lucetilogs | DRAFT LOG #2: The Battle Game!

[It's no secret that by this time, everyone is exhausted. No matter how much sleep you get in one of these drafts, it's never enough, or restful enough. It's dragging on Sheena, too, and it shows in her movements and a few poor decisions.

Like when she misses the Third Party she's aiming for, and Demon Seals the wall instead. The tunnel here is narrow, so it's not too much of a misfire, but the walls are also unstable.

It's not the best idea to take her eyes off of her opponent to check on how Raine's doing, either.]

[The biggest problem in being in these close quarters is that it makes it impossible to cast any damage-causing magic spells. The exsphere gives her enough strength to continue parrying the attacks of her enemies, but unless she can get damaging swings of her own in, it will be of little use in the long run.

Hopefully the strengthening spells she cast on both herself and Sheena when they got into this situation will hold out for long enough.]

[Hopefully. These odds are so unfair. The situation with Raine doesn't look good, and Sheena loses time to ponder it when her direct opponent lands a hit, a solid punch to her stomach that sends her knocking into the nearest wall. She coughs, and tries not to do anything worse, using Guardian Seal at the last moment to deflect a sword swing.

It doesn't take long for that seal to fade; she'll have to recover by then.]

[Thankfully these guys aren't elites. Still, their limited fighting capabilities in the area is what's causing the main difficulty.

Maybe by some luck, some falling rocks from overhead take out at least one of the advancing soldiers. If Raine had an extra moment, she would be casting a spell on Sheena to try and help her out, but she's firmly preoccupied in keeping any of the third party's blows from landing on her.

Even with the adrenaline rush of the moment, it is tiring.]

[Falling rocks are a bad sign. Sheena comes out swinging once her barrier falls, using the pair of knives she brought along instead of her cards. If it means some of them die before they get scanned, so be it. Better than something happening to Raine or her.

What her instinct tells her to do is stop and summon. But there's no time and no room for that. It would probably bring the ceiling down on top of them (or worse - drop the floor somehow).

Sheena seems to have found the strength to move like a ninja, though, mostly too fast for the Third Party to get in many hits. Just gotta dispose of hers, and then she can see about helping Raine.]

[Raine had sometimes taken to attaching a dagger to her staff for dealing with Shift hunters, but she hadn't had the opportunity to do so for this skirmish. Good thing they don't seem to be in the vicinity.

Over and over, the sounds of the resounding clangs of weapon on weapon echo through the hollow area. Raine also finds herself slowly being backed toward a wall even as she attempts to find any advantage she can in her situation. A battle of wills and stamina then. She's become used to this position. If it went on for too long, she might consider taking certain risks if only to shake them off.

But for now she remains determined to hold her own, as she can, even throwing out a taunt or two in an attempt to distract them.]

[Is she...is she taunting those guys? If things weren't so serious, Sheena would laugh. She might still!

If they back Raine against that wall she'll be stuck. And they could easily hurt her - or worse - and turn on Sheena next. Does this count as enough of an emergency?

Apparently she thinks it does - in the darkness, a faint deep-purple light flares up around her feet, spreading into a glyph so large that some of it isn't visible. She keeps her incantation quiet. No sense in alerting the Third Party that she's up to something, is there? The only thing they should hear is]

Come! Shadow!

[...And then they will probably meet their deaths. Shadow doesn't like people after his pact-maker. But that took so long, Sheena doesn't even know if Raine's still standing.]

[Raine can feel the surge of mana rippling through the area as Sheena begins her summon, but she's still preoccupied with trying to keep up with the unrelenting blows of the third party soldier, forced only to defend when her back reaches that wall. She can't keep all of the attacks off of her, and she feels the defensive barrier spell weakening.

... and then Shadow attacks.

The soldiers are suddenly caught up in the torrent of dark magic, confused and consumed by the power of darkness. The one that doesn't die immediately is knocked out and subsequently tagged by Raine, who used the distraction to try and gain an opportunity. She's winded. But it's over.

... At least, so it seems. There is an odd rumbling sound in the distance of crumbling rocks and stone.]

[The darkness fades (which is weird, underground like this) and with it goes almost all of Sheena's strength. The toll of summoning here is always worse than she remembers. It's all she can do not to collapse where she is.

The rumbling, though. It's on her mind. Damn! Once she spots Raine, she puts the rest of her effort into getting over against the same wall her friend was backed into. That should be safer, right? Maybe she can find the mana in herself somewhere for another Guardian Seal...]

[Raine's more concerned with the aftermath of what that summoning might bring -- such as possible shift hunters. She gives a careful look out for Sheena - hopefully she can get close enough so that she can cast healing circle around both of them, as well as the other protective spells.

If there's enough time for that. The rumbling doesn't seem to be growing any less, and in the dim light its hard to remember which direction they had come from before the ambush.]

Sheena! Over here, quickly.

I'm trying to get there!

[She can feel it through the ground. Something big is going to happen. It's a hard stumble that eventually lands her next to Raine, on her rear end against the wall. She can't force herself to stand again just yet.

What she can do is stare up at the roof of their tunnel as though that will help.]

It's gonna fall...

[As soon as Sheena lands near her, Raine's finally able to cast the spell she had been preparing. If only she had time for more-- but this was needed first, if they wanted to be able to move, to try and run.]

Just hang on... [Her expression manages to remain set, despite the apprehension she feels. The staff trembles as she lifts it, concentrating on her magic.] Healing circle!

[Spells like that are going to put her to sleep, with the state she's in. Sheena slumps forward, relief and exhaustion fighting for the important spot in her mind. They're up against an imminent cave-in, and gaining ground, but she refuses to let some stupid rocks crush them if she can help it.]

We've gotta try to get outta here, Raine!

[Spells like that are taxing to cast too, but at least it should give them some more energy to work with. Might have been more efficient to go with a gel, though.]

I-if we follow this wall, we should be able to get back up the way we came. Or at least get to a different area.

[Follow the wall. Right. Sheena plants a hand on the wall to brace herself and tries to stand.

No dice. Her legs are like jelly. With enough effort she can push herself up, but slow and weak steps like these won't get her far enough, fast enough.

Still, she has to try. Or at least try to get Raine out.]

O-Okay, I'll follow you.

Can you manage?

[It just takes one look back at Sheena to see that the Ninja isn't moving as fast as she could be. Hardly at all. That wouldn't do.]

I'm gonna have to. We can't stay here.

[She can feel it in the wall under her hand, now. The instability. The very near future.]

We'll be fine. [And she continues to move, as she speaks, one hand on the wall, the other on her staff.] It's just a little further.

[And hopefully there wouldn't be Shift Hunters waiting to greet them. She was still concerned about that, trying not to think of the impending other danger.]

[Shift Hunters didn't even cross Sheena's mind. Summoning doesn't feel like it involves a shift.

A stone - small, but sharp - bounces off the back of her neck. A few more graze her wings and arm, and a different kind of shifting begins in earnest]

Raine...

[Raine feels it to, and for a moment she lifts her head to look up, as the gravity of the situation becomes all too clear.

She lets go of the wall, and reaches for Sheena's wrist. Maybe that would help encourage the ninja to move faster.]

Come on!

[The ninja wants to move faster! She's been trying, but she can't even feel herself stepping. It throws her off balance to have her wrist pulled like that, and the stumble and flail as she tries to keep herself upright might actually be enough to bring them both down.

Soon, it won't matter. A large chunk of rock crashes down in front of Raine's path, followed by a few more in front and to the side of them. There's nothing to grab on the wall, but Sheena finds herself trying anyway, turning the wrist in Raine's hand to grab the other woman's hand in turn. If they can't escape the cave-in, at least they can stay together.]

[The rock crashing down in front of her halts her in her tracks. No going forward. No going around -- but she pushes herself, struggling to find the spells in these critical moments.] Field barrier!

[There was only one other option -- and that was to utilize the spirit magic. Sheena had already summoned to the area, and by this point, if it was a choice between facing Shift Hunters and being buried alive --

So she focuses, at the wall and at the floor. If there's any kind of safety she can draw out from there -- any indentation in the ground, or from the side --

But even as she tries, the rumble overhead turns into a unmistakeable roar of falling rocks and dirt, and the air is choked with dust. She's no longer standing.]

Edited 2011-12-18 04:15 (UTC)

[As she feels Raine drop, Sheena draws in the biggest breath she can, sinking to her knees and attempting to use Guardian Seal to bolster Raine's barrier. She can't see, suddenly, whether the other woman is even conscious or not. It's dark, the air full of thick pebbly dust. Sheena shuts her eyes tight, still holding her breath, and will make the attempt to cover both her head and Raine's. Somehow.

Maybe it's the barrier spell, or maybe it's just luck. But when the noise and rumbling dies down, Sheena lets out the tiniest bit of air in surprise. Nothing on her person feels crushed. She can tell it would be a bad idea to open her eyes or inhale; that's not going to go over so well in about half a minute. Sheena reaches carefully into a pocket, looking for something to hold up to her face so she can breathe through it - and listening for any sound from Raine.]

[It's indeed too dark to tell anything. Any lanterns in the distance are out, flashlights buried.

There are no sounds from Raine. Their combined last efforts may have helped to prevent grievous harm from the onslaught of rocks, but it didn't prevent the one that had struck Raine before the Guardian Seal had gone into effect, when she had originally crumpled. Sheena had been closest to the wall, and got most of the benefit of the small refuge the healer had struggled to create in those critical moments.]

[No sound.

Sheena's hands freeze in the midst of knotting the cloth she found around her face. It stops the dust, great. That doesn't matter - the way her eyes instantly water as she opens them doesn't matter - because she doesn't even know if Raine is breathing. And she can't afford to waste time looking for a card to light the space up with.

Her hands just reach out instead, finding something hard and solid - the staff - and then an arm, and a hand. A hand is good, she can get her own hand around Raine's wrist then. At least to assure herself that she's alive.

The silence in those few moments is more deafening than the sound of rocks falling.

There's movement under her fingers, though. Sheena coughs, the best sound of relief she can manage, finally realizing that the soft echo she still hears isn't outside their new prison - it's Raine, breathing. Okay, good, at least there's that.]

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