lucetilogs | Draft Log #3: During v. 2.0

I'd agree, but there's nothing else even happening right now.

[And HE HATES WAITING uuuugh.]

Well if you want action... we should probably regroup with the others. Who knows when the next attack will come.

Yeah, alright. [He finishes at the water, dragging his boots back on and wandering over to retrieve his coat.] Did they pick a home base for offshore?

[He points out the cargo ship, which can be seen at the docks even from here.]

We've just been staying around the loading area. Seemed to make the most sense.

[Cargo ship, right. He hasn't been to that one since his arrival on the first day, so may as well check it out.]

Alright, I'm headed that way. Are you going or staying here?

I'm going, I was just scouting the land. [He scouted, he found something, time to report back.] So let's get moving.

[Edward nods, pulling his jacket back on - it's still wet, but it's drip-dried enough to be tolerable - and starting off down the beach for the ship. Time to get back to work.]

[Sokka will tag along, wary eye on the skies in case of an attack. He remains quiet for the walk, partly out of caution and partly out of some gut instinct that something is watching them. What he doesn't realize is that his use of Filial magic earlier had attracted a Shift Hunter.]

[And those are monsters that Ed's never seen before, nor does he know to keep an eye out for them. He does notice the sudden growling behind them, though, followed by the heavy pounding of four speedy feet, and he claps his hands as he turns, shifting his automail into a blade.]

Incoming...!

[Sokka catches it in his peripheral vision and rolls out of the way just as it lunges. Once back on his feet, he draws his blade. Unfortunately the thing looks like it's more interested in him than Ed.]

Crap, I didn't think there were any of these around!

What the hell is that!? [Edward shuffles to the side, noting its focus in Sokka, and tries to get behind it.] They weren't part of the other attacks!

Shift Hunters! There were some in Luceti once, but they say there were a lot worse on the last draft!

[When it lunges again, Sokka manages to side step it and hacks at its side. To his surprise the creature's skin is TOUGH and though his sword pierces it and draws blood, it's not as clean a cut as he would have liked.]

[Damn, it's a tenacious little bastard, isn't it? Edward takes chase, clapping his hands and touching the ground, a fist of sand lifting out of the surface beneath the creature to punch it upwards. It's tossed back in Sokka's direction, hopefully at an angle for a better strike. Ed's not sure how durable they are, but he's keeping an eye out in care there's more where it came from.]

[Not bad, Ed. Your alchemy is cooler when you have two hands for it. Unfortunately it's only a momentary distraction, but it's long enough for Sokka to get one of his bombs, throwing it at the creature's feet. The small explosion certainly ha a bite to it and while it would be powerful enough to kill an ordinary beast, the creature is merely thrown back, with much of its skin town away and some bone showing. Yet it doesn't seem to be relenting, even if it's a bit slower now.]

Okay, so, I'm open to ideas.

You're the one with experience, don't you know how to take them out!?

[If an explosion can't take it out, they'll have to up the ante a little more. Since it seems to be targeting Sokka more than Ed himself, he lunges between them and charges to meet the hunter's next attack, lifting his arm in front of his face to defend rather than attack. The creature takes the bait, the weight of it knocking Edward flat on his back, front claws and teeth digging into the automail. It also, rather conveniently, leaves the hunter's sides and back completely exposed.]

Now-!

[Well no, he'd never bothered to ask, especially since he wasn't expecting one. When it goes for Ed, Sokka is quick to exploit its exposed back, plunging his sword into the creature's back, until it comes through the other side. That halts its attack and it seems to fall limp just as Sokka pulls the blade back out.]

... I think that did it.

[And suddenly Edward is really glad that Sokka is a skilled swordsman; with someone less experienced, that could've easily gutted him right along with the Shift Hunter. With his free hand he pries the creature's teeth away from his automail, kicking it off of himself and sitting up.]

Nice hit.

Thanks. [Sokka turns away, eyeing the gooey blood on his sword. Ugh, that thing doesn't even bleed normally. Generally he just does the easy thing and cleans his blade on the back of his pants legs, but this time he's pulling out a rag to wipe it off. Little does he realize, that creature is already healing.]

[Edward isn't expecting it to do something absurd like regenerate, so once he's done making sure his automail is okay, he gets to his feet, attention focused on the forest where the hunter had come from.]

There's probably more of them- we should get moving.

Good idea. We're better in numbers.

[Unfortunately as they're walking, Sokka doesn't turn around fast enough when he hears movement. Soon he's on the ground, face first, with the creature standing on his back. Ed's got about a split second to go before the creature goes for one of the wings.]

[Oh dear, here should take care of that, shouldn't he? There isn't any time to think of a way to transmute the creature off of Sokka, so he moves instinctively, clapping his hands as quickly as he can and slamming his automail against the creature's neck. The blow diverts the hunter's jaws away from the wings, hopefully enough to prevent too much damage from being done, and a second later the alchemy activates, Edward's deconstruction technique tearing through the creature's flesh and bone and blasting its head clear off of its body. Messy, but effective enough. ...He hopes.]

[When Sokka rolls over to get back on his feet, he stares at the creature in astonishment, then to Ed. He blinks in surprise, he hadn't expected Ed to be so visceral.]

Wow. Thanks.

[Edward steps back, somewhat surprised himself, though not particularly traumatized as he would've been if it had been a normal Shifter. Sokka would probably have been in a lot more pain if that had been the case. Still, it's a little nerve-wracking; he's killed animals before, just... not like that. It's an ugly reminder of Scar's attack way back when, how that Central soldier's head had-

...ugh. He glances down at his hand for a long moment, eyeing the hunter's blood, then grimaces and wipes it off on his coat, his gaze switching to the unmoving creature. He's not sure if he should be ready for it to spontaneously grow another head or something.]

...Yeah, sure. [Wipe wipe wipe UGH WHY IS IT NOT COMING OFF.] They're not immortal, are they?

Edited 2011-09-14 03:27 (UTC)

[Looking at Ed, he has a good guess what's going through his mind right now. Sokka never had the luxury of that kind of thinking. His first kill was hunting for food. His first time killing a man? He hadn't realized he had done anything until he had thought back to how his club had hit that Fire Nation soldier. He inevitably turns his attention to the beast.]

I don't know. They shouldn't be, I think.

[Finally satisfied with the automail's cleanliness, Edward edges over to the corpse, nudging it with the automail foot in case it jumps up with a set of teeth coming out of its neck. Stranger things have happened, after all. It does nothing, though just to be cautious, Edward claps his hands once more and touches the sand, creating a hardened dome around the body. Just in case.]

If it wants to get out of that, we'll probably hear it first.

Draft Log #3: During v. 2.0

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