tampered | Log: Ongoing

Current Mood: devious
Current Location: The forest

Log: Ongoing

When; April 23rd; Power Switch; Backlog/Backdated
Rating; PG-13? R?
Characters; Enrico Maxwell [

holycrusader] and Yumie Takagi [

sister_samurai]
Summary; Having gotten some actual powers Enrico and Yumie decided to head to the forest for some good old target practice and trying out of the borrowed powers.
Log;

After the rude awakening of being entirely on fire and nearly burning down his apartment; Enrico had gotten over his initial shock and was beginning to get the hang of the powers that the City adminstrators had decided bestowed upon him. Of course the irony being that they belonged to the Yellow God, Lobsel Vith whom Enrico loathed just for her claim of being a god but inwardly he had to admit her powers were rather addicting. Not so much godlike but purifying sinners in the holy flames did have its appeal.

It was with his new found control of the fire and desire to test out those powers that he suggested to Yumie that they head out and get some target practice. And what better place for a man with control fire and a woman with the ability to shape shift into animals to test their new found powers but the forest.

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Like Enrico, Yumie was uncomfortable with the origin of the powers currently in her possession, not to mention the state that followed them. She had to assume the owner of the abilities was a vampire of some power that she found herself, in a pleasant surprise, able to tolerate sunlight. It warmed a body that felt far too cold, and was one of the reasons they were going to the spend today's session in forest instead of the Underground. For while the Underground was their usual place of practice, it was a rather lovely day outside, well worth taking advantage of when considering how many of the plagues would be better weathered indoors.

And while Enrico had said he was learning to control the flames, being in a place of such enclosed nature as the Underground with fire was likely not the best idea.

The last time she had been in the woods had ended any way but pleasing, but today would be happier. As they entered the treeline, Yumie turned to her fellow Iscariot with a grin. "Nice day for this, isn't it?"

"Yes, it certainly is," Enrico agreed, while searching the shadows for the animals that tended to lurk among them. Wriggling his fingers and then balling them into a fist, Enrico opened his hand, palm up to reveal a small flame to light the way as they walked deeper into the forest. "The harlot must be missing these powers something fierce. The poor dear," he added his voice oozing with sarcasm.

Though he loathed the woman, anything that made her squirm was welcomed.

"Given how much she complained about it," Yumie said with a smirk, though she was taken aback by the sight of flame flickering in Enrico's hand. "And that doesn't hurt at all?"

It gave her the urge to show off and she focused to change her form. The next time Enrico looked in her direction, he would have to look down to where a black wolf walked alongside him, ears perked and listening.

"No, it feels perfectly normal...for lack of a better description," Enrico said looking back and then down at Yumie's wolf form.

"Do we have any company yet?" Enrico asked, wondering vaguely could he also throw fireballs. It was something he would have to try as soon as they got a target in sight.

She shook her head and continued moving forward. The senses of this body were sharper than her own, nearly an overload but exciting at the same time. That she could get used to having this available crossed her mind, but was shelved.

After several more meters of travel, the wolf that was Yumie halted. A faint growl, rigid posture, and eyes locked on close grouping to the right and ahead signalled that they were no longer alone.

As soon as Enrico noticed the change in Yumie's wolf form stance his eyes narrowed looking in the direction she was focusing on. Company..finally!

The flame in Enrico's hand intensified increasing the lighting around them. The forms of several animals walking out of the shadows, licking their teeth, ready to attack came into view.

Suddenly Enrico's other hand became ignited in flames. "Come out and play."

Yumie shifted, reshaping herself in her human form, sword in hand. She had discovered before leaving her apartment that all she considered a part of herself at the time would accompany her into the change and the blade was like an extension of her arm.

Man had built his early fires as much for protection from those beasts of teeth and claws larger and sharper than his own as from the elements. These creatures were not unaffected and faltered briefly before a bolder animal shot out of its party and towards the Iscariots.

Enrico side stepped to the left before willing the flame in his right hand to shot toward the attacking creature. The creature was swift dodging the fireball barely but kept it's course heading straight for them, while yet another animal gathered its courage to follow the first.

The flames of Enrico's right hand extiniguished as he pulled the gun out of his shoulder holster, while he tossed another fireball with his left that connected with the second beast coming toward him.

The creature yowled and dropped to a crouch, wind taken out of its sails by the great burn that blackened its flesh and striped fur. A brief respite and it hissed and rose to make a slow circle around the Catholics, glowering eyes trained upon the man who had injured it.

Meanwhile, the smell of blood joined that of burnt flesh and hair as a slash from Yumie's katana ended less than accurately, taking a chunk out of the first animal's side instead of its head. A red glow came into her eyes and she made another try only to be foiled by the oversized creature jerking from the reach of her sword, then taking a swing with a mighty paw. She swung hard as she sprang out of the arc of the swat and was rewarded with another spray of red and severing of clawed toes, yet indavertantly placed herself in the charge of a third beast.

In a surreal burst of foreign instinct she broke apart, the space where she had been now occupied by a flock of bats beating their way up and through the branches above.

The creature that had been circling Enrico took advantage of the brief distraction Yumie's shifting had made and attempted a pounce on Enrico.

He managed to side step as his entire body became engulfed in flames. The next fireball he hurled toward the creature connected but this time it did more than singe as the creature cried out. Its entire body completely on fire.

The third creature glared but backed away seemingly comtemplating its next move.

The world was chaos when Yumie's mind reasserted itself, frantically trying to make sense of seeing from pairs upon pairs of eyes. Wheeling in disorientation, she, all the shes, tried to knit the picture together from places so very much higher than her apartment's ceiling.

It was with effort, though perphaps not as much as she might have assumed, that she drew back all the pieces of herself to swarm down into one of the trees. When she was whole and woman once more she perched upon a lower branch and took stock of the scene below her.

She would watch the third beast and wait.

The sensation of being made of fire was like nothing Enrico had ever felt before, he could feel the flames following through him...truly it was as if the fire was apart of him though he would never say so to the Yellow God.

The third beast stood it's ground glaring Enrico down but it did seem of what move to make. A howl from the creature summoned to more to cautiously walk out of the shadows both also glaring him down.

An instinct calling for Enrico attack as he launched several fireballs at all three creatures causing them to scatter.

Yumie dropped to the ground with the same ease that had carried her through the Advance Guard's rooftop travels in Midian.

A quieter scene awaited her, the beast Enrico had turned into a bonfire now still and well on its way to incineration. The beast she had wounded left with its companions, perhaps hobbled off to bleed out from its side amongst the underbrush.

She was more than a little impressed, amazed even, at the pyrotechnics she had just witnessed, though somewhat dissapointed the fray had apparently concluded. "Guess that party's over."

Enrico willed the flames to extinguished leaving himself and his clothes perfectly intact. "It seems the creatures do have a sense of self-preservation after all," Enrico stated flatly. "Perhaps it is a good thing this will only last until midnight...I'm getting a little too use to this power," he admitted.

The rush he had gotten from the small battle had his adrenaline in overdrive and the attraction he was feeling toward Yumie at the moment was stronger than ever. "Shall we head back or do a little more exploring?"

She tried to keep her mouth from hanging open at the display; it made her feel like an idiot.

"The latter. We'll be cooped up enough for most of the plagues," Yumie answered, setting her sword down and stretching as if to subconsciously emphasize their current freedom of movement. Her gloved fingers were bloodied and tempting so she interlaced them behind her head and rocked back and forth on her heels for a moment, almost childishly. The corners of her lips curled upwards. "Might as well enjoy the time outside while we can."

Enrico offered a smile as he tried not to study Yumie too closely. "Agreed. This whole plague business..." he trailed off. "How they can take elements from our faith and just twist them for their own dark purposes disgust me." he finally managed.

If only the true God would smite these false gods and show them true power. But that thought seemed to push itself to the back of his mind looking at Yumie. "Which direction should we go? I doubt we have much to worry about at the moment in terms of safety."

"Oh yes, me too. And it speaks little for their creativity."

An uncertain flicker of microexpression crossed her face as she thought she briefly caught Enrico's gaze follow her movements in a way she had first seen with the prior version of him to be in the City, on that night in October that seemed so long ago. It had been a simultaneous source of nervousness and thrill then and affected her so even now with a different version of the man.

She bent to retrieve her blade with a motion that was just a bit languid, her thumb lightly running down the hilt. "I'd like to heard toward the lake," Yumie said, a cheerful smile coming onto her face while she gave the katana a hard flick to remove most of the blood. "It's nice there."

"They have creativity?" Enrico asked in jest. Did he just make a joke without the heavy doses of sarcasm? He adverted his gaze not wanting to stare at Yumie unnecessarily..not to mention inappropiately.

"All right then let us head toward the lake," he proclaimed, his glance briefly flickering toward Yumie before turning in the direction of the lake.

"No." Yumie snickered slightly.

"To the lake! Maybe we'll find company again on the way," she said and took his arm as they set off. The fact that this was a markedly improper way to behave with a superior did occur to her. But perhaps because the outing had put her in high spirits, or perhaps or perhaps because she had simply been in the City too damn long, but right then? She failed to care and was deeply curious as to how he would react.

Enrico very slightly tensed at Yumie taking ahold of his arm but said and did nothing to discourage her. The gesture could easily be seen as a lady seeking a gentleman escort. The closeness was making him feel uncomfortable...an inappropiate way, but the last thing he wanted was for Yumie to know that. He was still her boss after all.

"Finding more company would certainly be a treat," he replied, lightly patting the hand that was wrapped around his arm as they continued to walk toward the lake.

It was hard to gauge his response, but Yumie decided it was pleasing. He was so warm and she resisted the urge to angle herself closer as they walker, to luxuriate in it. This was pressing her luck enough and she she would impose on him no further. She did not, however, bother to minimize the wide smile that spread across her face as he patted her hand.

"You know, I know what we both said about today needing to be over quickly, but it hasn't been so bad, has it? ...other than the way it started out."

"Yes, I guess you are right about that. Other then the rude awakening this morning, things have been going smoother than I would have suspected," he replied, with a small satisfied smile.

Enrico was aware that he probably jynxed himself with such a statement but currently things were peaceful...if not a bit uncomfortable due the nature of their working relationship.

A swordsman (or swordswoman, as case may be) must learn to read others in battle, to spot the signs that precede attack and give away the next move in the violent dance of weapons and skill. This, however, was a dance of a very different nature, with steps foreign and awkward that left Yumie unsure how to continue and unsure if she really wanted to. There were some quite valid reasons why she should not, and yet...

She gave Enrico's arm the tiniest of squeezes. "They really have."

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Log: Ongoing

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