The Judgment

Iskra lay, still in the male version of her beast form, atop an unoffensive kami who had done nothing wrong outside of lay down for a nap at an inopportune time.

The sun's rays barely began to peek over the horizon, and he remained asleep there, his body covering hers with a heavy weight. Though the monster remained sound asleep, any escape attempts would stir him from his light slumber. After all, this vessel of his had a very important function, and he'd be expecting her to fulfill it when the warm rays of the morning finally awoke him.

But for now, he continued to snooze on. A goat had been smacked to the ground the day prior. Its children weren't sure if she was still alive and none dared venture form under the mattress to see. The smell of blood and waste from where one of them had been torn still lay heavy on the musky air. The woods remained quiet, however. No wild beasts but the one on the mattress were present to be drawn by the thick smell. The only sounds on the air were the quiet, atmospheric crunching of the termites and the weak wingflaps of a few stray flies that hovered around from the scent. In the ceiling, a wasp built a nest of paper, oblivious to the situation below. The rotted roof groaned lightly when the warm winds pushed it.

Morning was coming soon.

[ EXP: 259 || +1 TEXP (2nd post) ]

The beast awoke when the sudden, panicked bleats of the kid alerted her to the approach of some danger. Naturally, having an object of any description tossed at him with the aim of waking him up was something the creature had become less than accustomed to in her time ruling his city. That, and the considerably irreverent words that the pride demon used to address her caused her a spot of irritation.

With a growl, he caught the head between his jaws and spat it off to the side.

Between the mattress and the doorway, just behind Jack, there lay a chain all but lost in the rubble on the ground where it had fallen last night. It quietly and suddenly rose from the ground and struck out like a serpent, aiming for the back of the offender's leg.

Meanwhile, Iskra licked the back of the angel's neck casually, as though to say good morning before he addressed Jack, unmoving from his comfortable spot on the bed, though he did shift enough that the woman might be able to catch a glimpse of her potential rescuer. The thick fur of the beast's arm remained over her, however, and it might make it difficult to speak.

"Anything we need to discuss, we can discuss while I rest here." He yawned casually. "I had plans for this morning. You are familiar with this kami? She seems like a nice vessel for my children, I think. She says she knows you."

[ EXP: 272 ]

Actions:
Sera
> Default Bind@Ascended Strength
Jack
> [Perfected] Vaim Surmaja@5 dmg, honed

Now if anyone had a noticeable transformation, it was her friend Jack. This the beast knew from long experience. Much like Pavlov's dog, Iskra had been conditioned to expect a very painful attack following the visible shift. Indeed, she'd never known him to adopt the transformation and remain still.

So with a reflex born of a quiet panic, he moved to protect himself. The kami remained in the grip of her strength, and if Jack thought of her as a possession, then maybe she could serve as a deterrent to what he knew was going to be a pretty hard hit.

So he quickly took the kami by her unripped upper garment and shifted backwards, putting her form directly between himself and the pride demon.

Whatever horrific spell came from Jack would ravage the helpless kami instead.

Reflexively, her transformation came forth as well. The air suddenly became crisp and chilly, as though some snowstorm raged outside, and it seemed to, in fact. Clouds seized possession of the sky and the leucrotta's white fur seemed to glow. In a blast of wintry ice, a wind began to whirl about the area, pushing away and down, sending heavier things down towards the floor and sending lighter objects, dusts and ancient lamps and long-spoiled sheets, towards the wall. In an instant, the beast's tail lengthened and grew fat like a leopard's.

What was not affected by the wind, however, were the blades behind Jack that were repelled by his devil-skin a second ago. The obstruction was now missing, he murmured out a spell, and the blades, still behind the pride demon, now took a risky swing towards his unguarded skull with the aim of cracking it.

[ EXP: 329 ] (note to updater: please add racial bonus for fighting)

Actions:
> Blocked Devildrive (with Seraphina)
> Transformed (Ascended Pressure + Ascended Whirlwind, should interrupt Jack's charge)
> Vaim Surmaja (hit or miss/Critical)

Spoiler:

It seemed as though the second his jaws went to pinch around the little woman's collar to flip her into the invisible path of the oncoming projectile, the woman had morphed into a bird and flown the coop. Well, that put Iskra at a sore disadvantage. The beast might have taken a moment to wonder why exactly the woman chose that moment to shift into a bird when an instant later she would have been crushed below his weight and come to the conclusion that the woman was a kamikonjou and transformation into small things was imply what they did, but "why" was the domain and curse of man. As things were, the partially-in-progress transformation fired off anyways. While the angel might have had some protection against the force of the instantaneous snowstorm in the jaws of the monster-- well, the storm was rather severe.

And when Iskra felt somewhat ill from the contact of the initial spell, she felt she had escaped some great harm as she proceeded on with what might be the chain-scything open of her "subordinate's" skull.

[ EXP: 206 || +1 TEXP (5th post) ]

Actions:
> Block nullified, other actions proceeded.

Battle Summary:

A lot went on at once. Jack's brains spilled somewhat. This she expected, having sent the scythe towards his head and all.

The next thing was something she could not predict. Specifically, Jack kept right on going, but it turned his eyes yellow and it made that annoying guy from before take him over. This, she had never seen before, but once again, there was no time to really question this thing. It was happening, and her fighting instincts arose in her as she witnessed the transformation.

The transformation was familiar. There was a pressure, but she found herself able to resist it somewhat with her own strength.

So she didn't like his hand pointed at her when the fog finally cleared. The gesture was common to many mages. With a jumpiness, she attempted to leap out of the way of the supposed trajectory, chanting all the while to raise a barrier of ice between her and whatever it was he was planning.

But something did get to her. Specifically, she heard something of interest in all of the man's words.

Jack... pissed off?

[ EXP: 210 ]

Things attempted in post:
> Dodge 4 hits (48% chance)
> Cast Relv Taastus
:: > Have to make it bubble-shaped armor due to recent ruling instead of custom fit like in the past

The hyena and her rather sizable bubble landed with a slight roll sideways before she regained her balance. Blood ran down the back of her left hindleg unheeded as she panted and noticed a sizeable crack that developed on the outside of her sphere. With a mumble, she chanted again, and didn't really pause. If she wanted to get through this and eventually talk to Jack, she had to get rid of the yellow eyed one first, who unfortunately appeared to have command of her friend for the moment.

The skin mended itself where her leg had been injured and magical energy curled around the crack, adding reinforcement to the nearly-burst bubble.

Of course, she wouldn't be able to cast outside this sphere for awhile due to the solidity of the sphere, but all she needed now was a temporary shelter. Maybe she might be able to get a couple of questions in if she sealed herself in tight enough. [Relv Taastus]

Then again, there was the problem of the yellow eyed man's willingness to talk to her. Yes, this bubble might give her limited protection if he decided to use Jack's considerable powers against her, something she still feared though she had gained a bit of dominance in her time, but she certainly needed a backup plan.

After she had chanted again for safety, she rolled her ball around the current madness demon, making a wide arc around him while maintaining a respectable distance.

"Tell me, person, what do you mean by these things you say? Jack did not tell me that he was mad at me."

Her chanting resumed at a more placid pace.

[ EXP: 304 || +1 TEXP (1st post) ]

Battle Summary:

This time, the hyena did not move her huge bubble, not because she didn't see him raise his gloved hand towards her, but because she was simply approaching the point where she didn't care to. Besides, hopping around like a rabbit was undignified and made it harder to listen to the words he said.

So her bubble took the brunt of the first attack and trembled mightily under the force, the mass of ice groaning and rolling back slightly.

And she continued to listen to what he had to say, however, a mix of emotions came over her.

First, hurt arose. She didn't know that Jack's arm wasn't going to grow back. Why did he not tell her his feelings? Was their friendship that fragile? Was his subordination that conditional?

These emotions began to swirl within her, and in them was a certain power hidden there long ago by a certain kamikonjou and his blood-red flower.

As the second attack came, a snow-white crane feather fell to the bottom of the bubble [Kulm Paike]. There was a wind that appeared to only affect the hyena, and a thousand whispers and mumblings and cries of many, many different creatures. In that odd storm, their faces and forms appeared and disappeared around her, making themselves seen and heard through the maelstrom of frost around her.

As it shattered, Iskra stood up, her body changing quickly until it became the form that she first approached Jack in all of that time ago. For the moment, she didn't appear to fear another attack, but at the same time, she wasn't attacking him herself.

"Jack..." she murmured, standing a respectful distance away, her voice strangely clear above the chaotic souls around her. "I'm sorry. I'm not used to thanking people. It's a human concept, but thank you for everything you've done."

"If it displeases you to be in my clan, you are dismissed. I wish you well, and I'm sorry. I did not know that you wished to have your kami to yourself."

[ EXP: 388 || +1 TEXP (1st post) ]

The arm raised high above her head. The great and tumultuous outcry from the souls around her, bound to her as they were, reached an utmost pitch. Run!, shouted one. Fight!, yet another. Do something... but she simply stood there, her eyes mildly meeting the yellow ones of her once-upon-a-time partner. As frightened as Jack had always been of the man behind the door, she felt an odd confidence about the situation. Perhaps it was the same confidence that had her feel comfortable in subordinating Jack in the first place. Maybe it was a confidence in Jack, that he was still in there somewhere and that he still remained a part of her clan, her family.

So she stared on, as though perhaps somewhere past that yellow haze she could see the soul of her friend.

And then the hummingangel behind him struck with her healing magic.

Jack came back in that moment, or so it seemed when his eyes started filling back out with their natural color, and she sighed. The frost-white aura around her almost sighed as well and settled down around her as a man might settle down after a nightmare. The whisps of wind died down and so did the licks of ice and wind swirling about the area until her magic was at rest.

She was tired despite herself: a mental weariness that wore on her spirit and bore upon her the gravity of what seemed to have happened, though she had no words for it.

Jack turned and walked away. "Goodbye then," she spoke after him, casting a glance at the angel. "I'll see you again too. We have something to talk about."

Her form dissolved around her again, and Iskra once again became the great beast.

The hyena yawned, turned around, and settled its massive form on the mattress behind it, keeping an eye open to watch where the woman intended to go, though the monster's body was already consigned to sleep.

[ EXP: 369 || +1 TEXP (2nd post) ]