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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 6, 2017 17:01:36 GMT -6
Greeting the welcomed pause with a stretch, her arms crossed behind her back as Nayru yawned in the scent and the air of the desert like a familiar drug, the dragon surveyed the scene as well as her companion. Though she was certainly ah, less bothered by the heat and physical exertion than her companion. Despite her time away from the desert, Nayru was after all a creature born of it, molded by it. Remus had adopted it, but she had not seen green fields until she was already a woman, and by then it was nothing but - awesome, actually, f**k sand, but it had been a bit of a surprise admittedly. At any rate she was in her element, not immune to exhaustion but far more inured to it than her blue haired companion.
Still, he seemed to be holding up pretty well, at least for a city guy, so Nayru refrained from poking fun at him or pushing the journey forwards. He clearly needed a rest, but would probably get all weird and NO I CAN CONTINUE argue-y if she said as much, so she just accepted that it was something she'd have to be subtle about for once in her life. Not that she couldn't play the role of Team Mom a little anyways, though. "Don't forget to drink something. Dehydration is the greatest killer out here." Of course, what he had pointed out was relevant as well. "And that'd be number two. People don't realize what a sandstorm truly is until they see one for the first time, or worse experience it. Thousands of tons of sand, propelled so fast it's like a million tiny blades, constantly cutting at anything exposed. Enough sound and force to blow away tents, dangerous enough to kill animals and men alike... and then bury your corpse under ten feet of sand."
The more temperate regions of Nabata had sandstorms too, but smaller ones. Ten, thirty, maybe fifty feet high, more dangerous for the choking hazard, blinding, and shifting sands. But in the deep desert? "That one's a great grandfather of a storm. The kind of thing you only see deep in the desert. A special kind of hell on earth that you'd never even imagine could exist if you lived further out." Nayru couldn't help but wonder if it was an omen of sorts. A good sign? An unusual, borderline unnatural, storm that heralded their arrival? Or a bad sign, a threat of death that would consume them both and leave not even bones in its wake?
She watched it quietly for a moment, trying to gauge its speed and direction. Not that the former mattered that much, they'd probably be dead either way if it hit them. "Fortunately, it looks like it'll miss us. There are ways to survive those things, but we don't have most of the equipment needed, so... that could have gotten dicey."
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Post by Remus on Jan 6, 2017 18:27:16 GMT -6
Nayru was right on the money. He hadn't even noticed just how dry his throat had grown. The fact that he barely inhaled through his lips but usually exhaled made him even less aware as time had passed. However his lips were dry and already starting to crack while he quietly fumbled for the skin of water. He uncapped the lid and lifted it to lips assailed by desert heat and harsh dry winds. Though heated now as if boiled within the waterskin, the priest lifted it to his lips which instantly began to get a bit more plushness to them as the soft pink lips got their color restored and his throat ceased its angry soreness. The relief flooding through while he tried with surprising difficulty not to drink too much. Though he had multiple flasks the time in which they'd get there was fairly unknown to him. Which, honestly, frightened him slightly.
His gaze peeled towards the storm as he listened to her, quietly nodding while slightly shaken and in awe of its power. Nature was...really scary. Tilting his head the priest looked back to Nayru even as she spoke further of hell on earth and the horrible pains and deaths one might expect within that fiend of a storm. It made him realize something. Anima mages controlled elemental magics to be sure. However they could never. Never truly match this caliber. It was such a vast contrast to anything he'd ever seen. Though he did feel a wave of relief wash over him when she mentioned they'd be by passing it. Smiling sheepishly he looked to Nayru with visible relief. "Ahah..I'm soo glad to hear that. erm..have you..ever experienced one personally?"
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 6, 2017 19:00:09 GMT -6
They'd make a proper sandlubber of him yet. Heh, sandlubber. Like landlubber, or seaman, but with sandANYWAYS she'd file that one away for future use. Point was, he had water, that was good, bla bla bla. She did too of course, more than she expected to need in case he ran out, but traveling too heavy was a problem all its own and Nayru was used to her enhanced abilities and extreme stamina carrying her through most travels, so she didn't like to carry much unnecessarily. But Nayru was no invincible, immortal, unkillable avatar of strength and deific perfection, either. She had learned the hard way long ago that she wasn't immune to any of these rules, she could only put them off for longer. And she had traveled with humans that had been forced to live by them. Being the hardass of the group was a luxury for softer climates. "Out here, water is life. Remember that. You lose water constantly, so you need to keep a steady intake as well."
The storm passing them by brought back memories. Of the eternal storm shielding Arcadia from unwanted eyes. Of adventures past, and tragedies that had been long since forgotten - for all but her. Dragons liked to think that they were above others, that they could punch or burn or endure just about anything. It was a pernicious mindset that she too was afflicted by, and even knowing that she was did not make it much easier to deny. But a big enough sandstorm... even she would have to transform to hope to survive it head on. Failing that, her only hope would be to try to find cover, or make it, and still run the risk of being buried under tons of sand.
"...Rarely anything near that caliber," the dragon answered somewhat slowly after a time, still almost transfixed by the sight of the destruction she knew reigned beneath the curtain of death creeping across the horizon. She'd never seen another dragon affect the weather like she did, but it was something Nayru had considered before many a time. Was thing something that the most powerful earth dragons, or manaketes, could do? "But sandstorms, yes. The desert has many ways of killing, and they are among the cruelest. Pray you never find out what it is like."
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Post by Remus on Jan 6, 2017 19:48:31 GMT -6
Water was life. Wasn't that the truth of it. He was loving water at the moment and well, he did love life so why stop any time soon with the whole "living" thing? He had a good thing going. Best not to ruin it. Though the descent among that final sand dune was by far the sweetest satisfaction he'd had in some time. Feeling the ground steady out beneath his feet. (To a degree. Sand was still sand.) The priests muscles briefly feeling out of sorts while his entire body acclimated to even flooring, staff now able to actually support more of his weight a bit under the more densely compacted sand. Oh and his feet muscles were now practically humming with relief and joy. He'd nodded in affirmation and to acknowledge that he'd received her warning well. The blue haired Etrurian priest speaking up with a soft huff in his voice as he still worked to catch his breath after such exertions. He wasn't exactly a cardio junkie.
"I understand Nayru. Err, thank you for making sure I don't die..heh. I'm glad that I can rely on you for these kinds of things. I...have to give you credit for living in this type of environment, or even atmosphere. To me, who isn't used to it, it seems downright oppressive. "
The priest tilted his head while gazing towards the sand storm with still fixated curiously. He didn't seem to be the only one either. Nayru's words almost drifting while she trailed off before speaking up again. Which made him suffer the terror of imagining what it was like to be in a sand storm. However he was roused from that by a sudden question while he tilted to look ahead past her.
"So how much longer do you think we have to go?"
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 7, 2017 18:45:53 GMT -6
"Ha ha!" Nayru chuckled throatily, honestly, at Remus's little thanks. Not AT him of course. But at what he'd said. "Don't go around being too impressed. I get to cheat a lot." She wasn't ashamed of it, any more than the average human was ashamed of using a sword to kill a monster. Part of the natural instinct for survival that all living creatures possessed was the understanding that they would do what was necessary to survive. Few liked to look deeply into just how much they would truly do when push came to shove, but it was still knowledge that most gave lip service to. Thus, it was not weakness or failure that as a dragon, blessed with what could be considered superhuman abilities, she would use them to survive when necessary.
Of course... neither did that mean that she was immune to all of these problems. She was still capable of dehydration, or being slowly killed by a sandstorm, or drowned. It just took more. "But really, Nabata will make a man out of you, no matter how tough you think you are... or, uh, your gender, I didn't think that comparison through very well." She giggled. The idea of her growing a mustache and some comically oversized ten-pack of bulging abs was actually thoroughly amusing, if not necessarily appealing. "In the desert, you survive or you die. It really boils down to something that simple, that obvious sounding. It beats boys into men, girls into women, the weak into the strong. I can't say as that I truly call any place on Elibe home, but... if I had to pick, Nabatans make even Ilians look soft."
"Speaking of turning boys into men!" Clapping her hands together, Nayru looked at her unfortunate companion with a glee bordering on sadistic. No, actually, that was actually sadism. The heat must have finally cracked her. That or she was joking. It was difficult to tell considering even she wasn't sure. "We're only a small fraction of the way there. Hope you like walking! A LOT."
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Post by Remus on Jan 9, 2017 10:10:22 GMT -6
Well, wasn't that a fair point? She had super powers that a human could merely dream of and he was a squishy little priest who had been mostly safe in conditioned environments with absolutely nothing to fear when it came to the weather. That said, he had a feeling that nothing would've quite prepared him for Nabata except well...Nabata. Sure, Ilia was known for biting winds and frigid atmosphere, but the solution to that was simple. Lots of clothes and fire. Though just as deadly as Nabata at times no doubt, it was an entirely different experience. The only way he could be ready for this was if he'd been here before. No one would've questioned however, just by the site of his exertions and the effort it all took that this was his first time in the desert.
Remus chortled to her comment about making a man out of anyone who imposed upon it. Her fumbling with it made him laugh even more while he flashed a bright grin to Nayru, briefly forgetting his weariness. His tone shifting as he spoke after listening to her. Almost any time Nayru spoke it felt like he was being given a little piece of history. Even if it was something just around the caliber of "So. This desert right? It's hot. The world be crazy man."
"So, then that makes me wonder. Is there anywhere you don't particularly like the atmosphere of? Environmentally, we all know you have a deep dislike for what Etruria's become. As does um..most of Elibe that's not Etruria haha."
Though really. Etruria was either fun in fantastic ways for you, or horrible all the time depending on where you ventured. There wasn't really a middle ground these days.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 14, 2017 16:51:44 GMT -6
Don't particularly like the atmosphere, huh? That was an interesting question, and worded in a fairly... Remus-ey way. He hadn't asked if she hated a country, only areas she disliked. Etruria was of course the default answer, but too... obvious. So it made sense to rule it out as an answer. But then what was she to answer? by and large Nayru didn't dislike particular countries, each had their pros and cons, and in the end for the most part they were all just human in the end. As traveled as she was, for a nomad like her it was hard to really love/hate one unconditionally.
Bern, for example, had their ambition (bad and good) and focus on strength, where Lycia reveled in freedom - except for where it didn't, because in that feudal land of marquesses there was little true freedom to be found for the average peasant. Nabata was hard to even quantify as a country per se. And Ilia... well, their mercenary identity trumped even their identity as a country, to a degree. So there was certainly something mean she could say about each country. But that didn't mean she had to conflate all of them equally; a false dichotomy was embedded in that reasoning. And it didn't take THAT long to think up an actual answer.
"...Ilia. Nationalism and elitism run deep in those lands, poisoning their minds, warping even their heroes to abuse the instability of other countries for their own gain." She didn't hate Ilia or anything of course, and Elly and Lynessa had come from there, so it wasn't like she just assumed all Ilians were jerks. But too many of those she had met were similar to Richter and Clair - career soldiers, inured to death and destruction in the name of coin; unconcerned with the ills of others. Not to say that either of them were truly bad people. She had seen goodness in both as well, their ability to help others. But their attachment to Ilia blinded them to the world around them in its own way and she could not truly ignore that.
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Close to two hours later...
"...I'm starting to remember why I never come back here," Nayru grumbled plaintively, trying really hard not to whine too obviously but very much on the verge. Any real level of features in the desert had long since become extinct, replaced by endless sand and flatness stretching most of the way to the horizon in every direction. Not even really interesting dunes, for better or for worse. Just sand and sun and heat and misery.
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Post by Remus on Jan 14, 2017 18:07:59 GMT -6
Ahhh Ilia. The first thing he thought of was the cold. When cheeks had grown rosy from flush of blood circulating to attempt and generate warmth, and every inhaled breath brought with it the biting ice and snow to flood and freeze the lungs. Rife with a harsh environment and people twice as cold as them. And they were money grubbing bullies at times that cared not for the well being of innocent children. Despite the fact that they'd never ever done a single thing to earn such ill treatment. How a cruel brutish population could be so insensitive that it-..goodness. Where had that come from?
Perhaps he had something more repressed then his ability to understand sarcasm after all. Remus did however nod towards Nayru's assessment, which was also pointedly a fair one. He directed his gaze to Nayru while quietly trudging along through sandy vast with no real thought towards it at the moment, distracted as he was from her conversation.
"I am inclined to concur. Though I've received help from kind individuals, like Flynn, and Carter, I can attest to that nature in most of the Ilian's I've encountered. I think the only true good thing I've witnessed come about from it was er...well..that it allowed for us to meet. If you hadn't saved me..well..ahah I imagine I wouldn't be here enjoying your conversation and lovely company now would I?"
He chuckled quietly but found solitude in it. It continued to make him believe that enduring the bad always was worth it, in the end. Because then things like meeting Nayru happened, and those were things he was okay with happening.
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So! There was something else he'd learned. Besides how hot Nabata was. Besides how tough it was to ascend sand dunes! The desert, right? Was boring. Remus was quietly following Nayru, chuckling ever so quietly at her tone before he chimed in. Though he felt about as frustrated or annoyed as she was likely, Remus still only knew how to act like well...Remus.
"Heh..well..for what it's worth. I'm glad I get to go with you this time. Even in a place like this traveling with you is a pleasant experience! Your er..conversation is often thought provoking and distracting, and your pleasant enough to be around that I feel content enough to endure the atmosphere despite it's rather harsh oppressiveness!"
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 14, 2017 20:12:29 GMT -6
"It... is nice to have a traveling companion," the dragon admittedly a touch hesitantly after a moment. As ever, accepting her own weakness was difficult and outright voicing it was far more awkward, but it was the truth, and she was trying to be better about that with Remus. Mmmmmostly. She still hadn't told him about the archives, after all, or the horrors she suspected they contained. BUT in her defense there hadn't been a good time to bring it up yet, either, it wasn't really casual traveling discussion. Just, yanno, when the time was right. She'd figure out what the 'right time' was later.
"Centuries of traveling alone have nearly inured me to the loneliness of travel, but there is something to be said for having a partner in crime at these times. At least I don't have to amuse myself mentally, ha ha!" She was joking, in a way, but not entirely. In truth Nayru's mind was ALWAYS active, or more accurately some of the major processes were constantly running concurrently, chasing different subjects, as her consciousness skipped between them or focused on one smaller issue. This arrangement allowed her to focus on other things instead of the maddened buzzing of her own mind. "Though I suppose there is some irony in how underwhelming the journey is given the destination, mm? Were this a proper adventure, we would have had danger aplenty already! Bandits, monsters, demons, dragons..."
Getting into the hype of the moment a little, Nayru walked forwards more quickly, then spun around with arms outstretched and a smile on her lips as she faced Remus, walking backwards for a moment as if to illustrate what she was saying. How, no one would ever know. "Though I suppose that in a way, we should be grateful that nothing has gone wrong, but that might jinx it-"
Behind her, the sand erupted in a frenzy of flailing blackness, about twenty or thirty feet away; first a single waving stalk then a low-cut body of some arachnid monstrosity, eight spindly legs holding aloft a wide, flat body with massive pincers in the front, and towering above its body a great segmented tail ending in a pointed blade from which something dripped slowly. Her smile was still present, but it was frozen on, slowly slipping down her face as Nayru stopped moving, arms still out, EXTREMELY unfond of the idea of turning around.
"...There's something behind me, isn't there?"
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Post by Remus on Jan 14, 2017 22:19:19 GMT -6
The scruffy blue haired Etrurian priest nodded brightly at her statement. Having traveled both alone, and with others it was definitely better to have a traveling companion. It just helped that in this situation his traveling companion was someone he was so close to. The priests voice had almost taken on a sing-song tune to it as the upbeat tones of the conversation bled into his words and his smile widened. He clasped at the pale length of his staff and fell into a rhythm with it, utilizing it to walk and alternating steps while he followed her through the endless expanse of pale brown ruinous wastes that people called "The desert".
"Heh I'd say so as well! It's nice to be traveling with you~ It's nice and well..relatively peaceful! Not like Nabata's trying to kill us or anything so that's a plus!! Ahah. Well, I can't promise to be amusing but I can do my best! Besides, if your amused it usually leaves me amused! Smiles and laughter, I've found, can be quite contagious!!!"
The priests upbeat tones continuing even as he quietly tapped his staff down to the sand and nodded as if to further punctuate and emphasize his point. He chuckled softly before waving his hand dismissively.
"Heh. I've had enough adventure for a time, I think. I wouldn't mind this trip to be peaceful! I don't need demons or bandits or monsters, and I've got all the dragon I can handle right here, ahah~"
Grinning slightly the priest flashed a bright gaze to the female dragon while she spun around abruptly and began to walk backwards. This however. Slowly changed from a smile to a look of bewilderment. Light blue brows furrowing together, and the priests expression shifting as the sands began to rise. Gaze fixed beyond Nayru and quizzically upon the sight before him. Until curiosity shifted to concern. Which quickly turned to horror as the colossal arachnid rose from the sands and began to approach Nayru. The priest gazing in concern. His tone quietly reflecting such. His hands were now clutching his staff as if holding it in-front of him would help him some how.
"Nayru...I think Nabata's trying to kill us...erm...you should move...fast."
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 15, 2017 2:10:31 GMT -6
Scorpion reference pic--------- Nayru breathed in deeply through her mouth, biting her lip as the resigned herself to the fact that she had opened her god damn f**k**g mouth and awakened the Destroyer of Worlds or some bullshit. Her arms dropped to her side, leaden logs subject to gravity once again, and she turned in place to see what horrors she had unearthed. ... God f**k**g DAMMIT. "Remus," the ancient dragon said very seriously, walking to her friend and placing her hand firmly on his shoulder, completely ignoring the creature slowly approaching them in the pursuit of far greater matters. "We will never speak of this to anyone. If you meet a girl named Mana, and she brings up desert scorpions, you will NOT tell her that we saw this thing. There were never any scorpions here. We have always been at war with eastscorpia." Her voice was firm, absolute; a will that brooked no disagreement or argument. The terrible words of a truth so absolute that reality itself would bend and break in its path. Not even a single quip or terrible pun. "Now." She turned back to the still slowly approach creature, slamming her fists together with grinding force that could reduce rocks to powder as golden scales began to protrude from her arms. "Let's make it true." Almost as if sensing her resolve, or maybe just because they were getting close enough to actually fight, the gigantic scorpion began to scuttle forwards more quickly, each leg moving almost faster than she could track, but it wasn't the first time she'd fought something big that happened to have eight legs, and this thing was only about the size of a decent Bael, not one of those horse sized ones but more like a wagon. At least the main body, anyways, the tail went up way higher. Meeting its motion, Nayru moved from a walk to a run, charging it as it closed the distance towards her; whether out of confidence or stupidity the creature did not rethink its motion, instead bringing its right pincer for a scything horizontal strike that she casually blocked with her - oh hey she wasn't moving forwards, that was interesting, now why was - oh crap its pincer HADN'T broken when she tried to smack it aside. Huh, that was actually really interesting, Nayru thought to herself, as the other pincer came in and she brought up her right arm to block it too while privately being somewhat impressed that it hadn't just exploded when she hit it once. It hadn't occurred to her yet to be worried.
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Post by Remus on Jan 15, 2017 12:06:04 GMT -6
There was a small part of Remus's mind that found calm in Nayru's demeanor. After the initial terror and shock at well..seeing a giant monstrosity approaching he began to find an almost..sense of norm in it. He'd never seen a scorpion before so this was a fiend new to him and as wild a figure as a dragon itself, but really..was this new in concept? They'd fought giant gargoyles strong enough to make Nayru bleed. They'd battled against nature itself by combing through Vinland to get to that temple. Sure he wasn't quite sure his fear of heights had gone away yet, but that wasn't the point here! He'd seen plenty of terrible things. Why was this any more terrible?
The soft clap of Nayru's palm upon his shoulder instantly drew his attention. As if she'd manage to command it in it's entirety without any effort. The priests lapis gaze drifting to Nayru curiously while she began to speak with such a sullen seriousness that even he almost forget the impending threat of the slow lumbering eight legged horror. The priest wasn't...quite sure he understand what he was telling him. However he nodded quietly while tilting his head quizzically. His tone almost as perfectly normal as hers if not a tad bit shaky. The scorpion was still approaching.
"Er...Mana..no giant scorpions...war with um...East..er..scorpia?"
Nayru turned to crash her fists together. Besides a slight internal moment of awe at how cool it was, and him wishing he could do that too, the Priest quickly lifted his staff. Instinctively channeling the flow of magic at his beck and call, he began to surge it through the staff as the white artifact burst with a blue radiance from the center gem. A small rush of winds kicked up around the priest before he swept his arm and guided the staff towards Nayru. A shine of light imbuing around her with a veil of warmth as a small series of protective wards enveloped her. Not enough to negate blows for long but enough for a few hits and to preserve her endurance.
As Nayru lunged for the fiend, Remus began to apply the same beneficial shielding to himself. Quietly imbuing himself with a glistening aura that could preserve him from a few wounds at-least. How long ago now it seemed, when such magic would drain him. Yet he barely felt the draw upon his magical endurance or stamina. The priest felt somewhat shocked though, admittedly, when Nayru's punch harmlessly collided off the scorpian's claw. He'd expected...impact of some kingly blow that shook it to it's core. Then again, that' was usually what happened when Nayru punched things. It was just..so strange seeing her hit something and not seeing an explosion of energy or power or blood and viscera and..okay yeah Nayru hit hard and this thing didn't seem to care. That was cause for a modicum of concern.
Remus slowly lifted his staff upwards and light shone brightly. Energy rushing to him as he called upon more of his power, this time actually preparing. Guiding and sculpting magic with his will while the light permeated like a beacon in the dark from the white staff in his hands. The priest called out to Nayru as he prepared his next cast.
"I can't really use my stronger light magic on a whim, I have to channel it first. So For now I'll just support you as best I can like always! Er..please don't get hurt much! This thing looks rather...mean."
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 15, 2017 13:29:59 GMT -6
Remus's shouting about some nonsense did serve to help get Nayru's attention focused on things such as, say, the battle at hand, rather than what she had eaten for breakfast or how cool it was that big bug thing could actually take a hit. Or, as a purely hypothetical example, secretly hoping that it murdered her so she didn't have to actually go to Arcadia and find out that Erim totally hated her now. Which was probably for the best. The focus thing, that was, not Erim hating her; while it was true that Nayru hadn't gone full power yet or anything, it had been a while since she met something that was equal or perhaps even slightly superior in strength to her golden form, and so somewhat like a child eagerly playing with a new toy she was having trouble taking it entirely seriously nonetheless.
Though in all honesty part of the problem was that she still wasn't actually used to fighting WITH people... she and Veigue mostly just switched in for each other, and Remus mostly healed while she fought. Mostly she just tried to distract the bad guys while other people did whatever they did best. On the bright side, in this scenario that was about all she had to do, right? And she was doing it EXTREMELY well right now apparently, given that she was, er, captured by the thing they were fighting. That had been part of the plan, right? Um... yeah, probably. No, definitely. She had ABSOLUTELY planned on that.
The crumbling shatter to her side drew her attention as the outer layer of Remus's barrier imploded under the force of the creature's pincer. Well. That wasn't a good sign. It served to at least bring Nayru's head back out of the clouds, which was probably for the best given that shortly afterward she realized the creature's barbed tail was drawing back, and, well, giant sword ass... probably knew how to use it. She was already working to divide her power effectively, keeping her arm shift functional while drawing more power to her upper body and especially head as they too began to crust over in golden scales, when the wicked blade came dashing down, carving through every remaining level of the barrier simultaneously and smashing into her hardened skull with enough force to smack her right through its pincers into the sand, the bladed claws crashing together uselessly above her as a slightly disoriented Nayru took a moment to think about her poor choices in life and wonder what all had gone wrong.
Then she had to roll out of the way to not get hit by the tail again, and then the left pincer came out of nowhere and gut punched(?) her, but by then she was paying enough attention to grab onto it and stay attached momentarily as it completed the arc, not quite sure what the plan was but pretty sure it involved punching something, it usually did. Oh hey, that was a great idea! With her free arm she started smashing the heavily reinforced carapace covering the pincer, hoping to, heh, 'disarm' it to some degree at least. Dealing with all three modes of attack simultaneously was surprisingly difficult, she had no problem handling one or two but the downside of her fluid shifting was that it did NOT cover everything simultaneously.
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Post by Remus on Jan 15, 2017 13:56:36 GMT -6
So. His barrier hadn't lasted long. That wasn't a good sign. The priest held his staff high and this time released a much more powerful burst of light. It streamed like a trail through the air as Nayru was busy playing with her food instead of eating it. Until, as she punched at the hardened shell of the colossal armored arachnid, it enveloped her in a much more potent infusion. Though brief, it also imbued a warmth within and healed the minute concussive trauma if any had been endured from the sting. This time Remus had put a much more potent barrier around her and was willing to wager that it would take at-least some kind of hit. But he wasn't about to just sit there trying to chain cast barriers. Not if he could help end it faster and risk less injury on Nayru.
First. To try it again. Something he'd been wanting to try and now might've seemed like as good a time as any.
Remus lifted his staff high. While the Scorpion was focused on his nigh-indestructible pun spitting, crap-eating-grinning, violence prone companion. He tried to close off his mind. Steadying it. Then he tried to recall Nayru's words.
What had she said? Steady. Let it flow slowly. Trickle in. Not all at once. So..little by little...annnnnd...
The priest let his staff's power blossom forth. A faint orange light from his staff imbuing into his body as he slowly began to bolster his power. Taking great pains to limit and control it. Small enhancements. Baby steps. He just needed a bit more. His pulse began to quicken. His body rushed with energy, and Remus felt his limbs become filled with a familiar lightness. This time, he leaned back somewhat, and started running with a measured speed. Far faster than he could normally run, but not as fast as he had on Vinland. It was about as fast as Donovan or Duma might've sprinted, but he didn't feel his lungs wanting for air desperately while he moved around the scorpion and to the side. It felt...exhilarating.
Remus lifted his hand into the air. Brilliant flashes of light bursting into the air around him before he extended his palm as a series of small bolts of light burst into existence. A brief volley sailing through the air as the burning energy blasts collided with the naturally armored monstrosity. They might not've been strong on their own, but by the time those ones hit, Remus was channeling and firing more. As if providing a screen of "covering fire" for Nayru of sorts. An annoying distraction to split it's focus.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 15, 2017 14:58:48 GMT -6
Nayru wasn't an expert on healing magic, or, uh, staff magic in general really, but she wasn't actually blind, so she could still tell that Remus had... repaired or replaced or improved the last barrier, probably. Whatever, she was pretty sure there was more magic in it, but she was only really good with Anima (duh) and to some degree Nether magic, Light and Staff was still pretty foreign to her. BUT at least her time with Remus had given her enough experience to recognize them, so that was a start. Speaking of Remus, she couldn't track him for crap up here, but she could tell he was moving, and that meant she should probably be moving too.
The oversized arachnid's frenzied movements made it hard to keep a good grip, and while she'd definitely dented the carapace it wasn't giving way as easily as she'd hoped, so Nayru turned her attention more towards the creature directly... which was easier said than done. Hmm. The creature was thrashing about decently, too much to easily disembark but not enough to really do anything with, and its attention was on her entirely... well, at least until Remus's volley of light magic came screaming out of nowhere like a swarm of angry bees, peppering the creature's side with countless stinging needles of light.
It wasn't enough to actually do lethal damage to the creature, apparently its body carapace was pretty tough too, but it definitely did some visible damage, both physically and to the creature's concentration alike, as she learned very quickly when it began to thrash far more wildly than before, almost slipping to the side. But what got HER attention was how much more the pincer was moving. Hmmm... yes, she could use that. Taking her impulsiveness to heart, Nayru went with the flow, waiting for the claw to sway back before leaping off, using its momentum to take her airborne towards the creature - though with limited footing to start the jump she wasn't gonna go particularly high or far. Still, it was enough to get her over the creature and falling quickly, which was just about exactly what she'd wanted.
The dragon came down on the monster like the fist of an angry god, her light halfshift rapidly intensifying into a full gold-and-green encasing of her entire right arm for a much more powerful blow to the creature's top that smashed it into the ground as all eight legs gave out simultaneously. She could SEE the spiderweb network of cracks exploding outward in every direction from the impact crater her fist had left in its shell, but it hadn't been anywhere near as decisive of a strike as she'd thought.
Also, she was right in front of the stinger.
Hitting the ground about twenty feet back and feeling another layer or two of the barrier break down in the wake of the two it had shattered instantly with that last strike, Nayru decided that she was going to give Remus a heartfelt, handwritten letter of thanks if they actually got through this in one piece. She also started charging the creature to regain its attention as it righted itself, rather than risk it turn back to Remus. Her mind was whirring as she calculated routes to complete the battle quickly, but without using too much power she wasn't sure what the best way to destroy the creature quickly was - the more she fought it directly, the more Remus was gonna have to keep shielding her, and that was just wasteful; she wasn't sure how much of his last shield was left, at least this oone had taken a couple good hits without breaking, but she didn't think it would take much more.
"Remus!" Her voice rang over the burning sands like the clarion call of a bell, the dragon trying to put her thoughts into words quickly before she reached her target again. "Hit it with something big, I'll keep it busy!" She couldn't recall if he'd ever named that powerful pillar of light magic he'd used before, and she hoped he had a slightly lower power setting for just one big scorpion, but at this point they were running the risk of exhausting him bit by bit - protracted combat in the desert was HIGHLY unwise.
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