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Revision as of 23:35, 20 November 2006

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Fight of Days

Spire...

The link between Whiteshield, a country mostly grounded, and Windia, a country in the clouds.

And it did show.

Each and every building on it was at least four stories high. Each and every building on it, even the newer ones, trying to build vertically rather than horizontally, making a place with bridges far up, roads above, and a thousandfold places for the nests for the Windian's distant cousins, the myriad of birds. And of course, many ways for their predators, the myriad of cats, walk. And the rains fall...keeping the place quiet, gloomy, as if in prayer, always, with its everpresent gods... except now. Now it was quiet and gloomy, with the lack of life.

Of course, by now, a good third of it was razed, in ruins. A second third had been razed, but among the broken buildings rose bigger buildings of ivory and ice that had not been touched yet, shining ominous as they connected to the others in exotic angles.. The remaining thirds scorched by fire, essence, and claws - a destruction that aimed solely at lives. Right now, there were few more civilians alive in Spire than there were people in the army that liberated it.

The great Temples still stood, most of them desecrated... but it is not to them that monkey rushes, led by Leonas. No, it is to a place on their shadow, a place in the city's periphery, hidden... walking on dark alleys, under the high buildings, on the Black Rose neighborhood, a place for the mystic and the strange, where a mist always seems to hang...

The place was silent. Pehaps far too silent.

Leonas looked about, hiding his glasses once again, trying to discern any landmarks... whispering thanks for Black Rose's escape from the destruction.... "She lives somewhere here... Karla lives in a Manse, but Black Rose happens to have two, so my geomantic sense is not the best way to pick it..."

Child of Wyld Days: "A pity I can't scent dreams in the air... would make this all the more easy."

Monkey tirelessly follows, runs, leaps and bounds, trailing alongside Leonas as he plays the part of ally and defender in case some new dead tool decides to ambush them. For the most part, though, The Child of Wyld Days is enjoying the show - the devestation, the carnage, the tragedy. Heart-rending, but nonetheless beautiful; the cost of war, drawn from the Bank of Life and written in the blood and soot and city-dust of a place nearly fallen.

Most, especially residents, would find it horrific. Days found it... beautiful. Fitting.

"We check both, then." A pause. "... do you have some water? I can still taste that man's penis."

Leonas Du Mistlav: Leonas brings a hand to his mouth, looking decidedly green - what was not his aspect color! Clearly, something was wrong, and not in the least bit elemental! "Damnit, Days... I was trying to not think of that. How could you... really...?"

He picks a jar in some fold of his black armor, gulping it down heavily first, then handling to Days... "Here. And keep the bottle. I... am not sure I want to touch what your lips touched right now..."

Child of Wyld Days: "You don't."

Days drinks, swishes, gargles, spits. "And I cannot let an oath go unfulfilled, even if it's made in passing. There was really no getting around that one so..." He crouches, looking to and fro as his nose wrinkled. "... which way to the closest one? We should move, and quickly. No telling if Fiona's condition might worsen."

Leonas Du Mistlav: He produces his spetacles again, feeling the essence in the air... and pointing right. "That way!"

"If it is like that... well, I can appreciate you killing him first, at least. A true monster would have kept him alive during it... of course, I believe blood was still coursing through his blood? And didn't you... still need to ask questions?" He takes a little jump with his wings, but soon becomes land-bond with the ammount of sky-bridges between buildings and the closeness of said buildings being detrimental to all but high flight... and such closeness kept the Winlandian quite nervous...

Child of Wyld Days: "Well... ah... I wasn't quite thinking about that, but there's no time for second-guessing, my friend!" Monkey lopes along the moment Leonas points, and doesn't look back. "And yes, I didn't want to hear him suffer, and the blood was still pumping... really, I should stop talking about this, as I'm sure you'd much rather hear about my daring exploits throughout Creation!"

I can still taste dick. Meh!

Leonas Du Mistlav: "... you weren't thinking. Do you ever, ever think before doing something?" He covers his face for a moment, as they continue the walk, through the mist, into the alleys... "Damn closed alleys... hey, is this..." He reaches to something in front of her, something like silk... "... webbing?"

• It is, indeed, webbing! Some odd webs covering part of their path... no spiders or anything around, however!

Child of Wyld Days: Monkey can't help but look at the webbing, frowning. "I don't see the obvious thing that goes with this, but there's bound to be something unpleasant nearby. Stay close to me, Leonas. I'd not like for you to be hurt if I could have prevented it." That said, Days presses on, much more carefully than before.

Leonas Du Mistlav: Leonas walks behind the monkey, trying to see things with the essence sight on his glasses... and then he stops, the air whispering to Days, through the air, unheard by any but the monkey... "Don't look now, Days, but we are... surrounded. They are up there... they look like spider... things. Not even beastmen... "

"Say, those... exploits... did they involve bashing armies of bug-things?"

Child of Wyld Days: The Child sighs, taking a moment to check his essence stores. Low, still. This isn't in any way, shape or form good, but at least enough to call up the Kata. "Something like that... it was rat-things, though. Nasty fuckers with teeth like scythes and claws as black as cold iron." Monkey, spirit nonetheless ready, acts as if nothing is amiss. "Might I ask why?"

Leonas Du Mistlav: "Because I am running low right now, and don't think I am really up to another big brawl..."

"You take the mob in front, I take the mob out back? "

He asks, calming down, preparing the hilt of his emerald blade...
"Need cover while I arm myself, as well... damnit, damnit, why must it be so tight? "
His voice betrays the nervousness, the Windian desire to just fly away...

Child of Wyld Days: "Hum. Well, I can lend what of my glory that I can, if that makes you feel any better." Monkey smiles at Leonas, brightly and disarmingly... well, as much as his still-wounded appearance allows for. Nonetheless, Owl and Serpent remain ready, coiled around his forearm and ready to lash out to kill. "Although after this, I so must ask more about you... I am most curious!"

Leonas Du Mistlav: "If we survive, I will answer you anything!" He says, nervous, as he begins to make sorcerous gestures... and the light casts the spiders' forms on the mists, myriad little eyes shining as they look down on the monkey....

????: "Leave thisss plaaaceee... you are not wweeelllccommmee here, children of Creation... "

Child of Wyld Days: Whoa. They called me a child of Creation. Heh, what a joke!

Monkey, at first, tenses... and then chuckles, looking up at the many, many eyes as he folds his arms. "I might not be welcome, but I'm on a very important mission for a very important person, and if I'm not able to complete matters, I will probably not be able to get a favor or six out of her. So... perhaps we could at least talk before things go to hell. I'm quite tired, and would not like to end the day on a sour note. So... perhaps we can have words?"

Diplomacy? You? HAH!

????: "Talk? We can talk, thing of ice. If you can give us something, we can let you leave... "

"But if you wish to go further, we will not let. You are right, things will go to hell. "

It almost laughs, in its odd, hollow, clicking voice.

"You would be far away from here, or here, as it happens, but no further. "

Child of Wyld Days: "That... will not do. That will not do at all. I need to proceed, and I need to proceed quickly." Monkey, looking back at Leonas, scowls. Fucking spirit-things. "Perhaps I could offer something to you that might allow me and my companion to continue onward? I'm sure there has to be something you'd like that I might be able to offer..."

... and it better not be another oath.

????: "No, there is not. Our Brood-Mother is onward, and our devotion to her is unwavering. If you continue, you shall die. We shall use your body before you die, wrap your dead form, and drink your liquified remains. " They come closer. Their faces, with all those shining red eyes like rubies, come into the light... "You shall come no further to the Spider of Calobis. "

Child of Wyld Days: That... makes the Child look back at Leonas, visibly frowning as he mouthes, "Wrong Manse?" Even then, he's still keeping his senses to bear on those spiders, not exactly trusting them to just sit still and not attack while he has his back turned.

Why do Creation things have to be so difficult? Don't they understand my needs... even if we might've gone the wrong way? Bah, stupid shaped things...

Leonas Du Mistlav: ... and Leonas finishes, the emerald blade appearing on his hand.....

"Maybe. But for some reason, I think them being here is telling we are in the right one."

"Don't you think? It seems of be the way of Creation."

Child of Wyld Days: "Perhaps... and it looks like you've decided matters for us, my friend." Monkey turns to the creature-spider-guardians, and holds out his forearm. Owl and Serpent snap into place, ready for war, even as he calls forth his defensive miracle, Gates bursting to prismatic life.

"It looks like it will be the Sword instead of the Cup. I apologize, but you seem to have left me little choice in the matter, spiders."

????: ... and so, they come down, web and claws coming for Raksha and Dragon alike!

Child of Wyld Days: "And since you apparently were unaware, allow me to inform you of just who and what I am."

A single, lion's-pounce carries him to the first, closest spider, and he is the piece of yarn threading the needle's eye, striking in a gap on his eyes and Heart can see. "I am the Child of Wyld Days."

He turns, dips, flips, comes down split-legged, staff coming down to crush a second target, an axe splitting a log. "I am raksha."

Without a pause, he cycles back to his feet, coming to rest on the end of his fully-extended staff as he towers above the battlefield. "And you have no place in my story, except..." He twists, flips, comes down to swat at a third---the hand crushing the bug flat.

"... as fodder."

Leonas Du Mistlav: The shells break... and three spiders fall down, quite broken, their legs closing over their bodies, a greenish liquid filling the ground... and shining even greener under the light of Leonas' blades. In turn, the Air Aspect moves.... cutting in front of the monkey, opening a path through the webs, and cutting through two spiders as he pushes foward... "Days! We need to go to open space! Here, they are at an advantage, attacking us from above!"

Calobis Brood: ... and both break as he pushes foward, two more dead.

But the rest, three of them, two from two sides of the monkey and one from the other wall, jump on the Snow Monkey, one trying to imobilize him with webbing, another two with their fangs!

Child of Wyld Days: "Stand and fight! Now is not the time to panic and flee! Face the wind, don't let it push you any further than it can!" Even while speaking, Monkey is in action, a twirling, howling defense erected around him as Owl and Serpent flies. "Come to my side and assist me! Trust in my strength, Windian!"

"You sons of bitches... it could have been simple! You would have to dash yourselves against my Sword! You might have survived! It did not have to be this way! But instead you seek the path to Oblivion!"

Monkey leaps. Monkey leaps high, high, coming to the closest skybridge...

"Very well! Let me show you the way!" Owl and Serpent is a buzzsaw, twisting as Monkey sends himself into a terrifyingly-fast flip. The staff strikes the bridge, just where he saw the cracks, so perfectly aligned. Three heavy chunks of stone, three revolutions, three powerful staff-strikes sending the stone down at three spiders pursing him.

"I will show you the way to Nothing!" Leonas Du Mistlav: Leonas looks up... listening to monkey's words. Calming down.

The monkey is right. Damnit, the monkey is right! Closed spaces are better to fend battallions... you are a Windian, you hate this, but control yourself! Use their numbers and the space to their disadvantage. Fight few at a time. Allow few to strike you. Work with the hand you are dealt. And get a grip, bird!

The bridge shatters, and the parts crush the spiders! They break with squishy sounds! And their bodies fall, together with dust and rubble!

And Leonas shines, flying through the rubble, twin emerald blades of sheer willpower cutting though a great piece of rubble... through two spiders... and exploding the windows around him before they make their full arcs at his sides, as he comes to the ground... dust, glass, rubble and the blood of spiders behind him.

Calobis Brood: .... the two spiders break, forcing more to falls from the second bridge over Days as she runs on the ground....

And out of the blue, one breaks through a wooden door to try and pine Days against the opposing wall!

Child of Wyld Days: It's a simple matter for Monkey to merely swat the stones aside... but the third attacker makes him pause for a moment.

And just a moment. "I waste my time with you."

Monkey, having batted aside the latest wave ot attacks... smirks at the spider that decided to try and grab him.

"Where's your big talk now, insect? Oh, never mind, just disappear." Snow Monkey hefts his staff high, muscles audibly creaking and drawing taut as his staff comes down...to strike the ground dead behind him, twisting as he slams the staff deep into the road.

"My apologies for ruining your city more, Leonas!" Monkey smiles apologetically... while two halves of street, each having one spider on them, come crashing together like hands clapping at a recital.

Leonas Du Mistlav: Crunch

Is the sound of the spiders, crushed by the Child of Wild Days' move, in the rumble of a thunder!

"Not my city! Although you should apologize to the prince later!"

"He probably wouldn't mind if you did it to save Fiona, of course. He seems to like her quite a bit!"

As he says this, he comes down close to her, back to back.... joining his blades, as more spiders come his way, screeching... and as the blades join, emerald energy fills the alley, forming a delicate pattern with the remains of the webbing... gathering all together... and then exploding in a sorcerous explosion, taking out ground and wall, the undercribable scent of raw essence filling the air....

Child of Wyld Days: "... that smells delicious... a shame I can't feast on it." Monkey sighs, looking about slowly. "Alright, who else seeks death?"

Calobis Brood: And another three explode, their charred remains falling to the ground... and then they all stop. And begin to circle Days and Leonas, slowly.... "Many of usss... but we do not seek death, Wyld-Creature, you monkey of Days... we willl make a wall with our bodies between uss and the mother if need be... if need be! " And thus, many of them begin to make a wall... joining all of their web in front of the Child... while three of them jump again on the Child, and two finally manage to get to Leonas....

Leonas Du Mistlav: Leonas strikes his blade against some of the debris in the air.... breaking the blade, dozens of slivers of emerald in the air before him... and with the winds, they join, forming a elaborate shield in front of him, made of wind, magic, slivers and pieces of flying debris, shining like a magic circle, keeping them all away!

Child of Wyld Days: "You are going to get out on my way. You will not impede me from helping my friend! I will NOT accept resistance any further!" Monkey stomps on the ground, cracking the street below.... and then bolts forward at the wall of spiders. Owl and Serpent... promptly wraps around Days' waist, and he twists strongly as he takes to the air. Before he lands, leg sweeping out around him, he completes five revolutions, a hurricane of ice and Wyld aiming to swat aside all that stands in his way.

"BEGONE!"

Leonas Du Mistlav: ... and Days scatters them, four of them being thrown around the walls of the alley, joined together with limbs broken and carapace leaking, but still alive, in the middle of the webs between bridges... while Days lands on a fifth, utterly crushing it under her feet! And before the four might move away from their predicament, Leonas is on them... his eyes shining with the whirlwind gray of his anima... as he swings a blade of sorcery at the spiders, letting it go as a spinning projectile... to touch them, and explode far up in a show of magic and power!

And as pieces of their carapaces fall over monkey, Leonas smiles, claustrophobia forgotten.

Birds always loved shiny things.

Child of Wyld Days: "Do you feel it, Leonas? That beating in your ears, that rumble in your soul?"

Monkey grins. "That is the Glory of the Fight. Enjoy it!"

Calobis Brood: ... and then, there were five. All in front of monkey, none behind, seeing the emerald lights reflected on monkey's empty brass eyes. Five of the spiders, one of monkey, where once there were one a half score. The last five make their stand, their eyes breaking.... poison filling their jaws... as they begin to kill themselves to kill monkeyy, turning all of their venom to their mouth, producing so much they begin to burn... and then, five as one, sending a wave of poison towards the Raksha!

Child of Wyld Days: "Cute."

Monkey's right leg shoots up, almost perpindicular to the ground as all four of his mobile Gates dance along it, then comes roaring down, shattering more road. A hefrt, flat chuck of stone and gravel juts up from the street, timed just so to be in the path of the incoming wave of nastiness. All the while, Monkey sneers, eyes glinting dangerously.

"But you have no say in my destiny."

Leonas Du Mistlav: Leonas watches as the ground raises, forming a wall in front of the alley, the scent of the road burnt by the acids filling the air... as the makeshift wall breaks in half, dissolving, but only droplets come to their side. Leonas takes a few steps foward, picking the handle of his blade on the ground... "I must admit, Child of Wild Days... you are quite the impressive fighter!"

Child of Wyld Days: "Don't let appearances fool you." Monkey effortlessly backfists the hunk of stone right back down at the spiders that dared to try and injure him, turning to face Leonas. "What you're seeing is the amalgamation of hundreds... thousands of artists, past, present, and maybe even future. What you see is the perfection of the art, but not the truth. Like a hollow chocolate egg. It tastes good, but there's nothing of substance inside." Monkey slowly lowers his fist after looking at it.

"Your art is truly real, my friend. Take comfort in that."

Narrator: .... and thus, the big slab of ground falls over the enemies, crushing them utterly! The sound of their carapaces breaking is swift, and soon, all that is left is the settling dust and the sound of their poison still slowly corroding stone. All is silent... and the path foward is clear, through mist and web.

And through those they go... getting to the Manse. Hidden within the complex of buildings, it was clearly made to be, as it is a great Manse - a spire of glass reaching to the sky, glass changing its colors to better accomodate all the fluxes of essence, a garden formed by many spirtals of little rocks around it. For a moment, Days imagines the sky is cloudy... until she sees there is no sky. No. All of the area inside the buildings is covered with thick webbing... and atop the spire, is a grand black spider....

Child of Wyld Days: "... well, at least they weren't lying." Monkey can't help but snerk.

Leonas Du Mistlav: "... Myria preserve us. Misera... she covered the sky."

His glasses shine... and he sees... something. And points...

"There. You see? In the Spider's grasp?" And surely, to where he points, the Spider has a woman in its grasp... many of its legs going into the woman's back... and moving her like a a puppet, controlling her body... as the woman moves a web of essence on her hands like a puppeteer...

Child of Wyld Days: "Don't tell me we're going to have to break it. I'd like to avoid---" NO YOU WOULDN'T! Monkey clutches at his chest and gasps raggedly. "... we'll do what we have to do, and quickly. Suggestions?"

Leonas Du Mistlav: "Well, I... um. I have no idea. I have never seen something like that... maybe... I have no idea... wether we can remove those without harming her... and if she is harmed, we lose a great Geomancer, and Fiona, as well. I... don't know..."

Child of Wyld Days: "Then I'm going to try something crazy, once more. Diplomacy." Still ready for war... Monkey steps into the open, folding his arms and watching the spider work her like a puppet. There is a pause before Monkey shakes his head... and clears his throat, sharply.

"Hail and well met, great and terrible Spider of Calobis! I wish to have a word with you!"

Days grins, brightly, and waits.

This has to be the dumbest thing I have ever done.

????: The spider looks down... appraising monkey with all of its shining ruby-like eyes. Then, slowly, ponderously, the behemoth of an arachnid moves its fangs to the sides of the woman's face... and they go into her jaw. There is no blood... they do so as if they swam through flesh. And then, it begins moving.... moving the jaw. Producing the woman's voice. "I know. I have heard. Every web, is a feeler of mine. I have felt you all the way here, as you murdered my children. But pehaps... they were overzealous. State your bussiness, Prince of the Wyld. And pehaps... just pehaps... I might listen."

Child of Wyld Days: "Overzealous, perhaps, but in the end we all struggle to survive, yes? Heh, that's mainly why I'm here. I have an ally, a friend, who is presently struggling to remain in this coil. I was told that the woman you hold right now may well be the only one that can aide her, and naturally I sought her out. But... this does present a problem, as you seem to have quite a hold on her." Monkey steps a bit closer. "So I must ask what sort of deal can be struck to allow her to aide my friend... this is quite important, and time is of the essence." Days smiles and waits... even though, deep down, his Sword quivers, edges rusted, blade pitted, grip cracked.

So close to breaking... shouldn't have pushed myself so. Simply have to hold out for a bit longer, Monkey...

????: "Hmmm. A deal. Well, I will tell you this. I need the woman to finish an operation. A most delicate operation. You see... something just happenned that disrupted the essence flows of this place. It is all haywire now, and I need them all held together just a little while longer. If you can wait until I do so - then you can have the woman, if you present me something of equal value to such a skilled pet." The spider nods, her eyes shining. "I am Bouki, by the way. The black chariot of Calobis."

Child of Wyld Days: "Bouki it is, then." Days' face bunches up a little. "I suppose I have no choice but to wait, and to see about finding a suitable... ah... replacement." Once more, he turns to Leonas. "... well, this has gotten interesting and slightly business-like. Your thoughts?"

Leonas Du Mistlav: Leonas simply... stares. Incredulously at Days for quite a few moments...

Then, slowly, without vanquishing his remaining Spirit Sword, he leaves it to glide around him, polishing his glasses... "... where have ve we heard the name Calobis before?"

Child of Wyld Days: Days blinks for a bit.

"What."

Finally, things click again, and Monkey rolls his eyes. "Look, we have a general idea how bad things are, and truth be told it would be alot easier to just traipse through town, shoving out bootshod feet up the asses of every dead thing that gave us the hairy eyeball. But... what about her? Something's got to be done, and at the very least I could try to work something out..." Days turns back to the giant spider-thing. "She has much to tell me, after all. Anyway, Bouki! I've had time to think things over, and I must say that I cannot wait, and must request the services of the Geomancer immediately. I can even give you my word that I will return with her, if it comes to that."

Bouki: The spider watches Bouki for a moment... and Days can almost see the round eyes narrowing.

"... I'm afraid I can't have that, little Monkey thing. If you try to take her away from me... I shall add you to the flies in my web."

Child of Wyld Days: "I have battled a god atop a dragon, and have struck down many, many terrible things. But those were merely for my own Sword, my own Glory... you. You hold something I need in order to preserve a life that will complete my story. This isn't about Glory, it's about... friendship. And I can not---will not---go back empty-handed and watch someone I care for die because I would not dare." Monkey then... smiles. "You heard who and what I am. I don't need to tell you that. But I will tell you that I will extend one more chance to go about this peacefully."

Days holds out a hand, solemnly. "One more chance. Please, do not make this any more difficult than it already is."

Leonas Du Mistlav: Leonas watch Days' words... impressed. So, there is more to the Raksha than merely glory. So, there is more to that vapid head than simply violence. A genuine desire to help the Solar... a genuine offer of peace. Truly... truly, there was more to the monkey than met the eye. Now, would he be successful?

Bouki: The spider listens to the words, as she continues to manipulate the strings of essence in her puppet's hands. And then it stops, and shakes the head of its puppet, commanding her to sigh. "I'm sorry. For the sake of my master, I must hold this. If you truly wish to fight me for her... then come, puny little monkey. And I shall think of your earnest efforts at diplomacy when I feast upon you."

Child of Wyld Days: "... so be it. Leonas." For a moment, Days feels the still-grieivous slash running down his neck. "It appears we have little choice in the matter. Are you ready?"

Leonas Du Mistlav: So, he had to face a grand Behemoth - or is it Hekatonkire? Well, he should have expected no less when he walked out of the door with Days. "I am. Let us make haste to save Fiona. With you... I do think we have a chance." He takes a step foward, brandishing his spirit sword. It could probably be worse. The Bishop himself could be there, for example.

Bouki: So, the Monkey had walked in the spider's lair.

And it was the size of a bug.

Tasty jumping bug, tasty winged fly.

Bouki took half of its legs out of the woman, the half still in still moving her.... and scarlet venom begins to drip from its fangs. "I will only need half my legs to squash you like a bug, little monkey. Do you know how many of your Wyld-kin I have consumed? Hundreds. Thousands. I am your antithesis. My venom burns you as iron. You taste cold and dead, but filling."

Child of Wyld Days: Snow Monkey, injured and weary Snow Monkey, looked up at the spider that had chosen to make him into a meal. Of course, he simply wasn't having any of that funny business at all, and took a deep, ragged breath before speaking..

"It does not matter how many fae you have killed... wait. Yes, yes, it does. Because, if I become the one to slay you when so many have failed..." Monkey's eyes gleam brilliantly. "... then it will make my legend all the more glorious. Victorious Monkey! Now... now more than ever, I need you! Give me your strength and majesty, O my Sword!" Even as Monkey stands ready, he holds a hand high, clenching his fist so tightly that his knuckles crack like chestnuts bursting in a bonfire. "... let us share this glorious fight together!"

Days lopes forward, taking a step.

He takes another.

At the thing, the Manse rings with the booming STOMP of a bloody-furred monstrosity far larger than the Snow Monkey had been, extended staff in one hand like a club. The fourth step turns into a powerful leap, the terrifying beast throwing itself bodily at the Spider, interposing the staff at the last moment in an attempt to impale, then tear the staff out and away.

"Let us dance together, spider! Let us have... FUN"

Bouki: The spider is taken by surprise for a moment... but only a moment, as it tugs at the end of its webs, bringing down a barrage of dry corpses from cocoons, all to stop the path of Victorious Monkey! All to stop his momentum, and keep the child away!

The Great Spider is thrown backwards, screeching, a dark-gray liquid coming from the parts where her shell shatters... but still, it stands. "Foolish Raksha... you have made me angry now! " It says, as it launches itself foward, its jaws coming towards Monkey's neck, dripping with poison!

Child of Wyld Days: "... and you have made me all the more determined." Arms come up, Gates shine brightly, and Owl and Serpent stand in the way... but Snow Monkey's mind, submerged in and mingled with the ways of Victorious Monkey, is elsewhere.

It was a cool morning in some nameless inn in some nameless town, and the Child of Wyld Days, then a woman, lay against the chest of Tarnished Gold---mentor, master, on-and-off lover. He was prone to giving lessons at the strangest times, and this was no exception. As the Monkey roused herself from a needless, yet forced, slumber, she found him looking at her, his sunburst caste mark glittering in the morning sun pouring through the window. As much as didn't want to show it, the sight made her stare in awe.

"What is Essence, monkey?" Hands behind his head,, he observed the monkey atop him with amusement... and curiousity.

"It is... it is..." Monkey trailed off, finding that she hadn't actually thought about it too deeply. Before she could find something to say, Gold held a finger to her lips.

"I can tell you, and what you learn this morning, when your mind is clear and your body at rest, will change you one day when it all sinks in. Essence is all around us... Essence drives our bodies, it gives things form, it allows for wondrous things... but above all else... Essence is Will. The Will to survive. The Will to create. The Will to destroy, to repair, to support, to rise, to fall, to learn, to forget. Essence is the great and total Will of all things from Father Sun to the tiniest godling minding a grain of sand. Think on this..."

He chuckled, looking at the Child's confused face. "... think on this, and one day you will grow more in your art, in your self."

In my art... in my self. Essence is... Will. The Will to live. The Will to fight. The Will to overcome. The Will...

Monkey, back in the battle at hand, exhaled, and a stream of frost and snowflakes sparkled in that single outward breath. Indeed, the air around him began to chill, frost forming on the ground and clinging to stray spiderwebs, even as the fangs came, even as death approached. There was frost, and Air, and cold... but above all else, deep inside the Monkey's Heart... there was Will.

... the Will to SHINE!

His Gates exploded in a nigh-blinding wash of rainbow light, while snow and cold swirled around the Monkey, freezing the blood on his fur. In the instant before death, before certain destruction, his stance shifted, his body moved, his mind realigned... all moving a step closer to reality. A step closer to perfection. A step closer to mattering.

"Woe be unto you, Bouki, for now I understand... Essence... is Will! "

Leonas Du Mistlav: Leonas, in the middle of casting a spell, stops to watch.

The monkey's light filled the spider's nest.

He was... grandious.

Child of Wyld Days: "... and my Will is focused on one person right now."

Monkey flows with the impact of the Spider's fangs, rolling up and over, a rising star of light and snow, filling the air with glittering prismatic glory. "She is a beautiful girl, and pure of soul compared to a soul-eater like me... and I will not see her flame snuffed out this day."

Time stops. There is only, in that instant, the flow of Essence/Will, swirling and rushing around Spider and Monkey like glowing dust in a gale. Looking down at his target, he could see it... the points of weakness, the places where Essence bunched to show the beast's unguarded angles, as plainly laid out as the healing points on an acupuncturist's chart. Thorax. Head. Those were the closest, and those would be the ones to be broken.

His staff is light and Wyld and snow, driving down twice at the monster, following the chart of death, aiming to silence the spider and complete his quest.

Bouki: If a Spider's eyes could convey surprise, they would. They look... almost wide-eyed at it all.

All of Bouki's eyes show the Monkey's efforts... bending essence, growing in power, opening the gates of his soul.

It was impossible.
It was grand.
It was... it was...

It was something she should stop!

And thus, Bouki uses its legs, weaving shadows, a shield of essence-eating shadows to stop the Child's essence-powered strikes! Shadows that eat time, that eat essence, that eat souls, between her and the Monkey! Everything, anything! Anything to stop this Raksha's mad, glorious ascension!

... the impact is alike that of a falling star.

Nothing can stop the monkey - it is following a chart of death. United with its target.
Nothing can stop it.

And so it crashes through.... and break, each and every place it means to.

The Spider is sent staggering backwards... and she stops weaving with the Occultist. The woman goes limp like a dead body, as the Spider falls... ripplings its own webs, forming a great stretch of devastation on the garden of the Manse... and slowly, trying to get up, broken... clicking its jaws, trying to understand the power of this one Raksha...

Child of Wyld Days: Monkey lands effortlessly, and looks ahead at the destruction he has wrought. There is a pause, and then the Child of Wyld Days warily approaches, still garbed in his war-body. "Now you see. Now you understand. Your body is more real than I could ever be, as is your soul... as are you capabilities. But there is one thing about you that does not outshine my own---the will to win. I am the Child of Wyld Days. I am raksha. And you... you are defeated. Relinquish her, and I will end your suffering quickly."

Bouki: "Yes... defeated..." Bouki, the proud Hekatonkire, spider of Calobis, bows its head. Slowly, its legs lift from the body of the woman... leaving her unscathed. Slowly, its legs part, to show how it is hurt, and how, open, it poses no threat... until Monkey sees it. Every one of its legs grasping at a different string... strings charged with dark essence... and then, if a spider could smile, Days is sure he sees a smile. "... hehhehehehe.... defeated? never!"

And then, it tugs at the strings.

And the whole nest comes down.

Reweaving itself, bringing out the top of the manse, many trees, pieces of the buildings... all of it forming a vortex... a vortex that ends where Days is. Collapsing, all of it, all of the essence-enhanced strings... to form something, a tapestry of oblivion...

Leonas Du Mistlav: Leonas sees it... and stops his spell. Eldritch forces explode around him scarring his face and armor. But he cares not. Using the force of his own botched spell, using the lightness of air, the Dragon-Blooded takes to the air! Slingshotted by himself, he goes through the strands, cutting his wings like razors, picks the Snow Monkey, and once again shields him from the strands as they fall on the other side... and all of it, trees, manse-pieces, and webs, join to form a ball, collapising in itself as a piece of oblivion....a safe distance away.

Child of Wyld Days: Monkey, too shocked to act at first... soon realizes that he does quite owe the Windian a huge favor. "... remind me to let you have first crack at me when I'm female again."

Leonas Du Mistlav: Panting, blood trailing from ears and mouth, Leonas tries to not collapse on the ground, holding his fallen self with elbow and hand on the ground... "... heh... I will.. make sure of that..."

Child of Wyld Days: "For now, though... it's time to end this farce," Monkey is suddenly not where he was kneeling a moment ago, leaving behind a wake of glinting ice crystals. Instead, Monkey is a white blur tearing towards the Spider that dared silence him.

"Almost, Bouki. Almost. I must admit... you almost had me." He can see himself reflected in the creature's eyes, just as he aims to stab three of them out of the creature's head.

"But Fate is with me today. May Samsara cycle you quickly on to your next life."

STRIKE.

"... preferrable as something harmless and small."

Bouki: Bouki is sent bouncing away from the body of the fallen woman... and falling, broken, at the iron fence of the Manse.

Its rubies are broken.
Its legs begin to curl up on themselves.
Apparently, she is dead...

The proud spider of Calobis has fallen.

Child of Wyld Days: "It could have been easier than this." Days shakes his head, even as he picks the woman up, shifting her on his shoulder so that the frozen blood doesn't touch her. That done, he makes his way to Leonas, chuckling wearily. "And as for you... if you cannot walk, I can easily carry you as well."

Leonas Du Mistlav: Leonas moves, slowly... "I... appreciate... it...." He says, giving out his hand...

Bouki: ... and then, Monkey's awareness of the world kicks in. Essence. Will. He is one with all.

His gates senses every little disturbance... like the great spider lounging behind him, fangs full of poison!

Bouki, who played possum, and now is ready to take the Raksha from behind!

Child of Wyld Days: "Excuse me."

Monkey simply turns and aims a perfect homerun swing right at the approaching spider, owl-head of his staff screeching the entire time. There is no change in his expression, no grunting, no smart remarks, not even enough extraneous motion to disturb the geomancer on his shoulder. The Child is, by now, quite sick and tired of the spider refusing to die, and seems to want nothing more than to hurry it along on its way to Oblivion.

"Hmph."

Leonas Du Mistlav: "... playing possum." Leonas lets his hand fall again, trying to get up by himself...

"Damn old tricks..."

Child of Wyld Days: "It's not a trick if it fails."

Monkey spits on the ground, somehow.

Leonas Du Mistlav: "... so. I am still waiting..."

"I need to say hi to a healer, now..."

Child of Wyld Days: Days snickers at that. "... you're not alone. Come." Hefting Leonas up onto his other shoulder, Monkey begins the long trek back to the clinic, to safety, and to some overdue rest...

... as well as, hopefully, Fiona's salvation.

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