06-21-2019, 11:20 PM
[font=trebuchet ms]/tw: burn wounds, blood, death
/tl;dr at bottom
The heat was at its zenith, thick and oppressive even on the mountaintop.
Rin stood at attention, her paws balanced in the snow and dust surrounding them. The sun hung high in the sky, its rays lighting the white dust aflame. The day had reached its peak. High noon, the archetypal setting for a face-off, had arrived.
Through the white, a scarab beetle scuttled along. Stopping a few feet away from Rin, it stared up at her, clacking its mandibles. In a flash of light, it drew itself to its full height, golden fur with a shock of red sprouting as it grew.
Bright orange eyes glared down at her as the creature completed its transformation into the recognizable form of a lion, its mane catching the sunlight.
Rin furrowed her brows. “And you are?” she asked, though she knew the answer already.
The lion scowled. “I am the Torchbearer,” he answered, unsheathing his claws. “Formerly a being of the sun… formerly a brother to the Huntress.” Entering a battle stance, he bared his teeth. “Both of which I’m here to avenge.”
He sought revenge for both himself and a family member, as though he and the rest of his cohorts had not brought it on themselves. This was the fabled “cycle of vengeance,” that no amount of debatable morals nor natural law would stop.
The cycle could only be halted by one side ceasing to exist.
The light caught on the Torchbearer’s form just so to spark a flame, fire wreathing around his mane and paws. With a roar, he lunged towards Rin, claws outstretched. He had sealed their fates. One of them would die today.
Rin telepathically removed an arrow from her quiver and jumped back to avoid his lunge, then flung the arrow at his side. The arrow pierced his skin, burying itself up to the shaft- a blow that would almost certainly prove fatal, given the vital organs inside.
Rage was the best painkiller, though, and he was furious. As he passed by, he swung a heavy paw at her, slamming into her left shoulder and knocking her several yards away. She stuck the landing and skidded to a stop, inhaling sharply through gritted teeth at the pain in her scorched shoulder.
Her eyes lifted just in time to see him charging headlong towards her, rather like a bull more than a lion. Without hesitation, she bolted out of the way- she had to dodge sooner, further, or his retaliation might prove fatal. As he flew past, she then took an arrow out of her quiver and flung it at him, its tip lancing the front of his leg.
He pivoted on one paw and lunged for her again, and though she jumped to the side she felt teeth catch on her scruff. She twisted to try and break free, but he shook his head back and forth like a domestic mutt with a chew toy. She could sense herself, then, flying through the air and landing roughly in the snow, but her battered cranium couldn’t place where she was in space. Flames burst against her side, and she was airborne again, the edge of the cliff growing closer and closer as she bounced and rolled across the snow.
She’d come in with an advantage, but she’d gotten impatient and let herself be careless. For all her lecturing to the Huntress, she mused wryly, she might meet that same end.
She heard pawsteps thundering and wearily tried to stand up. Staggering slightly, her eyes fell upon the rapidly-approaching Torchbearer, claws extended, teeth bared and bloody, eyes blazing with fury. He had a mind to end the fight here and now.
Telekinesis had more uses than just throwing arrows, though- she knew that from experience. Springing upwards, she suspended herself in midair just out of the Torchbearer’s reach, just long enough to let him run right over the edge of the cliff. A familiar nausea washed over her, both from how she had learned the technique and who she had learned it from. With a pained swallow, Rin released herself to gravity’s whims and fell to the snowy ground, taking a moment to catch her breath. Using her powers this liberally hadn’t been a problem when she was near its source, but here she had only her own reserves of energy to rely upon.
She looked up and watched silently as two paws, still wreathed in flame, appeared from below the edge of the cliff. The Torchbearer struggled to lift himself up, scrabbling for purchase against slippery ground, but finally hauled himself onto the peak, breathing heavily.
Rin took an arrow from her quiver and shot it into his neck.
An agonized snarl escaped his lips- accompanied by a spout of blood- as his eyes turned on Rin, burning with a hatred she suspected was not solely reserved for her. “You…” he wheezed, dragging himself towards her. “You… you will pay. I’ll incinerate you. You will not get away with this!”
With a pained screech, he slammed a paw into the ground, causing fire to burst from the snow towards her. Rin casually sidestepped, watching as the flare harmlessly passed by.
“Don’t give me that,” she hissed, looking back at the Torchbearer. “This isn’t about your revenge, it’s about mine. Your sister paid for what she did, and so will you.”
He bared his teeth, but lapsed into a coughing fit before he could respond, blood spilling onto the snow. A gust of wind extinguished the fire engulfing his body, leaving what looked like a regular lion. Lifting his head slowly to the sky, he watched a point that Rin could not see.
He mouthed silently. Selene.
The light in his eyes vanished, and he slumped over in the snow, the crimson stains expanding towards Rin.
Rin gazed down at the blood seeping into her paws, painting the white fur red to match the undoubtedly blistered skin on her shoulder and side. The medics would yell at her for sure… actually, there weren’t any medics here, were there? Tena would yell at her instead. That was fine, Rin had given out her fair share of verbal lashings to reckless boneheads that she had to treat. Even if she had to do this, she really ought to be more careful. She could treat herself, but the herb supply here wasn’t infinite.
With a weary sigh, she walked away from the corpse and towards the edge of the peak, then proceeded down the trail. The pull of muscles against burnt skin elicited a pained wince every so often, and her head was pounding, but she would make it down the mountain. She’d suffered worse pain before.
Maybe the Torchbearer had found an undeserved peace in his final moments, but she would not see the same luxury until her mission was complete.
/this is kinda ish but I wanted to post it on the solstice so whatevs
/tl;dr: there’s a lion corpse on top of the mountain- Rin’s walking away from it with burns on her left shoulder and right side, a mild concussion from being shaken like a ragdoll, and some exhaustion from use of her powers
/tl;dr at bottom
The heat was at its zenith, thick and oppressive even on the mountaintop.
Rin stood at attention, her paws balanced in the snow and dust surrounding them. The sun hung high in the sky, its rays lighting the white dust aflame. The day had reached its peak. High noon, the archetypal setting for a face-off, had arrived.
Through the white, a scarab beetle scuttled along. Stopping a few feet away from Rin, it stared up at her, clacking its mandibles. In a flash of light, it drew itself to its full height, golden fur with a shock of red sprouting as it grew.
Bright orange eyes glared down at her as the creature completed its transformation into the recognizable form of a lion, its mane catching the sunlight.
Rin furrowed her brows. “And you are?” she asked, though she knew the answer already.
The lion scowled. “I am the Torchbearer,” he answered, unsheathing his claws. “Formerly a being of the sun… formerly a brother to the Huntress.” Entering a battle stance, he bared his teeth. “Both of which I’m here to avenge.”
He sought revenge for both himself and a family member, as though he and the rest of his cohorts had not brought it on themselves. This was the fabled “cycle of vengeance,” that no amount of debatable morals nor natural law would stop.
The cycle could only be halted by one side ceasing to exist.
The light caught on the Torchbearer’s form just so to spark a flame, fire wreathing around his mane and paws. With a roar, he lunged towards Rin, claws outstretched. He had sealed their fates. One of them would die today.
Rin telepathically removed an arrow from her quiver and jumped back to avoid his lunge, then flung the arrow at his side. The arrow pierced his skin, burying itself up to the shaft- a blow that would almost certainly prove fatal, given the vital organs inside.
Rage was the best painkiller, though, and he was furious. As he passed by, he swung a heavy paw at her, slamming into her left shoulder and knocking her several yards away. She stuck the landing and skidded to a stop, inhaling sharply through gritted teeth at the pain in her scorched shoulder.
Her eyes lifted just in time to see him charging headlong towards her, rather like a bull more than a lion. Without hesitation, she bolted out of the way- she had to dodge sooner, further, or his retaliation might prove fatal. As he flew past, she then took an arrow out of her quiver and flung it at him, its tip lancing the front of his leg.
He pivoted on one paw and lunged for her again, and though she jumped to the side she felt teeth catch on her scruff. She twisted to try and break free, but he shook his head back and forth like a domestic mutt with a chew toy. She could sense herself, then, flying through the air and landing roughly in the snow, but her battered cranium couldn’t place where she was in space. Flames burst against her side, and she was airborne again, the edge of the cliff growing closer and closer as she bounced and rolled across the snow.
She’d come in with an advantage, but she’d gotten impatient and let herself be careless. For all her lecturing to the Huntress, she mused wryly, she might meet that same end.
She heard pawsteps thundering and wearily tried to stand up. Staggering slightly, her eyes fell upon the rapidly-approaching Torchbearer, claws extended, teeth bared and bloody, eyes blazing with fury. He had a mind to end the fight here and now.
Telekinesis had more uses than just throwing arrows, though- she knew that from experience. Springing upwards, she suspended herself in midair just out of the Torchbearer’s reach, just long enough to let him run right over the edge of the cliff. A familiar nausea washed over her, both from how she had learned the technique and who she had learned it from. With a pained swallow, Rin released herself to gravity’s whims and fell to the snowy ground, taking a moment to catch her breath. Using her powers this liberally hadn’t been a problem when she was near its source, but here she had only her own reserves of energy to rely upon.
She looked up and watched silently as two paws, still wreathed in flame, appeared from below the edge of the cliff. The Torchbearer struggled to lift himself up, scrabbling for purchase against slippery ground, but finally hauled himself onto the peak, breathing heavily.
Rin took an arrow from her quiver and shot it into his neck.
An agonized snarl escaped his lips- accompanied by a spout of blood- as his eyes turned on Rin, burning with a hatred she suspected was not solely reserved for her. “You…” he wheezed, dragging himself towards her. “You… you will pay. I’ll incinerate you. You will not get away with this!”
With a pained screech, he slammed a paw into the ground, causing fire to burst from the snow towards her. Rin casually sidestepped, watching as the flare harmlessly passed by.
“Don’t give me that,” she hissed, looking back at the Torchbearer. “This isn’t about your revenge, it’s about mine. Your sister paid for what she did, and so will you.”
He bared his teeth, but lapsed into a coughing fit before he could respond, blood spilling onto the snow. A gust of wind extinguished the fire engulfing his body, leaving what looked like a regular lion. Lifting his head slowly to the sky, he watched a point that Rin could not see.
He mouthed silently. Selene.
The light in his eyes vanished, and he slumped over in the snow, the crimson stains expanding towards Rin.
Rin gazed down at the blood seeping into her paws, painting the white fur red to match the undoubtedly blistered skin on her shoulder and side. The medics would yell at her for sure… actually, there weren’t any medics here, were there? Tena would yell at her instead. That was fine, Rin had given out her fair share of verbal lashings to reckless boneheads that she had to treat. Even if she had to do this, she really ought to be more careful. She could treat herself, but the herb supply here wasn’t infinite.
With a weary sigh, she walked away from the corpse and towards the edge of the peak, then proceeded down the trail. The pull of muscles against burnt skin elicited a pained wince every so often, and her head was pounding, but she would make it down the mountain. She’d suffered worse pain before.
Maybe the Torchbearer had found an undeserved peace in his final moments, but she would not see the same luxury until her mission was complete.
/this is kinda ish but I wanted to post it on the solstice so whatevs
/tl;dr: there’s a lion corpse on top of the mountain- Rin’s walking away from it with burns on her left shoulder and right side, a mild concussion from being shaken like a ragdoll, and some exhaustion from use of her powers
tags (06/13/20):