soul_logs | EVENT LOG

The squeeze surprised him, but he didn't show it as he caught the whip from the air. Uncoiling the whips lash into a battle-ready position he stalked forward like a king towards his subjects. He was feeling a faint sense of premonition for the bloodshed and maiming that was going to ensue, ramped up to a pleasant tingling by the hunger he was feeling from her. Ah, how long had he not done this anymore...? It had been centuries.

"In time," his voice purred through their connection as his part of the resonance latched onto hers once more eagerly, wanting everything and then more from the Weapon. "In time."

Not letting her eagerness get the better of him, he approached the kishin egg almost casually, taking his sweet time figuring out how to attack best. It had to come fast, it had to hurt and it had to make it scared of his weapon upon the first hit. The kishin egg that looked like a skinned horse and rider that had been fused together was still way too careless as it dug it's teeth into the little boys arm and tossed him up into the air. The moment both of its heads were distracted Bakura let the whip flick through the air, aiming for its more human face and head.

Her soul twined against his almost eagerly, needing some sort of support as her temper flared. His assurances pacified her a little bit, just enough to keep her rational and passive enough to strengthen their bond. Her hackles settled slightly, like a cat slowly regaining composure after having its tail tromped on. She could do this. They could do this. Everything would be just fine.

Or at least, she thought that until she saw the monster bite the poor child.

Then she all but saw red. "Bastard!" echoed angrily through her end of the connection. When her cord met the hide of the Kishin she tore out as much energy as she could, and did it as roughly as possible. She wanted it to hurt. She wanted this...this thing to suffer. If there.was one thing Yako simply could not stand, it was a kid being hurt. There was an almost viciously pleased spike of satisfaction from her as the Kishin reared back, shrieking out in a manner that was more equine than human.

If support was what she wanted as he had hear tear out part of the kishin eggs life, he could give her plenty of that. Making a small satisfied sound he paid the human bait no heed as they had the monster rear back and break contact.

The whip had done a nice number on its human-like head, leaving in in the same kind of sorry state that a too close encounter with a lawn-mower would have. They weren't going to have to worry about that one anymore anytime soon.

Drawing the whip back, he let it crack demonstratively loud through the air once, hollering a loud "Hey!" towards the monster. To Yako, he added 'I expect you to blast all you just took up ten right back at it with the next hit.'

Their wavelengths were so close at this point that he could probably feel the excess energy crackling over and through her soul. Yako shivered at the sensation; it did very little to calm her, only providing that much more fuel for her ire. She clung tighter to Bakura, trying to keep the connection stable dispute her feelings.

The damage to the Kishin Egg is impressive; perhaps it's because the first and previous one she went up against was a behemoth made of rock, but she finds herself a bit surprised at the tactile damage a whip can do. It will still take more than a few Lashes to fell it, but it's almost satisfying, in a way, to see how effective they were.

'Consider it done,' she assured him, gathering up every last shred of the energy.

He smirked at her eagerness and just how good it felt to be the one in power, even as the kishin egg let out a loud snarling whinny and charged them with its teeth bared.

For a skinned horse it was surprisingly fast and agile, but he had expected such a kind of action. Waiting until there was no way to miss it he flicked the whip once more, aiming for the second head this time. The arc of the lash was wide enough that it should make evading it completely impossible for their enemy - it could try and keep coming at them, taking the hit head on or it could change its course slightly and would end up with a hit against either its legs or side. Orrrr they could miss against all chances and the giant bloody horse would just run them over and then tear their throats out.

'Show me what you can do!' What a thrilling gamble!

Yako used their bond to gauge just when the opportune moment would present itself, as she had with the sapling days before. When it came, she let loose her stolen cache of energy.

The monster had opted to rear around when it saw the incoming sight, but it hadn't been able to escape the Backlash slammed into its left foreleg with an ominous series of cracks, and carried on to lend a somewhat less devastating attack on the left ankle of the hind leg as well. It had just begun to scream again as Yako, just a beat behind the Backlash, made direct contact.

She used the opportunity to leech more energy. 'Like that?'

'Just like that!' His mental 'voice' was a cross between a satisfied purr and distinctive note of gloating. Using this chance to vent his pent up frustration and sadism was like balm for his soul, even when their opponent was just some small-scale monster. Sometimes you just needed to beat something raw to feel all better and collected again.

Letting out an ominous cackle, he stalked forward and directly to the kishin egg that had fallen to its side after it had gotten both of its left legs hurt and was now fighting to get up again. The repeated attacks had literally caught it on the wrong leg(s) and now it was struggling to regain its bearing with increasing franticness - the tide had turned on this particular hunter and it didn't know how to deal with it. Bakura smirked widely. He wasn't going to let it get back on its feet. "Wanting to scare us, huh? Allow me to show you how you do that properly."

He swung the whip once again, cracking it loudly and striking the ground next to the kishin eggs head intentionally before he brought it down again as a real attack. 'Enjoy your meal.'

Were she in her right mind, Yako might feel a bit...strange, being on the side of the cackling aggressor for once. As adrenalin was the major force in charge at the moment, this wasn't an issue.

It was almost strange, how much more drawn out her battle with Kanji had been. While realistically she knew it was due to the hardy size and form of that particular Kishin, it still gave her a thrill of pride to see how effectively Bakura could utilize her against a notably fleshier Kishin. At his signal, she let loose a second Backlash, which caught the creature on the neck, breaking it. When she met its skin once more, she pulled and pulled until she felt that now-familiar pop and the soul came loose, wrapped securely in her coils.

"Itadakimasu," she chirped. Had she been in human form, there would have probably been an ironic smile on her lips.

"Tch," he tsk'ed when the monster started dying already. He had expected it to last longer after hearing her talk about it needing several hits before a kishin egg would get defeated. "Weak trash."

He watched her collect and devour the soul with detached interest, feeling a bit miffed again. This had been far to fast to allow him to vent properly. The monster hadn't suffered or even gotten to be properly scared for more than a few moments before it had met its end. What a waste of time!

Collecting the whip's lash in loose coils in his hand he turned to go, disregarding the sobs from the injured child further down the street.

Yako, in contrast, was entirely against his chosen course of action. 'We can't just walk away!' she insisted, sending a jolt through their connection. She hated to leave the poor boy there, scared and bleeding. He didn't deserve any of this.

Not waiting for her temporary Meister's response, she shifted back into her human form, using the opportunity presented by her change in size to slip her wrist out of his grasp. She jogged over to the crying child and crouched down, using soft and reassuring tones. She couldn't speak Norwegian, but that much was enough to get the terrified little kid to latch onto her as he bawled. She rocked him gently back and forth, mumbling soothing nonsense words and using one hand to unwind her scarf with a grimace.

She wasn't sure how much good it would do, but she tied it around the bite wound several times, as tight as she dared. Anything to stop the blood loss. Shifting him, she picked him up and shot Bakura a stubborn look. "We are not just leaving him alone out here. The kishin eggs would be on him in minutes."

"He-" He had no time to respond before she was already gone and cooing over the noisy little brat like some sort of wanna-be mother. Giving them an annoyed glare Bakura stayed exactly where he was. He had no pity for the child. The danger wasn't over yet and the brat was going to attract pretty much all and every monster in the vicinity with his noise and blood- Wait, that was a good thing, wasn't it?

They could use the child as a bait some more.

Giving first her and then the child a blank look, his lips slowly twisted into a sadistic smirk. "Sure, why not?"

Yako eyed him warily, but chalked it up as a tentative and temporary victory. She really didn't like the expression on his face, but the safety of the boy whimpering against her shoulder took precedence over her misgivings. She nodded slowly and quickened her pace until she had caught up with her taller partner.

"There's a shelter not too far from the mirror we came through originally. Or, at least there are more partners. We can probably find a place for him there." She offered, almost appeasingly.

No need to court disaster by alienating her Meister completely, after all.

"Sure, sure," he waved the argument away as if it was a pesky fly. "Whatever direction you want. But change back and make the brat walk on his own, will you? I don't like walking in this place without a Weapon."

If they walked together the monster would just catch her and the kid in one attack. Not that he really cared about that - he was plenty confident that he could escape on his own whenever he felt like it - but they had just started their little point game of collecting souls and it'd be a pest if he had to exit it too prematurely just because his Weapon was stupid and got herself eaten.

"...fair enough," she agreed, trying not to be too suspicious about his sudden nonchalance. She gently set the boy down, his crying abating to mere sniffles and carefully unhooked his fingers from the front of her coat. Squeezing his hands and offering a reassuring smile, she stood and stepped closer to Bakura.

"Just don't leave him completely behind, please." With that last request she slipped her palm into his and squeezed again, this time to emphasize her point without raising her voice from the pleasant tone she had adopted. Then she shifted, assuming her whip form once again.

Leave him behind? Why would he ever do that. Taking over the reins in their 'partnership' once more, he nodded towards the boy, letting enough of his host body's natural expressions flow into the gesture to make it seem nice and reassuring.

"Come on, go ahead. We'll be right behind you and cover your back."

He didn't really assume the brat to understand what he has been telling him, but the tone and gesture ought to be enough to get the kid moving where he wanted it to. Uncoiling the whip's lash, he waited until the kid had reluctantly started to move in the direction Yako had wanted them to go before he let that evil glitter in his eyes appear again. 'Good, kid. Run ahead and find us some more.'

Yako hummed pensively, settling back into the restrictive connection. She was relieved when he ended up choosing a softer, almost gentle route in urging the child onwards, instead of a swift kick to the hindquarters and a barked out order. She wondered, privately, if she might have misjudged him, or leapt to the worst conclusion.

She 'eyed' their surroundings carefully as best she could in her position. They were safe for the moment, it seemed. In her vigil, she failed to catch her Meister's almost gloating train of thought.

They made it a fair amount of the way back without incident. Then, abruptly, something crashed through a large shop window. It landed a few feet from the boy. "Get him back!" She snapped, or perhaps begged, an icy sensation spreading through her from the core out. This Kishin Egg...she could tell immediately that it wouldn't be as simple as the other. It was crouched over, bit seemed go resemble something like a humanoid armadillo, with plates apparently made of bone.

Unlike Yako Bakura wasn't worried about the situation in the least. The brat had momentarily frozen at the new sudden danger, which meant that it wasn't going to run into his line of fire. Heh, it was almost as if they were playing a game of Duel Monsters again and the brat was his meat shield.

Taking a good look at the kishin egg, he frowned but didn't waste any time to get ready for a strike. Heavily armored, huh? Tch, that wouldn't help it either! "Quit freaking out and do what I tell you! All that armor means that our previous tactic won't work against it. You are going to suck as much from it as you can and keep doing that! The goal is to make it angry!" Despite the urgency of their situation his 'voice' was still calm and collected.

The tomb robber was positively excited as he kept his eyes fixed on the child and the rest of his senses tuned on their surroundings in order to prevent surprise attacks. For a couple of seconds there was a standstill. Then the child let out a whimper and started moving, triggering the kishin egg into motion. Aiming for it's muzzle, Bakura stroke.

"I am not freaking out!" She all but snapped at him, proverbial hackles raised. "I know what to do; I've done something like this before." Irritated, she sent an image of her first Kishin Egg, huge and for all appearances carved from stone, crackling down their connection. "If you can manage to land a hit on a joint--"

But no, he was already moving, everybody was moving, so she was forced to cut off that thought and focus on his chosen course of action. She landed hard against the monster's snout, dutifully tearing out as much energy as she could. The little boy took the opportunity to scramble back behind Bakura, allowing her to fully shift her attention on the battle.

She was able to suck down a decent shot of energy, but there was none of the physical damage that had been so apparent with the Horseman. The Kishin roared and batted her away, sliding back a few steps and eying the pair of them warily. "If we want to use a Backlash that will do anything, I'm going to need more energy," she reported grimly. "Two or three Lashes more, at the least."

He smirked as he ignored her words as well as the attempt to help. He had had that happen once before and look where that had gotten him and Malik. There was no way he'd let somebody else talk into his battle strategies again!

Hissing a mere "Shut up! I know what I do!" at her, he didn't waste any time and swung the whip again, aiming for the top of its back this time. He didn't care where it hit, he only wanted his weapon to charge more energy.

If his estimation was right they wouldn't get a chance for another hit or two. Whatever, he could take on this loser!

"Ugh, you know what? Fine! Just...don't do anything stupid like try to jump on its back." Kanji had done that last time, and even though it worked, it had been an extremely dangerous move. She wasn't sure that Bakura would get the same miracle, especially since this Kishin Egg was smaller and nimbler than the last.

His flash of confidence was making her a bit nervous; that sort of cocky energy would be one thing if they had been on dozens of missions together, but this was his first, ever. Still, she obligingly ripped away more energy, getting precious little before she was shrugged off.

She really hoped this jerk knew what he was doing...

Jump on its back? Why would he risk something like that? He was still smirking as the kishin egg started to attack them with its claws. Even though his body was not that of an experienced fighter his movements and reflexes clearly were and he had no problem to keep always barely out of their enemies reach as he slowly lured it back and provoked it into a thoughtless rage.

'Ready? It's going to get a bit ..'rough' really soon.' There was a short, sadistic pause as he thought the word 'rough'. At the same time he collected the lash of the whip and wound it around his hands in several thick loops.

'EAT!' Not waiting for her feedback he thrust the whip's rope forward and straight into the kishin egg's wide open maw, blocking its attempt to bite him while its claws left shallow gashes in his side. It wasn't a direct whiplash but that life stealing technique of hers damn well better worked like this as well!

"WHAT DID I JUST SAY?!"

He was crazy. It was the only explanation for just how bent he seemed on making crazy, life-threatening gambits at every turn. She couldn't maintain her aghast attitude for long, though; she was far too used to 'men' who made such choices. She was still cross, and would probably yell at him for this later, but for the moment she couldn't afford to lose focus. Not right now.

Setting aside her disgruntlement, she focused her attention on sapping as much energy as possible from the monster. He had managed to get her chord pressed up against the seam of the beast's maw, not just its fangs, so she was able to get a decent flow going. She was all too conscious of the fact that he was getting hurt, but did her best not to let her concern interfere.

"Perfect~" There was a small edge of pain as he purred her praise - or rather his own, as it was all part of HIS plan and she just another tool for him to use. They wouldn't get much time, though. Evading the beast's attacks was getting more and more difficult and he could feel his muscles getting tired by the minute.

Letting out a small, evil grunt he raised one of his legs and kicked the kishin egg in its balls with all his mind. Not waiting for it to recover its senses he quickly drew back, grinning wildly. "The next round is the last! Curse the fate that has made you meet me!"

Almost on an afterthought, he added to her, "Be ready!"

Oh my god, Yako thought. He just kicked a Kishin Egg in the crotch and threatened it using B-Movie villain dialogue. She wasn't sure whether to be impressed by his sheer gumption, or worried that she was literally in the hands of a lunatic. She settled for an uneasy mix of worry and amusement. At the very least, it was an entertaining tactic.

However, the muted echo of pain she could feel from him was definitely cause for concern. A single, painful gash had been enough to disrupt their Resonance once before. There was no telling how his new wounds would affect his performance. He was a jerk, but she didn't want to see him killed.

"I'm always ready," she assured him. "Just...make this one count."

"No worries. I will." He smirked as if he had already won as he kept his eyes on the kishin egg. But he didn't attack it right away. Instead he waited for it to get back on its legs - apparently its natural armor reached all the way until down there, he thought with a detached sense of absurd fascination. How handy.

The next time it attached, he did exactly nothing about it. He didn't try to dodge or attack. He didn't even move a muscle as the creature rushed him and started to take a hearty bite out of his shoulder. Only once the pain started to register he started moving.

Not bothering to use overly much force, Bakura slammed the whip's handle against a gap in the kishin egg's armor, right under where the jaw connected with the head and the head connected with its neck. His voice was focused and cold as he said one command. "Backlash!"

EVENT LOG - BATTLE

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)