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.

OOC NOTES.
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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

And slip Akiha did.

The recoil from such a strong hit ran down her arm and her foot slid out from under her as she tried to not end up underneath the monster as its hulking form fell to the ground. She scrambled across the icy path, trying to get out of its way, but then slipped again. She ended up scraping the staff across the icy surface in her efforts and then through their link, there was pain as the monster pinned Akiha's leg underneath it.

Cursing, Akiha let go of the staff so Sion could switch forms.

"I hate the snow," she growled, looking back at the monster. "Please kick it or something to make it condense into the actual kishin egg so you can eat the damn thing and I can get up."

Sion mentally squirmed a bit, not wanting to get all snowy herself. Especially laying in the snow at the moment. Who knew what would happen if a little bit of snow snuck up her dress. While she was appropriately clothed, she still felt her dress was woefully small.

Reigning in her fears, she turned back into her normal shape and quickly hopped to her feet. Just in case....

Having snow melt and get everything wet would be too much for the already thin skinned desert girl. And doing what Akiha suggested, she did kick the creature so she could get it to the form she wanted to be in. There you go, Akiha, it's safe to get up.

With that little flash thing, the monster's form coalesced into the crimson smoking soul that kishin eggs turn into. Akiha stared at it as it floated above her, hand massaging her leg, checking to see if there was any damage she needed to worry about.

Like that nice cut up her shin from some ice. That was bleeding. Sion so did not need to see that or even know about it. So, while she couldn't shield Sion from the pain Akiha was feeling, she at least dampened it. And while Sion was busy eating that thing, Akiha jerked her legging back down to cover it and tied the end of it tight about her leg. She was pretty sure with the cold it would clot fast enough, not worrying about losing too much blood.

Putting weight on it, she discovered while standing, was going to be another matter. To her credit, she did not give any vocal indication of pain; her steps were slower and she limped a bit. Standing with her weight off that leg, she fished her knit gloves back out to don and brush whatever snow she could off of her.

"I think we still have another half-mile of this path to search." Oh, she wanted to go back to the medic camp to sit by a fire, but she refused to give up. They would complete their mission through this frozen hell. "If you want to transform back for the climate resistance, I'll carry you."

Sion quickly snatched the soul and turned her back to Akiha. Much like Akiha didn't want her to see the blood, Sion had no urge to show off to Akiha how she did this. Mostly due to the fact that it felt a little personal to her, not to guard Akiha from any unwanted influences.

With her back turned, she essentially shoved the thing down her throat. Sion couldn't really choke on it, so she wasn't particularly worried about that. She just wanted to get the process over as quickly as possible. When she was done, she turned to face Akiha again, who had already gotten up.

"You are injured so there is no point in having me do less work. Allow me to at least support you a little."

Whereupon she stepped up beside Akiha and offered her shoulder so she could rest her weight there. Easier traveling for the future, Sion was certain of.

Akiha sighed and chose not to argue. At least not then. "It probably got twisted a bit underneath that kishin egg. I'll walk it off soon enough."

Still, she put more weight on Sion's shoulder than she intended to for the first minute or so of climbing the path. By then, the coldness seeping into her from her wet clothing and the gusts of wind had numbed her to the pain and her limp lessened.

"...I'll be okay if we come across another opponent. I will make use of my Meister ability then. The added energy will help," Akiha said, shivering as another gust of chilly wind hit them.

"It is in my professional opinion that you will not be okay in the meantime."

It wasn't difficult to spot the fact that she had gotten wet from falling in the snow and having that snow melt on her. And that was even assuming that Akiha would take energy in the near future. If she couldn't, there would be a real problem coming back down.

"...you need to warm your body first."

That elicited a wry chuckle from Akiha. "And what is your personal opinion?"

The hand that wasn't bracing herself on Sion's shoulder wrapped about herself and she hunched her shoulders up. "I'll be alright. Look. There's an overhang of the rock face up ahead that looks to be shielded from the wind." Her teeth chattered. "We can stop there to rest. I'll warm up then."

"My personal opinion would be a little more crass but the same. You would prefer to hear my professional opinion."

It would most likely be very insulting to Akiha, which was why she reserved it. Mostly involving pride trumping intelligence, which was the downfall of nearly every great person in history.

But Sion guided her over to the overhang to get out of the wind, which was the biggest part of the coldness coming off this mountain. Getting out of it was the intelligent thing to do.

Sion may find that sometimes the personal opinion holds more weight with Akiha than the professional opinion, especially coming from her partner.

But the removal of the wind was near divine and Akiha made her way over to the rock face and leaned back against it. She couldn't feel the cold of it through her wet clothes, icing up on the outside, but she liked the support. Clapping her hands together a few times to shock the blood flow back into them, she then rubbed at her cheeks.

"When we get back to Death City, I'm going to drain all of Casualty's hot water supply during my shower." She closed her eyes, resting a moment, as she continued. "I suggest being quicker than I, if you wish a hot sh-sh-shower."

"First of all..."

She paused her speech to reach up with her hands and a little forcefully, pat Akiha's cheeks.

"Do not close your eyes unless you are just going to blink. It is simple to accidentally fall asleep in cold weather and then die. Secondly, it would be simpler to take a bath, would it not?"

Hm, but Akiha did seem a lot colder than her and Sion was feeling rather cold!

"...do you require assistance in keeping warm?"

Making a disgruntled noise, Akiha opened her eyes as prompted but then brought her hands up to hold Sion's in place over her cheeks. There was some warmth to be found there.

"The water in a bath gets cold quickly. If only that city had an onsen." Akiha missed home. She almost said as much when Sion asked her that question. She'd thought of it when Sion touched her cheeks, but the alchemist was just faster at asking.

"I would. I would like very much to be w-warmer." Her hands slid down Sion's arms to her shoulders, trying to coax her partner forward. "If you would come and h-hold me, your body heat will help."

Sion turned red, losing a little of her composure. Even if she was prepared to do this just to make Akiha warm, it was still embarrassing for the person who was normally a loner. Indeed, being in close contact with someone was absolutely foreign to her in every way.

But she nodded in assent. Rather than just wrap herself around Akiha, Sion was always pulling for something more efficient, even in embarrassment. Undoing the buttons on her coat, she opened it up and invited Akiha in. It would be much warmer this way since it already had her trapped bodyheat. Just don't take too long or it'll all float away.

There was no need to worry about that heat being lost. Akiha was a creature that craved warmth, having given up half of her lifeforce, so she gravitated toward heat sources. And right then, Sion was the only heat source available.

Quickly, she pushed herself off of the rock face and slipped her arms inside the coat to wrap about Sion, under her arms with her palms flat on the alchemist's back, as she stepped into the warmth to press her front to her partner's. If she hadn't been so cold, her face might have flushed, too. In fact, she didn't even notice the color on Sion's face as anything out of the ordinary given the cold.

"Sorry."

Akiha mumbled that as she rest her head on Sion's shoulder, trying not to let her eyes close, knowing that she was most likely making her partner very cold right then. Hopefully, she'd stop being an Akihacicle soon enough and her own body heat would make up for what she was stealing from Sion.

Sion accepted her apology but didn't voice it. Instead, through their link, she gave her the cue.

But with cold hands on her back, she stiffened up quite a bit. There was nothing more surprising than that, even if she was expecting it and had braced herself. It didn't stop her from putting her arms around Akiha and attempting to envelope her with her coat. It was an intimate position and she was fully aware of that.

Hopefully it wouldn't be entirely obvious that she was completely embarrassed.

There was a small sigh of relief as some heat started to slowly seep through her cold, wet clothing and into her body. Now that she was starting to warm up a little - not much but enough - Akiha picked up on Sion's state of mind.

Stop that

Her fingers curled in a little then loosened against Sion's back before repeating. She was trying to get her to relax... and warm her hands up more.

Why are you embarrassed? We're partners and this was your suggestion.

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