there is no god in heaven; you need to run for cover

[respired]

CHARACTERS: Koltira + a lot of you I am very sorry
DATE: Oct 10 - onwards
WARNINGS: violence; blood; gore; general depraved thoughts i can't believe y'all are threading this with me
SUMMARY: FRENZY.



[ CLOSED STARTERS BELOW.

QUICK NOTES FOR ALL THREADS (EXCEPT AFTERMATH, WHERE ONLY THE FIRST THING IS TRUE):

KOLTIRA IS: COVERED IN CHAINS AND INJURIES

LARGELY INCOHERENT

DEFINITELY GOING TO FIGHT YOU ]

Comments

JIN

[respired]

[ It's late, the moon rising full over the farm, the evening air brisk and sharp with a biting chill. As Jin passes, the door to the house bursts open, and the farmer runs out.

"Wait! Please!" he calls, flagging Jin down, panting. "Please, you have to help us. Somethin' ... somethin' strange is lurkin' by the barn! Howling fierce and terrible. Got my poor kids too terrified to sleep. Please, you got to help us!"

The farmer gestures wildly to the barn. If Jin squints, he'll see unnatural shadows moving, slinking 'round the side. ]

[pummelling]

[In spite of Koltira's words, or because of them, perhaps, Jin'd gone out looking for him with a good amount of the rest of the team: beginning within the town of Perdition's Rest and radiating outwards, exploring anywhere someone hoping to be left alone would isolate himself in.

He'd been ready to turn in and concede failure for the night when the farmer had pulled him aside, panicked. With the sand worms certainly familiar to the locals by now and the night still, there's got to be something-- someone-- else lurking in the night.]

Stay inside. Lock your doors. I'll lead him away.

["Him? Boy, that don't sound like no person I've ever seen."

But the man listens. The civilian out of the way now, Jin takes off into the darkness; the moonlight and his bow, illuminated by a faint blue glow that emanates from the string, light the way dimly.

A figure passes around the corner. Jin aims his bow at it, feet planted firmly upon the ground.]

Come out!

[respired]

[ Truth is, Koltira does have brief moments of lucidity. Spots of brightness in a mostly dark, impassable swamp. When Jin calls out to him, there's a faint spark of recognition. He knows this voice, he understands these words.

He lumbers out from behind the barn, dragging his sword beside him with one hand. Its blade tears up the thin grass, disturbs the rocks and sand. He stares ahead at Jin, and for a brief moment it seems like he has something to say. Anguish creases his features. His grip on his sword tightens.

His reason slips into the muck.

He did come out, though, as asked.

A moment later, he does more than that. ]

Ban'dor shorel'aran.

[ Koltira breaks into a sprint. The chains hanging from his wrists and throat clink together as he surges forward, his body glowing with an unearthly, pale green aura. The chains at his ankles leave shredded tracks in the sand; clouds of rocks and dirt burst in his wake. He swings Byfrost, its runes shifting red, aiming to slice across Jin's side. ]

[pummelling]

[The awareness is there. He knows it. He'd felt it, hadn't he: seen it in the slight suggestion, the tilt of his head? There's a way for him to come back from this, and Jin's going to find it.]

Koltira...

[God, does he look like hell. It wouldn't bother Jin, if there wasn't an air of something... other. Something very wrong: a heaviness that hangs in the air.] This isn't you! I can help, if you just let--

[It's too late. Jin swears under his breath as the clink of Koltira's binds signals his approach, and he makes a move to dive out of the way. But he's not nearly fast enough to match the speed of a man with no inhibitions left-- a man with nothing to lose. There's a look of panic in his face, reflected in the green of Koltira's aura, as he dives into the dirt, taking the cuts and scrapes of the jagged, broken rocks in exchange for a glancing blow to his side.

He lands hard, skinning an elbow. His bow lands a few inches away from his reaching fingers. Byfrost still tears into him... but he's alive. Jin ignores the pain and scrambles to his feet, instinctively clutching his side, then tosses the bladed chakram on his belt at Koltira-- a distraction to build distance until he can pick his bow back up again.]

[respired]

[ The chakram finds its mark, slashing vicious across Koltira's bare chest. Black blood drips from the jagged wound left in the chakram's wake, and Koltira howls, haunted and guttural. All traces of sense leave him: he perceives only the chase, desires only the gory reward.

Koltira throws his hand out, and a whip of shadow energy follows. It races through the air at imperceptible speed and lashes around Jin's throat; a spell meant to catch him and yank him in close. ]

Get over here.

[pummelling]

Ko-- ghhk--

[If he was too slow before, he's positively glacial now. Jin makes a strangled noise as the spell crushes his throat, jerking him forward abruptly. His bow's on the ground, chakram a distance away-- neither within reach. He struggles mutely, fingers clawing, useless, at the dark energy wrapped around his neck.

Hadn't this been how Lao had gone? A snapped neck; dead with no warning, no glory.

Jin makes another helpless sound, and continues his vain effort to thrash out of the hold.]

[respired]

[ Jin's not a small man, and though Koltira is unnaturally strong, his focus is not at its peak right now. Jin lands a kick to Koltira's midsection, and as Koltira is mostly naked, it hits hard. A sickening crunch follows, and Koltira lets Jin go with a pained gasp. He spits blood, growling, looking for all the world like swatted wasp that's ready to dive in for the fucking kill.

He levels his sword at Jin even as his own black blood trickles from the corner of his mouth. Red magic curls around the runeblade as the symbols inscribed on its surface glow with power. A second later, and the magic bursts, flowing towards Jin with irresistible speed. The spell he casts boils the blood, causing wracking, agonizing pain throughout the body. As it takes effect, Koltira strides forward, sword raised for a strike. ]

[pummelling]

[At least something connects. Jin drops like a stone once he's released, gasping for breath, blood pounding in his veins-- he's not leaving himself unarmed against Koltira for much longer this time. Even he's got to admit that he's vastly unmatched.

When he's got a semblance of air back in his lungs, Jin lunges for his bow then notches an arrow yanked almost reflexively out of the quiver on his back. Behind him, the blood elf growls. It's a nearly feral sound. Nothing like the man he'd met before, if only very briefly. It helps, a little. It reminds Jin that Koltira isn't himself.

Sentiment, however, isn't enough to stop the second spell. He's Shaolin, but he's only human, and he cannot simply outrun magic. Jin rasps a broken noise, throat too hoarse to scream at full volume; the edges of his vision darken as his mind attempts to cope with the excruciating pain, coursing wickedly through him. He writhes in agony like he has never known.

Yet his bow's still gripped in his hand. It's clear that there will be no mercy here. All he's got left is stubbornness, the will of his line behind him even as that very blood boils within him. That and a single arrow in his bow.

He doesn't have the breath for anything witty. He's barely got the strength in his arms to lift his weapon straight. As Kung Jin fires the arrow, its path goes askew-- but it's still on a course for Koltira's upper arm.

Another surge of pain takes Jin and it feels as if he's crumbling in on himself. He's not accepting defeat just yet, but even survival is looking like it'll be a long shot right now.]