lucetilogs | Draft Log #3: During v. 2.0

[Oh, fabulous. Miyabi just set herself up for danger here, and now her skills are starting to fail her. She tries again, this time Veil of Mist, so she can rejoin Nami for backup, but that...does absolutely nothing. At all. No ink, no mist, no slowing of time.

Nothing.

Even her sword feels different; less lively, kind of. Something is definitely wrong, and with all these soldiers buzzing around her...it's not good. Not good at all. She needs to get back to Nami to sort this out and rethink their strategy. For now, though, it's time to test her actual skills with Sumomo's blade, not brush. She can at least take out a few of them...maybe carve an escape path if she's lucky, too.

Miyabi's eyes dart to Nami, and there's a look of desperation in them. Something's wrong, and she needs help fast.]

[Even if she hadn't seen it, Miya's apparent complete stalling on the battlefield makes Nami pick up her pace, not smiling at all now. She slams the end of her staff into her other attacker's face and then runs without stopping to finish him, snapping the staff back into pieces as she yells.]

Miya, get down!

[She's trusting you, poncle. Nami flips the wind section out and points it in Miya's direction as a gun. It is, in fact, a gun. Of sorts.]

Gust sword!

[Have some highly concentrated cutting wind carving that escape path for you. Literally. (http://mangastream.com/read/one_piece/84387739/10)]

[You don't have to tell her twice. It takes a second to register, but when Nami screams like that, Miya's almost destined to obey. She's going to do something...something big, and something powerful. She keeps a firm grip on her sword - the only thing still keeping her alive - and hits the sand with her belly. The arm not holding her sword comes over the back of her head instinctively, and though she can't really see what's occurring overhead, she can definitely feel it.

It was like a line of pure wind, the force of a typhoon, just shot right above her head. The third party soldier closest to her moments before, ready to bring down his sword on Miyabi's own wings now that she was down, jerks back like he was punched, and a few others are blown clean off their feet as well.

She doesn't dare look up, move, or even open her eyes until the wind tugging at her hair and clothes ceases completely, and when it does, and Miyabi looks, she can see the damage dealt. It was satisfying to know someone strong had her back like that. Before Miyabi can turn and say thank you, however, one soldier shakily paws around for a weapon, gets up...only to be met with a hard blow to the face with the little artist's sword sheath. It won't kill anyone, but it should provide a nice bout of unconsciousness and a severely broken jaw or nose at the least.

Stay down, you bastards.]

[And Nami comes sprinting across the sand now, though she doesn't offer a hand to help her up-- instead, she stands over her with staff at the ready, intent on protecting her friend until she works out what went wrong.]

Miyabi? [An explanation would be nice. ...especially as she can see more Third Party above the treeline, heading this way. The one she smacked in the face is getting up, too-- but he's one. That group over there? That's trouble.]

Something's wrong with my sword! I can't use my brush skills!

[Miyabi tries again, just once more, but again nothing occurs. She grits her teeth in frustration, then scrambles to her feet to join Nami. She's at a huge disadvantage now, even if she can still fight somewhat. Miyabi's skills with the sword are no where near her skills with the celestial brush...and that flock of soldiers is getting closer. Damn it, of all times to lose her powers! Why did they suddenly stop working, anyway?!

Even so, Miyabi's hand grips the hilt of her sword, and she looks fierce as she stares the oncoming assailants down. She doesn't want to run - that's shameful. Plus, they'll just be targeted, and Nami could get hurt... If she can just last for this batch...]

But I can still fight.

Edited 2011-08-30 03:21 (UTC)

All right. [It's not too bad, she thinks-- Nami has attacks that can blanket the area, and she can hide them both if necessary. After this group, they can disappear.] Stick close.

[There are so many. On top of Miyabi suddenly losing her magic, Nami thinks of Shifters. No wonder they're pressing an advantage. At least her climatact is grounded in science.

Here they come.]

I'll do my best.

[Here they come is right, but it's perhaps not what the duo where expecting. Only a fraction of the group were armed swordsmen, the rest must've been archers. The group stopped, loaded, and very quickly a torrent of arrows filled the sky. Shit.

Miyabi can't do anything about those arrows, and while in the back of her mind she knows Nami could, her first instinct when she sees those arrows is to get away - out of range. Rational thought in battle is few and far between - everything is split second decisions, some right...some wrong. But there's no going back if the wrong decision is made.

She jumps, springing a good few meters away (she's still a bouncy bean, even human sized), and out of the path of the arrows. Her sword is drawn and ready as she lands in the sand, but something happens. An arrow shoots out from the clouds overhead and slams right into the painter's right wing. There was more of them...in the sky, hiding. Those cowards.

Miyabi takes a sharp breath, her eyesight getting fuzzy and blurred with tears. Pain. So, so much pain. It hurt like nothing she ever could have imagined. Hurt so much Miyabi felt she was going to be sick at any moment. The pain had an almost paralyzing effect, and she fell to one knee, choking out the breath she had sucked in.]

[Archers give Nami a moment's panic, until she remembers that she finally has the upgraded climatact. Not a problem. She hopes. It's not like she's had to defeat arrow swarms before (where's Zoro when you need him? Jerk.)

She turns to meet swarm head on, taking a step ahead of Miyabi to do so, and she doesn't notice straight away when Miya panics and jumps away, confident that her friend will stay close-- and uses the same attack as before, a powerful explosion of wind that gusts straight through the arrows and whips them off course, snapping some and sending others spinning upward to drop harmlessly from the sky a scant moment later. It takes all her concentration, and a few arrows still manage to hold course, but the direct path to both girls is cleared. The closest arrow opens the shallowest of gashes on Nami's arm, and that's it.]

[It takes all her concentration. She doesn't realise Miya has been hit until she hears a faint, choking breath--]

Miyabi!

[Half-turning why did you move and trying to get to her side-- and then she's forced to stop, twisting to block two sword strikes aimed for her back with the staff. Arrows didn't work, so now they attack head on-- Miya's too far away-- fuck--]

Hang on! Stay down! [Close quarters attack without being prepared for it is a bad thing; it's all she can do to fend them off right now, but Nami is trying to fall back to Miya anyway.

It's just a shame that not all of them are going for the woman still on her feet. A handful bypass Nami entirely.]

[Miyabi doesn't hear Nami - her ears are ringing so loud, and her head feels clouded. By the sheer force of her will, she turns to make sure her friend got out of the way as well. Please, please be okay, Nami. You moved, right? You dodged those arrows, right?! She clenches her teeth against the pain, and swings her sword, rather blindly, at the first soldier she sees. Or what she hopes is a Third Party soldier.]

Nami?! Are you okay?!

[Her heart is pumping, and the adrenaline is dulling most of the pain, but not enough. As her vision begins to adjust, Miyabi can see just how many soldiers are now surrounding her. Fuck, fuck! She screwed up. She panicked and now she's in trouble...without her brush skills...no. No, no, no, she won't let Nami down! With the last ounce of her strength, Miyabi tries leaping from the crowd of soldiers, but even that is not enough. One soldier spreads his wings and easily grabs her ankle, hefting her up into the sky.]

Aaaah! Let...let go of me, you--! Let me go!

[Miyabi squirms, kicks, and waves her sword in a frantic attempt to free herself as her captor takes her higher and higher. She squeezes her eyes shut, tears spilling from her eyes as the movement aggravates her injury.]

[No, not out of reach, you-- how did they go from in control to this so quickly?

Nami multiplies. Four, five flickering images to distract the group attacking her, drive them into disorganised chaos as they try to find the right Nami. All five flinging an arm up, all five tossing the tiniest of globes up into the air, lightning flickering, trapped inside.

All five slashed and stabbed and annihilated by the Third Party, drifting apart like smoke, every one a mirage. But the movement is real. There's a flare of light and then an explosion of sound and electricity, sweeping the surrounding fighters into a lightning storm that lays waste to everyone standing there. They won't be dead, but they're down for the count, and that's all Nami needs--]

[--as she reappears, the only one now standing, sprinting across the sand and splashing ankle deep into water as Miya's captor takes her out over the sea, joined by two other Third Party.

...Fuck, she can't reach them. A Gust Sword could take them all out of the sky, but Miya's wing is damaged, the wind will hit her hard and she'll drop into the ocean-- even if she doesn't drown, the Third Party will get to her well before Nami does--

--wading in further and starting to panic wholesale, now. Maybe a thunder lance, but she needs time--]

Let her go!

[Higher and higher the soldier climbs, his purpose unknown. What the hell did he want to do with her, anyway?! Miyabi's not willing to stick around and find out, nor will she allow him to take her any higher. She can make out a clear shape through her tears and aims her sword for that. She feels a sort of satisfaction as her blade collides with something hard and solid, and she hears a loud grunt.

But she doesn't fall. Not far, at least, before another soldier snags her out of thin air by the arm. She curses, aims her sword at this one, but something flashes out of the corner of her eye and Miyabi turns her head just in time to see the enraged face of the soldier that was carrying her before, one arm limp and bleeding at his side.

It'll be the last thing she sees.

A sharp, shooting pain bursts from her chest, spreading out to her entire body. Miyabi's fingers clench her sword before loosening, and the blade tumbles from her hand, spinning in the air before splashing into the water below. Pain. That's all she could feel. a horrible, terrible, strangling pain. Miyabi tries to breath, but she just chokes on the blood spilling from her mouth. It hurts, everything, everywhere...it hurts so bad she wants to scream. But she can't. After the pain, there was heaviness, and she began to feel so, so tired and...weak.

I'm dying.

The soldier grins in a twisted way before pulling the sword out, sealing the girl's fate. The world around her blacks out in seconds after that, and Miyabi's head slumps forward onto her chest. With nothing else left to do, the two soldiers dispose of the body...by dropping it into the water below. Where Miyabi falls, the water becomes painted with red, and she doesn't move.]

[It's high enough Nami doesn't quite understand what she sees at first. She's still wading in to the water like that's going to be useful.]

[...and then Miyabi falls.]

[That isn't meant to happen. It isn't meant to--

Lightning sheets across the sky, slamming into the Third Party still in the sky and bringing them down. Nami doesn't wait to see them drop into the ocean; she dives in, not caring about the blood in the water-- it just marks where Miyabi fell. She'll still be alive, Nami can haul her out and use Nala and get her to safety and everything'll be fine, but first she has to find her in the water--

--she vanishes under the surface, sweeping around with her hands blindly-- and it's sheer luck she snags cloth, hand latching around one limp arm and hauling upward just as she runs out of breath.

Breaking the surface, spots in front of her eyes, and one arm gripped firmly around Miyabi as she kicks back for shore just close enough that she can set her feet down and turns Miya over, staring at the torn wound that's ripped straight through her chest.

There's a rational voice, somewhere in the very back of her mind, that tells Nami it's already far too late.

She doesn't listen. Nami presses her hand against Miyabi's chest and summons Nala's gift and prays for a miracle.]

[It's too late even before Nami reaches her. Miyabi's body is limp and lifeless as she's hauled out of the water. She doesn't move at all, even as Nami tries in vain to heal her. At the very least, her wet bangs cover most of her face, hiding the colorless eyes of death from her friend. It seems the gods were merciful in that respect, at least. But in the respect of a young girl's life...nothing can be done. She's not breathing, her heart's not beating...

Miyabi is dead.]

[Nami has always been a pragmatic, practical person who calls it like it is. She knows, the minute she first tries the magic-- Miyabi's gone.

She tries anyway. For all the time she has, trying to deny the inevitable-- tht Miya died right there, that she didn't stop it, that--]

[...

...]

[You're kidding.

Just like that.]

[Just like that!?

...and then there's movement on the beach behind her; Third Party finally starting to recover from her attack. Middle of a war zone, ha--]

[So Nami does the only thing she can do, which in absence of being useful and saving Miya's life, she can at least stop them from getting to the body-- and to her-- (does it matter? of course it does)--

-- and clutches Miyabi to her chest, pulling a curtain of cool air over them so they both vanish from view.

Gone.

She's so sorry.]

Draft Log #3: During v. 2.0

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