[1 v 1] Hello, is it me you're looking for? (Alistaire/Bren)

[Smerdle]

For a little more than a year, Brenley had steered clear of the Haunted House out of sheer fear of the place. During that time, he'd somehow managed to conveniently convince himself that he was far too busy to visit anyway, what with all of the settling in and exploration of Amityville he had left to do, and as it turned out, his excuses were at least partially true.

He didn't know why he was here now. Maybe it was because this was the worst possible time for him to come. Maybe his curiosity had overcome his fear now that he had seen hunters in the flesh. Maybe he had simply taken a wrong turn on the way to finding a more benign spar in the gym. It hardly mattered. He was ready to venture into the House today, he was standing in front of it, and he wasn't afraid. Much.

The boil pushed the door open a crack and stepped inside, blinking in the darkness until his eyes adjusted. Directing a raspy cough into his hand, Brenley shuffled forward, mildly intrigued by the fact that the sound didn't echo through the empty space.

"Interesting," he said. That didn't echo either.

He continued farther into the house, testing doors and finding them all locked. When he finally found one that was not, he opened it wide, squinting through to see what was inside before he entered. Ahead there were seven portals surrounding a space eerily similar to the landing at the top of the stairs in his dream, but instead of each door shining a different color, they all blazed an angry red. He stood still, watching them and fighting with himself to stay.

xkuroopu

will roll for initiative next turn upupupupu

 

[kuropeco]

The Haunted House did either one of two things for Alistaire Rahal-Nazari:

1) It caused him great irritation stemming from unintelligent creatures who believed themselves to be on the same level as humans

or

2) It caused him great distress because of their abilities (namely the ghost he'd met before, the one with the black goo on his claws).

Neither one of these things were particularly beneficial to Alistaire, but he decided to head back to the House anyway, see what he could do to try and garner more knowledge about the creatures that made Halloween their home. Since his last encounter had been more than a little unsatisfactory, he believed it was time for a new one.

He found a creature in one of the rooms, and decided to observe it, standing in the doorway without a word.

smerdle

this tag makes no sense idk

 

[Smerdle]

Instead of immediately moving farther into the room, Bren ducked into a sudden crouch and ran a hand over the strips of fabric wound around his legs. Although this was a relatively warm season, the boil had chosen to use a thick material to cover his runes. The markings gave off a faint cyan glow nearly all the time now, and rather than field questions about them at a time when he didn't want to speak to anyone at all, he opted to go back to hiding them completely. The enchanted ink his ancestors had perfected and used for generations was meant to warn and eventually protect its wearer from danger. It seemed that whatever ancient magic dictated exactly what 'danger' meant had decided he had been in it ever since he had rematerialized back at school.

Certain that he wasn't going to start glowing inappropriately in this place, Brenley stood again and strode as confidently as he could into the room, his steps only faltering slightly. He touched the frame of the door that had been Creation the last time he had seen it, his cool fingers shaking slightly.

What did this mean? Had that place been real or was this a dream too? And where was his door?

kuroopu

yes it does shhh

 

[kuropeco]

It seemed he hadn't quite been noticed yet, which was more useful to Alistaire. He tapped a gloved finger thoughtfully against his chin and surveyed the room, which was empty of living beings except for himself and the surprisingly human-like creature in the room with him. In fact, if Alistaire hadn't known any better, he would have almost considered him to be a human, were it not for the lack of a white coat and a few other vague, noncommittal suggestions. That, and the hissing sort of sound that Grimshaw was making inside of his head.

// He looks like a reaper. //

Is that what they are? He's not particularly impressive if he is. I see neither a weapon, nor a familiar, and isn't that what they carry? I did a little research, and it seems as though the ones claiming human like appearances are the reapers, and they are usually equipped with a weapon or a familiar.

// I don't remember. I just think he looks like a reaper, and I want to bite him. //

Good grief, you are incorrigible sometimes, and insatiable. Patience. We will watch and we will wait and then we will make our move when the timing is right. Until then, keep your patience and your tongue.

Grimshaw made a soft sound of annoyance, but lapsed obediently into silence anyway.

Alistaire continued to watch the creature as it moved forward into the room, this time with more purpose and more determination in its step this time. It had moved towards one of the doors, stretching out a hand to touch one of the frames, and Alistaire's eyes narrowed slightly. The creature was clearly distracted, lost in though, staring at a meaningless door, and had he a long ranged weapon, he could have had a clear shot.

As it was, Alistaire merely quietly summoned his daggers, though he knew the sound of the chains would give him away.


HP: 40
DMG: 2

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

He might have stood there thinking forever had he not heard a faint, metallic sound coming from somewhere behind him. The boil turned his head first, then spun the rest of his body around rather gracefully, all things considered. At the sight of someone lurking in the shadows, Brenley reached for one of the pouches at his waist, drawing out a handful of sand and rocks. In the past, he would have tried to determine the hunter's intentions before attacking, and in the future he would likely go back to doing the same, but at the moment, Bren was clearly not in the mood.

With a sharp flick of his wrist, the reaper tossed the spelled sand in an arc toward the strange man. He had experimented with adding a bit of mild flight enchantment this time, and was pleased to see many of the grains reached the hunter even though he hadn't flung them hard enough to do so. The rest of the spell was his usual acid and fire, and as it clouded around the man, Bren took a few steps closer, brushing the excess sand off of his hands.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people."

HP: 38
Damage: 19/2 = 9.5 = 10 (T2 swift strikes)

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

He managed a quick, brief swipe of his daggers in the creature's direction before it noticed him; and then it moved, twisting around and, clearly at an offense already. Alistaire braced himself, a wide smirk beginning to crawl onto his face at the sight, and he saw in the creature's hand, a small collection of what seemed to be sand and a few pebbles. At first glance it looked to be rather uninteresting, but Alistaire knew better than to underestimate these things. Treating them as though they were intelligent, even if he didn't believe it, was something that would help him in the long run. Make them believe that they had the upper hand, and then, when they were running on arrogant confidence, elated by a silly pride they didn't deserve, that was when he would strike, and strike hardest.

The sand whipped towards him, smacking against his skin and face, and Alistaire lifted his arm, trying to block the majority of it from getting into his eyes, though a few annoying grains still did. Blinking rapidly, he lowered his arm and offered the creature a mocking sort of greeting, arms stretched outwards to the side, each hand holding one of the thin black daggers. The chain looped behind him, dragging along the floor in noisy clinking sounds.

"Sneaking is such a shameful word," Alistaire said, clicking his tongue. "You make it sound as though I am doing something wrong, or perhaps unethical. I was merely letting you go about your business for a bit before I thought to interfere; you were the one who decided to take the initiative and attack first, though you're not exactly intimidating, I must say."

His feet moved first, in quick succession as he lunged towards the creature, the chains whipping behind him like snakes. He struck first with the dagger in his left hand, a quick gesture aimed towards the creature's side; and then he struck next with the dagger in his right hand, this blow aimed towards the creature's leg. Alistaire twisted around, his coat flying out behind him as he moved behind the creature.

He spun the knives in his hands and smirked.

"You're an interesting one, aren't you?"


HP: 30
DMG: 10

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

It had been a mistake to get any closer, one the boil paid for immediately. Bren couldn't move quickly enough to avoid the hunter's swipes, but beyond a bracing shock much like one felt when receiving an unexpected smack to the nose, the strikes didn't do much to him physically, at least not yet. The same could not be said for his clothing.

The second dagger left a long cut in the wrappings around his leg, negating all of his careful work in a single slice. His runes flared, clearly visible through the gap, then faded just as quickly, never truly darkening completely. Brenley winced, even though the light was painless.

"You startled me," he said. It was even partially true. "And if you simply wanted to observe me, you would have little reason to continue this fight. Especially with me being such a disappointment and all." He noted the colors and cut of the hunter's coat with narrowed eyes, as well as the weapons he carried. Or rather... weapon. The daggers were connected by a chain, indicating the human held only one of his kind. Could they carry two? So many questions.

"I can assure you that I am no more interesting than you are." Which, he had to admit, was very interesting. Brenley continued to stare, his true weapons nowhere to be seen.

HP: 28
Damage: 0

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

Alistaire had begun to pace in a slow circle around the reaper, his footsteps deliberate, his held held high, chin tilted a little. His gaze went to the creature's leg, where something glowed brightly, briefly, beneath the wrappings that he'd cut.

Curious, he thought. Alistaire smiled.

"Come now, that's no way to handle a situation," he said lightly. "You trying to manipulate me into leaving you alone by turning what I've said back to me isn't going to work. I'm not that stupid, after all, and besides; what good is observation without proper experimentation as well?"

Another quick strike, this one to the creature's side.


HP: 30
DMG: 3

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

"Don't..."

The boil frowned as he hopped to the side and backed away, failing once again to avoid getting hit. He fumbled at his waist this time, less familiar with where he had hung his bombs than with where he stored his sand. Eventually he did manage to grab the correct weapon, lobbing a walnut-sized stone at the hunter's feet. Then, he waited...

...and waited...

...and waited.

While his sand hadn't failed him yet, these enchanted rock bombs were hit or miss. Literally. Brenley sighed, manifesting his katar with a barely visible roll of his eyes. He tried to recall how Shun had held himself when they had fought, but he knew his impression was falling far short of perfection.

"Fine. Yes. I think I would be interested in hitting you properly now. As long as you don't turn me into... one of those." They weren't compelled to weaponize people all the time, right?

HP: 25
Damage: 0 (T1 battle cry)

kuroopu

emotion_awesome

 

[kuropeco]

He arched a brow.

"Don't what?" said Alistaire. He was still smiling, his expression amused as both he and the creature stared down at the rock by Alistaire's feet. It did nothing at all except lie there exactly like a rock, and after a few seconds, Alistaire lifted his gaze to look at the creature.

"That was incredibly anticlimactic, I hope you weren't expecting anything good."

Alistaire dragged the chains up, twisted around, and slammed one blade into the creature's arm. His second attack missed, but Alistaire pivoted quickly so that he was facing him, his expression quite entertained as though this were all a game to him.

"Turn you into what? A weapon?" Alistaire waved his dagger with a smile. "That depends on how interesting I still find you at the end of this little fight."


HP: 30
DMG: 6 - using Double Take

[quotee="smerdle"]  

[Smerdle]

Don't... hit me.

He had been on the verge of blurting don't hit me just before it had happened anyway and the whole request had become rather pointless.

Brenley grunted as the dagger landed, raising his stinging arm to chest level in a belated attempt to protect it. "What I was going to say doesn't matter." Even though he hadn't thought much about why today was the right day to enter the house, he had never been under any illusions that this visit would go well. He had expected pain and dissipation at the hands of a pack of militaristic madmen, not this snide man's confident words and blatant dismissal. Yes, he was frightened, but that feeling was quickly being overpowered by irritation.

"And now that I think about it, I don't think my becoming a weapon is up to you." He had fought to get out of that place, doing terrible things he hadn't known he was capable of. He certainly wasn't going to be turned into anything by this hunter after all of that. Brenley's blades whistled through the air one after the other, aiming for the hunter's waving arm. "Forget I said anything."

HP: 19
Damage: 4

kuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

He couldn't help but be vaguely amused by the whole thing. The creature was not human, even if he somewhat resembled a human, and this alone was fascinating to Alistaire, who wanted to study it a bit more. That, combined with the slightly sullen nature - or maybe it was more annoyance, come to think of it - made everything much more interesting. It was certainly a more engaging fight than many of the others he'd been in.

"Who says it isn't?" said Alistaire lightly. He gave a little hiss of surprise as one of the blades sliced through his coat and shirt, cutting him just above his elbow. Pulling his arm away, Alistaire twisted around again, the amused look in his eyes hardening to something much more fierce.

"I could be the one they send to gather the necessary supplies, after all."


HP: 26
DMG: 4

smerdle

Look at this terribly belated tag

 

[Smerdle]

"I am not... a supply."

Brenley hopped toward the man, trying and failing to swing his weapons much as he had before. This time, he missed entirely, his mounting exhaustion getting the better of him. He retreated several steps, rubbing at the muscles of his forearm.

"And even if you are the one they send to abduct us or convince us or whatever it is that you do, I'm not willing to come. So... um... sorry about that."

HP: 15
Damage: 0

xkuroopu

 

[kuropeco]

His smile widened.

"Isn't that up to me to decide?" Alistaire asked coolly, striding in the same direction as the other, though with a decidedly more predatory stance. Clearly the reaper was beginning to slow down, his movements less precise, his aim not quite as accurate. Alistaire wound one of the chains around his gloved hands and then slid the dagger into place between his fingers.

"If you are arrogant enough to believe that you are capable of resisting, then by all means, continue on with this little tirade of yours."


HP: 26
DMG: 0 gj

smerdle

alistaire pls

 

[Smerdle]

The boil paused, his inquisitive nature leading him to actually ponder what this hunter was saying rather than striking back while his opponent was so close. Clearly he needed more information before he could respond definitively, but no, his gut told him it was definitely not this man's decision. If they went around taking any old students they pleased, they would have a lot of angry people constantly chattering in their heads. Maybe that was why they were so insane. Well. That was something to think about later.

"Your decision means nothing. Humans might have created us, but... well... sometimes what we've created grows beyond our expectations." He shuffled back as the hunter advanced. "I will resist. You will never convince me to join you." Brenley swallowed, his eyes on the runed dagger, then he spun and ran as fast as he could down the stairs and out of the strange open room, his hands pressed to his sides to keep his clothing and pouches from jangling. Without a convenient syringe to incapacitate the one he was trying to kill, his best bet for self-preservation here was obviously a sissy run.

HP: 15
Damage: flee attempt

kuroopu

monologging