middaeg | Greetings always followed by sweet goodbyes [Open]

Who: Majima Gorō and OPEN
When: June!
Where: Everywhere!
What: Giant chickens, runework, plus quests and basically a monthly catch-all.
Warnings: Violence in the sunbear fight thread. Salty language, maybe.

A: I'll call you Nugget

[ Whoever had said 'don't go borrowing trouble' had been a smart guy, a wise man indeed, but the thing about being told you could potentially learn to transform yourself into a totally rad magic animal was that Majima wanted to do it immediately. So it was a quiet day in the Haven, sure -- up until, with a brilliant burst of magical fireworks, a giant, six-foot tall feathery menace descended upon one of the courtyards, stalking through the garden. ]

Fuck.

[ Someone get an adult. ]

B: Runetchers

[ Majima looked up when the shop door opened. It was a slow day, which meant he'd been making progress with the pile of scrolls and other orders for enchanted items. It also meant that his fingers were cramped, and a little distraction couldn't hurt. ]

Hi there, welcome to Runetchers.

[ He stood, gave the potential customer a little bow in a show of impeccable good manners. ]

Are you lookin' for anything in particular?

Research Required (For Justine)

Oh, I... yeah. Is there any way we could skip that part?

[ Apparently, no one had told Majima that this particular research was going to require Bonding. Hey, don't get him wrong -- connections were important, and so was emotional support? But getting himself magically attached to someone when he still hadn't made peace with the idea of sticking around long-term didn't really strike him as the best of ideas.

...especially since he wasn't sure if he wanted to get un- magically attached. He looked around for a friendly face, wondering how the hell he was going to bullshit his way out of this one. ]

Pastoral Pursuit (For Iramaat)

Hey, uh. For what it's worth, I'm sorry about your ears.

[ Look, maybe while they were wandering out into the woods looking for some stray sheep was not the best time to bring this up? But hey, Iramaat's ears had been kind of cool, and she knew how to nab foxes, and Majima knew if he'd had to give up one of his favorite features, he'd be pretty pissed about it.

With no outward signs of change, it was fairly obvious what side of the monster-witch coin that Majima had ended up on. He climbed over a fallen tree trunk, careful not to stave in its soft trunk. ]

Wildcard

Feel free to hit me up via Tetradecimal or PM for plotting!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ God, he sure hoped it work, because otherwise that was a very angry bear. Majima struck the creature's head with a kind of drop kick across the snout that ended in a flash of heat and bolt of fire. The smell of burning animal flesh went up, only eclipsed by the smell of burning animal hair as the magical flames spread up its muzzle and over its face and shoulders. ]

Iramaat!

[ u ok buddy ]

[ Iramaat lands and drives her weight down against the animal with a grunt. She can feel the flesh give way under the sharp steel of her sword, hears a roar of pain and then she's shaken off and goes sprawling into the undergrowth, leaving her sword lodged in its back.

It's on fire, though, so there's that.

What's more, it's back fee are dragging now - apparently she damaged something and that means it's not nearly as fast or dangerous. Especially since, yes, it's on fire. But Iramaat is pretty sure she's cracked something, since she hit a tree. ]

I'm alive! I think!

Good news! I'll take it!

[ And while he was at it, he'd also take a moment to back off as the creature lumbered in what was probably meant to be in their general direction, but instead slammed into the trunk of a tree.

Okay, he'd practiced this. Piece of cake. A warm glow from the tip of his knife, and then strength was flooding into him, the way it used to. Would he have to use it? Well... ]

We can't leave it like this, yer right.

[ Putting the thing out of its misery, on the other hand -- surely that was the right choice here. ]

So will I, honestly...

[ Iramaat groans, but she's scrambling away as best she can. Pain sucks - why do mortals deal with it? There's a bit of a pain in her side, something that makes breathing a touch laborious. She can't stop, though. Even wounded, the thing is dangerous. ]

And... I agree with that-!

[ She's circling away, worming under a bush to avoid a swipe of its forepaw. ]

Just give me a moment to get my sword back...!

[ Who knew? #justmortalthings.

The bear lashed out with an enormous forepaw, but its movements were slow and heavy now, accompanied with the small of burning fur. Majima brought his blade across and sliced through the thick muscle of its paw in response, but of course you didn't kill bears by cutting their limbs. ]

So what's the best way to take out a bear? Inquirin' minds would like to know.

[ Human anatomy? A-OK. Bear anatomy? Help pls. ]

[ Iramaat grits her teeth - but she's a heroine! And that means she dares, she wins, and she comes out on the other side just fine. She gathers herself, beginning to steel herself for a leap. ]

The heart, I imagine. Or cut the head off? I'll see what I can do. No promises, though-

[ And then she makes a running jump, trying to land on the bear's back and get at her sword, where it's stuck in its spine. The creature roars in pain and lashes out, trying to get at her, but the smoke and fire have blinded it - even if it means Iramaat's coughing herself as she works to wrench her weapon free. Each twist and pull earns another growl or roar of pain.

Sorry, bear. She'd rather not make him suffer. ]

[ So the heart it was. While Iramaat tackled the bear from behind, Majima shoved the knife into the bear's chest. He heard (and also felt) the blade slice through what he could only imagine was the bone of the creature's rib cage, and then tore upward through some unseen, pulsing bundle that had to be the Shade's heart.

It was almost frightening how easy it had been to do it -- part the thick fur and skin and gristle.

The creature roared again, but Majima was already backing off; blood was oozing through the thick matting of fur at its front as it attempted to strike either of its two attackers in its rage. ]

[ Iramaat finally wrenches her sword free and goes tumbling off of the bear's back, sprawling into the dirt and grass and then bouncing back, rolling back to her feet in a practice movement. Her hair is plastered to her face by sweat. There's blood and soot and ash and dirt on her skin and she doesn't care. Her eyes are alight and she lunges, ducks under Majima and the swipe of a massive paw and sinks her sword into its chest.

Feels the resistance. Pushes past it. Lets the blade pass through.

It's enough. Finally.

The creature gives its death rattle and then slowly, slowly, topples toward the ground and Iramaat has to wrench her sword free and dodge back to avoid being crushed underneath its bulk. ]

...Damn. Ya figure anyone back at the coven'd be interested in a piece of this thing?

[ "Bear" didn't quite seem adequate to describe the creature, now that he was looking at it up close. It had little in common with the wildlife he vaguely knew existed up north.

Important question, though: ]

What happened to the other sheep?

Probably. Although we need to be careful of infection.

[ Iramaat wipes her blade off on the creature's fur and then strikes a pose, flourishing the sword in the sunlight. Despite the drifting, acrid smoke and the cracked rib. ]

Victory-!

[ Oh. Yeah. Sheep. ]

-oh. Probably in his belly, I imagine.

[ Majima looked skeptically at the bear's prone body... which was kind of a mess at this point? Did he really want to try and retrieve a piece of one of the golden sheep?

...nah. Not when another source was just as handy. ]

Let's look around for a little, but I'm pretty sure you're right. We can always bring back that shank for proof.

Edited 2019-06-20 04:07 (UTC)

Yes. And I think I need to see a healer...

[ She laughs and then winces, gingerly probing her side. ]

I'll manage, though. Let's get this handled...

Greetings always followed by sweet goodbyes [Open]

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cw: gore

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good place to wrap?

seems like!