WEEK 5

[killerwaves]

WEEK FIVE

21 Vacationers

The weekend sure was something, wasn't it? Tempers flared, explosions burst, and some were treated to an immersive sand bath experience. Come Monday at least, things seem quieter though not in the unnatural still way—the distortions on the islands have receded sometime in the night (with some impressive firework-like booms that may have stirred your sleep, at that; and the waves seem a little higher this morning) and the various amenities on the island have been made orderly again. Though, as always, some traces remain in the landscape; the waterfall looks like it has seen better days, though it's no longer in danger of coughing up debris on your head if looked at wrong.

This week like the rest brings new locations for you to explore, on Kakapo's Nest though it seems like only one of them really fits the vacation vibe. Hope you like snow!

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WEATHER ALERT:

Bulletin:
Starting Monday morning and continuing throughout the week, pollen counts will be elevated. This is expected to last until late Thursday

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TASKS:

Breathe Freely:
Enjoy the great outdoors with a fellow vacationer! It's never too late to appreciate nature.
(REWARD: RARE!)

(( Yes, only one task this week which is memshare with someone else. Have fun!
REMINDER: Task submissions are due Friday by 9 PM EST/6 PM PST. ))

(( OOC: Murder proposals are due by Tuesday at 4 PM EST / 1 PM PST, for the current week's murder, which is the last week of standard murder, week 6 being endgame!!

Also, as always, your admins can be contacted for a chat. ))

MONDAY • TUESDAY • WEDNESDAY • THURSDAY

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Comments

[felame]

[ its clawsies have a decent amount of punch behind them. a little above what'd you expect from a decently sized dragon, really, so if wang lu does want to meet and tank those hits for the group (what a swell guy) and he can't handle that... then, well, he's going to get knocked down, and potentially stomped on. not gonna judge if he enjoys that.

not that the dragon can keep up the assault for too long with the addition of golden retriever lasers. they hit the dragon directly, the flames around it dying again as it steps backwards, revealing to zelkov the thing he's looking for.

while most of it is covered in black scales like armor, there's a section that is not, somewhere between its front two legs? arms? he has a moment to catch that before its back on the offensive, this time looking to stomp past wang lu and strike at zelkov, waltaquin and her summon. ]

[necrotiem]

[Ah...perhaps she can see that, too, but there's nothing she can do about it with this weapon lacking in such precision.]

Aha... haha - I see, I see!

[Here comes a special boy! Here he comes! The smaller skeleton dragon waddles its fat little ass closer, its own claws ripping at the ground as it prepares to stomp, just in case a tank swap is needed. It may be little, but it will be more of a foe than her skeleton warrior as long as its controller can stay in operation.]

[chosenwang]

[ Since the dragon didn't get to kiss a twink, she can step on a twunk instead.

He will tank clawsies until he's knocked down. Wang Lu will immediately try to roll away but the dragon can go stomp stompy on his arm. There will be a crack from something breaking.

Then it's heading to give Zelkov and Waltaquin some loving. Getting into a kneeling position to try to send one last energy blast from his sword to it while it's heading to them. It's on you now Zelkov and special boy! ]

[passetemps]

[ zelkov sure doesn't like the sound of that crack, but he's not going to get distracted by it now. now that he's seen that weak point, he's going to go after it as soon as an opportunity presents itself.

if it rears up to strike at either him or quin, he'll switch over to the short throwing sword and aim for that unarmored spot. ]

[felame]

[ so glad xiao got to step on a twunk.

despite its durability and persistence, the marks on even its armored body shows that their strikes have been whittling it down. the additional energy blast from wang lu is another scar upon many, made even beyond this very fight, and it— she— stumbles again with that strike.

waltaquin's waddly ass dragon is a golden retriever mosquito, and the dragon's claws smash around it in an attempt to completely tear it apart as it struggles to move back into a proper position. this is enough, this is enough, and—

—it is enough, as zelkov hits the mark despite the dragon's attempt to move last minute to protect its weak spot. the roar, the shriek it lets out is guttural, and the flames burst to life in a last desperate attempt to live, though they flicker once more. it staggers, unmoving, that weakness in full display.

that wasn't the strike that'll kill it, but it's given them the best opening they'll get. ]

[necrotiem]

Now! Now, now, now -!

[The skeletal dragon is fraying at its bony seams, on its way back to the hell it crawled out of. But even as it's beginning to fade into oppressive dark energy, it latches its jaws around one of Xiao's forearms and clings and shakes and drags, ripping her to the side so the very heart of her weakness is bare. Even as it's crumbling it will use the last of its strength to hold her there so the ones with pointy objects can drive them home.

Waltaquin is down to one knee in the field, her breath outrageously and delightfully hard.

This is it - it is enough - and despite her exertion she is unblinking and does not look away from the fading flame.]

[chosenwang]

[ Why didn't his master teach him anything useful like more projectile?

He's hissing under his breath as his arm moves as gets up. He's had more broken bones than this before, but it's been a while. Time to throw his all into one final attack! He's going to lift his sword up and adjust it's size so it's easier for him to handle with the one hand. Then he's using both his super speed to get over there. Just going to attack the dragon from behind with a strike.

Zelkov can get the finale. ]

[passetemps]

[ he intends to do just that. he switches weapons one more time back to the holy sword yato — which was, he remembers corrin telling him before, forged specifically to fight against those among the first dragons who opposed humanity. it only seems fitting.

with the breaking effects of waltaquin's and wang lu's last attacks giving the perfect opening, zelkov lunges forward to lodge the long sword deep into its chest. ]

[felame]

[ it's far too weak to fight combined against the dragging, slowly being worn down combined with the strike from wang lu that draws more blood, dropping its body forward as zelkov comes at its—

—at her heart with yato. there's another cry. of pain, of anger, of many things... with the last of her strength, it lets out a final blast of fire, hoping to at least take something down with it, all of them, even, though she hardly aims the attack properly as death finally comes to claim her.

slowly, the flames die down, that unintelligible speech returning as the dragon falls back. ]

■ ■■■■—

[ the form of that dragon begins to dissipate in slow flickers of fire, scales scattering like petals, those growls becoming clearer though still murky, words as fleeting as a final breath— ]

I̶̼̒ ̸͒ͅo̸͚̓n̴̰̾l̸̼̕y̶͕̌ ̷̜͝w̸̡͐i̷̠̐s̴͖̕h̶͚̅e̴̯͘d̵̠̓ ̴̛̫t̸̜͝ỏ̷̥ ̵̂͜ś̷̰é̴̱ḙ̵̂ ̶͖̐ý̶͓o̴̘͝ȕ̴͓,̴͔̎ ̷͙̚L̸̗͛ò̴̻w̸͍̒ē̷͙l̷̰͘l̴̻̈́.̷̀ͅ ̴̨̚T̷̼̈́h̷̘̃e̸̳͗ ̵̩́s̸̩̋t̶̜̑a̶̝̾r̴̥̾s̵̫̚.̴̯̋.̵̼̂.̵̠̓ ̶͍̚ä̸̞́r̵̠͋e̶͇͂ ̵̬͆b̸̲͝e̸͎̕ã̵̩u̸͛ͅt̷͕̂í̴͉f̷͓̏ų̴̚l̵̖͊.̵͕̂

[ and with that, the form of the dragon is gone, leaving only the form of its embers... now, quite obviously, human.

xiao is still kissless dead. ]

[necrotiem]

[The darkness recedes around her as Waltaquin's dragon, too, returns to embers. The necrotic energy, the smell of death - it all begins to lessen and fade. Tenderly she rises to her feet again. Zelkov's healing and the fog have done a good job at keeping the worst of the fire at bay, but she's sure there are parts of her dress burned onto her somewhere.

Lips pressed, she looks down at the body.]

Ah... so those were the flames of hell that Sonya felt, all those weeks ago. Xiao... What drove you to this?

[...Why does it feel as if they're all running out of time?

Oh, fuck, Wang Lu's arm - She isn't sure she can handle another invocation.]

[chosenwang]

[ At first he feels victorious for having to stop whatever creature they were experimenting on this time.

Only for those scales to fall away until there was nothing left but his wayward Cabana-mate instead. ]

Ah. [ That's not good. The combination of the weight of what they just did and Wuxiang Bones kicking into effect is making him feel much more tired than he usually is. He stumbles forward, dropping his sword in the process, to check on the still form of Xiao. ] Why was she even like that?

[passetemps]

[ while there's nothing particularly surprising to zelkov about a dragon turning into a human — that's just how dragons work in elyos — he somehow hadn't been expecting it to be someone he knew here. maybe he should have, since they'd all seen xiao's fire powers in person before.

as his own appearance returns to normal and the sword vanishes from sight, he looks down at her, frowning. perhaps if he'd gotten to know her better, he might have some understanding of what had led to this.

...but it's done now, regardless. and even if he'd known who she was, he can't say he would have done otherwise, not when two others were putting their own lives on the line fighting alongside him.

his duty is to neutralize threats, whatever form they take. ]

I could not say. ...And I do wonder what it was she seemed to be searching for when you first arrived.

mini-body invest

[killerwaves]

[Xiao's body remains battered and bloody and covered in ashes from everything that transpired before, though luckily the scale of the dragon's injuries don't seem to have transferred over one-to-one -- or she might have been obliterated in the process of whatever-this-was.

Others may be able to tell a tale of where she came from, or where this started, at least, but here they are at the very end.

On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be a body announcement forthcoming right now -- perhaps it's a good time to give the body a quick lookover while there's nothing to interrupt.]

[necrotiem]

[There will be time to lick their wounds later, when everyone has come running and reconvened.

Waltaquin kneels down next Xiao so that she might do exactly that. What can be found on this former dragon as she sweeps some of the ash off of her with the back of her hand?]

[killerwaves]

[Well, there's not much in the way of anything that's still intact -- though Walt will notice traces of bleeding from the mouth and nose, which are very dried trails but still just visible under all the soot.

She'll also notice that the scales remaining on one of the arms seem to be receding rather slowly. She's free to check out both, but that one may take priority since it's slowly fading before her eyes.]

[necrotiem]

[...Well she already has a thought in mind earmarked for the bleeding, and it's prudent not to lose the scent prematurely.

Let's take a look at the receding scales. Presumably they stand out because the rest of the dragonskin EGO has largely faded completely by now?]

[killerwaves]

[Very much so! The EGO was gone pretty quickly, and in a moment even the last remaining traces of it crumble away to simply leave a very dirtied and blood-smeared human arm.

If Waltaquin looks closely enough at where the last of it vanished, though, she'll be able to see what looks like a pinprick-shaped bruise, just distinguishable in all the black and red.]

[necrotiem]

[Next you're going to tell me the bruise was over a vein or something like that...]

Ah, what's this - ? [She holds it aloft and examines it a little closer. Is there any other discoloration or marking beneath the skin that might show through around the bruise area? Xiao's pretty pale so she figures it's worth checking -



or is it time to consult her suspicion head on and look at Xiao's tongue?]

[killerwaves]

[There's a little reddening around the bruised area, but otherwise it doesn't look like there's much more to find beneath the skin -- Xiao's pale, but that also means that the plethora of bruises from the fight are crowding what unblemished skin remains.

It may be time to listen to her instincts.]

[necrotiem]

[Quin lowers her arm, clinically but with no tenderness.

Indeed it is time. One hand on either side of Xiao's jaw, she's going to open the woman's mouth now.]

[killerwaves]

[Bingo: Xiao’s tongue is very nearly as black as the destruction wrought by her dragon form.

Some moments pass, the last flickers of all the fires set by their battle die down as well, and the incongruously beautiful peace of the islands reasserts itself. There's the slow, familiar tread of a small pack of kittybots rolling up, chattering amongst themselves as always.

They go for the body, as always, carefully starting to chivvy the fighters away from it before they hoist it up and away. It looks like time is up, and the cleanup crew will be busying itself from here on out.]

[chosenwang]

[ Welp. Having the answers he so desperately wanted before didn't make him feel any better.

It's making him feel quite a bit worse.]

[necrotiem]

[She stands and backs away as the kittybots come to clean up. There'll be the matter of Overhaul coming across the speaker soon, but before they can chew on that...]

Your arm? You're bearing up quite well. I heard that from quite a distance! [She's got her grimoire up again, but - oof.]

[allworknoplague]

[And then, somewhat belatedly, nearby palm tree speakers crackle to life.]

Hmm. So it wasn't another laboratory accident, was it?

... We'll consider it under the same umbrella for now -- the phenomenon hasn't appeared, so it's not time for sacrifices yet. Let's hope this won't contribute to anything like last week.

We'll take the investigation from here.

[And just as unceremoniously, the message ends.]

[chosenwang]

[ Ah, what a shame. There's no more white hair.

While Walt does her invest, he's going to give her space and grab his sword. Taking a seat on the ground nearby as his body feels heavier. ]

You do have my thanks for stepping in when you did.