[Nexus] Outside XXVIII

[Reinholdt]

[Melody's Island]

"I think it's some sort of salad..."

Reinholdt whispers.

And then hugs! He hugs back, a bit flustered.
"Of course not. And she's, uh, that's, umm... well..."
Reinholdt gets all red faced.

Obviously Happy should show up just to make things MORE awkward.

[VampireRot]

[Melody's Island]

"Ah."

Ermine takes this in stride! The pirate nods at Melody and grins at Reinholdt.

"Ahoy! Ta answer ye, I do be his mate. An' I be cute."

She twitches her whiskers in amusement at Melody's whisper.

"Tanks."

[Lex-Kat]

{Melody's Island}

Woohoo!! Melody whoops excitedly, then tries to hug Ermine. My name's Melody. What's yours? Reinholdt, why haven't you introduced us yet? What do you think I am, some sort of mind reader? she grins widely at this.

Then back to Ermine. The fish is fresh. Estia and Lyanna caught them just this afternoon. She shifts her arms into wings again, and lifts off. Dinner will be in the barn. Don't worry. It's clean. Melody smiles, then takes off. Yes, without getting a single answer to any of her questions.

[happyturtle]

Melody's Island

((Darn, I forgot her armbands in the Tekteks. ))

Happy fails to arrive to enhance the awkwardness. Ha! Take that, OOC text!

[Reinholdt]

[Melody's Island]

Reinholdt begins to answer her questions... and then she rushes off.
...
Reinholdt shakes his head and motions for Ermine.
"After you."
He'll follow right behind.

[VampireRot]

[Melody's Island]

"I b-

Then Melody flies off! Ermine blinks and shrugs at Reinholdt, then makes her way across the island. To the barn, and dinner!

[Lex-Kat]

{Melody's Island}

Once they depart the boat, they'll find themselves on a newly built pier that leads down to the beach. There's nothing special about the beach, other than it's a nice beach.

[Reinholdt]

[Melody's Island]

"The barn is this way. Estia and Lyanna are two girls I helped here a while ago." Reinholdt explains as he points out the barn and they head towards it.

[VampireRot]

[Melody's Island]

"Ah."

Ermine follows Reinholdt to the barn!

[Lex-Kat]

{Melody's Island}

The barn looks like a barn. It's an old barn, with faded red paint. As the two get closer to it, they can begin to smell something delicious wafting through the air.

As promised, the barn is clean, and smells only faintly of animals. But nothing so bad that someone would be unable to eat there.

In the middle sits a lone table, with a single candle lighting it. Other candles are lit around the room, creating just enough glow to see.

Melody is standing by the table, as are Estia and Lyanna. Melody smiles to Reinholdt and Ermine. Sorry. I must have seemed rude. she blushes. I was just so excited, I forgot my manners.

She nods to the two girls beside her. This is Estia, and this is Lyanna. And with that, the two girls pull out the chairs for their "customers".

[Reinholdt]

[Melody's Island]

"Hello again. Good to see you both. This is Ermine." Reinholdt says, introducing the pirate before taking his seat.

[Chaotic Bob]

[The Great Water Bubble in the Sky]

Spoiler

Show

The robot, very quickly, begins to drop out of the sky.

Offensive capabilities utilised. Lethal force approved. It says as it drops, smashing into the ground.

A cloud of dirt billows up into the air around the crater, but just visible is a spherical shield of blue light that flickers off.

Acquiring lock. comes a voice from the ground.

[The Great Water Bubble in the Sky]

Pull up. Pull up! Kirk pulls up and out of the top of the water bubble again. He's lucky that the bike was actually able to do that. Anyway, looks like he's getting the hang of this thing. A shame his guns are a tad too big for using when Ghoul is so close to Feia. Instead he fiddles with flying one handed before producing his tommy gun to send some laser Feia's way.

[The Great Water Bubble in the Sky]

Being suspended near the center of the fluid would mean that there was plenty of time to worry about falling. Well, that and the fact that it would be easy to keep in one area for the time being due to it being quite similar to water. In addition, while the witch was apparently immune to cold attacks directly, it also allowed for other tactics that had not been available before. While Ghoul wasn't able to keep strangling the dragon-witch, at least that burning chain wouldn't be a problem anymore.

Taking three more disks in hand, Ghoul fired up her cybernetics for a short but very powerful burst and hurled them through the fluid. Given their shape and the way they were flung, they would fly more like a group of frisbees rather than tumbling end over end and scattering randomly. Each of these grenades were the same type as before.. But upon explosion, they would likely turn the surrounding area into large chunks of ice, possibly inhibiting or imprisoning Feia in the process.

Feia should really consider doing something about that robot down there.
It's probably going to fire missiles or something, and those aren't really...healthy.

But she has the slight issue of cyronades and lasers to deal with.
A basic solution to these occurs to the sorceress though.

While the frozen-frisbees fly onwards, Feia slides deeper into the "water", snapping an arm in an upward motion with a flicker of residual energy.
A narrow current is dragged up through the giant bubble, seeking to throw the frisbees up, to explode in a more harmless position.
Maybe block those lasers, with the new super-ice?

Judging by a slight sizzling sensation she's feeling in her bandaged forearm, the answer to that would be "no".
Her initial thought is "I have two arms! Stop abusing this one!"
Her second thought is a touch more violent.

The not-shot arm begins crafting a new glyph.

[Above a Field]

Spoiler

Show

Well, it's certainly a good thing Tel-Zaff Kax can no longer hear. If he still could, Feia's cacophonous coughs would certainly have done the job. But the orc has bigger concerns for the moment. Hanging on for dear life being foremost.

Clinging to her bloodied arm, Tel-Zaff Kax holds his axe in one hand, grabs onto a spike with his other, and digs his hips into the side of her arm like he was breaking a horse. Growing up doing odd-jobs, Tel-Zaff Kax had more than his fair experience with stable work. He'd broken in plenty of stallions in his time. This is ten times the worst of them. Adrenaline can do amazing things, but Tel-Zaff Kax is badly injured and every thrash of Feia's arm sends a jolt of fire through his chest where his ribs are broken. His cries of pain are drowned out by Feia's wheezing, but he can't hear them anyway. Worse, Feia's arm is slick and wet with blood. For all his efforts to hang on, Tel-Zaff Kax's grip slips with every flail.

Finally, he can no longer keep his grip. His final efforts to hold on slip away, and Tel-Zaff Kax is launched up into the air. For a few moments he soars upwards, arms limp in front of him. To the orc it is as if he is hanging, suspended in mid-air as he watches Feia shrink before him. And then the earth reaches up and pulls him to her breast. The crash is sudden, short and loud.

Now Tel-Zaff Kax lays in the mud. His left arm and right leg are splayed at angles that no limb should ever take. His dragon-bone armour lays shattered below him and digs in through leather padding and woollen clothes, cutting into his skin and letting dark blood flow from him to mix with the mud and turn black. His axe lays with its blade embedded in the mud twenty feet away from him. Pain flows, white hot, through every fibre of his being. For several long moments, he can see only a bright white nothingness. But then his vision clears, slowly, Feia's large purple form coming into view.

No.
Not yet.
Crying out in agony, Tel-Zaff Kax forces himself to sit up.

The coughing doesn't last forever, fading away as the bits of broken bottle ad fluid are expunged from her wind-pipe.

Tongue is definitely numb.
And a bit of her throat.

But rather than mulling over that, or humorously trying to feel with her tongue, she moves back down towards the ground, favoring her wounded leg and glaring rather imperiously down at Kax with her remaining eye.
She'd have to give the orc credit for actually managing to sit up now. Alarming in one way, fascinating in another.

It's enough to keep her from immediately finishing the job, through more magic, or perhaps with the more personal feeling of her claws.

Instead, she just lands and glares, taking a moment to recover her breath from that coughing fit.
Stay down, fool.
The air rumbles with her voice, but it isn't coming from her mouth.

[Mr. Moon]

[Field]

Feia's voice echos in Tel-Zaff Kax's mind, clashing against the haze of a concussion and a roiling sea of bitter and defeated rage. The orc had lost, he knew that. But he had lost more than a fight. He'd lost his home, doomed to a death at the talons of a thousand dragons and a bitter civil war. He'd lost his family, knowing he'd never see them again. (... Oh Tabatha. Oh, Tabatha. I'm so, so sorry, Tabatha. Oh Tabatha. Oh, Tabatha. I'm so, so sorry, Tabatha. Oh Tabatha...) He'd lost his best friend. Justice had been stupid and annoying, but he was a good man. A brave man. A true son of Skyrim.

But worst of all, because of all that, he'd lost any chance of ever regaining his honor.

The b**ch would pay.

Either Feia's voice is lost in the mix of pain, hatred and despair, or else Tel-Zaff Kax is defying it. Blood falls freely from his lips as he cries out, channeling the agony into a fierce warrior's lament. His left arm hangs limp and shattered at his side as he presses his right hand, palm down into the mud. Fractures, bruises and cuts flare as he puts his weight on it, pushing himself up, up, up. He pulls his left leg up, presses his weight onto it as well. Shaking, trembling, he rises. The orc is on his knees now. His head rises, pulling his gaze up from the bloody mud. Steel-grey eyes glare upward, defiantly meeting Feia's gaze.

[billtodamax]

[Underneath the Great Water Bubble in the Sky]

Target Acquired. The robot says, before a lot of missles spring out of his arms as he aims them upwards.

4 launch upwards, 3 aimed at Feia and Ghoul, one locked onto Kirk.

They'll arrive next post.

[Gullara]

[The Great Water Bubble in the Sky]

Kirk is glad to see his lasers can actually hit Feia in there. Made paying Maggy to modify his gun all worthwhile. He fires off another spray before he notices the missle speeding toward him... Well damn, looks like Kirk's ability to fly this thing is being put to the test. The drow pulls up with the bike, going to fly in such a way that the missile might hit the water bubble if it follows him.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Field]

If Feia had eyebrows, one of them would be raised right now.

Hold on...
The enormous dragon flickers out of existence, replaced by that black-dress clad woman from before, albeit with one bleeding eye socket and one extremely torn looking arm.

Even as thoughts of blood-loss would start to occur, her good hand traces a few lines at her side, inviting slightly hazy bandages to begin curling around her bad arm.

All the while, she keeps her good eye on Kax, observing his stubborn insistence on getting off the ground.
This sort of determination is one often accompanied with desperation, or absolute hate.
She's not going to take long to guess which one is in play here.
There is nothing more you can accomplish.
Your friend is dead, your body is breaking. Do not make it worse.

[Lex-Kat]

[Melody's Island]

"Hello again. Good to see you both. This is Ermine." Reinholdt says, introducing the pirate before taking his seat.

HeHillo ReinErholdt.mine. HeHillo ErReinmine.holdt. the two girls say together, then begin giggling.

Once the two are seated, the girls rush toward a closed off section of the barn. The two guests can smell the food is being cooked back there.

It'll be a couple minutes before the meal is served. Melody informs them. Would you like some water, or juice? We have banana-berry, orange, and apple-cinnamon. Melody waits for their order.

[VampireRot]

[Melody's Island]

"Hullo."

Ermine smiles at the two girls, then glances at Melody.

"Ye don' 'ave any rum, do ye? If not, I'll jus' have water."

The pirate is an alcoholic. She may have made Reinholdt one too. <.<

[Lex-Kat]

{Melody's Island}

Melody smiles at Ermine. Hmmm. I'll have to check. Maybe one of the Islanders has some. She waits for Reinholdt's choice.

[Mr. Moon]

[Field]

Even as Feia observes Tel-Zaff Kax, the orc continues to struggle his way to his feet. It's a pathetic struggle. He slips in the mud several times, losing his balance and having to fight his way back up again. Pained grunts replace his enraged screams. Each attempt is weaker and frailer, and it seems as if he's just about to give up.

But then Feia's voice echos in his head a second time. Suddenly, Tel-Zaff Kax is a surge of motion and rage. Howling, he is on his feet and storming towards the dark-clad woman. He has no weapon so instead he brings up his good arm, curling his fingers into a fist and lunging at her.

Instead of hitting his target, he falls. Slipping on the mud with his good leg and unable to regain his balance on his injured one, he collapses face-down in the mud at Feia's feet with a cry of pain.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Field]

For a moment, a fire surrounds Feia's hand, bloomed as soon as Kax begins his charge.
Raised up as the orc gets close, lowered with him as he falls.

The hand remains pointed at him, although at his back now, as opposed to his chest.

He's likely to hate her for the rest of his miserable days.
Not that she can blame him.
Technically an unnecessary security risk, someone who will always be attempting to kill her, who knows properly what she is.
But then, she's already got a couple of those, doesn't she?
The dynamics of their desired rebelliousness produce many interesting effects.

Life is a misery, without something to adhere to, to love or to uphold.
You already feel it, it fuels your rage.
I am going to be your salvation, slayer.

The flame around her hand twists and turns, little harmless wisps flicking down towards the orc.

[Reinholdt]

Spoiler

Show

[Melody's Island]


HeHillo ReinErholdt.mine. HeHillo ErReinmine.holdt. the two girls say together, then begin giggling.

Once the two are seated, the girls rush toward a closed off section of the barn. The two guests can smell the food is being cooked back there.

It'll be a couple minutes before the meal is served. Melody informs them. Would you like some water, or juice? We have banana-berry, orange, and apple-cinnamon. Melody waits for their order.

[Melody's Island]

"Hullo."

Ermine smiles at the two girls, then glances at Melody.

"Ye don' 'ave any rum, do ye? If not, I'll jus' have water."

The pirate is an alcoholic. She may have made Reinholdt one too. <.<

{Melody's Island}

Melody smiles at Ermine. Hmmm. I'll have to check. Maybe one of the Islanders has some. She waits for Reinholdt's choice.

[Melody's Island]

Reinholdt smiles at the girls. He missed them, that's for sure.

"I'll take rum too, but if not, do you have milk?" Everyone has milk! Right.

[Mr. Moon]

Field

While Feia casts her spell, Tel-Zaff Kax is still struggling to rise. Propping himself up on his good forearm, he manages to raise his torso inches above the mud. Stars burst in his chest cavity as his broken rib-cage protests the abuse. Every breath is shallow and painful - a sharp inhale followed by a gurgling exhale. He can't even scream anymore.

One final pained breath, and Tel-Zaff Kax collapses. Face-down in mud and his own blood, the orc stews in agony and hate.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Field]

Feia stares for just a few more moments, allowing Kax to stew in the fruits of his life's labors.
His reward for trying so hard to live well: broken and dying at her feet.

Then there is heat, as the flame around her hand erupts outwards into a localized inferno, to embrace and consume the orc's body.
Consume all but the bone.

It's a straight forward process, that Feia doesn't bother to make any more showy than it already is.
Simply kill him and be done with it.

But after that, she crouches down next to whatever is left, and begins to carefully traces interlocking sigils and lines onto the ground.
These are created much more slowly than most of Feia's magicks, as care must be taken to ensure they are absolutely correct.

It will take almost an hour to complete, but the aim is a perfect circle, lined and surrounded by sprawling figures and shapes.
Soon...

[Mr. Moon]

Field

By the time Tel-Zaff Kax is engulfed in flame, he is already half-suffocated. He can't even cry out as they spread over his crippled body, even though his lips form bitter and breathless curses in the mud. Immeasurable pain wracks his body for an immeasurable time - perhaps moments, perhaps hours - as the orc curses Feia to a cowards death in bed of old age, to the depths of Oblivion, to be plagued with drought; and swears on Talos and the rest of the Divines his revenge.

And then the pain ends, and everything is cold.

Elsewhere

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Everything
is
cold.
"My child my child my child. You are safe you are safe home."
"Where?"
"Shhh hush now calm calm yourself. We don't have don't have don't have long long long long."
"Who are you? This isn't Sovngarde."
"No no, not Sovngarde. Not yet not yet. Far far far from Sovngarde."
"But I died-!'
"You died more bravely bravely bravely than many warriors. We don't don't have long have long don't have long to explain. You must listen listen listen listen."
"Who are you?"
"Sister mother lover healer wife."
"The Lady?"
"Yes yes yes."
"But why-?"
"You are not you are not done not done suffering suffering suffering. I'm sorry sorry so sorry. You will be reborn reborn reborn under my my sign my sign sign. We will protect protect protect protect you."

[Chaotic Bob]

[Field]

Some time later, Feia shakes her hand a little bit, unused to doing this entire process with only one limb.
Usually the other hand could help, doubling the speed and halving the effort.
But someone had to be stabby.

No matter, now.
The work is doable.

Shaking her arm off one more time, Feia walks around the circle, adding a few finishing touches here and there, correcting minor imperfections, adding addition seals, connecting more pieces.
After she becomes properly satisfied, she steps into the circle to begin scrawling more glyphs across Kax's skeleton.

This will be the final piece.
After she concludes with that, she'll step out of the circle and the magicks will activate.

The orc's body will regrow, a thing of magic, and the circle will reach out to find his soul, and bring it back home.

[Mr. Moon]

Elsewhere

"What do you mean, reborn?"
"You will return return return to the return to the world the world of mortals mortals."
"I will? But what about Justice?!"
"You must go you must go you must go go."
"No! No you can't do this! He's the Dragonborn! Bring him ba-"
"It is not it is not in my control control control, my child child child. You you must must find a way."

[Field]

The muscles rebuild themselves first. Layers of sinew and fibers weaving themselves into existence and clinging to the enchanted bones. Nerves snake their way across the muscles, coiling around his spine and blooming into a brain. Broken bones knit together, become whole. Green-grey skin begins at the tips of his bones and muscles and knits inward, meeting and seamlessly merging over his torso.

His mouth opens, and a hungry breath is sucked in to fill empty lungs. The breath is held for several moments, and then it is let out in a yell of fury. Tel-Zaff Kax's body and soul are fighting. The body surrounds his soul like a hole. Tight, claustrophobic. He rages against it, trying to climb out. Trying to escape.

It takes a long time before Tel-Zaff Kax's eyes snap open. He gasps for breath on his hands and knees, before picking himself up and lunging at Feia.
His hands outstretched, he reaches for her neck.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Field]

Feia stands mere inches away from the bounds of the circle, that confident is she in her handiwork.
And why should she be? She knows this works, rather well. It's been used a few times now.

As Kax reaches out, as his hands should cross the border of the circle, they will find themselves ramming into something of a faintly rubbery texture.
A moment later, a little purple film appears in the air where his fingers/fists touch, with just the faintest amount of give to his reach.

But certainly stiff enough to make any open-finger lunges painfully regrettable.

The sorceress patiently waits on the other side.

[Mr. Moon]

[Field]

Tel-Zaff Kax hits the semi-visible wall hard, slamming against it with a cry of pain. He falls into the ground, but is on his feet again in moments. Breathing heavily he braces himself and lunges forward, throwing a hefty punch at Feia. It hits the barrier, presses against it. He growls as he pushes, putting all his effort into breaking through.
Soon enough, though, he is pushed back. The wall pushes him backwards, sends him stumbling to the other side of the runes. Tel-Zaff Kax stands there for a few moments, glaring at Feia, before finally launching himself shoulder-first at the dragon-lady.

The process of trying to break through the barrier and getting thrown back repeats itself for almost half an hour. Finally, the orc seems to have worn himself out and has relegated himself to pacing back and forth along the edge of the rune, glaring at Feia.
"You b***ch!" He snarls. "What have you done to me?!"

[Chaotic Bob]

[Field]

Through all of this, Feia waits.
This too, was a fairly common state of affairs, for the ones that knew her before she bound them.
Again, it was difficult to blame them.

By the time Kax was finally done, the witch has taken to examining her nails, humming a little tune to herself.
Once he starts talking, she quiets and looks back up, smiling a bit.
"I have made you mine."
Simple and possessing of a distinctly dark tone.