[Open & Closed in Tags]

[lahaine]

Who: Jeanne d’Arc Alter (lahaine) & You?
What: Event catch-all
When: Shortly after the explosion & announcement
Where: Various; home and streets
Warning(s): Violence and gore+, other than that, typical edgelord brooding...



I.
[ The scent in the air could only be described as nauseating to most. Flames licking away at flesh, consuming the remains of what were once human until they were nothing more than piles of ash, carried away by the wind. Violent flares of colors, red, orange, yellow, violet rose and fell as they washed over their prey. The crackling roar of the inferno mixing with the terrified screams of the now damned created a symphony so terrifying and depressing, it would drive most mad.

Yet there, standing almost gleefully amongst the carnage was a woman shrouded in black. There was an odd way that the flames refrained from encroaching on her person, keeping a careful distance as she made her way through the charred ruins. Almost admiring the work.

Her luck had never been her highest attribute, and with that said all she could do now, was examine what was left to examine. Exasperated, she would lazily kick around some of the smoldering debris with her foot, rattle some litter with her sword or cease the burning of some flames with her own control over fire. There seemed to be nothing of note here and it was questionable if those she had just sentenced to death were really all that deserving. As in, were they really once associates of this mysterious “Shady Man?”

A soft noise, a shuffle, alerts her to the presence of another. Gold eyes flashed dangerously. ] You should be worried, I am not sure how much patience I have.

II.
[ This was sort of impromptu so feel free to plot with me on plurk heles or something! ]

Comments

[lahaine]

[ Oh? Struck a nerve with him again? She didn't exactly buy that he was so innocent either, but if he was going to draw his sword against her, so be it. She would brandish La Pucelle with a flurry of ember and flame around the blade. She had no qualms with fighting him, if only to prove him wrong. ]

That's right, I do not discriminate between men and women, young and old. Do not differentiate between pagans and believers. Each and every person much be slaughtered equally, or something like that. [ Though she spoke the practiced line, it seemed halfhearted, like she did not truly believe such a thing. That was because while she wished to deliver her own unique brand of justice, the destruction of mankind was a wish in jest. She was a heroic spirit after all.

But who would ever believe someone like her anyway...? They did not even believe that holy woman when they burned her at the stake. There was no reason to believe her shadowed black counterpart, now was there. ] Not like it matters, but nothing of value was lost here.

[abyssalflame]

How long have you been rehearsing that one?

[You can practically hear the rolling of his eyes. Even as a stupid teenager, he didn't fancy himself quite that much of a tragic antagonist.]

You don't want slaughter, you're just a careless little shite. No point in trying to pretty it up.

[Besides, the show of pyrotechnics doesn't scare him a bit. He stands at the ready, but seems reluctant to make the first move.]

[lahaine]

[ Hundreds of years she had been rehearsing that, actually, but she did not justify his snarky quip with a response. She noted his hesitation in attacking her, and while he might have been correct in his assumption, she willed herself forward regardless.

If she did not attack, she might not get another chance. Nothing else would ever fill the void in her heart. No amount of understanding did anything to quell the gnawing sensation at her insides. Malice, hatred, vengeance were the rations she needed to survive. That was her curse as an Avenger class Servant. ] Tch, careless... At least you got one thing right!

[ A horizontal swing of her sword towards him, her last warning in signaling she was not messing around. ] I am giving you one last chance, get out of here before I do more to you than give your sensitive skin some sunburn.

[abyssalflame]

[His lips curl into a snarl. There's no way he's letting this go now, not when she's making a huge mistake as far as he can tell. Would Rielle look at him and think he was picking fights for the sake of picking fights? Then again... she'd also look at Jeanne and think she was disgraceful in wrecking things for the sake of wrecking things, not caring who she hurt or why.

That's the kind of power excess he can't abide by. So be it. If she's going to try and call his bluff, he'll make good on the threat instead, plowing in and throwing his weight into the swing to try and land a cleave on her.]

Eat shite, brat!

[lahaine]

[ She is shaken by his sheer brute force. His might barreling towards her, aiming to body check her. Sliding to the side a bit, she narrowly avoids being overpowered by his strength, and her sword makes contact with his own. ] Christ!

[ The clank of the clashing steel rang out, her sword vibrating in her hands causing her to grit her teeth. ] Take this! [ With a spin she would bring her sword up, slashing down in a vertical strike at him. ]

[abyssalflame]

[Dark knights, both fortunately and unfortunately, are not built for dodging. Indeed, Sid makes no move to do anything but alter the angle of the blow so that it doesn't take his arm clean off. The edge of her blade drags on armor and cloth and eventually skin, and he hisses -- but it's exactly what he wants. It isn't a terribly grave wound; the depth of the shadow barrier he'd employed moments before the blow absorbed most of the impact, but it still bleeds a dark red.

All he can think is that he's not continuing this fight just because he wants to fight. If anything, he's continuing it because contrary to what she says, it does matter. Even Rielle would agree with that.

He drags his fingers over the blood, rubs it on the top of his blade, and then starts to make swings at her, eventually ending in a shove of the pointy end toward her with the intent of hooking savagely upward once it connects with something. If anything, the wound spurs him further, and an aura of shadow starts to envelop him.]

Fool. If you're just looking for a fight, why didn't you say so in the first place!!

[lahaine]

[ The drawing of blood seemed to widen a smile that had made her way to her face. It spurred her on further, even if she wasn't planning on fighting him this seriously before. He misunderstood the situation, she was certain, but she wasn't going to correct him. Her own self depreciation seemed to kick in during these times. She wouldn't even defend the accusations against her.

As he swings furiously, she finds herself having a bit of trouble parrying all his blows. Eventually she finds herself cornered against the wall again. Blood soaked clothing, and blood had been sprayed onto her face. It seemed to be a mix of her own and her opponents.

As he brings his sword near her, she cants her head slightly, the blade narrowly missing her neck. In retaliation, she would grasp the front of his attire, flashing him a wicked grin as she spoke. ] This is the howl of hatred which was polished with my soul! Le Grondement La Haine!

[ He would now notice that the two of them were encircled in flames, and an assault of dark spears drenched in flames poised and ready to strike...

Her Noble Phantasm. Ready to annihilate the both of them if need be. ] Yes, a round of applause for our hatred.

[abyssalflame]

[When she clings to the front of his mail, he wonders for an instant if she's gone mad, and then his suspicions are duly confirmed when he sees the points facing toward them both, apparently in preparation to drop and impale them both on the spot. Is she seriously trying to...?]

Bloody hells--

[Sid freezes, planting his blade into the ground as she holds him in what seems to be an attempt to take him with her. But why? She didn't seem suicidal before, so where the hells did this come from?!]

I thought the whole point was to kill me, not yourself! Are you that desperate to be proven right?!

[lahaine]

I don’t give a damn about your convenience. [ Noting his disarming, she seemed to move closer to him, laughing a bit from the very bottom of her diaphragm. She peered at him, seemingly speaking as if she understood him. ] Desperation? Not quite...

I can tell what you’re thinking with a single glance because, you and I are the same! In the end, we have nothing but to destroy everything else! Firmly believing that this is the only way to make this miserable gloom within us disappear! But it’s too bad! You can’t ever hope to clear up that feeling for your entire life!

[ She presses the attack with her flames and scorches at the both of them. If she had to go with him, she would make this a suicide mission. Ah, I guess it really was to prove a point after all. ] You have no comrades here. That is why, let yourself be killed or yield now!

[abyssalflame]

Shut up!

[That one pushes him beyond the point of no return. Sid walls off the flames with shadow, dampening the heat enough to keep him steady, but he's still feeling it, sweat dripping off the scales on his chin. The reminder that he has no comrades here is a knife to the stomach as far as he's concerned, but he's already come this far; he'd better see it through to the end. One gauntleted hand shoves her away, then moves defensively in front of his chest.]

Stop projecting your personal sob story onto me! Maybe I don't have anyone here right now, but at least I've got something, someone to work towards! So if you expect me to yield to your temper tantrum, you can bloody well forget it--!

[He pulls his sword from the ground and charges into a sideways swing, renewed by her words -- or is it something else? There's a burn inside him that demands he prove her wrong now that she's brought his purpose here into it, his oath to Rielle, even if she doesn't know it.]

[lahaine]

[ Its like the echo of her own words. Shut up, only she would have probably screeched it in French, as per usual. Seeing as he wouldn't yield, she met him with a sneer, somewhat sad in nature. ] There is no way you will not feel pain from having your insides skewered and roasted! [ Another threat. ]

[ It looked like she would have to not only expel the flames around them, but have them come from her own body. She winces as she speaks... ] The world is so dark, for humans continue to be so unflinchingly petty. Even should there be good people who come about, they can only turn a blind eye. I should not even move a single finger to help such things. Don't you understand!?

[ She watches as he takes up arms against her again, she slightly drops her head. ] Tch, of course not. Well, even if I can’t kill you… I can at least halt your steps! [ And as he makes the move to slash at her, she will attempt to incinerate both of them. ]

.

[abyssalflame]

[Something happens, then. Something budges within him, and the need to protect overrides the need to fight. Once more, he plants his sword into the ground behind him, and then turns around to face her again. What happens next is not immediately visible until moments later, when she'll find herself tackled roughly to the ground and pinned down.

He should be screaming in pain from the fire eating at his clothes, but he isn't, holding just still enough to smother the flames with his armor.

...Living Dead will only sustain him for so long.]

I already told you, didn't I?! Enough with the collateral damage! That includes you!

[He's clenching his jaw hard. The pain starts to seep back in, little by little, and he realizes dimly that a healing potion and a bandage aren't going to cover this one.]

[lahaine]

[ Honestly she wouldn't have minded it ending like this. It was arguably a mercy for someone such as herself, and even as she tensed and closed her eyes in what would have been her final moments. Only the scalding pain which she was assuming would come, never did.

She would slowly open her eyes and notice him covering her - spewing some sort of heroic nonsense about collateral damage that she would never in million years think was cool.

Blinking, she would get her bearings before looking directly at him. ] [ She shook her head weakly her words trailing. Using her Noble Phantasm took basically all of her mana. ] D-do you even have to try to be that stupid!?

[abyssalflame]

...I ought to be... asking you that.

[The effect wears off, and the pain overwhelms him, drowning out coherent thought as he rolls onto his back, eyes forced shut. There's sweat on his brow and scorch marks on his armor, as well as puncture wounds bleeding sluggishly on his extremities.

What's the point? Why brush with death for an idiotic brat throwing a cosmic temper tantrum? Because he sees himself in her? Probably. It'd be poetic if it weren't so damn stupid, he thinks. Attempting to sit up only floods him with another wave of pain, so he lets his head the ground again, breathing hard. Living Dead had been an insurance mechanism, but it remains to be seen whether she'll kill him off...]

Are you done now?

[lahaine]

[ The black maiden will sit up, wiping some blood from her face as she looks over to the man who was fairly stubborn and in a precarious position. Brows furrowed as her hand twitched subconsciously towards her sword. She could finish the job, but for some reason she didn't want to anymore. It was up for debate if she even really wanted too in the first place.

His snide remark actually made her chuckle a bit. ] Ufufufuf! Christ, even after all that you still can talk? [ She wondered what to do with him, she had no way of healing. A sharp inhale as she grabbed her flag fro the ground, tearing it from the lance part and thrusting it at the wounded Sid. She would awkwardly try and press it to him, where he was bleeding most before standing, by some sheer force of will, herself ] Here, at least so you have a chance not to bleed out...

[ Her words were weak, and while curt they held some other tone to them. Though before anyone could question it, she was dragging her sorry state down the alley and into the cover of darkness away from the scene. ]