soul_logs | [OPEN] Mission 156

Entry tags:

[OPEN] Mission 156

Characters: Open to participants who signed up here.
Location: Lake Tahoe, CA
Rating: Various.
Time: March 27th, late morning.
Description: The second of the three Madness emitters outside Death City is the target for this mission. Bundle up, everyone -- it's gonna be a cold one.

The mission begins late in the morning, to allow the mission-goers as much sunlight as possible in the warmest part of the day. Not that it'll help much… Temperatures are well below freezing already -- unnatural even for early Spring in the mountains -- and a howling snowstorm threatens to blot out the sun, beginning up the mountain where the slope just begins to rise sharply.

The slopes themselves are fairly barren: a windswept-looking tree here, a cabin that may have once belonged to the snow patrol there, maybe a Madness-crazed bear or mountain lion. Those braving the storm are lucky enough to see five feet in front of their face in these conditions!

Those brave few who manage to make it to the top (enduring falling temperatures and defeating the corrupted fauna and hulking kishin yeti along the way) may come across their goal at the very summit of the half-mile-high mountain: the Madness emitter itself, in the eye of the storm… And one last obstacle: the Witch guarding it.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was freezing. Who cares how much Sion had bundled up in preparation. She was used to dry, hot climates. Cold and wet were her absolute bane and it showed. Her body was visibly shaking and she huddled in on herself. Not only that but her cheeks were a bright red, the blush caused by the cold and the wind.

"Is this really worth it, Akiha?"

Sion never thought she'd be turned off from a mission but right now, she was having second thoughts. If only her brain would work faster. If it weren't for the cold physically slowing her thought processes, she might be able to figure out a way to get around the biting weather. Why, Egypt, why?

Edited 2012-09-29 23:45 (UTC)

"Yes."

Her teeth were chattering, so Akiha took a moment to wrap the scarf tighter about her, proceeding to cover up her face from the nose down. It would muffle anything she said, but she had decided she just wasn't going to use verbal communication with Sion.

We cannot become stronger until you consume more souls. Stop whining.

But yes, oh, yes, Akiha was very, very cold. Unlike Sion, she had at least seen snow before and was used to being cold, but this was a biting cold that hit the bone. She kept flexing her fingers beneath the two layers of gloves to keep the blood flowing through them as they trudged through the snow.

Sion's head just turned to look at Akiha, barely able to keep still long enough to shoot her a look. She could swear it wasn't whining when her complaints were legitimate. If this was a hike through the desert, she'd be fine as she had made such a hike dozens of times in the past. But she worked up the will to reply to Akiha.

Perhaps if I remained as a weapon...

...you could use me as a walking stick.

If it meant being more comfortable, she was more than willing to be subjected to such a use. And who knew, maybe Akiha would agree to it.

Akiha misunderstood Sion's intent, taking it as an insult and the feeling carried easily over their link.

I do not need you to maintain my balance in this snow.

Wrapping her arms about herself, she trudged faster, pulling a bit before Sion.

Sion scowled at being misunderstood. The return feeling from Sion's displeasure was just as obvious. But she didn't want to come off as weak, though.

On the other hand, there was no way she could quicken her pace. Physically, she could, but Sion calculated that if she forced herself anymore, she wouldn't have any energy further down the line. Her stores were being drained by the shivering that she was doing. So she fell behind a bit.

In Akiha's irritation at Sion, she continued to trudge along and inadvertently putting more distance between her and her partner. The snow was blowing about them, obscuring her sight - which had her on edge anyways as she hated it when she couldn't see well thanks to how her demon ability worked when she had access to it - and she rounded a bluff of rock as she followed the path up the side of the mountain.

A few seconds later, Sion would feel a great amount of alarm across the link and the sound of something not Akiha laughing carrying on the wind.

This is what the half-demon got for angrily storming off... in a storm.

If this were any normal situation, Sion wouldn't have cared. Akiha could handle herself better than Sion could and, more than likely, Sion would have just been getting in the way. But right now, they were more of equals and, more importantly, Sion was Akiha's main form of offensive and defensive action.

Trying to keep herself from tripping, she sprinted forward to catch up to Akiha, hopefully before anything untoward happened to her.

In a normal situation, Akiha being backed against a rock face by something that looked like a cross between the abominable snowman and a neanderthal with two feet and at least two hundred pounds on her wouldn't be an issue. But no, she had none of her demon ability where the moment she laid eyes upon the kishin egg that she would have had it. No, Akiha was feeling very small and really wished she had Sion in her hands.

She felt safer then.

When Sion rounded the bend, the sound of something heavy hitting rock reached her ears and scattered shards littered the snow. Akiha had barely dodged the attack and was sliding on the snow a few feet behind the monster, having taken what seemed like the only way to avoid it - slipped between it's legs.

And holy shit was that snow getting up under the jacket cold.

Edited 2012-09-30 03:08 (UTC)

It just had to be something like that. Sion wasn't one to stare and wonder, however. Her first thought was how to even up the oncoming fight in their favor and handing herself over to Akiha as a weapon wasn't going to help out the playing field. No, more drastic action was needed.

She charged the creature, probably a little to Akiha's dismay. But she had a plan. Since it's back was facing her at the moment, she did the one thing she could thing of doing. Which was landing a flying kick to the back of one of its knees. No matter the side, hitting the joint would knock it off balance, even a little. Which, hopefully, would give Akiha enough time to gain her own senses.

Akiha half-shrieked as she rolled over onto her hands and knees only to have all the snow slide around inside her jacket. Whenever this damn mission was over, Akiha was going to find some kind of onsen and soak for hours in the hot water. She'd even take Sion with her as she knew the Egyptian woman was having an even harder time with the cold than she was.

A glance up to track the monster's movement showed it lurching a bit to the side before swinging a massive fist at Sion.

Sion! She got to her feet and tried to ignore the snow in her jacket. I'm coming!

Very unlike Akiha, Sion had an easy defense measure for oncoming attacks. That was turn into a weapon. At most, she'd only harmlessly be knocked to the side. At the least, she would be completely missed and Akiha could just grab her.

And that's what happened. The creature's fist went over the staff, which was now handily in a position where Akiha could pick it up while on the move.

Which is exactly what Akiha did as she got to Sion. She scooped the staff up and ran further up the path, trying to get some higher ground on the monster. Her teeth were grit against the cold, her shirt under her jacket wonderfully soaked from the slowly melting snow, and she spun the staff up into position as she turned back around.

Or she would have if she'd taken the knit gloves off before that. The soft, thick material ruined her grip and she lost her grip on the staff, accidentally throwing it up into the air on the upspin.

"Oh shit," she muttered, glancing at the monster turning toward them before looking back at the twirling staff in the air.

Whatever you do, stay in that form. I'll catch you.

Which meant yanking one knit glove off, shoving it into her pocket, then tearing the other glove off with her teeth before jumping up into the air to get both hands on the staff as if fell back down.

A little frustration leaked out from Sion but she did as she was told. It wasn't as if she was going to change in midair and land face first in the cold, freezing snow. Oh, no, she wanted nothing to do with the snow, much less get intimate with it like Akiha already did.

Do try to be more careful this time, please.

Edited 2012-09-30 06:33 (UTC)

Such intimacy was unwanted by Akiha and ignoring it was hard. At least the danger gave her enough of an adrenaline rush that she could successfully ignore the snow. Granted, once this battle was over it'd hit her badly, but that would be dealt with when it happened.

Securing her grip on the staff, Akiha swung it down as she landed, hoping the gravity was going to aid in the strike. This monster seemed to have more of an intelligence than the other two they faced and it brought its arm up to block the swing. There was a hard impact, but the thing's hide was thick and it was like hitting armor.

"Tch." Akiha stumbled back a few steps and took a moment to stuff her other glove in a pocket.

Ideas that aren't 'run in and drain its energy'?

Ideas? She was expected to come up with ideas in the cold like this? While her brain was barely running at 75% of its normal speed? Normally she would have six or seven ideas but the cold combined with the impact of the battle left her with two. Both of them could be risky, in a way.

Hit it in the snout. Or...use my ability.

Hitting it in the snout was about as appealing as draining its energy since it means getting close to the monster. Judging from the cracks in the rock face, Akiha was going to guess this thing could actually break some bones if it hit her solidly.

Which meant she can't let it hit her.

Let's use your ability. Walk me through how to use it again. I don't want to make any mistakes and we've got a few good seconds before I have to commit to something.

She mentally sighed and prepared herself.

Do keep in mind that we can only do this once. But all you need to do is trust me.

Which was the basis of a good resonance in the first place, so that shouldn't be an issue. But once it was used, Sion was sure the fight would end very shortly, as it was that type of ability. Given the fact that they should not be fighting difficult opponents, Sion did doubt that they would need to use it anymore today.

I trust you. Only you.

Which was the truth, plain and clear. Akiha quickly checked her position on the path, where the wall was, and brushed her hair out of her eyes before setting herself to engage the monster. For a moment, she closed her eyes and found Sion's wavelength, taking her own to level with it.

Alright. Her eyes opened and she stared at the beast closing in on her. Guide my hand, Sion.

And she moved steadily to engage the monster.

Sion didn't necessarily have to guide her hand. But now wasn't the time to argue that. Figuratively, Sion closed her eyes and focused inwardly. With the activation of her own ability, a flood of information came in. To protect Akiha from that flood, the alchemist focused and distilled it into images.

As long as Akiha would focus on what Sion was sending her, she would see the movement of the creature before it happened. Through that, she could gauge her own pattern of attacks and react to its counters. In fact, it was simple enough to keep it from countering all together by continually attacking where it was weak.

But right now, what was shown before it would happen is the creature laterally swiping its paw at Akiha's head.

Sion needed to stop taking Akiha's choice of phases so literally.

It was so very weird to get this glimpse into Sion's mind. Was this how it was constantly for the alchemist when she fought back home? This just further solidified Akiha's opinion that Sion could eventually do just about anything if she put her mind to it. She needed to school her own mind, stay calm, and interpret what her Partner was giving her in the moment she got it.

Knowing that the monster's attack was coming, she shifted her feet and easily ducked under it. Using the falcon head of the staff for its weight, Akiha swung it in an upward angle to strike at what she thought would be a vulnerable spot at its underarm area, connecting at the armpit.

Sion would have some disagreement with Akiha's statement on being able to do 'anything'. Quite a lot of disagreement but that was hardly the point.

There was a thirty second time limit to this, where upon Sion would warn Akiha once there were ten seconds left. But considering how ruthless Akiha was, Sion doubted that this would go beyond fifteen seconds if the half-demon could set herself up properly.

The monster itself groaned in a little pain. In a future sense, Sion sent over the image of the monster stumbling back slightly, confused at the pain that such a seemingly small creature could cause. She also made sure to note the directions Akiha could approach with little threat of retaliation.

With that strike causing pain, Akiha surmised that the kishin egg's vulnerable locations were where she would expect the weaknesses of full armor would be. She pictured the samurai armor she'd seen in a museum on a school field trip and recalled where those seams and joints would be.

Spinning to add some extra power into the strike, she pressed her attack before the monster could regain its balance. The falcon head came down squarely on the back of its knee. She was already moving to get out of the way should that knock the beast off its feet.

Even if she was still focused, there was quite a bit of satisfaction from Sion at the violence. No one could ever say that Sion was a pacifist, that was for sure.

The creature itself dropped down to one knee and was rather vulnerable to a strike from any side. It showed very little movement in its future actions except to drop its hands to the ground in an attempt to stabilize itself. Big things fall harder than small ones, that's for sure.

Neither of them were pacifists. It was probably one of the many reasons they could resonate so well, especially given their mutual constant irritation over one specific man.

Now Akiha would go with 'hit it in the snout'. Knowing it was going to focus on recovery and she had no counter to worry about, Akiha decided to use the monster's tremendous weight and good ol' gravity to aid her. Slipping around to the front of it, Akiha grunted as she put as much as she dared to with the current footing into an upward strike, bringing the falcon head at its face to meet it half way.

...she hoped she wasn't going to slip upon impact. The path under them was getting icy.

The cracking noise that resulted probably had something to do with the fact that its nose broke and went up into its braincase. If Akiha would slip, now is a good time to do so.

On the opposite hand, Sion cut off the connection. She felt that nothing more needed to be done and ended the power before she drained herself. Perhaps later on, there would be more use for it. There definitely would be more use for Sion as a weapon so she couldn't bring herself to be completely out of energy.

In the spirit of good tidings, if Akiha was going to slip, she'd still be met with congratulations.

Good job.

Akiha and Sion | Lower area | Closed

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