Re: Intense Struggle! (Round 4 - Old Salem)
03-21-2011, 12:59 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by SleepingOrange.
The fight was getting... More and more complicated. What had started as a simple stalling tactic, a dragged-out series of hits and running, was quickly becoming a confusing brawl. The appearance of the dragon had been bad enough (although with the slight bonus of forcing Madeleine to split her attention), but the other girl, whose tentacles were distressingly reminiscent of D'Neya's, added another variable into an already dangerous and hard-to-keep-track of situation. Lightning bolts and dragonfire were flying through the air, and several houses had already been set alight. By all accounts, the dragon seemed only interested in Madeline and the probable-D'Neya perched on its back, but it was almost certainly foolish to count on it to stay that way. How was one woman, deprived even of the little magic she had, supposed to save those houses and their inhabitants, stop the witch from hurting anyone else, and tame a dragon? An important destiny was one thing, but even prophets needed tools to carry out their god's will.
In between dodging erratic electrical arcs and swinging the cane cum hammer, Clara considered dropping the disguise once and for all and simply using what powers she had to help minimize the damage this barbaric competition was doing to this poor community. At this point, it was unlikely that anyone would have the time or ability to persecute her, between the dragon and the witch who had actually been killing people; on the other hand, manifesting magic might solidify Madeleine's focus and convince her to solely target Clara until she was out of the picture. For that matter, it was possible she was underestimating the citizens' ire at practitioners even of magic used to douse their burning houses...
There wasn't really a lot of mental space available for this line of thought; it was hard to have moral dilemmas and internal arguments and fight a homicidal witch at the same time. So, despite her back-and-forth, Clara effectively ended up sticking with the method she'd started with.
---
Reverend Greene maintained his dance with Aegis for something like a minute; he dodged carefully while making no aggressive moves and calmly trying to convince the man to talk. After a time, though, he became frustrated, and stopped dodging.
"Enough!" he shouted imperiously. With that word, he extended a hand and caught the blade, is skin ignoring the adaptive steel's honed edge as though he had grabbed a stick. His voice boomed in Aegis's head, silent to the rest of the world: My first and only real goal is to save my flock. If you wish to make it so the best way for me to do that is to kill you, so be it. I doubt you could withstand a magical onslaught in the midst of all this chaos. I would much rather find a peaceful resolution, but you may yet force my hand.
Aegis frowned, but the man's words finally got to him. With a tug, he freed his sword and returned it to its gauntlet form, then took a few steps back from his erstwhile antagonist.
"Fine. What do you want to say?"
---
The brawl couldn't really be considered to be going well for any of the participants, with the possible exception of D'Neya. Clara was still frustrated by the collateral damage and anxious about the reverend's hinted-at plan, Aph was battered between two infuriating opponents and felt as though the world was conspiring to keep her as chained as that perverted wizard had, and B had an annoying girl latched on to him in a place he couldn't reach with his stupid dragon arms. In fact, the fight had degenerated to the point it could barely be called a fight anymore, and was more "several people being angry at everything around them with a light smattering of shared violence". Fewer yells and screams broke the air, as most of the townspeople had fled the area most of the devastation was centered in, but quite a few ululations of rage and frustration burst forth from several of the battlers, even unaware as they were of the true nature of their opponents.
No one fighter could land a decisive move, given how split their attentions were, and nothing promised to change that any time soon.
---
"As I said, I wanted to hear your side of the story. To see if you could help me put an end to this without needless bloodshed."
Aegis snorted derisively. "If you already heard from one of them, there's not much else I can say, and you ought to know there's no way to move things on without violence. And if you really want to protect your 'flock'..." He glanced over his shoulder at the roaring dragon and the lightning-spewing girl. "You've got more important things to do that talk to me about my feeeelings."
Reverend Greene sighed and stepped back. There was clearly little to be gained here either through wheedling, through diplomacy, or through intimidation, and it wasn't in his nature to kill an innocent man.
"You may be right."
With that, he began walking quickly away, intent on setting into motion what he was sure would rid his town of this intrusion. HE wished it hadn't had to come to this.
The fight was getting... More and more complicated. What had started as a simple stalling tactic, a dragged-out series of hits and running, was quickly becoming a confusing brawl. The appearance of the dragon had been bad enough (although with the slight bonus of forcing Madeleine to split her attention), but the other girl, whose tentacles were distressingly reminiscent of D'Neya's, added another variable into an already dangerous and hard-to-keep-track of situation. Lightning bolts and dragonfire were flying through the air, and several houses had already been set alight. By all accounts, the dragon seemed only interested in Madeline and the probable-D'Neya perched on its back, but it was almost certainly foolish to count on it to stay that way. How was one woman, deprived even of the little magic she had, supposed to save those houses and their inhabitants, stop the witch from hurting anyone else, and tame a dragon? An important destiny was one thing, but even prophets needed tools to carry out their god's will.
In between dodging erratic electrical arcs and swinging the cane cum hammer, Clara considered dropping the disguise once and for all and simply using what powers she had to help minimize the damage this barbaric competition was doing to this poor community. At this point, it was unlikely that anyone would have the time or ability to persecute her, between the dragon and the witch who had actually been killing people; on the other hand, manifesting magic might solidify Madeleine's focus and convince her to solely target Clara until she was out of the picture. For that matter, it was possible she was underestimating the citizens' ire at practitioners even of magic used to douse their burning houses...
There wasn't really a lot of mental space available for this line of thought; it was hard to have moral dilemmas and internal arguments and fight a homicidal witch at the same time. So, despite her back-and-forth, Clara effectively ended up sticking with the method she'd started with.
---
Reverend Greene maintained his dance with Aegis for something like a minute; he dodged carefully while making no aggressive moves and calmly trying to convince the man to talk. After a time, though, he became frustrated, and stopped dodging.
"Enough!" he shouted imperiously. With that word, he extended a hand and caught the blade, is skin ignoring the adaptive steel's honed edge as though he had grabbed a stick. His voice boomed in Aegis's head, silent to the rest of the world: My first and only real goal is to save my flock. If you wish to make it so the best way for me to do that is to kill you, so be it. I doubt you could withstand a magical onslaught in the midst of all this chaos. I would much rather find a peaceful resolution, but you may yet force my hand.
Aegis frowned, but the man's words finally got to him. With a tug, he freed his sword and returned it to its gauntlet form, then took a few steps back from his erstwhile antagonist.
"Fine. What do you want to say?"
---
The brawl couldn't really be considered to be going well for any of the participants, with the possible exception of D'Neya. Clara was still frustrated by the collateral damage and anxious about the reverend's hinted-at plan, Aph was battered between two infuriating opponents and felt as though the world was conspiring to keep her as chained as that perverted wizard had, and B had an annoying girl latched on to him in a place he couldn't reach with his stupid dragon arms. In fact, the fight had degenerated to the point it could barely be called a fight anymore, and was more "several people being angry at everything around them with a light smattering of shared violence". Fewer yells and screams broke the air, as most of the townspeople had fled the area most of the devastation was centered in, but quite a few ululations of rage and frustration burst forth from several of the battlers, even unaware as they were of the true nature of their opponents.
No one fighter could land a decisive move, given how split their attentions were, and nothing promised to change that any time soon.
---
"As I said, I wanted to hear your side of the story. To see if you could help me put an end to this without needless bloodshed."
Aegis snorted derisively. "If you already heard from one of them, there's not much else I can say, and you ought to know there's no way to move things on without violence. And if you really want to protect your 'flock'..." He glanced over his shoulder at the roaring dragon and the lightning-spewing girl. "You've got more important things to do that talk to me about my feeeelings."
Reverend Greene sighed and stepped back. There was clearly little to be gained here either through wheedling, through diplomacy, or through intimidation, and it wasn't in his nature to kill an innocent man.
"You may be right."
With that, he began walking quickly away, intent on setting into motion what he was sure would rid his town of this intrusion. HE wished it hadn't had to come to this.