GoldenCat/RedHeavenSaviors
- - Back to Fourth Movement
- - Back to A Dance of Angels
Saviors of a Red Heaven
He heard the warning scream, cutting over his reply to Kinny. Felt as much as saw the shadow falling over him from behind. Seventh Moon turned to meet whatever was trying to jump him from behind.
This time.
Something ugly and dark hung above him and the scent of bitter earth and heavy dankness, before the end of a glistening serpentine shaft impaled into it's side.
Moon shifted back with a start as the undead creature was battered aside. New scent to the air. Dragon-scent? He looked instinctively for Kanti first and found her weaving around a rotting corpse that slashed at her with sickle-claws. And the ground around the young dancer was dying crimson as the rain splashed over her robes. Instinct flushed through his body, trembling his anima into a silver blur.
Protect.
Kinny happened to be closest, so he was the easiest to climb up and the Pack boy got a face full of Moon's boot as the Lunar stepped up his arm and onto his head before springing into the air. His foot caught the dragon of mud and diamond next, pushing off of it as it crumbled away bellow him, chasing after the tumbling body of the Shade that had been battered away moments before. Catching it in the air, Moon squeezed his fingers through the eyes and mouth of it's masked face. Bracing his feet upon it's stomach, he heaved his weight back. For an instant they hung still in the air above the shattered street, before Moon twisted and hurled it bodily towards the Shade assaulting Kanti.
Iron Shades: Foras was still recovering from liquid state, the stains of the crystal on the Black Jade of his armor, staining the magical material in ways it would need much repair... before Moon caught him, and in a flash he was a dart through the battlefield. Siang held his clawed hands to try and stop the strike, that came too fast, so he could just hold Foras to his chest, thrown far away, crashing against more of the ruins, their formation all but broken as they tried to get up...
Iron Shades: And Avian had fallen.
Avian had fallen, Niremar had fallen, a newly-Exalt, the Lunar's intervention.
Moments ago, Avian was to descend from the sky with the Dark Angel's corpse, while the Shades finished Kanti and the Goddess of. Moments ago, they had No Chance. But now... now... most of them were broken. Sian could not feel his underlings, those touched by Kanti's spear and arrows. He could feel Simma Siray cutting through the quiescent corpus of the others, fighting in the immaterial plane.
Sian lowered his head. It was no use.
Avian had fallen.
And why else were they even around?
"Iron Shades... we are pulling out!"
Arrows of darkness came screaming from his quiver, and as he shot towards the Exalted, they opened in a blanket of pitch-black smoke in front of them...
As Foras vanished in a pool of shadows, and Siang and Achas jumped back, wings of ghostly essence appearing on their backs for a moment as they did, pushing them back to the patch of shadows...
"This day's yours, it seems." He called over the smoke. "Enjoy."
Kanti: Kanti spins to stab once more at the ghost that besets her ... to find it not there ... to watch it tumbling off, twisted up with one of its compatriots and crashing through buildings.
Thank you Moon.
She turns to the foe as he shouts, to see the ghosts disappearing into the blackest mists, the fields of iris becoming indestinct. Slowly, far too slowly for one of her grace she starts to move toward the cloud, the blood still trickling down her body ...
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: And, wielding the warstrider like a huge and moble mountain, Opal intercected herself as best as possible between the arrows, the darkness scattering off the gleaming lines of her armor.
Once the parting shot had played itself off, and looked around to take stock of the damage. Inside the hulking machine of battle, she shook her head at the futileness of it all.
Selina de Windia: She lets them run, the swirling winds, crackling lightning, and dancing darkness moving about her, focusing on her as the eye of her own personal storm. Selina simply stands there, watching the nemissaries retreat. Indifferent. Recalling memories that were not her own.
He was...like me once.
It was something her kind learned not to do, if they wanted to stay sane. The people you killed were not people you ever sympathized with -- a bare minimum of empathy was necessary to get into their heads well enough to defeat them. Sometimes, you didn't even want to do that much.
Will I become that someday?
Seventh Moon: Moon hit the ground ready to run, his head snapping upwards towards Sian with pointed intent. But he held back, shifting from foot to foot and crouching against his finger tips. His breath came ragged with the desire to chase after the fleeing Shades, but instead he only watched and prowled warily back and forth in a tight arc around Kanti.
Someone had to chase them!
Someone has help her...
One or the other. Pick, pick, pick. He flicked his gaze back and forth from the swiftly retreating undead to the bleeding Terrestrial... and finally snorted towards the Shades, then spat into the air after them. Fuck 'um. They could be killed later.
"Y'aite kid?" Moon asks Kanti softly as he turns his back to the Shades and moves closer to her, the scent of her blood rising hackles on the back of his neck. The Pack was hooting and throwing cat-calls after the vanishing Shades and Moon had to shout to carry his voice over them. "Hey! One'a you fucks get over here and do somethin' about this! She's bleedin'! Ya can piss your names on the wall later, a'ite?"
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: She looked down toward the seeping wounds of Kanti's form, and interposed her armored boot before her path. How anyone could look serene in such a monstrousity was amazing in itself. Opal once again flicked on the external speakers. "Perhaps you should ride with me, Kanti. Your present condition would not facilitate a rapid persuit, while I might get you to your quary faster." It was a lie, of course. She had no intention of letting Kanti go back to battle... but how would she phrase it to the woman who's eyes never wavered from her quary.
Dark with vengence, perhaps. But its something Opal did not wish her to explore at this time.
Kanti: Kanti stops her walking after the shades with relief as Moon calls out for someone to come and aid her, glad they were not giving pursuit now so that she could rest a while.
A part of her felt guilty at this, wanting to stop them from hurting those they would if she let them. A desire too, to help them pass on to fresh lives.
There are people you can help amongst Moon's gang. Help them.
"I thank you Exceedingly Sublime Opal, though I can walk myself."
She contrates, and the wounds close up, the bloodflows stopping, leaving her splattered but alive, dying no more.
"I ..will be, Moon." she says, to reassure him, knowing he must feel some guilt for her state. "I will be."
Kinny: "Dude," Kinny looked around.... houses aflame. A trail where Moon punched the Shades together. Three stablishments totalled in the fight with Niremar. A crater where Avian fell. Flames quelled around them, leaving embers all around... the results of a clash between the Exaled and their enemies.
Selina de Windia: The Abyssal turns to regard the new and young Terrestrial, turquoise eyes blazing with light their own color intermixed with blackness. Her own wound ceasing to bleed -- that large gash through one side of her stomach, on the opposite side of her back. The leotard will close up on its own.
Selina moves a pace, toward Moon and Kanti. "She can stop it." The Windian says in a low voice.
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: She sighed in relief, though she forgot the vocolizer was on, and flicked it off with a different kind of sigh, even as she heard its forebearer echo out into the world. She locked the warstrider into its standing possition, and flicked the switch that opened the exterior hatch. With a hiss of steam, it slid open to reveal Opal in her typical, immaculate attire.
"I do not desire to sound cliche when I pose this question, but it is the most poinent. Where do we go from here?"
Hanna: The girl looked at her own hands... at the roaring anima around herself, as it begins to fade away, leaving her skin with a beautiful sheen of white marble that would be forever part of it... looking around, still trying to understand. To understand how... how....
Kanti: Kanti spies the wondering girl and walks over to her slowly with a smile on her bloodstained face. The flames billow about her, about them both.
"Welcome to the ranks of the Exalted, Princess of Earth." she says, her voice a little strained
Kanti takes her hands, pure white in bloodied red.
"Welcome to the ranks of the Dragons, Daughter of Pasiap"
Kanti kisses her forehead, leaving a red smear.
"Welcome to the ranks of the Stone Fist, Chosen of Gaia"
Kanti kisses her cheeks, two lip prints left in crimson blood, a trail dribbling down her cheek.
"Welcome, Ivory Dragoness."
Kanti kisses her lips, filling the girls mouth with the metal tatse of blood, the warmth of the fire, a bonfire raging round them both, burning neither.
Seventh Moon: Moon looked up at the sound of Selina's voice, a worried frown creasing his face as he looked down at the cut in her abdomen. "Fuck all, darlin'. Ya looked pretty bad off to."
What the hell had happened while he was gone? Couldn't have been those masked bastards. Not that knicked Selina so bad. Not after she'd taken down so many on her own back in Spire.
"How we holdin' up?" he asked Selina, lowering his voice as well and trailing off awkwardly as he watching Kanti wander over and kiss Hanna. And then he finally noticed it. How the hell he missed it before then the new scent in the air. The freshly tilled soil. The dragon-scent. The damn roaring cloud of glittering dust around her.
Hanna?
Wasn't hard to put together what happened. Why or how was a bit bigger worry. Not to mention what the hell Kanti was doing.
Flicking a finger towards the two girls, Moon glanced at Selina. "The fuck's that all about? Not that I mind, but this ain't exactly a good time for that kinda stuff, y'know?"
He was more shocked than he sounded, but shit, by this point it was getting pretty damn hard to be phased by this kinda thing. At the rate weird things were going on, Kinny was gonna turn into a god of pimps or something before they were done.
Hanna: It is as transcendant as it should be.
Going from certain death to wielding the power of gods...
But to those in the Dynasty, it is something they expect their entire lives.
To someone from the Boil... it is just...
Confusion
Power
She lets Kanti embrace her, kiss her, staining her now paler, smooth marble skin with crimson, letting her speak the words that feel so right to Hanna's soul, trying to piece all together, still...
"Yes...I... thank you..."
On the corner of her eye, she could look at Moon, and smile.
He was still alive. All was right.
Selina de Windia: "Terrestrial bonding." Selina says, looking over her shoulder at Black Avian's daiklave. She should take that, at least. Perhaps a few of his 'feathers'. She didn't know why the latter.
No, no, why am I being like this?
"As for me, someone I've met twice before." She turns, exposing the exit wound on her back to Moon, bending down and picking up Resplendant Sky, hefting it and sheathing her own sword. It was heavy -- not attuned. But she would see what it did later. She turns back to Moon. "I won't meet him anymore, don't worry."
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: She shook her head, and sighed a bit. She had the odd desire to sit down at the moment, but she was firmly strapped into the device, and did not wish to disattune it. She idly rubbed her shoulder, sore from all the straining against the resisting straps.
"Ah. Looting." She flicked the switch to close the hatch once more, with a similar hiss to mark the canopy sealing. She disengaged the lock on the device to prevent it from moving, and moved toward the goddess, to see to her condition.
Seventh Moon: Moon was smiling back at Hanna when Selina turned, giving the Pack girl... the Terrestrial, that was gonna take some getting use to, a wave. The sight of the blood stained wound on Selina's back killed the smile and made something hot rise in his throat.
Not that it would mean anything. She said the fucker that did it was dead already. He glanced at the sword she had taken off the ground, the slickness of blood smeared across the blade. Moon swallowed disgustedly and nodded to her. "Ya say so."
"Think you and the kid aughta take a ride with Chalky till ya heal up a lil?" he asked, gesturing up towards Opal and the warstrider. "Ya both look pretty banged up, but she's worse off."
Hanna: The pack looked in awe at Hanna. Some whistled at the kiss, but it was half-hearted - it was hard to just feel so much cheerful in this situation. She lets go of Kanti, her confusion hardening into her usual determination. And it was easy to have it, just let the high of power in... "Thanks! Kanti, 'rite? You gotta teach me more about this later." She says, taking a few steps away, a few steps towards Moon, smiling...
She was warming when she smiled.
"You worried me, boss! And... are you alright, Angel?"
- Simma Siray stares openly at the rubble and carnage laid to waste about her. That was fucking spectacular. And now it was over, for now. The nightmare, the blackbird... all that. They'd won for today. She desperately wanted to believe their victory was permanent. But... this was bigger than just the streets she had known. There would be more.
Damn, was she ever glad being material was optional for her. That was a close call, and she would've been pissed the hell off to die that way.
Simma notices the statuesque -- and hey, quite attractive, if you were into stone -- woman in the warstrider staring straight at her. She shrugs, waving right back. With an unceremonious *pop*, she rematerializes, settling herself down on a not-so-pointy piece of rubble with a grunt. "Well, I'm alive," she says, smirking.
Kanti: Kanti steps away from Hanna with a smile, the merest hint of disapproval at the look she gave Moon, the wave back crushing her just a little, though not before she whispers in her ear
"If my lady will let me, I can help you later. It's not easy ... Exalting.."
She turns to Fiona, stepping well away.
"Fiona ... I need what you can give me to help people ..please...but I can helpyou with that..."
And she does, opening the soul to Fiona's filling the young girl with warmth and rush of essence, a bloom of life in the cold streets.
Selina de Windia: "Yeah. We won't be doing jack shit for awhile." Selina rasps, turning back toward Moon. "None of us. By now we should be able to find out how the fight is going over the whole city."
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: "As it were." She said, faint amusement in her voice. "Will you be alright?"
She looked about the gang, to see to their disposition. Mortals could be so frail. Why didn't they field them with Gunzosha... oh... right... Second Age. She sighed once more at the deminished time, and rotated the torso so that she might look back in the Exalt's direction.
Seventh Moon: "None of us."
Was goddamn right none of them were in any shape to run back into this crap. Moon only nodded in answer. He should have been here with them. Might not have made one bit of difference, but he should have been around to look after his woman. To look after the kid.
He put a gentle hand on Selina's arm. "Good enough time ta stop and breath, y'know? Need ta sit down? Water or somethin'? Gonna make my boys run back ta Rusty's and grab anything they can."
They were tired, as tired as he was, but they were also damn near the only ones not cut up bad. If the Pack was gonna be having to be carrying more weight in this fight, they needed more than just knives and planks of wood.
Simma Siray: "Oh, I'll be fine, I'll be fine..." Simma mutters, waving a hand in Opal's direction--and wincing, at the caked-blood stiffness in her shoulders. "After a drink or ten, and a nice hard..." She grins lewdly, then plucks Prick from whatever-where-the-hell-it-had-landed and sticks her trusty blade in her belt.
"Yeah," she says, nodding her chin towards Moon. "What he said. No need to push with no immediate threat, eh? But... daaaymmn..." Her silver-gilt eyes take in the smoldering embers of fire, the ruined buildings and torn up pavement. "That's gonna be some rebuildin' effort. Good thing we're resilient."
She stumbles to her feet towards Moon, patting her friend silently on the back, gripping his arm in a silent moment of camraderie.
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: "Very well. We should loot what we can from the dead, then move back toward an appropriate base. This device will need matinence soon."
Simma Siray: "I ought to check on some things myself, though," Simma mutters, frowning as Moon surveys his pack and his girls, protective in the way she yearns to be as well. "You saw the Queens runnin' off while you came this way? I oughta round them up. Damn. I hope they got the hell out of the way when they could."
"If I can spare anyone, though, the Queens will help right alongside your own, Moon. Got that? Won't have the Pack pullin' all the weight if I can help it."
Kinny: Kinny tries to pat Hanna on her back, but the fading diamond dust is... sharp.
"Damn. Now, what are the odds?"
Looking around, he takes it in again.... "Daaamn. I used to run all around here as a kid..."
Fiona: Fiona feels... warmth. Kanti was so natural. So right. Part of nature, part of life, part of all she liked to celebrate. Holding the Fire Aspect's hand, she gave the warmth back to her...
Recharging one another, warmth of fire, warmth of sunlight.
Selina de Windia: "Yeah, that nice hard... will be good later." Selina agrees, not yet willing to shift out of the form of the demoness of the North. She looks at Kanti and the other Terrestrial again, then Opal, than that goddess. How in hell did they manage to find so many women and not one man? "Unless I'm dead anyway."
Then she looks back toward Moon. "I won't regain essence normally...thankfully my hearthstone will help with that. But a little rest and some healing would be nice."
Kanti: ' "Thank you, Fiona." Kanti says with a smile, pulling away from her with a little reluctance, and stepping away from her, walking slowly over the dark angel
The one who hurt you so!
That was just a dream ...
Wasn't it?
mistress was hurt. That was what was important. She had to be healed. Yes.
"My lady, if I might see your wounds..."
Seventh Moon: "Fuck if we're gonna rebuild this easy though" Moon grunted, looking around the shattered streets and burning buildings. And they weren't even half done yet. Probably stupid to stand around chirping, but shit wasn't gonna get done if everyone was dead
"Heh, thanks Simma. Lazy fuckers are gonna be real relived ta know they can hide behind your girls." He grinned at the goddess, an arm slipping around behind her to give a playful swat on the bottom. He lifted his brows at her. "Ya aught'a go find 'um first before ya promise 'um though, y'know?"
Selina de Windia: Selina holds the blade pointing downward, her own blood streaking the metal, and lets Kanti examine her wound. In more familiar (with her nature) company she might've licked it off, but between showing them Hyrokkin and consuming one of those cultists, she'd probably done enough of that for today.
Kanti: Kanti nods to herself, then presses her hands gently to the wounds, and focuses, green jade entwined with red, knitting the wounds closed in an instant, the red flesh replaced with the black and blue of a healing bruise.
"There. I am sorry I cannot do more, my lady."
Exceedingly Sublime Opal: Opal moves the warstrider around, taking the large tarp she had formerly used to wave away the smoke to collect daiklaves and other such treasures that would be of use to them in coming battles. Stacking them carefully and binding them securely so that they'd not cut the bottom out of the tarpolium, she stacked the armor as best as able on the inside... and, thinking better of it, found another one to 'double bag' the bundle. Once this was done, she tied it off with some think rope, and hoisted it over the armored back of the warstrider.
Seventh Moon: Kanti was taking care of Selina. Much as she could, anyway. But the kid probably couldn't do that with everyone. Fuck knows what was going on in the rest of the city, too.
"I gotta get my boys doin' somethin' other than standin' around." He explains quietly as he disengages from the goddess. Everyone else needed to rest, which meant he needed to work.
"Kin! Hey!" he shouted to the other punk as he walked towards the Pack, waving Hanna over with his other hand. "Stop fuckin' gawkin' and go be useful. Haul ass ta Rustys and get... fuck, I dunno. Anything. Everything. Whatever can keep us movin' or make them dead, y'know? If there are any Gearheads still wanderin' around up there, drag 'um down here too."
- Simma Siray mock-punches Moon for the swat, then pinches him right back on the ass. She grins up at him, totally devoid of innocence.
"Sh--yeah, you got me there. But I know my girls. They won't be wantin' to sit out unless they're severely hurt--or dead." Simma winces visibly at the thought. Better not think that way before you even know where they've gone. "I'll meetcha guys back here, 'kay?"
Simma salutes him with a wink as he pulls away, then turns towards the street her girls hit running, already fully intending to search them out despite her physical state.
She pauses, though, at Hanna, laying a hand down on her pearly white shoulder. "Chin up, girl. You did good out there." Leaning in conspiratorially, she whispers, "It's a weird feelin' at first, but that piece of divinity you've got'll feel second nature to you in no time. Keep it up!"
With that she straightens, already starting to sprint -- well, more like limp quickly -- down the street...
Selina de Windia: "Anything is better than nothing," Selina says gently, patting Kanti's head and stroking her hair a bit with the sharp-nailed hand (making sure not to poke her). "Thank you for what you were able to do."
And her mind? Well, that hadn't been healed for a long, long time. Just one more messed up thing to stick on top of the rest.
Kanti: Kanti winces and flinches as the nightmare claws come towards her, freezing in place, relaxing a little as she is petted, but scared by the experience none the less.
Kanti then turns to the goddess.
The goddess she had fought alongside
The goddess she had fought to protect.
The goddess who seemed so hurt...
"If I might look at your wounds before you go, Simma..."
Simma Siray: "W..wha?" Simma hears Kanti calling out to her, and near bowls herself over skidding to a stop. She turns, her grimy features surprisingly gentle as she addresses the Dragon-Blooded. "You're a sweetheart, aren'cha? Kanti, right? Well, call me Simma, no need t'be so formal."
The goddess opens her arms invitingly, beckoning the girl closer. "All right then -- just a little, 'kay?" she says gently. "S'pose I can't go out runnin' to help my girls in this state..."
- They appeared then...
Relentless Gears.
Silver Queens.
As Kinny was walking out, they came out of the rubble, the Queens running to Simma, hugging, holding, so glad she is alive...
The Gears' captain walks up to them... up to Moon, respecting his authority... "Lord Iron Tears sent us here, he was worried about his daughter... and I can see it was not for nothing." He says as he looks around, "You protected her against this demon the Queens mentioned?"
Selina de Windia: "You wouldn't want to, no." Selina says to Simma, walking over to Kanti and the goddess. "You seem to be a big target for these people--things."
Simma Siray: Simma's eyes widen as -- just when she finds herself filled to bursting with concern for them, the Queens come rushing out with daddy's Gears, and huddle close to her. She pats one on the cheek, ruffles another's hair, cuffs and gathers two of them close with either arm.
"Hah--you should know better than to worry 'bout me," she says affectionately, her eyes shining with warmth as she takes in her girls. "You're unhurt? Is anyone missing?" she asks, sweeping her gaze over the group for anything amiss.
Selina's comment penetrates through her haze of mixed joy and concern, and she shrugs. "We survive together. It's better 'n walkin' alone."
Kanti: Kanti steps closer to the Goddess, into the circle of her arms, pressing her hands up to the divine flesh ... so different to the goddesses she knew before and yet somehow the same, and she concentrates, ignoring the Queens running in around her, focusing on the healing, green essence twisiting over the goddess' wounds, closing them, knitting essence-flesh with essence, leaving blemishes in the skin, but none compared to the wounds there before.
She steps back as the women swarm around their goddess, stepping back, to be safe.
And then she concentrates one last time, pressing her hands to her own body. Flames roll out from her, and the gardabird takes flight, letting out a sorrowful cry as the black chains keep it close to the ground, and she heals herself.
The nightmare cuts fade to ugly black bruises, criss crossed with sharp black scars, the crimson light of her aspect shining out between them.
The garabird fades into the bonfire once more, and kanti steps forward, her wounds closed, the blood burned away.
Silver Queens: "Nah!" Nana speaks foward, clutching a little cut to her face. Cut just by the bits of wood and metal flying around as the goddes fought that demon... "None both the ones that thing had taken. We didn't let anything get on our way, boss - we couldn't help ya, but Rusty sure as hell could!"
"A lil' late, tho..."
Seventh Moon: "Naw," Moon answered the captain with a shake of his head. He looked to the three women standing near by, the angel, the dragon, and the goddess, and smiled at the sight of the Queen reuniting with their leader. He knew what that felt like, even if his wasn't have as affection about it. "Those two handled that. The kid and Selina. I was takin' care of other shit and missed it."
Was surprising to see the Gears here. First he'd really seen this whole time. It was kind of relieving though. Hell, right now he'd be happy to see the fucking garrison. Claiming the captains shoulders with one arm, he pulled the man aside and lead him towards growing cluster of gang girls around the three woman. He raised his voice, making certain Selina and the others could hear him over the Queen's chatter. "Whats goin' on man? We ain't really heard shit about what the rest of the city is like."
Simma Siray: Simma takes the time to disentangle herself somewhat, to accept Kanti's healing and show her gratitude in return. "Really 'preciate it, Kanti. You're bein' a great help." As the flames fade from around Kanti's body, Simma leans close, plants a gentle kiss on her cheek, and smiles. What a good-hearted girl.
Shifting her attention back to her Queens, she says, "All right, gals. If you've still got legs to carry you and limbs to work with, there's a shitload left to do!" She straightens importantly and starts doling out orders -- check on the wounded, gather supplies and whatnot.
"Get movin -- rest and relaxation's on the menu too! Soon as we get some of this mess sorted out..."
Selina de Windia: "Watch out, in any case. Once the deathknight is dead it ought to all fall apart, though." Selina shrugs, and looks about, yawning with exhaustion.
No, it's nowhere near over yet.
- "You just look." The captain waves his arm at it all.
The fight on the Ashen District.
The flames on the Red-Lantern District.
The sounds from the Industrial District.
The lights from the garrisson.
The unnatural sounds and magma tentacles on Highlane.
And, above it all... a clamor rises from the walls of the Industrial District.
There, they had won.
There, it was secured.
A swarm of undead did not strike it.
Sun
Moon
Fire
Earth
They protected Heaven, beat the Underworld and Hell, and now, the clamor reached them. Heaven was safe, and things on the Boil... were going well.
They could hear the voice of Iron Tears, calling them back.
It was far from done.
But, together, they had won the first round.
- - Back to Fourth Movement
- - Back to A Dance of Angels
