soul_logs | [Closed] Must keep my composure

Entry tags:

[Closed] Must keep my composure

Characters: Alucard and Raidou Kuzunoha

Location: somewhere in Nevada

Rating: F for FIGHTING

Time: Jan. 24 most of the day

Description: Alucard and Raidou take a quick mission into the wilderness to fight a kishin egg. Absolutely nothing will go wrong here.

Alucard stared at the rocky outcroppings and gritty sand of the Nevada wilderness. Complete with a tumbleweed strolling by.

"So. Somewhere in here must be the kishin egg," he said. It was a rather vague answer for someone who could usually sniff them out.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Yes." Raidou scanned the area. Cliffs rose from the sand here and there, some of them low, others towering over them and reaching towards the sky. If the Kishin Egg had any sense, it would most likely hide between the rocky walls.

"Can you smell anything?"

Alucard took one deep inhale to scent the air and choked on sand. It takes a while to clear his throat and he has to wipe his eyes. "The wind and sand here sear through the desert and make it impossible unless we were already looking at the kishin egg."

Raidou was at his side right away, looking concerned. His hand was already reaching for a canteen of water for the dhampir to drink. "Of course... I should have realized. My apologies."

They would have to do without Alucard's sense of scent, then. It did make things harder, since now they had no idea where to begin, but it coudn't be helped.

"Thank you." Alucard sneezed a few times to clear his nose. "Well, we must think logically about the problem. If it lives here, it would need a secure nest. That would be in the cliffs."

"You are probably correct. We will simply have to begin searching the cliffs one by one."

He glanced around again. They might find it nearby if they were lucky. If not... Well, they would just have to go further out in the desert.

"Even if we do not find its nest, it most likely has several hiding places to ambush its prey from. Chances are we will run into it sooner or later."

Little did they know how prophetic that would turn out to be.

Alucard led the way, finding a path up to the first plateau. He held out a hand to help Raidou climb. "I wonder if we'll be fighting a mountain goat this time."

"Anything is possible." Raidou accepted the help, following Alucard up to the plateau. A steep wall of rock cast a shadow over them. This was going to take a while.

Climbing. Climbing. And more climbing.

Alucard lost track of which plateau they were on, but still they patiently searched out every likely place. The dhampir thought he heard a fall of rock down the side of the cliff and he peered down. He couldn't smell and couldn't see the large cat perched above him.

Raidou was a little further away. When he heard Alucard's footsteps stop, he turned to ask if the dhampir had spotted anything.

It was a mere flicker at the very edge of his vision, but it made him look up.

"Above!"

Alucard only had time to briefly turn his head before a kishin egg the size of a mountain lion crashed into him. The leap slammed his body into the rock and ground gravel into the side of his face. So stunned by the attack, he couldn't react to stop his momentum from rolling right off the cliff.

"Alucard-san!"

Raidou ran back towards them even as he realized it was too late. His stomach gave a painful jolt as Alucard and the Kishin Egg disappeared over the the edge of the cliff.

Yet he wouldn't be a Kuzunoha if he panicked at a time like this. The detective closed his eyes in concentration, shutting out the feelings of worry, and focused on his Meister ability.

Alucard-san, return to me!

Alucard landed abruptly at Raidou's feet, blinking stupidly. Blood flowed down his cheek where the ground and torn it. "Unde este...?" he started.

Raidou knelt beside Alucard, leaning over him to see the wound. "Alucard-san, are you alright?"

Alucard shook his head to clear the cobwebs and dripped blood down his jaw. "I did not even sense that kishin egg before it came for me."

"It was good at hiding its presence." Could the Kishin Egg climb up the wall? If so, they wouldn't have much time. Raidou searched under his cape for something to slow down the bleeding with; it seemed handkerchiefs would have to do until they had time to apply bandages properly.

"This is the best I can do at the moment." He held the makeshift bandage against Alucard's cheek, straining his ears to hear any signs of the beast coming back.

Now that shock was starting to wear off, the wound began to throb. Facial and head wounds were always the worst. "I should transform so we can be ready for it." Alucard closed his eyes and shimmered into the Alucard Sword. At least if the cat thing tried to leap on him, he would be protected by steel.

Raidou picked up the sword and stood up before looking over the edge of the cliff. The Kishin Egg had found footings in the wall and was making its way up with graceful leaps. They didn't have to wait long before it got back to where they were.

Raidou backed off a few feet to have more room for fighting. Here it comes!

Alucard gripped onto their resonance tightly, ignoring his injury. His sword form managed to slash the kishin egg in mid-leap and send it flying elsewhere.

The kishin egg, not liking its odds, ran to retreat to a safer place. Raidou, if we let it get too far we'll never find it in these cliffs.

I know. Raidou ran after it, jumping over a chasm and dodging around rocks while keeping his eyes on the retreating Kishin Egg's tail. It was fast, but the injury slowed it down enough for Raidou to keep up.

They reached an opening between two walls, where the Kishin Egg jumped on higher ground and crouched, ready to attack again.

Alucard peered up at the kishin egg through the flat of the sword. If they waited for it to leap and Raidou dashed back at the last second, it might confuse it and allow them to land a solid blow. What do you think?

I am certain I can dodge in time with your backdash skill... but following it up with an attack fast enough might be tricky. The Kishin Egg looked agile enough to get back quickly even if it missed... Unless it was too caught of guard.

Raidou shifted, his back towards the wall. There was no time to ponder whether his plan was sensible or not; the Kishin Egg was leaping through the air right at them. This was going to be a matter of seconds.

Alucard felt the breath of air of the kishin egg's leap even as Raidou slid backward to avoid the blow. The sword swept at the monster but it only just nicked it across the the shoulder. It's turning tail and running!

Raidou gritted his teeth and gave chase. At this rate, they were just going to wear themselved out before the Kishin Egg.

We need to corner it somehow, or this will never end!

Alucard looked around from the inside of the blade. The trail the kishin egg was taking led down a narrow way. However another alternative presented itself. Across a gap was another windy path.

Detective, could you possibly jump across? It looks dangerous but you would be above the kishin egg. It might then drop its guard.

It is worth a try.

The gap was wide, but not impossibly so. Raidou broke away from the path he had been running along and jumped across the chasm without a pause. The trail led them upwards to higher ground.

Of course, just finding a suitable spot to ambush the Kishin Egg from would have been too easy. Their path, as safe as it had seemed at first, was torn with more gaps. He stopped at a particularly big one to gauge the distance, then jumped on a small rock platform about halfway across. The rock felt unsteady, and crumbled away just as his feet left it again, falling down into towards the ground far below.

As soon as he was on the other side, Raidou broke into a run again.

He had not expected Raidou to be so agile. Above the kishin egg, he was keeping pace well.

Perhaps we don't need to hope we corner it as much as we make our means of stopping it. Could you try dropping a rock on it?

I will try.

There was a suitable rock at the edge of the cliff, big enough to make a difference but not so big he couldn't push it.

The Kishin Egg spotted the falling rock and attempted to run out of the way; however, its tail got caught underneath. With a roar, it tried to get loose, first by clawing at the rock and then by trying to bite its own tail off.

Let us go dispatch our enemy! Ard in iaaaaaad!

Alucard sounded the battlecry in their shared link. He felt like a wolf pounding toward downed prey and waited for the detective to run down to the canyon floor and deliver the killing blow.

Alucard's voice resounded within his soul as a rush of warmth went from the sword up his arm and through the rest of his body. Rather than take his time to find a way down, Raidou jumped, stopping only one lower cliff before leaping straight at the Kishin Egg with a battlecry of his own.

The force of the blow was too much for the Kishin Egg, who fell to the ground with a roar and stopped moving. Raidou landed on his feet, legs throbbing in protest from meeting the ground after such a fall.

Alucard transformed to himself to consume the floating kishin egg.

"This is what it deserves for trying to fight us." The handkerchief on his face is stuck there, dried over with blood.

"Indeed."

Raidou allowed himself a moment of satisfaction before his attention was caught by more pressing matters -- namely the fact that Alucard was still hurt.

"Alucard-san, please let me see your wound."

"It is not too terrible. It just hurts." The dhampir sat down on a large rock so Raidou could take a look at his cheek.

Now that they did not have a Kishin Egg coming at them, Raidou could take the time to attend to the wound properly. Fortunately he never went anywhere without at least a small number of bandages. With this line of work, you never knew when you would need them.

He proceeded to clean the wound carefully. "This may sting a little. Hold still."

Alucard sucked in a breath. Raidou hadn't lied about the wound stinging with pain. He tried not to move too much. He tapped at the ground with his boots.

Raidou did his best to be gentle as he finished cleaning the wound and went on to bandage it.

"That should do it."

"Multumesc, detective." Alucard felt a little sore now that the mission was done. "Let us be away from this place."

"Yes."

It would take a while to walk back. Hopefully everything was alright back in the city.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Closed] Must keep my composure

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject