you're in the jungle, baby / you gonna die

[lucetimods]

Who: All draftees
What: Fighting the Third Party... and perhaps the wildlife.
When: June 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th. (Characters will be pulled out at 11:59 of the 6th.)
Where: An as-yet unmapped by the Malnosso tropical rainforest.
Summary: Here are your details. Try to stay alive, won't you?
Rating: Anywhere from PG to R

Comments

day three, late afternoon - POISON SO CHOSEN

[imatreenow]

[A lull in the battle; no enemy soldiers have appeared in a while. It makes him a little tense - fighting is better than waiting - but some downtime is probably good. Especially for his non-Seraph companion. He keeps his senses finely focused, listening for any approaching Third Parties (or other Luceti residents - they're as good as enemies to him).

Speaking of enemies... It doesn't take long to notice a nearby presence of mana that is becoming increasingly (and vexingly) familiar. Lead by a potent mixture of distrust and curiosity, he decides to scope it out. She's close enough that he can easily rush back to their temporary rest site should anything happen there...]

[imatreenow]

[He's about to fire another attack, when he hears Kaori call his name and glances over to her. It's always a relief to have her in sight, but right now the tension built up in him can't be assuaged.]

Kaori, don't go near her! [He moves forward, toward Raine, and now attempts a third burst of mana. If this one hits, it should push Raine farther away from Kaori...]

[wise_maiden]

Ugh. [That one does hit, the blast pushing her back despite her attempts to deflect it. Not fast enough. And now... someone else? Someone that Mithos knows. That girl...]

What are you trying to do?

[seiriald]

[Instinctively her gaze tries to follow the direction Raine was now in, still trying to piece what was going on together. She takes a few steps away, attempting to listen to Mithos' orders while trying to place who this person was.]

What's going on?

[imatreenow]

I'm trying to hurt you.

[As for Kaori's question, that's complicated and involves a slew of implications we wants to ignore. How about the simplified answer?]

She's an enemy. I told you about her - Raine. [Knocking her back isn't enough...he wants to see her fall. Time to start casting a spell.]

[wise_maiden]

This isn't the time or place for that. This is a battlefield--there are people relying on me that I need to get back to. [But she knows that as soon as she turns her back, there's no telling what he'll do. There's hardly enough time to stabilize herself before trying to brace herself against the spell he might be preparing next.]

[seiriald]

[Kaori's eyes turn cold, disgust beginning to rise in the back of her throat. Without another word she carefully makes her way over to Mithos, ignoring what Raine had to say even if she did have reason. She had hurt Mithos before, after all.

She won't join in Mithos' attack, nor will she defend the other half-elf. This was his battle to deal with on his own unless he wanted her help.]

[imatreenow]

[Spell complete - the earth beneath Raine's feet rumbles violently as Mithos unleashes Ground Dasher. The hope is that the lurching ground will cause her to topples over.

Even he can't fully explain why this is so crucial, why he thinks that this will undo everything else that had transpired. But it's the only thing he can do.]

Do you think I care?

[wise_maiden]

[Once she realizes what he's trying to do, she tries to neutralize the effect with her earth filial magic. Not enough to undo the entire spell, but at least preventing the topple that Mithos wants. It doesn't stop her from holding onto her staff and sliding to her knees from that earlier injury.]

Don't let your grudge get in the way of my helping those who have nothing to do with this.

[seiriald]

[... Something of the way she says that word makes her snap. She wasn't sure why, maybe it was something else that was out of reach in her suppressed memories. Whatever it was she acts on the rage within her, raising her hand sharply so that the surrounding earth would roll its way back to Raine, flying up into her face.]

Shut up!

[imatreenow]

[He didn't expect Kaori to suddenly jump in with her own magic and turns to look at her in surprise for a fraction of a moment. The feeling of having somebody on his side... Not a throw-away, nameless soldier, not an obsequious follower, but a friend who will stick up for him like that...

No time to waste. He adds his own attack to the onslaught, firing another blast of energy toward Raine]

[wise_maiden]

[The girl's attack is the one that takes her off guard, though after it hits her, she stumbles and then ducks down, raising the earth to block against Mithos's attack, which at least are becoming easier to predict.]

I don't have time for this!

[seiriald]

Just shut up! [She tries once again to turn that earth against her, but instead opts for sending up spires of it from the ground Raine was standing on. She didn't have time for this, but she had enough time to hurt Mithos in the way she had? Unforgivable.]

[imatreenow]

[Why won't she just fall, and stay down? Then he can leave and pretend nothing happened. She always has to make everything so difficult.

As Kaori attacks, he begins casting again. A brief lull after the first attack settles, and then-] Prism Sword!

[wise_maiden]

[The only person responsible for Mithos's mental state right now was Mithos. In any case, fighting with them wasn't going to get her anywhere. Those last two attacks were fairly powerful. Raine blocks the worst of the blow with force field, but maybe right now would be a good time to pretend that they had succeeded. She doesn't get back up after the last attack, waiting.]

..../decides to steal

[imatreenow]

[He should feel a breath of relief. A sense of accomplishment when she doesn't get up again. He feels nothing of the sort, only the ragged remains of maddening confusion.

Nothing has been fixed. There's nothing clean or perfect about it.]

...We're done here. [This is directed at Kaori, and as soon as the words fall from his mouth he curtly turns to leave. Go anywhere but here. If not for her, he would simply take off to the skies as quickly as possible, as high up as possible, to get as far away as possible.]