exsiliumlogs | [closed] a thousand years forever and a day

Entry tags:

[closed] a thousand years forever and a day

Date & Time: today
Location: THE OUTLANDS
Characters: khisanth and dick
Summary: a robin meets a dragon
Warnings: khisanth

[ It’s the body language that gets his attention. She’s moving – whoever she is – with the kind of purpose that says she knows something. Which maybe wouldn’t have been all that special back in the hold. Or even out in the main part of the city. Where everybody goes when they have money to burn or people to see.

This lady though, she’s headed somewhere else. Somewhere out there, past that invisible threshold of nothing that’s supposedly so unworthy of a real workup. All the real exploring he hasn’t been doing while he’s been tied up in missions and patrols and bodyswaps. He can’t not fall in behind her, keeping inside the shadow of the debris as she moves ahead. He’s grinning when he slides up underneath a fallen chunk of metal, squeezing the batbinoculars to tighten the range just enough that he can almost reach out and touch her trajectory. ]

Gotcha.

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[ They're familiar, those words. So familiar they might as well be his. And that sets his teeth on edge. ] I don't want to hurt you...

[ He's listening to that gravel crunch, ear pressed to the ground. Slipping a batarang instead of the flare out and into his palm. ]

But I'm giving you to the count of three to turn the lights back on. Then things are going downhill from here on out.

Al probably would have begun to fight by now.

[ The steps stop, and she falls silent. The only sound through the darkness is the quiet rustle of clothing. ]

[ She's goading him. She's goading him and he knows she's goading him but right now that hard, bitter flash of anger is too sharp to get around and he doesn't care. ] That does it.

[ The batarang flies, aimed not directly at the sound, but close enough that he thinks it might brush past her. Anything to break her concentration on... whatever this is. ]

I don't have to prove anything.

[ It would have gone harmlessly past, if her body hadn't suddenly grown a good deal larger. Instead of the skitter of batarang over stone, there's only a quiet thud as it strikes a shoulder. Khisanth at least manages not to growl, only winces. It's painful, but can be ignored.

Her new eyes, even with her true nature guiding them, don't see very well in the darkness. But she can just make him out, and she starts forward. The footsteps—four of them, now—are huge, muffled, and occasionally accompanied by the click of claws. ]

[ He hears movement, movement there, and that's his cue to throw himself blindly, flipping once in the air in the opposite direction. Whatever that is, whatever thing she's conjured up somehow to help her win this fight it's big. No advantage to press if he lets it get him cornered. ]

Okay, that's- [ His voice is sounding shrill again and he can't let it get away from him. He has to keep talking, keep throwing the words out into the darkness. ]

You've gotta do better than that...

[ She lumbers after him, moving almost more on smell and hearing than on sight. Her darkness spell is much less amusing when it dampens her so much. So she cuts it. As quickly as the dark had fallen, it dissipates, leaving a large, dark grizzly bear reared up onto its hind legs.

Feeling pleased with herself for what she's sure is a dramatic reveal, she roars. Not nearly as impressive as her dragon's shriek, but it will do. ]

[ He stumbles back, trips and gets his balance back just in time for his eyes to adjust to the light. And to the bear making that sound. The bear who'd been there who knows how long.

...And there's no sign of the woman. She'd gotten him riled up, started a pointless fight she was never going to finish, and left him to fend for himself opposite this thing instead. It's perfect. So perfect he'd be laughing at it for sure if it was happening to somebody else.

Instead he grips the batarang a little tighter and huffs out another breath. Bears 101. They'd only ever had a couple traveling with the circus... ]

Good girl. [ He says the words gently, moving a hand in slow motion down to his belt. ] Nice girl.

[ The roar quiets into something else, a chuffing sound, almost like a chuckle. She even sinks back from her stand, dropping back down to all fours again. ]

Is this how you'll face every fight? [ It's a grumbling bear's voice, nothing like Onyx's, but the words in it are distinct. ] That's a poor battle strategy.

[ Okay. So... a shape shifter who can control light. And maybe fire, if she hadn't been bluffing about the incinerating. One more thing about this situation he'd misjudged.

He needs to end this now, doesn't he? ]

So now you're a bear. [ He keeps his voice steady this time, which by itself is a quiet little victory. She's big and slow and he can use that against her. It's harder on the ground without any way to get on top of her, but...

He tosses a smoke bomb and then leaps ahead as it starts blooming out, aiming a hard kick at where her head is. ]

You're one to talk, you know that?

[ The smoke only dampens her already poor vision, and she shakes her head with an irritated snort — just in time for his kick to catch her snout. Her snort turns into a grumbling of complaint, and it's instinct more than her more typical malicious desire that sends a great, clawed paw swinging out after him. ]

If you'd prefer something more deadly, all you have to do is ask.

See, that's what I mean.

[ He catches the paw in his peripheral and throws himself out of it's path, but he's hesitating again rather than using the opening to go on the offensive. He's not sure what this is anymore; if they're sparring or if it's in her plan - really in her plan to end this when he's dead.

And before he can talk himself out of it: ]

I bet that Al guy would have been calling the shots too. And you'd let him cause you'd think you were getting the better end of the deal. [ he's guessing on that one. ]

[ She's not terribly annoyed to miss; it hadn't been much of an attack. She settles back again, squinting at him. ]

Talk less, and fight more.

[ That's followed by a low word of magic, sounding strange and spidery, and completely unsuited to the bear's throat. But it works nonetheless, and a deep, soupy fog begins to roll in. She waits precisely where she sits, counting on the fog to get thick enough to completely obscure her from him. ]

So that's how you do it. [ Okay, so maybe... maybe this is some kind of a test. He drops back a step as the fog thickens up, brows drawing closer together while he thinks. Listens. He'd heard her moving around before, hadn't he? ]

Okay, now I'm impressed. [ One more cautious, searching step back. ]

The cat's out of the bag. You want to be where I can't see you.

[ As soon as she's content that the fog is thick enough, she calls to mind her qhen training. Clears her thoughts, relaxes, and pictures her true shape. The graceful, arching neck, the pearly claws, the shiny back scales. The change instant, but discrete. Where once was nothing in particular, suddenly looms a heavy, dark shape through the mists. ]

Or maybe I just enjoy the suspense.

[ Her voice has changed again. Now it's a deep, smooth rumble of a baritone, words perfectly formed and unhindered by a simple animal's throat. She waits, still and patient, to see if her toy will come to her. ]

Pulling out all the stops, huh? [ He can see that shape through the mist, that... whatever it is she's changing into. The fear settling in his stomach is real now, a thousand little needle pricks of alarm. It's all a gamble, every piece of this.

But still she's not striking. Like she's waiting for him to...

what? ]

I still got a few of my own. [ No turning back now. He twists in the air, braces against that chunk of metal and gets his feet underneath it. The angle's a little off, just off enough to dislodge it and send it rolling down in her direction. If it misses the mark it should at least buy him a few more seconds. ]

[ It doesn't miss its mark. It crashes noisily into the fog, before being stopped with a screech of bending metal. Khisanth crushes the thing into the rocky ground under her talons, enjoying the sound of it. It's not so small as to be negated entirely, and her foreleg smarts from where it'd crashed into her, but it's still not much of a challenge.

She growls low, amused. ]

Next?

[ Meanwhile, she mentally reviews what spells she have that wouldn't be immediately lethal to a human boy. There aren't many. Maybe she really will just have to spend this entire fight mocking him instead of striking back. ]

You don't quit, do you?

[ His vantage is still pretty high, but not high enough that he can make out the lines of what she is now. The open spaces between her and the fog. It's tricking his eyes, that need to know.

But maybe that's the effect she's after. He'd just handed her a chance - an opportunity to make his life at least a little more difficult and she'd blown right by it. ]

...Why didn't you change over when we started? [ While he hefts one of the few remaining batarangs, loading a capsule in one-handed. One more gamble he might end up regretting. ]

You could've ended this in two seconds.

If I were looking for a challenge, I wouldn't be here.

[ And if she were looking for lunch, she'd definitely be after someone larger. She drops back to all fours again, low to the ground, and slinks nearer to where she can smell him through the fog. Her wings pull close to her body, so the silhouette of them fanned out in the fog won't give her away. ]

What are you going to do in an actual war? Dance around and hope your opponent gets bored enough to leave?

[ It's like a fist to the gut, when it shouldn't be. It shouldn't matter. It doesn't matter one bit, what she thinks. A second too soon and he'll miss his chance. He clenches his teeth and listens hard. ]

I'll stop pulling my punches- [ With a click he's ready. ] -when you give me a reason to pack a real one.

[ He lobs it and dives again, waiting for the burst of sticky foam and blinding light to shift his momentum into the crumbling wall. It won't bury her, but it'll be a blow, if she's not fast enough to move out of the way this time. ]

[ There's something she hadn't been anticipating. The light stings her eyes, and she ducks her head with a hiss, just in time for something sticky and awful to catch her flank. Her hiss deepens into a proper growl, irritated -- which is when the crumbling wall catches up with her.

Her wings snap out and beat at the air to lift her out and away from what has suddenly become far more bother than amusement, and the fog begins to swirl away and dissipate.

Meanwhile, she's changed her mind about not striking back. Through the thinning fog she can pick out the dark of the red and green, and she points one claw toward him from her strained hover. There's a hiss of that magical language, and a bright light streaks out toward him. She's toned the spell down, but if it hits, there won't be any question that he's just been blasted by a spell of burning light. ]

[ That's a crucial few seconds he's just wasted, looking back over his shoulder to make sure he'd done some damage. He's not fast enough, not nearly fast enough to make it up this time. He hears the wings(?) beat and tries anyway, making the retreat as fast as he can but then light explodes all around him, lifting him off his feet with blinding, searing brightness.

He's on the ground before he take another breath, pain lancing up through his chest and back. He tries to roll over, pushing with his hands until he's up on his knees. There's blood running down his arm, gravel rubbed into his torn-up gloves. His head's spinning. It hurts. ]

[ She darts forward, bounding once off of the ground to gain momentum up the hill, and lands directly overtop him. There's a wickedly clawed talon to either side of him, and a great, black body crouched catlike overhead, with her snarling face not three feet above him. ]

What is this? [ A jerk of her head indicates her left side, coated in messily in the sticky foam, stark against otherwise shiny black scales. ] It's disgusting.

Don't you want to know.

[ The retort's missing some venom, while he... has to tilt his head back, to take in the rest of her. Because that sure is a dragon there, so close to him now he could count the scales. Scales.

Whatever it was he'd been expecting, whatever he'd thought was waiting for him there underneath the fog, it was anything but this.

He opens his mouth and then closes it again. ]

...You. You're-

[ She heaves a heavy sigh, disgusted, and settles back onto her haunches. She twists, one forepaw reaching to begin peeling and plucking the stuff off of her side. ]

You'd better come help, if you don't want to end up as lunch.

[ He... hesitates there for an extra second, then makes up the lost time getting his feet back underneath him. He can't take his eyes off her now, not even as he works the kinks out of injured arm. Watching her messing with the goo. It's nasty stuff, alright.

Finally, almost reluctantly: ]

It's a chemical compound. It's supposed to slow you down.

[ He plucks the canteen off his belt, then gingerly takes a step closer. If he was smarter he'd be running in the other direction now, he's pretty sure. ]

You're the one who threw me ten feet. If I didn't have training I could've broken my neck.

[closed] a thousand years forever and a day

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LET ME KNOW IF THIS IS OKAY BB

IT'S PERFECT ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING WOW THAT WAS VAGUE OF ME

OH GOOD go me

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