hand has faded far enough that he doesn't experience it again.

But he remembers the anger.

He turns with eyes wide, sword raised, still coated in viscera, to slice that damn hand off of her entirely.

Black eyes, the visage of a demon - he doesn't mind seeing her like that. Empowered by something he can't wait to destroy. Had she lingered in hellish form a moment longer, he might have followed through with his impulse.

Instead, he swings his sword to strip it of shreds of the creature's entrails.] To... the forest?

You'll die there, too. How long can you keep that up? [A nod to her hands, they appear pale and brittle.]

[originallutece]

As long as I need to.

[Which isn't actually a lie. Endurance isn't her problem when it comes to this power. Deliberately she takes a few steps back, not trusting him.]

And what's your plan, exactly?

[shikomizue]

[Of course she'd say that, all confidence when there's nothing at her neck.

Takasugi doesn't pursue her guarded step; traveling as a pair doesn't necessarily guarantee either of them added safety.

They're just as much a threat to each other as they are to everything around them.]

Survive. [Dull - it's just that simple.]

But I'm not content to run and cower. [Like her, implied.]

[originallutece]

Then tell me your plan instead of passive-aggressively insinuating mine isn't as clever.

[Survive isn't much of an answer, after all. Rosalind glances around again, her mouth pursing. The chaos is growing worse; soon they'll be in as much danger of being trampled as anything else.]

[shikomizue]

[Divulging the plan inherently includes revealing the problem. Which, at it's core, is the dragon - just like everyone else's blight - but he'd been comfortable on Thesa when the calamity had begun.

And come down to check in with an idiot on the ground.

Now he's stuck, twenty-four hours of chaos before he can return to sanctuary among the stars.]

Thesa. [Not entirely forthright, but too much can be gleaned from even this much. He won't elaborate.]

[originallutece]

[She watches him for a long few seconds, then jerks her head in a nod.]

In the meantime, then . . . shelter ought to be a priority. Somewhere a bit more isolated.

[She doesn't have quite so long to wait as he does, but she has a bit of time before her twenty-four hour limit expires. So they're sticking together for this, she's determined, because better the enemy you know, so on and so forth.]

[shikomizue]

[No goading about the reason for his presence on the planet, only a curt understanding. They both have details they'd rather not dredge up, huh?

Were they on the street, or in a bar, he'd pry. Risk his own secrets being unearthed to exhume hers.

But neither of them has time for that bullshit.]

Find a cave, and find dozens of beasts with their back to the walls.

We'd have to clear it out. [Natural shelter is better in situations like this, the infrastructure of the cities crumbling easily to the dragon's rot. He's not against slaughtering a hoard of panicked animals, messy though the task may be.]

[originallutece]

Then let's find one before dark.

[How many beasts can there possibly be? Easily scared, and easily driven away. Perhaps some need to be slaughtered, but she'll leave that to him. Rosalind jerks her head, striding forward, heading towards one of the gates.

It's going to be a long journey, and she hates nature. Rosalind grimaces, then:]

We'll steal . . . oh, whatever we can find. A horse, preferably.

[shikomizue]

[Ride a horse. Together. Takasugi's experience on horseback is fairly limited - mounts are a luxury they couldn't often afford, and efforts to steal were better spent on airships.

And whatever they catch will hardly be tame.

He follows, but with hardly any intention to pursue a wild beast.]

That's a waste of time, even if you know how to ride. [Ayy]

If we follow the tracks, we'll find where they're all hiding. [The animals know better than them the lay of the land, the safest bulwarks.]