necromanswers | Lup | IC Contact Page

[Honerva tracks Lup as she continues on, though still testing the ground for any signs; any reactions, but the denseness of the erosion was almost too steep.

There's a vague sense of movement behind some nearby buildings: the sound of clicking across the rubble, certainly not the sound of anything human-shaped moving around.]

...there is company.

[She can't tell from where just yet, but it doesn't seem that they've been spotted, yet.]

[Lup offers no reply, flying silently around and keeping her eyes glued to the ground, searching for movement of any kind. Her choice of form was calculated; the blood hawk's eyes are sharp even in the dim light of their surroundings. It doesn't take long for her to catch movement through the wreckage, a small group of the spider creatures skittering in the direction of the wall. She circles around the group once, indicating to Honerva their location with a muted cry, and begins to fly above their walking path.

Whether Honerva wants to avoid them or ambush and fight, she's letting it be the call of the one who still has a normal people-brain.]

[Her actions all depend, rather, on the size of the group. She was not one to put herself into danger without need, their... current circumstances aside, but exploration was different than getting into battle.

But she was still powerful, however with Lup's condition it wasn't as if they could easily pincer the group. She needed a vantage point, squishy that she was. Higher up, even if the air was worse up there, but what difference would it make, but for a moment? She scans the buildings, watching Lup's flying pattern.]

Find me a roof from where I can cast.

[Whether she would or not--well, that really all depended if one could be found in time.]

[That, she can do. Once she's certain of the path that the spiders are taking - and thankfully their single-minded route towards the broken wall means they're sticking together - she speeds up and flies ahead, estimating what buildings they might conveniently pass under. Once she's decided on a building with a sufficiently solid-looking roof that is likely to still hold a person's weight, she lights down on the corner, keeping herself in view of where Honerva is.

She folds her wings at her side, and then, intentionally, she stretches them again. She flaps them in place, counting off: one, two, three, four, five, six. As soon as she's done, she takes off again and moves herself to a different roof, ahead and opposite of the other. She doesn't want to lose her Polymorph, because seriously, what a waste of a spell slot, but if need be she can pincer-attack from that side.]

[Lup has her attention. Honerva observes her; despite the irritation in her eyes it's not affecting her vision, she vanishes from sight after the signal seems to end, reappearing on the roof opposite Lup's new position.

The air definitely was worse up here, even without having to breathe it. She could feel it, and for a moment she almost seems unsteady, shuddering for a moment, but then she focuses again, adjusting to the vantage point and eyeing the path of the monsters. She'd have to be quick and certain about her aim, even if it would take a moment to power up.

The dark energy crackles to life in her palms, a sphere forming in first one hand and then the other, growing larger as she holds them, first to her sides as she gathers the magic to her. There might be no need for a pincer if she could align this-

She brings her hands together, the energy coalescing, and she aims, the large blast of dark energy landing right in the middle of the pack, wiping a few of them right out almost immediately; the rest of the blast nicking a building and shaking down some rubble, and definitively maiming anything that might have been left over.]

[Lup watches closely from the other roof, watching the spiders die; for a few seconds after, she scans the grounds carefully for any movement, any sign that one of them could have survived. Nothing seems to move for several long heartbeats. The ambush was quick and effective, the attack powerful enough to eliminate the threat. With a satisfied call, she launches herself upwards and soars towards where Honerva is waiting.

About halfway there, the hawk's body suddenly jerks in mid-air, seizing in place, wings bending and folding inwards, her victory cry becoming the shriek of an animal in pain. It only takes a second or so before she's suddenly dropping out of the sky like a broken clay pigeon.]

[No time to savor such a victory.

It's almost a thoughtless action, that when she spots Lup's sharp decent, that Honerva reaches out with her magic automatically, to stop the rapid decent, and to pull the hawk's body toward her, to catch in her arms unless something else changed. So long as the form was there, Lup was still holding on to it with her magic.

And since the entire point of the exercise was Lup testing how long the form would last against the atmosphere, not the impact of slamming against the ground, it was the only way she could hope to salvage that. Her flowers were faring little better, now, since traveling to the higher area. How long had it been...? Not very, all told.]

[As soon as she's caught and held, Lup makes a soft coo and huddles closer, her breath coming out in wheezes, the hawk's body slowly shutting down. She could drop the spell - indeed, her focus is already floundering, and if she wasn't a warcaster she'd have lost it at once - but she's stubbornly holding on, fighting back against the timer. How long has it been? Barely any time at all. Minutes.

How in the world would a normal creature survive out in this weather?]

[It feels almost wrong to be cradling her like this. Not quite the same as cuddling her in cat form, but a form, nonetheless, and yet so fragile, for the moment, while life ebbs away.

She stoops there, holding her, for the moment remaining quiet.]

[It doesn't take long, mercifully. Hawks aren't very durable. A minute more, at most, of soft wheezing and huddling, and the bird's body finally gives up the ghost- literally, since it morphs back into Lup's spectral form at once and she phases through Honerva's arms, floating a few feet backwards, her path wobbly and off-balance.]

Whoa, fuck. That's... a trip.

[Her body gives an involuntary shiver, when Lup changes back, partially at the tingle of a magical shift having taken place in her arms. Or from the effects of holding onto a diseased creature, her layers aside. She's... cold? But also not. It doesn't make sense. But that's not really her concern.]

That was not very long. [If they look back at the tablet later, they'd be able to calcuate the timing much more accurately. For now, though:] Are you all right?

I didn't expect it to last long, but that was still shorter than I expected. Your flowers are dead, too.

[Lup wobbles in place a moment longer before she regains her balance, looking herself over. Her spectral form seems normal enough, but...]

...I think we should head back.

[She gives Lup a quick look over as well during that self-assessment. Could being in that form have-]

Very well.

[They didn't get as much information as she would have liked, but given the conditions, better to head back. Assess. Plan. There was an odd sensation she did not like.]

Come closer. I will bring you with me.

[In her ghostly form, it would be like carrying an additional mantle of energy. It would take a fair bit of concentration, but she could at least get them safely to the wall from this perch.]

You can do that without a body?

[She's not going to complain or protest the attempt either way, floating back over to rest next to Honerva.]

I know your energy. Gather yourself as close as you can.

[Pretend that it is a piggyback ride. Once she is satisfied with Lup's vicinity, she fixes the spot of their return in her mind. They can't reach the house from here, not until they're properly inside the barrier despite the hole in it.

With the location planned, she focuses the rest of her attention on Lup, and all that encompasses her. Formless, yes, though not without a center. A presence, a being, how could she not know that energy now. And what was teleporting, if not moving between the shadows within worlds, safe passage so long as one could guide the way.

Her lungs sting even though she has not drawn proper breath. They need to go. And so, with the moment decided, that sensation of being whisked through time and away -- they go.]

Lup | IC Contact Page | Hugtopia

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