tampered | Log; Ongoing

Log; Ongoing

When; today
Rating; G
Characters; Haruka

onikui & Zaheela

henkonasuisho
Summary; Birdy goes flying, kitty comes watching.
Log;

A fine afternoon with the sun receding into cloud-covered skies over the horizon was exactly the type of afternoon that Haruka preferred to fly in. There would be no light to blind his eyes as he headed straight up or would there be flurries of morning birds to get in his way. It had been a few days since he had mentioned testing his flight against the bindings of the city, but he hadn’t actually conducted the experiment yet. His commenters had suggested there might be dire outcomes and one even mentioned some object called a spaceship, which Haruka still had yet to understand.

He was still going to try it anyways. He was trapped in the city, dead or alive, there wasn’t too much to lose if he failed… besides said dire consequences, but he would take his chances. He had asked Zaheela to stay with him as a spotter, just he case he did fall, at least someone would be there to pick up the pieces.

"Sorry to trouble you for this." He said, turning to face the mage by his side, "but it’s something I have to do, if only to prove to myself that I’ve really exhausted all possible methods of escape."

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Zaheela didn't like it at all, to be honest. While she had never actually tested the boundaries, as well as curious about the spacial limitations, it wasn't something she found a dire need to.

"It's alright, I feel safer that someone is here to make sure you don't hurt yourself." Never mind she was still recovering in part, but as long as she didn't do anything major, she figured, she wouldn't encounter any problems. If He fell, well, that was another story.
"The way out exists, we just have yet to figure out a way to go through it. We may as well get started..." She murmured before placing both hands on her chest and focusing, gathering spiritual mana in order to propel herself off the ground.

A wry smirk was seen on his face before it disappeared just as quickly, the idea of falling for thousands of feet from the air hadn’t occurred to him for a long time. "I’ll do my best not to fall too much, else I might be a little heavy to catch."

There was no need for concentration or anything for Haruka to manifest his wings, all he needed to do was release then they would appear leaving a flurry of black feathers when he spread them out. He had never seen Zaheela’s wings before, and seeing her do this was of interest to him. Somehow, he had always imagined her to naturally have wings like he did as well.

"I will go on ahead…" Haruka said after a moment of watching, he needed to be higher than her anyways if she was spotting him. "Take your time." And with one powerful sweep of his wings, he was up.

The magic finally snapped into place, the energy lifting her off the ground to follow him into the sky. Her 'wings' persay, weren't like Haruka's at all, not even visible to the naked or untrained eyes. To them, she appeared to just levitate from the ground. To those trained in magic or spiritual powers, however, there were 'wings' though they had no real shape. It shifted in and out, barely holding a winged appearance only because that is what she believed they looked like. Perhaps seeing Haruka's own had influenced it, but as long as it got the job done it didn't matter.

"Sorry that the spell took so long, i'm not too used to it anymore." Zaheela said, already feeling a small twinge of strain.

The wings were visible to his eyes as lights of varying hues that fluttered like a baby fledgling’s first flight. It was cute, and definitely wouldn’t leave a trail of feathers in their wake. Haruka slowed his pace for her to keep up with him, and even offered a hand to her.

"It’s all right, it was interesting to watch another world’s spell being formulated and brought to life. It’s different, very different, but the magic feels similar yet." Perhaps, when they got out –because Haruka wasn’t giving up so quickly- they would end up in either his or her world if they stuck together. Perhaps Zaheela would like his, she did tell him not too long ago that she was feeling the strain of the city on her.

"Magic is magic, no matter where your from, I'm afraid. Nothing too spectacular, nothing unique." She said, glancing behind her, the hue turning a drab gray under her eyes. The farther they got from the ground, the harder it was getting for her to keep the spell up, though she didn't mention it or show it. She disliked showing weakness when it came to her spells.

"If we were to conclude the exit was here, wouldn't we be forced... to our respective worlds?" She had paused, only because while Haruka was alive, she was dead, and that meant another set of chains. "Unless you think that we'd arrive in one world alone, and I wouldn't trap you in mine if I could help it."

"I beg to differ, the degree of intensity and frequency is different. It can be different from others as well, Kantarou would never be able to pull off a spell like this no matter how many years he trained and studied." It was a slight embarrassment for him to admit this to her, his memory of his former master was foggy at best, but he did remember feeling overwhelmed by her… with Kantarou, it was frustrations mostly, coupled with annoyed thoughts. "The fact that you can do this at this height is amazing."

They were well over a few hundred feet into the air, the atmosphere pressure already different and the oxygen in the air denser. Most humans would need some time to adjust to the changes before continuing but here they were, the both of them going further up.

"If we were forced to our respective worlds… we would both be home, ne?" was all he said in reply. He had forgotten Zaheela’s mention of her "living" situation and attributed her cool hand to the temperature of the weather. "I wouldn’t be trapped, if there’s a way in, there has to be a way out. It’s not possible to enter another world otherwise; these metaphysical laws govern all worlds.

"Perhaps he's trained in another form of channeling the magic then?" She inquired, always inquisitive about the spells and channeling of the other worlds. "..." It was harder for her to keep the spell together...

"Yes... No, you wouldn't be trapped, but my world is... in a constant war. Purer, cleaner, but too much blood." Not to mention she would longer exist. She squeezed his hand a bit, glad she didn't need to breath anymore before. She felt the tingle of something the repelled and frowned, grasping his hand tighter before focusing closing her eyes, trying to get a feel for the strange thing.
"Haruka... There's... something." She murmured.

[OOC: because mel is a dork and Lux-dear mentions the shiny wings aren't as shiny in the icon... I give you one hell of a crapy sketch (http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/6650/untitled1sr0.jpg) XD]

"You could say that. He needs tools." That was in reference to all the okufu, candles and other trinkets of the trade that needed to be used. They were more ritualistic than anything, but Kantarou was an onmyouji, not a sorcerer. "And as long as your world has forests or places away from civilization, I do believe I could adapt." If he ended up in another world, it was away from people for him.

He did however, note the pauses in her speech this time and looked down at her with a touch of concern. Was he going too fast for her? Although they were holding hands, she was still flying a good few feet below him, was he dragging her? Did he need to slow down? Haruka had been about to ask when he felt his skull connect with something hard, like a wall, though it must’ve been a barrier since Haruka felt a foreign presence ripple through his body before everything in his vision went black.

It went in slow motion, the 'slamming' into the wall, the roll of the eyes indicating the subject passing out. And the... the Uncontrolled decent. Zaheela struggled, fought to keep them from falling too fast, focusing more and more magic into her wings, burning more of her own personal mana, But they were still falling.

Falling.

Out of control.

"Haruka! HARUKA! WAKE UP!" She screamed against the wind. He was too heavy, she was too weak and useless, Gravity too strong, and there wasn't anything she could do to wake him up. The tengu was out cold. Her mind snapped into action, calculating, theorizing, trying to figure out the safest way to get them out of this. She grimaced, there was a chance that she could... But the...

Falling faster and faster. They would be dead anyways, may as well TRY!

Clutching the unconscious tengu's head closer to her chest, she let the 'wings' disappear to wrap around them, magic diverting from movement to protecting. She watched as the ground before concentrating on casting a spell. Spirits gathered in her hand, a pulse of holy magic compacting itself tighter and denser before she hurled it at the ground. The earth below them exploded, catching them in a fountain of pebbles and earth, which spattered against the shielding spell, slowing their descent suddenly about 10 feet from the ground, before shattering through and dispersing.

...Well at least the fall from this height would just hurt! They landed with a mighty thump on top of the exploded earth.

He was out during the entire descent, and of course, oblivious to the desperate attempts Zaheela had made to ensure both their safety. It was a miracle that Zaheela had managed to break their fall before they had both broken their necks and thus doomed themselves into the city forever.

It took awhile, Haruka wasn’t sure how long, but by the time he was semi-conscious again the dust cloud that had gathered from the exploding earth had dissipated. He coughed out the stray particles that had entered his lungs during their fall, though the movement brought a stab of pain to his head.

"…Zaheela?"

She blinked slowly, mind jogged back to full speed when she heard her name. Wearily sitting up, she frowned, staring at the man still using her as a pillow.
"You're finally awake. What happened to you?" She groaned, tail limp. Pain lanced through it and her leg when she tried to move them. The leg was most likely broken and she could feel the cracks in the bones of her tail. She bit down a hiss as she tried to move her right leg. Most definitely broken. With that little stunt, and too little magical reserves to begin with, her regeneration wouldn't kick in for... oh 4 hours she estimated.
"You're not hurt are you?" Was the next words out of her mouth.

"I… apologize." There wasn’t anything else he could say at that point. It had been his idea and he was so certain, so hoping that it would be successful and he would finally be free of that city that he didn’t factor in the chances of it backfiring. There had been enough life and death situations with him that ranged from capture, deity monsters or other adversaries… he had never expected to be thwarted by a wall. "I… there was a barrier."

By then, Haruka had regained most of the feeling in his body, he felt sore everywhere, though he was pretty sure nothing was broken nor was he missing any limbs. The constant throbbing pain in his head was still there and it was what kept him from sitting up yet. "Are you… all right? You saved us, didn’t you? Thank you."

That was a tad bit obvious, but what kind of barrier interested her. She lay there, unbothered by the fact he was still laying on top of her and speaking into her chest. "Magical, psychical, or unknown?" She inquired, not daring to move.

When he inquired about her health, she shrugged it off.
"Perfectly." Except her leg was broken, meaning it would be hell to walk on, if she could. She was content on laying there for 4 hours until her magic took care of it. "It was either that, or dying a horrible, painful death, so there isn't any need for thanks." She tried to smile, but to took too much effort to blink.

Magical? Physical? Haruka had to think about it, it certainly felt very physical when he slammed head first into it, but flying into a wall shouldn’t have caused that disorienting ripple to vibrate through his entire body… at least he was pretty sure it shouldn’t, that was the first time he had ever flown head first into a hard substance. "I’d say unknown. It felt was there but… it felt foreign."

It was probably around time that he should move his head, considering Zaheela was a lady and he wasn’t a chibi minature like last time, it really wasn’t right for him to still nestle his head into her bosom. But, it felt soft and war—no, it didn’t feel warm, now that he thought about it, nor did he feel the soft steady thumps of a heartbeat. Did that mean…? Did he…?

A sickening moment passed through him and he pushed himself off her and looked at her in alarm, fighting back the dark cloudy nausea that threatened to knock him out again for moving so soon. "Zaheela, I- I’m so sorry. I—you, your life…" He looked down defeatedly, fists clenched, "because of my foolish choice you’ve di--" He couldn’t say it.

"So something there but not. Hello, I think we've located a giant glass window. Now how to shatter it." She muttered, mind absorbing all the information before she felt him get up. His reaction, his response. Was he unaware of the rules of death here?

"Was gone months ago, stolen and destroyed by an arrancar who hated me." She said softly, anger creeping in her tone. "You aren't in any way part of the cauSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS" She couldn't finish because his leg had slammed into her broken one, and it took a great deal of willpower not to scream. When the pain faded away, she smiled nervously.
"I'm fine." She blurted out before he could ask.

He drew back from her in confusion when she had hissed out rather suddenly. He glanced over her prone form, confused. Did this mean she wasn’t dead yet? But then, he had heard no hearbeat and the city did have a habit of bringing back the dea—that was an odd shape for her leg to be bent in. "Sorry." Haruka said again and gently eased his other leg from where it was tangled with her, she was obviously not fine and not in any way ready to move. Nor was he, really, though all he needed was the ringing to go away in order to stand up properly. Zaheela had taken most of the damage for them.

Haruka pulled himself into a sitting position, though one hand was holding his head to keep the swaying movement away. "Just give me ten minutes to recover and I think I can get us back. By foot." His wings had disappeared into a flurry of dark features during his descent, he wasn’t ready to call them back any time soon. "It’s a good thing we’re not too far away into the forest" he wondered if anyone had seen or heard them, "and somehow, I doubt we could shatter the sky without it falling on the city’s denizens."

"or without adverse backlash. For now, we'll just make note of it." She agreed before moving to stand up, eying her leg. Maybe a brace would work.
"yes, We'll have to take the treck on foot, since I doubt either of us can fly. Just give me a moment to find something to make a support so I can walk." She muttered, eying the area around them, well aware he meant he was going to carry her. Curiosity be damned, she wasn't going to be carried if she could help it.

Stubbornness be damned, Haruka wasn’t going to allow her to hobble back to the city on a crutch. She had done more than he had hoped for by saving their necks, the very least he could do was help her back home, all he needed were a few more minutes for the stunned feeling to drift away.

"Don’t bother." He gave her a pointed look that suggested she should sit down and patiently be carried like a princess back into the city or stay stubborn which meant he would toss her over his shoulders and carry her back like a sack of potatoes. He would much rather not have to fight her over acrutch.

Zaheela was never the one to submit to such looks, and she was a far cry from the princess type, needing to be pampered or too delicate to take some pain. She was a knight, a servant of her country, blah blah blah. Point being, she wouldn't be carried if she could so help it.
"It'd be hard to walk back without properly binding it." She countered, acting as if she didn't hear him or see his silent command. "It's not a long walk, i'll live."

Haruka gave a sigh before finally standing up, the stun to his head now mostly gone and he was ready to make the trek back to the city of chaos. "It would all be a lot faster if you just came along quietly." Why bind in the forest and struggle for sticks when all she needed to do was let Haruka take her back into the city, sure, they would be a little slower than they were walking in but it was only half an hour at most. He went up to Zaheela, took hold of her by her mid section and before another word could be said, tossed her over his shoulder like the aforementioned sack of potatoes.

"We'll be back soon."

If her tail wasn't out of commission, it would of stood straight up. She sputtered as she was tossed across his shoulder, like a sack of flour and held there by a careful arm around her knees, far away from the break.
"H-HEY! I'm fine!" She argued, contrary to the reality of her state. "Put me down already!" She struggled as much as she could, though she was exhausted ~~not that she'd ever admit it~~, beating on his back slightly.
"I'm not a maiden in need of rescuing, so... AUGH!" She fumed and angrily cursed.

"You can’t walk, your tail can’t move and you quite obviously can’t use your magic. Therefore, the best thing now would be to kindly let me take you back and to stop pounding on my back" He winced, while he was cushioned by her during the fall, he still felt rightly sore and bruised everywhere, being pounded on didn’t help matters either.

She was also very vocal, which normally would probably blend right into the noise of the city but this was the forest and the type of company around was very different. "And I would rather not draw any attention to us, if I remember correctly, there are a variety of beasts roaming around here. Neither of us are ready to fend off any."

"I can too, it's just not something I'd rather do." She grumbled, unwilling to admit she had exhausted herself in flight and decent. The logic he presented was enough to quiet her and cause her to stop pounding on his back, but it still wasn't enough to make her stop sulking. It would take a little time before her body had absorbed enough energy from their surroundings and in that period of time one could easily be eaten.

She huffed and lay across his shoulder, feeling guilty that she had caused him further discomfort, but part of her ached to slap him across the back to get her message across. She would comply for now, but once they were safely back in the city, she would force him to let her walk some of the distance back. Or at least try too...

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Log; Ongoing

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