Inverted IC

Play around with roles and whatnot in here, I suppose.

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MrFlyingAmoeba
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Re: Inverted IC

#16 Post by MrFlyingAmoeba »

(OOC: This takes place before the action-filled segments of the previous post.)

Percival sat leaning on his back against a tree, absentmindedly cutting intricate designs into the tree bark with one of his sharpened crystalline fingers and twirling his pendant with his other hand. Simply being the evacuation in a clandestine mission tended to be very boring job, and as a valkyrie, it's usually expected for you to fly someone away, but carrying any extra weight, especially an extra body, can be physically painful. He once had to carry a Brute with him for hours and during the flight Percival got so exhausted that he dropped him, breaking his legs on the landing. Not a good situation to say the least. He doubted the General or Rozalis would need him to fly them out, so at the moment all he could think about was the monotony, and decided it might be best to try to break it with conversation.

"Allo? Can you still speak from down there madame?" Percival asked, looking towards where Anne was buried, with only her eyes visible above ground

Her head swung up, mouth freed while red eyes found the other in the trees. "Lueur." Her earlier displeasure with him had faded from her voice, although a slight edge remained. "What is your question?"

Percival lifted his finger from the tree, letting his hand hang at his side and gripping his necklace lightly with his other hand.

"If I might be so bold to ask, why do you fight? You are obviously more than those feral Lost Ones, I don't believe you are simply motivated by the desire to cause destruction, so what could it be?"

Anne stared at him. The unfortunate captive guard gurgled as her arm tightened around his neck. "You should have asked Rozalis, or General Shuyin." Her eyes flicked back to the ground. "I am weak. The Light failed us. A commander was a monster. The Darkness corrupted my mind. Whichever explanation comforts you, it is enough."

Percival decided not to push the question any further, you never know how Anne could react when pushed even slightly. It seemed he would have to try to be content with silent vigilance... no matter how boring that could be.

Anne's grip relaxed. "Lueur." She did not look at him. "If I lose control, flee. No matter what you are told, run, fly, do not come near."

Percival turned his head and looked at her eyes. In them, he saw her usual serious demeanor, but underneath that he swore he saw something else, something that scared him. He had heard the stories of when Anne "losses control", and they were never pretty. "Oui, I understand." He said.
Red Mage Statscoski wrote:That is not how we do things around here, buddy. First we have to argue incessantly over semantics.

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The Rookie
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Re: Inverted IC

#17 Post by The Rookie »

The trio were only a few blocks away when the sound of two muffle gun shots rang out in the distance. Yin staggered to a halt, his eyes wide and panicked. “It couldn’t be, not here...” before the others could even let out a word, Yin had broken into a sprint, leaving Nathan and Draco several meters behind him.

As he hurried toward the sight of the gun shots, Yin could start to make out other sounds, those of clashing metal and the roar of magical flames. “Light preserve us!” he cried through gritted teeth. “They’d never dare an attack in broad daylight.”

As Yin was only a block away it was clear the skirmish was starting to die down, a fact that did nothing but raise his anxiety as to what he’d face. Drawing his daggers, Yin turned around the corner ready to face whatever may be waiting, only to find something that chilled him to his core. Down the street stood two figures; both dark souls, one a woman wearing a bloody tattered uniform, holding a paper bag in her hand, the other a male, inspecting a body of the fallen guardian that lay in the street.

Meer seconds past before Yin realised just what he’d stumbled across. Yin was looking at the Darkness general Shuyin Lee and the infamous fallen guardian assassin, Rozalis Aerius.

Yin’s grip on his weapons loosened, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “Light preserve us...”
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Re: Inverted IC

#18 Post by JoshtheOverlander »

The brothers had also picked up the sounds as well and ran after Yin when he ran off without them. It didn't take them long to catch up and see what Yin saw. "Is that who I think it is?" Draco asked. He was shaking just from the sight of the one standing in the distance.
"Draco, keep your distance," Nathan said shakily. He didn't want to even think of fighting her, but he readied his weapon anyway, in the event that they may have to defend themselves. Draco quickly followed suit.
"So, real talk?" Draco started.
"Yeah, brother?"
"How screwed are we?"
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Re: Inverted IC

#19 Post by Tyendinaga »

Standing up from the corpse of the Sandwich merchant, Shuyin looked off to the side, specifically at Yin who at this point stood no more than a few dozen feet away. Well doesn't he look a bit surprised? Two others followed shortly later. His eyes ran from person to person spending a mere second on each. Judging by their clothes they're trainee's. Sword-man is likely fire, Spear-man is probably ice or water. Knifey here looks like light and darkness but that's somewhat of a rare combination; Results are inconclusive at best. They don't seem like they want to fight. He smiled slightly. That made things easier.

He tilted his head towards Rozalis, keeping the trainees within his line of sight "Do not engage. Regardless of personal feelings or historical circumstances Trainee's are a protected class, much like war prisoners or regular civilians. We can't touch them." Besides, even if I'm heavily simplifying things I'd prefer not to have a bunch of kids killed. Turning back, he looked directly at the three in front of them.

Rozalis, on the other hand, was standing hunched over with her ears and tail straight, the fur on both standing straight, her hands edging dangerous close to the closed up form of Argath on her back. A low growling could be heard from deep within her as burning red eyes locked themselves at the figure of Yin. With pearl white fangs exposed, it was almost possible to see the image of an angry beast when looking at her.

Or, at least, that was the image she was projecting until Shuyin told her to halt. She glanced up at him with angry red eyes, fangs still visible.

"But that one," She said, motioning at Yin with her heard. "He's like, one of us. Touched by the Dark. But he's working with them" She spat out with venom. "A traitor. That's totally my kind of prey."

Shuyin's gaze lowered along with his head, the man letting a deep breath out through his nose. In that moment the air stood oddly still and suffocatingly heavy. The dry dirt beneath them cracked ever so slightly. The silence was interrupted by a simple cacophonous crack as a nearby window seemed to shatter and fall to the ground. It was followed by a second, and a third, a fourth and fifth ripping out in the distance like gunshots. All around them glass panes, pots, even drinking glasses, exploded and shattered in a cacophonous roar. And then silence. Just as quick as it had started it had ended, all was calm.

He let out a simple sigh, flicking a stray shard of glass from his shoulder. I really shouldn't get angry. "Touched or not that doesn't give us ownership of him. It just means he fell, not that he is necessarily one of ours." He spoke as calm as ever, his eyes remaining firmly focused on the three Trainee's; He was particularly focused on Yin. Just please, please do not say you are one of ours. "Plus, would you really want to risk killing someone innocent without knowing their full story? I think its time we left."

Another angry growl as Rozalis's ears pressed flat against her head before her hand finally moved away from Argath. She straightened herself out a little, eyes still glaring angrily at Yin, before she took a step back with her arms crossed in front of her and her tail lazily swinging from side to side behind her.

"Fine," Rozalis ground out, teeth clenched as she continued to stare at Yin. "We'll go. Anne told me to like, listen to you so that's like what I'll do?"

She paused before pointing an accusing finger at Yin, eyes burning red still as she tried to keep the feelings of hate and anger at facing what may be a traitor, one who had willingly betrayed their own people, from taking over. "Shyuin like, might play nice this time but I'll totally remember your scent? Next time we meet you won't be so lucky."

With Rozalis now pointing at Yin, Shuyin let out a simple sigh and turned around walking away; With each step he took shards of glass crinkled under his feet. He glanced down. Glass was all over the place, bits here, pieces there, even the remnants of a few exploded clay pots. It was a hell of a mess.

As Shuyin turned around, Rozalis followed suit and spun around with a quiet "Hmph!" and, shooting Yin one last angry glare, bounded after him with the bag of sandwiches still in hand.

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Re: Inverted IC

#20 Post by MrFlyingAmoeba »

Anne's attentions snapped to the town as the lovely, discordant shattering of glass reached her ears. "With me, Lueur. We must retrieve them." The dirt shifted as she dipped below the earth, gliding beneath the surface almost as easily as a bird through the skies. The firm foundations of the town would dampen her own movements, another reason why defending against those of the earth was so frustrating.

Percival quickly stood from the tree he was sitting against, his body quickly regaining it's organic form. With so much noise, a stealthy approach wasn't really required anymore. He slowly stretched his now feathered wings, several loud pops coming from them, crystallization really stiffened the joints. "Allons-y" he said with a small smirk before taking off into the air, speeding towards the town.
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Re: Inverted IC

#21 Post by The Rookie »

Yin’s blood had turned to ice in his veins. From what little he heard about Rozalis, he knew she was not to be taken lightly. However, before him laid three dead guardians; men and women who had sacrificed their lives trying to protect the citizens of the Light from the forces of Darkness. These were the type of people that all trainees aspire to be. Yin couldn’t let their killers walk free, not without trying something at least.

You dare call me a traitor?!” Yin called out, rage echoing in his voice. His right arm raised, Yin gestured his dagger toward Rozalis. “Look who’s talking, assassin. If I recall correctly, weren’t you once a guardian yourself, Rozalis?” A crooked smile flashed across Yin’s face “Or has the darkness just scrubbed all that away? Tossed it aside in order to use you as little more than a tool?

Despite Yin’s choice of words, his mind was as sharp as ever, carefully planning out the next few minutes in detail. While trying to invoke a response, Yin had been signalling his companions with his idle hand. Just like in training, Yin’s fingers moved subtly in sequence spelling out his orders, should Rozalis take the bait. However, even if the brothers knew Yin’s plan, there was no guaranty they’d follow. He wouldn't blame them if they didn't...

I couldn’t imagine they’d have had any trouble doing it either. It can’t be too hard brainwashing an animal.
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Re: Inverted IC

#22 Post by JoshtheOverlander »

(I'm incredibly sorry for my absence, but my computer is experiencing a very frustrating problem)

Yin's gestures didn't go unnoticed from the brothers, but the fact that he was openly insulting someone who could probably wreck them left them a bit nervous. Still, there were Lost Souls in Guardian territory and they had killed guards. They had to do something at the very least.
Draco was looking between Rozalis and the others, determining how difficult pulling off Yin's plan would be. Nathan was weighing his chances against each of the enemies, despite how low they clearly were. However, that seemed to break down when noise was progressively getting louder as the seconds rolled by.
Both Draco and Nathan surveyed their surroundings to find out the source, but to no aveil. Whatever or whoever was making that noise didn't want to be since.
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Re: Inverted IC

#23 Post by y7h65 »

Pausing midstep at Yin's taunting, Rozalis stood still with her back to the three Guardians to be. Her tail was raised up, lifting the cloak up to reveal Argarth at the small of her back, while her ears slick back. Slowly, almost like molasses, slick black miasma began to flow from beneath the cloak and other nearby shadows. Indistinct mutterings and terrified whispers filled the air in the street while indistinct figures moved in the peripheral vision of those present. Unseen eyes and hunger could be felt directed towards their back while the feeling of wrongness threatened to overwhelm rational thought. The air was thick with a scent that was primordial and drowned out the blood, ash, and burning food: fear. A low growl could be heard as she stared two burning points into Shuyin's back.

"Shuyin~" Rozalis singsonged, her voice completely at odds with the magic and aura she was throwing off. "Are you going to, like, make a lady ask out loud what she wants to do?"

By this point Shuyin stood facing back towards the group, face firmly planted in palm. He let off a simple sigh, giving a simple nod to Rozalis followed by a glance to Yin. As the calmer of the two, he was faintly aware of the finger movements. and the growing noise around them. "If you want to play hero, go right ahead, but have you looked in a mirror lately? I seem to recall a certain general ripper who liked to burn fields, kill civilians, string up children just because darkness." He spoke, glaring directly at yin. Perhaps the kid didn't get it, this was war, not a story book, there was no black and white, just shades of grey, just soldiers fighting for their respective sides.

At Shuyin's nod, Rozalis spun around with a fierce grin and softly glowing red eyes. The noise was annoying but nowhere near as the target before her. The miasma on her person was beginning to take a definite shape and her body seemed more beast like than it was before. She paced off to the side, seeming to wind herself up for something, as she spoke.

"So you wanna, like, play that game? Fiiiiine by me~!" Rozalis singsonged, voice dripping with saccharine as she slowly circled closer to one of the buildings. "If I'm, like, suuuuuch a hypocrite then doesn't that make you, like, totally a hundred times worse? I mean, like, yes I kill people and hate traitors but I totally haven't lost sense of myself yet? Liiiiiike, sometimes, I just want to stab some Lost Ones to death? But even if I have lost myself, at least I'm still aware of the fact that I border that line and like, how hypocritical my life has become."

Pausing as she reached the edge of a building, Rozalis snarled as she glared accusingly at Yin, the voices and movements of shadowy figures becoming more intense as she did so.

"But, like, you? You and I?" Rozalis looked at him for a moment before sneering in contempt."Aren't we exaaaaaactly the same? We like, did and still do the same jobs~? Like killing people who maybe shouldn't have been killed~?"

"The onnnnnnly difference, like, between me," She said as she brought her hand to her chest before pointing it dead at Yin. "And you is that I didn't choose to run away and, like, pretend that wanting redemption can totally wash that blood off your hands. That like, wanting redemption will somehow put back together all those families you must have broken doing your job."

"But I can still smell it on you~ It, like, never comes off, you know?" Rozalis said, sniffing the air before grinning viciously. "But you, like, totally have bigger things to worry about right now?"

With that the shadows vanished in a second, the world returning to normality, along with the figure of Shuyin that had been standing. Instead, Shuyin was now charging straight towards Yin.

The air ahead of him had thinned, the air behind him pressed ever forward, and with each step forward he left but a gouge in the ground and a spray of dirt behind. The general had went from zero to top speed in the blink of an eye and what was once a few dozen feet separating them was closing almost as fast; Shuyin wasn't holding back in the slightest and he had no intention of it. I might not intend to kill them, but I'm not about to let them take the initiative either and I'm sure as hell not letting them get into position. He mused upon the thought. Their plan might not have been exactly this, but it probably wasn't too far either.

It was only a moment later that he found himself just a few feet dead center in front of Yin, the two brothers a short distance further, and his own left hand enveloped in darkness. Without so much as putting on the brakes he made a crossover step to the right and gave a light slash aimed diagonally across the chest towards Yins left shoulder. This was followed up by a similar light slash aimed towards his left arm as he reached Yins immediate left. They were merely a greeting, a faint hello aimed to make contact, and judging by Shuyin's smiling face, a challenge.

He was watching them all now. Yin was to the left, Draco was to the front, and Nathan was to front and left. Shuyin himself didn't bother slowing down.

As Shuyin cleared the gap between him and the trainee Guardians, Rozalis hopped up onto an outcropping on one of the buildings before jumping up again to pull herself up onto the roof. Ducking out of sight, her grin still on her face as she hopped from roof to roof down the street, she flexed that mental muscle that activated her magic before speaking. Her voice was immediately projected to several places, each of them prime positions for an attack to come from now that they didn't know where she was.

"But, like, if it's a party you want?" Her voice was droll though their was just a hint of something breathy in it. "Then it's a party you'll get~"

Softly coming to a stop a few more buildings down the street, further away from the Guardians and Shuyin, she popped back into sight and drew Argath at the same time. The weapon twisted and shifted and snapped taut into bow form as she brought it up, three pure arrows of light metal already in hand. Eyes glowing red, she drew the bow and took aim at Yin.

"Scream." She whispered before firing off all three arrows within a second. As each arrow left the bow a ripple of electricity arced from tip to tail, transmuting it from simple lightened steel to a metal far denser and heavier. Then they simply vanished with a loud whip crack noise as the same arc popped and accelerated the arrow to speeds far beyond what a normal bow could produce; their speed enhanced by magical energy converted to additional kinetic energy.

Three arrows screamed towards Yin in a triangle pattern, crossing the distance in a moment, with each spaced roughly a half foot apart and aimed for the torso. To turn attention to Rozalis was to turn attention away from Shuyin. A perfect pincer movement.
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Re: Inverted IC

#24 Post by The Rookie »

As Shuyin sped toward them, Yin maintained his stance, eyes locked on Shuyin’s until he was only about 2 meters away. “Now!” Yin ordered as his empty hand shot into his pack, retrieving a small black ball. While Nathan called out a single instruction to his brother, “Catch!” throwing his prized spear over to Draco.

With precious little time to waste before the general was upon them, Yin threw the smoke bomb at the wall adjacent to his left at head height, but it have a chance to detonate before Shuyin could find his mark. Yin’s outstretched arm, had been slashed violently by the passing general, a satisfied grin on his face. The general was toying with them.

Though not a mortal wound, it was certainly painful, causing Yin to wince in pain, grasping the wound as patches of cloth around the wound site turned crimson with his blood.

Making contact with a cottage wall, the bomb exploded violently causing thick black smoke to burst into the street, surprising and engulfing the passing general; blinding him temporarily, as the smoke burned his eyes and obscured his vision.

Unable to slow his momentum, Shuyin continued to sprint forward blindly through the black fog, unknowingly heading straight into Draco’s trap. Having stepped safely to the side at the moment of impact, Draco had firmly planted the butt of Nathan’s spear in the path of the oncoming general in an attempt to trip the dazed speedster.

In the confusion Yin realised that he'd lost sight of Rozalis, now nowhere to be seen. Yin felt a cold chill flood through his body, knowing that at any moment the assassin could leap from hiding to end his life, and those of his friends in an instant.

Rozalis’s voice sung out from above, filling Yin with a sense of both dread and relief. "But, like, if it's a party you want?" Yin searched desperately along the roof tops, but Rozalis was still well hidden. "Then it's a party you'll get~" With that, Rozalis emerged, bow in hand and arrows cocked. In an instant, three magically empowered blots where flying toward Yin, their demonic whistling filled the air as they bore down on his location.

Yin!”,Nathan’s voice rung out from behind. Thinking quickly, Nathan conjured a strong burst of air, focused in the path of the arrows, pushing them slightly off course, while Yin leaped into a shoulder roll toward Draco. With their combined effort, the arrows missed, peppering the cottage wall.

With no time from thanks, Yin called out to Nathan “Keep her head down!” His voice broken from the pain of landing on this injured arm.“We can’t let her let off another volley!

Draco looked between Yin and Nathan. He had to assist one or the other and he had to decide who quickly. If he were to help Nathan, the two of them might be able to keep Rozalis pinned or, at the very least, at a safe distance, but that would, in turn, leave Yin to deal with Shuyin and he was injured. This seemed to help decide who he would help and Draco quickly tossed back Nathan's spear to him, who managed to catch it in time.
Draco prepared his sword, keeping his eye on the general. "So, got any plans for this guy?"

I’ll handle it. You two go after her!” Yin’s voice still broken, as he clutched at his wound.

The brothers nodded in unison, raising their arms upward toward Rozalis channelling their magics. As one brother fired a bolt of ice or flame, the other moved forward, providing constant suppression as the made their way to Rozalis's location.
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Re: Inverted IC

#25 Post by MrFlyingAmoeba »

One of the greatest weaknesses of those fighting underground was accuracy. Sensing vibrations of those above could work only in the vaguest of ways, lacking the means to avoid harming allies if too close to the enemy. A dozen feet beneath the vibrations of several distinct sources, Anne paused. The rage that had been a constant companion since her corruption demanded she ravage the earth beneath their feet, super-heating the rock and crushing them beneath molten stone. Fire should rise to devour those capable of escaping the first assault. At least use her captive as a distraction, fling his shattered corpse at those above. Rozalis would survive-she had done so before against Anne's attacks.

But discipline leashed rage. Rather than trigger the beginnings of a cataclysm, Anne tilted her head and shifted through the pounded dirt, baring her eyes to the surface several yards away from the loudest of vibrations. There was a cloud of thick smoke on a section of the street and shouting further down, where three figures stood. One injured. It would be so easy to crush them, burn them, start a brutal battle to attract even more Guardians-no, not this time.

We can’t let her let off another volley!” Rozalis must be assaulting them from afar, from behind her current position. Anne faded back underground, preparing her arrival.

"So, got any plans for this guy?" Unused to their situation, and likely to be defeated even without her aid. Not of the earth, or at least feared the General's superiority. They were practically sparring, if these Guardians were not already dead.

I’ll handle it. You two go after her!” The General could easily handle one injured Guardian. Anne was ill-suited for nonlethal combat with constant anger clouding her mind, but there was a thing or two she could still do. Magic coiling within, she waited a precious few seconds, then pulled. The street for twenty feet around the two Guardians beginning to give chase to Rozalis crumbled.

Dirt and rock packed tightly was forced apart, rising and dropping at seemingly random moments, some a mere stumbling inch but beginning to become swathes of soil collapsing under their feet. Cracks were torn wide and crashed shut, the artificial earthquake causing the ground to thrash and sway, tormented by Anne's will. And this was not enough. With another exertion of her powers, the ground swelled along the few alleys crossing through the street, locking them within the single path as buildings swayed or began collapsing. She strained to do this, but only expanded its reach. Another barrier of earth rose behind the Guardians, beginning to trap them between herself and Rozalis, and isolate them from the third Guardian. And Anne emerged with it, the unconscious guard still clasped protectively to her chest as she glared at the pair from behind, her back safe from reprisal thanks to her wall, shield readied on the other arm. They were quite close. A few seconds of dashing across the impossible terrain would bring them to striking distance. They were welcome to try.

More.

The earthquake came alive. The earth would seek to grasp their limbs, bury them without their deaths in waves of dirt and follow their movements. Every step would become treacherous, forcing them away from the edges of the street and crowding them into its center. Even if she was bound to leave them alive, she would make sure they never thought to oppose her kind.

"A hand raised against her is to be shattered!" Anne roared, daring them to continue.
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