tushanshu_logs | I was Looking for a Breath of Life

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I was Looking for a Breath of Life

Characters: Valdis and Gene to start, others to follow
Date: March 26th
Location: The farmlands outside the city
Situation: Valdis' patience is at its limits, she hasn't slept in days, the nightmares are becoming worse and her thoughts are twisting into shadows.
Warnings/Rating: There will be blood...

The large hound ran across the back of the turtle at full speed, testing her agility, trying to keep her mind off the reoccurring nightmares and the evolution of her strange illness. She slowed as she approached the farmlands, sitting on the edge of a field to watch as people worked. Familiar and unfamiliar scents filled the air, but she ignored them all, losing herself in her thoughts. She was tired and not from running, it felt deeper than that and if her suspicions were correct, then it was also deeply disturbing. To say she was frustrated would be an understatement, she felt more on edge, agitated and anxious. She had a terrible feeling that it wouldn't take much to set her off and worst of all, she felt detached from herself, her normally sharp senses muted and dull.

She had been trying to pretend that nothing was wrong, it was easier than facing the truth. Lying to herself and others was so much simpler. Denial kept her going, acceptance would only cause more pain. Her head began to hurt and her vision darkened, the feelings of detachment intensified as her irises shifted color. She suddenly felt energized again, craving a release, she simply needed a reason.

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Gene had been working on the farm, helping with the irrigation and the overflow from all of the icemelt, and he'd finally sent away the armor for the day, his muscles aching. The armor didn't weigh much to him - about the same as some heavy clothes - but even heavy clothes would wear you down after a while, and Gene was feeling pretty beat after the day's physical activity. It didn't help that he'd been running himself ragged working on the recently-completed demolition of the palace and the field work. He wanted to show a Foreigner presence in Keeliai and the surrounding areas, to let the kedan remember how integral and important the Foreigners could be.

A noise attracted his attention, and he set his water skin aside. How unusual. There seemed to be an enormous black hound running rampant.

"Valdis?"

Her head snapped around at the sound of her name, and her lips curled back to show off her teeth as she pranced over, the dark energy corrupting any sense of self she might have retained. Her scarlet irises glowed softly as she moved through the shadows, her head held high.

Gene. She replied, stopping in front of him, You ready to tell me how you fixed Vergil?

Edited 2015-03-20 02:14 (UTC)

"...not particularly," he said, a little unnerved by the approach. She cut an intimidating figure with her fangs bared like that. But he refused to allow himself to be cowed.

I am tired of playing this game with you Gene. She growled, her hackles rising. I walked in Vergil's soul and saw the power you faced first hand. I shattered Mundus' magic with my power and spoke to Vergil while he was imprisoned, yet I did not release him. I had the sense to distrust him.

Her eyes flashed as she looked deeper. A sense of death, darkness and immense power filled her and a draconic shadow flitted about the edges of his soul.

"And I had the honor to fulfill the agreement I'd made with Dante," he snapped at her, tired and annoyed. "I asked if Nelo wanted me to honor that deal, when Dante was gone. He said yes. How was I to know that Vergil would turn on you and try and kill you? I've told you this before. I don't know what you want from me."

I want to know how you did it, She snarled, My power was not enough to release him even if I had wanted to. What power do you own that enables you to do such things? I have seen the armor, its darkness fills your soul and then there is something else...something inhuman.

Gene's eyes went cold, flinty.

"That secret is not yours to take." He'd done a pretty good job keeping the source of his power - and the reasons for it - under wraps. And he especially didn't like that she was poking around his aura or whatever it was and seeing something monstrous in there, something Makluan. It reminded him too much of the creature he'd become in the Dreaming, before Tony had soothed it away.

She shook her head, fighting back the urge to tear out his throat, concerned that she even had the urge to do such a thing. But her own instincts were fighting her and her eyes shifted to a new color as her vision darkened. Her fury rose and the killer instinct, the thirst for blood overrode all her senses, the dark energy rising as the Void clashed with the light magic around her soul.

She flinched and took a step back, shaking her head again, her senses suddenly dying. She coughed, choking on the air she was trying to breathe. Her body began to shake and her eyes shifted between green and red. She released a low whimper, followed by a snarl and foam began to drip from her mouth.

Gene took a step back, ready to armor up if she proved a threat, but Valdis seemed to be wavering, fighting with herself, her eyes flickering like they had before near the palace. It hadn't been Dust contamination there, and it was too far out to be so out here, so what was it? What was making her behave so erratically?

"Valdis," he said, trying to catch her attention. "Are you all right?" She didn't look all right. That foam did not look healthy.

No, she wasn't alright and now she knew exactly what had been wrong all this time and now it was too late to admit it. Too late to do anything at all. She stumbled forward, bumping her nose on the ground as she felt the Void twist inside, moving violently against the weakening barrier. She vomited blood, The convulsions painfully sapping all her strength.

Then the shaking stopped and her head rose, her eyes a bright, yet empty, scarlet. She cackled, blood still dripping from her mouth and lashed out with a front paw, aiming to slash it across his chest and knock him down, perhaps shatter a few ribs.

When Valdis pressed her nose to the ground and disgorged something that looked a lot like blood, Gene was preparing go to get help for her.

Everything else happened too quickly for his tired body to react. He prided himself on his quick reflexes and quicker wits, but both had been numbed and dulled by a lack of sleep and a long day's labor, and by the time he was ready to pull up the armor, it was too late anyway. She was in under his guard. Unarmored, he could barely twist away from her - but not quickly enough to avoid injury.

Her claws raked across his chest, slashing him in a way eerily reminiscent of the way Malicant's sword had cut him in the Dreaming, drawing blood from shoulder to hip across his body. The force she struck with was enough to crack a few ribs, and he stumbled backwards, falling over, the shock and the pain numbing his mind. The wound wasn't as deep as the one Malicant had given him, but it was still long and painful, and he groaned from the ground, trying to collect his wits enough to do something, anything. But all he could think, in a mocking, maddening loop, was bad dog, bad dog, bad dog!

The hound lifted her head and released a long hunting cry which dropped into a cackle as she dropped her head. She didn't give him any more time to react, grabbing hold of his lower leg with her teeth and dragging him backward, careful to not bite down all the way lest she sever the leg from his body.

The baying cry of the hellhound struck fear into Gene's heart, as it was intended to do. But her clamping her jaw down on his leg had the opposite effect. The sudden spike of new pain broke through the haze of the shock, and galvanized him into action. With a wild yell, he focused on the red ring, throwing a stream of fire towards her, trying to get her to release him.

Edited 2015-03-20 11:31 (UTC)

She ignored the flames, allowing them to wash harmlessly over her thick fur. Amused by the human's feeble attempts at self defense, the hound cackled again before shaking her head, ravaging the flesh she held between her jaws, allowing the metallic tang of blood to fill her mouth.

Gene screamed in pain when she shook her head, feeling the bone break. His nerves felt like they were on fire, and he could taste blood in his mouth. Armoring up wouldn't help him now; she was clamped too tightly around him, and it wouldn't form up with such little clearance.

If fire didn't work, then maybe acid would. In desperation, he summoned a cloud of acid from the orange ring, directing it onto her body. It should eat through anything, given enough time, and at the very least cause extreme discomfort. He only hoped that would buy him enough time to get free.

She shrieked with rage as the acid burned her eyes and face, eating away at the thinner fur and skin. Her healing quickly kicked in, dissipating the acid and repairing the burns, but renewed fury filled the hound and she released his leg, lunging instead for his throat.

Well.

Shit.

At least, he thought in the weird way that time seemed to slow in a crisis, that'll kill me quickly. He gritted his teeth, waiting for the killing strike, but stubbornly kept his eyes open. A true Khan had to see his end coming for him, and face it, unafraid.

Something shifted slightly behind her eyes and her jaws closed down on his shoulder instead of his throat. Her teeth shredded through the skin and muscle, grinding down on the bone but stopping short of breaking it.

Another iron spike of pain rocketed through him, and he cried out again, convulsing, trying to make himself a smaller target. She seemed determined to kill him by inches - the death of a thousand cuts. Or bites, as it so happened.

Someone had to have heard his anguished cries by now. Or perhaps they were still too far out from the main work area for anyone to notice this prolonged attack.

Gene's cries were not what drew Wan's attention initially. It was was Valdis' baying howl that had him rush to the foreigner Overseer to let him know he had to leave. And it was that short span of time between his hurried apology and his hopping on a cloud in an attempt to find her that gave Valdis all the time she needed to bring Gene down. In fact, Wan barely registered Gene's cries of pain as he landed hard on the ground next to the two of them, eyes wide in shock at the sight.

"Valdis! Stop!"

The hound released Gene's shoulder and raised her head to look at Wan. Her burning scarlet eyes were cold and empty, lacking any recognition. She snarled, slowly stepping toward Wan and away from Gene.

A cat does not take orders from a mouse, She hissed.

A cat? Funny, I thought you were a dog, Gene thought, half-delirious with pain. It took him a moment to realize her razor teeth were no longer clamped down on his shoulder and that she'd begun to move away. Chasing another predator away from her meal? Wan didn't even register on his radar. All that existed to him was Valdis and pain.

He could barely move - his leg was broken, his shoulder so much useless meat, his torso cut to bloody ribbons. There had to be something he could do to fix this. But as he frantically tried to think of the powers of the rings to help him, he came up empty. The one he needed to save himself was the one he didn't have, the one he'd entrusted to Tony and dared not ask for.

He groaned and tried to scoot away as much as he could, knowing that he was not moving very quickly and leaving a bloody trail. He couldn't even focus enough to summon the armor, let alone teleport to safety.

Oh no, he thought, rather calmly. I think I'm dying.

Edited 2015-03-21 14:52 (UTC)

No recognition.

Valdis didn't recognize him.

Wan straightened, his eyes lighting up as one hand lashed out to the side to command the earth to cover hold Gene in place and cover him with a protective layer of stone. A hole just above his head would remain to allow light and air once it was done.

"Valdis. Stop," this time when he spoke, it was a command - gentle, but a command none the less - backed by the light of Raava. Their voices intertwined and echoing each other. He had promised that if she raged out of control he would use their connection to bring her peace. And he fully intended to, but he needed to protect Gene, too - who was thankfully still alive. And to do that, he needed a little more than a few seconds for the earth to move properly. He hoped her ire at him interrupting and commanding her would keep her attention that long.

Edited 2015-03-21 16:31 (UTC)

At the word 'dog", Valdis spun around, tearing through the rising barrier and lashing out with her claws, trying to reach Gene. Wan's command fell on deaf ears, all she felt was anger at the insult and at the one who dared to hide her prey from her.

Gene hadn't been aware that Valdis could hear surface thoughts when she was in this feral state, so her sudden attack took him totally off-guard. He barely noticed the barrier of earth rising around him, and his vision went a dull red when her claws struck home, tearing through the skin and muscle on his arm, the force fracturing his wrist. A shout of pain tore itself from his throat, the exclamation hoarse and weak. She was just toying with him now.

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I was Looking for a Breath of Life

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CW: Blood

CW: LOTS of blood

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