Clash Under The Stars

Clash Under The Stars
Date of Scene:	07 September 2013
Location:	Cosmo Canyon
Synopsis:	Avira has a run-in with a rather bothersome elf.
Cast of Characters:	Avira, Seith

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Seith has posed:
So many weeks ago, Seith had made a promise to Avira. One day, he would come for her. He's watched her now and again - but from afar. The mess in Golmore Jungle hasn't gone unnoticed. The fact that the heroes of Restoration seem to be working on Gummiship technology is something that interests Shadow Lords such as him. After all, it would make things far more troublesome for them.

The presence of the Shadow Portals had always ensured that the heroes could only come through very specific areas - bottlenecks if you may. And Avira having gotten wrapped up in this mess...

"Here you go. Ten thrusters Gummis." An old lady with a bad back shambles over towards Avira, handing over the last of five baggies that somehow manages to contain two of the darn Gummis. It is weird how they seem to shrink outside of Gummispace and the Void Space areas.

The skies are dark. It's late in the evening, and the stars are shown in the far distant skies. There's not a cloud to be seen. "Don't you think they are beautiful, young lady?" The old lady asks. "The stars I mean. Sparkling in the skies like little lights of hope. I remember when I used to tell my daughter about the stars... I used to tell her... I..." She frowns for a moment. It seems she can't remember. Old age must be getting to her.

Then suddenly, a presence...

A presence that walks out from behind the old lady, until he stands besides her. A man in massive black armor and his head adorned with two horns. "You used to tell them, the children hold the hopes and light of the future." Seith speaks after the lady.

"Oh, yes. You're right!" She rasps her voice.

How did Seith know this? More importantly, how did he get here without Avira noticing him sooner? "Hello, dog-girl."

Avira has posed:
Avira has been a very busy bee.

Naturally, the work at the Gummi test site in Golmore had dominated most of her time but fortunately, that had come with progress. She could see them all coming closer to realizing those ships and unravelling the secrets of the void point. Of course, such hard work consumed much more than time. It consumed stuff too. Given the size of the ships that Avira has wanted to pull off, they'd be needing lots of gummis. Which has sent her here.

Grinning, she loads the gummies into leather packs that are attached to a rented chocobo. Herbie the steelclaw beetle was left behind at the camp to help with defense. "They are. It's nice to see the stars like this." In New York City, the lights made it hard to see those stars and she doesn't bring it up. She falls silent, waiting for the old lady to remember and finds herself disappointed when she doesn't.

Suddenly, Seith. Right away, her hand falls to her weapon. "You! Elfy! What are you doing here!?"

Seith has posed:
The Shadow Lord slowly crosses his arms and makes a little motion at the old lady. "I'm going, I'm going." She mutters at him and wanders off, before the man raises his head and smirks at Avira. "Wouldn't you like to know?" He asks her, before taking a few steps forwards and toes against a single Gummi Block which had been left behind by the old lady.

"I hear you are having some trouble with the Undead while you are toying with these things." He then kicks the gummiblock lazily towards her, until it finally stops on her toe. "Is it fun? To struggle so much to do simple things - to form groups of weak people in a hopeless attempt to resist the strong?" He then asks, before bringing his hand towards his back and taking hold of the massive pole that lies there.

He slowly draws it out and then points its tip at her. "Put that weapon away. You know you can not best me. Don't be a fool."

Avira has posed:
Avira glares at Seith as he shoos the old lady away in such a hasty manner. Inwardly, she's actually kind of relieved the innocent bystander just got out of dodge. Just in case a fight broke out-because at this rate, one most certainly would.

She takes a step towards Seith. "Well you've certainly done your research." Avira doesn't sound terribly surprised because she knows someone dillgent enough could figure out what was going on at the camp. Her eyes glance down at the gummi block at her feet. "Hopeless? From where I stand, it doesn't look so hopeless to me."

Avira hadn't drawn her weapon before. She does now when he starts waving that pole at her. "Put it away and what? Let you walk all over me like some big damn shadow lord? I don't think so."

Seith has posed:
"The only reason it doesn't look so 'hopeless' to you, is because you know so little. Surely you've seen them - the Heartless in the Realm Between?" The man asks her and takes another step forward while lifting the pole back and lays its body onto his shoulder as if it were a sword.

"Their numbers are without limit. And now you are going to launch Gummiships from that place. Are you not afraid you will attract them? That they can use this same gap?" He asks her. "Are you not afraid that your light will simply summon the darkness to it?" Seith really must love the sound of his own voice.

Avira has posed:
"I've seen them! And I've fought them. I've /survived/ against them." Avira proclaims before, without warning, lunging at him just as he takes that other step forward. She's not entirely sure what his purpose is here, besides to talk at her, but she's not going to let him throw her around like last time! She'd gotten stronger since then!

She comes at him with a diagonal swing. "Sure, that can happen, but I'm not going to let fear paralyze me! And I'm darn well not going to let some shadow lord cow me!"

Seith has posed:
"Survival doesn't mean you can be victorious on the long-run. Your numbers are limited. All it takes is one..." He raises his hand. "Tiny..." He motions. "Pitiful mistake - that's all it takes. And your pitiful resistance is squashed like a bug underneath a boot." Seith grinds his metallic boot to further show what he means.

And that he might very well be that boot.

The man tilts his head down a little as she proceeds to lunge at him. He just keeps talking as she comes at him with that blade. "Pitiful child." She swings. And the man doesn't even move to defend himself. Instead, she hits his armour with the full force of her blade. The man winces a little...

The blade ends up slapping against the black armor, and then 'recoils' as if she just hit a bell. Trembling for a few moments. And in that moment, Seith reaches out for Avira's neck in an attempt to 'grab' her.

"But you might still make yourself useful to /me/." He then adds. "What you /are/, or /once were/ is something that interests me. It would be nice to come to 'understand' what happened at Manhattan. And your /body/ contains those answers." He declares.

Avira has posed:
"Hah! Sure, our numbers of limited, but we don't have just any old people working with us! They are just as determined and driven as anyone in VALKYRI! And don't think for one second if we go down that someone else isn't going to rise up to continue our work and stop people like you!"

Her hit is solid. She can feel as much but she can also tell that armor is thick. It's going to need a pretty solid beating to crack. Or maybe some magic could get through it. Drawing back up, she prepares to follow through with a second strike when he grabs her by the throat.

Right away, she starts to squirm. As he continues to talk, her eyes widen, "No!" she cries out, "Not again!" She jabs her sword forward but it merely slides off his armor with little effect this time. Seeing that this isn't working, she drives her sword downward instead, inserting it into the ground.

Huge blades of ice suddenly jab upwards from the ground around Seith.

Seith has posed:
Her sudden cry surprises Seith a little, but he doesn't let go of her in that moment. He just smirks at her as he lifts her up, the girl squirming in his grip. "Then we'll just have to make sure to squash them all, don't we?" The elf asks her. Her next strike into the ground, causing those blades of ice to come up, however quickly force him to let go of her. That is to say, he tries to launch her straight into the air through the force of gravity, forcing a bubble of the dark magic around her while he stumbles back grabbing for his chest.

One of the ice-blades had pierced his armor and cut into his chest. "Tssk. The mosquito has a bite. To be expected from a former Princess of Heart." He decides. A black magic then begins to form around him while he looks up at her. "Why don't you just hang there for a while?"

Avira has posed:
It is fortunate for Avira that she still had a grip around the Spine, because once she frees herself from being held by the neck, Seith launches her into the air. Normally gravity would do its thing and she'd fall right back to the ground-but right now, she doesn't happen as a bubble of dark energy forms around her, holding her aloft.

Her pulse starts to race just a little faster at this and Avira quickly realizes she's kind of terrified of being taken by the Shadow Lords again. "...how about /not/."

Muttering, she clasps her hands together and calls upon her limited wind magic to push at the sphere surrounding her. She pushes and pushes, trying to angle it down right at the elf to collide with him!

She had to wonder, though. 'Former'? So restoring Manhattan did sacrifice that position?

Seith has posed:
"You speak as if you have a choice in the matter." Seith answers her, his armor seeming to restore itself, and a black gravimetric pulse - an orb of strange winding darkness - appears at the middle of his chest. Her strike for him has her colliding with the orb as it is launched for her - trapping her in a firmer gravity field. Still, she has enough of a push to ram herself into the man, and Seith ends up taking a few steps back.

"Remain where you are." He demands, suddenly moving the pole parallel to the ground and letting a massive purple scythe-blade of energy come forth on one end, and with his other hand 'pulls' her down through magic, just as he slices at her - and then attempts to slam a spell against her through touch with his left hand;

A spell of illusion and omens. A spell that suddenly... has her remember the very day they saved Manhattan. That feeling when she stood at the heart, and the World Heart was restored.

Avira has posed:
Avira shivers at his words but nonetheless still drives the gravity field into him, despite the extra burden he suddenly wraps around her. Shortly afterwards, her strategy shifts, not acting on the field from the outside but from within the the sphere. Her wind magic pushes against the gravity magic as she tries to crack the field open from the inside. All of her focus is set to this task now, leaving her little time to defend against Seith's swinging scythe. It tears through armor and skin alike, eliciting a cry of pain.

Avira remembers that moment though. It was a moment of triumph for her though she wasn't terribly 'conscious' at the time it happened. She knew it was happening. She could feel it! But a part of her still remembers that she's currently embroiled in a fight with Seith and she can't 'remain' right now. Well, she can't exactly move, but she can use her magic at him. At this close range, the sudden icestorm the forms, shaped as a snarling beast, could prove pretty devistating.

Seith has posed:
The beasts of ice slam not just into Seith, but carve through him. The man is forced back a few steps, the ice setting against his armor and snapping and jabbing into his armor. He ends up raising his arms to protect his face from the onset of cold, but when it all settles, the man looks only mildly damaged. This is perhaps worrying.

"But all I need from you for now... is just a part of you. A few strands of your hair will be enough to begin my research." Seith tells her just as the gravity begins to expand outwards and tries to lift her further into the air again. A hole starting to appear in the skies. One that is starting to suck her in.

"You really think you can withstand my power, you young cur!?" The man boasts in annoyance, the rip in what appears to be space beginning to sends down blasts of purple lightning towards the ground. It tries to swallow her up and force the pressure of dark magic upon her body, while sucking the very 'magic' out of her. As if the man is trying to sample her very essence through his dark sorcerous methods! Blasts of purple lightning pierce from various parts of this dark 'space', coming from holes that form and then disappear again, until she'd finally be spit out again.

Avira has posed:
That IS worrying. That was some of her strongest ice magic!

Again the battle over control of where she's going resumes, becoming especially urgent as he pushes her into the sky, even moreso as it seems he's pushing her towards a black hole. It doesn't work at all and she disappears. She might be screaming in that space as the very light in her heart fights against the dark magic against her. Throughout it all it feels a little familiar. Hadn't someone been gnawing on her soul before?

She falls to the ground, feeling and looking drained. Seith would be rewarded with some of the huntress's lifeforce, which is as pure and fierce as she acts. With a groan, she starts to pick herself up on the ground, calling upon her own healing magic to mend herself after that extremely unpleasant experience. "I feel touched in a bad place." she mutters before looking up at Seith, her eyes narrowed.

"I won't let you get away with this!"

Seith has posed:
Seith feels her lifeforce come into himself and is... impressed. She's internally far stronger than he remembered her being. But then, here she is, trying to stand up to him - isn't she now? The man slowly walks towards her as she slowly rises from the ground, and then kneels down upon one leg before her. "Stop this now, dog." He demands from her. "If you keep going, death is inevitable. You stand no chance against me, and you should know this by now. Your light isn't strong enough."

The man then reaches out with a hand - offering it to her. "Your friends would be sad. Although perhaps there is a subtle irony in that. If you die - they will grow stronger. In heart and in body." Strength. Power. Concepts that this man keeps hitting on whenever he speaks to her - whenever he speaks in general. Why does he find this aspect so important? Is it because he once lacked that very element?

"Take my hand and give me what I want."

Avira has posed:
"Is it? I don't think you'd kill me." Avira rasps, staring him in the face. She braces herself on her weapon, swaying like a leaf in the wind. He speaks of safety should she give in and submit herself to him.

Mentally, she refuses this. Seith will see this manifest first-hand as the silvery sheen clings to her skin, glowing brightly in his face. With a shout, she lunges at him, far faster than what her battered body should allow. The silver glow of light extends to the Spine, enwreathing the weapon in power.

She attacks him in a relentless blur, hacking and slicing at his armor-but never anywhere else, it seems. Never his head. Never his face. Never anywhere...really lethal? No, she seems determined to break his armor completely.

Seith has posed:
Seith retreats his hand from the girl as that sheen appears, and he naturally backs off. A creature of darkness would of course shy away from the light. He moves an arm before his chest, then raises it further to protect his face while at the same time bringing his scythe down in an attempt to block the Spine. The first strike rings against the pole, and the man is forced to grab the other end with his other hand. He is shoved back, even as his feet dig into the sand.

What follows is a flurry of strikes from her aimed at his armor, and half of them keep getting caught by his weapon. He's a skilled fighter, that much is obvious. But he's not /strong/ in the physical sense of the way. She can see how his arms start trembling not long after a few strikes. And a skilled slash ends up causing him to raise his weapon into the air, giving her access to his armor. With fierce slices, she carves massive gashes through the thick black armor. Chunks start falling to pieces, but the armor refuses to be broken. It's a true piece of blacksmithing art. And when the blade comes back down, she's quickly back in the danger-zone. The scythe lights up and comes down towards her chest, and the man follows this up by trying to stab the end of it straight into her tummy, and then blasts a spell of darkness straight towards her face in an attempt to knock her out. "You are right. I need you alive." He answers her.

Avira has posed:
Interesting...perhaps this whole time Avira should have stuck to the physical attacks instead of being discouraged by the armor! Her magic seemed to do very little against him. At the same time, though, despite this effort which is literally powered by her heart's desire, it doesn't seem to be annihiliating the the armor like she's intended.

She knows the scythe has long reach-longer than the Spine. She is hoping that if she gets close enough, he'll be unable to manuver his weapon efficiently.

The dark magic of the 'blade' pierces through her chest and she stops, perhaps in disbelief. The blow to her stomach makes her double over afterwards and as she tries to recover, she looks up at him. Just in time to receive a facefull of darkness. "Augh!!" she cries out before falling backwards in a heap.

She doesn't get back up.

Seith has posed:
Seith watches the girl double over, and finally fall over backwards. "Pitiful girl." He mumbles, shaking his head. Presuming she is unconscious after that blast, he continues to speak. "Still, your moxy is admirable." He slowly steps besides her and then pulls out a knife. He just needs some of her hair for now. After all, everyone knows that one's true power lies within one's hair.

This is a Disney game.

The man grabs for her hair and tries to cut some of it off. "Become stronger, so you can protect your friends." Seith mumbles.

Avira has posed:
Avira's hair DODGES and starts to FIGHT BACK!!!

Except no it doesn't. She's pretty darn unconscious right now. If Seith would cut off the white streak, actually, she'd be rather appreciative.

Seith has posed:
In fact, he cuts off /half/ of the white streak, and half of her normal hair. Got to have a control group. The man then looks at the unconscious girl. It would be rather easy to drag her with him. But that would just cause unneeded trouble. The man touches a hand to her forehead for a moment, and then against her neck. Yes, she's still alive. The man lets out a long sigh, pockets the hair into a pair of baggies, and then puts his arms underneath her and lifts her up.

"Troublesome girl." He declares, opening a Dark Corridor towards Traverse Town.

<A few hours later>

Avira finds herself waking up in her own bed. How Seith got inside without being noticed by anybody is anyone's guess. She'll find that uncomfortable feeling of darkness remaining within her - a dark healing spell that has recovered some of her wounds. He must have healed her at some point? But obviously, he's nowhere to be found.

Avira has posed:
Seeing as Avira is waking up in her bed, as she starts to remember what happened, she begins to wonder if the entire sequence had been a dream. She KNOWS that elf guy can intrude in dreams because she's seen it happen before. Her entire body aches as she pushes herself out of bed and heads for the bathroom in the back.

As she leans in to the mirror, she starts to check her hair, pauses, and swears. That didn't look very good! But then again, she's kind of glad that was the only thing he took. She could be languishing in that dungeon again right now. But wait...her chocobo! Her gummi blocks! "...damnit!!"