+1 to Animus for Vice Fulfillment
The Supernal is the Self
The Supernal is the Self
27742
THREADID
104
POSTS
31 - 40
DISPLAYED
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Animus stirs weakly, growling in pain. Alone, emptiness. The warmth of life was gone, out of reach. In the midst of fear and confusion, a rational part of his mind identifies the cause.
Sense Life pot 2 + Pulse of the Living World pot 2
Will snaps out, drilling into the Supernal to open his senses. A comforting wash of warmth, as his fellow willworkers' presence becomes far more physical. The Thyrsus blinks weakly, slowly pulling himself into a sitting position. His ribs burned with pain, limbs faring little better. What had happened?
Memories trickle back. Beatings; his own wild, desperate strikes; the sensation of always being just a bit off. Tripping over his own body. That didn't happen.
He hangs his head. "Dammit, I'm not supposed to be clumsy. Maybe ... I've become too reliant, on ..." he waves vaugely, in a rough spiral, letting the sentence trail off.
Asp shook her head once, quickly, to Avis's inquiry. "No. I'm not exactly flush with Mana right now." She figured that would be enough of an explanation - she figured she wouldn't have to explain scouring. It hurt like a motherfucker.
As Animus woke up, the girl peered at him with a slight look of concern in her eyes. When he spoke, she said honestly, "Animus, I've never seen someone in better shape than you." A pause, as she searched for the words to explain. Ultimately, they came out straight-up and honest. "Maybe you have, I don't know how much you use it, but... you're a fantastic example of what we should be training our bodies to be like without magic. I put you off balance. Don't get down on yourself."
She smiled to him, a bit weakly. The scouring would hurt for a little bit in a way that no painkiller or Life mage could heal.
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He shakes his head, slowly becoming more aware of his surroundings. "It's never enough, to protect everyone." Half-formed memories tickle the back of his mind, but vanish like popped soap-bubbles as soon as he tries to draw them out. A moment later his gaze is drawn to Avis, and the rippling knots in her pattern.
Again, Animus' mind reaches for the Primal Wilds, but without the desperate cravings of a few moments prior. Soothing energy wraps effortlessly around the Mastigos. Hurts smooth over, bruises vanish. Meanwhile, despite the Thyrsus' best efforts to hide it, his own movements still occasionally hitch, interrupted by pain he can't quite fully suppress.
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Suddenly, the throbbing in her face and legs disappeared, the sudden contrast between dull pain and perfect health making her feel like she was better than before. Physically, anyways. She almost guilty, seeing Animus' stiff movements and Asp still recovering from having to scour her body for mana. Avis actually felt a bit intimidated by the two Arrows. Scouring for mana was something she never planned on doing, not unless she absolutely had to. 'Course, Animus had been in bad shape. His healing probably had been an a necessity but there had been almost no hesitation from the other Talon. Both of the Arrows sitting in front of the Mastigos were like breathing examples of determination and willingness to sacrifice.
"Well hey, that's what sparring's for, right? Brush up on form, learn where to improve, and all that. Besides, I'm pretty sure you would have taken either one of us down if it had been one on one," Avis told Animus, trying to ease his emotional pain. "And thank you for the spell. Can you cast it again on yourself or do you want me to grab you some ice or something?"
She looked toward Asp, curious to see if there was something she could do to help the Obrimos as well.
Avis's words made sense. She shook her head lightly to the Mastigos at her silent offer. "I'm okay. Scouring just... hurts." She looked to be in pain, but what could Avis do, really? It was the kind of torturous agony that came from pulling a part of one's Pattern apart and taking Mana from her very being. There was nothing to be done for it. Nothing but time would make this hurt less.
She looked to Animus, offering him her hand both literally and metaphorically to pull him to his feet.
"We're a team now. We'll protect everyone together, right?" She smiled.
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Animus shoots Avis a confused look. "Why shouldn't I wear the reminder of having fallen short?" Nevertheless, he shifts just so and skin begins to fall away with a wet flop, taking some of the forming bruises with it. It's almost as if the Thyrsus is molting.
A moment later, he takes Asp's offered hand, climbing to his feet with only a slight wince. "A team, then. At least I won't have to worry about the two of you keeping up." A flicker, at the corner of the Orphan's mouth. Was that a smile?
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"I'm glad we didn't disappoint," Avis said, a satisfied grin replacing her look of worry. "I was worried after that first shot to the face. What kind of boxing was that? Or is it some kind of JKD thing? I'm uh, a bit understudied when it comes to empty handed fighting." She trailed off, looking at the skin that had just sloughed off of the Thyrsus.
"Life, too. Are you both shamans?"
Asp grinned at Animus's remark, but didn't add anything more. There was no need to. He thought she'd done well, it seemed, and she was pretty sure she had too. Escrima was about control - and control, she had.
"I'm actually an Obrimos," she said with a little shrug. "Life's just... really useful. I like to push myself to the limit. It helps."
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Animus nods at the shaman question. He almost says more on the subject, but fear brings him up short.
"JKD?" The reference seems to be lost on the shaman. "Mostly I've been just trying to adapt animals' fighting techniques to the human form. Animals don't hold back. They can't, when life and death depend on fractions of a second." He rubs his wrists self-consciously. "It tends to work better with actual claws, though."
After a moment, he glances toward Asp, still somewhat troubled. "I just ... couldn't get a clean hit, no matter what I tried. How did you manage that?"
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