RP:Seeking Partner for Romantic Pondside Picnics and Shared House Care. Must Love Homunculi.
Ornamental Fish Pond
A perfectly circular pond is here. Surrounding the pond are smooth stones that are well suited for sitting by the crystalline waters. Within the pond are a number of fish swimming in lazy, elegant patterns, occasionally darting between thick reeds and underneath emerald lilypads. Some of the fish are breathtakingly beautiful with shades of royal blue, gold, silver, and rich orange; whereas others are less decorative and more intended for eating, such as the Garda Fish, renowned for its milky white flakes that blend well in many recipes. Flying above the pond is a small automaton of an avian woman, wings flapping in unnatural silence to keep her airborne and circling overhead eternally. Clutched in the living statue's hands is a fishing rod crafted from silver with its mithril line and hook dangling above the waters, signifying that this pond is both for sightseers and recreational fishing alike.
Kasyr considers himself to be pretty fortunate, as far as life goes. Sure, he's had unhallowed creatures vye for control of his soul, an abundance of garden variety lunatics trying to kill him, and a handful of unforunate encounters with dangerous deities. That said, he also has a gorgeous wife whose willing to come along when he makes such timeless suggestions such as 'Let's have a picnic on an island full of homicidal homunculi.' Really, things are going pretty swimmingly, up until Luffy, the Revenant's murderous Dragon & Partner-in-crime, decided to rid herself of her passengers by abruptly pulling a barrel roll in mid air, sending them hurtling towards their chosen 'picnic' spot at a pace that's far from leisurely.
Satoshi had been expecting trouble of the most dangerous sort from the moment Kasyr had proposed the picnic. She had been expecting certain death from the moment Kasyr decided Luffy was going to serve as their mode of transportation. When has that dragon -not- tried to kill Satoshi at every opportunity? The fact that Luffy had flown straight and true all the way to Armantium only served to fortify Satoshi's doubts into certainty. And so when the blasted black ice beast tipped her passengers off her back, Satoshi is far from surprised. In fact, she's thoroughly prepared. She'd spent the better part of the flight weaving spells about herself, so that when the very likely prospect of being 'dropped off'--too literally--came about, the magus was ready. Satoshi might lack proper wings like her husband and his dragon, but that doesn't mean she can't replicate them to some degree by manipulating her mistweave cloak. The normally thin fogs have been thickened with water vapors plucked from the clouds along the flight, so that when the cloak is furled out behind Satoshi in the shape of wings, the false feathery appendages are almost entirely solid in appearance rather than the typical ghostly outlines. A pair of arcane words, and the moulded wings cup to catch the air and noticably slow Satoshi's descent, although the magus' attention is on her feet and the open sky below. Slowing her fall is one matter, safely reaching the ground is another entirely, one that requires a succession of spells the kit still has in the experimental phases. Directly beneath her boots, where the enchanted soles come in contact with the air, the invisible droplets of water solidify into thin sheets of ice and thus form footholds where none should be. With great care, Satoshi steps down and simultaneously evokes the next glassy platform to appear, repeating this every few seconds so that she's essentially descending a staircase woven out of the sky. It's a delicate balance, holding the spells of her cloak in place at the same time that she's maintaining, creating, and releasing the platforms from existence in unison. ...Not that she's taking the time to admire the sort of elegant image this must paint, for she far from trusts Luffy to leave her in peace during this. The quicker Satoshi can get to the ground, the better, she's not a creature of the sky. Nor does she enjoy being at the dragon's mercy.
Kasyr can't help but muster a sour expression when he finds himself falling, one that briefly turns into a glower when he hears a softly chuckled, "Farewell, Gnat." come from above. It's not so much that he's falling, hurtling towards the ground at such speed that all he can hear is the wind- as it builds up from a whistle to roar. What get's the revenant is that she's trying to kill him in such a lazy manner- It's about as insulting as her nickname for him. It's enough that the Kensai forces his arms down to his chest, and crosses them over his chest- his eyes locked on the rapidly approaching ground. He could almost swear he could make out the pond below them, though the odd bit of shade that had decided to settle above him made it sort of difficult to pick up.
Satoshi finds herself in a heavier shade than her constructed wings should be providing, and the darkness is growing with every passing second. From above comes a high-pitched whistling, the keen of air rapidly streaming over a smooth surface. Mind fragmented on multiple tasks as it is, it takes Satoshi a moment to realize the reason behind this, and a second longer to determine she's still too far above the ground to just drop the rest of the way. Above the ground, being the keywords, and the inspiration behind Satoshi's haphazard sideways dive, the leap taking her out from beneath the approaching shadow even as it removes her from the safety of her gravity-defying platforms. The ground might be too far away, but the trees of the park below aren't, and their branches are outstretched as if they'd been grown years ago to catch the falling foxkin now. A series of crunching, crashing, snapping, and swearing announce when Satoshi reaches the foliage, each sound coming a bit farther after the last as the descent toward the ground is slowed through sheer planty resistance. Eventually, the ground beneath the trees is littered in a rain of broken twigs, leaves, and glacial feathers, with a distinct lack of Satoshi. The magus is instead left hanging upside down by the hem of her coat where it snagged on a branch too stubborn to break. "This picnic is off to a fantastic start," she declares to no one in particular from where she dangles, scowling and battered in equal measure.
Kasyr finally uncrosses his arms, the revenant growing tired of the obscured view of the ground. It's with some degree of difficulty that he begins to twist, intent upon at once righting himself, and trying to discern where Satoshi is. It's also at about that point that he finally notices Luffy cannonballing down towards him. The Kensai manages to offer up a brief wag and point of his finger in her direction, alongside a minutely amused, "Touche." right before one of her claws slams into his body. What's more surprising to the Revenant, however, is the fact that rather than smash the Kensai into the ground with her body, she instead chooses to clutch his form and spread her wings. It's with a certain vicious grace that Luffy's form sleekly unfurls from it's coiled position, cutting through the night sky like some great shade. It's a breathaking view, in truth- though one that does come to a somewhat premature end. After all, with Luffy's current velocity, all that she needs to do is open her claw to promptly send Kasyr crashing into and through a building, with enough of a ruckus to alert the cities guardians, if her antics hadn't already done the job. Kasyr, for his part, at least has enough sense to brace himself for the impact- though being sent slamming through a wall, a cupboard, a table, a set of chairs, a couch, a fireplace, another wall- and then into the adjacent house, through the floor, and into the basement isn't exactly -pleasent-.
Satoshi, from her prime view hanging from a branch, is suddenly grateful she only had to go crashing through the foliage of a tree. She might have splinters in places splinters shouldn't exist, but at least she wasn't just made into the living wrecking ball for two sturdy homes. As much as Satoshi wants to free herself from the branch's clutches--she really, really wants to free herself--she resists the urge to do so. If asked, it's because she doesn't want to draw Luffy's attention in her direction, while in truth it's because... "Yeah, I'm pretty stuck," she grumbles to herself, after another tug test of her coat.
Kasyr 's sturdy, like -really- sturdy- but that doesn't mean this doesn't hurt. Which is to say, it hurt to a surprising degree, and he's somewhat grateful that he can feel Luffy flying away- as it means he can just sort of lie in a crumpled heap. Really, the only sort of movement coming from the Kensai, is a sort of lazy attempt at picking bits of a teacup out from his forehead. Somewhere above him, the house offers a groan- as though protesting the presence of the interloper, and the damage that had been wrought upon it. Kasyr offers a grumble in response, to noone in particular- before he drags his goggles down over his eyes, "Should have done that when I started falling."
Satoshi is just starting to get comfortable when the tree holding her groans, and a tremor runs through the branch holding her, seconds before it snaps. With a yelp, the kit is dropped the rest of the way to the ground, where she lands in a tangled heap. Slowly Satoshi begins untangling herself, spluttering at the mouthful of leaves she acquired in the crash, until she pushes herself up into a painful sitting position. The tree is given a glare from over the orange edge of Riss' sunglasses--askew yet somehow still stubbornly in place. "I'd say thanks for hanging out with me, but I have to admit your company 'leaves' me wanting." As if in response to the puns, a last broken branch falls from among the leaves to strike Satoshi between the ears. Hands clap over the stricken spot with a cry more offended than pained. "Oi! I get it, I'm going. Bloody critic." Shooting the tree one last dirty look--and ducking, in case of more branches--Satoshi climbs to her feet and begins to pick her unsteady way to where there are Kasyr-sized holes in two house's walls. "I thought we were having a picnic~? Or are we eating in tonight instead?"
Kasyr finally drags himself up to his feet, if only to lean against a table that's mostly intact. "If you gave one of these houses a bit more time to fall apart, I'm sure we could still have an open sky picnic." That's probably an exaggeration. He hopes. He'd rather not have the house collapse in on him. The house offers another low groan, this one accompanied by a rolling series of creaks and cracks. "...Don't you do it. Don't you fall apart on me." Rather than -wait- for said situation to potentially happen, the Kensai begins to make his way up the stairs.
Satoshi waits patiently outside the door--or was it once a window before the kensai tore through it? She can't tell, she just knows she's waiting outside of it for Kasyr to exit, because there's no way in hell she's going inside to find him. As the magus listens to his footsteps climbing the stairs, she directs her voice in that direction, "So, skillfully destructive, or destructively skillful, landings aside and all, I think the fish pond is still intact. Not that we have a picnic basket or blanket anymore, courtesy of your dragon's definition of 'drop off'. I for one have no wish to go scouting across these rooftops to find wherever it is the food has been smeared into oblivion." Her rambling comes to a sudden halt then as vulpine ears swivel forward and glasses slip further down the bridge of her nose. "Hurry up, hm? It's been too peaceful for the last two minutes. By the laws that govern our lives... that house is about to collapse on you, or Armantium is about to send the welcoming committee."
Kasyr get's to the top of the stairs, at about which point he promptly gawks. "I think the welcoming committee already..found us?" It's not a dread filled tone that the Revenant uses, but rather one rife with curiosity- as he's in the process of watching a what can only be described as a somewhat emaciated looking avian armed with a feather duster rushing about the room attempting to franatically clean all the dust that had settled on all the surfaces, whilst another one wielding a broom moves to sweep said debris out the door. "...I was sort of expecting more." From nearby comes a rather abrupt crashing noise, almost reminiscent of the Revenant's arrival to this area, and fittingly enough, coming from the home he had initially crashed into. It's enough to coax him to step out from this particular location, "...So.."
Satoshi is a few steps behind Kasyr, distracted with watching the frantic cleaners. There's something uncomfortably familiar about the obsessive air they give off, as if they'd handle a murder scene as fastidiously and heartlessly as a dusty living room. "They're just like the foxlings.." Thank Aramoth and any other listening diety that the homunculi aren't carrying kitchen knives. With a shudder, Satoshi follows after Kasyr and closely on his tail, no longer wanting to be left alone with the two avian creatures. Ears twitch in the direction of the crashing, as the magus frowns. "That sort of noise is never good. Know why? Because whatever is capable of -making- it, is either very, very dead from that, or very, very dangerous because it isn't dead from that. Judging by how this evening has been progressing, I'm betting on the latter."
Kasyr let's out a -loooong- sigh, drawing one hand up to his chin, "Mon dieu. Et I was going to be all like, en garde soon. This is really putting a damper on the dramatic swo-" Even as the wall adjacent to the Kensai and the kit explodes outwards in a rain of shrapnel, the Revenant's already in the process of turning to face it. Thankfully, his goggles served to protect his eyes from the fog of dust, allowing him to see through the momentary obscurity, and perceive the body charging towards him. It's only when it's all but atop him that he perceives the finer details however; the creature resembling a gorilla in it's relative build, though it's overall design seemed to place it as a -very- distant cousin of the creatures in the building behind him. The revenant barely has time to drop his hands down to his hips, and begin to free up one of the Katana's sheathed there before he's forced to make a correction; as it's now the building he's in, the creature having effectively barreled into him with enough force to press him into and through the wall, and then sending them both crashing down the stairs leading to the basement. "Ffffff-" Midway down the flight of stairs, he manages to finally unsheathe his blade, if only to lodge it into the creature- to create an altogether vicious and aggravated wound when they finally finishing crashing down the stairs. What was left of the stairs, anyways. Between the creature's flailing, and the revenant's armoured form and broadsword sheathed on his back, that structures endured a fair amount of abuse.
Satoshi would have pointed out, "Told you so" at this moment, except that seconds before, she had made the stupid mistake of following -directly behind Kasyr-. Which means she's between him and each wall, floor, and so on the gorilla-beast had plowed him through. From where she has been wedged between the basement floor and Kasyr, Satoshi manages to cough out an, "Ow." and what sounds vaguely like, "Ducking grass sole." It could be gibberish induced by the considerable battering, or the fact that it's difficult to speak when your face is being shoved into the dirt. Whichever it is, Satoshi's on the relatively-incapacitated side of things, until Kasyr feels like moving his plate-armored tail.
Kasyr 's head knocks back against Satoshi's following an altogether spirited slug in the face the creature gives him- the damn thing's wearing -gauntlets-. Even despite being skewered, the damn thing is not only alive, but kicking rather vigorously, and the patchwork armour it's wearing only makes the process of dragging his sword through it's guts that much more complicated. At least, until he twists the blade in it's guts off to one side, and promptly -shoves- moving to momentarily dislodge it from his body so that he can roll off Satoshi, and up into a crouched position. Unforunately, his attempt at retrieving his sword receives a slight complication, as it proceeds to wedge itself in between some of it's 'armouring' something which coaxes him to relinquish the hilt and leave it where it is for the moment, his left hand falling down to the remaining sword at his hip, while his right cups at his forehead, "Merde." Overhead, the sound of scurrying feet intensifies- though whether that's more little homunculi or the other ones picking up speed is altogether unknown. It's weird though, given that's there's rattling and scraping now.
Satoshi once had Kasyr's warhorse bodyslam her and then attempt to sit on her while fully armored, and right about now the kit is wishing it -was- Krieger instead. At least the destrier's murderous momentum hurt a great deal less. As she struggles to push herself up to her knees and spits out a mouthful of dirt, Satoshi is left giddily wondering if all that rattling and scraping is coming from upstairs, or if it's her own battered body as she forces it to move. Miraculously, nothing feels broken to the magus, despite the pain and promise of immense bruising later--hell, even Riss' glasses are still intact as they teeter on the tip of her nose. Satoshi can only conclude the thickened cloak of fog she'd still been wearing had managed to cushion her, for now it hangs in ragged, ghost-thin tendrils from her shoulders. Bolstered by this, the magus regains her feet and turns to watch the exchange between kensai and construct, her own hand going to the swordbelt at her hip where Ko'tar lies dormant. The blade isn't drawn, not yet, although Satoshi's hand resting upon its icy hilt seems to steady her enough that she can begin humming a spell into creation. It's a simple enough spell and thus quickly brought to life as she draws upon the ample moisture in the ground beneath their feet. In seconds, the basement floor is submerged in an inch of water, and a few seconds more transforms the water from a single uniform sheet into a short wave, homing in on the gorilla-esque creature to splash with seeming harmlessness at its lower body. But everywhere the water comes in contact, it begins to freeze rapidly into thick coils of ice entangled around waist and legs. Where ice would normally be rigid and unrelenting, Satoshi has instead left woven into it the malleable quality of water, so that what is created isn't a series of brittle bindings but a frigid sort of spidersilk rope with just enough give to not be shattered from raw strength. Rope that is anchored deep into the earth, all in an attempt to keep the homunculus from moving more than a foot in any direction.
Kasyr can't help but grin a bit when he perceives the predicament the homunculus has found itself in. Even as it moves to charge at him, he simply stands in place, the thumb of his left hand pressed against the guard of the Katana at his hip. It's only when it's body abruptly lurches to a halt that he moves- taking advantage of the brief loss of balance it suffers to charge in. It's only then that he pops his blade free from it's sheathe, his right hand drawing it forth with such violence that he carves it up and -through- it's right arm, hewing the limb from it's body before he brings the weapon arcing back down. It's face is the unforunate recipient of the Kensai's attention, the weapon carving through it's face diagonally, to remove the top left portion of it's skull. Above, the scrabbling and scraping his finally stopped- instead replaced by the occasional creak of the building, and the gurgling rasps of the creature as it sinks to its knees. Kasyr, for his part, prevents it from falling further by planting one leg against it's chest, by which point he begins to wrench at the sword still skewered into it- seeking to retrieve his weapon. As for as end results go, it's certainly successful, though even the Kensai can't help but be surprised when the remaining arm promptly spasms, clutches at the Revenant's form- and then promptly hurls him into the already ruined staircase. Trapped as it is, it doesn't move to pursue. Instead? It screams- a loud shriek that echoes off the walls, rattles the windows, and fills the evening with it's awfull shrill noise.
Satoshi is halfway through telling Kasyr, "I wouldn't do tha--" when the kensai is grabbed and thrown. Too late, Satoshi. And yet, she might have still bothered to elaborate on the alarmingly sturdy construct of these creatures, if the one opposing them didn't take this moment to begin screeching. With a cry, Satoshi claps her hands over her sensitive ears and drops to a knee, eyes screwed shut against the stabbing pain. As the sound carries on, she can feel its volume as a rattling vibration in her bones, shaking the kit's focus and in turn unraveling her hold upon the spell. A crackle and a splash, and the frozen bindings fall apart, reverting once more into harmless water pooled upon the floor. Satoshi shoots the waters a fleeting look of dismay before she pushes back to her feet and, with hands still pressed harshly over her ears, stumbles to where she'd seen the kensai tossed. Carelessly the magus kicks around among the broken planks searching for her wayward husband, not even bothering to call out verbally as she knows her voice can't compete with the homunculus' shrieks. She doesn't need to speak, however, not when she's wearing one half of a joined set of rings, with the other forging the link between her mind and the revenant's. -Oi. It's going to shake this entire house down on us, we got to move!-
Kasyr 's already in the process of extricating himself from the newest hole he's crashed into, his expression one of murderous aggravation. His ear's twitch spastically, seeking to press against his skull in an attempt to block out the shrill noise, and the cacophony of creaks and crashes that echo from overhead- to no avail. Sword's still drawn, the Kensai steps free of the ruined stairs, if only to take a step -towards- the creature. It's during the second step that the house gives another shudder, and the Kensai begins to backpedal. In short order, both Katana's are returned to their sheathes- thus leaving Kasyr's hands free to scoop up Vesper, and in one swift motion run into and up the wall. Momentum makes the maneuver possible, the Revenant managing to bridge the portion of the stairwell that's collapsed, and come to a skidding crash near the stop- by which point he reaches an arm down towards Satoshi to provide her a means out. Even he flinches though, when a portion of the ceiling comes crashing down- with enough force and weight to partially collapse the part of the floor it impacts into. ...Oddly, there doesn't really seem to be much of anything in this house to break- both miniature homunculi, and the various bits of furniture that had furnished the interior now -gone-.
Satoshi doesn't waste a moment in accepting Kasyr's offered hand, not even leaving all the lifting to him as she half leaps and half scrambles up the remains of the staircase. As she plops down with a groan beside the kensai, Satoshi takes a brief moment to massage her assaulted ears and mutter a string of curses for the creature still in the basement. The swearing doesn't last long, however, as the magus takes note of their empty surroundings. "...I'm not sure why, but the sudden lack of furniture is incredibly unsettling," she points out with a baffled look thrown Kasyr's way. She doesn't get to dwell on the oddity for long, distraction coming in the form of the homunculus below now slamming its fist into the wall that once housed the staircase. Each strike causes the house to shudder, raining dust and crumbling fragments of ceiling onto the kensai and magus below. "Right." A grin of fangs is flashed at Kasyr. "You mentioned a skylight, yes? I think the construction crew is working on that this very minute. Shall we step out until he's done~?"
Kasyr shoves himself up to his feet before he promptly begins to back out the door of the rapidly deteriorating house, Vesper clutched firmly in his offhand the whole while, "A skylight, or a pile of kindling." And just like that, the Revenant whirls on his heels and - stops. Two things stick out to the Revenant immediately, the first being the presence of the tiny Homunculi, as they drag tables, chairs and tea cups into adjacent undamaged buildings- whilst the second is the presence of yet another of the homunculi's, perched atop the building they'd just emerged from, and only noticed due to the Kensai's spin. "...Heeey. Wanna go to that pool now?"
Satoshi is staring at the tiny homunculi, both unnerved at their similarities to her own critter servants, and enthralled by their unwavering dedication. "I want one," is all she says, before Kasyr speaks up and draws her attention elsewhere. Specifically to the larger homunculus crouched atop the house in perfect lurking fashion. "Oh. I don't want one of -those- though. If you're keeping track of my Solstice list, that is." Which prompts Satoshi to take hold of Kasyr's sleeve and begin tugging him in the direction of the pool, their original destination before this chaotic detour. Don't ever let anyone tell you dates with Kasyr are dull.
Kasyr actually stumbles, though it's in no way the fault of Satoshi's sudden sleeve tug. Rather, it's due to the abrupt cacophony of shrill squalls which erupt, coming not just from the house, but also from two other nearby points. Though briefer than the initial 'call', it serves as the proverbial straw upon the camel's back, the house that Satoshi and Kasyr had emerged from finally collapsing inwards. It's then that the homunculus upon the roof moves, hurling itself bodily towards the interlopers that rest before it. Something which is only further complicated when the flesh upon it's back unfurls, revealing a pair of wing-like protrusions. Though likely not built for sustained flight, the damnable things serve well enough to hasten it's charge- the thing all but upon the duo in moments. It's not Kasyr that it's primary target, however- one of it's brutish arms already wound back as it means to plow into the frailer looking target. Which is unforunate, really, because whilst the Kensai does bring Vesper up in an attempt to intercept the creature- it's not quite as graceful as it might otherwise be. He'd been expecting the creature to rush at him- given the last one's penchant for hurling him around like a sack of potato's.
Satoshi's ears fold flat when the trio of calls sound, although the distance makes the noises a nuisance rather than a pain. It's moreso the sudden collapse of the house that has the magus turned skittish as she hops back a number of paces, away from building and kensai alike. As it stands, her change of position makes her a more open target than she had been beside Kasyr when the perching homunculus dives... at the same time, it gives Satoshi a few extra seconds to react. Instead of attempting to sidestep or dodge, the magus hunkers down into a low crouch and simply waits, a bundle of tightly coiled muscles poised to erupt into movement. In the instant before that gargantuan fist can make contact, Satoshi uncoils with all the mercurial speed of a striking viper, pushing herself forward and up so that she arches just above the approaching fist. The leap is not a lengthy or high one, however, just barely enough to clear the homunculus' hand and allow the kit to land crouched upon its forearm seconds after. Not a moment is wasted then, Satoshi darting up the extended limb and bounding onto its broad shoulders, where claws then find purchase on the joints of those wings and the magus shifts her progress to suddenly dive down between the appendages. She might not weigh much, but what little weight she has coupled with the momentum of her drop should more than suffice to put the creature momentarily off-balance--she doubts Kasyr needs any more than a moment's opening to strike, after all.
Kasyr 's sword is already in the air, extended out to one side due to his unforunate failure to intercept the bulky Homunculus. All the Kensai does it take one step forward, placing himself so that he's all but on the verge of colliding into the creature- before he promptly taps into his electrical affinity, a palm sized chunk of flesh along his shoulder abruptly fading into sparks. Without warning, Vesper's suddenly engulfed in electrical energy, it's momentum promptly inverting so that it's sent arcing back towards the homunculus- the combination of it's off-balance state and the revenant's proximity more than sufficient to provide the means to send the weighty weapon carving into it's side. Unnatural vampiric strength, lightning charged velocity, and a good sharp edge are more than sufficient to do the rest- the homunculi hitting the ground in two pieces behind the Revenant- bisected neatly at the waist. The revenant doesn't waste any time in reaching over to Satoshi, moving to tug her up to her feet, and finish the whole 'Getting to the Pool' thing. It also, hopefully, moves her out of it's reach before it can grab onto her- considering he's already made the mistake of assuming they die easily once. Somewhere, in the background, a pair of large figures leap from building to building- rapidly closing the distance that seperates them from the Kit & Kensai.
Satoshi has no desire to stay once the homunculus is bisected, because she's fairly certain even that won't kill the construct. Accepting Kasyr's aid, she's quick to skip out of range and join the kensai in heading in the pond's direction. Not that she doesn't stop a moment to recall the restraining spell she'd used earlier, this time the shackles that blanket and bind the homunculus more rigid in nature than before. As much as she dislikes the idea of locking the creature in place with chains that can be broken under continued pressure, with them being more ice than water, Satoshi can let the spell remain without her continued concentration. She'll just have to hope the ice proves durable enough to keep the nuisance pinned a good while even after it pulls itself back together. Nodding once at her handiwork, the magus hurries after Kasyr--this time careful to not stand directly behind him, lest he get body-tackled again. "You know, if that idiot dragon had stuck around," Satoshi comments to the kensai's back, "I bet she would have had a field day with these things." Like a cat with a self-repairing ball of yarn. A crunch from ahead and above stops this train of thought for Satoshi, however, as her attention is directed upward to where a third ape-ish homunculus now crouches upon a house's balcony. The platform seems to be more decorative than functional, as is obvious by the way it's metal railings and floor are already beginning to bend beneath the creature's weight. Satoshi eyes the balcony's braces where they're showing clear signs of strain. "Well, we left Dumb and Dumber back there, so this must be Dumbest." Keen vulpine ears or not, the magus misses the sound from behind them, of light footsteps upon roof tiles, too soft a noise beneath the groaning metal of the balcony.
Kasyr , between Satoshi's comment and the squeal of metal, finds himself turning mid stride, awkwardly hopping on one foot before he fully turns in place- managing a sort of offkilter backwards jog as he looks towards the source of the din. Already, the Homunculus was beginning to move, it's bulky arms pressing down the railings of the balcony it was on as those pseudo-wings on it's back began to unfurl. Which is about the point the revenant goes from a backwards jog to an abrupt forward hop- Vesper already in the process of being hefted upwards, wreathed in a curious energy that seems to distort the air around it. A distortion which should be recognizeable enough, especially as it's launched from the blade, and sent carving through the air towards the balconys supports. A blade of condensed wind, it's more than sufficient to carve through the already weakened supports, even shearing into the stone of the balcony- which in tandem with the creatures weight promptly sends the whole platform tilting downwards. Instead of pushing -off- the Balconys railing, the homunculus ends up pushing -through- it, crashing to the ground in a heap, before a second blade of wind is sent at the ruined balcony, dislodging it from the building and bringing it down on top of the brutish creature. That's all the time the Kensai spares for that one, however- the other two Homunculi in the background now but a few houses away- each of their leaps having been accompanied by a powerful flap of their 'wings'.
Satoshi devotes her time not to watching Kasyr's work--admirable as it is--but instead to conjuring a spell to follow up with his attack. As the balcony's abused metals come crashing down, the magus is already pulling the errant waters from the air, grass, and trees to manifest a series of thick threads. These she directs to descend upon the pile of former-balcony, where they begin to greedily dive, weave, tie, and bind themselves throughout the metals, creating a veritable net of ice and debris and thus a cage for the creature trapped beneath. Another few words from Satoshi, and the arctic net tightens inward, the pressure created enough to press the homunculus flat to the ground beneath the weight of true-steel and magicked ice. With no room to maneuver, Satoshi doesn't expect the construct to break free any time soon, and so she checks it off the list for the time being. And it's a good thing too, as far as the kit is concerned, because she's starting to feel the tax of the numerous large spells, in the form of a growing leaden weight to her limbs and a sluggishness of her mind. The side-effects are slight, at present, although the kit is quite familiar with how quickly her limits can be reached if she has to keep calling up weaves of this extent in rapid succession--to pull enough water from the air to ensnare one of these enormous creatures requires a great deal of energy, even for a cryomancer of Satoshi's status. "I could use a water source any time now... Preferably before that happy couple reaches us." Satoshi wearily points toward the remaining two homunculi house-bounding toward them.
Kasyr can -see- the pool at this rate, which is a definite upside. A definite downside, is that the duo that's been pursuing them is all but on top of them at this point. "...This is really putting a damper on the whole surprising training session thing." Which is about the point the Kensai abruptly comes to a skidding halt, if only so he can sling Vesper over his shoulder, pivot in place, and then offer a beckoning motion to the pair. It's both a challenge and an opportunity for the pair, the Revenant partially relying on the fact that his lack of movement and relative proximity will make him a far more appealing target to the pair. And, really, he's right, given that they both move to engage him; one dropping down onto the streets to charge full on towards the Revenant, whilst the other one engages in a much less elegant full body drop, the likes of which is accelerated by virtue of a powerful flap of it's wings. Without wasting a moment, the Kensai hurls himself forward into a roll, narrowly putting himself clear of the Homunculus' body slam, whilst also serving to close the distance between himself and the one still in the process of charging him. Even as it's body begins to hunch down, it's arms outstretched to catch him, the Kensai's already in the process of pushing his non sword wielding hand into the ground- pushing himself out of the roll in an effort to propell himself over the creature. It's a fluid motion, one that sends him arcing over the creatures back, even as he finally begins to unsling Vesper once more- but it's a motion that goes ultimately unfulfilled, if only due to one important factor. The revenant's scarf, ever-flowing as ever, promptly finds itself -grasped- by the creature from mid air, the brutish Homunculus once more displaying it's capacity for celerity. What starts as an attempt at slamming Vesper into the creatures back promptly turns into a stubborn effort to keep it within his grasp once the Revenant's momentum comes not only to an abrupt stop, but is promptly redirected into the ground. Which is to say, The homunculus promptly uses Kasyr's scarf to smash him off every available surface. Satoshi, for her part, is pretty much smooth sailing. As long as she took this time to close the distance with the pool- given that those formerly quiet footsteps upon the roof are no longer the subtle patter from before, but now a franatic series of taps- only ponctuated by the sound of shingles breaking as something leaps off the building rather forcefully.
Satoshi falters in her progress to look back anxiously at Kasyr being yanked around, only to find the formerly body-slamming homunculus now charging at her. Unable to afford any more worries to her husband's predicament, Satoshi goes scrambling toward the pond, not even daring to glance over her shoulder at the approaching gorilla-beast as she begins whispering. As the pool draws closer--and so too her pursuer--the magus' voice rises from a hurried whisper to a string of lyrical commands. When the pond's edge is reached, Satoshi doesn't stop, running straight into the pool, where the water level rises to chest high and considerably slows her progress. Reaching the other side, Satoshi stops, clinging to the edge with her claws. The homunculus halts at the pool's edge, as if momentarily baffled by the expanse of water between itself and its quarry. Or it's just taking a moment to calculate the distance before it realizes its arms are more than long enough to strike Satoshi despite the pond's width. As such, it winds an arm back and aims it at the magus, Satoshi doing nothing more than staring wide-eyed at the punch heading her way. The sound that follows is that of thick flesh colliding with solid ice, the homunculus' arm half extended and locked in place where its fist has been captured by the open palm of Buster. Satoshi's golem has a similar size and build to the homunculus, vaguely gorillian in design and thus a hulking mass of living ice born from the pond's crystal waters, a fair rival as far as opponents go. The magus scowls at her golem, looking almost peeved. "Took you long enough, he almost flattened me." Buster dutifully ignores the scolding, his directive having been to handle the homunculus, and thus that's precisely what he'll do. Glacial hand closes over the captured fist, crushing it in the force of his grip, while Buster's other hand shoots forward to take hold of the homunculus' neck. With a a grinding heave, the golem lifts his target overhead and launches it forward with a mighty throw--a throw with a reasonable bit of aim, considering the homunculus is now careening for its counterpart. Even as the homunculus is sent airborne, Buster is beginning to climb out of the pond and pursue it with his heavy, elephantine tread.
Kasyr 's not looking all that happy, though it's somewhat understandable given that the Revenant dealing with the painful indignity of being bashed off the ground repeatedly, at least until before he's finally slammed onto his back. Not because the Homunculus is tired or anything of the sort, but more because it's in the process of winding back it's fist to strike him in the face. It's about that moment that the Kensai proceeds to use it's sheer proximity against it- a single surge of electrical energy abruptly pouring off of his body, if only to abruptly arc into the homunculus' form, slamming viciously into the creatures chest. The reaction's instantaneous, a large scorch mark searing itself into it's chest, as the electrical energy effectively superheats it's flesh. Unforunately, the revenant couldn't exactly predict the part that happens thereafter. Instead of convulsing, as might be normal when a large amount of electrical energy enters the body, it -accelerates-. Kasyr's essentially stumbled upon one of the manners in which the creature can refuel itself, the Homunculus effectively having become supercharged by the raw electricity that had been pushed into its form. Which is why the improvised projectile Satoshi had thrown never hits its mark. Instead, Kasyr finds his head smashed once against and -into- the pavement, before the thing promptly hurls him straight up into the air and follows after him, bolting after him in a manner that is uncannily similar to the manner the Kensai can move when lightning charged. On the bright side, if Satoshi actually does follow that little display, she might at least catch wind of the complication to her situation. Which is to say, the gleaming spear hurtling down towards her head, or the slender winged shape which circles above her head.
Satoshi's golem doesn't have the mental capacity to be disappointed that his homunculus-projectile missed its mark. Buster is, after all, a purely dutiful construct, built to unwaveringly follow the commands he's been given. Considering his command is to remove the homunculi from the picture, the golem focuses entirely on that: by means of dragging his thrown opponent back onto its feet, delivering a stone-shattering headbutt to its face for stunning purposes, and then proceeding to take hold of each shoulder. Icy fingers dig into the flesh at each shoulder joint. Buster's considerable strength is ample enough that tearing the homunculus' arms from their sockets requires little effort, and that strength is made all the more apparent when each limb is sent rocketing skyward at the other gorilla-impersonator--the homunculus' severed head is only a second behind these projectiles. Yet the homunculus in Buster's grip is far from dead despite its lack of arms and head, prompting the golem to pause a moment as he attempts to sort out how to see his directive through. While Buster has been pulling apart his target, Satoshi had been watching Kasyr, which does indeed grant her the chance to spot the spear headed her way. Submerged in the pond as she is, the magus resorts to dropping fully below the water seconds after she issues an arcane command. The words trigger a reaction from the remaining waters of the pond, causing them to flood upwards and freeze solid over Satoshi, so that the spear skitters viciously off the thick icy barrier. Sensing his creator's peril, Buster turns then, neckless head slowly moving to look from Satoshi to the circling creature above. No delay follows once the golem makes the connection, his grip tightening on the torn remnants of his homunculus, only to throw it too, on a careening path for the slender entity in the sky.
Kasyr had only been sailing in the air for a few moments before the shoulder of the Homunculus had collided into his chest with enough force to crack his ribs, a wad of blood forcing it's way out of his throat as he's sent careening away from the brutish creature again. For a moment, it almost seems like the creatures on the verge of slamming into him again- 'blessed' as it is with that literal lightning speed, and yet, just as swiftly as it had started, it begins to burn out. Which is to say, it's momentum begins to abruptly cut out, followed shortly thereafter by gravitys newfound interest in the homunculus. The bulky creature's immediate response is to flap it's wings, futilely trying to avoid it's descent, even as it's hands stretch out to grasp at the Kensai. Kasyr, for his part, just let's out a long exhale of breath, relishing the manner in which his upwards ascent's finally beginning to come to an end. It's at about that point that the revenant once more puts his particular brand of swordsmanship to use- an all too murderous and blood spattered grin forming just moments before the portion of bleeding skin on his shoulder begins to expand, a trail of sparks wafting off the flesh as it's consumed. Not a moment thereafter, the revenant begins to descend- though it's far from the helpless descent of the Homunculi. Rather, the Revenant crashes down like a bolt of lightning, a blur of black and gold, as Vesper's sent careening into and through the brutish creatures skull with more than enough force to -pulverise- it, before the black blade ends up lodged within the creatures body. Even as the excess electrical energy begins to cascade off of Vesper and into the creatures body it's far too late, the Revenant dragging them both down towards the ground with such speed, that the Homunculus impacts into the limbs of it's dismembered brethren. And then it's slamming into the ground, it's body pulping apart with such force that gray flesh and golden bodily fluids are spattering in every direction from the Kensai. Kasyr is not the only thing descending from the sky, either- for mere moments after buster's hurled the dismembered carcass of the homunculus skywards, that winged shadow begins to descend. With every passing moment, it begins to gain more definition, the sleekness of it's form soon revealed to be glimmering metal, coated a form so lithe it might even seem fragile. And yet still potent, for even though it lacks a weapon, it still chooses to charge into the oncoming mound of flesh, drawing up a shield clutched tightly within it's left gauntlet. It's a feint, really, as moments before it would impact- one of it's wings would promptly pull inwards, sending it into a chaotic spiral that draws it away from the projectile, if only for the unknown avian to resume his collision course. It's goal is simple enough, to make an erratic descent towards it's weapon, if only so that it could graspit's weapon- in an effort to drive it through Satoshi's barrier.
Satoshi's barrier doesn't hold up to a second strike from the spear once that knightly homunculus regains it. The sound of shattering glass and the splash of water announce the spear's plunge through the shield, and yet when the weapon is brought back up, there is no sign of blood on its tip. Or any sign of Satoshi, for that matter. She is quite simply not beneath the barrier, a fact that has the Knight staring down into the broken ice with visible confusion. Right up until a cannonball of frost slams into the side of its head, sending it stumbling sideways in a clatter of metal. The source of the projectile is easy enough to find, considering they're waving in open insolence: Buster, with Satoshi perched regally atop his shoulder. In the time it had taken the Knight to dodge the thrown homunculus and collect its weapon, Satoshi had evoked her Snowstepping ability, transporting herself from the icy waters to the glacial back of her golem, and she had used the time following to forge that frigid cannonball for Buster to hurl at their new opponent. Amber flecks blaze with a predatory delight as Satoshi stares at the sleeker homunculus, its yellow eyes matching her gaze for gaze in a momentary stand-off. For the time being, Satoshi doesn't move to strike first, content to wait and watch, one hand resting on the hilt of Ko'tar. Like his master, Buster too waits.
Kasyr nearly lost his sword with that particular bit of Antics, Vesper having sunk into the ground nearly to it's hilt. It's not exactly difficult to retrieve it, just more akward, if anything- especially given that there's an armless and headless torso flopping like a fish off to the side, and alot of quivering Homunculus goo near him. The sole remaining homunculus doesn't seem particularily phased by this development, swiping the spear off to the side before it levels it's shield in front of itself and charges once more. A flap of it's wings brings it close to the Magus and Golem, if only so that it can promptly fold both it's wings in- briefly touching down upon a portion of the icy barrier that Satoshi had created, albeit closer to the edge of the pool, where it was more likely to be intact. The maneuvers meant to at once bring it in closer, and -below- any attacks poised for it's face, by which point it hops forward and to the side- it's spear thrust up towards the armpit of the golem, an altogether foreceful flap of it's wings used in an attempt to drive it in further, to see if it can either get the point of it's lancer into Satoshi, or at least severely damage the mobility of the construct. And then, once more, it's darting back.
Satoshi and Buster do not move when the Knight darts forward. Not out of a lack of reaction time--the kit has -Kasyr- as a husband, she knows how to read movement and move quickly--but simply to observe, to calculate, and finally to react when the spear strikes. Buster gives a jerk when the weapon hits home, the spear's point chipping into the ice before it sticks fast halfway to its goal. The golem is quite simply too thickly built for the spear to pierce through him entirely, which allows him to reach up with his uninhibited hand then and grab hold of the spear's shaft over the Knight's own hand. Leaving Buster to the task of holding the weapon and hand in place, Satoshi swiftly slips off her golem's shoulders in something of a somersault, all liquid grace and determination. Small hands plant themselves on either side of the Knight's head as Satoshi uses its shoulders as a springboard to vault herself over it, and land in a crouch behind. Slim built as she is, the magus can't rely on raw strength to body-check the Knight now, instead dropping lower into her crouch before lunging forward to bring the flat of her shoulders into the back of the homunculus' knees. The entire goal of the rapid series of maneuvers is to cause the homunculus' legs to buckle enough that it stumbles forward, and directly into the waiting arms of Buster as the golem's immense chest cracks open like a great, frozen maw intent upon swallowing the Knight whole. Satoshi sees no reason to waste further spells to bind this homunculus too, when Buster himself can serve as an unrelenting prison.
Kasyr 's sword is out of the ground, and the Kensai on his way at about the time the Knight begins to tilt forward towards the golem- a look altogether remniscent of -surprise- crossing it's features. There's something altogether peculiar about this particular Homunculus, something that becomes more than readily apart as it -speaks-, a few lilting words issuing forth from it's mouth- a hastily spoken incantation. The reactions altogether violent, the spear within buster suddenly -expanding- as a shell of stone forms around the weapon, to both force the creatures hand open, and to further aggravate the 'wound' in the golem. That rocky shell releases from the lance a moment thereafter, allowing it to slide free, even as the Knight continues to fall. That said, the Homunculus is no longer falling -towards- buster, as the ground beneath his feet has collapsed (having apparently been the source of stone the knight had borrowed for it's spell), instead falling backwards. The knight doesn't even really make any effort to correct this, as it seems quite intent to simply land on Satoshi, given her proximity behind him. Well, that, and to begin uttering forth yet more lilting words- the likes of which have yet to bear any fruit.
Satoshi hears the incantation as much as she feels it, mana-sensitive whiskers going rigid the instant the words hit air. It can use magic? She doesn't have time to decipher what exactly the spell is, not while she's still trying to grasp that it's -casting one at all-, although the depleting earth beneath her feet is clue enough what this strange homunculus is capable of. Not waiting to see where the earth has gone, Satoshi instead continues her original momentum and pushes further forward into the Knight's legs. Even as it begins to teeter backwards, the magus is using the dip in the earth to her advantage and rolling in the opposite direction, to land at the feet of her golem. Buster, not being built to feel pain, seems to only regard the gaping hole beneath his arm with a blank expression, this same expression turned to gaze down at his creator as she grasps his foot. Hurriedly the magus brings her focus to bear, to shut out her surroundings for a single moment and to seek out the notes of Snowsong that eternally whisper to her. Finding the notes, Satoshi reaches out to them with all the threads of her essence, once more putting into effect her Snowstep, so that in one second she's holding onto Buster and the next she's perched upon the icy layer of the pond, amid a flurry of snowdust. "Buster, sit!" The command is given in Common, Satoshi foregoing any of the arcane tongues for the sake of not having to think, mind still scattered from the snowy teleport. The golem obeys, no matter which language its master speaks in, and without delay the glacial construct drops in a heap atop the Knight. Satoshi might not know exactly what the Knight is attempting to cast, but at least she's trying to put her golem between it and herself just in case.
Kasyr can't help but grin as the Knights forced to take the only action feasibly available to it, which is to say- to lift it's shield in front of itself the very moment before it finds itself pinned beneath a heaping helping of ice. The kensai, for his part, finds this to be an opportunity to good to pass up, and so he quickly bounds up atop Buster's form, before he takes one more step forward- to slide down his back and bring his sword hurtling down towards the fallen Homunculus' neck. Which is about the point his ears' twitch, the sound of continued casting ringing -far- too clearly in his ears. It's only then that the Revenant becomes aware of the fact that the Knight had relinquished his spear, and the manner in which his non shield bearing arm was now sweeping up. The revenant's only -just- able to swerve his body to the side, neatly avoiding the blinding beam of concentrated light as it erupts from the knights fingertip, starting at Busters base, and promptly carving a line straight up through the glacial construct- effectively carving it right down the middle. ...It also carves off a good chunk of Kasyr's trenchcoat that had billowed out when he swerved- having apparently few qualms with shredding through Preklek metal, or mithril. Really, it's enough that the Kensai's sort of counting his blessings that the Knight's still pinned- at least until a secondary string of words issues forth from it's mouth, that line of light issuing forth from it's finger promptly ceasing- replaced now by a dull glow carried within the palm of it's hand.
Satoshi watches it all through narrowed eyes. Her mind at work, measuring and calculating, determining what this abnormal homunculus has in its arsenal. While Satoshi remains where she is, crouched and observing, Buster's bisected form gives a shudder, his edges rapidly melting after the brief contact with the beam of light. It's with an agonizingly slowness that the golem topples over on either side of the Knight as the spells that hold his form in place dissolve, leaving behind pools of water, a few errant shards of ice, and a fish that had been unfortunate enough to become part of the construct's body. The golem is no more, a fact that causes a frown to cross Satoshi's features. She stands suddenly, calling out in a taunting voice, "Oi! Over here, feathers-for-brains! Let's see you do that pretty little light show again, huh? Maybe this time you'll be quick enough to hit me~." Feet firmly planted in the pond's ice, Satoshi looks like she has no intentions of trying to dodge, her expression a mocking smirk and her hands on her hips an insolent challenge. Every inch of the kit seems to say, 'Just try and hit me.'
Kasyr watches as the Knight begins to push itself back up to it's feet, with it's wings spreading out the moment they're unpinned so as to further facilitate the maneuver- whilst simuntaneously gaining him a safe distance from Satoshi and Kasyr, and enabling him to keep an eye on both of them. Kasyr, for his part, just readies himself to move- more than aware of the smouldering smell his trenchcoat is currently giving off. Well, that, and casually moving the flat of his sword beneath the more-than-likely dead fish, if only to flick it back into the pool. More-or-less, the Kensai's just waiting to see if round 2 of the super cutting beam of light returns. It doesn't come quite yet, however, the Knight clenching it's fist around the luminescent glow within it's palm, one final word serving to shape it into the guise of a slender beam of light- almost akin to the blade of a rapier. And then it's wings sweep out once more, it's body hurtling towards Satoshi, the rapier poised to pierce center mass should she not move. Kasyr, for his part, doesn't just idly watch, leaping after the knight, Vesper hurtling up to carve through it's lower torso. The homunculus is quick, however, it's body twisting in mid-air to properly face Kasyr, so that it can partially slip away from the blow, the swift interposition of it's shield serving to aid in deflecting the swift assault. And certainly, whilst Satoshi won't be faced with the full on charge that was originally intended- she'll still have to contend with the luminescent blade being thrust at her from above said shield in a rapid fire series of Jabs, as all the Knight needed to do was flare out it's wings, to bring itself to a skidding halt alongside Satoshi.
Satoshi looks almost disappointed when the Knight ignores her words in favor of charging at her. It's quicker than she had originally given it credit for, a fact that has the magus' magic moving at a frantic pace to pull the chill from the ice she stands upon. The ice melts almost instantly, although not quite fast enough, for the Knight is beside Satoshi a split-second before she begins to drop into the pool. As she falls, she bites back a cry as two of this swift-fire jabs hit home. For the most part, her coat catches the rapier's strike, burning away the fabric and exposing a peculiar flash of silver beneath that sparks where the light touches it. But what isn't caught by Satoshi's coat manages to carve twin furrows out of her right arm, with the wounds cauterized instantly but made no less painful for the fact. A third strike connects as well, and while it doesn't hit where it causes physical pain... Satoshi does not respond well at seeing a thick lock of her hair sheered off, the edges smouldering. Although submerged in the pond, the magus bares her teeth in a snarl while gesturing viciously with uninjured arm in a upwards sweeping motion. In answer to her gestures, the pond's water roils, hisses, and abruptly becomes a geyser, the erupting torrent fixed directly beneath the Knight and set to carry him into the sky once it makes violent contact. Satoshi isn't far behind it, dragging herself one-armed from the pond the moment she breaks the water's surface, and scrambling to find firm ground to stand upon. She has no doubt, hit or miss with the geyser, that the Knight will be back, and Satoshi intends to be ready.
Kasyr winces, if only because there's the potential for something -really- dramatic right now, and he -can't- do it, because it would be counter-productive. Instead, the revenant simply watches as the knight's blasted skywards, watching as the knight first flails, then swipes at the water with it's saber, and then finally recovers, it's wings flapping furiously. At which point Kasyr draws back his left arm, runs a current that particular sleeve of his coat with the express purpose of aiding in the dislodgement of one of the many scalpels within it, and then promptly flicks that hand forward, a secondary current firing off simultaneously, to promptly imbue the Mithril scalpel he's hurling wth not only his unnatural strength- but the effective kinetic force of a bolt of lightning. It's enough that it abruptly sends the Knight lurching, a fist sized hole having been punched through one of it's wings. And then two more promptly exploding out of it's other wing whilst it moves to recover itself- the Kensai having apparently decided not to give it any respite. With it's capacity for flight disabled, it's no surprise that the Knight comes crashing down to the ground- landing harshly upon it's knees. What likely -is- a surprise, is that even the ambient electrical energy on those scalpels is something that it's able to draw upon to replenish itself, something which provokes it to begin speaking once more, even as it draws itself up to it's feet- and as Kasyr charges in towards it, Vesper clutched tightly within his hands.
Satoshi's ears twist forward as the Knight begins to speak. She's heard those words already, she knows what's to follow. But the Knight has two targets to choose from... which leaves Satoshi only one option, to make -herself- the more tempting target. She doesn't know this creature personally, and who would want to, but Satoshi has seen it react with more emotion than a simple construct would. There's personality within that homunculus, and if it's anything like its ancient creators, it's immensely full of itself. In answer to this thought, the magus puts her fingers to her lips and delivers a shrill, ear-piercing whistle like one would do to catch a dog's attention. She picks these whistles notes precisely for their demeaning quality. "Crow's Feet~, are you planning to miss me again with that~?" A wide smirk crosses Satoshi's face, every inch an expression of mockery. "I know you feather types are flighty as sin, but I had thought you'd have at least semi-decent aim with that pretty little light thing~. I mean, honestly, even up close, you still only managed to nip a bit of hair, " oh how it hurts for Satoshi to play off the marring of her hair as a minor detail, "and put a few little tears in my coat. No wonder your Turkey God abandoned you lot~! He should have sunk this city before he left, though."
Kasyr 's at about arms reach with the Knight when Satoshi's final taunt rings through the air, and it's head slowly tilts towards Satoshi. Which, really, is about all the opening Kasyr could ask for, as he promptly sends Vesper crashing up towards the Homunculus' neck. Only -just- is it able to get the saber up in time, the strike causing it's entire body to lurch backwards- to cause it's words to briefly stop, before it smashes it's shield towards the Revenants chest. Kasyr, for his part, simply drags his sword down- essentially forcing Vesper's blade to take the brunt of the impact which, in tandem with a short hop, is more than enough to get the Revenant clear of the ensuing counter-strike the Knight does with it's blade of condensed light. That said, it doesn't pursue that particular bit of aggression, choosing instead to finish the last few words left to say. Once more that narrow beam of cutting light manifests itself- albeit from a likely unexpected source. Specifically, it's from the Knight's hand which is clutching the shield, the one which is arced back and towards the glacial magus. Something which essentially provides very little indication that the beam is coming for Satoshi until the shield has a minute hole punched through it. The whole, shield splitting half as the Knight jerks it's hand upwards is more just underlining the point that Sh- *hem* just got real again.
Satoshi might as well be a in a western with the way she's standing at the ready, sunglasses in place above a cocky smirk, hands poised above her hips, and fingers wiggling in anticipation. And the clocktower just struck Noon. Truthfully, she hadn't expected the hidden hand of the Knight to serve as the manifestation of the spell, although her whiskers are more than sensitive enough to inform her of the change of location, and she's quick enough to alter her calculations the minor degree they need to be. When the beam of light breaks through the shield's confines, Satoshi is ready, her hands--with the right a split second slower than the left--reaching for the hem of her coat, where it's then grasped and flared outward. In most cases, the gesture would simply be a fashionable one, but Satoshi is a creature who likes to breed fashion and function together. Which is precisely what she did with her coat months ago: the lining of the clothing is as bright as polished silver, and considerably more durable than something so light should be. Dragonhide has a habit of being like that, especially the dragon hide of a certain Mercury. And like that Mercury, Satoshi has employed the closely lying mirrorscales as a highly reflective surface. If these scales naturally stand up to and bounce back the burning light breath of a Mercury dragon, a beam born of lumomancy is a simple matter, which is why Satoshi has given her coat the right twist and flare to catch the approaching beam... and send it blazing back right at its owner. Didn't expect that, didja, birdy?
Kasyr watch's as the Knight's arm is abruptly severed from it's body- it's wrist limply finishing the upwards arc it had been on. The shift in weight is minute, but it's more than enough for the revenant, who quite purposefully moves to slam Vesper into the Knight's weapon- essentially forcing the homunculus to keep it in place lest that grievous weapon slam through the creatures body. That said, whilst that certainly stops Kasyr from just cleaving it apart- it does -very- little to stop him from just punching it in the stomach with enough force to plow through it's armour. And it doesn't really help that the Homunculus' magical reserves are starting to run a bit low, something which is causing it's rapier to glow just a bit dimmer. Then again, it's placement is currently a bit moot, since the Revenant than proceeds to step on the Knight's foot, shove Vesper and it's weapon to the side- and slam his skull into's it's face with enough force to smash it's nose into paste- and send it clattering to it's back the moment he steps off its foot.
Satoshi gives the tails of her coat a firm shake, feeling some of the heat despite the protection of the Mercury scales. Nonetheless, when the kit looks up, it's with a pleased expression. Sure, she had hoped to catch the Knight square in the chest with that beam, but her last minute adjustment in response to his sneaky delivery is to blame for being off target. And now Kasyr has the creature flat on its back. As with the other homunculi before, Satoshi uses this chance to put her spellwork to use. Her magic's attention, when called to life amid a string of notes, focuses on where the Knight's armor is still sodden from the geyser it was struck with. The waters spread out beneath the armor, seeking to enveloping the homunculus in a liquid blanket meant to bind its limbs--and most importantly, gag its mouth, to discourage further spells. Satoshi doesn't know how long the water shackles will hold, so the moment the spell is completed she flicks her gaze to Kasyr and lifts a brow. "I think it's been a good picnic, don't you? Home sounds nice about now."
Kasyr gives Satoshi a broad grin, before he simply adjusts the goggles from his eyes and back up to his head, "I more than agree, mon amour." Which is about the point the revenant strides over towards her position and promptly pokes a kiss to her temple. That said, whilst the revenant's not currently engaged in any active fighting- he does keep an eye on the frozen knight, just in case it has any more surprises left. On that front, Kasyr's gonna end up a bit underwhelmed, since while the Avian does finally murmur something else- it's just a series of racist profanities spoken in what can only be assumed to be Ancient Avian. Which is to say, wholly indecipherable. In any case, The Kensai just busies himself with removing his coat, if only so he can begin striding over towards the edge of the city, "...So, wanna race to the bottom?" That's mostly a joke.
Satoshi pauses long enough to listen to a portion of the swearing, her natural curiosity encouraging her to try and decipher some of the forgotten language. She could swear she caught what might have been the ancient root of the word 'mongrel', and it's almost enough to make her go back and resume the fight. But that would be pointless. Instead, Satoshi whispers a suggestion to the remaining waters of the pond, enticing them to rise and and flood over the Knight in a battering wave that carries his trapped form further down the road. At this point, Satoshi plucks off those abducted sunglasses, wipes off the drops marring their orange lenses, and while returning them to her face, remarks in mild tones, "Well, I guess you could say he's all washed up." Yeeeah, I went there. Anyway~, with that remark delivered, the magus rushes after Kasyr and leaps at him, in an attempt to both tackle him and cling onto his back all in the same move. "On y va~!"
Kasyr doesn't even try to move out of the way of Satoshi's tackle, the only adjustment he does make being a slight shift so that he can scoop her into his arms- right before he let's the momentum of her enthusiastic leap tip him right over the edge, "Allons-y~"