| The cost of magic | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 13 2009, 04:20 PM (68 Views) | |
| Yusuke | Jun 13 2009, 04:20 PM Post #1 |
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Dead Witch Walking
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The delicate sound of the clay amulets on his wrist rattling together escorted Yusuke up the warped wooden stairs of his home. The metal door that was the only access to his hideaway was shoved up as his eyes scanned the darkness outside before he fully emerged. Most of the demons that called the destroyed suburbs home had long since learned to avoid the blood witch. He was more trouble than he was worth. And he backed one hell of a magical punch when he had too. A empty bag hung limply over one shoulder and his dagger was strapped to his wrist. It would need it if he got into trouble. His blood was the only way to activate the magic locked in the amulets that decorated the bracelet he wore. Yusuke rarely left his home, venturing out only to find food and supplies whenever he started to get low. These trips were dangerous. There were plenty of creatures in the area that would love the chance to feed off human flesh. And the strange hint of power that ran through his blood made him taste all the sweeter to them. He knew the dangers all too well. But he was running out of herbs and without them he couldn’t work his magic. That would leave him all but defenseless. Something he was not happy about. So he moved quickly and quietly through the broken remains of the houses that use to make up his neighborhood. His eyes were watching the plants that grew between the cracks in the concrete and in the yards that he passed. He knew what he was looking for. Basil, borage and mandrake. He needed to harness the fire properties hidden within them and lock them into new charms. His explosives charms were dwindling and they were his most effective offensive ones to date. His eyes snagged on a basil plant growing against the side of a crumbling wall, swaying gently in the breeze. With a smirk Yusuke closed the distance, glancing around once to make sure he was alone before he dropped the empty back and began picking leaves off the plant. He wouldn’t take them all, only enough to last him a few weeks, leaving the plant to continue to grow in his absence. He’d need it again before to terribly long. And there was no way to get new ones without the seeds from those that already exist nearby. With a sigh, Yusuke tucked the leaves into the bag and continued on. |
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| Hazuki | Jun 15 2009, 06:15 PM Post #2 |
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Right on your trail…
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Hazuki watched the figure with interest. He wasn’t lurking, or sulking or even trying to sneak up on the apparent kid. Nothing of the sort. In fact, Hazuki had been there first and he would stick adamantly to that story. It wasn’t like he was even hiding, or trying to hide. Hazuki had a new found thing for heights and it was just another thing that Yuusuke liked to use to argue the fact that Hazuki was in fact nuts. Maybe the priest was right and Hazuki had lost his mind though somehow Hazuki felt that they were missing some important bit of information. That was what he was up there to contemplate in the first place. Perched on the corner of the roof of a three story home, Hazuki had made himself as still as a gargoyle, his feet and hands gripping at the shingles in an almost feline sort of pose. He didn’t move and inch, not even when he flicked his eyes over the ground to watch the wandering kid. Still and silent and only his hair and the ends of his jacket flapped in the breeze. The moon was high in the sky and that had been the thing that Hazuki had been staring at until the movement below. For a few moments he ignored the quiet steps of the human and had kept staring at the large glowing orb that lit up the black sky, but finally the pull of what he didn’t know and understand – like the idea of a human wandering around by themselves at this time of night – got the better of him. Thus he once again turned his attention to the kid, this time turning his head slightly to look at the figure. It was interesting. The kid had even glanced around and Hazuki was sure that he was about to be spotted; but no. Instead the strange figure dropped to the ground and started picking something that Hazuki’s eyes couldn’t quite make out in the darkness before shoving said picked things back into his backpack. Strange. Tilting his head to the side, Hazuki’s eyes narrowed slightly as he tried to work out what the human was actually collecting. |
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| Yusuke | Jun 15 2009, 08:14 PM Post #3 |
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Dead Witch Walking
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Silence moved around Yusuke like a living thing, the wind a subtle breath against the back of his neck. It caressed his skin and blew his hair across his face as he once again stood and surveyed the area around him. It was quiet this evening, most of the demons apparently preoccupied elsewhere. Probably tormenting the inhabitants of one or more of the villages nearby. He would never understand why people flocked there. Those established towns were nothing more than a blazing target every night, the light from all those ramshackle homes glowing like a beacon to the demons that hunted these parts. Yusuke much preferred his way of doing things. It wasn’t the life he’d once had. It wasn’t much of a life at all, not really. More of an existence that he couldn’t change. But he survived and that was something so many in this area didn’t do. He’d watched demons rip people apart on the streets, dragging them kicking and screaming into the darkness. He wouldn’t be one of them. No matter how he met his end here, it wouldn’t be weak and defenseless. Of that he was more that certain. And if any demon was foolish enough to attack him, they had one hell of a surprise waiting for them. The full moon hung heavy in the sky as Yusuke left the basil plant behind and stepped back onto the street. His footsteps fell silently as he circled around the skeletal remains of what had once been a vehicle. There was nothing remaining of it except the twisted metal frame. His eyes skipped over the inside as he searched for demons hiding in ambush. Wouldn’t do to get caught unaware. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind when he caught movement ahead of him. Nothing more than the flash of a shadow on a wall, but it was enough. No humans ever traveled this area at night. The ones that use to had long since been killed off. Which meant only one thing, he had company, of the demonic variety. Yusuke was relatively sure it knew he was there and he was already anticipating the attack that would come. His hand slid to his wrist, fingers running across rune carved charms until he found the one he wanted. With a small jerk it snapped free. With it clasped between his fingers, his free hand slid to the knife strapped to his wrist, the blade catching the light of the moon and reflecting it back at him. All he needed was a single drop of his own blood and he’d have one very shocked demon on his hands. |
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| Hazuki | Jun 15 2009, 11:05 PM Post #4 |
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Right on your trail…
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Movement. Hazuki’s eyes flicked away from the strange kid, seeing the shadow stretching up the side of a crumbling wall. Eyes squinting slightly, Hazuki peered through the darkness. He was overly receptive to the small bits of movement that other people seemed to miss though he just put it down to having twenty-twenty vision. Sniffing the air, Hazuki picked up on the faint stench of wet dog. Gross. Just fucking gross. The canines always stank around here though Hazuki couldn’t work out why. Yuusuke reckoned that they smelt the same no matter where they were, but Hazuki was sure that there was a hideous difference with those that skulked around these streets. Made him paranoid. Of course none of that really mattered though as there was the issue with the happy plant collecting kid being on the ground. No doubt the reason the mutt came sniffing around anyway. Hazuki sighed and weighed up the options while looking back and forth. Well, this was a conundrum. Hazuki was quite happy with his high little perch and really didn’t fancy the idea of moving. Of course though, he couldn’t exactly just sit there and watch the kid get slaughtered, especially since it seemed apparent that the boy was going to fight the demon with a small knife and his bracelet. “Fucking stupid kids,” Hazuki muttered to himself. It didn’t take much for him to move which was something that he was both proud about and half terrified of. Something about the speed of his reaction time didn’t seem so overly human when he really thought about it. Which was a perfect excuse not to think, and Hazuki got by just wonderfully with that justification up his sleeve. The gun flashed in the moonlight, the well polished barrel long and thin and Hazuki hardly bothered to really aim the damn thing. He seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to shooting down demons. It was another of those things that he filed away in the strange but plausible pile. For instance, from this high position he had a clear view of the streets, the demon and the kid. With enough practice with a gun, anyone could have made the same shot in the same split second that he had. Simple as that. By the time the sound of the single shot reverberated around the empty streets, Hazuki already had the gun tucked away and was moving, almost crab crawling down off the sloped roof onto the flat beams of the roofless house just below. He didn’t wait to see the creature fall – the howl and thud was enough – and instead concentrated on getting himself away from the kid. He didn’t want some strange knife wielding fool looking for a fight or freaking out on him. |
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| Yusuke | Jun 15 2009, 11:28 PM Post #5 |
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Dead Witch Walking
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The sudden explosion of sound left his ears ringing and Yusuke nearly dropped his precious charm as he clapped his hands over them to close out the echo. The demon ahead of him had taken that shot, he was sure of it. He could feel the damn things, like a wicked corruption pressing at the back of his skull and crawling down his spine. He chalked it up to the magic running through his blood. He could sense both the demons and the angels that lurked anywhere near by. And the presence he had just been closing in on was suddenly not there at all. But what worried him more was what had killed it. He’d seen the flash of light from the gun’s barrel, well above the ground and to his left. He didn’t take the time to consider who it might be, anything that could shoot like that in the dark wasn’t human enough for his liking. That knife slipped across his finger, a small ribbon of blood forming instantly. He pressed that charm to the blood there and hurled it at the movement he caught on the roof. He didn’t even bother to worry about his aim as the charm left his fingers. The explosion rocked the street as the house came tumbling down. His most effective charm indeed. Yusuke couldn’t contain the grin that spread across his face as he moved across the street to see if anything had survived the blast. He was already removing another charm from the bracelet, careful to keep it away from his bleeding finger else he activate it needlessly. There was little chance that a human or a lesser demon had made it through the explosion of fire and magic. And he was ready for anything stronger that might have. “Come out, come out where ever you are…” Yusuke’s voice slid through the night air, the only sound now that the echoes of the blast were done. He’d have to move quickly though. Check for whatever had shot the demon and then get the hell out of there. That noise would be enough to bring other creatures crawling out of the woodwork. His hunt for herbs would have to continue tomorrow night. Not something he was overly pleased with, but it couldn’t be helped. He only had so many prepared spells. And he wasn’t willing to get caught outside after they ran out. His eyes scanned the darkness around the now collapsed home, all the while letting his senses stretch out to pick up any sign of demon taint amongst the shadows. He couldn’t feel anything. Which meant either the shooter was dead, or it wasn’t a demon. An angel was his next guess, but they were harder to feel out. “Come on you sorry son of bitch, where are you?” |
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| Hazuki | Jun 16 2009, 12:04 AM Post #6 |
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Right on your trail…
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Moving across the rooftops always made Hazuki feel better. It was actually rare to run into demons up there though Hazuki wasn’t too sure why. He gathered that it had something to do with the fact that most humans tried to sneak through the streets – and failed miserably at that – and thus there were better pickings on the ground. Most of the humans weren’t cut out for high places; irrational fear of falling and all that. Hazuki outright squawked as he felt the wood beneath his feet disintegrate. One minute he was running along the beam in a way that he just put down to a lot of practice mixed with good balance and then the next his feet were still moving but he was going nowhere but down. It was not a pleasant feeling at all. Arms flailing out, Hazuki practically flapped out his need for a handhold to stop his fall. Somehow he managed to grab at a bit of support beam that hadn’t completely broken in the explosion. With flexibly that even he couldn’t quite rationalize away, he used his arms to pull himself closer and kicked his feet out at the same time, sending his body into somewhat of a spin around the beam. Letting go, he swore in his mind, called himself insane and simply hoped for the best. He kept his knees in close, his head tucked down and his eyes closed as the world moved around a full three hundred and sixty degrees. Trusting in something that he couldn’t explain, Hazuki kept his eyes squeezed shut and waited until he felt his feet press against narrow wood. It wasn’t until then that he opened his eyes and actually looked around. Smoke filled the air, mingling with the dust from the destroyed building. He was at the far corner, perched on about a foot of beam that had survived. One side was bracketed and nailed into a tall structural plank that would have once marked the corner of the room. The other end of his perch was charred and jagged with a few spots of wood still smouldering from the unnatural fire. Below him it looked like a battlefield; bits of wood and metal and room tiles littered the ground, all of them covered in a thick blanket of ash and dust. Hazuki raised an eyebrow at the destruction and absentmindedly brushed his jacket off. The action created a cloud of dust and Hazuki struggled not to cough. Fucking insane little shit of a brat must have had explosives. Maybe the priest had a twin or something. Cocking his head to the side, Hazuki listened to the street below, getting a feel for the kid’s heartbeat and footsteps. He could hear someone talking, almost singing out into the night and it reminded Hazuki of some demented game of chase. Hazuki watched as the kid came into view. He contemplated moving, thought about trying to hide but decided that it would probably earn him another grenade. So instead he just crossed his arms over his chest, his legs still bent at the knees as he squatted on the broken beam. “And if I don’t want to come out?” He called back down. |
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| Yusuke | Jun 16 2009, 04:38 PM Post #7 |
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Dead Witch Walking
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Fear was something that Yusuke had long ago learned to harness and use to his advantage. And even as his pulse raced and his fingers tightened against that charm he was in control. His eyes pierced through the darkness as well as any feline’s could. The magic that he’d cast on himself before leaving his sanctuary had yet to wear off. The shadows did nothing to hide the figure crouched above him. Though something about his stance told Yusuke that he had never intended to hide at all. Instead the stranger stayed crouched there, in an impossible feat of balance that had the young witch slotting him as angel almost instantly. The only part about that assumption that had him pausing was the simple fact that he couldn’t feel the other man. There was no press of power against his senses. The decay and corruption of a demon’s essence was missing, as was the cold and calculating push of an angel. This man was neither of those creatures. And yet he’d survived one of Yusuke’s blasts and was perched on the charred remains of a support beam, seemingly without a care in the world. It made Yusuke hesitate for a moment to try and figure out just what he’d managed to come across. “I suppose, if you wanted to, you could just stay up there on that little piece of wood until demons were crawling all over the place. They never take long to come and investigate an explosion like that.” Yusuke turned his face up to the man above him, the light of the full moon illuminating his features for a brief instant before he shifted again and slipped back into shadow. He knew how he looked in that moment. Like a demon, or a ghost wandering hopelessly through all this destruction. His skin was pale, so long without sunlight that it held none of the warmth it once had. And his eyes were milky white. The power coursing through his blood clouded them, though it didn’t have an effect on his vision at all. Those white eyes slid back up to the man in his company and lingered there. He wasn’t sure if the threat was gone or not, but his pulse was slowing down gradually. And he felt his breathing even out as he stood with his back to the remnants of a wall and just watched. For all his caution, he was more curious about this man. He didn’t feel like a threat, though the memory of the demon falling to him was a steady reminder that he was much more than he appeared to be. “Or you could come down and tell me why you’re lurking near my home. And how you managed to survive that blast.” Yusuke let his head tilt to the side as he observed the stranger. “You aren’t a demon, I know this. Nor an angel. But you don’t seem to move quiet like any human I’ve known. Care to explain?” His voice whispered through that empty air, barely above a whisper. He wanted the man to speak more than anything else. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had anyone to talk to besides himself. And while he may never admit it, out of everything he’d lost, he missed human contact the most. |
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| Hazuki | Jun 16 2009, 06:42 PM Post #8 |
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Right on your trail…
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As the kid moved, Hazuki got the first real glimpse of his face and without really noticing what he was doing, his upper lip pulled back, revealing his teeth as a rolling snarl rumbled in the back of his throat. Pale and white eyes; fucking freaky and Hazuki could have easily been convinced that the child was some strange sort of vampiric demon. Lifting his chin slightly, Hazuki sniffed at the air, trying to get past the ash and dirt of the explosion. Nothing demonic about the little guy, at least as far as Hazuki could tell. Then again his nose had been a bit blocked of late. More and more he was finding that he needed to press it right against something to get the scent though somehow he hardly gathered that approach would be the best way to deal with the situation at hand. Besides, he didn’t overly fancy getting that close to the creepy pale fucker. “Your home?” Hazuki questioned incredulously. It was a fucking waste land out here and Hazuki was almost certain that no one was stupid enough to try and survive these conditions. Small clumps of villages yes, but there were none of those for miles; this was just the sprawling remains of what had once been suburban hell. “And I was hardly lurking. Well, at least not until you tried to blow me the fuck up, which, by the way, isn’t a very nice way to go around meeting people. You should work on your social skills.” As the kid kept going with his questions, Hazuki tuned right out. He didn’t have the patience for people who apparently liked to hear themselves speak. “I don’t have to tell you shit, kid,” Hazuki said with a dry laugh. It was true as well though fucked if Hazuki really knew why he was being so unhelpful. Normally he was nice to the stragglers, as the resistance called humans who struggled on their own. Nice as fucking pie so that he could assess their skills and lure them over to their side of things. But for whatever reason Hazuki just didn’t feel like dealing; not with the situation, not with the kid and not with the fact that he had almost just been blown up by said kid. Looking down, Hazuki saw a strange little flicker of something almost sad cross the kid’s face and that went and fucked everything up. That was always the way with stragglers; they were so used to being on their own that human contact was either terrifying or downright interesting and Hazuki could easily guess that with this kid, it was a matter of the latter. Sighing laboriously, Hazuki cursed that softer side of him and shifted on his little beam. “Fine, but I’m not coming down unless you move the fuck away and promise no more grenade tricks. Explosions are bad for the ears.” |
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| Yusuke | Jun 16 2009, 09:43 PM Post #9 |
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Dead Witch Walking
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The growl echoing through the darkness caused him to step back and flex his hand around that blade. Yusuke didn’t want to get caught off guard by a demon and even though he didn’t think he’d been wrong about the man in front of him being human, he couldn’t risk it. They were a tricky lot, demons. And he’d seen too many innocent humans fall to claws and teeth just for being careless. And although the sound of someone other than himself held an appeal he couldn’t explain, he didn’t want to stick around and find out what this thing really was. Yusuke was only a few steps away from freedom when the man mentioned that he would come down. And wanted Yusuke to hold off on hurling any more grenades. Good thing, he didn’t know what the witch was capable of. If he thought that the explosion was a result of a grenade, then Yusuke wasn’t going to prove him otherwise. The less the stranger knew about his powers, the better it would be for the both of them. So Yusuke just nodded in response and stopped retreating. The allure of having someone to talk to, even for just a moment and even if that person was a possible threat, was just too good to pass up. With a quick movement of his hand the knife was sheathed, and the charm was tucked casually into one of his many pockets. He’d reattach it later when he didn’t have company that was currently eyeing him like he was nothing more than a demon himself. He didn’t like the look the other man was giving him, but didn’t question it yet. He didn’t appear to be completely normal and he couldn’t fault the man for being cautious. He knew he was. So instead of snapping out the comment he was thinking, he leaned lightly against that crumbling wall and watched the man. “No more tricks, my word. Unless you turn out to be a demon, or one of those oh so helpful angels. Then all deals are off. I don’t associate with them.” Yusuke kept himself as still as possible, a feat indeed, considering he’d never stayed in one place above ground this long. The longer he lingering, the easy a target he became. And even as he reminded himself of what was at stake, he shoved the thoughts away, to preoccupied with the stranger to care. “Sorry about the explosion thing. Instinct and all. I just saw movement and reacted. Humans aren’t usually around these parts much.” Yusuke cocked his head to the side and recalled the question the man had asked moments ago. “And yes, this is my home. Well, home turf. I live near here.” |
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6:28 PM Jul 10