Log: Complete

[lethalcrow.livejournal.com]

When: September 15, afternoon/evening
Rating: Teen for violence
Characters: Kuronoe [nobamboopls] and Karasu [lethalcrow]
Summary: Having been stripped of his youki in exchange for Hiei's life, Kuronoe makes an inviting target for Karasu.
Log:

The imiko was alive again, and if the surge of youki followed by a devastated forest were anything to go on, he had regained mastery of the dragon as well. It was a pity that he was no longer so vulnerable, and no longer bound to the City. Still, there were others to watch and to hunt, worthwhile for their own sakes and the pain that Karasu could inflict on them. A few of them owed him debts quite separate from his continuing endeavors to make Kurama suffer.

Alone, Kuronoe would have been worth at least a single night's tryst. That he had taken from Karasu was enough to warrant special attention. That the attention would anger the fox made matters even more entertaining, and the idea that the games Karasu wished to play could be further engineered to taunt the vampire simply widened the rapacious smile beneath his mask.

Comments

[lethalcrow.livejournal.com]

Unperturbed, Karasu raised the appendage in question and gave it a cursory visual examination. "You mean this one?" Millennium's doctor had done an admirable job of reconstructing Karasu's body--in full. "It doesn't trouble me in the least." He looked up and smirked, though Kuronoe wouldn't be able to see the curve of his lips thanks to the mask. "Your partner, on the other hand, seems to be missing something. As you soon will be." He doubted that Kuronoe could sense the explosives that surrounded him, and found he didn't particularly mind.

[nobamboopls.livejournal.com]

"I doubt that, Kurama's perfectly fine." Kuronoe frowned, knowing Kurama hadn't quite remembered everything yet but he wasn't about to speak on that. And even without his senses, Karasu's words put him on edge. He reached behind him to grab for his scythes in case he had even a slight chance of fighting off whatever the crow was planning.

[lethalcrow.livejournal.com]

"I wouldn't bother," he was immediately warned. "You'll only exhaust yourself, and that will impede my fun." Karasu's explosives closed in. Any significant movement on Kuronoe's part would set several of them off at once.

[nobamboopls.livejournal.com]

Kuronoe shifted his foot, planning to change his center of gravity and was greeted by several explosions. He could barely react, the end result being that his leg and arm were bleeding profusely.

[lethalcrow.livejournal.com]

Karasu was on him in a moment, the explosives no danger to their creator. Claws buried themselves in Kuronoe's neck. Karasu slammed the other youkai into a tree, heedless of the smaller charges he set off by pushing his victim through the net he had created. "We never discussed the subject of payment for out last outing."

[nobamboopls.livejournal.com]

"Nngh!" The explosions bit into his skin and wings as he was slammed into the tree. He was starting to see the true disadvantages of being as weak as a human. His wounds bled easier and there was no way to fight back. He gritted his teeth against the pain, trying to ignore the tang of blood in his mouth.

"I don't owe you a thing." He hissed and then, rather unwisely, spat the mouthful of blood into Karasu's face.

[lethalcrow.livejournal.com]

The hand on his throat tightened at the insult. Karasu's eyes flashed crimson as he wiped the blood and spittle from his skin. "Foolish little rodent. Perhaps we should see just how long you'll last without your youki. But first ... " He pulled away from his victim just long enough to set off a pair of small charges at Kuronoe's legs, hopefully with enough force to keep the bat from running.

[nobamboopls.livejournal.com]

Bad idea...

He gripped at Karasu's hand, trying to loosen it's tight grip, to get more air before his vision started to go black or spotty. He got that breath he needed when Karasu pulled away, but once the explosions did their work, his left leg buckled, the tendon in his ankle damaged enough that he wouldn't be able to run.

[lethalcrow.livejournal.com]

Perfect. Karasu swept in and tossed him to the ground before grasping a wing in both hands. "I doubt you can still use this, but it's best to be cautious, don't you agree?" He twisted with both hands, ensuring that it wouldn't be a clean snap, and moved on to the other wing.

[nobamboopls.livejournal.com]

"Augh!" It was hard to keep silent while in as much pain as he was in. Normally he'd be doing his best to restrain from giving Karasu any satisfaction. But with the snapping of his wing his vision swam and he had to fight to stay concious.

[lethalcrow.livejournal.com]

Karasu laughed softly and slid his claws across--sometimes through--the membrane of the mangled wing. "You're very good at this," he praised, "but I think you can do better."

He only used small charges, when he used his explosives at all. For the most part, he entertained himself with his claws and with the sharp edge of the serrated dagger he pulled from his coat. There was no need to let the bat know precisely what it was for. Not yet.

[nobamboopls.livejournal.com]

He barely heard Karasu anymore, the pain of his now useless wings blotting out other senses effectively. His fingers spasmed on the dirt, digging nail sized grooves into the ground with each passing.

"Ugh..." His eyes were dilating and his breathing was harsh. It was amazing he was still awake after all of this.

[lethalcrow.livejournal.com]

Once Karasu had had enough of his game, he let Kuronoe recover for a short span. What was the point in torturing someone if they were too far gone to feel it. "I hope you don't drift off," he remarked as he wiped the knife's blade against an unblemished expanse of Kuronoe's skin. "If you do, I'm going to have to find an extraordinarily painful way to kill you, and after all that trouble, it might not be worth it to give you back to your friends."

[nobamboopls.livejournal.com]

The time to recover brought Kuronoe back to awareness, his body was a mass of pain, his wings dead weight against his back and hanging painfully. He listened to the threat and hissed up at him before dropping the pretense of human language and growling out where Karasu could shove his threats in Makaigo.

He didn't really place much hope in surviving, so he didn't bother trying to think of a way to save himself.

[lethalcrow.livejournal.com]

"Much better." Karasu crouched in front of his victim. The knife's hilt danced lightly between his fingers as he watched Kuronoe's defiance and pain. "You really are rather remarkable. What a pair you must have made, all those centuries ago. It was rather fortunate that you died. Otherwise, he might have kept to Makai, and there would have been no hunter, no human body, no "Shuuichi" at the tournament." The knife stilled, and then Karasu placed its tip against Kuronoe's throat, just beneath his chin. "Now you know what it feels like to be human. To break so easily. It's exquisite. Don't you agree?"

With that, he took firm hold of Kuronoe's hand and relieved him of two of his fingers.

[nobamboopls.livejournal.com]

Kuronoe's head snapped up, even more than his wounds, those words cut. That selfsame guilt that he'd felt since coming to this city. That if he'd lived things would have different.

"I hope that yo-" He stopped mid sentence as Karasu cut the two the fingers from his hand, the sentence turning into a cry of pain.

[lethalcrow.livejournal.com]

"You couldn't have changed anything," Karasu told him. "I know about his partner after you. I know that partner was blinded and Kurama was rather conveniently nowhere to be found. How long do you suppose it would have taken him to tire of you? No matter how your partnership might have unfolded, he would have found his way to me."

The crow tapped the flat of the blade against Kuronoe's shoulder and smiled beneath his mask. "Remember that," he said before he lodged the blade deep in Kuronoe's shoulder.

[nobamboopls.livejournal.com]

In a total opposite than when Karasu was mangling his wings, for about minute things were very clearly and he heard Karasu's words very clearly and they set in like a poison. He exhaled heavily, and as the blade slammed into his shoulder his body stopped resisting unconciousness and he let his vision slip into blackness almost gratefully.

[lethalcrow.livejournal.com]

Karasu left the knife where it was and hefted the limp body. He had what he wanted. Kuronoe was disposed of at the front door of Building Three. Karasu kept his youki shielded until he'd moved a safe distance from the apartments. It wouldn't do for his surprise to be ruined by the others expecting to find trouble. He was going to enjoy the outrage that was sure to follow.