What the Heck?

Ethereal wisps lapped at the feet of the hyena demon as she returned from yet another excursion on Terra to see her friend-come-family-member Jack. In the past, perhaps she might have required some excuse to make her way across several dozen miles of baking brimstone, hostile spirits, and scarred, morbid scenery to get to the Seat of Pride, but hell itself was starting to feel more a home to her and as an inheritly social creature. The thought of seeing a friend was strangely sufficient motivation, though she didn't realize such on a conscious level. On a conscious level, she knew he'd held back last fight and thought that the man might have more to teach her.

So she walked steadily, keeping to the shadows and generally making herself small and unnoticeable. She didn't stop to fight any challengers, simply running past them or otherwise being evasive: a tactic that threw off most of the warlike beings there who were accustomed to nothing but confrontation from other spirits.

But when her travels had ceased, she drew up once more to the dilapidated courthouse with a sigh. If he wasn't here now, he'd probably be here soon.

[ EXP: 230 || +1 TEXP (2nd thread) ]

Iskra scratched the back of her head as she approached the pride demon. Really, at all times before she had a definite reason for approaching him. Can I have knowledge of the dark arts? or Maybe you could help me clear off some land... or even I've failed that mission of yours. Now it was just...

"Well, I wouldn't call myself a matriarch," she said, once again not making eye contact, as though their previous fight that boosted her confidence so had never happened. "I'd have to have a clan for that... and lower-ranking members in that clan, I guess..." She frowned. "I think Lethe would count, but... it takes more than 2 to make up a clan, you know?"

She scratched the back of her spotty head. "It's not really natural for me to be outside of a clan. I kind of consider you a part of-- Well, I mean..."

The woman cleared her throat and pulled herself back together from the murmuring mess she'd become in her inability to articulate her feelings. "I know you were holding back last time we fought, so I would like to know if you have anything else to teach me."

[ EXP: 221 ]

When the man initially shifted to the form of the beast, Iskra subconsciously mirrored the gesture. She wasn't exactly sure why, but it might've had something to do with the relative closeness she felt with him.

And the revelation of how exactly his home got to be so empty...

For a moment, she was stunned, though because of her appearance it wouldn't show on her visage. Her blue eyes simply focused forward blankly, though the story wasn't so particularly hard to believe as it was... amazing to her.

But his words mostly held her still, even though she felt him growing in power as he had when they'd jointly attacked the plant... and still stronger. She flicked her tongue out when he nuzzled her, however. She was far from appalled by his story. In fact, there was a redemption in it and a justification for herself. Relief even. She had a story that she dared not speak.

Yet, it seemed he wanted to reclaim dominance over her, or at least express it to her "ally". This much was apparent through her final words and transformation, a sanguine deal that sent her skidding along the partially destroyed floor. She hadn't seen such power from him, and it was truly intimidating.

But his words told her that he wouldn't outright kill her, and what didn't kill her could only strengthen her, or so she reasoned. The hyena still determined in her mind that she would fight with everything she had. This man had killed his entire clan off, after all, through various gruesome methods. He might slip up and kill her.

That thought galvanized her into action.

She growled sinisterly at this thing of fear that had appeared before her, transmuting her obvious and apparent fear into anger and using that anger to fuel the darkest of hungers within her. A few muttered, black syllables sent her influence forth, and should it make contact it would twist the man's shape into something considerably less... threatening.

[ EXP: 390 ]

Actions:
> Used Soul Vertigo [Mastered]
:: > Effects: BND (3) Mag STE (3) STN HN3 (1) [Ags] SHP (1)
:: > In short: Tried to turn Jack into a goat, would have the stun status effect on hit and -1 Aegis
:: First roll: Bind duration (if successful)
:: Second roll: Stun duration (if successful)
STA: -62

Iskra grinned malevolently and licked her chops. A demonic goat of the darkest pits of hell was still a goat, and thus tasted delicious. She couldn't believe the spell worked!

Perhaps she threw caution to the wind a bit. A goat of pride. Ha ha ha! She giggled and growled back in hyena. "RRrrRRRrr." [Translation: "I'd be honored, Mr. Goat."]

It was funny, seeing him suddenly realize one of the strongest spells she'd learned in her time on Terra. It was one to alleviate hunger. Many creatures and objects became suddenly more palatable when transformed into a more caprine form.

Yet, she still felt the need to exercise caution. Here he was, challenging her even as a prey item.

...yes, she felt the need, but her hunger got the best of her. She ran forwards, mouth slavering in elemental lust for his flesh. "I'ma ruin that butt, Jack..." Of course, being a hyena, her favorite part of the prey was the rump. Rather inappropriate for a humanoid, as a beast there were no taboos.

"Come here!"

In a mad rush, she'd run a quarter of a circle around him and make a mad leap for the side of his right leg, slaver running down her tongue as she made the jump and brought her jaws together with the full expectation of the delicious taste of goat to fill her maw.

[ EXP: 258 ]

> Actions: Used Nip + 1 (Momentum)
:: > Abnormal (3) + 1 (DMG) + 1 (Momentum) = 5 (Destructive)
:: > -10 HP (ABS effect)
> STA: -69

Apparently Jack wasn't to remain a goat for very long. It was consistent with his strength that the very instant her jaws came together on the thin air the man shifted back to his unsettling human form. She growled and turned, only to be met with the sight of the pride demon bearing down on her in the form of a canine. Her eyes went wide for a moment, and she made a bold leap to the left, attempting to remove herself from his trajectory despite the fact that she'd overinvested in her initial charge...

[ EXP: 103 ]

(if roll < 26) Dodged

With a silent exhalation of breath the hyena went down beneath the larger beast, pinned against the ground by his surprising strength. Iskra bucked and panted, attempting to throw his weight, but it was difficult. The lonely female demon certainly couldn't say that she disliked the position outside of the immediate threat to her safety that her topper posed, but she struggled nonetheless, growling angrily all the while.

"GET A ROOM!"

She looked up briefly and noted a gargoyle flying overhead and talking trash in passing. She frowned at the thing, who rapidly disappeared into the red mists of the horizon before she briefly licked the bottom of the hellwolf's neck.

"You got me," she murmured resignedly, her magical influence once again reaching out. She didn't attempt to turn him into a goat again, as she honestly lacked the strength. This entire ordeal was tiring her out. She did, however, attempt to keep the figurative muzzle on him by inflicting the same sort of inability to channel on him as she had before with the goat hex. She didn't make any more motions to resist his positioning, but she didn't want the moment to end in her being hurt by his sizable magic power.

[ EXP: 241 ]

> Actions: Soul Vertigo (Partial Strength)
:: > Effects: STE (3) STN [mastered]
> Stamina: -92

Somehow the moment seemed relaxing, though ostensibly it was in the middle of what had moments ago been a fierce battle. Perhaps they were both tired. Iskra laid her head down for the moment, not so much out of trust, but out of a feeling of weariness, her body asking her to just take it easy for a moment. It took a lot of energy to turn the pride demon into a goat, even for a moment, and her subsequent charge had only wearied her further.

"Jack..." she murmured, feeling his tongue return her gesture. "I just thought you should know that we're a lot a like. I'm to blame for the death of the entirety of my clan as well."

The subject depressed Iskra to no end. Every time she made the confession, her heart was no lighter than when she first realized what she'd done to save her friend, Lethe. "I'm sure they forgive me. They weren't themselves when it happened, but..."

Her entire form went limp and her voice faded off until she simply she stared ahead at nothing in particular, her eyes glazed over from outright guilt and misery.

[ EXP: 211 || +1 TEXP (5th post) ]

Actions: Rested
STA: -87

The fact stood true... she had learned a lot since the death of her clan. Perhaps if she hadn't been drawn to the figurative fruit of knowledge, she would still be with them or she would have perished of whatever madness drove them to suicidally harass the villages. Perhaps if Iskra hadn't been the one to kill her former leader and thus prevent her from destroying Lethe, she would have more peace about it. Perhaps many things could have been different, but--

"It was their time, I think..." she murmured with a quivering lack of certainty. Somehow the thought that she'd grown from the experience didn't completely bring her back to her normal mood. It was the thoughts of that night and everything that happened before she walked off into the woods and those few weeks she'd come back to see about the proper disposal of their bodies.

"Some experiences... I've learned and I've grown, but at what cost? I had to eat them so they could live on in me, but... sometimes I still hear them. I can hear them when I sleep and when I'm scared because they're scared with me. I was there to take care of them when they were gone. I gave them a vessel to keep them from the blackness, but if I die, who's going to eat me?"

A bit of the resolve came back, and she rested less easily against the stony ground. "It's why I need to be strong. It's why I need descendents."

[ EXP: 276 || +1 TEXP (1st post) ]

STA: 82

Iskra felt the weight of the male lift above her, and for a moment she thought it might give her the chance for a decisive, well-placed bite, but his words flagged resignation. A bit perplexed, she stood to her feet and smiled. Ostensibly she would learn no humility this day, though she supposed being pressed to the ground like that might've perhaps been a little humbling if she didn't feel as though her efforts resulted in a kind of victory.

She stood, shook herself off, and finally sat, ponderously. She'd learned a lot in a very short span of time, but she still felt as though she lacked strength. Even when the pride demon held her down, there was little she could do to escape his grasp, though if she'd had more energy in her then she would have simply blasted him with stronger magic than just the strange new hex she'd learned. More importantly, she could only engage one opponent at a time in such a manner. If Jack had help or someone to attack her while she was immobilized, then there might have been a bigger problem.

But it seemed that people she was close to wanted her help more often these days. The thought made her happy to no end, but on a gut level moreso than a conscious one. Helping out her new "clan" made her feel less alone... made her feel as though she were doing what was proper instead of the improper way she'd betrayed her people in the past. Her body shifted and she was humanoid again. "How can I help?"

[ EXP: 293 || +1 TEXP (1st post) ]

The woman stood and listened quietly, her hand on her chin and her brow furrowed as it often was when she was processing some thought that required her to hold more than one idea in her head at a time. Bringing order to hell? He may as well have been bringing grass to the desert or veganism to dragons.

Yet, if there was anyone she believed could do it, this man in front of her likely could. The hyena spirit certainly found herself awed by him at times, but it was more due to his confidence and his knowledge of arcane rituals than anything she'd outright observed. Indeed, she'd been so distracted by how he impressed her in his strange way that she'd forgotten her plans to sit on his chair. They would reoccur later, no doubt, but for now she wondered about this glutton thing and how dangerous it truly was.

But those thoughts only lasted a moment as well. She cared for the pride demon and considered him as family. If he was going to face something dangerous and needed her help, then she had no choice.

"We'll kill it, then."

[ EXP: 211 ]

Well, the glutton sounded scary, if she pictured the demon as more than an abstraction... as a flesh and bone monster with the ability to induce horrors, but weren't horrors an abstraction as well? She did better with details: sharp teeth, massive claws, hideous strength, sharp hooves, venomous barbs...

But dealing with lesser, weaker demons was something she knew, and it sounded fun. Indeed, she hadn't met many creatures wandering alone in Externus who could manage to corner or best her. Their solitude made them weak as far as she was concerned, and even if she appeared alone, she knew her clan lived on in her, and that thought gave her strength.

So with an uncharacteristically bright enthusiasm springing from this new sense of trust, she nodded her head so vigorously that the spots of her head danced up and down, the weariness of the previous skirmish lost on her for the moment in her excitement. "Let's do it."

[ EXP: 191 || +1 TEXP (2nd thread) ]