Cloudsea - The Chronicle of Alice Van Vaugen

". . ."

". . .?"

Alice takes a deep breath again... then sweep their free hand at Qhen, keeping her weapon at ready!

"Don't worry, Qhen! I'm going to save you!"

Qhen blinks. Those eyes focus on Alice's face, and their head tilts slightly. Then they smile and nod.

{Qhen has gained some amount of Morale!}

"I know. That's your job, right? Can't say I'm not in awe... or a little jealous. But-" ( DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME. THEY ARE ONLY TRYING TO DISTRACT YOU. YOUR VICTORY IS ASSURED. )

". . .Can you- hear that?"

"H-H-Hear what? Hear what? I can hear you! Or are you talking about the wind?"

"... There is no wind here.

"Well then what you hear is YOUR IMPENDING DEFEAT! RAAAH!"

{Qhen has gained some amount of Morale!}

Claws meet the side of Alice's gun, bringing it up just in time to block. A foot hooks behind her ankle, and the two of them go tumbling into the grass for a moment, Qhen using the momentum to shove Alice roughly against the ground and use her as a springboard to get back up on their feet. Alice rolls over, bringing her arms up over her head, eyes squeezed shut as she fires!

Light, sound, the wave of force, and the sudden heat-shock to her entire body... Not fire, mind you. Alice had learned the difference in chemical compositions required to ensure a sharp bang, a bright flash, but without setting herself on fire. Not too often, anyway. The ringing in her ears changed, and she reached the count of three in her head, so it was time to get up.

Alice scrambled as quickly as she could, still mostly deafened, and leapt at Qhen! The two of them tumbled again and Alice picked a spot and struck with the butt of her pop-gun! It felt like hitting a rock covered in skin- which is not a comparison Alice thought she would ever find herself making- and she jerked away as the shock shook her wrist, making it ache. Qhen's hand raked at Alice, knocking Alice to the side, and they stumbled away from each other while gasping for air and trying to clear their eyes and ears of the pain.

{Alice has taken 3 points of Health damage!}
{Qhen has taken some Health damage!}
{Alice has taken 2 points of Morale damage!}
{Qhen has taken some Morale damage!}

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"

"WHAT?"

"I SAID- WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"

"OH! IT'S A HAND-LOADED ARTILLERY RIFLE SHELL I MADE! I CALL IT FLASH!"

"FLASH? WHAT ARE YOU SOME SORT OF GUN Wizard oh I can hear now oh god everything still tastes like potassium."

"YEAH- Oh- Yeah. Sorry. It's a mixture I've been working on for a long time! Would you like to see another one?"

At that, Qhen got back down into a combat stance, although the both of them were quite shaky.

"I... wish I knew why I had to fight you... I just can't help myself..."

( ) "Like a voice telling you to do it? I have those too. Just focus really hard on telling them to shut up."
( ) "Like a presence floating nearby, urging you on?"
( ) "I know, I'm surprised too! I didn't think anybody would be in such a hurry to put their hands on me!"
( ) "We don't HAVE to fight. We could just sit here until one of us gets bored. I could make us tea- Although I could make an argument for trying alcohol for the first time now."
( ) "I think I was supposed to have something witty, helpful, or even interesting to say, but I'm coming up blank. Can you pretend I said something cool?"

Suggested Load?
Flash Shell (2) [Light, Sonic, Explosive]
Shot Shell (3) [AOE, Blunt, Explosive]
AP Shell (4) [Piercing, Piercing, Piercing]
S.Slug Shell (2) [Blunt, Piercing]
Flame Shell (3) [Fire, Explosive]
Reg. Shell (1) [Explosive]

To be honest, Alice REALLY wishes she had some non-lethal shells now that weren't just the Flash Shell. She makes a note to work on that provided she ever gets to go back to reality. Also she's very much against using AP and S.Slug. Shot, Flame and Reg., used properly (IE: shot against the ground, or timer-adjusted to explode in midair) could do some damage without leaving any (hopefully) lasting scars.

HP 7/10 - MP 13/15 - AP 18/20>