[HH 2v1] Blood of the First (Shikeen + Gale)

[medigel]

Wow, Shaheen. Way to ruin his set up. He had built it up and everything, by the gods. "When this is finished, we are working on your memory," he muttered. "And your battle technique." Though he was alright with it in this case: now he could show off all he wanted for her amusement. No battle was fully entertaining without a little theatrical flair after all, like the screams the little one would be providing them soon with.

Shik clenched his teeth and suffered through the volley of bullets, wavering momentarily as the breath was forced out of him but recovering in time to catch the hunter by his scarf tails, which he then yanked them up by. "Is that so?" the executioner growled, tossing him a little again to nestle his talon-like nails into his scalp, leaving them face to face. The Hunter was grinning, and he bared his teeth in one back.

Normally he used his dagger with this particular Fear, but the little one warranted a special sort of pain. The hand not already clutching at him swiftly embedded all five fingers into the hunter's chest, already burning up and getting hotter still. Nails continued to dig deeper against the shield, glowing like hot coals--

--and then those fingers scraped across and sparked the fire. With a roar like a hungry beast the flames quickly ate away at what it could, growing larger and larger.

"Speak as you wish. In the end, your kind will either burn from the inside out or fall down at our feet begging."

And then Shik let him go.

HP: 32
Damage: 18

Seussi

 

[Seussi]

She could only raise a brow at Shikoba's comment, though despite not being sure as to what he might be referring to, she smirked at him nonetheless, watching as he caught the hunter, flitting closer with a several quick beats of her wings in case he required some assistance.

She nearly lost her regained composure when the executioner took a second attack from the hunter, a volley of bullets that had him looking like he might falter, might actually stumble. A strange and almost foreign rising of emotion in her chest, of concern for his safety, lasting only for a moment before she remembered that Shik could most certainly take care of himself.

So while she had taken more steps forward and had raised her sword again as if to strike the hunter still clutched in his taloned hands, she took pause, and then lowered her arm, her stance relaxing slightly as she watched what occurred next, her face splitting into a wicked grin, though there was a jealous sensation stirring within. Her own Fear had failed, where Shik's had held strong, and she got to bare witness to it's power, her golden eyes glittering with both her malice and her pride.

This hunter was finished. She knew it before he even hit the ground. Stepping around the body, she came to Shik's side, hand finding his arm, gripping it as she leaned in, a brush of lips against his cheek.

"Well done." She purred, and then with a hint of mischief in her tone. "I think I have forgotten what we did together last night. Maybe after Medea has dealt with the boy, you can help me remember."

She then leaned away from him, silent laughter plain in her gaze before those eyes dropped to the hunter at their feet.

"It's a shame, really. I would have liked to keep this one."

Ol-j-man

terrible

kurotomato

 

[kuropeco]

He hung there in midair, the scarf cutting off a good deal of his breath, and Gale coughed and sputtered, his body jerking. He kicked his legs out, trying to get free, but the next second the hunter had him by the hair, fingers digging into his scalp, and his head hurt, along with the rest of his body.

"Yeah," said Gale, but he knew it was over, knew it even before the horseman moved. "That's so."

And then he was on fire and he was screaming, screaming so loud that the should reverberated in his ears, agony ripping through his FEAR shield and throughout his entire body. He no longer knew where he was, who he was, what he was, all he knew was the burning, and there was a voice in his head that was shouting at him, desperate and panicked, repeating his name over and over again but Gale was beyond hearing him, beyond comprehending.

He had never been in so much pain in his life; even Caelius stabbing him through the hand could not compare.

Dimly he was aware that the horseman had let go and that the flames had resided, and then Gale was falling, falling, down to the ground, where he landed in a crumpled heap, arms and legs splayed out. Something snapped - maybe his wrist, maybe his ankle, maybe just a single finger, he couldn't even tell anymore, all of the pain bleeding into the rest so that his entire body still felt as though it were on fire.

He couldn't move.

He had not ever thought he would die so easily, from the horsemen of all people. He had hoped, stupidly, that if and when he died, it would be after a long, long time, and secretly he had hoped that Stormy would still be at his side by then, that she would stay with him through all the years of his life.

Gale wondered how mad she would be when she found out he was not returning. Would she wait for him?

<< Gale. >>

Jinhai's voice sounded distorted somehow, as though from far off. Gale gave a little laugh that came out a cough, his lungs searing with the effort of simply breathing. Blood trickled down the side of his face, clung wetly to his hair. He remembered, belatedly, what day it was, what this particular day of the week meant.

And a happy birthday to me.

seussi

ol-j-man

zoobey

APPARENTLY I AM SUMMONING U

 

[Zoobey]

As if on cue, and ornate silver archway, a portal, grew from the fog. It felt familiar, the power of a certain Head Priestess, most likely waiting for them on the other side. Hopefully.

Seussi

ol-j-man

Kurotomato

Come along now Gale!

 

[medigel]

It was probably a good thing that Shik was too engrossed in enjoying the hunter's screams to notice that momentary lapse of concern Shaheen had. He descended and touched ground seconds after the snap the hunter's body made, just in time as she came over. While it was quite satisfying already to have struck a hunter down together whereas before it had been difficult, it was even moreso hearing Shaheen's purred praise. He smirked widely at the suggestion and brushed wings in silent assent.

"You keep wanting to bring strays home," he complained good naturedly as he walked over to examine their--well, he supposed not kill, because luckily the thing was still breathing, but prey still worked in this context. "No excuses. This one isn't even remotely cat like. More like a maggot."

On cue, the portal yawned before them--thankfully this time without an eruption of fire (he'd taken care of that already, thank you). Finally the day to move forward on this plan had come. Leaning over, he plucked the bleeding, burned, broken hunter off the ground and tossed him over his shoulder like he would any fresh kill. "Shall we?" he said to Shaheen with an excited glint in his eyes.

Seussi

you can post them all entering in for me while I do more finals things wheeeeee

 

[Seussi]

It had only been a brief brushing of lips against the rough skin of his cheek, only a few soft and teasing words at the end of a well fought and won battle. The wing brushing against hers had become like a sweet assurance, however, a reminder that they were here together, in this together, would win or lose this fight together.

It was so much better to work together then it ever had been to work against.

"I didn't say I wanted to keep it as a pet." She pointed out. "More like an experiment." She muttered, reaching out to nudge the broken body with a toe. He had taken quite a beating, and yet even at the end had been defiant to the last. How incredible might that Fear be if they could ever manage to extract it?

Before she could say much else, a portal grew before them, arching up above them in ornate silver work. She waited while Shikoba hefted the hunter up, then found his hand to hold with hers, stepping forward through the portal with executioner and hunter in tow.

Zoobey

all through

 

[Zoobey]

Medea was waiting for them, lying in a bed of pillows, petting a sad foxfire with a sweater on. She continued to pet the poor, sad, foxfire while she turned to stare at the arrivals.

"Have you brought a present? A gift perhaps?" She languidly shifted positions, now squeezing the life out of the poor minipet in her arms, unintentionally.

Seussi

ol-j-man

 

[medigel]

Oh, an experiment~ She had been squatting at Sal's for too long, though if it meant poking and prodding some more, well, even the brutish horseman would settle for some science. "Maybe for the end of the year I will find you one as a gift," he said, and dusted Shaheen's cheek with a brief, grinned kiss as she took his hand and they moved forward.

Medea was . . . still a little off by the looks of things, but at least it was better than the lamentable state she had been in before. "Indeed," Shik replied, sliding the barely conscious hunter off his shoulder and unceremoniously dropping him at the high priestess's feet. "A touch on the burned and broken side, as I got carried away, but still hanging to life."

Seussi

 

[Seussi]

It was hard not to grin at the kiss, however brief it might have been. But no, professionalism was in order now, especially as they were in the presence of the high priestess, Medea. Her face instead slipped back into it's carefully neutral state, impassive as she slipped her hands back out of Shik's and stepped to the side as he dumped the hunter onto the ground, so as not to get any of it's blood on her feet.

"His resolve was strong, but he likely would have run if we hadn't knocked his pendant away then kept it out of reach. Might have been difficult to handle for one alone, but between the two of us he went down without much fuss."

All mostly due to Shikoba, who's Fear hadn't failed at a critical moment in the battle.

"Still, he refuses to Fear us." There was a tightening in her jaw at that, as she believed it was due to complacency. The horsemen had not been doing enough lately to earn themselves proper respect among the cattle.

Zoobey

 

[Zoobey]

"A present indeed," the former Head Priestess gathered her robes together, the foxfire falling out of her arms, running far, far away to join the horde of sad sweater foxfires on the other side of the tent. She moved over and then nudged the burnt Gale experimentally with one foot before turning him over. "Ah." Medea wrinkled her nose. "You brought... a small Hunter child." She looked very much like she had no clue what to do with Gale as she prodded him again, flipping him over again onto his back. "None the less, a Hunter is a Hunter.

Medea grabbed Gale by one arm and began to drag him towards the pyre, which thankfully, wasn't that many steps forward. There, she took a small ornamental dagger and made a shallow cut against his arm, taking out a tiny vial to harvest a few drops of blood inside before corking it. The vial was left the vial hanging over the pyre, the smokes tainting the bottle and liquid inside a deep black. Medea stepped back, admiring her handiwork.

"That should be enough. The task is well underway the sacrifice taken." Gale was still breathing and the Head Priestess made a face again. "Now, fate has spoken, and we must get rid of this Human child in the most terrible and horrifying way possible, if I didn't make an unfortunate agreement with various conditions." She prodded the half-conscious body, and there was a small poof and a cloud of dust where Gale had been lying down until-

Then, she scooped up the Hunter-turned-foxfire and put him in the pen with the other sweater foxfires who began to circle not-quite-Gale and do happy foxfire things such as sniff his butt and yap at him.

Medea, moving like a rather gluttonous, lazy serpent, coiled back into her pillows and gazed at the two. "This is but preparation, one of many. An Ancient cannot be killed, only stopped and with utmost care. Tell me, children, have you heard of the Heart."

Seussi

ol-j-man

kurotomato

Gale is now a cute foxfire enjoy (he is fully aware he is a foxfire, or something tiny and no he is no longer in pain at least!) He can move around in his pen and... try to listen to conversation above the yapping

 

[medigel]

"Might have been difficult"? He gave Shaheen an affectionately offended look. Please. There was never any doubt, even if one of them had been alone, that they could have taken a Hunter out. Or maybe that was the post-victory shine talking.

Shik was deeply disappointed Medea didn't finish the roasting job after collecting her bounty of blood, though he . . . supposed . . . the foxfire bit was something of a punishment as well: a so-called wolf tamed into a mere minipet.

"No," he answered distractedly as the herd of foxfires began to yip, frowning. "What agreement, High Priestess?"

Seussi

 

[Seussi]

Shaheen couldn't help but shoot Shikoba a look that said I told you he was too small, when Medea went on about how he would do for her purposes. She watched with a vague expression of interest when Medea took his blood and hunt the vial next to the pyre, it's contest shifting in color.

And then Medea turned him into a foxfire. She had to bite her tongue in protest, more then willing to offer up a more unfortunate fate, one full of daily tortures.

Like Shikoba, she wanted to know of what agreement she spoke of.

When the foxfire was put with the others, she tried to ignore the yipping, face impassive as she studied Medea, and turned her words over in her mind.

"Heart?" She echoed, another glance cast Shik's way. "It has..a familiar ring to it."

Zoobey

 

[Zoobey]

The former High Priestess had a haughty look when they asked about the agreement. "In order to take something far greater, sacrifices had to be grasped, once closed paths open. It makes many things difficult but the true goal easier. Now children, let us speak of the Heart."

She dipped one hand into the pyre, smoke rising again as she spoke, giving her words the illusion of pictures. "After the rise and fall of Revenge, the Heart was broken into hundreds of fragments, each piece carefully placed with the sole intention of beguiling travelers. Alone, they do nothing but torment lesser souls. Combined, they form the Heart and grant merely a wish of destruction. This, with the hands of preperation and fate can perhaps stop even an Ancient itself. One power, cancelling another. The result would be even more terrible if the Heart itself were not Destruction."

"And so the tale continues, not a tale but one of truth." Medea turned around lazily. "Would you care to take a guess as to how many Heart fragments have been collected?"

Seussi

ol-j-man

 

[medigel]

Shik was really not one for riddles and made a grumpy noise at the evasive answer, shooting Shaheen a look much like a child might when denied what they wanted and looking for a second opinion.

But at least the story was something. He cocked his head and mused over the bits of information like bits of meat, digesting them one by one. It was obvious that the idea of a wish of destruction delighted his imagination, though even Shik had to pause when Medea mentioned it could stop even an Ancient. Was the Heart what she ultimately needed to end Death then? If so, he didn't like the idea of having hunt down hundreds of fragments . . .

"At least half?" he ventured, shrugging a little. "What do these fragments look like? Do you need us to find them?" Pause. A smirk. "Does it require more Hunter sacrifices?"

xSeussi

Zoobey

seu says to go ahead and post!

 

[Seussi]

Shaheen had no idea what Medea was going on about in regards to sacrifices and closed paths that became open. It was all nonsense to her, riddles without an actual answer.

In other words, Medea's usual ramblings.

Keeping her silence until Shik finished speaking, Shaheen tilted her head to the side.

Hundreds of fragments. Hundreds. And she wanted them to guess at how many had been collected?

"Is it not more important to know who the collectors are?" She questioned, because if Medea was not the sole owner of the collected fragments, it meant that they would have to go and steal them from whoever did happen to have them.

Zoobey