ADSTRING VS CANDELORO

[stepford_smiles]

Characters: Candeloro vs everyone!
When: During the event.
Where: The SW quadrant/Candeloro's barrier.
Rating: R for violence.
Summary: People fight. People die.

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[stepford_smiles]

THE EDGE OF THE BARRIER

You slip into the barrier near the trees. The air here is thick, oppressive, and reality doesn't seem to enjoy behaving. Your eyes take just a little too long to focus; sound is just a little unnaturally muffled. Children laugh loudly, raucously from the trees. There are several spots atop small, rollicking hills that seem perfect for picnics.

The loneliness is oppressive, almost as thick as the air itself. Fear and anxiety grip your heart with cold, brittle fingers. Invasive thoughts weedle and worm into your mind. You don't deserve the friends you have. You've never deserved them. You're going to lose them -- and they will be better for it.

The further you get to the center of the barrier, the stronger these thoughts become.

[angle_on_it]

A long couple of days would be an understatement, but Sokka knew there wasn't a chance that things would let up. He was tired, he was worried, he was soot-smeared and smoke-lunged and ready to just give up... but he couldn't. There was too much to risk, too much to lose to just stand by and let the horror wash over him.

He unwittingly approached the barrier, but Sokka already felt tired and lonely and anxious. On patrol for more wounded or dead, he didn't stop to contemplate his worries, but he held them on the periphery of his consciousness, wondering over the whereabouts of his friends and family.

Things hadn't felt this bleak since the zombie invasion when they'd lost Zuko. Admittedly, Sokka was already expecting the worst.

[stepford_smiles]

The rain of fire stopped when he passed the threshold into the barrier. The landscape rolled into something peaceful, idyllic, the air almost chokingly thick with magic.

You are here alone.

Two forms standing far away, across the field and bridge and silhouetted by distance, turned to face him.

You will always be alone.

[angle_on_it]

High alert!

Sokka stopped, heavy-lidded eyes narrowing all the more at this sign of obvious trouble. The warrior's hand gripped his club even tighter, but... but the voices weren't lying, were they? He was alone -- more so than ever before, no matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise. At the forge, he worked alone. On patrol, he walked alone. In the last week alone, Sokka has spent more time isolated from his friends and family than he'd managed in a long time

[stepford_smiles]

NEAR THE RAINBOW BRIDGE

This is where NATACHA and COURBEVOIE, the Witch's Minions, patrol. They are strong, fast, soulless and ruthless, and will attack anyone who comes close enough to the bridge or the cottage at the end of it. They will not hesitate to attack, and they aim to kill.

[mere_shopkeeper]

With a quiet click of his geta, Urahara is one of the first to step on the bridge, sharp grey eyes fixed on the two creatures outside the cottage, Benihime in his hand, the other one resting on his hat as he offers the two of them an easy-going grin.

"I don't suppose you'd invite a weary traveler in for afternoon tea, would you~?"

[stepford_smiles]

It is not until they actually step onto the bridge that their attention zeroes in on him. Natacha holds her ground -- it is Courbevoie that lunges after him, impossibly fast, hands curled into dangerous, catlike claws. Propelled by magic, it doesn't make a sound as it leaps.

Since Wintaer said I could ^_~

[feel_nevermore]

Raven is standing a few feet behind Urahara. When she sees the minion launch itself at the shinigami, she raises her arm and shouts her mantra.

"Azarath Metrion... Zinthos!"

A black energy beam immediately shots from her out stretched palm. It aims straight at Courbevoie's chest in an attempt at throwing it off the bridge.

[stepford_smiles]

FIGHTING CANDELORO

And when the Minions are killed, a strangled and shrill cry will issue from the cottage on the platform. The area will grow briefly dark, and runes will glow and burn like fire around the circumference of the barrier:

[bcuzofmiasma]

"Enough."

Cue one of the only people who could ever pose a threat to one of these witches on steroids. Just as the witch flies out, a massive field of miasma would wash over the battlefield like a dense fog, Naraku's voice ringing out. Clad in the armor of Moryomaru's near-impenetrable shell, two glowing, purple eyes piercing the toxic, corrosive mist at the far end.

"I would prefer not to kill one of my only friends in this world, but I will destroy whoever would attempt to use her for their own foolish games."

[stepford_smiles]

Candeloro screams from a mouthless face.

It's a loud, keening sound -- lost and lonely, before it bubbles over into hysterical, inhuman laughter. She twists up and above some of the mist, glowing and jerking, apparently aware of its toxicity. She doesn't seem to register the meaning of the words, however -- or that Naraku is talking at all.

[bcuzofmiasma]

Miasma is only one of Naraku's tricks up his sleeve, but its purpose was merely to serve as a deterrent and smokescreen to obscure the battlefield, just as it often is when he's engaged in battle. Planting himself underneath Moryomaru's shell on the battlefield, countless 'roots' sprung out from underneath Naraku's robes, embedding themselves in the soil beneath his feet. One of the nice things about fire is that it loosened up thick soil, making the tendrils boring into the earth below a very simple task.

The tendrils branched off underneath the ground, forking off in several different directions. Whatever he's doing, it's gonna be big. Naraku's hoping to end this battle very, very quickly.

[stepford_smiles]

AFTER THE FIGHT

And when Candeloro is killed, the magic of the barrier will shudder and fade, leaving Adstring in its place. Bodies will remain behind, though the corpses of Candeloro and her minions will disappear.

After the witch is destroyed, Mami's body will be remain, lying where the house once stood. A broken soul gem will be grasped lightly in her fingers.

[hyuugahime]

Hinata shook away her weariness at the sight of Mami's body. She had almost no strength left, but she refused to let anything stop her. She half-crawled, half-scrambled towards the body and knelt next to the dead girl.

"T-Tomoe-san... Tomoe-san, open your eyes. Tomoe-san..."

The tears started falling, silently. She did not have the energy left for nerve-wracking sobs.