thebastion | [Day 196 and 197] Seconds march into the past [OPEN

[Ryu doesn't really mind the climb - he's had worse, though the cold is getting to him. Of course he would go on something like this - it seemed important to Paarthurnax, so the decision to go was easy. Besides, he missed climbing and adventuring. He looks at the stone face, and shrugs.]

It's not that creepy... it kind of looks sad, though. Broken like this... how many years did it spend guarding whatever's inside?

[Colin glances at Rin. He's not even out of breath yet.]

You, Rin-Rin, have got much to learn.

[He gives her a grin, then looks ahead. He was more than happy to come along with the group on this expedition. If nothing else, he'd be able to help haul stuff back, and learn more about the dragons of Paar's world. The Elerians in the empire would crucify him if he let a chance like this slip through his grasp, after all.]

Catch your breath for now, we can continue in a bit. I doubt we'll be seeing Gasfella move in HERE anytime soon.

[Crona had not done well with the path. Crona's exposure to roads that aren't paved is limited, and so the meister had spent a large amount of time just trying to figure out how to handle the climb without falling over, and as a result looking like someone who was just learning to walk.

Crona sits down on a rock, armor clinking. The meister is very much going to take advantage of the opportunity to rest.]

[Wow, rude Rin, maybe your face is creepy.]

[Still, nothing happens when Kitten investigates the door or the space where it once was. All traps and puzzles have been put out of commission, both because they've fulfilled their purpose and because the Calamity did its damage. She should be able to sense traces of old magic, however. Being so near to the carved stone face means she'll be near the circle that's carved on the ground, and it's that which will react to her probing for magic. It's the old kind of magic, at least for this world- blood magic. It'll only react to a specific kind... and there'll likely be signs to her that it was already activated some time before the Calamity hit it.]

[She'll be able to sense magic that reacts only to the Thu'um in the path that lead them here... And something else. Something inside the temple that was dormant but is starting to awaken.]

[Colin's sensors might pick up something as well- something not really dead but not really living either. Four signals, maybe? At least a few are moving around, at any rate. Just slowly.]

[Apparently you all being loud as hell woke something up.]

...

[Rin puts her hands on her hips, tiling her head to the side to stare at the face intently.]

Maybe I'm just used to giant faces bein' way more... friendly.

[Buddha statues and all that. Though the closer she looks at it the more she's reminded of the ones that weren't the friendly, peaceful ones. Like the guardians, with their fangs and sneers and armored bodies.

Bon had tried to ramble at her about some of the guardians on their trip around Kyoto but she'd been far more interested in more colorful things.

And the food.

Now she's kind of wishing she'd listened more...

A few deep breaths in and out to let her aching lungs rest, and she moves closer to the door, poking her head over Kitten's to look beyond the crack. A sniff of the air just made her nose tingle with dust and mold and everything else that came with a place being left alone forever and ever.

Though there is a trace of something else... something more recent. Something she can't identify.

And she hears... scratching, but it's so damn faint and distant she's willing to dismiss it at some left behind rats that managed to escape the Calamity.]

Pretty dark in there. I can get some fire goin' for torches if we need it.

I can, too.

[Is there something? It's hard to tell.]

We should be careful. We don't know if there's monsters or something around.

[This place reminds him of the deep dungeons and passages he's dealt with before. There's always monsters.]

I can use soul perception. [And here's Crona, offering up an idea.]

I can see what's down there.

... Do that, Crona. Please.

[All traces of Colin's amusement are gone, and he's looking in the direction of the movement.]

We've got movement here that isn't us. Three or four... somethings. Moving too regularly to be shifting material. Not particularly fast, but not... I can't get heat from it. Undead maybe? Kitten, Rin, you might wanna give that some room.

[He mutters aside.]

That's it, I'm writing a program to better detect the unliving, this is the second time in a week...

[Her teeth bare in a slight snarl at the word "monsters." Kitten hates that word. People have used it for her often enough, and used it synonymously with Immortal, that it sets her on edge. She acknowledges Ryu's reasoning with a nod, though.

Kitten whistles uneasily.] There are traces of magic in the circle here. I do not like them. It's old, though, so unless it was very long-lived, we should not have to worry.

But it still doesn't feel right. [She backs up toward Colin at his request, settling back on her hind legs next to him. Of the group, Kitten is the member least suited for close-range combat, and well she knows it. Kitten contemplates shifting the color of her scales to blend in with the environment, chameleonlike, but decides to hold off for the time being.] Undead?

[She looks between Rin and Ryu for a moment, unsure of which parts of their abilities were as limited as the majority of her magic. If their fire is limited, it ought to be saved for combat.] I can light stones if that becomes necessary and seems more sensible than fire. [Light might also be a useful weapon against creatures that lived in the dark, now that she thinks about it...]

[Should Crona decide to use Soul Perception, four souls will appear to the meister. But they're definitely... off.]

[The souls of normal humans are plain and whole, and Kishin eggs are corrupted and twisted. These aren't quite either. Somehow, the souls seem more eroded than anything- bits and pieces of them ground away. Holes in places. Three out of the four are relatively weak as souls go, all the weaker because of what's happened to them. The other is in a similar state... but it's a much stronger soul than the rest. It's also the sole stationary one, the others moving around a bit more and more as time passes.]

[In fact, one of those weaker souls apparently becomes bolder and starts to bolt towards the entrance.]

[For those without Soul Perception, they'll hear after a moment the sound of boots slamming against pavement as something rushes down the hallway that the entrance leads to. There's just the momentary sign of something in the light, a pair of glowing blue eyes- and then a blur of ice bursts out from the entrance. Enjoy that Frostbite spell, everyone. There's the sound of an arrow being notched, and the enemy is a bit more clear to see: ]

[A walking corpse, skin dry and clinging to nothing but bones, skeletal fingers pulling back an arrow in an ancient looking bow. The first shot? Going to Colin.]

Undead?! Again?!

[Colin wasn't exaggerating with that "second time" thing. Anya's store had given them a particularly difficult one to throw down with, and the mention of the undead happening yet again does a good job of getting Rin's hackles raised at it. Her tail lashes, teeth gritting in a snarl towards the door as her hand went towards her sword.

She had intended to back up at that same moment in order to get her blades out and be ready for what was going to come, but what was inside decided it didn't want to wait.

The flash in the dark earned a sharp gasp from her, but what should have been a chance to get her swords and flames going before the arrow was notched turned in to a painful interruption for her.

She hadn't moved yet, so that Frostbite spell? Smacking her right in the chest.

Rin went flying with the impact, frost and ice exploding from where the spell had struck and hitting her torso and face with bitter, painful cold. She couldn't even scream properly, the blast taking her breath away and giving her nothing but frigid air to breathe in.

She crashed to the dusty floor hard, skidding several feet back and coming to a rest where Crona had stopped.]

[Ryu moves towards the door, which gives the Draugr a nice clear shot at him. He takes it right in his chest, leaving him growling in frustration. Right. No sense in playing nice with this one. He draws his sword and glows, quickly transforming into his hybrid form.]

[First thing's first, though - and he dashes over to Rin to try to help her up.]

[Colin's eyes widen slightly as he sees the flash, and he turns his body and crouches to shield Kitten from whatever comes next. This ensures that he takes the brunt of the spell for her, followed by the arrow which slams into his shoulder, earning a yell of pain from him.]

[It is worth noting, however, that the arrow does not pierce his skin. In fact, the shaft of the arrow shatters into wooden splinters and the arrowhead chips and rolls off of his skin. His shirt was certainly pierced, but otherwise, he seems fine.]

[Except, you know, for a string of expletives that fly from his mouth in a variety of languages, culminating in a shriek not unlike a 56.6 baud modem connecting to the internet.]

Inferior troglodytic toys! THIS IS A PROJECTILE YOU SIMPLISTIC CORPSE!

[He draws his pistol and turns his body, his eye locking visually on the bowman with a quivering bowstring. He can't yet target a weak point, but he's not particularly worried about killing, yet. He just wants to share the pain of having a projectile impact against skin. In fact, he wants to make it double, so he fires two rounds.]

[Kitten screeches as Colin ducks down to protect her, taking the attack that was headed her direction. She might have been able to stop or dodge it, and she hates seeing people she likes injured, especially on her behalf. And then he was still between her and the arrow, so any destructive magic that could take care of the weapon midair would have hit him too. Kitten starts to redden with anger, but takes a deep breath and forces her scales to blend in with the ground instead, becoming difficult to see. If they still target her, she will use actual magic and cover herself in illusions.]

Take care of yourself, Colin! I can defend myself from projectiles and spells well enough until I run out of magic, and I am also much better at hiding. Is everyone alright?

[Colin might notice that the air around him is a little hotter than it was a minute ago. It might come as a pleasant surprise after the ice spell, even. Kitten needs to control her temper though, or she could wind up burning the people around her.

She moves out from behind Colin and screeches again, this time a much more controlled one with magic behind it. She puts as much force into the spell she can manage, trying for range. Kitten hopes to catch anyone still inside the doorway as well. It's aimed squarely at their weapons rather than at bones. She'll save bone-shattering for now, but it is an option.]

Two more like that. [Crona says, voice steady despite all the absurd chaos going on in the area (really, Colin? that screeching was excessive), and steps over Rin to stand between the half-demon and the attacker, Ragnarok in sword form held ready.]

There's a stronger soul, but it's not moving.

[Yeah, Colin, that screeching was excessive, please. The Draugr disapproves. Then again, the Draugr disapproves of everything living, so that is not particularly surprising.]

[It also shouldn't be surprising that it doesn't display any signs of pain when the rounds from Colin's gun sink into its rotten body. There's just the reaction to the impact, body jerking and hand stuttering from drawing another arrow. That leaves a good opening for Kitten's spell- fragile bow and arrows shattering into nearly nothing almost immediately. It's truly a miracle that they've lasted this long to begin with, honestly. ]

[The Draugr reels for a moment, glowing sockets focused on its now empty hands, before it decides to make a hasty retreat back inside. Its steps are wobbling and unsteady, however, slower than before. Apparently the damage from Colin's gun broke apart some pieces of it... Just a bit.]

[If anyone wants to go after it, they can probably catch it again in the dim hallway before it can get back to any other weapons.]

[Oh that blast had been painful. Thankfully, unlike the fiasco at the observatory months ago, the ice was not the suppressive, heavy and suffocating mess the fire foam had been.

It hurt, she was bruised, but she was also able to melt the ice clinging to her with a burst of hot blue flames before getting back to her feet.

... just as the bony bastard was retreating.

Anger made it so that she only barely heard what Crona had said, and she recklessly bolted after the retreating Dragur.]

Oh no you don't!

[And Rin vanished in to the darkness, only to illuminate it with her blue flames as she practically threw herself at the undead creature, tackling it to the dirty ground just so she could pin it and relieve it's shoulders of it's head.

Her triumph was good.

But short lived.

There was a much deeper growl from within the darkened depths of the temple, and once more piercing blue eyes shone in the darkness beyond what Rin's flames could reach.]

Oh fuck ohfuckohfuck--!

[Rin jumped to her feet with every intention to turn and high tail it the hell out of there.

All at once a tremendous shout of Fus Ro! echoed in the chamber so loudly that the walls actually trembled, and a massive concussive force blasted Rin in the back, sending her flying once more across the temple, this time coming to a skidding face first hall in front of Colin.

Well. That was if Colin or anyone was still standing after that.]

Don't... ever let me do that... again... please...

[Oh and look now there's more arrows.]

[Ryu follows after Rin, hands flaming as he prepares for a hit.]

[That is, until he hears the echoing shout, and he crosses his arms in front of him. Fortunately, since he's floating, he's just knocked backwards instead of tumbling to the ground. He does touch down briefly, before dashing forward, fists lighting up the dim surroundings.]

Helt uv kos ald!

[He snarls the words, looking for the draugr. It's probably not going to stop, but he had to offer the option. Now where did they go... as soon as he sees one, he's going to introduce it to some flames.]

[Even as Rin comes sliding in his direction, Colin is regaining his footing, and he scowled and leaps on top of Rin, letting the arrows hit him instead of her. She could regenerate the damage, sure, but it would take time, and it would take some of the fight out of her. He usually didn't have much fight to begin with if it didn't come to throwing grenades, and he could take the damage better.]

[So when the arrows shatter against his back and shoulders, Colin hisses in pain and looks back at Rin.]

You okay?

[He's already reaching up to his bandolier to pull off a grenade, and he hisses, reaching up to pull the head of an arrow out of his shoulder. It didn't pierce deeply, but it still stung.]

Oh, I have had it with this online game necromancer Bulrathi crap!

[Kitten comes barreling after Colin the others, still camouflaged and difficult to see. She chirps a light spell that sends illumination spreading down the stones of the corridor. As soon as she's close enough to aim in a way that will endanger none of her own party, she whistles a bone-shattering spell that she hopes will crumple their nearest enemy to the ground. Even if pain doesn't bother it, who can shoot with broken arms or run on broken legs?

Other people's bones may ache for the duration of the sound itself, but Kitten is very careful where she directs her actual magic.]

[Well, if everyone else is charging forward, Crona will as well. Not in the front, there's no reason to rush into a fight right now. But the meister will provide backup if necessary.]

[Day 196 and 197] Seconds march into the past [OPEN

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