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Post by Iris on Nov 22, 2016 2:56:03 GMT
Aria noted the constant barrage of hits her spear was taking, the reverberation stinging through her fingertips and alerting her of its pleas. With narrowing eyes and a small flood of panic at the mere thought of losing something so important to her made her back slightly, choking her hold up on her spear and whittling down her range as she aimed for a bit more control than usual, attempting to avoid anymore careless strikes into their shields with her shoddy accuracy in this small, claustrophobic space.
Like some strange sort of sticky savior, Aria looked with immediate aggression towards Gianni as she assumed it was simply another danger, calming just slightly before going back on the offensive to deflect back the spear hits coming in between the two; this man didn’t seem like he could take the abuse she could. However, looking down, Aria caught his movements and the offered weapon; a small axe that seemed somewhat familiar to the ones her tribe chopped with at times...but the head was different. Its curved edge seemed optimal for hooking, that much she could figure out and thanks to Gianni’s added visual cues, she picked up what he was attempting to tell her. Grabbing the axe, Aria tossed it and grabbed it between her teeth with only a slight wince at how the metal felt against her enamel, grabbing Gianni by the scruff of his shirt next to pull him temporarily out of the way of fire, dropping him and replacing him with the small axe instead when she felt he was in semi-safety.
Using what she’d been shown, Aria choked back on the spear shaft to give her a bit more range and approached the nearest of the two offenders, using her newfound weapon with a great swing, hooking the head around the lip of their shield and jerking it back, only to strike forward with her profound strength and slightly more stable strike, aiming towards the nearest purple orb and hoping to see if it shattered into the many pieces she’d desired.
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Post by HungryHunter on Dec 5, 2016 0:50:39 GMT
Gianni was rolled out of harm's way by Aria's toss. The plant sentinels beeped and shoved forward in the hallway. Aria's axe swung down and caught the edge of the shield with a sound like scraping chalk on concrete. With this lever, the shield was shoved down and the top sphere could only beep before Aria's spear punched through its pod, shattering its top ball. Its whole body shuddered and it stepped backwards, creating an opening for Aria to attack the other from the side.
Behind her, Gianni glanced around before fixing his eyes on another spear. This seemed like the easiest thing to use. He whipped it off the wall with a strand and ran back into the tunnel. The intact monster thrust for him, but he slid to the side and straight up the wall. The creature turned its attention back to Aria, attempting to smash her nose with its shield. Gianni ran past the monsters on the ceiling and dropped behind, a wild stab popping the second sphere in the damaged pod's body. The creature's beeps became panicked as the wounded one attempted to turn around, entangling its elongated body with its compatriot. There wouldn't be a better moment to strike.
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Post by Iris on Dec 5, 2016 4:10:16 GMT
There was a satisfaction in the destruction and a thrill from the fight, and the slight victory of causing the creature's rhythm to fail. Aria was quick to capitalize on her sudden advantage against the one creature, keeping the shield clipped away as she choked up on her spear's shaft, focusing force in a quick, up close and personal jab towards the nearest amethyst orb. Her callous grip made sure the spear didn't shift the slightest in her hand as she thrust with the intention to destroy what was getting in her way, plaguing her pathway with its unwanted presence in her very own territory, but this focus was a slight downfall for Aria as the stony shield of its ally found its way towards her face.
With her bloodthirst high, Aria failed to block the incoming blow and felt the snap of her nose, a sensation she was all too familiar with; unfortunately for the creature, Aria was a beast of battle and a broken nose did nothing to her as she ran on the high of the fight, the promise of a successful battle, like winning against your prey in a hunt. This burst of adrenaline was keeping the pain at bay, but not the blood, and she felt the warm ooze drip from her nostrils, the warmth of her blood nothing compared to the way it boiled on the inside; the fact that this thing thought it could get away with injuring her only made her savagery roar to life.
The panic that ensued the creature with Gianni's attack, causing its fellow member to be brought into its downfall, gave Aria just the opening she needed and with a mighty swing fueled with pure anger, Aria's spear head slashed in a wide arc aiming for both of their vine-ridden bodies, aiming to cut through what she could. Yet just slicing them wouldn't be enough. With a snarl as her blood filled her mouth, Aria reached towards the most injured beast while dropping the small axe she'd been given, her clawed hand instead ripping forward with the intention of destroying the creature with a much more personal, intimate gesture; Aria wanted to rip that ball right out from its insides and crush it in her strong, unforgiving grip.
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Post by HungryHunter on Dec 5, 2016 5:50:39 GMT
The wounded creature fell to a combination of Aria's final attack and a thrust from behind by Gianni. Gianni's clumsy thrust scratched a long gash in its final orb's surface and slashed open its pod to drop it to the ground, shattering it. Immediately, the thing collapsed into undifferentiated plant matter, spear and shield laying in a pile of mush.
Without its partner and surrounded, the remaining hallway guard was on its last legs. Its blood splattered shield didn't defend it from Aria's wild swing into its side, shattering one orb in its pod. Her wild claws tore the pod open, spilling its crystalline hearts like marbles. It collapsed just like the other when Gianni struck them through with the butt of the spear.
He dropped the weapon and stumbled back. He felt his body for wounds and found nothing but a soreness to his chest. He guessed he could count himself lucky. These things were a far cry from the tumbleweeds. He found himself wracked with questions. Were these creations of his ancestors? Why would they attack him if he could get inside? He wanted answers, but there seemed to be none in this place. Just bloodied shields and floral monsters.
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Post by Iris on Dec 5, 2016 20:28:26 GMT
Aria's closed fist clenched with the soft, tinkling crunch of a matter much like glass in her grip. At that moment, Aria just wanted to feel it ground into fine grain, dispersed into the smallest form her physical force could muster; her anger was so heavy, so hot, she could feel every inch of her snarling internally, a beast within wanting out to show this place what a true force of nature could be...but through the process of a heated, laborious breathing, she simply swung her hand to the side to disperse the small, glass particles and as she slid her spear into the hold of the same arm, Aria used her now free hand to grab at the painful soreness at the bridge of her nose.
Looking to Gianni through a squinted gaze, Aria exhaled to empty the blood within that spattered into the plant matter on the floor, grinding her sharp teeth down as a sickening few crunches followed with the tactical shifting of cartilage beneath; it was a haphazard fix, but she could at least reset her nose. With a turn of her head, Aria dropped her hand and spat out the slimy scarlet liquid in her mouth before reaching down to grab the axe she'd earlier tossed, pointing it to Gianni before leaning down to meet him at a more appropriate height, her gaze fierce as a slight look of disgust took over her face when she opened her mouth. "You help. I remember this." Looking like she'd bitten into something rotten, the mere act of speaking in the human language disgusting her, Aria stood back up and cricked her neck from side to side, looking irritated with her sense of smell now slightly hindered. They needed to keep moving...but where to go from here?
Aria took this free time to gather her bearings, picking up the axe from earlier and fastening it with a few winds of her torn attire from earlier to her back, then grasping her spear in her other hand, holding it ready for any dangers that may face them along the way.
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Post by HungryHunter on Dec 6, 2016 4:01:27 GMT
Gianni's eyes widened when Aria addressed him with a complete thought. He wasn't even aware she could do that. "I... thank you." He quickly looked away. This wasn't getting any less awkward. "Uh... let's move on. You seem to be in a hurry." The scent Aria followed kept on down the hallway. Further down, the hall grew dim. The lights that had so far illuminated the hallways and chambers were now shattered and entangled in roots.
The dimness ended around a bend. Now before them was violet light that seared not just the eyes but the minds of those who looked at it. The hallway seemed to shimmer and wave unnaturally. Gaps in the walls showed vines shuffling and shifting like they were part of some enormous organ. There was a clear line. Aria's lost cub was here, somewhere in that light that reeked of hostility. Gianni stood awestruck. He knew what this was. This was a summoning room.
This was a demon god.
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Post by Iris on Dec 6, 2016 17:54:09 GMT
To explain the pain Aria’s heightened sense of sight felt when it looked upon the violet light was with a simple word; excruciating. Aria could handle physical pain with ease; the sting of scratching, of broken bones, of traded blows. But the pain this ultra bright light brought into her eyes made her look away almost immediately, snarling like a wolf bitten while she covered her aching eyes with her solid arm that still clutched to her spear, yet even that didn’t seem to be enough and she could still see the brightness behind her closed lids, doing an uninvited and infuriating dance. The realization of this pain brought about a frightening pair of thoughts, the first being that Ubol was somewhere deep inside of this painful room and the second being that she’d have to go in, eyes open to find him.
Gritting her teeth down, Aria began to peek open her lids in a vain hope that she could handle this pain and get her gaze to adjust...just hopefully, she didn’t lose her sight in here; losing her senses wasn’t something the proud huntress enjoyed in the slightest bit.
With a grip as solid as iron, Aria used her free hand to clutch to Gianni’s shoulder, spitting his guttural language like she had before in its broken manner, but with much less hostility directed towards him for it. “You go. Cannot see yet. I smell, I push in right way.” As if to accentuate her words, Aria steered his light frame with ease, aiming him deeper into the room while her eyes watered at the heated sting her corneas felt.
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Post by HungryHunter on Dec 7, 2016 2:19:56 GMT
Gianni jumped when touched. He couldn't resist her push, even sticking his feet out in front. He didn't want to approach this thing. There was no way they would be able to fight it. It must have been summoned before this place was locked up, so it should be weaker than usual for not using an avatar. But even with that in mind, Gianni felt his skull nearly splitting from its cruel light. His curiosity wasn't enough for this. He had to live to enjoy his research. But he didn't fight Aria off and run. He just stumbled before her.
At the end of the hallway was the source of the light, right in the middle of a grand, domed room. Delicate markings on the floor and ceiling glowed through a dense jungle. Gianni couldn't even tell what color the plants were through the violet glare of the abomination before him, but he could see that not a leaf fell across the markings and the shape of a cocoon of leaves in the back. In the center was the source. A mountain of pulsing crystal, hewn into a shape that may be humanoid if its features didn't seem to flicker and change, like its limbs were passing in and out of reality. It was draped with vegetation all over its craggy body, lines of lichen hiding in its cracks, flowers sprouting across what may have been a shoulder. It had no head, just a massive spire atop its body, featureless and imposing. But Gianni didn't need eyes to know it was staring at them.
A mental image tore through the minds of the two. A worm thrashing, a pigeon tied to a stool, a waving light in pitch black water. BAIT. Gianni didn't understand. The message was not for him. The next was for both. Cattle grazing, humans logging, a deer biting into a leaf. DESECRATORS. Gianni just blinked before he saw the limb crashing down at him. Instead of dodging to the side, he jumped up, clung to the limb and ran to the top. The limb stopped an inch about the ground, nearly shaking Gianni off. What he supposed to do about this? He hadn't even brought a weapon and he was supposed to fight a being that infiltrated realities? He just clung tight, hoping Aria had a plan.
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Post by Iris on Dec 10, 2016 19:53:56 GMT
The displeasure of her mind's sanctity, thoughts that should have been just hers and untouched, suddenly assaulted and invaded made Aria more aggressive than ever; her mind was her own space, no one else's. The ultimate territory. It didn't help that the creature's bizarre and discombobulated messages translated well into threats, ones of which Aria took a great offense to above all else; the image of humans, directed to them in that instance, was this creature daring to compare her to their ilk who had next to no respect for their ties to the earth?
Aria deeply wanted to fight, but the hindrance her vision was giving her in this place was terrible; how could she fight if she couldn't see more than a few seconds at a time? It looked like she'd have to depend on her other sense for a while... To top it off, Aria didn't quite HAVE a plan at all. Most problems she settled via intimidation and this overgrown rock that practically reeked of ill intent wasn't exactly something she could bust apart easily. Gritting her teeth, Aria felt that she had no other option at the moment. With Gianni neatly distracting the creature, she tore the remaining strips of her old trophy coat away from her body and prepared for the change; if her jaws could snap through trees, then maybe with a little more effort, she could also snap this too.
With the pulsating heat of anger and determination pouring through her, Aria felt the welcome transformation. Feeling the earth beneath the pads of her paws was something that brought her confidence, that...and the feeling of power within her mouth. Unfortunately, with her senses heightened even further, Aria felt completely blinded in this place. Her glowing, golden eyes were closed shut and the snarling beast turned immediately towards where Gianni hung, her maw glittering with painfully hot saliva as it pushed forward, the mouth of a hungry beast.
However, it stopped where she could feel his scent lacking, her hardened and frightening sharp teeth fitting their way around the abomination's shaking arm, wrenching her head from side to side as she tried to dig in and then, with a sinister and signature shift of her jaws forcing together, Aria bit as hard as she could. This might help her determine exactly how easy or difficult this thing would be to break...regardless, she'd do it. She'd crush the thing that threatened her people and their attempts at finding safety, just like she always had! Nothing would get in her way!
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Post by HungryHunter on Dec 10, 2016 22:55:16 GMT
The sound of Aria's teeth scraping into the abomination's stony flesh was like a thousand nails on a thousand chalkboards. Gianni resisted the urge to press his fingers into his ears and scurried up while another limb reached out to remove the problem, a more dispersed cluster of blazing stones that hovered apart, some only tangentially connected by lime green vegetation. It swung to strike Aria away from the small cracks and scratches she created in its surface. Gianni could see just how little damage she did from up here. Physical strength wasn't going to carry them here. But what could?
Gianni was forced to stop thinking and start moving when the limb that had attacked him before reached up to try again. Gianni ran up the peak of the creature, putting himself out of range of the grasping arm. He hesitated atop it, clinging to the steep point by virtue of his powers, before the entire creature shifted to fall over and dash him on the floor. Gianni leaped and flicked a string to catch the ceiling, swinging away from the toppling giant. He clung to the dome far out of reach, staring down at the scene of violence below from a bird's eye view, crystal being's light drowning out the glowing symbols on the floor. Just how could such a thing be stopped?
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Post by Iris on Dec 11, 2016 20:52:44 GMT
Like nails on a chalkboard, but with her teeth, Aria felt the screeching sound deep in her solid bones and felt her ears lay back immediately onto her head. The sound, the taste, the feeling...it was all god awful. The distraction of this foolish and headstrong attack cost her her reaction time and Aria felt the weighted stones beat against her head, the move wasn’t enough to injure her, but it definitely caused her to wrench her head away as she was knocked back from the force. With her maw dripping, a tooth lost in the altercation, Aria’s large form writhed on the floor to try and get to her feet, the mad scrambling of a wild animal unwilling to stop fighting, eager to rise to its feet and try again.
However, in this movement, Aria’s claws that were just as fearsome as her teeth dug into the ground, the stone giving away like hard earth, tearing into the strange, glowing symbols where she’d stood. Her eyes that were still closed could feel the searing heat of the light still threatening her vision, she could only hope she could hear the next attack now that she was more focused...Leaning back, Aria’s firm rear legs dug in, scraping into the stone with the sound of rock and rubble tearing away, scratching away more of the markings inadvertently. She’d pounce next if she had to, maybe she could topple it with her sheer weight...
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Post by HungryHunter on Dec 14, 2016 0:56:01 GMT
The living spire's limbs shifted to target Aria again, but they fell to its side when her claws scraped through the markings. It shuddered and holes appeared through it like it was riddled with bullets. Unlike bulletholes, they roved over its body like a spotlight. It tilted and with a massive grinding noise, it swung both its arms at Aria to smash her away from the symbol. From above, Gianni could only watch, but he realized what was happening right away. These symbols must have summoned the demon god. Damaging them broke its grip on the universe. Gianni flicked out a thread and sung down behind the burning spire. He grabbed up some of the foliage and covered up part of one of the symbols. The reaction was immediate, drawing a sound like a mountain collapsing from the pained deity as it whirled to face him. Gianni went pale as it raised its arms to smash him.
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Post by Iris on Dec 14, 2016 10:45:03 GMT
Aria's body massive body wasn't just so due to size, but her sheer muscle density. The heat of battle, including all forms of scrape and pierce, wasn't where her higher tolerance came in, but the sheer brutality of brunt impacts were just as easily absorbed. She was meant to be hardy, mean to survive anything life could throw her way physically. Thanks to this hardiness, Aria felt the rocky creature's blow into her side, her eyes closing tighter while her maw bit down with her paws pressing hard into the earth beneath her, shattering away the elder tile as she skid and tore apart the ground while leaning into the blow. This demon god was pushing what was essentially a living wall across the ground, forcing her claws to tear again at the symbols unknowingly. Thankfully, through all this altercation, the weakening form's light was also growing easier on her eyes, allowing her to even peek when her shoved form came to a halt.
Her side ached faintly beneath the fur where she'd absorbed most of the hit, but between her other concerns, she easily shouldered the burden of pain far away in her mind. The new threat appeared when the being turned quickly, aiming towards the small and weak man that she could see between her slit eyelids. Without missing a beat, Aria let out a savage snarl and leapt forward, the sheer force behind it kicking chunks of rock while she aimed to throw the entirety of her heavy, hard form into the monster, attempting to throw it off balance and push it away beneath a cloak of fur, teeth, claw, and fury.
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Post by HungryHunter on Dec 14, 2016 23:47:47 GMT
Aria's charge would make a rhino look like an angered hamster, claws tearing up the stone like lettuce in a blender. Her bulk carried the momentum of a truck speeding on the highway and was far more horrifying to have bearing down on you. But against the spire, all her force could only chip its side.
The behemoth didn't budge an inch as Aria smashed headlong into its side, but even without eyes there was the feeling it had directed its attention to Aria. Gianni took full advantage. He flicked a thread and was gone a second before its attention returned and it swept the ground he had been working on. The leaves covering the symbol were blown away by the force of the swipe and some of the holes in the demon god's reality closed up. It turned to Aria and put its limbs out to her side, attempting to cage her in to crush. However, when it moved to slap her flat, the limbs didn't budge.
Subtly placed threads held them as they were. The towering thing made a deep grinding noise as it attempted to move its limbs, sparks fleeing its joints. Gianni stood atop it, laying down threads as quickly as they snapped. "The symbols! Destroy them!" Gianni gestured wildly at the symbols on the floor and made an x with his hand before jumping back into action. It was a temporary measure as the more traditional arm snapped free and grabbed at Aria to lift and crush her in the floating stones that formed its fist.
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Post by Iris on Dec 16, 2016 16:38:34 GMT
Even Aria’s hardy body was taking a bit of damage in all this altercation. The crystalline structure was more solid than any tree she’d ever smashed through, or any creature she’d had to sink her teeth into; it seemed more like she was just getting herself hurt in the process more than anything. Aria prepared to backpedal when the creature aimed its two arms into her sides, but the brightness of shining sparks and grinding of stone against stone showed that again, the small and unassuming man was full of surprises.
In the brief moment she had, Aria noted the foreign gibberish he spouted from his mouth, but she watched the gestures he’d made to the symbols along the floor. The slashing movement of his arm showed her what she had to do, and the great beast let out a massive snarl of agreement; destroying things like this she could do!
With her goal in sight, Aria’s resolve reformed and she bundled her power into her legs, leaping above and over the creature with her claws ready, narrowly avoiding the smashing fist of rocks. Her paw pushed into the ground with great might, extended claws scraping into the earth that was above the symbol and with a great slash, she tore apart the rocky surface as if it were warm butter in a long, massive line, shredding all the glowing signature she could in one go, turning to kick up rubble in her wake as she began to make her way around the room as fast as she could, carrying out the laborious task while gritting her teeth together; she wanted this thing dead!!
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Post by HungryHunter on Dec 16, 2016 22:41:58 GMT
Aria charged once more, this time her floor tearing claws going to good use. As each symbol was destroyed, the mighty demon god faded and collapsed more and more, parts folding into each other as its space warped. Gianni had an easier time keeping its limbs away from Aria as it lost strength, but his vantage point got more precarious as parts crumbled away, and he was nearly pulled in with it when an entire half of the spire fell into nothing.
It raged and thrashed, swinging a stump of limb as Aria erased one more symbol. The spire atop it slid down with a scream, its limb just blew away into dust. Gianni wisely dove free as the entire mountain of crystal was crushed into a single point. There was a long mental scream before the point itself vanished, leaving Gianni and Aria alone. The vegetation began to wither like the being's presence sustained its garden, and the cocoon that had been behind the beast fell and decayed, revealing a small child. Gianni just staggered back and collapsed on a pile of leaves, not minding them melting out from under him.
This was too much to mentally process for now. Had his ancestors summoned that thing here? What reason would they have to do so? Did it defend this place? He got the feeling that wasn't the intent here. He wished he could discuss it with his companion, but he had the feeling she wouldn't care even if she could understand him. And it might not even be a good idea to mention his people were involved with this at all. Gianni laid his head back down and rested. He could study this later.
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Post by Iris on Dec 17, 2016 17:33:09 GMT
Aria’s body heaved heavily with every breath, the slow and ebbing feeling of the pain in her sides growing, accumulated overall from the general beating she’d taken during the fight. However, the thoughts on her wounds immediately ceased when she heard the small whimper of a frightened and confused child, more akin to a puppy than a human’s cries. Snapping her head towards the direction, the blinding light from earlier now absent allowing her to see once more, looking towards the noise with immediate concern before lumbering over in great strides.
Ubol had been better, his small form had slight scratches from either being dragged or pricked by thorns...but he was fine other than the fright in his eyes. The fear seemed to slowly disperse as his pack leader neared him, the familiarity of her in her beast form bringing him comfort as tears welled up in the corner of his golden eyes, ears laid back against the top of his head; the small child spoke in their thick language, but from the mannerisms he displayed, it could only be interpreted as an apology. With her loud, heavy pants still leaving her maw, Aria nosed over the child, sniffing loudly and pressing her head against the small boy, causing his lighter form to be jarred around as she searched for any substantial wounds...and seeing as she couldn’t find any, she immediately snarled at him, making him wince; this endeavor would be nothing compared to the scolding he’d gather from everyone back home.
The boy shakily stood and just like Aria, he transformed, wobbly on his paws. Gesturing with her head, Aria sent the boy to pick up the things she’d left behind in the wild on and off transformations, meaning everything was but scraps aside from her spear, the browned bottle that seemed a little worse for wear, and the small handaxe she’d earlier acquired. With all the items dangling from their shredded straps, Aria picked the pup up by the scruff of his neck and cast only one narrowed glance at the small man’s slumbering form...and then she turned her back on him, taking off and headed towards her home, or what would be their new home; the disposal of this threat meant they could finally have their den, if only for the time being.
When Gianni would wake, he’d find no trace of Aria or her kin aside from the destruction she’d left in the ruins. When he undoubtedly stayed, he’d find no interference from her or her kin, and he could even believe that they’d gone entirely with how quiet the coming days would be...if not for the strange glints of gold he may see among the foliage before they disappeared, making one wonder if the eyes they belonged to really existed or not.
Yet in the dark of the nights that would follow, with the moon clear in the sky, long howls could be heard in the distance, an almost mournful chorus that would end in a howl louder and more boastful above all the rest.
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