RP:A Dance With Dragons

From HollowWiki

Part of the The Lesser of Two Evils Arc



Inhospitable Lands

This area appears to mark some kind of border, to the south is nothing but empty desolation. Lands scorched by the sun with little water or shade to provide respite for the searing heat. The land is flat for quite some way so it appears to go on endlessly like some great unnatural void for life and civilization. To the north some greenery can be seen, the occasional leafy ancient oak and plenty of thick dark green grass evidently very healthy yet there is no sign of any animals.


Kasyr marches onwards, with hands stuffed into the pockets of his trenchcoats, a cigarette balanced upon his lips and a thoughtful expression painted upon his features. For the first time in a long while, Gospel was already plainly visible upon the Kensais person- the wicked weapon having adopted the guise of a sheathed pair of Katana's, quietly resting at the Revenants hip. Drawing in a breathe made unnecessary due to his particular 'afflication', the Kensai breathes out a trail of smoke and mist- amusing himself with how chill the Desolate lands of the wasteland have become with the evenings introduction. "Et bien, Cherie. Just so we're clear- whilst we are seeking to slay a dragon, we're endeavouring to do so with as little damage as possible done to the corpse- so as to provide Redhale with a fresh, intact Corpse. Which es to say, this makes grounds for a delightfully difficult impromptu lesson. We get to see about killing one of these things without the use of our ..er, more devastating talents."


Satoshi seems considerably more interested in picking out a path to Kasyr by hopping across scattered boulders than the rest of her surroundings despite the common threat of territorial dragons, although she does come to a wavering pause on the point of one stone to give him a sidelong look. Crouching down on her makeshift perch, the kit huffs with a mixture of annoyance and thoughtfulness at the kensai's instructions. So much for her usual methods. "What about internal damage, then? And how're we getting it back to Vailkrin afterwards, or is Spookly coming out here to retrieve it?"


Kasyr continues to perform that miraculous innate balancing act, that involves talking, and not spitting up the cigarette balanced upon his lips. "Well. Ranok -es- indentured to Redhale, et all. But I imagine a dragon would go fairly far to evening up that score. So- I figure we just tell a bunch of those fold folks that there es a dragon to be retrieved from this location, with a little note sent to Ranok to clarify matters." The revenants pauses for a moment, casually cracking his neck a few times, before he continues to shuffle forward, "Internal damage es likely the wisest route to take with this thing. Putting a sword through it's skull should function admirably enough in stopping it. " With a casual brushing off motion from his right hand, the Kensai directs his attention forward, squinting at the barely visible patchs of green in the distance. "..Bordering on Gamorg territory. Quand meme."


Satoshi leaps down from the overhang to land neatly beside the revenant with a grin, using his moment of peering into the distance to reach up and pluck away his cigarette. A few steps backwards are danced while the foxkin pilfers a breath from it before her grin promptly sours and she coughs in protest. "Nnnngh," the exhaled smoke is hurriedly being scooped up by the mistwoven mantle about her shoulders, despite Satoshi's disapproving glower and words, "that stuff's foul, leave it be, dammit." She's ignored, however, leaving her to offer Kasyr back his cigarette with a grumbled, "Nevermind. Back to the stabbing and freezing subject. Bet I can freeze its heart before you can run a sword through its head~."


Kasyr snickers softly at Satoshis displeasure, the cryomancer offered a mirthful grin, "Curiosity, et cats and all that. Though, I suppose you already did die once." It's on that note that he retrieves the cigarette, placing it at the corner of his crooked grin. "Anyways-Size of its heart.. Et bien, I suppose whether it es moving alot ou non influences things a bit." A tip of his head to one side, then the other, "Hrm. Peut-etre. Er, but I still think it would do you good to think on your feet. Really, it es only a matter of time until we encounter a dragon that eats magic, ou something of that sort." The kensai has, after all, encountered quite a few anti-mages. Including a feline that had consumed a fair portion of energy and gotten -faster- for it, a month or few ago.


Satoshi pauses in the midst of trying to coax the bundle of smoke out of her cloak's grasp to blink up at the kensai. "I've done that already. I mean, the -dragon- didn't eat magic, but it was in an anti-magic field. I still won. And I even used Ko'tar. ....Sorta. A little bit." Okay, so she'd relied almost exclusively on Asorial to fight both Svilfon and the dragon, but the katana -had- made a brief appearance to finish the job. Still counts. Which leads Satoshi to venturing, "If not my magic, can I at least use the scythe? You know that silly sword doesn't like to hurt things. It'll complain at me for days if I do."


Kasyrs' expression seems to darken for a moment at the mention of the scythe- though that could perhaps be attributed to the overall landscape as it's plunged into a Stygian blackness, courtesy of the ever deepening evening, and the grim shadow which passes across...the..moon? Banishing those peculiar bits of prose to the back of his mind, despite trying to ascertain which of the books in the Black Library they had originated from, The Kensai begins to stare at the sky, trying to properly discern the form of the shadow streaking across the sky. "..Sure. Sure. It works, Cherie."


Satoshi is on the verge of questioning Kasyr's peculiar look when distraction comes in the form of distant, yet distinct, wingbeats. Straightening, the magus peers off in the same direction as her husband, seeking out the source of rapidly approaching sound. "Sir Clink and the Leech's fights must have really riled them up, if we're getting a saurian visitor so quickly..." For that's what she's guessing is drawing nearer, as the wings aren't silent like a gryphon's downy own, nor is the liquid shadow moving against the darkness small enough to be something so harmless. "We've hardly gotten into their proper territory and already meeting the welcoming committee~."


Kasyr casually slides a hand down to one of the Katana's sheathed at his side, eyes skirting across the clouds in a manner that can almost be dubbed frantic. Which is about the point that he takes note of a particularily discoloured portion of the sky which seems to be shift, before broadening. In tandem with the intensifying whistling noise, the Kensai can only come to one conclusion, "Hungry, on edge- Either way, j'pense it's..uh. Diving at us." Kasyr shiftily glances at the ground for a trench to take cover in, or something of the sort. Unforunately, this particular portion of the rynvale should best be described as a 'barren wasteland devoid of any single defining feature', so there's not even a good trench to dive into.


Satoshi absently murmurs reminders to herself, watching the dragon begin to materialize from its dive and seeming completely at ease about it. "Minimal damage, avoid magic, yadda yadda." While Kasyr's occupied looking for a trench to dive into, Satoshi stands idle, head tipped up to continue watching the dragon so that she can pick out the telltale signs of its breed before its had the chance to strike. Determined as she is to identify the breed, the saurian's nearly upon her before Satoshi comes back to herself with a quiet, "Blue. Lovely." And with that, the kit's on the move, dashing sideways and whistling hurriedly in the process, the melody painting a pathway of slick ice before her feet that she puts to use in a rushed slide to carry her out of the dragon's target zone before it comes crashing down in a whirlwind mass of swiping talons, beating wings, and thrashing tail.


Kasyrs' means of evasion is a touch more complicated then the vulpines chosen route- the Kensai having forcibly manifested one of his myriad blades in the air, if only so he can kick off the blades flat. The trick to this particular action is that mid hurtle, the Revenant calls yet another blade into existance- abusing the blades ability to effectively 'float' so as to provide himself a momentary foothold, and a 'boost' upwards. It's through this method that Kasyr effectively affords himself a shifting series of platforms to redirect himself off of, allowing himself the means to narrowly clear the area which is rended apart by the beasts claws- and keep above the tail when it sweeps through the area. Really, the only thing the Revenant hasn't taken into account is the gust of wind which forces him to the ground a bit earlier than expected. On the bright side, the creatures movements drown out the noise of Kasyr thudding into the ground, and given his love of dark clothing, it continues to ignore him even as he clambers up to his feet. No, in this particular moment, its' focused upon the especially bright white spot that the moonlights reflecting off of. Not that it needs more than a few moments to try and discern the area it estimates where the feline is moving, before it spews a stream of lightning towards that location. Apparently, it wants to fry its' intended meal.


Satoshi has been expecting, and preparing, for a taste of lightning since discovering their playmate for the evening was going to be a blue dragon. What she isn't expecting, however, is that burst of lightning coming so soon, and so very suddenly. ...Right in front of her mid-slide. With the various dragon-induced noises flooding the area--especially from behind the beast, as it seems determined to bash its tail around in what's presumptively an agitated display of predatorial excitement--it's impossible to tell for certain if there might have been a short-lived swear or two before fox and electrical stream collide. Or perhaps they were trigger words to a spell, as Satoshi suddenly comes tumbling from the other side of the stream to skid to a halt in a tangled mess of frost and static. With a crackle of ice her cloak unfurls from about her form, dragging with it the mass of frost Satoshi's used to briefly freeze herself and ward off the worst of an electrocution, allowing the singed kit to stumble back to her feet with a groan, the fur of her tails standing on end. "Hate... lightning..."


Kasyr winces visibly at the scorched fox, before casually redirecting his attention back towards the task at hand. Which, currently, is compromised of back tracking. After all, with 24 swords at his disposal, It's not particularily difficult for the Revenant to hop back up onto the proverbial pathway- before altering it so as to facilitate an upwards climb. The placement of blades so that the falts are adjacent, to provide wider footholds, helps compensate for the slip ups that might otherwise occur due to the occasional beat of its wings.That being said, as dark a figure as Kasyr cuts into the evening- its' only so long until the saurian takes note of the Revenants approach, reptilian eyes narrowing before it spits a more controlled gout of lightning forward. Though, not at Kasyr- rather, its' aimed at the blades, arcing between them so as to provide the Kensai with an unpleasent surprise when his feet hit the electricified surface. The resulting stumble forward sends Kasyr into a brief bout of free-fall..brief, if only because the dragon tilts its body to the side and beats its wings downwards, hitting the Revenant with the combined kinetic energy contained within the appendage and the captive wind. Insult to injury is the manner it simply steps on him following the motion- a fair portion of its weight settling upon the foreclaw currently serving as a Kasyr-crushing device. That done, it simply turns its attention back to Satoshi and takes in a deep breath.


Satoshi ||When the dragon turns its attention back to Satoshi, instead of a burnt and battered fox it finds a small, concentrated snowstorm with a bristling, scythe-toting kit serving as the furious centerpiece. Whether it's the sudden appearance of a self-contained mini-blizzard or the near palpable rage coming off the magus in waves that gives the Blue pause, that flicker of hesitation is readily seized by Satoshi the instant it takes place. "Get the fu-" watch your language, Sato, "off my husband!" In a flash Asorial is swung and an arc of raw energy unleashed, not at the saurian, but the scorched earth beneath Satoshi, the vampire vaguely mimicking Kasyr's methods to get herself airborne with a rapid bit of propelling so that she can bullet toward the dragon's head. Once in range, Asorial is again swung, and again not with the intention of delivering a blow, Satoshi instead endeavouring to hook the scythe's curved edge around the Blue's prominent horn and quite simply hang on. Because from there, it's an easy matter to avoid further lightning breath while giving the beast a few sharp kicks aimed at its eye to irritate it into a snapping, snarling thrash that doesn't include kensai-stomping, as it's a tad too focused trying to remove the bad case of clingy foxkin it's contracted. Giddy up~.


Kasyr feels like hell. This is like that whole bit of malarky with Luffy, back in Vailkrin- albeit with a bit less preperation, and a bit more pain. Still, despite the particularily unpleasent position the Kensai has found himself in, there is one thing that can be said for him. It didn't take long for him to adjust to his particular (and painful) situation. Between the alteration of Gospel into a gauntlet, and the subsequent exertion of his own copious strength that is then amplified by the glove- the Revenants at least able to alleviate some of the pressure that's being exerted upon his form. Which, is wonderful, really- since despite his unnatural amounts of durability, it still hurts like a bitch to be stepped on. Still, positioned as he is, the Revenants only real recourse is to slowly work the claws of the gauntlet between the beasts scales- risking the possibility of contact with its blood, if only so he can precipitate some form of reaction out of it. As it is, Satoshi is doing a -marvelous- job at it, providing such an irksome and hard to miss target that the dragon is able to momentarily push aside the feeling of whatever was digging into it's foot. With a particularily low growl, and an expression that was curiously reminiscent of a wink due to one eye now being kept closed, the dragon promptly jerks its' face down, in a fairly brusque attempt at bashing Satoshi off the ground. Without further ado, It would then reel its head back in an attempt to unhook the scythe from its horn, and send the fox hurtling through the air- where it could inspect the thing stuck in its foreclaw in peace. Maybe it was a prepared meal, minus all the struggling.


Satoshi 's favorite place to be when it comes to fighting dragons is right where she is, and she's learned that the damned beasts all seem to have the same reactions no matter their intelligence level. So it goes without saying that she's expecting the faceplant into the ground and, courtesy of the Blue's bit of facial decoration, she's got a natural shield handy from potential crushing. Even if slamming into said horn during the descent is enough to rattle the kit's sense so that when the dragon rears back Asorial's hold has already been lost and Satoshi's sliding down a scaly neck, from which she's promptly tossed off to land on the Blue's hindquarters. While the lizard is busy inspecting its potential meal, the disoriented magus is left to scramble back to unsteady feet and begin whispering a rushed melody. The spell is slow to flourish with her wits momentarily addled, but Kasyr's always been a rather good distraction, especially for dragons, and Satoshi puts that to use for as long as it takes her to call up the subarctic temperatures needed around the Blue's salivating jaws. With an audible snap its fangs are forced closed and frozen over with a thick layer of ice before the glacial element begins creeping toward nostrils and eyes, intent on cutting off breath and sight before it can free its mouth and take a bite out of the magus' mate, and herself.


Kasyr is really grateful for the fact that it's drawn it's foreclaw up to inspect the 'contents'- As not only does it suddenly relieve all the pressure being exerted upon him, it also has the secondary effect he'd been hoping for: It draws him up towards the dragons face. For a brief moment the pair lock eyes, The ravenous hunger and irritation that lurked behind the saurians gaze meeting the murderous mischief that lies apparent within the Kensais amused expression. An expression which serves as catalyst to the crackling energies cumulminate at the back of the great beasts maw. Unforunately for the dragon, two key things have gone dreadfully wrong with this scenario. First and foremost, is that Kasyr isn't as wedged in its' claw as it might be expecting- Given all it takes from Kasyr to effectively dislodge himself from his precarious position, is to dispel the gauntlet shaped Gospel. Secondly, despite Kasyrs' shenanigans that particular gout of energy is still coming up, and though it's already busy swiveling its' head downwards to catch up with the Kensai, there's very little it can do to compensate for the abrupt manner in which its' jaws promptly snap to a shut, and freeze over. Though the beast is relatively protected from its own element, the actual force of that kind of discharge being trapped inside its' mouth is still an unpleasent, and relatively unfamiliar experience. Still, it serves admirably to crack the ice forming over its mouth, and serves as a cue to exhale a much fuller blast- attempting to shunt the energy through both nostrils and mouth, in an attempt to prevent the potentially lethal encroachment of ice. Unforunately, this task is fairly distracting, and serves perfectly as an opportunity for this particular busy-body of a Kensai to call forth Gospel once more, before the rapid invokement of his abilities and the abrupt sacrifice of a hand sized patch of flesh along his back sends him shooting up into the air in a flash of lightning. Not towards the dragons face, mind you- No, the Kensais simply sent hurtling up into the air as high as possible within those sparse few moments, before the technique sputters out, and he submits himself to those last few moments he's carried forward purely by momentum.


Satoshi might be thoroughly annoyed at having her ice blasted apart, but she's not deterred from pressing onward with her spell, especially when the dragon sets its sights on the airborne Kensai. Or at least, she will after she's sent tumbling down the Blue's tail when it takes an abrupt lunge skyward at Kasyr, jaws snapping toward the streak of lightning while wings buffet the air around them with thunderous beats set to interrupt the revenant's momentum and send him back to earth--if saurian fangs don't catch him first, of course. During this, Satoshi's preoccupied scrambling out of tail range, hurriedly singing together a spell that picks up the lost threads of her prior enchantment, willing the fragments of ice still clinging to blue scales to chill further and bleed that frigid temperature into the air around the dragon's face. With every inhale the beast takes, the chill in its lungs intensifies as Satoshi seeks to rob its respiratory system of proper function, initially inflicting it with shallow breathing that relatively seals any further breath attacks. She may have tossed out the 'no magic' challenge, but at least she's still trying to follow the 'don't rip to shreds' rule. For now.


Kasyr can't help but feel an odd sense of serenity as he stares up at the heavens, even as the wind around him becomes turbulent, as that odd bit of tranquility is shattered but a but after it's started by the furious beating of winds and clack of powerful jaws. As gravity begins to take hold upon the Kensai once more and that great winged beast draws ever nearer, Kasyrs reaction can be dubbed anything but lax. After all, what greets the great beast is not a falling man and a single Katana, but a sudden mass of blackened cracks which shred into existance before it, the likes of which coalesce into the threatening shapes of twenty three Katana's.. if only because one last blade pops into existance alongside the Kensai. From there, all it takes is a simple exertion of the Revenants will to send all the blades hurtling down towards the mighty saurian. It's in this manner that the blue dragon is met by a veritable hail of swords, with no breath weapon to confront the assault- it's sole recourse being one more monstrous flap of its wings to send it hurtling into the fray- with foreclaws drawn before its features in an effort to protect its face. Alas, whilst such an action serves perfectly to soak the barrage of blades as they punch into its flesh, it does very little to prevent Kasyr from adjusting the downwards arc of the blade he was effectively 'riding' downwards, and redirecting himself from the dragons impromptu 'barrier'. That, in tandem with a cocky kick off the things claws sends him hurtling right past its' jaws and hurtling straight towards its forehead. Which is why, by this point, the only thing remaining for the Revenant to do is the abrupt dispelling of those myriad blades of his, and the rapid alteration of the weapons form into that of a broadsword. Faced with such a collision, fueled by their mutual momentums, and the tremendous force carried behind Gospels unnatural weight & density, and the Kensais strength- the outcome is almost expected. Almost, in the sense that whilst the dragon finds itself abruptly hurtling downwards, the Kensai finds himself momentarily thrust -upwards- again, and clipping off its foreclaws, a bit bloodied and sore for his showboating. ..And falling, albeit a fair bit behind the dragon since it has a head start and a momentum boost.


Satoshi simply dispels Asorial with a muttered curse and adjusts her feet to brace herself for the ground-shaking impact when the dragon crashes back to earth courtesy of the kensai's handiwork. Strangled, raspy roars escape the saurian as it thrashes on its back, limbs and wings entangled in its moment of severe befuddlement from the blow to its skull before, with a behemoth heave, the Blue rights itself. Hunkering down with wings half-furled, the dragon hastily seeks out the revenant's location with a bloodied head that swings from side to side like a snake preparing to strike, jaws gaping under shallow, ragged breaths. Although Satoshi's withdrawn to let Kasyr do what he does best, she's left that incapacitating spell in place for the sake of this not dissolving into a veritable thunderstorm between the two. Not that the Blue is aware of this, only that it's proving impossible to find its breath as cold sears its lungs and slows what should be a frantically beating heart, leaving the dragon feeling as sluggish as if it were fighting underwater. With a gargantuan effort it lunges toward Kasyr abruptly, seconds after its wings give a singular flap to send a wall of air his way with the intent of flattening him once more and making the talon-heavy pounce far more accurate.


Kasyr is still on his way down to 'landing' when the mass of wind slams into him, forcefully redirecting his momentum and sending him crashing to the ground in a tangle of limbs and curses. The cracking noise which emanates from the kensai is what bothers him most, closely accompanied by the unpleasently eerie manner in which Gospel is flung free from his hand, if only so the malignant weapon effectively land point down in the ground- right beside Kasyrs head. Still, with impending destruction of a draconian manner hurtling in his direction, the Kensai has no time to mull upon that thought, and barely enough time to make use of the first option to come to mind. Thankful for the broadswords lack of edge, the Kensai simply slams the palm of his right hand into the blades edge with enough force to dislodge it from the ground- the blow aimed specifically near the base of the blade where it had landed in the ground. It's only at that point that Kasyr twists his body towards the weapon, arm outstretched so that he can hastily take hold upon Gospels hilt. It's only upon that renewed contact with his blade that a fist sized chunk of the Revenants right arm promptly ionizes, the flesh upon his forearm simply converting to electrical energy and leaving a bloody patch in its' wake. Still, the abrupt manner in which he hurtles out from under the dragons mass in a streak of lightning, aimed in the same direction that Gospel was, at least spares the Kensai the fate of being a bloody smear upon the ground. The continued ionization of the Revenants flesh simply serves at indication that this particular exchange is far from over, as Kasyr's direction abruptly changes- every bit of literally-lightning-fueled celerity is sent hurtling straight towards the dragons skull. At least until the moment before impact; as a swift alteration in weapon forcibly interrupts the Kensais invoked technique. The weapon still being Gospel, of course, but rather than the bulky mass of the Broadsword- it's the slender but lengthy lethality presented by the oft unused Nodachi. Kasyr is, after all, intending on finding out if driving six feet of ouroboros scale straight through a dragons skull will be enough to cause fatal damage, especially when it's by virtue a surnaturally sharp and durable weapon with an exceedingly small point of impact. It doesn't hurt that it tends to feed on magic in this particular guise as well, hence the abrupt cessation of the Revenants lightning trick.


Satoshi plops down to take a seat on the ground, plucking up a handful of dead grass and letting it rain through her fingers as she comments mildly, "You win." Slightly presumptuous maybe, but it's made accurate a few seconds later when the dragon's indignant roar at having Kasyr slip through its talons is cut short, the beast dead before it even hits the ground with Gospel's lengthy edge cleaving through its brain stem. "More intact than usual. Spookly can't complain."


Kasyrs' teeth are rattling, if only because he's still standing on the creature when it crashes into the ground. It's after a few moments of waiting for his equilibrium to correct itself that he simply relinquishes his blade, and slides down the creatures head. From there, a few moments are taken to make a mental checklist of the injuries accrued, before the Kensai meanders over towards Satoshi, and extends his right arm over to her, "Which means we..or rather, you, have a very good gift for him, non? So I suppose we ought to contract Monsieur Ranok, so that the extraction process can occur."


Satoshi shrugs, accepting the offered hand. "I was only after the bones, so I'll likely have to find a different skull for it. But you'll have a proper puppet to give him until then."


Kasyr idly waves his hand, "It's a small hole. Who will really know, cherie?" It's on that note that he casually tugs her up to her feet, and into a hug- before casually gesturing off towards Rynvale, "I suppose we better set in motion this whole..puppeting bit though, non?"


Satoshi said, "I doubt there's more than just a small hole if that first bit you did to it, but we'll see. Doesn't particularly matter unless it gets itself offed once more, anyway." She glances between the dragon and the port then, "Should probably do that quickly, yes, before its kin show up for a snack."


Kasyr grimaces at that thought, before he simply begins to jog towards the city proper. "At worst we can keep an eye on it, until it's..moved, and than, dealt with. J'en sais pas. We'll work it out, mon amour." And it's on that note that he heads out.


Satoshi simply shrugs and follows.