RP:An Inability To Be Everywhere

From HollowWiki

Synopsis: Kasyr invites Shishi and Laezila to the Hanging Corpse to ask that The Blue Demon assist in the protection of the Former Matron. The Storm Dragon Leiyu appears and a deafening battle ensues on the unfortunate main road of Vailkrin. Kasyr and Shishi exchange notes in the aftermath.


The Thorne Estate

Shishi receives s crumpled up letter, sealed with a Wax Crest bearing a simple 'A'that looks on the verge of breaking. It reads:

Hey, Monsieur. I pray this gets to you in time, Blue. I currently have a ...caretaking job of sorts, and would really appreciate an extra pair of hands in this endeavour. Considering the situation, I figured I'd see if you'd be available to meet up. Discuss the matter. If you're free, et all. It's..sort of Vailkrin business. I think.

~Kasyr

P.S. This abdication thing -really- didn't work out as well as I'd hoped.

Vailkrin City Road

Kasyr , despite his return to a somewhat more humble state of being, is still more than happy to perch in absolutely ridiculous places- which is how he's found himself up on top of one of the myriad streetlamps overlooking the road. Specifically, the man is currently perched on the one that was closest to the tavern, so that he could casually observe the back and forth of it's countless patrons. Clearly, the Kensai was in search of some individual or another.


Blue's voice echos down Vailkrin's main road, "Yeah, but where the heck are ya!?"


A second less crumpled letter, bearing the same crest as the first arrives just after the assassin's yell down the road, reading:


...I've been waiting a while, and I sort of realized. I'll be at or -near- the Corpse.


Shishi shouted, "Oh..."


Shishi appeared from the west.


Kasyr is -totally- staring at Shishi like a cat stalking a mouse right now. It's one of those things of whether or not the assassin will be alert enough to look up at the figure cloaked by twilight and mist, or whether he'll mosey haplessly towards the tavern.


Laezila moved amidst the sparse milling patrons with a certain sense of arrogance that was made only the more deadly by cunning, vivid eyes of blue; it wasn't the sort of arrogance that was entirely abrasive and boastful, but just an air of superiority that came natural to her kindred, and it was coupled by the paled-ebony little woman's scarred face drawn into a grim line of determination. She had intended to look into the tavern, but the Kensai that she sought was right there, as if he were waiting already for her -the girl didn't remark upon that, or let her surprise become betrayed on her face. Instead, absent proper greeting, she held a large, dusty tome in both small hands, and practically spit her words, "Teach me."


Shishi walks down Vailkrin’s main road west to east, (which is fairly repaired by now, mind you!) alone, without any other Colors trailing after him or pulling him along. In his hand is a pair of crumpled up pieces of paper that has summoned him here. If it weren't for them he probably would have played the oblivious role and strolled right into The Hanging Corpse without a second thought, instead he is scanning the area through currently azure eyes while his steps slow to a near stop. “What the… he’s not even…” The vampire stops his complaint when he nearly steps into Laezila, “Eh?” She’s noticed Kasyr and Blue follows her gaze with his own before she opens that old book. With his stare tilted upward at the lightpole perched Kensai, “Looking for me, guy?” The assassin asks while his hands creep up towards his neck and tighten the black tie usually found thereabouts.


Kasyr's attention is shuffled entirely from Shishi over towards the drow, her presence acknowledged through a single fixed stare. One which takes an immense amount of concentration to maintain it's neutrality following that singular... request? Order? The particular dynamics of the phrase and their origin was of some minute interest to the swordsman, but it's the book itself which he allows his focus to drift towards- as though he were attempting to gauge whether it was what she sought aid in learning..or if it's current placement was more akin to the use of a shield. “Evening.” A sidelong glance towards the other vampire, “To you both.” For all his precarious positioning, Kasyr's able to stand up and maintain a catlike poise atop the streetlamp for long enough to survey the area one last time- prior to him stepping off, landing on the ground in a sort of bouncing stride that brings him between the two. Laezila gets the first reply, with a simple, “With?” before Shishi gets an equally succint, “Yup.” And then he simply steps to the side, and makes a half bow, half inviting gesture towards the tavern, “Drinks on me.”


Hanging Corpse Tavern

Laezila turned her vivid, blue stare upward and upon the form of Shishi with her intense scrutiny that was both calculating and cunning, as if the proverbial gears in her head were turning and levers were clicking with the production of strategems. She remained silent like that for a moment, a long moment after, actually, where she merely stared at the taller assassin and held the large tome before her like some sort of craven shield despite that she looked nothing as if she were to hide behind it. But the succinct answer from Kasyr tore her attention from the maniac of a vampire, and the little drow waited first for Shishi to enter, herself following behind. Only in a lull of their conversation she spoke, "Electricity," and summed up her ambition as well as implied at her future plans with that single word. She would, then, move silently around Shishi (somewhat rudely), toward the bar, to take up a seat there as the boys talked about their 'toys', or whatever it was that the Kensai and madman were going to talk about.


Shishi wouldn’t claim to have as many levers to pull and gears to turn in that head of his as the former matron that Kasyr drops in front of. So he has no problem taking less time than his grand-sireling to accept the Kensai’s invitation into the tavern, tossing the papers in his hand over his shoulder, maybe just missing Laezila with them as he pushes through the door. Literbug. Once inside Steadman doesn’t need to hear an order from Blue to get to setting a glass of bloodwine on the countertop for him. The assassin wrinkles his nose at the mention of ‘electricity’ and hopes to whatever he should be hoping to that he doesn’t have to listen to them talk about magic. ‘Bleh’. When the drow passes him by Shishi looks to Kasyr finally, “What’s this about....” He squints trying to remember the wording on the note and wishing he hadn’t just thrown it away, “Underta-... Caretaking? You think there’s something -I- can take care of?” An odd question to be asked by the Blue Demon that’s kept a pair of children alive in Lithrydel for how long he has.


Kasyr casually flicks a finger of his shoulder, a trickle of electrical energy dancing into existance, if only to punch through the pages and reduce them to ashes. Because, clearly Kas has an issue with litter, and obviously isn't covering up evidence of him forgetting something. In any case, however, he's more than happy to follow the other two into the bar, at about which point he he orders up.. a whiskey. Yup. This time, Shishi get's his answer first. “Well, actually. I was hoping, en fait. See, the damoiselle here has made a number of enemies, et quoi-ce-soit, et while I am currently looking after her, et a few people from Ashram are too. Well, better safe, then sorry. Which es to say, I was wondering if you'd be willing to keep an eye when I'm not present. It's.. somewhat important in the grand scheme of things, J'pense. At least as far as I traced it out.” Fairly straightforward, really, at least for the revenant. That attended to, he then proceeds to toss a few coins onto the counter for both his and Shishi's drinks, absentmindedly grapping the glass of whiskey as he turns to address Laezila, “I'm -not- a mage. I understand it. ..Maybe better than most, but I am the furthest thing from a mage in the world.” It's at once true, and also a bit of a lie. The swordsman was, in effect, a repository of knowledge from all those souls he'd devoured, and he likely knew a fair bit, theories, and ideas- but the things which he could dredge up the easiest were the experiences and knacks which most reflected himself. That he -knew- to look for. “So, what exactly were you looking to understand.”


Laezila ordered her own bloodwine with a small exchange of words with the tender, Steadman, who opted to go about completing the order only after he had gathered the drink for Shishi. This gave the woman ample enough time to catch the last few of Kasyr's request, and that caused her to narrow her eyes and twist at the bar with a gesture toward the (former) scarf-wearing vampire, "You're leaving me in the care of -this- carnival? His eyes -shift- color and he mutters to himself! You can't possibly think..." But, before Kasyr -or Shishi, for that matter- could defend themselves or interject, she snorted and rolled those vivid eyes in resignation, "Fine, whatever, but if I get killed, I can promise you that it'd be on his watch." The book was hefted under her lithe arm then twisted and placed roughly on the bartop, spreading dust in a billow as well as causing a resonate clap of the contact. It was written in elvish, apparently, which most drow knew, if not races, and the girl began to speak to the male. "Don't try to downplay your arcane intellect, Azakhaer -I did some research after you left last night. Turns out, you've a plethora of stories about you, and electricity-lightning or some sort of current- seemed to be a common trend. Sure, the acquisition of your abilities were from others that you, reportedly, 'consumed', but that's not how they acquired their own abilities. And you cannot tell me that you can't access -their- methods of magic, since you seem to know how to use them. So wherever you got your electricity, I want to know how they learned it. The manifestation of -conjuration of lightning, and focus of it."


Shishi had started to speak against the idea of him watching out for Laezila, (something that he’s at least done a little of since he learned that the former matron is the one in possession of Green’s eyesight), but she more or less beats him to the punch, cutting him off, “I don’t really think she’ll-...” The assassin, as far as he knows, has never been called a “Carnival!?” before so he feels the need to repeat it to make sure he heard the drow correctly. The vampire puffs out his cheeks and narrows his eyes in an annoyed expression while she describes the ‘side effects’ of his family’s curse. He takes an uncommon course of action for him then, and actually picks up the glass of wine the barkeep has poured for him, tossing back a long gulp of the red liquid before promising, “Aye. We’ll watch over her when you can’t. I won’t let anyone else -get- her.” His choice of words there is probably benign, but who knows with the so called Blue Demon. He holds his tongue in regards to anything about protecting Laezila’s eyes as he always gets yelled at when he mentions it… And now they’re talking about magic… he was afraid of this, another long taste of bloodwine and the drink is finished, Steadman coming by quickly to refill without being asked. Annoying Cyclops, Blue thinks to himself.


Kasyr stares fixedly at Laezila, his jaw jutting off to one side, Inwardly, he was almost impressed at that particular degree of snooping, and piecing together the various elements- but at the same time, there were the same oversights present which he'd intentionally caused. “Mmm. The origin is...more peculiar. Someone who came from the same island as me- whose particular... knack was with an innate understanding of the art. I inherited that, et built on it with a combination of his knowledge, my experimentation...et, well. . .” The knowledge of any and everything mage he'd consumed, and the books he'd read since. “ So I suppose, how adept are you even with that sort of thing in the first place, parce que what I do es -different- than what you'll achieve with spells. It might help, but.” There's a shrug, and then the revenants attention flickers towards Shishi, “Yeah, y'know. That's fine. I mean, as long as she dies from you outright murdering her, rather than you slipping up guarding her, I can live with that. The madamoiselle Larewen would likely have a bit more difficulty, what with her aspirations taking a nice person sized hole in them, but c'est la vie.”


Laezila narrowed her vivid gaze at Shishi while Steadman managed to bring the woman her ordered drink and deposited it just to the side of the old tome that was parted and laid out bare before the young ex-matron, though Kasyr's words caused that sight to whirl and hone in on the man. In fact, she seemed to fume even more as he remarked about his lack of caring if Shishi killed her, and even opened her mouth to spit out something horrible and nasty, before his passive-aggressive remark about Larewen made her blink and stop altogether. Well, then, he -wasn't- actually throwing her to the proverbial wolves. So, the girl swallowed, and instead turned her attention back to magic, "Fine," she said, regarding his difference in magic.


Shishi sends a fang-exposing grin Laezila’s way when Kasyr shows little concern for the assassin killing the former matron himself. When Larewen is mentioned Blue dismisses the idea with a wave of his hand, agreeing with the ‘c'est la vie’ the Kensai used to punctuate his thought, “Aye. Green can always make another vampire.” That is probably the most unkind thing he’s said tonight and one might catch a twinge of conscience in his expression after he says it and doesn’t like the way it sounded coming out of his mouth, that fanged smile fading away to a more neutral look. He has no intentions of killing this drow brat, afterall. “She's staying here in Vailkrin then?” Shishi asks with a follow-up question in mind. The last time he had seen the Drow she was being held captive by the elven council in Sage, but Blue has been made aware of her ‘release’ to Kasyr before this meeting tonight, “Where at?” ‘Don't say Dragana’ goes the silent mantra while awaiting the answer.


Shishi looked Laezila's way with that second question, of course.


Kasyr glances over towards Shishi, his expression growing a fair bit more serious then it had been prior, “Yes. Her..infamy et what-have-you makes it somewhat prudent to stay here. As for where she's staying. I imagine she has wherever she might normally call home here- but I suppose the pair of you may count upon my hospitality et the use of my castle. But, if either of you partake of my hospitality, et decide to kill the other one. Well. I'll kill the survivor for breaking my hospitality, c'est tout. With my hospitality comes my protection, you know how it goes.” The kensai's tone comes off as almost lazy, but there's a sort of watchfulness there, as he endeavours to gauge the reactions of both people present. Laezila will actually find herself under 'closer' scrutiny, if only because the kensai choses now to respond to her questions, “I -can- likely detail my own process, et the like, see if it helps. Et if It es lacking to your particular...arcane dabbling. Well, ask Ayras, peut-etre. You seemed to know each other.”


Laezila 's eyes narrowed immediately upon Kasyr at the casual suggestion to 'ask Ayras', and the girl gave that her undivided attention instead of immediately responding to her residence whereabouts. "I won't ask him a damned thing," she said slowly and venomously. Her drink was brought to her lips in order to cool her temperament, which was normally calculating and less irritated, and it took the duration of several needy gulps. When the glass was put down, the little drow's hand lifted the cover of the tome and carefully shut the old book, "I live under the ocean. But it's too dangerous for me to travel right now. So, I will in Vailkrin. Either with my sire, or at the castle, though I suspect the latter more than the former considering my sire's ties with my... former kind." That was said with some degree of distaste, made more apparent by a look of fleeting resentment along her scarred features, before she continued, "Not that I do not trust her; I do not trust the drow that she communicates with. And, despite how much I long to see my home in the Underdark once more, the proximity to its entry is not desirable." A bit of an exhale came there, "If only I still had my bladed whip."


Shishi lets out a long, unnecessary breath in a sigh of relief at Kasyr’s answer and promise of reciprocal murder. Blue flinches when Laezila mentions her sire, but her inclination towards staying at the castle has relief flooding back over his features again and he ceases the silent repetition in his mind that seems to have worked. “That seems fine then… I don't think I'll be taking you up on the offer myself though at least not full time. Tene’s place is close enough for me to be on call from, I think.” The mentioned clan leader had left the mansion to his children, but he was probably never going to stop calling the Thorne Estate that… “Wait…” The assassin blinks once and tilts his azure gaze the former matron’s way again, “Under the ocean?” a brow is raised like he's trying to figure out if this was an April Fools joke. The comment about bladed whips is glossed over in favor of the idea of an aquatic abode.


Kasyr shrugs. Considering there was that naga city, which was totally under the ocean, and a flying city, and vailkrin was pretty weird too – it didn't even seem odd enough to ask about. “Yeah, her place would probably survive the city getting flattened again, too. Anyways,” Laezila's given another look, this one more curious than before, “Duly noted, en fait. I suppose I'll figure out the rest later.”


Laezila looked from one to the other, back and forth, "You know vampires don't need to breath, right? I've a mansion down there, in Kreek's city -the lobster-looking guy." She lifted her hand to push her fingers through glittering white hair. "I should get going, though."


Shishi has been diving as a vampire, but he's never thought about staying under for any real extended period of time. He is left blinking stupidly at the brilliance of the underwater home and then returns to wondering if Laezila is telling the truth. And then there's the mention of the lobster man that Blue has only seen once. They had a city? It is all a bit too much to take in at once so when the woman says she's leaving assassin is left waving half-heartedly and gives out a lackluster “Aye.” as a farewell.


Kasyr offers a half-assed salute, though his expression is a bit more warm then the assassins, “A bien tot, Cherie. Take care in the meanwhile. Et do feel free to check out the library at the castle, et the city proper, they may be more helpful than I am, in an academic manner.” The revenant waits a few more moments, essentially trying to ensure Laezila's out of earshot, before he casually turns his focus towards Shishi, whiskey glass still in hand, "But no, seriously. Her dying could stir up a whole lotta folks in the city, looking for a sign of weakness."


Laezila may or may not have heard Kasyr's words upon her intended departure, but offered no sign thereof; she merely and gracefully exited the building.


Shishi shakes his head to snap out of whatever stupor he has found himself in when Kasyr addresses him. “Aye. I don't plan on letting that happen. Even before you asked me to watch out for her I told that kid that she is not allowed to die.” The Blue Demon's expression is flat while he peeks at the refilled glass of bloodwine, but leaves it on the counter top. “Between you and I, and Green I'd imagine she's in a fairly safe spot out here. You know?”


Kasyr looks a little bit pensive at that, “Mostly, I guess. If any harm comes to her, I'd imagine it'd be someone coming for us, you know?” A pause, and then the Kensai adds, “Green.. Which es? Also, wait. Do I have a colour?”


Leiyu drew in a slow breath, eyes narrowing as he lined the shot; staring down the shaft of the arrow and making minor adjustments. He made no effort to conceal himself as he drew back the bow's string, poised in the middle of the street. He was no assassin and this was not some shady attempt on a man's life. No, Leiyu merely wanted to send a message as loudly and clearly as he was able. He exhaled that breath and loosed the arrow, letting it sail towards its target. It flexed and bent as it whirred through the air, spiraling through a window that shattered upon impact. The arrow lost no speed from the dragon's mighty draw, continuing onward to decimate a glass of whiskey in the hand of the man he had come to see. Onward it would continue until it embedded itself in a wall with a twang, quivering as it dispelled the remainder of its momentum. Of course no one was hit. That arrow had not been meant to harm anyone within. Message sent, friend. There is a warrior walking a road.


Shishi nods once, “Aye.” before the questions on Colors come up. With a slight twitch Blue apologizes and gets to explaining, “Ah! Sorry. Green is… I mean Lar is Green. You know?” Azure eyes are narrowed at the Kensai as if trying to see the Color through the man. After a moment Shishi shakes his head and does his best to elaborate, “No. No Color. I imagine you would have been a Yellow so you have two issues holding you back… the first is the Colors aren't given out very… liberally. Perhaps if we had been wed… that appears to be a sure fire way to pull a Color… all the wives have got one now.” He wrinkles his nose and shakes his head… too many wives. “And more importantly Yellow is taken. You'd have to outlive the Little Beast… which I guess is possible for a vampire. Maybe there's hope for you yet.” It is possible that this is the most information ever given out about the Colorful nomenclature in one go.


Kasyr has this really flat expression on his face as he pushes away from the bar and gets up to his feet. “I think this is for me. You can tag along, or keep drinkin'. Remind me t'ask about the wives later. Curious.” His hands come up to the lapels of his trenchcoat, if only so he can give them a firm shake and readjust them- an action that also serves neatly to dislodge some of the glass which had sprinkled across him. Then he's moving forward, his stride exuding so much decisive purpose, that nary a patron desires to hinder his passage- the tails of his scarf trailing through the air behind him. Kasyrs' out the door not long after, standing in the middle of the road, one hand running through his hair to lower his goggles over his eyes, while the other hand settles down to rest along his hip, right near the three sheathed katanas.


Vailkrin City Road, Again

Leiyu greeted Kasyr with stoic demeanor, his stance upright and his expression calm as the wind stirred to whip at hair and clothing. It was a minor thing to make the wind blow as such, requiring very little on the part of the dragon and so he was more than happy to use his gift to make the scene that much more picture-esque. He dropped his bow and his hand went to the hilt of his own weapon, the nodachi that hung at his hip. He hoped that the gesture made his intentions clear but just in case they failed to deliver the message that the arrow and his mannerisms were meant to give forth, Leiyu spoke. "If I survive, I will kill you." He spoke, his tone serene. Storms be damned, this was his element.


Kasyr said to Leiyu, "Forgive me, in advance."


Shishi blinks his eyes through their accursed color change almost reflexively. Somewhere in his explanation of Colorful names an arrow has come straight through. Even in The Corpse the shadows quiver at the appearance of The Blue Demon's glowing crimson irises. The assassin and Steadman exchange a look that tells the vampire if he's going to stay like that he should probably leave. Shishi narrows his stare when he moves towards the exit as if to say, ‘I'm not leaving because you want me to.’ and then to be sure he let's the cyclops know, “I was done in here anyway.” The Blue Demon steps out onto the road and hangs back by The Corpse a bit, taking in the man opposite Kasyr.


Kasyr gives Shishi a sideways look, his attention never leaving Leiyu, “One of my fans. Clearly.” And then the revenants thumb flicks up agains the hilt of his Katana, a small discharge of electrical energy serving to push it clear of the sheathe, if only so the Kensai can snatch it out of the air and promptly swing it down before him. A gesture which, at a glance would be deemed a pointless bit of theatrics- were it not for peculiar distortion in the air that had formed about the blade in the midst of the motion. A distortion which is sent hurtling from the weapon towards Leiyu in the midst of the swing – a keen edge of condensed air that's meant to cleave into his torso, favouring the side where his hand hovers above his weapon.


Leiyu drew hard and fast, yanking his sword from its sheath with all the raw physical power that his draconic blood granted to him. In that moment, all the poise and dignity vanished to be replaced by viciousness and savagery. No more was the zen-like dreamer that he had often seemed to be. He was not so foolish as to remain stationary as he unsheathed his weapon, spinning as the blade slid free. His tail, protected by plates of thick armored scales was whipped around behind him as he turned; swiping through that blade of air to break it against the force of his tail's momentum. And as his piroette completed, the dragon brought his sword out in front of him. "I expect better."


Shishi folds his arms at his chest, “Aye.” He responds to Kasyr, “They always seem to find you -right here-. Your fans, I mean.” The vampiric father says with a smirk as the sparks begin to fly. The darkness that covers The Undead City is slowly reacting to the presence of the family’s curse, creeping along the ground from all about the road towards the assassin. At his feet a growing torrent of shadows swirls in place awaiting to be put to use by The Blue Demon and practically begging him to do so. “Quiet.” He says flatly to the tumultuous black vortex building itself up from the city floor. Enough shade has been pulled to The Blue Demon’s proximity now that an uncommon sight in Vailkrin can be seen at the edges of the road; Light. The areas where shadows have completely vacated are now strangely illuminated as if the world isn’t sure what to do in the absence of darkness other than shine light. The growing mass of dark weapons at Shishi’s disposal remains dormant however, the cursed assassin a spectator for now.


Kasyr's head tilts off to the side for a moment, more observing the mechanics of Leiyu's actions then anything else. There was grace there, to be certain- a sort of animal alacrity, and yet lacking any real refinement. “Hrm. Brutish type. Alright.” The blade, low as it is to the ground, is tapped against the cobble stones, a singularily mundane manner of coaxing the metal into vibrating- as a combination of one of the Kensai's borrowed sword techniques, and his own particular connection with his deity are pushed into the metal. Touched by Daedria's influence as it is, the vibrations of the metal begin to sound as a chime, soft at first, but rapidly escalating in both intensity and frequency, to the point that the sound of Kasyr's advancing footfalls are all but drowned out as he breaks into a sudden dash to close the distance between himself and the other swordsman. The very moment the Kensai was in arms reach, his weapon flicked forward towards Leiyu, a singular thrust towards his center of mass, before Kasyr's left foot kicks off the ground, sending the swordsman into a slide that would convert the thrust into a sidelong swipe- the combination of holy energies and intense vibrations in the blade apt to turn even the mundane steel of the Katana into a potentially armour piercing arnament. A theory Kasyr is more than happy to try and test, as the moment he was no longer skidding from his hop, his blade was already in the process of veering down to swipe into the dragons tail, in an effort to rob him of his extra appendage.


Leiyu grinned now, his smile wide to display a mouth full of viciously sharp teeth. His eyes were wide and filled with half-feral glee, utterly delighted in the thrill of this exchanging of blow. He had no intentions of standing still long enough to just take anything that Kasyr had to throw at him. No, it would not be that easy. Trained or not, Leiyu was a dragon. His other hand went to the now empty sheath and slid it free of his belt. That hand yanked it upwards towards the hilt of his nodachi and the sheath cracked as Kasyr's sword slammed into it, not being made to serve the purpose of impromptu shield. But it allowed Leiyu a moment to react with his own attack, a knee jutting upward with a trajectory intended to end at Kasyr's gut. With that knee came a burst of electrical energy, his leg sparking and making the air hiss as it launched forward. And as he lobbed his knee at his opponent, Leiyu offered the man up a closer look at his nodachi in the form of a savage diagonal swing; adopting a policy of offense as defense. It would be awful difficult to take any of Leiyu's limbs if he kept the pressure on as well.


Shishi waves his hand in a dismissive manner down near his knee where a more bold shadow than the rest has lashed out at the Blue Demon, slicing a hole in his pant leg at the shin, “Fine. I’ll ask.” He snaps at the sentient darkness before cupping his hands around his mouth and calling out to the revenant vampire in the midst of his clash, “Ey! As soon as you stop having fun let me know and I can have all of this shi-(censorship seagull ‘ca-caw’) hit your fan.” He motions to all the shadows within a 50 meter radius that he has now gathered at his feet in a thick, chaotic, teeming mass of pure darkness that is begging him for blood. That distinct sound of electrically imbued limbs and weapons reaches the assassin's ears and he wrinkles his nose and contorts his lips into a wicked frown before beckoning a bit of the darkness towards his left hand with an inviting movement of the appendage. There the shadows wrap around the hand and wrist in an elongated form that starts to resemble that of a scaled black snake… or maybe an eel? The Blue Demon doesn't look particularly pleased with the results as he's staring down at his left hand and the shade he has given physical form, seeming to disregard watching the fight for now.


Kasyr removed of the formidable strength which would have normally allowed him to sunder the item blocking him, instead decides to make use of his own limitations- immediately pressing against the sheathe, so as to use the dragon (-kins?) weight and strength to his own advantage. The result is simple enough, the revenants own all too human weight, and his own strength allowing him to push off his opponents defense, and also narrowly clear the space between himself and that devastating knee. What it does not prevent, is the manner in which the lightning Leiyu had manifested arcs and contorts in the air between him,and strikes him clear in the chest. Fabric scorches nigh instanteneously, leaving the Kensais chest bare, and the flesh beneath red- and yet for all the intensity it may have carried, there lacks any real distinguishable damage. Still, just as the dragon carried the scent of storms, and the associated affinity, so too does Kasyr- who is more than happy use the residual electrical energy now coursing through his body. As Leiyu's knee retracts back down to the ground, and his blade so seamlessly follows suit, the revenant taps into this ionic energies with a press of his back foot- hurtling himself headlong at the dragon with every intention of thrusting his blade into the dragons lower gut – to send the singing sword rending into flesh with an unnatural alacrity, whereupon a combination of blessing and still escalating vibrations might shear through armour and flesh alike. Pretty much the moment before he'd allow himself to go limp, given that Leiyu's sword swipe and the Kensai's position meant he'd instead get sharply struck in his upper shoulder by the other swordsman's arm, due to that diagonal swing. And the rather unpleasent combination of mass, draconian strength and speed, meant that the Kasyr was going to find himself lifted off his feet and sent hurtling to the cobblestone in a pell-mell tangle of trenchcoat. Really, the only indication that he wasn't completely out of it, would be the rather calculated manner that one of his hands would flicker out towards the cobblestone during this bout of chaotic rolls, each one slowing the Kensai's momentum so he can come to a final stop on all fours, now looking a fair bit more bruised for his efforts, and favouring his sword bearing arm a bit more than the other. Not that everyone wouldn't be displaying a certain degree of discomfort, really, as the humming emanating from the Kensai's blade was growing high enough that he was beginning to bleed from his ears, from sheer intentsity.


Leiyu was forced into a sidestep lest he take that sword right through the stomach and in doing so, his slash would most assuredly lose momentum to the motion of opposing movement. Still, the edge of Kasyr's weapon kissed the dragon's side; his clothing splitting and slowly staining crimson as blood spilled forth. All in all, the wound was superficial and would easily heal with little to no attention. Dragons were made of sturdier stuff, after all. It seemed though that a lull was created in their fight for all their attempts at hurting each other. "After all I've heard about you. So many people speak of you like you are a god... others call you a monster, you know. God? Monster?" Leiyu growled as his body went a bit slack, his shoulders slumping, his sword wobbling loosely in his hand. He even stumbled a bit as if maintaining balance had suddenly become difficult. "I don't much care what you are, to be honest. But I had expected better than this. I should be sweating by now. " He turned his head towards the sky and let out a monstrous roar, much louder than anything a human should possess the ability to create. And with this roar, the sky roared too; thunder booming as clouds gathered high above. The dark city darkened further as rain began to fall, those clouds ocasionally giving off the faint glow of static discharge. Despite all the anger in his voice, Leiyu's face was a visage of a cruel joy. It was as if his expression meant to wordlessly speak to Kasyr. The real fight is about to begin, Kasyr. Are you ready, friend?


Shishi raises a brow at the tumbling revenant, finally taking his eyes off the the shadowy creature coiling around his left hand. The assassin twitches a bit at the sound steadily coming from Kasyr’s blade, but he is suddenly unaffected by the noise, or any other noise for that matter. Shadow Ear plugs? Entirely possible for the cursed vampire, it even seems likely when the dragon begins to speak and The Blue Demon shouts, “What the heck is he saying?!” Rain starts to fall and another sneer forms on the vampire's lips. With an overly furious swing of his arm every shadow he's gathered save the ones stuck in his ears and the ones at his hand is swept up from the ground, avoiding the vampire as they move, parting around him like a boulder jutting out of the surface of a river. They gather above Shishi in a low hanging dark cloud of his own. The rain stops falling onto the road beneath the shadows which appear to be acting as some kind of gigantic umbrella at The Blue Demon’s request.


Kasyr can't help but sigh, really, as Leiyu begins to speak, to ramble on about expectations and a lack of fulfillment. It actually seemed to grate on Kasyr more than Leiyu's typical 'Zen of Slaughter, platonic murder boner' thing he normally seemed to have going on. His rise to his feet was more leisurely than he might have done normally, the Kensai's attention flickering towards the abrupt change in the atmosphere, registering the way the static in the air shifted and the scent of rain began to cling to everything. Rain spattered on his face, droplets splashing against his goggles as he tuned out the other swordsmans words,and focused on the clouds, reaching towards the source of that distant thunder and called to it. Wordlessly, the Kensai's left arm rises upwards, as though trying to snatch something out from the heavens. “You know. I was thinking I might miss it. But no. I'm going to be grateful I'm missing out on this drivel.” Which is about the point a gleaming javelin of lightning streams down from the rapidly gathered storm clouds and slams into the Kensais position, engulfing the whole of his being in light. For a brief moment, the Kensai is consumed in an agony which overrides the shrill cry of the blade at his side, his nerves alight with a pain which mirrors his communes with the channel of raw elemental energy he so frequently taps into. And then that energy is converted, tapped into with that same voracious hunger that might normally be reserved for blood, it's strength pouring into the Kensai's frame, and turning his movements into a barely discernable sparking blur. Shishi wouldn't even be done asking his question before the revenants flicked his sword up into the air, shucked his trenchcoat off, caught his blade, and promptly lanced across the street in a singularily liquid-display of lightning speed, seeming intent upon skewering Leiyu in a straightforward thrust. Save that his dash would turn into a similarily swift forward flip, poised to bisect the dragon swordsman's upper torso, and which would lead neatly. It would be during this arc, that the Kensai's armoured trenchcoat would finish clattering to the street, with a secondary crash following a moment later as the revenant expended a portion of the electrical energies he was currently channeling to abruptly adjust his trajectory, turning the arc of his flip into an abrupt downwards crash aimed for immediately adjacent to Leiyu, accompanied by a burst of kinetic force strong enough to kick up the cobblestones of the street in his immediate vicinity. Hopefully, it would be enough to upset his balance if he wasn't dead, considering that it would segue neatly into the revenant drawing his weapon out of the ground in an upwards diagonal cut meant to impair the dragons mobility – and incidentally bring him in line with the front end of the-at-this-point-screaming weapon. Positioned as they are, the revenant allows that gathering sonic force to come to it's obvious conclusion- as a catastrophic burst of sound and fury engulfs the weapon and blows it apart. Sending a mass of steel shrapnel towards the dragon, and subjugating everyone in the area to a massive shockwave of noise devastating enough that it immediately blows out the Kensai's ears drums, at once deafening him, and more-or-less up-ending his sense of balance. Whoops.


Leiyu certainly was not about to stand about gawking at Kasyr's display of power even if he was impressed that a lesser species was capable of achieving such speeds. In fact, there was a decently good chance that Kasyr was moving much faster than even he, a storm serpent, could safely move and he most assuredly could not outpace Kasyr in the guise of a human. That said, Leiyu was a storm serpent and as such, he was swift as wind. Oh, how his excitement swelled within his chest. His heart thumped rapidly against his chest and Leiyu could not remember the last time that something had triggered this response in him. In some eight centuries, so few opponents had actually elicited the flow of adrenaline within Leiyu; bringing to life that fight or flight experience so common among lesser animals. He could not hesitate even if he had wanted to and Leiyu loved this feeling. A hand shot to his belt in a blur of motion, taking to hand the sickle and chain that was stashed there. He had only a few fleeting moments before Kasyr would be upon him, hardly enough time to mount anything similar to a truly threatening attack but Leiyu could at least impede the revenant's attempts at being a big scary lightning bolt; which, to be fair, he was doing a pretty good job of thus far. He moved, pushing his human legs as hard as he could to move his human as fast as it could go in a haste to removed himself from the direct trajectory of Kasyr's impact. And as he did, Leiyu lobbed the sickle behind him with ferocious strength. Enough force was put behind that throw to sink the blade into the street, extending the chain into Kasyr's path. Electricity was shunted from his palm into the chain, magnetizing the metal in order to help keep the chain taut. It was as half-baked a defense as they came but it was the best that Leiyu could do given the circumstances. Gods be good, the revenant might just close-line himself on that damn chain.


Shishi watches the electrically charged display while the only thing he can ‘hear’ is hundreds of Shadows cramming his mind full of things like ‘Lets go!’ and ‘He's taking too long.’ and ‘That's a dragon or something, Blue. Go hurt it.’ That is until Kasyr unleashes that sonic burst and windows across the main road of The City of Eternal Darkness shatter from the force of the sound. The entrance to The Corpse behind The Blue Demon swings open, hits the extent of its range of motion and slams back shut. The patient assassin cries out, “Son of a-” just as his hearing is replaced by a high pitched ringing noise that indicates that those shadowy earplugs haven't protected him from that burst of sound and he won't be hearing anything for awhile. His hands fly up to his ears and his hold on the darkness he's gathered breaks. The shadows all descend at once from the sky, crashing to the ground along with the water they had been catching in a black wave that rushes towards the Kensai and the dragon alike. There is no distinction between friend and foe with the assassin clutching his head, oblivious to the actions of the shadows his family's curse has activated. The darkness maintains a wide footprint so as to cut off the hope of horizontal escape and being sentient at the moment, the surge will adjust its shape as best it can to catch the pair. The wave changes as it sweeps closer to the clashing pair, no longer composed of liquid-like darkness, but of hundreds if not thousands of… are those mouths? That might be the best way to describe it, a seething mass of sets of fangs, tumbling over each other in a flood that is on course to wash over the stormbringer and the loud vampire, biting and tearing, and ripping and gnashing. What an odd sight. The shrapnel of the revenant’s blade that is sent in the direction of the wave splashes into it, shattering a few of the disembodied mass and sending black teeth spraying off of the mass of darkness and clattering to the road surface. Even as the dragon throws the sickle and pulls the chain taut the vicious accumulation of darkness given physical form is falling onto the two lightning guys, the shadows' forced patience about to pay off.


Kasyr, plausibly would have gotten caught by that maneuver, were it not for a few key points. First amongst those was that his reflexes and especially his perception was distorted along with his speed, in essence allowing him to move at those speeds without simply crashing into whatever solid object might be present. Foremost, however, was that whilst his thrust had looked altogether straightforward, the revenant -had- preemptively leapt before reaching the storm dragon, something which at once turned his initial attack into more of a feint, that anything else, and but also moved him rather clear of Leiyu's shenigans. Nonetheless, the fact that it happened in synchronicity with Kasyr's antics meant Leiyu's backwards shuffle -would- (barely) avoid his head being split in two. It also just meant he was liable to be directly adjacent to the Kensai when Kasyr had suddenly plunged to the ground with a swiftness that was far beyond gravity's casual pull, and therefore close to the burst of kinetic force and bricks that ensued. And that nastiness involving the sword when it's dislodged from the ground in a diagonal swordswing, with all that pent up sonic force that had burst outwards, amplified by the revenants connection to a deity commonly associated with song. The bits of sword-turned-shrapnel storm are just injury to insult. Kasyr, however, doesn't really get to relish any of this- considering his currently rather-mortal status meant he felt dizzy, in pain, and he was pretty certain that beyond the dull ringing, popping, and hissing noise at the back of the ear- that he couldn't hear anything. All around him, his vision of the world swims black -...and..wait. No. Sh- Somewhere in the Kensai's brain, he registers that the churning darkness before him is different from the shades and colours which swim before his vision. There's a order to the chaos which swarms towards him, the shadows a veritable plethora of malignant energy. Still empowered by the storm as he is, the Kensai's mind rapidly flickers through a few options, before it settles on the simplest option, the vast majority of the remaining energy being input towards drawing his form -upwards- and away from that tsunami of shadow, a lightning bolt in reverse aimed to gain as much height as possible. Only the truly attentive would notice the small fragment of light that would break away from that streak of light- a singular object which is imparted with the residue of the energy. Specifically, it's the broken hilt and remnants of the katana, placed into the sheathe and hurtled down towards Leiyu. Or rather, directly adjacent to his person. Something gnawing at the back of the Kensai's head has him send that object with unnatural swiftness back down towards the road, it's inevitable impact with a solid object serving to precipitate the violent discharge of the energy stored within, so that it would promptly collapse the street into the sewer. Essentially, if Leiyu wasn't able to provide himself an out, he'd find another option provided through the citys underbelly, if the impact and didn't overtake him. In either case, Kasyr allows the other man to be both out of sight and out of mind- to try and push past the throbbing of his skull, and the hum in his ears, and instead focus on the soon-to-be-awful that is going to be consuming his back. Hopefully while he still has upwards momentum.


Leiyu had no particular reason to be fearful of the metal that was being flung in his direction, that chain that trailed behind him serving as the ideal defense against such projectiles. Any that dared to venture too closely to him were redirected to cling to the chain and the sickle as well, drain to it like a moth to fire by the metal's magnetic allure. He was lobbed away by the sudden explosion that erupted from Kasyr's impact point only to have his wayward launch away from ground zero to be interupted, the metal plating in his own clothing recieving a charge of electrical energy to help it better attract to the sickle and the chain in the ground; causing the dragon to hover awkwardly for a moment before tumbling to the ground in a much less painful manner than he might have otherwise had to contend with. And then the ground swallowed him up as it collapsed, drawing him into the dankness and stench below. It was more than the dragon's ego could tolerate and his true self erupted forth in all it's raw bestial glory. His flesh darkened and peeled away, the scales beneath forcing their way to the surface as his spine lengthened. Bones crunched and popped as they changed size and rearranged to suit his saurian self, his jaws extending and his limbs growing exponentially. And as that serpentine form began to fill the tunnel below that section of street, the ferocity of the storm above increase. Not only had his fight with Kasyr been interupted almost before it started but then he had been dragged down to such a filthy hole. Leiyu's pride would not endure such insults. Rain belted the area now and winds threatened to uproot anything not thoroughly secured to the ground, sending debris whorling this way and that as the storm escalated. Leiyu was no longer Leiyu The Swordsman. He was Leiyu Leishe, Stormlord and his storm reflected his draconic might mercilessly. Bolts of lightning exploded upwards from the ground as the dragon's aura upset the city's ionic balance, blasting open potholes in the earth from wherever they emerged. Let the shadows enjoy that. Let Kasyr look upon the fury that lay beneath Leiyu's serene surface. Let this whole damn street burn.


Kasyr cannot -hear- the outrage, but he can certainly feel it- unbridled fury and outrage washing through him like a flood, and painting the rapidly shifting form of Leiyu. Kasyr's focus, however, remained upon his task, calling on the dredges of the unnatural strength he could formerly call upon, coaxing flesh, bone, and muscle into being, a pair of leathery wings emerging through the back of his black leather vest in a bloody spray that was all but masked by the rain. A fresh stab of pang wracked through his body, whatever noise the Kensai made falling on deaf ears. Already, the swordsman could feel his upwards momentum slowing, the feeling of the rain transitioning from a painful feeling akin to hitting multiple walls of water, to the more bareable-but-still-unpleasent heavy pour instead. Giving those wings a sharp flap, the revenant comes to a sharp stop, and then promptly lifts up a hand again, moving to reach out and redirect as much electrical energy to his being in the brief moments he'd have before Leiyu rushed forward. After all, a storm still raged in the heavens, as much as it did below grounds, and the Kensai was more than happy to steal as much errant lightning as he could. Leiyu, whilst proving effective at rending gaping holes through that tide of darkness- was also essentially serving as it's sole target given that he had chosen not to remove himself from that hole- the remainders of that shadow pooling into the pit like tar, save that it was guided by murderous purpose, and bore countless gnashing maws. And carried no sense of preserving itself, even as portions were blown away by the summoned storms.


Leiyu saw the encroaching darkness as a barrier that seperated him from his real goal. He had come to fight Kasyr and his honor demanded that he saw that fight to an end, even if that end was them laying exhausted on the ground. And if those shadows were a wall then Leiyu would need to knock that wall down. Clouds seemed to coalesce around his limbs, clinging to his flesh as he slowly lifted from the ground, elevated by his natural ability to fly. Arcs of lightning leapt from his flesh, crackling into pools of water and fizzling against the sewer's stony walls. Leiyu's form then blurred as he launched upwards in a collision course. Anything beneath Leiyu was blasted away by a shockwave of downward forced air that sent rubble flying in all directions. As he ascended, his body appeared as if it were growing longer; his bones forced to spread apart in response to the rapid acceleration. The first boom resounded through the air as his head broke through the sound barrier and he slammed into a section of that mass of shadows. A healthy portion of the umbral mass was obliterated as another boom sent small shockwaves of kinetic force in a circular radius all around him, his body shattering the sound barrier. Onward, Leiyu went until the entirety of his serpentine form had pushed through the hole he had made in those shadows; the kinetic force of his speed further creating a sort of protective aura around him. One more explosion of sound split the air around him but this time rather than from how fast he was going, it was born from the sudden stop. Leiyu writhed in the air beyond those shadows and let out a monstrous roar. Come at me, bro.


Kasyr 's a living lightning rod, and one seeing a fair bit of use today, considering that he finds himself in the midst of another bolts descent – immersing himself in a wash of electrical energy, even as Leiyu had been in the process of lifting up from the ground. The sensation of lightning searing through his form is nearly enough to distract him from the manner in which the storm dragons empathic imprint distorts in his mind, or the abrupt change of pressure in the air. But that same energy which coursed through his body and reminded him of sensations long dormant now sings to him, a crackling drone which rings out through his being and forces him into action, the singularily mundane act of flapping his wings simultaneously occuring with the invocation of those harvested energies. The very air around the revenant distorts, the rain seeming to shift directions in his wake as he hurtles towards Leiyu, both of the remaining katana's drawn out in the midst of this particular slash as the revenant hurtles dead on towards the dragon. Again, the Kensai's velocity would abruptly shift- 'human' lightning bolt tilting off towards the left as though he were aiming to carve alongside Leiyu's side. The only difference being that this particular 'feint' would -also- find itself abruptly interrupted, the Kensai's trajectory abruptly shifting once more to the side, in an effort to correct his position for the counter-attack he figured would likely arrive. If anything, the Kensai was more or less leaning towards adjusting his position -back- into that initial head on collision, albeit at a slightly higher positioning, a sort of double-fake out that will end with his blades colliding above the dragons maw with any luck, to slide between the scales if he can help it.


Leiyu did not attack. His frustration was palpable as he observed the scene below him and the destruction that the event had wrought. He had not come to level a street nor had he come to fight the revenant's shadowbinding friend. "Save yourself for me, Kasyr." He roared, his voice echoing through the street as the savage rain began to slow. "I will be unsatisfied if you die by someone else's hand." His writhing form began to move again but it did not charge towards Kasyr or the shadows or their master. Instead, he launched himself towards the sky and the tumultuous clouds about. He was done. He was leaving.


Shishi , still at ground level has recovered somewhat from the eardrum busting and stands on his feet watching through crimson cursed eyes as ‘his’ shadows are pushed from the fray while impeding the dragon's ascent. The broken bits of shadowy maws are flung throughout Vailkrin by the force, but are all pulled back towards the accursed so called Demon that stands on a fortunate piece of road that has not fallen into the sewers (or the wreckage of the sewers.) The returned darkness swirls about the assassin's form as a black mist, partially obscuring his vision. The sonic booms have gone unheard by this vampire on the ground and the one in the air apparently. Hopefully their hearing will return one day, otherwise Shishi will be left only listening to shadows and Wakka for the rest of his life. With the dragon's departure (or retreat) the remainder of the toothy wave returns to The Blue Demon as if going to check on their host. Composed again and with the shade of Vailkrin back under his control, the vampiric father stares up at the Kensai after his latest charge nets him not even a scale for all of that electrical zigzagging. He shouts up at the revenant louder than he would have needed to if they were both able to hear, “I'm never coming to this street with you again!”


Kasyr can't hear you, Leiyu. Really, the moment the dragon had pulled away and begun flying off, the Kensai had sheathed his blades, folded his arms, and just floated in the air- making a talking pantomime with his hands at the dragon as it peeled off. And this isn't just casual defiance. Kasyr can't hear -anyone-, though at least the dragons voice revebrates through the air and lets him know when the damn thing is booming and doing it's bla-bla-murder-you-later-honour-schmonour deal. Shishi doesn't even really get noticed for a few long moments until the depowered revenant takes note of the man beneath him. Getting a sort of perturbed look, especially given the weird mix of emotions coming from Shishi, Kasyr allows gravity to take hold of him, essentially plummeting straight down to the road, save for a few quick flaps of his wings to avoid pancaking, at about which point he stares, fixedly at Shishi. “Say again? Er. You did say something, right? Can't hear.” Considering Kasyr's cat ears are on top of his head, and bleeding profusely, that's sort of a massive understatement. Also, what was meant to be a conversational tone alters between normal, too quiet, and too loud.


Kasyr taps at his ears, a few times, to emphasize what he said.


Shishi raises both of his arms up at his sides in a emphatic shrug, “What!?” everything he says is a shout, unable to tell what volume he is talking at, “I can't hear you, man.” He too points to his ears, but they are where a normal human’s ears should be. At this time, with the dragon gone Blue's eyes are returning to their normal oceanic shade and that shadows twisting themselves around him snap quickly and harmlessly back to their natural positions around the once again messed up dark city.


Kasyr notes the flail, and the gesture towards Shi's own ears, and puts 2 and 2 together. Yup. That maneuver had been -super- effective. Which now left them ... yeah. The revenant adopts a pensive pose for a few long moments, before he tilts his head towards with the tavern with a shrug, alongside a brief scribbling motion. The kensai, after all, had been mute for a good long while, back in the day. What was a bit of deafness in the grand scheme of things- other than horribly crippling, headache inducing, apt to induce a bit more paranoia as to imminent attacks, and also hindering ones sense of balance when they actually tried moving. ...Right. Kasyr starts to shuffle towards the tavern, either way. At this point? He needed a drink.


Shishi follows the kensai’s gestures with his stare and nods once before realizing something and waving his hands to warn Kasyr before he enters to be ready for something. The assassin uses one hand to cover his right eye like an eyepatch and uses the other hand to make that same ‘talk-talk-talk’ flapping motion the other vampire had made while he was flying high a few moments before. True… Steadman wasn't going to be happy they did this again. The Blue Demon can count at least twice that the road has been opened up down to the sewers now and knowing the history here he wouldn't be shocked to find out it has happened another time or two without his knowledge. With that warning of what to expect distributed the assassin follows into The Corpse, putting on his most innocent looking face ever.


Hanging Corpse Tavern, Again

Kasyr has caused a massive amount of property damage whenever he's been forced to defend himself against anything that is effectively 'dragon-tiered' or higher in the overall destruction capacity. And Leiyu's tantrum at least provided a more-than-excellent alibi, right? They'd chased off an angry dragon. Hero's. Totally! Kasyr was already going over the slight fabrications of truth he was going to be scribbling at later to concerned individuals. Despite these mental gymnastics, the revenant still notes Shishi's gesture and nods in response, the Kensai pre-emptively pulling lose a page from his pack, so that the moment he enters the tavern, he can make a bee-line towards a table, get a quill, scribble out his-totally-the-truth-explanation...and make a motion to Steadmen for a refill on whatever the hell him and Shishi were drinking before they left. It felt like days ago, at this point, and it hurt to think about it. Maybe that was the internal bleeding and ruptured ear drums. Maybe it's the writer lampshading the wonky ass passage of time detailing one evening. Who knows. What is known, is that Shishi gets a napkin with the words, 'Dragon Hunt: Y/N?' scribbled on it.


Shishi follows Kasyr inside closely, but just far away enough that he can get away with pointing at the other vampire's back when Steadman looks his way as if to say, ‘I had nothing to do with all that noise and your broken windows. It was all this guy. I swear.’ With that rather verbose gesture completed Shishi starts to realize that he could have said all of that out loud and the other vampire wouldn't have been able to hear him. They're deaf, not mute when it comes to everyone else after all. The glass of bloodwine that Steadman had refilled before the pair of vampires exited does not appear to have survived the sonic shocks and is now a puddle of red liquid and shattered glass on the bar top. So it is a new drink that Blue is delivered and holds in his left hand while he looks at the note that he is presented. A couple blinks of azure eyes is all the consideration he needs before pointing excitedly to the ‘Y’ in the multiple choice answers.


Kasyr takes a sip of his drink once it's arrived, silently grateful for the relief from his pounding headache, and the way the room's spinning... and spits it right out a moment after. There's a faint burning taste to it, like something took a rag and lightly rubbed the rim of his glass in dragons blood. ..That, and it also just tastes like someone spat a combination of shoe polish, and horked up in his drink for good measure. Steadmen is earned a positively venemous look, before the glass is nudged towards the edge of the table, and the barkeep is given an 'orly' worthy look. A proper drink arrives later, it's timing having allowed the Kensai to scrutinize Shishi's response and offer an approving thumbs up in return, followed by a little bit of written clarification. Namely, 'Underdark' and 'Deep Dragon'.


Shishi ’s eyes widen when Kasyr spits out the drink and follows his gaze towards Steadman. His eyes track back to the other vampie’s glass, then to the barkeep cyclops again, and then finally to his own glass which he sets down on the table and pushes away with one finger, just in case. On the subject of the dragon, its type, and its location blue nods a couple of times indicating that none of this information has changed his answer. In fact that place ‘Underdark’ has spurred on his confidence. Perhaps even more than this City of Forever Night, the Underdark is the place where the accursed assassin and his family are most dangerous. Heck, the word ‘dark’ is in the name! And just imagine the look on those Drow faces when he pulls so many shadows to him that the place starts to light up with the lack of shade. “When you thinking?” he asks while looking at the revenant, before realizing his mistake, plucking the quill up, either from the table or out of the other's hand and writing a simple ‘When?’


Kasyr looks pensive for a few long moments, before he observes a similarily succint response, 'Soon.' The swordsman pauses following that, before he tilts his head and taps at his ears with a frown, and then casually shrugs after- assuming the meaning would likely be discerned. Another moments thought, and a sip of a drink which is thankfully -not- spiked, and the Kensai adds another three words, “Third, Fourth Hunter? ”


Shishi mirrors Kasyr’s sullen expression with his own, hoping for an even sooner soon than ‘soon’ in regards to the return of his hearing. At the question of adding to their party Blue sits pondering for a moment or two, mentally ruling out Laezila because of the location and how unwelcome she is down there at the moment. Orange and Yellow are out, they're not up to dragons yet, one would think. He can only conjure up a couple of people that he could even think to ask at the moment and gets to scribbling. He doesn't even really provide names either. The first suggestion is written as ‘Shining Knight’ and is accompanied by a rather poor drawing of Kelovath. He hasn't thought about it, but Shishi doesn't even really have a way to track that guy down and also a ‘shining Knight’ might counteract that great advantage the darkness of the underground gives the cursed assassin. The second suggestion he is not so sure about and demonstrates this by jotting down ‘Green’ and surrounding the whole word with question marks two or three deep. Then comes the third one. Kasyr would be more familiar with this one and would have to make the invitation if he wanted the old hero to tag along. ‘Fire Sword’ That one is tapped at with the tip of the writing utensil while the assassin wonders if he should have written it or not. He leaves it there anyhow and looks to Kasyr with a shrug that asks if he has any suggestions better than those.


Kasyr seems to recognize the doodle of kelovath, or perhaps the intent behind it. Either way, the revenant doesn't seem adverse, simply scribbling a 'Where?' next to the name. Greens' 'name' as it were is underlined a few times, the revenant proceeding to twiddle his writing implement in a sort of agitated manner, his own expression one of contemplation. It's only after this little ritual is engaged in for a few long moments that he finally nods, and scribbles down, 'Good. But Maybe. City first + Lae.' The last suggestion has the revenant looking at it with a certain degree of concentration, before he heaves up his shoulders in a shrug, and scribbles, 'Feasible.' It's only after all this is said and done that the revenant blinks and casually scribbles near the bottom, 'Ayras?' alongside a doodle of a sort of squiggly looking puppy, that's all angles. Like someone tried to scribble a lightning bolt, and then half-assedly turned it into dog, or a fox. ...Which, would make it look a lot like something that the Kensai had as a pet, really.


Kasyr takes a moment to stare at the object they have subjected to their scribbling, noting that it's rapidly becoming overtaken by doodles and words, and plucks another two pages from his pack, settling them down on the table.


Shishi squints at his own doodle of Kelovath before taking the quill back and finding an open space near the question of his location. The Blue Demon has very recently crossed paths with the Paladin, which is probably why he was suggested in the first place. ‘Larket?’ is the answer provided as it is the place the pair, Krice, and the elven council member had been slaughtering Fermin just a few days prior. The response to the Larewen's colorful nickname is stared at for awhile, like he's trying to decipher it. He doesn't linger -too- long on it though as all those question marks probably indicated that he doubted she would want to go with them (or more specifically, with him) in the first place. There is nothing for Blue to add to the Lionel discussion so he does not and then Ayras’s name is studied, the picture chuckled at. The assassin is familiar with that name and has seen him in action during the Frostmaw Tournament that he himself exited early. Next to the lightning puppy a check mark is added. One of the clean papers is pulled towards the vampiric father and he quickly writes down, ‘That all? Maybe head out before somebody else comes to try and get you?’


Kasyr is looking pensive again, his lips pursed in those moments he's not nursing the glass of whiskey he's found himself with. In the meantime, his free hand is scribbling out a reply, 'Here's as safe as any. Sticking in city until Laezila is passed to Green.' A pause, and then the revenant underlines the two names, and makes an arrow between the two, with another arrow sprouting from the middle and pointing lower to a quickly scrawled out, 'If unavailable, can keep watch over each other while we do this. No real warning to when we're doing this, so unlikely to be assassinated.' That last word is underlined, the Kensai tapping on the sheet of paper before he carefully adds, scribbles out. 'That's all, for recruits. What's new. In lands. Catching fire, yadda yadda?' The page is tapped on again, before a quick doodle of a building on fire is added for emphasis.


Shishi nods a few times, understanding the mess of arrows between Green, Laezila and the explanations. “Aye.” he futilely says out loud before finally taking a drink from his glass that it appears the cyclops hadn’t tampered with, maybe he took that accusatory point to heart from when the pair of vampires reentered The Corpse? With a shake of his head he scribbles down, ‘Nothing here’ meaning Vailkrin other than the hole in the street that Kasyr obviously already knows about and Blue is assuming the Kensai knows that Larewen is awake given that the assassin suggested she come take down a dragon with them. More writing, ‘Sage is a mess. You know?’ The vampiric father wrinkles his nose thinking about how useless he is in regards to the Sage Curse. If he were to go back out there it would only be as a chaperone to Orange as the girl believes she might be of some help there. ‘Rats in Larket.’ Next to that note he doodles a fermin wearing a helmet standing on its hind legs. ‘Killed like 30 of them.’ And then he blots out the drawing of the rat-man, illustrating the dark fate of the mousey invaders while The Blue Demon was there. 'Break anything besides that road lately?' is the question sent back to his pen pal here, along with the pen.


Shishi yells, "Ah!" and snatches back the quill and paper after remembering something important, 'Corruption???' is written in large lettering at the center of the paper.


Kasyr puts a few question marks besides 'Larket' alongside a small arrow and the word 'Elaborate?'. Beyond that, there's a simple shrug on the the Kensai's part, and a simple underline of 'Sage', with an arrow pointing up towards Laezila and Green. It's at this point that the revenant stares long and hard at the paper, mulling things over for a few long moments before he finally decides to add, 'Frostmaw business w/ Ayras. May need a +1.' and below that, 'Vailkrin hole was Ahkall. My problem. Deal w/ later.' Clearly, the Kensai is familiar with board short hand, he's just actively been avoiding it. He sips from the drink again, at once grateful and cursing the fact that he can feel it tingling at the edges of his peripherary, and the fact that he could feel the disorientation that comes with a bit of alcohol. Perhaps it's the fact that it's started to trickle into his system that he finally deigns to add, just below the mention of Ahkall, 'Lost power. A lot of it. Almost human, I think?' There's an arrow between the two events, likely signifying their interconnection. And a secondary note added, 'Been faking that I'm as strong as before. Takes effort, now.'


Kasyr thinks long and hard, and adds in very small scribbles, 'I don't think I'll heal quickly.' before gesturing towards his ears, his attention promptly flickering away towards the door.


Kasyr blinks for a moment, stares at the page, and makes an arrow between 'Corruption???' and 'Green'- finishing the job of mussing up that page by scribbling out the words 'Dunno.'


Shishi nods again at the explanation for the Corruption question and leaves it at that. Similarly to the situation with Sage and Laezila a simple response of. ‘I was told.’ Is given. And then ‘Redhead.’ Is jotted down for no discernable reason… The rest of what Kasyr has written down has gained his attention now. The word ‘human’ is circled a few times wildly and azure eyes widen at the other vampire who sounds like he is barely one now as if to say ‘That’s bad.’ And ‘Sure you want to go down there to fight a dragon like that?’ with a tilt of his head. After that this particular paper is taken and crumpled up and dropped into the half-full glass of bloodwine, a gesture that shows the secret is safe with Blue. Another page is started on in regards to Larket now. ‘Fermin attacking the city. Often. Plague??? They need help. Fighters.’ Blue offers a shrug. He had been down there because he dislikes the Fermin, but he has no real sentimentality for the city he was supposedly protecting while he was there.


Kasyr makes a small arrow, that seems to point off the page, along the with words, 'Just beat one dragon. What's two? Need to stay sharp. Things won't get easier, I need to get stronger.' The page is tapped a couple times, and then 'Again.' is scribbled on the page, alongside a doodle of a black snake like creature, which seems to be wearing a small crown, and the words 'kill me for powerz. Probably.' added to a small speech bubble. 'Ahkall', the snakey-creature is dubbed. Done with his immature revenge scribbling, the Kensai then returns his attention towards the rest of the page, glancing towards the mention of Fermin, before he simply adds, 'Drag me along. Practice. Hero Business. As Usual.' After that, a small space is added before the Kensai adds, 'Anything else?'


Shishi exposes his fangs in a smile, glad he could not deter the other vampire from wanting to punch a dragon so easily. The assassin can’t recall ever seeing Kasyr eat up someone for their powers, but he is aware of the ‘ability’ so he get it, what the Kensai is saying. There is yet another nod, a thumbs up, and a grin at the idea of the pair heading to Larket to -get- some rats, and there’s even the thought of them doing it before their hearing returns that conjures up some comical mental images. With a shake of his head Blue indicates that there indeed is nothing else he can think of before he pushes himself up out of his seat, keeping his palms on the tabletop longer than he usually would to maintain his balance with his inner ear all messed up.


Kasyr can't help but smirk as well, leaving a few coins on the table as he rises from the table. An effort which briefly sends the Kensai shuffling to one side courtesy of an errant sense of balance. At least he had a day to figure this out, and get some degree of medical attention. Then he could try and play off this newest infirmity. Shishi get's a thumbs up.


Shishi doesn't think his Orange mimic has anything up her sleeve to speed along the recovery process of his hearing, otherwise he would have offered an invitation to The Thorne Estate at this point. His hands finally leave the top of the table and one gives a nonchalant wave for the Kensai. Steadman and The Blue Demon have a three-eyed stare down for a moment or two before the vampire stumbles and points at the man before shuffling out of The Corpse without really letting his feet leave the ground.