well, after a series of familiar faces from here—despite how the others were obviously encountering those from home—she wasn't expecting to see her mother, of all people. she falters.
pointing her weapon at her hurts, summons echoes of another time when she thought she had to make one of the hardest choices in her life. but wavering then nearly killed someone else she loved, and so she knows she cannot.
...]
It's okay. It's going to be okay... I'm sorry.
[she fires again as erin goes and forcefeeds gojo drugs]
[ with a 5, vin is nerfed enough that her powers don't completely unlock i guess damn. she will get hit by another limb of bodies, and though the creature is kind of just mindlessly lashing out like a child, all those bones and grabbing hands and nails will hurt.
i spoke with hei and will honor the nature of these pills, which is that they are made of beast blood, hence the color. absolute funniest possible character to eat this, but gojo is successfully force-fed one. he was already in the midst of transforming, but now it will accelerate—his bones and body will shift and morph and break, rebuilding itself painfully, torturously. but there is... a sort of liberation to it, too. as a beast, he no longer feels any pain when he looks upon this creature's brain, like nona does. the claws that grow from his misshapen hands are sharp and strong, and still perfectly capable of using a weapon, his jaws expanded into that of a wolf. anyway gojo is a furry now. he will struggle to retain his sanity from his bloodlust, but he is stronger than before. wow.
meanwhile, nona is killing it. she has both the resolve and the sight to strike at this beast again, her arrows borrowing eldritch strength to use against an eldritch creature. it wraps itself in thorns and opens up tears in space and time where tentacles lash out, striking the beast down with a howl. her mother's body splinters with it, smashed under the strength of her own blows. nona is struck aside then, by a tail that looks almost like a massive spine, smashing into her and giving her massive splinters of bone.
[ouch! more of the monster's attacks sink into her - it's lucky one of her abilities is dimming her pain response and the woozy feeling of blood loss, but the blood sure still is being lost.
maybe that's why her next attack isn't too effective, either. it could also be because she's distracted by whatever's happening with gojo, oops. or maybe it's the fact i rolled a five again. help.]
[nona's still not sure how to feel about having monster tentacle powers but at least manipulating time and space makes her feel a bit more normal.
not that it matters because she's slammed again! ow! sure would also be nice to have her barrier magic, but alas.
everything hurts and she wants to just let herself fall unconscious, but gojo is turning into a furry (CONCERN) and vin is injured and erin is fighting so again, nona shakily takes aim at the monster and fires.]
[ The transformation is incredibly painful—it feels like he's being torn to pieces, even though he's actually growing instead. The annoyance is matched by a low growl and the blood thirst comes with it like a flood. His sanity teeters back and forth, but perhaps he had always been on the edge. Every battle should cement who he is and, if the match enticing, he can revel in it. Who is he if not just power and what is it but a waste to not be used, whether be as a tool, a weapon, or a monster.
All he wants is to feel the warmth of blood splattered onto his fur and weight under his katana. The brain comes into clearer view without the pain, but so should the faces that make this monster... There's no reprieve after transformation. He lunges forward and takes a leap, looking to stab the base of its neck.
Any obstacle coming his way will be met with force as he carves a path. To be honest, a 10 is decent sanity, but he will bite because I think it's funny. ]
[ if it helps, they're all tools for an end. the end of this nightmare, this hunt.
vin will feel the rune energize her again, but mostly in response to gojo's transformation. she gets the sense that she will have to put him down if he goes too far—that, too, is her responsibility. in this world, it is unkind, but even hunters lose their minds and become monsters. someone has to hunt them, too. what does it matter, anyway? she's already cut down friends. already killed nona. the awareness of her actions weighs very heavily on her, even as the monster takes another swing her way; even rondo's half-mauled corpse is there, another person she simply allowed to die. that foul woman's voice from the shelter rings in her head. useless. weak, and alone.
erin's blade erupts into an arcane flame and slices through a chunk of the monster, simply revealing more faces beneath. it's like this no matter how much they attack it: it is made of so, so many bodies. she can see the countless lives cost to bring this abomination to life. if she carves enough through it, will she find all her friends? all her family? it's possible. that's what she's slaying right now. her sister was the tip of a very large iceberg.
gojo bites into the creature's fetid flesh, made of what friends he has left, though shoko's face grafted into this creature's body doesn't seem to react. he can drink of its blood, which fills him with vigor—and more of that giddiness, intoxicating, the revel of killing beasts, even when he's become one himself. it's sadistic, and the human part of him will still recognize familiar faces and bodies in this monster, while the monster part of him flourishes.
even so, he's still weaker than this newborn abomination, who pulls him forcibly off with one of its flesh-hewn hands, even if it means tearing off a chunk of itself in the process. he gets crushed in its palm, bones and claws digging in through his fur. alone, he is never going to be strong enough. drink all the blood you want, hunter, but eventually, this world will come out the victor.
but then nona shoots it again with another decent roll, spawning more tentacles that lash at everything and freeing gojo after he's taken some spicy damage. in the process, her vision blurs and spins—nausea overwhelms her, as though she is looking in a hundred different worlds and times at once, gazing into the truth of the universe too closely and all at once. she could close her eyes, the ones inside her mind, and simply rest? she's done so much.
the creature's skull is in pieces now, exposing so many eyes. it does not lessen its fury, its will to live and kill all of you, but it is vulnerable now. ]
[she knows - she's always known. that as much as she's relied upon, an important valuable weapon in herself, she can never seem to protect what seems to matter most. the people clawing out of this monster and showing their faces to her are proof of that.
rather than make her hesitate out of a sense of meaninglessness, though, it makes her more ruthless, more quick to action. she aims at the exposed, vulnerable parts of this monster. she's watching gojo to see what he does next, but she'll wait to act against him until he turns his insanity towards one of them.]
[If she carves deep enough, this thing can be toppled down, but it's hard when you're seeing all these people crammed here. They're just...well, they're not even people, they're mockeries at best, but it's still hard. Even when she was the queen of the underworld, she had done her damn best to keep peace even though it was, you know, hell. Despite everything Erin Winters has been mostly a pacifist.
Having to do this is really difficult for her. She keeps going mostly because she wants it to be over, so she and Vin and Gojo and Nona can go back.
Through the corner of her eye she can see how the others are doing. It's incentive to slice through enough of this monstruous thing to make it fall down, so it can be attacked more easily.
[ Sorry, Shoko. Even if he recognizes the faces on this monster and connects it to the blood and flesh filling his senses, his mind is splintered in two. The pain that encloses around him, throughout him, is excruciating, but the thrill of battle still runs through him much like the bone and claws piercing through his fur. Neither sensations leave him when he's freed, but he doesn't recover incredibly fast... There's a moment where he can clearly see and remember they're handling this as a team.
But you know he'll take in what's left of the blood in his stock, including blood crystals, and return. Instead of going for the vulnerable brain, he focuses his blade on any limbs that may come to them. ]
[ vin is level-headed despite everything, and her blades sink into the weak joints of the creature, which is really just the fleshy bits of the people that make it up. she tears through the remains of the people they've lost and failed, and it is perhaps too easy. everything cuts with frightening ease, no matter how close these people were to her. this much strength is enough. elend's hand reaches, trembling, and touches her arm. even if it's just a spasm of a corpse, it feels real before falling away weakly.
erin can't see her sister anymore, amidst all the bodies. maybe it's a little easier this way. or maybe it isn't, seeing her disappear into the amorphous mass of flesh as it collapses, brought to kneel by her assault along with the others. the beast lashes out tirelessly, but the individual bodies that make it up almost sag. mercy, she hears them ask, though it is most likely just the madness catching up to her. mercy.
the blood absolutely soars and sings through gojo. riko, shoko, geto, everyone whose blood he's had on his hands, they run rampant through him now. it is wonderful, and it is agonizing. he feels their grief and pain as though it is his own: the hopelessness of a hopeful life cut short, the feeling of watching as everything falls apart, the resignation of facing down a friend. something gnawing on his bones. burning through his blood. this is the cost of having even a fraction of the power he needs; this is why so many hunters go mad. he can tear at the limbs, ripping out corpse after corpse from the creature's joints until it begins to falter, affording the others a chance to finish this.
nona, no matter how many worlds and distractions her eyes throw at her, does not hesitate. her final bolt hits true, sinking into the creature's head, driving through it with power beyond just an arrow. everything goes a little quiet in her head. her vision does not swim so much. she is alone, with only the others and the things they have done.
and finally, the monster sinks under its weight, shrieks in the fear of a thousand voices, and collapses.
[her instinct is to touch his hand back, to hold it as she has so many times - but she watches it fall away, watches his bloodstained face as it goes still.
she stares for a moment as the monster dies, finally letting herself feel something about this.]
[Erin's shoulders slump when the monster falls. Her blade clatters when it falls to the floor, dropped]
...dunno, guess that means you three are real after all. If you all had been part of some lie you'd have disappeared when everything else did.
[She says that as a bit of a way to reassure herself that this all happened after all. Nightmare it was, but, well...she has a sense of finality right now, after having seen the monster die]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
well, after a series of familiar faces from here—despite how the others were obviously encountering those from home—she wasn't expecting to see her mother, of all people. she falters.
pointing her weapon at her hurts, summons echoes of another time when she thought she had to make one of the hardest choices in her life. but wavering then nearly killed someone else she loved, and so she knows she cannot.
...]
It's okay. It's going to be okay... I'm sorry.
[she fires again as erin goes and forcefeeds gojo drugs]
no subject
no subject
i spoke with hei and will honor the nature of these pills, which is that they are made of beast blood, hence the color. absolute funniest possible character to eat this, but gojo is successfully force-fed one. he was already in the midst of transforming, but now it will accelerate—his bones and body will shift and morph and break, rebuilding itself painfully, torturously. but there is... a sort of liberation to it, too. as a beast, he no longer feels any pain when he looks upon this creature's brain, like nona does. the claws that grow from his misshapen hands are sharp and strong, and still perfectly capable of using a weapon, his jaws expanded into that of a wolf. anyway gojo is a furry now. he will struggle to retain his sanity from his bloodlust, but he is stronger than before. wow.
meanwhile, nona is killing it. she has both the resolve and the sight to strike at this beast again, her arrows borrowing eldritch strength to use against an eldritch creature. it wraps itself in thorns and opens up tears in space and time where tentacles lash out, striking the beast down with a howl. her mother's body splinters with it, smashed under the strength of her own blows. nona is struck aside then, by a tail that looks almost like a massive spine, smashing into her and giving her massive splinters of bone.
however, the creature is weakening. ]
no subject
maybe that's why her next attack isn't too effective, either. it could also be because she's distracted by whatever's happening with gojo, oops. or maybe it's the fact i rolled a five again. help.]
no subject
......
Whoops]
I hate this place.
[A less honorable person maybe would immediately blame Vin. At least Erin didn't!
Better attempt to let out some of the stress by slicing this thing with her blade! Weapon, here we go!
But that was an 8 in the dice. Oh well]
no subject
not that it matters because she's slammed again! ow! sure would also be nice to have her barrier magic, but alas.
everything hurts and she wants to just let herself fall unconscious, but gojo is turning into a furry (CONCERN) and vin is injured and erin is fighting so again, nona shakily takes aim at the monster and fires.]
no subject
[ The transformation is incredibly painful—it feels like he's being torn to pieces, even though he's actually growing instead. The annoyance is matched by a low growl and the blood thirst comes with it like a flood. His sanity teeters back and forth, but perhaps he had always been on the edge. Every battle should cement who he is and, if the match enticing, he can revel in it. Who is he if not just power and what is it but a waste to not be used, whether be as a tool, a weapon, or a monster.
All he wants is to feel the warmth of blood splattered onto his fur and weight under his katana. The brain comes into clearer view without the pain, but so should the faces that make this monster... There's no reprieve after transformation. He lunges forward and takes a leap, looking to stab the base of its neck.
Any obstacle coming his way will be met with force as he carves a path. To be honest, a 10 is decent sanity, but he will bite because I think it's funny. ]
no subject
vin will feel the rune energize her again, but mostly in response to gojo's transformation. she gets the sense that she will have to put him down if he goes too far—that, too, is her responsibility. in this world, it is unkind, but even hunters lose their minds and become monsters. someone has to hunt them, too. what does it matter, anyway? she's already cut down friends. already killed nona. the awareness of her actions weighs very heavily on her, even as the monster takes another swing her way; even rondo's half-mauled corpse is there, another person she simply allowed to die. that foul woman's voice from the shelter rings in her head. useless. weak, and alone.
erin's blade erupts into an arcane flame and slices through a chunk of the monster, simply revealing more faces beneath. it's like this no matter how much they attack it: it is made of so, so many bodies. she can see the countless lives cost to bring this abomination to life. if she carves enough through it, will she find all her friends? all her family? it's possible. that's what she's slaying right now. her sister was the tip of a very large iceberg.
gojo bites into the creature's fetid flesh, made of what friends he has left, though shoko's face grafted into this creature's body doesn't seem to react. he can drink of its blood, which fills him with vigor—and more of that giddiness, intoxicating, the revel of killing beasts, even when he's become one himself. it's sadistic, and the human part of him will still recognize familiar faces and bodies in this monster, while the monster part of him flourishes.
even so, he's still weaker than this newborn abomination, who pulls him forcibly off with one of its flesh-hewn hands, even if it means tearing off a chunk of itself in the process. he gets crushed in its palm, bones and claws digging in through his fur. alone, he is never going to be strong enough. drink all the blood you want, hunter, but eventually, this world will come out the victor.
but then nona shoots it again with another decent roll, spawning more tentacles that lash at everything and freeing gojo after he's taken some spicy damage. in the process, her vision blurs and spins—nausea overwhelms her, as though she is looking in a hundred different worlds and times at once, gazing into the truth of the universe too closely and all at once. she could close her eyes, the ones inside her mind, and simply rest? she's done so much.
the creature's skull is in pieces now, exposing so many eyes. it does not lessen its fury, its will to live and kill all of you, but it is vulnerable now. ]
no subject
rather than make her hesitate out of a sense of meaninglessness, though, it makes her more ruthless, more quick to action. she aims at the exposed, vulnerable parts of this monster. she's watching gojo to see what he does next, but she'll wait to act against him until he turns his insanity towards one of them.]
no subject
Having to do this is really difficult for her. She keeps going mostly because she wants it to be over, so she and Vin and Gojo and Nona can go back.
Through the corner of her eye she can see how the others are doing. It's incentive to slice through enough of this monstruous thing to make it fall down, so it can be attacked more easily.
Oh, a roll of 13, not too bad!]
no subject
she doesn't yet rest, instead firing again.]
no subject
But you know he'll take in what's left of the blood in his stock, including blood crystals, and return. Instead of going for the vulnerable brain, he focuses his blade on any limbs that may come to them. ]
no subject
erin can't see her sister anymore, amidst all the bodies. maybe it's a little easier this way. or maybe it isn't, seeing her disappear into the amorphous mass of flesh as it collapses, brought to kneel by her assault along with the others. the beast lashes out tirelessly, but the individual bodies that make it up almost sag. mercy, she hears them ask, though it is most likely just the madness catching up to her. mercy.
the blood absolutely soars and sings through gojo. riko, shoko, geto, everyone whose blood he's had on his hands, they run rampant through him now. it is wonderful, and it is agonizing. he feels their grief and pain as though it is his own: the hopelessness of a hopeful life cut short, the feeling of watching as everything falls apart, the resignation of facing down a friend. something gnawing on his bones. burning through his blood. this is the cost of having even a fraction of the power he needs; this is why so many hunters go mad. he can tear at the limbs, ripping out corpse after corpse from the creature's joints until it begins to falter, affording the others a chance to finish this.
nona, no matter how many worlds and distractions her eyes throw at her, does not hesitate. her final bolt hits true, sinking into the creature's head, driving through it with power beyond just an arrow. everything goes a little quiet in her head. her vision does not swim so much. she is alone, with only the others and the things they have done.
and finally, the monster sinks under its weight, shrieks in the fear of a thousand voices, and collapses.
the four of them don't die this time. ]
no subject
she stares for a moment as the monster dies, finally letting herself feel something about this.]
no subject
...dunno, guess that means you three are real after all. If you all had been part of some lie you'd have disappeared when everything else did.
[She says that as a bit of a way to reassure herself that this all happened after all. Nightmare it was, but, well...she has a sense of finality right now, after having seen the monster die]
no subject
she's quiet for a bit, collapsing to her knees, before she simply asks—]
Is everyone okay?
no subject
Normally, he would say some line that they needed to do this, but he stays quiet before letting out a sad howl to the end of this journey. ]