• Graded • Forged in Fire: Hunting

[Pegasus]

Forged in Fire: Hunting

Tio

Did Cassion know things about Tio's Immortalhood that Tio didn't? "Yes, of course I do." Cassion replied. But that was all he said.

They didn't have far to go, it seemed, and Tio didn't know enough to recognise that the tunnel he and Cassion headed down was, while ostensibly the one that Yeva, Darius and Oram had come from, it was totally different. Twisting, winding, all very tight spaces and darkness. Cassion didn't seem to be bothered by the darkness, and he seemed to expect Tio to not be either. Should Tio be completely without the ability to see, then - and only then - would Cassion produce a light source. Apparently, from thin air.

They walked for a while and then, Cassion put out his hand. "You see that?" Cassion asked and there, ahead, just at the base of a large boulder, was the swirling blackness which Tio had seen before. "You see that? It's a remnant of Aelig's presence. Something that he's cursed, or somehow given energy to, that's that." Turning to Tio, Cassion spoke in a very matter-of-fact tone. "He's behind this, I'm sure. It has his stench all over it. But, we need to deal with that first"

Quite what he was referring to when he said "that", and nodded to just over Tio's shoulder would quickly become obvious, whether Tio looked behind him or not.

The Diri of Destruction - a creature of shadow crafted from pure destructive force - was high on chaos. Empowered, emboldened, it saw two beings who were beyond it's awareness. Pillars of stability, for such is the nature of Immortals, to be their Domains; inflexible, unchanging. Strong.

And as claws slashed with the intention of ripping Tio's face off, the Diri was obviously trying to do to that stability what it did best.

Destroy.

It still looked like Maxine. There were, in fact, only two differences. One, it was made from shadows and, of course, the other? The other was the red gem which glowed, flames flickering within it, dangling on a chain around it's neck.

!	Message from: Rules
	One post maximum here. Play to your skill level. It helps me if, when you use a skill you maybe put an OOC note or such at the bottom to tell me what your skill is. I'll check your CS, no worries, it just takes me longer. Do not control any NPCs. They are mine (esp. the immortal one)

!	Message from: Objectives
	Try not to die.

Next Post: Monday 6th July (sooner if I can)

[Tio Silver]

Tio raised an eyebrow at Cassion's curt reply, and when the silence dragged on and it became obvious the road god wasn't going to elaborate any further he sighed. He hadn't expected Cassion to be particularly forthcoming due to their history, but it had been worth a shot. Still the further they walked the more the silence between them festered, starting to turn a little awkward, and Tio found he couldn't resist the urge to give conversation another shot just to try and ease the tension.

"So... Aelig huh? The great master of illusion himself. I guess I should take it as a sign that I'm going up in the world when I'm bumping into my old heroes. Here's hoping he doesn't turn out to be a dick like feather-butt did." He squinted as he found himself struggling to see in the growing gloom. "In case things go bad anything I should know about him? Top tips that might save me from getting impaled? I've already figured out that not trusting everything I see is the way to go, but what's he like a person? What does he love? What does he hate? Is there a chance we can negotiate with hi-..." He yelped as his head banged into a rock he hadn't seen coming, and shot Cassion a nod when he then conjured a light. "Thanks. So yeah, any chance that this could be settled peacefully? I'd rather not add anyone else to the ever-growing list of Immortals who want to smite my ass if I can help it."

He stopped when Cassion did, and as his eyes adjusted to the dark and the image of the swirling chaos-vortex came into sight a wistful smile grew on his face. "Oh yeah, that's her alright." He let out a wolf-whistle. "What a beauty. Just look at the style, the creativity, the juxtaposition between chaos and control! It's times like this I wish I was a painter." He looked back to Cassion, his smile fading. "Now I don't know if you already know this or not, but I didn't want to say anything while those other guys were around, because they've frankly got enough reasons to hate me already, and I figure you should probably hear this from me. Remember when I said I met this curse before?" He winced. "Well I may have glossed over a few details. At the time it was bound to this woman and destroying her in the most horrific way, so I tried to fix things. And by fix, I mean fuse them together into something new and beautiful." He held up his hands in surrender. "Now I know that sounds bad, but you kind of had to be there at the time to see that it was, in theory, actually a really good idea! If they achieved unity she wouldn't have suffered anymore and could have become kickass powerful, while the curse would also get to survive and be happy. Unfortunately it didn't quite go as planned. The woman exploded, the curse got supercharged, and now it's this." He gestured to the vortex. "So... yeah, my bad? Sorry."

On Cassion's cue Tio looked over his shoulder, only to find that the figure standing behind them was... "Maxine? Damn girl, what happened to you? I know you love rocking the whole dark-and-mysterious angle, and I have to say it works for you, but this is taking things a bit too far."

However the closer he looked, the more he suspected that this wasn't actually Maxine at all. He had the strangest feeling he'd had a nightmare about Maxine and this creature once, but for the life of him couldn't recall it. Regardless the aura of danger around this thing made him very uneasy. Suddenly shadow Maxine lashed out, trying to claw his face off. To his credit however Tio was very well trained in the art of Da'riya, a fighting style that revolved heavily around dodging, and instinctively made to dodge out of the way of the attack before his conscious mind even recognised what it was. He bent back at the waist as if going under a limbo pole, letting the claw swipe through the air above him where his face had been moments ago. In attacking him the shadow had pushed its own weight forwards, making it vulnerable to a counter-attack, and Tio's eyes fixed themselves upon the most obvious target: the necklace it wore, the only source of light coming from a creature of darkness. His brain kicked into action; analysing what it had seen about the shadow to try and predict how it would move, and trying to come up with a plan to defeat it.

It could not be said that Tio threw a punch, for that would suggest some level of force behind it or an intent to make physical contact with the shadow. Instead he raised his gauntlet hand up so that the palm pointed towards the necklace, keeping an inch or two between his hand and the target, and willed Explodibur to conjure an explosion big enough to blast the shadow backwards.

Notes

Skills Used
Unarmed Combat (Da'riya): Master - To avoid the attack.
Acrobatics: Competent - To do the limbo-dodge.
Tactics: Grandmaster - To predict how the shadow will move.

Items Used
Explodibur

[Pegasus]

Forged in Fire: Hunting

Tio

"

TEN.....

"

Tio and Cassion had made their way - they'd talked a little. They'd even come close to almost bonding - or at least, they'd remained civil. But then, Tio had explained his part in the situation where he had met this swirling chaos previously. It ended with him saying "so yeah, my bad. Sorry?" and Cassion looking at him rather like Tio's head might have fallen off.

"

NINE.....

"

"When are you going to learn, little godling?" Cassion asked. "When are you going to learn that the reason you've never been happy with yourself is because you keep being determined to change yourself." He shrugged slightly.

"

EIGHT.......

"

"And you're so dense that you think everyone else is as insecure as you." It didn't seem like Cassion was pulling any punches. "When in fact, most people, most of the time, are better off just as they are. They aren't your toys, you fool." He shook his head.

"

SEVEN.....

"

"They're bundles of fun and story, adventure and energy just the way they are. You don't help, you don't make them better, and you don't make them more interesting." He glanced at Tio and the next words were obvious from his gaze.

"

SIX......

"

"Just like you don't make yourself better, either. You used to be much more interesting, now, you've become a piss-poor story of a self-involved fool." He didn't sound angry, just a little sad. "A shallow little godling, desperately hoping that no one notices he's just insecure and needs someone to love him." Shaking his head, he dismissed the godling as beneath his help.

"

FIVE.....

"

Faldrass roared in anger, and the world shook.

But Tio and Cassion had other things to worry about as the Diri of Destruction attacked. Cassion, for his part, stepped back and watched. He didn't engage, he didn't enter combat. If Tio's dancing manoeuvres brought him close, Cassion simply stepped out of the way.

And Tio lifted his hand.

"

FOUR.....

"

The necklace glowed bright, like it could almost feel the impact a mere millisecond before it happened. Tio felt the contact made and a vast, enormous, explosion shook the place. If anyone ever found out what happened there - if Tio lived to tell the tale - there might be questions about why and how the whole volcano didn't collapse, so great was the force.

If Tio had been in any doubt that he had internal organs, as they were battered and shook with the force, as he flew a very few feet at a very fast speed, he would no longer be in any doubt. Blood- genuine blood - fell from his nose, his eyes, his ears - he couldn't hear anything, for all the ringing.

"

THREE.....

"

And of course - because it was what it was - the Diri of Destruction fed.

It fed. And it grew.

"

TWO.....

"

Until it was all that Tio could see. A black, swirling mass, shaped like the woman he knew, feeding on the destruction he had created.

"

ONE.....

"

And it attacked.

"

THEN......

"

Tio saw nothing but it as it closed the gap between them and - perhaps ironically - attempted to rip him apart at the middle. To rend apart his skin and open his stomach, so that it could feast on his bowels and intestines.

"

ZERO

"

..... and Cassion watched.

!	Message from: Rules
	One post maximum here. Play to your skill level. It helps me if, when you use a skill you maybe put an OOC note or such at the bottom to tell me what your skill is. I'll check your CS, no worries, it just takes me longer. Do not control any NPCs. They are mine (esp. the immortal one)

!	Message from: Objectives
	Try not to die. It is attacking - it is twice as large as it was. You are very (very very) injured. And ...errr... Cassion isn't helping.

Next Post: 19th July (sooner if I can)

[Tio Silver]

Tio grit his teeth in pain as an explosion of immense magnitude, far more than he'd intended, rocked the cave and sent him flying backwards as if fired from a catapult. Organs he hadn't even been sure he had ached with agony, and an iron taste in his mouth betrayed that he was probably bleeding from his nose. That certainly hadn't gone as planned. Had he made a mistake using explodibur? No, it didn't feel like it. It seemed like the creature had amplified the explosion somehow. But why do that when it would harm them both?

The answer revealed itself when the dust cloud kicked up by the explosion began to settle, revealing that shadow Maxine had grown twice as big and strong as it had been before. Somehow the whatever-it-was had been powered up rather than damaged.

"You don't help, you don't make them better..."

Tio's grit his teeth again, not in pain this time but in shame, and banished Cassion's words from his head. He knew that damn it! He knew that he wasn't a hero, and that he was a lousy excuse for a god. The domain of curses was his because his presence was in itself like a curse; his attempts to help only made things worse for everyone.

But even so...

Tio staggered back up to his feet, his vision swimmingly slightly as his head tried to readjust its sense of balance. The shadow wasted no time charging forward to attack again, and once again Tio's brain and training instinctively kicked into gear; predicting the creature's attack pattern and moving to dodge it. He hopped back and to the left, freely giving ground for the sake of avoiding being impaled, and forced his protesting muscles to keep moving in order to swerve out of the way of its follow up attacks.

"Just like you don't make yourself better, either."

What should he do then? Give up? Stand apart from the world like the other Immortals did? Be content with what he was and forget his aspirations of reaching any higher? No. Never! It was true that he often made mistakes, but at least he did something! Where had the other Immortals been when that cursed woman had begged for help? Where were they during the fall of Emea? Even now, in this very fight, what was Cassion doing but standing by and criticising without even trying to help? Even if he was probably going to make things worse, he'd be damned if he didn't at least try to make a difference!

The shadow's clawed hands ripped through the space Tio had been in moments ago. One hand clipped Tio's side and caused a nasty gash, but with adrenaline pumping through him the pain felt muted. With renewed vigor Tio's brain sorted through its options, trying to come up with a plan.

The shadow had some kind of damage absorption ability, so a head on attack wouldn't work, but there was more than one way to defeat an opponent. Perhaps it could be trapped instead? Could he twist its arm to try and stop it moving? No, its biology was too unfamiliar to risk it. Could he contain it? That ice crystal would have been really handy right now, but unfortunately Shl'drei had it.

His eyes flickered to explodibur, and a plan popped into his mind. It was stupid, risky and unlikely to work, but it was better than doing nothing. So what if Cassion didn't approve of his methods? What right did he have to say that people were better off as they were, when he'd never known the desperation of living in a world filled with countless things stronger than you? That was like someone born into wealth preaching about the evils of avarice. It was the purpose of all things to seek improve themselves. Children grew into adults, villages developed into cities, and soldiers worked up into generals, or else they died trying. They made mistakes, but they learnt from them. Cassion didn't get that because to he didn't know what it was like to be vulnerable, to be insecure. He had no drive to become more than what he currently was because he'd been born with power far above most other life in this world.

Tio would not be like that. He would not look upon Idalos from the sidelines. He would survive, learn and grow. That's how he'd come this far, and how he was going to keep going further until he'd lived longer and louder than anyone else! He'd go further that any other Immortals had before until he became something even greater than all of them!

Attacks were like waves. When you threw a punch regardless of whether you hit or missed you had to draw your arm back again in order to build up momentum again for the next strike, and in those moments lay opportunity. As the shadow's arms drew back for another attack Tio pushed his battered body forwards again, pushing up into its guard and thrusting his gauntlet hand towards the shadow's face. His palm was open, ready to conjure another explosion.

But this time one didn't come.

The creature could absorb the power behind damage somehow, so Tio's bet was that thrusting explodibur up in its face would draw its attention to the gauntlet as it anticipated another meal. That might distract it from Tio's other hand, which snaked forward to grab the red gem dangling from its neck. With a sharp flick Tio tried to whip the chain keeping the gem coiled around its neck up over the shadows head, then dart and roll backwards away from the shadow's grasp with his prize. The gem still seemed like it was important somehow, so if he couldn't destroy it then perhaps he could steal it instead.

Notes

Skills Used
Unarmed Combat (Da'riya): Master - To avoid the attack.
Tactics: Grandmaster - To predict how the shadow will move.
Acrobatics: Competent - To keep dodging.
Endurance: Competent - To ignore the pain his body is in.
Pickpocketing - To grab hold of and snatch the gem while the creature is distracted by explodibur.

[Pegasus]

Forged in Fire: Hunting

Tio

"

BEFORE....

"

Cassion watched as Tio reacted to his taunts. Not outwardly reacted, of course, but Cassion knew. Or seemed to.

"

ZERO

"

And then - the Diri. The Diri of Destruction attacked and Tio ducked and weaved. It snarled and it's anger grew, clawed hands flying out to wound, to cut, to maim. It was Maxine, but more and more, it was not her. No longer connected, it pushed and it pushed and Tio's injuries were growing worse.

Death was almost certain, it seemed.

But then, the Immortal of Curses took hold of the gem, lifting it from the Diri and, in that moment things seemed to stop. Or.... more precisely .... yes, stop. Freeze in time, perhaps, as the world held its breath.

And then, the Diri screamed and exploded in shadow. Darkness enveloped Tio as it poured out of the creature. It wrapped around him and, momentarily, his vision was blurred.

"

.... then......

"

"When are you going to learn, little godling?"

Cassion somehow sounded much more jovial as he asked that. He motioned, then, to the gem in Tio's hand (Tio might notice that Diri was no longer there. "It seems that I was right. That was empowering that thing, pulling it towards Faldrass. And now?" He shrugged. "Now it's what it should be. A diri. So, my would-be-killer," Cassion said, gesturing to the gem. "It seems to me that you've just meddled your way into breaking some meddling. How very ironic." He gestured in the vague direction of where the others were.

"That should ... I hope ... help them. That was making things very ... " he searched for the word. "Unstable. Chaotic." He gave a slight shrug. Then, he gestured to it. "I'd suggest you hand that over to me, because it's far to unstable for you. But, I'd waste my breath, I imagine." If Tio handed over the gem (which now just seemed like a nice pretty bit of shiny-glass) then Cassion would take it. If not, the Immortal would shrug in a 'it's your funeral' kind of way.

"So, they are no longer being interfered with by that thing," he said, and his gaze turned on Tio. "Our mischief here is done. For myself, I'm keen to see how it pans out. What happens at the end."

He gestured, again, in the direction of "over there". "I suppose I should ask you along," he said, mock-grudgingly. "So long as you can stand, and you stop bleeding all over the place."

Tio would, in fact, find it hard to walk. His injuries were severe and he was feeling faint and nauseous. Cassion raised an eyebrow and asked, cheerily. "You coming along, little godling?"

!	Message from: Rules
	One post maximum here. Play to your skill level. It helps me if, when you use a skill you maybe put an OOC note or such at the bottom to tell me what your skill is. I'll check your CS, no worries, it just takes me longer. Do not control any NPCs. They are mine (esp. the immortal one)

!	Message from: Objectives
	It's important you let me know what you do with the gem. Please and thank you. Specifics is good (eg: if it's in a pocket - which one).

Next Post: 27th July (sooner if I can)

[Tio Silver]

If he was being entirely honest with himself Tio hadn't actually expected the move he pulled to work. He had expected the shadow, frenzied as it was, to act on some sort of instinct and stop him from nabbing the gem from across its neck. Yet to his own surprise the creature was so utterly consumed by its desire to destroy him that it didn't actually notice the necklace being snatched away before it was too late. For a moment he could have sworn that time itself seemed to freeze.

And then the creature exploded.

Some idle part of his mind noted that this was yet further evidence that his hypothesis was correct: you could blow anything up if you tried hard enough. The rest of his brain continued to point out that he was in a lot of pain right now, and that if the Faldrass resort didn't offer him a free healing massage after this he was going to use whatever political clout he had to crush them. I should probably try to tend to some of these wounds. Oh wait; Yeva stole my medical kit. Bugger."

Either he blacked out for a while or the shadows the creature had been comprised of obscured his vision for a while, but the next thing he knew he was lying flat on the ground with Cassion speaking to him somewhere nearby as his sight returned. The road god explained that what he'd just fought was a diri, that he suspected the gem had been making it turn monstrous all along, and that he thought it was something Tio should hand over to him for safe keeping. To absolutely nobody's surprise Tio made no move to hand over the gem whatsoever; instead keeping it firmly grasped within his right hand as he forced himself to sit up and took deep breaths to try and stop the cave from spinning around him. If Cassion knew that thing had been a diri all along and suspected the gem was something special perhaps he should have raised a hand to help instead of watching as he was battered around like a sandbag.

Although as the ringing in his head began to dull ever so slightly it occurred to Tio that he was perhaps being just a little bit unreasonable. Like hell he was going to give away his spoils of war, but logically speaking a magical gem wasn't very useful if he didn't have the first clue as to how to use it. There was a way for both him and Cassion to benefit here. "How about a trade?" He suggested. "Unstable or not I did fairly earn it. However I am also in serious pain right now and, floating or not, am gonna have a really bad time trying to move." He rolled his head to the side to look as Cassion. "However I've seen multiple times that Immortals can teleport, and I've yet to figure out how to do that myself. If you teach me how to teleport, and take me to where this whole debacle is going to end, then the gem is all yours." He flinched as something inside of him felt like it burst. "Also... If you happen to have anything that could heal me on you that'd be great."

If Cassion accepted the deal Tio would hand the gem over and allow him to work his magic. If not however he would keep the gem tightly clenched in his hand, force himself back onto his feet and float his way in the direction Cassion pointed.

Notes

Skills Used
Persuasion: Grandmaster - To convince Cassion to trade the gem for a lesson.

[Pegasus]

Forged in Fire: Hunting

Tio

The Immortal of Curses offered a trade to the Immortal of Adventure, and Cassion laughed. It was a deep, genuinely amused laugh, but his answer was obvious before he spoke. "I don't want it that much," he said, and his amused gaze spoke volumes. "It will be fun to see what stories come from you owning it!"

As for teleporting, Cassion simply shrugged. "You'll grow into it. Or not. Maybe you'll always be a baby godling. Don't worry," he said, and he refrained from a hearty back-slap. Only just, but he refrained. "Someone has to be small, don't they?" At least one of them found that funny and Cassion's laughter echoed around the place. Yet, somehow, although Cassion didn't help him, Tio felt that his strength was maybe just returning enough, and it wasn't as far as he might have thought.

And so, they got to watch how the story ended. Or began. "You can't be one of them any more," Cassion said, as they watched the events unfold. . "It simply isn't possible. You can pretend, and they'll believe you. But when they know what you are? That's a very different thing."

He didn't seem upset by that - but he was very sincere. Then, as they watched things unfolding, watched the situation as it ended, Cassion spoke again to Tio. . "I can teach you things, if you want," he said. . "Maybe speed things along for you. But - there's a price. Tasks - things to find out, people to talk to. I'll tell you the task, and what I will teach you in return for it. You agree or not, on a task-by-task basis. But, as the would-be killer of Immortals, you complete the task THEN I teach. Interested?"

!	Message from: Rules
	Please post in the Fighting thread. You don't need to post here again.

!	Message from: Objectives
	It's important you let me know what you do with the gem. Please and thank you. Specifics is good (eg: if it's in a pocket - which one).

[Pegasus]

Tihe Review

My most sincere apologies for how late these last few reviews are. That speaks to my own circumstances, not at all to how much I enjoyed these threads. I have to say, of this series of threads - Tio's relationship with Cassion was among my favourite moments. That he maintains that you can blow anything up delights me and I'm sorry that he didn't get massage. As late as it is, I hope you enjoyed this event.

XP: 15
Renown: 10

Knowledge:
Endurance x3
Negotiation x3
Persuasion x3
Tactics x 3

Loot: +1 title. The Little Godling.