awashlogs | May Catchall with a Lion

Yyyyyeahhh, Kyrie's not about to let this cowardly moron wander into the forest with a bunch of kids. Especially not after what they ran into the last time they went in...

So, here he is, walking decidedly ahead of Caramia, rather than his usual position at his shoulder. He doesn't exactly look pleased to be here, but he still offers Izuku and Shiho a nod and a tip of his hat as they draw near.

"That's correct." He also doesn't sound pleased, but there's a smile on his face all the same. "I'm sure you won't find any issue with it?"

[Shiho isn't too far behind, (fashionably) late as always and now with the added bonus of flashbombs on her person plus her gun.

There wasn't such a thing as being too prepared. She was, after all, the "information gatherer" in the Children.

Though she certainly doesn't seem to be prepared at first glance, walking along without a care...until she sees Kyrie.]

Depends. Are you going to be able to take care of yourself, or are we going to have to babysit you the entire way?

[ As for Akechi, he's been mostly standing beside Caramia, as the only person so far who knows his secret. Even though Akira has let it up to him to decide when and to whom he would reveal himself, he still plans to keep it as a secret for as long as possible. ]

I am rather capable on my own. [ He addresses the girl - Shiho, was it? - his tone soft yet determined. ] However, my primary role is to ensure Caramia-san's safety, aside from my own. I should hope all of you are prepared to face whatever we may find in the woods.

[ In other words, if shit hits the fan, he's not gonna be able to save everyone-- not without jeopardizing his cover yet again, that is. ]

[ Caramia tensed as it seemed there was already immediate bickering. It may have not gotten quite to that point, but it was definitely going there, and he really didn't want that. So, he quickly took a step forward before Kyrie could have a chance to retort, which may have been the bravest thing he'd done while he was... like this. It would have been commendable of him, were he not cowering into that over-sized coat of his. ]

They're just here to help...! It's okay. [ If anyone needed to be babysat here, it was Caramia himself. Not that he'd say that out loud, but he was certainly thinking it. ] They thought we could use the extra hands, a-and... stuff.

[ Look, he'll even grab Akechi's and Izuku's hands (avoiding Shiho's because he doesn't want to be kicked and Kyrie's... because he was honestly afraid of him getting pissed at him for it. Izuku and Akechi wouldn't be mad, right? Right.) and start pulling them off into the forest. They're moving! No need for arguing! They're moving and things will be fine and...

Please... don't fight. ]

I-it's no problem! I'm sure they can take care of themselves just fine, Sannomiya-san!

[That's all Izuku manages to get out before Caramia's grabbing hold of his hand and pulling him along. He glances at Caramia sympathetically.]

You're not wrong, Caramia-san. We probably could use some more help. [If anything, Caramia has an ally in keeping the peace here. The important thing is finding the pendant and leaving as quickly as they can, after all.] At least we'll have more people to help us with the search.

Well, as long as they're going to pull their own weight... [Then she doesn't have to worry. Just kidding, she's still worried even now as she glances at Caramia, dragging Izuku and... Akechi (?) away with him by the hand. She's glad he isn't holding her hand, really! Even if a part of her feels just a touch left out.

The feeling passes quickly with a shrug though since this group wasn't The Children and Minamoto and she shouldn't expect it to be. Instead her eyes dart to Kyrie's tie as she wonders if Caramia still has that green pendant too.]

Anyways, it's fine, isn't it? The more, the merrier. [Even if it meant more people to keep track of.]

"If anything, I'm certain Caramia will be the one who requires babysitting." Whoops, did he just voice Caramia's anxieties aloud? Haha awkward. "But please, Miss Shiho, won't you give me some credit?"

But hey, at least they're moving right along in life! No time to bicker when they've got a whole forest ahead of them to cover. Kyrie doesn't intend to lead any further, and allows Caramia to pull ahead--with Akechi and Izuku in tow, it seems--while settling somewhat towards the back of the group.

And, since Shiho seems so interested, Kyrie doesn't seem to have any pendant on him, green or otherwise! That's definitely still on Caramia. Please don't lose that one too.

[ For his part, Akechi stays quiet for the greatest part of their journey, mind busy with his own troubles to engage in any more of this petty arguing. It's a waste of effort and time, anyway.

The good thing is that the forest itself, at least, seems to be cooperating, if the same can't be said about all members of this team. It's almost as though it has welcomed and ushered them in, no tricks to try and split them up. It's almost... suspiciously easy, if he's being honest. It's best to stay on guard.

A short while later, they come to what seems to be a clearing, surrounded by trees, and even from a distance, he can spot a glint beckoning at them. Could that be...? ]

Caramia-san, Kyrie-san. [ He calls, head motioning towards his findings. ] Do you think that could be the pendant?

[ Despite everything, with Shiho's guidance, the walk there was particularly forgiving. Which would have been a blessing, were it not for the fact that Caramia made it slightly more difficult than it should have been with his starts at any sound that was even remotely scary. Twigs breaking? Wings flapping? Leaves rustling? Caramia wanted to flee at the slightest bit of inconvenience. He's pretty sure if there weren't four people here, he would have ended up running off and getting lost in these treacherous woods.

But, they all were fairly good at keeping him on a leash of sorts. He felt bad. He really was just being babysat, wasn't he? And he was the eldest of this group too.

Really, what kind of example were you setting for them? They're all going to think you're pathetic. Which, you are, just by the way. Do you really think any of them want to be here? You're just being an inconvenience.

...You know, actually, his berating thoughts almost distracted him from the noises sometimes. His only saving grace, in that regard.

Once they had gotten closer, there was quite a bit more pep in Caramia's step. Had he not been so focused on trying to find out where the pendant was, he probably would've mentioned that they were definitely close if he felt this sudden surge of confidence. Alas, it didn't seem like he needed to. No sense in pointing out the obvious, right? ]

Oi!!! That's it! [ Aw, look at him. He was a little too excited to see it again- it shouldn't matter if he trotted over to get it, right?

Ha. No. That would be convenient! And we can't have that. Halfway to it, their first roadblock made itself known, emerging from the forest to block his path. It came in the form of... an unusually large wolf. And honestly? After all the shit he's been through thus far, this was just... insulting. Excuse him, kiddos, you might want to look away, because he clearly decided this wasn't worth any effort. He'd wasted enough of the children's time getting him here, after all, so, with that in mind, he drew a pistol with all too practiced movements and once the beast charged, nailed two bullets through it's skull.

... Look! It was for the best this way. Besides, it was clearly hostile. ]

[As soon as the wolf appeared, Izuku had taken a step forward in alarm. Only to realize that his help actually isn't needed after all. It occurs to him then that while he'd known Caramia had experience with fighting, he's never actually seen him in action before. Until now.

Izuku blinks, looking at the fallen wolf and then at Caramia. He opens his mouth to say something--but his expression suddenly becomes alarmed as two ogres suddenly take the wolf's place between them and the pendant. One wanders
over toward the pendant, footsteps heavy enough for them to feel through the ground. The second begins heading for them. Before the one rushing toward the group can reach them, Izuku activates his quirk and jumps forward, delivering a kick hard enough to make it stumble and crash to the ground.]

Be on your guard, everyone! [Izuku hops back, joining Caramia with a grimace.] It looks like they're not going to let us take the pendant back without a fight.

It would figure it wouldn't be so easy to retrieve something so intentionally stolen...

From the moment the wolf attacked, Kyrie could be found standing far behind the others, more keen on keeping his distance from the creatures than going in for the kill like these reckless idiots. But once it becomes apparent the creatures intend to keep coming, he doesn't hesitate to snap to attention himself--literally.

Maybe the snap isn't strictly what does it, but it certainly provides a flair of drama as a column of feathers erupts from where Kyrie stands, the flapping of wings and croaking of birds momentarily drowning out the sound of the fighting around him.

The birds fly first up, and then begin to restlessly circle the makeshift arena like a dark, angry cloud beneath the canopy of grey.

"Just mind that they don't damage it," he makes a sharp gesture that sends the crows after the second ogre, "lest this whole journey be in vain."

He might not be able to fell it with his own abilities, but hopefully that ogre doesn't need to see any time soon--because, try as it might (and it does try, with the desperation of a beast enraged) to protect its face and swat away the sharp of claws and beaks alike, it's certainly not going to have any eyes left to do so with. Sorry, buddy.

Edited 2018-05-19 01:45 (UTC)

[Shiho is not far behind Kyrie (though she is behind him, and if anyone asks she would never admit to maybe thinking of him as something of a meat shield) and tenses when she sees the pendant. It looked like a trap, and that feeling only increases when the creatures appear. She won't engage, not yet. Not when she feels that she's much more useful playing back-up.

The (dramatic) eruption of feathers is a good enough distraction for Shiho to use, hiding behind a tree, one hand to the bark, looking over her shoulder but her attention split between the entirety of the forest around them and what she sees in front of her.]

And what if they damage us?

[Because that would definitely make this whole journey even worse.]

Someone go for the feet while it's blinded! [It's not going to be her, not with the flash bombs she has and definitely not with her gun. If she caught it with the wires, she knows she could probably shock it to death and back. But if it fell, she'd be dragged forward.]

[ Feet? That is hardly an ogre's weakness, and Akechi really wants to roll his eyes at this stupid suggestion, but on second thought... it might have given him an idea.

His hand reaches for his jacket pocket, withdraws a pair of knives - he had received a small collection of them as a reward earlier, anyway. Yes, he can still fight, even without revealing himself. ]

Kyrie-san. Can you order your crows to not attack me?

[ Huh, a murder of crows pecking at Crow... Good thing he's not wearing his Phantom Thief suit, this would be far too ironic.

But, as soon as Kyrie gives him his assent, Akechi dashes off towards the second ogre-- and, really, he's a lot better with a sword than a knife, but this will have to do. He's quick for an ordinary teenager, and limb enough that he can slash through the monster's ankle in one fluid swipe of his blade. Joker might be proud-- or jealous.

That's not his true goal, however; as he predicted, the blow is only good enough to send the ogre tumbling down on his knees, completely off balance thanks to the combined efforts of ruthless pecking and a continuous stream of blood sipping out from its leg. Like this, it's just that little bit more vulnerable, and Akechi makes a second dash, this time jumping up the beast's back and running up to its head, swiftly sinking his remaining blade into its skull with both hands and no hesitation.

And hopefully, considering the incoming stream of dangers left to deal with, no one will be left wondering how a perfectly pleasant teenage detective looks almost too practiced at killing. ]

[ Oh, Izuku, sweetie, if you thought this was him "in action", you are mistaken. Though, that would soon have to change if this is how things were going to go for them-- the ogres, that is. ]

Seriously...? [ He muttered to himself anyway. It just had to be ogres? Come on, last time he dealt with these, he broke his damn arm. It's only two this time, so the likelihood of that happening again was real slim, but fuck. He didn't have many bullets to spare, and really didn't want to waste them all here.

While he was upset that the kids had to deal with this and not just let him handle it... he's a little flattered to see them all trying so hard to help him get his courage back. He loved his new children a bunch... Look at them go....

Oh, and Kyrie. And... Shiho's here, too, I guess.

He was rendered momentarily baffled to see the huge beast topple over with a swift motion on Izuku's part. Seeing this somewhat doormat-of-a-child take down something that took him quite a bit of effort was impressive. And Akechi- well, he'd already begun to take a crack at Akechi's secrets, so was this really a surprise? (The answer was "yes," but that's besides the point.)

While Akechi and Kyrie handled the beast by his pendant, Caramia sprinted for the one Izuku knocked over, and while it was still down, he lifted up a hand, and with a moments notice and sudden growth in his sharpened nails (and his hair, but let's not acknowledge his weird new mullet?), he was driving it into the ogre's throat. No sense in letting it get up after this, right? Not after Izuku put in all this work. A little blood never hurt anyone. Or a hand covered in it.

Details...

With that done, he looked over at Akechi, opening his mouth to say something along the lines of "grab the pendant and let's scram", but there's a moment's pause as yet more obstacles make themselves known, and Akechi, being the closest, having several zombie-esque creatures staggering out towards him, instead coaxing Caramia to yell, ] Oi!! Akechi!! [ ...Which didn't exactly offer much in terms of explaining why one was just shouting someone's name, but you'll have to forgive him. The adrenaline's a bit much sometimes.

Not that he was going to stand idly by. He ripped his hand from the ogre and darted to Akechi's side so he could help him stave off the new enemy. ]

[There's not even enough time to be shocked by how efficiently Akechi and Caramia both dealt the killing blows. Now, there's a new batch of creatures to be dealt with.

There's no option but to take care of these, too. Especially with the pendant so close to them--it's like Kyrie said earlier. They have to protect the pendant.

Izuku joins Akechi and Caramia in facing the creatures. With a controlled flick of his finger, he sends a couple of them flying back with the wind pressure.]

Anyone know what these things are? [They look...kind of like what you'd expect zombies to look like, maybe.]

Look, Shiho, he's not gonna say the pendant's safety is more important than yours, or the others', but he's certainly thinking it. He's fond of you but this is well beyond that level.

With the ogres so neatly dispatched, there's no time to comment on Akechi's handling of the situation, but it's hard for a thing like that to go wholly unnoticed when your entire being is meant to take in information. Were it not for their newest guests, he might have taken a moment to more properly consider it--he's been around folks who are far too skilled in combat for their apparent profession, after all--but it seems that will have to wait for later...

"Monsters, by the looks of things," Kyrie replies helpfully, as his birds turn their attention from the fallen ogre and circle around to assist by way of diving after the creatures shambling towards them next. "Although it's hard to say exactly which faction of the undead these might be at just a glance."

Must be nice to not have to run all around and be out of breath! He only circles in time with the threats, moving urgently but never quite rushing himself, as if each step is taken with careful consideration to keep himself from harm's way. In theory, he ought to be able to get the pendant with his birds... but that would be risky, with the amount of trouble the forest seems to have gone through to keep it from them. He'll stay his hand for now and monitor the situation, because that's what flimsy assholes do best.

At least he's made some effort to help: the crows distribute themselves between the three ghouls, acting more as a distraction to keep them open to the others' attacks than doing any actual damage. They'll scatter if their target is attacked, but they can at least act as a nuisance in the meantime.

[Not everyone is a murder machine, a muscular attack-puppy, or a mullet-wearing lion, Akechi. Shiho is going to go for what she can actually reach.

But if she had a moment she'd probably be impressed. Deku seems like he could take care of himself. Akechi was apparently a murder machine. And even Caramia was flying high on adrenaline. Kyrie was a crow whisperer or something, she's not really sure.

The appearance of ~~ghosts~~ ghouls does immediately make her freeze in place though, fighting the urge to run (or at least to grip onto Kyrie, needing something warm and alive and not gross and dead to ground her.) Have her legs gone weak? A little bit. Any bravery she'd felt with the other monsters is immediately gone.]

Who cares what kind of faction they're from?!

[Does Caramia still have bullets in that gun? She doesn't know. But her gun does still have a charge to it and wasn't there a universal weakness in all ~~zombies~~?]

Just-... go for the head or something! Or break off their arms and legs! Pull out their jaws and throw them into the woods!! [Maybe it's a touch too drastic, but she's not good with supernatural anything.]

...I have a flamethrower. We can use it as a distraction! [Nothing was as distracting as fire, after all...?]

[ Akechi squints at the newly arrived creatures-- a second wave so soon? How many more would they have to deal with? Well, no time to think about that right now; they need to deal with the present, lest there will be no future to worry about. So he wrecks his mental files, goes over every myth, every supernatural entity he's ever heard about - or even encountered in the Metaverse - and the answer he comes to is: ]

They're ghouls! [ He calls out, in hopes that anyone else will also know how to deal with them-- although, in all honesty, he's not putting a lot of faith in that. He's always been a lot better at dealing with everything on his own-- at relying only on himself.

So he reaches for his pant pockets this time, withdraws another pair of knives and runs up to one of the ghouls-- and, he has to admit, Kyrie's crows actually do provide good cover for him. Ghouls may look intimidating, but that's all they are; they're not particularly agile or strong, or even very smart, so Akechi follows a routine as he did with the ogre: a mad dash, hack and slash for a loss of balance, and finally, two sharp knives dealing the killing blow, each buried deep in one side of the creature's head. ]

One down, two more to go! [ He shouts again, leading by example and hoping the others will catch on to how he approached the ghoul and figure out their weakness on their own. But, just in case: ] Caramia-san, Midoriya-kun, aim for their heads!

[ This was way more trouble than it was worth, honestly. Not for Caramia, of course, he'd give up literally anything personally to get his courage back, but others? Absolutely not. Of course, he was doing his goddamn best to make sure nothing happened to anyone, but who knows how long he could really keep this up if this kept going? (Please, don't keep going.)

While Caramia didn't ignore the conversation happening (as if he could, with his hearing now better than ever), he didn't seem keen on responding to much of anyone regardless. Kind of a bad time to chatter, right? He does take everything into account, though. Undead. Heads. Fire? (Please no fire.) Definitely heads. Got it.

~~Also, Akechi, why do you have so many knives on you???~~

Instead of letting this go on much longer, against Caramia's better judgement (because he really wanted to conserve his ammunition), he yanked one of his pistols from his holster and once again fired. One clean through one's forehead, and two slightly more erratic shots into the other's. So that left him with... 5 shells? That sounded about right. Not nearly as many as he would've liked, but...

Now they could grab the pendant and go home, and all of them could sit around a table and feast together and laugh about this awful scenario while pigging out on ice cream that totally had flavor and maybe there was even a rainbow in the sky with actual color? You know what? Let's add in some happy funtime music, too. They deserve it!! Good work everyone! Look, Caramia's even giving out hugs, and-

Just kidding. As if that would happen. Wouldn't that just be nice and convenient? We can't have that. Instead, before they could really think about their next decisions, much less try for the pendant, a harsh, loud shriek rang out, followed by sharply hooked, bird-like talons cutting through some of Kyrie's crows (don't feel bad, none of them are real anyway) and crushing Caramia, Deku, and Akechi............. rather, the ground where they were. They had plenty of time to react, after all, and if they didn't do so themselves, than Caramia would've more than gladly tugged them out of the way entirely.

And, hey, if one massive, angry bird wasn't enough, one look up would reveal two more vicious birds. Isn't that just exciting? ]

Really??? Seriously?! [ Fuck this forest. ]

[They were so close. Izuku makes a frustrated noise as they're forced to jump out of the way as more creatures turn up.]

They really don't want us to get that pendant back. [Keeping a wary eye on the rocs, Izuku turns his head just slightly and calls back toward the others.]

Is everyone okay? [He waits a beat and then narrows his eyes as he thinks of a strategy.]

Kyrie-san, do you think you can get your crows to distract the ones still up in the air? I think I can bring them down to the ground if they're not paying attention to me. [He can jump up and reach them, but he's sort of an easy target when he's in mid air...]

"You will not be using a flamethrower." Shiho don't you dare set this forest on fire?? The only thing worse than this, honestly, would be dodging not only horrible creatures, but out-of-control flames.

Fortunately for everyone (but mostly Kyrie), there's no need for it as Caramia downs the remaining two ghouls. It's... just unfortunate that it's immediately followed by another wave.

Really, there seems to be a lot of dead birds around the clearing by now, so what's a few more? Or a couple dozen more for that matter. For being made of magic, they certainly do seem to die like real birds... so uh, watch your step, everyone. It's a good thing he's got well over a couple hundred to spare, still darkening the branches overhead even with the casualties.

The rocs are addressed with a grimace, a swath of black already finding its way onto the creatures' wings.

"If you only think you can do something, you oughtn't bother." He doesn't really mean it, but it comes out sharply enough anyway. With his crows going after the larger birds' wings, its harder for them to maintain much height, let alone attack the group. In fact, as the giant hawk-like creatures screech and twist in midair to try and loosen the smaller birds plucking furiously at their wings, one does crash to the ground, too unbalanced to stay airborne.

It rolls itself against the grey of the grass in an effort to dislodge the crows, their black contrasting with its white--and soon red, from both sides. Especially given the fact that Kyrie, rather unamused by how long this all is taking, finally retrieves his own pistol and quite pointedly puts a bullet through its skull--and then a second to ensure it stays down. The shots probably take a couple more of his own crows out of commission, tearing through wings and bodies alike, but he doesn't so much as bat an eye. They hit their mark, and that's all that matters.

"At the rate this is going, we'll be out here all night."

I was only going to burn it a little. [She hates this forest anyway.

But she does keep the gun in hand, even if her plan is now moot with Caramia getting rid of the other ghouls. She'd expected a get in, get out sort of mission, not waves and waves of monsters. If she had known, she would have had Kaoru follow them in secret.

That feeling, followed by Kyrie's words only make her defensive and even if she could tell he didn't mean it, she doesn't respond well at all to something like that. (Though with more thought she'd wonder if anyone responded well to sharp words like that.) She grits her teeth and glares anyway, her own words equally sharp. Maybe Minamoto would be disappointed in her but in this moment she doesn't care at all.]

Then maybe I should pretend to be dead and roll my way over to the pendant instead.

[If anything, what she doesn't understand is why they even have to engage in the first place. The creatures are coming in waves, not in mixed groups. Why? If they left one alive would the others stop coming? If Kyrie, Caramia and Akechi served as decoys, could Izuku break through and grab the pendant? What would happen if they did grab the pendant? They didn't even know how many more creatures there were still, and yet here they are, wasting energy and bullets. How many more creatures could they all, individually, take?]

We need to go for the pendant.

If you try to roll over to where the pendant is, you surely will have no need for pretending to be dead.

[ What an idiot. Izuku seems to have good combat skills, Caramia has a gun and Kyrie's crows have provided effective cover and a distraction when needed, but what is this girl even actively contributing to this group at all?

Well, no matter. As it is, they all have more pressing matters to handle than bickering over useless ideas. ]

Winged creatures are often weak to projectiles... [ He calls out, recalling his own experiences-- that's often how it goes in the Metaverse, at least, so it's worth a (literal) shot. ] Kyrie-san, Caramia-san-- see if you can shoot them down!

[ But of course, yelling out orders is not all he can do. Just as he's done, Kyrie's crows manage to down another roc, and Akechi sees it as an opportunity to strike: it's very risky, and he's not really sure knives will do much damage to these creatures, but it's his only choice for now. He's not about to to reveal his identity yet again, not over this.

With that thought in mind, he withdraws the last pair of blades he had brought along and makes his move for the roc-- but between the crows' interference and the creature's own thrashing about, he can't quite climb on it and go for the head, like he had done before. Instead, the best he manages is avoid the roc's wild maneuvering long enough to take a stab at its chest-- to which it responds with a quick swat of its massive wings, sending Akechi flying off back into a more closed-off area of the woods.

... well. At least the tree branches and bushes cushioned his fall. ]

[ It wasn't as if they weren't trying to go for the pendant. Every time there was a new threat, and Caramia figured if they tried too hard to get it, one of these things would risk breaking it. He really didn't want this journey to be for naught. Plus, if he had to send everyone else away and just try to take these creatures on his own... he probably would. ]

Once... we take these out, you all should go. If there's any more, you all need to get safely back, okay?

[ As if that were going to happen, but he wanted them all to know they could leave. Alas, no, instead, the very reason he wanted them to leave to begin with came to life instead, Akechi being flung far into the woods as a response to try and help. God damn it.

You really shouldn't have been holding onto those last remaining bullets so selfishly. What if he got hurt because of you?

He quickly brushed these thoughts aside, and instead giving these damn birds his full attention. He'd have to check on Akechi when he there wasn't more immediate threats. ]

Akechi-kun! [He makes an attempt to run off after Akechi, but the Roc that had sent him flying in the first place lets out an angry shriek and blocks his way. For a split second, Izuku looks between the massive bird and the direction Akechi had been thrown in, torn.

The decision's taken out of his hands, though, when the Roc swoops down and tries to peck at him--that probably wouldn't have ended well if he hadn't jumped out of the way.]

There's no way we're leaving without your pendant, Caramia-san! We've come too far to quit now!

[As if making a point, Izuku activates his quirk again and adds some more power output before he jumps up delivers the downward kick to its head. The Roc goes down, and Izuku shudders just a little at the crack of bone breaking he'd heard. Even if these creatures are trying to kill them, Izuku feels the prick of guilt. Killing with his quirk--it's something he hopes he doesn't have to get used to.

He doesn't have much time to dwell on it, though, because the second Roc is flying down and ready to attack!]

May Catchall with a Lion

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Tags back super late with Starbucks

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I'll never be able to use this icon again but here we are.......

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