~- A Rumble in the Floor -~
"Listen to me: I need you to keep her safe as possible while I keep the damn Bear busy, all right? Hopefully, by the time the boy recovers from his dizziness, he'll be with me batting the Nightmare Bear."
Noct was about to throw back a reply to Leo when he heard Sammy say rather hotly, "The boy is just fine! Get your furry ass moving; I'm right behind you!"
Noct almost barked out a laugh at that. He never got tired of Sammy's tough guy act; even if the boy didn't feel like putting on a show, he nearly always acted the part he cultivated for himself if the situation demanded it. But Sam had spoken the truth; Noct could sense that his Tamer had regained some clarity thanks to the female Spirit's help. Sammy's best bet now was to head outside, where his earth magic could do the most good, both for the fight and for himself.
Leo went for the frontal assault on the bear Nightmare while Noct took to darting in and out, snapping at the bear's heels and swiping at its flanks. For a moment, the bear took it's attention off Leo to take a shot at Noct's weak point, his wings, but both lions were too savvy for that; Noct rolled out of the way, his wings pinned tight to his sides, while Leo lunged at the bear again, using the Nightmare's distraction to lure it outside.
Once they were outside, Noct gave a toothy, feline grin. While it was true that he was mostly focused on the fight right now, he couldn't deny the enjoyment he found in fighting with Leo again; Noct wanted to wrap this fight up quick, so the two of them could catch up and find out what the other knew about the war. Spreading his wings, Noct took to the air, his eyes on the bear below him. The lion just saw Sammy streak past, a blur of shadows and light, as he put space between himself and the bear so he could attack. Glancing farther a field, Noct saw Ezio and Sky by the football field on the other side of the school; while he wasn't happy to see the Nightmares that occupied the two, Noct knew them to formidable fighters, and he sensed that none of the Nightmares were Bonded to Reapers, so that meant a fair fight for them.
"Devil's Trench!"
Recognizing that as his cue, Noct dropped out of the sky, angling for the bear as a fissure opened in the earth. Noct could just trace the trench back to its source; Sammy stood about twenty feet away from the bear, crouched close to the ground with his hands shoved into the earth, the faintest green glow around his fingers as he worked his magic. Roaring, Noct flew full bore into the bear, using his weight to slam the thing into the pit. Noct came in for a landing, his claws ripping up sod as he fought for traction, as he roared to Leo, "Your turn!"
~- Lock Me Up in Chains -~
Cheyenne circled opposite the tigress, the two big cats forming a large ring around the two humans as all four watched their respective opponents. Cheyenne knew Nightshade and her Reaper all too well; they're personal group of Reapers kept hounding Michael and his friends, causing Cheyenne and the other Spirits quite a bit of grief as they tried to keep the Tamers safe. They'd lost far too many to the ones that had the gall to call themselves the "Magnificent Seven"; hell, just last month there'd been a young girl full of promise. She'd just met with her Spirit partner, too...
Almost as if she knew what was on the cougar's mind, Nightshade jeered, "What, thinking about Tina and Jay? Give it up, little kitten; you know as well as I do that your kind is losing, so why do you put yourself through the pain of lost allies? All you're doing is committing suicide, little kitty!"
Anything else that Nightshade might have said was lost as the tigress gave a mighty yowl of pain. Taking the initiative, both Michael and Cheyenne struck first; while her Tamer pressed the attack on the Reaper, Cheyenne lunged at Nightshade. Coming up behind her, the cougar grabbed Nightshade's tail in a firm grip with her teeth before yanking hard, causing daggers to shoot straight up Nightshade's spine all the way to her skull. Howling, the Nightmare spun around, venom in her eyes, her claws already extended to slap Cheyenne across the face.
Cheyenne ducked to the side, taking the blow on the shoulder instead of her cheek. She rolled across the grass, coming to a stop at the moment that she felt her legs pinned close to her body. Turning her head slightly, the she-cat saw smoky chains wrapped tight around her body, keeping her from being mobile. She heard Nightshade stalking toward her, and the unmistakable promise of murder as the tigress hissed, "You bitch!"
"Get your species correct, Nightmare!" With a snarl of her own, Cheyenne sent an electrical current across her body, snapping the illusory chains Nightshade had wrapped the Spirit in. Springing to her feet, Cheyenne pounced at Nightshade again, intent on landing on the Nightmare's shoulders. From there, it'd be a simple matter to get a kill bite on the tigress' neck.
At least, Cheyenne would have done this, but the fog thickened, making it impossible to see a damn thing. Stopping in her tracks, the cougar turned blind eyes around the area, her concern suddenly slipping from Nightshade to Michael. Unable to see him, she took a deep sniff of the air; still unable to sense him because of the fog dampening the air, she thought in a panic, Michael?
I'm here, Chey girl, his voice slid across her mind, easing the Spirit's worries some degree. That worry came flying back though when she heard the voice of a strange man, and what he had to say just set her on edge. She was set further on edge when the voice of another joined the conversation, as another young man replied crisply, "What are you talking about, mister? It's never too early for hostile intent."
The fog cleared, showing the dark-haired stranger that had spoken before. The lack of fog also showed the red head that had appeared at Angie's side, and Cheyenne felt her hackles rise into a stiff ridge as she stalked to Michael's side. This just wasn't their day. Not only did she and Michael have to deal with an unknown Reaper and whatever his plans were, but Dante had just joined the party.
Well. Shit.
~- Report -~
"Little Lucas, you were always such a good boy to see if I needed anything."
Lucas heard Twila's amused snort in his mind as she felt his irritation spark across the link. Though the comment hadn't been meant as a slight, the Reaper did have a mild issue with it; with his height of 6'4", the only ones in their personal group that were taller than Lucas were Jace and Lady Danu herself. And considering Lucas did have some pride in his stature... yeah, Twila had the right to be amused.
"Please, do tell me how the others are below. I do hope the practice has been going well."
Bringing his stung ego to heel, Lucas replied pleasantly, "Training is going well as always, milady. I left Eric and Jace to see if they could coax Christa into a bit of practice. You know how she is; a genius when you can get her motivated, otherwise..." Lucas let his voice trail off, not feeling the need to bring up Christa's short comings. Danu knew them nearly as well as Lucas did.
"And of course, those out preying in the fog. You have been watching them, haven't you?"
This time it was Twila who spoke, her soft voice revealing the spirit that was always present in her actions. "Yes, milady, we have been watching them. Angela and Nightshade left a short while ago for patrol. I believe Dante followed them a little bit after they left to ensure they had some help on the small chance they ran into something too difficult for them to manage." Twila's tone of voice stated quite clearly what she thought of that eventuality.
"Mor'du and Sonnet are monitoring the high school at the present moment. There's a rather large patrol of Spirits and Tamers concentrated there at this time, but it shouldn't be too much of a difficulty. Mor'du informed me a little while ago that the Spirit Leo has formed a Pact with a young girl, so Mor'du wishes to monitor Leo to see where his skills lay after being dormant for so long."
Twila fell silent, certain that the report was complete. So it amazed her when Lucas spoke again, a certain edge to his words. "Milady, Dante has just reported in that he and Angela have encountered an unknown Reaper while Angela was engaged in a battle against the Tamer Michael and his Spirit partner Cheyenne. Would you like me to dispatch anyone else to their position? Or do you want me to tell Dante to monitor the Unknown for the time being?"
~- Complaints -~
Sky leaped backward, her ponytail slapping against her neck. She hated it when Nightmares showed up at school; it not only put her friends in danger, but the mess the fighting cased always left her with a headache as she and the others tried to find a way to explain away all the damage.
At least the lacrosse and cheer teams were out of the danger path.
The wolf spun around, jaws snapping, and made another pass at Sky. She kicked out, catching the beast square in the jaw before she reached a hand behind her back for the knife she had hidden up her shirt. This was another reason she hated it when the Nightmares and Reapers came to school. Unlike the guys, Sky still hadn't met her Spirit partner yet, so she had to settle for whatever weapons she could hide on her person to supplement her magic with. And when all she was wearing was the short skirt and tank of her cheer uniform? She was lucky to hide the knife Sammy insisted they all carry.
Ezio dropped out of the sky then, raking his talons across the wolf's back. The beast howled, twisting around to take a shot at the raptor, but Ezio had already returned to the air. Sky lunged then, light magic sparking across the length of her knife, and buried the blade up to the hilt in the wounded Nightmare's side. The wolf howled again, turning into dark mist as it gave up on the fight and returned to the Nightmare realm.
"Really now, did you have to be so mean to the poor dear? And this was his first day in this realm, too."
The voice sent a chill up her spine, and a rumble in the earth set a frost in her bones. Spinning on her heel, Sky watched as two more Nightmares approached her. One was a sleek, silver furred she-wolf with vivid green eyes; she almost seemed to glide across the grass as she walked. Though she had a good size to her, the wolf was dwarfed by the grizzly that stalked at her side, a soft tremor moving through the ground with each fall of his massive paws. For a moment, Sky stood frozen; even when Devon went flying past her, Largo hot on his heels, she didn't budge a muscle. Sky wasn't sure if she'd seen the she-wolf before, but she had seen that bear.
"Mor'du..."
"Listen to me: I need you to keep her safe as possible while I keep the damn Bear busy, all right? Hopefully, by the time the boy recovers from his dizziness, he'll be with me batting the Nightmare Bear."
Noct was about to throw back a reply to Leo when he heard Sammy say rather hotly, "The boy is just fine! Get your furry ass moving; I'm right behind you!"
Noct almost barked out a laugh at that. He never got tired of Sammy's tough guy act; even if the boy didn't feel like putting on a show, he nearly always acted the part he cultivated for himself if the situation demanded it. But Sam had spoken the truth; Noct could sense that his Tamer had regained some clarity thanks to the female Spirit's help. Sammy's best bet now was to head outside, where his earth magic could do the most good, both for the fight and for himself.
Leo went for the frontal assault on the bear Nightmare while Noct took to darting in and out, snapping at the bear's heels and swiping at its flanks. For a moment, the bear took it's attention off Leo to take a shot at Noct's weak point, his wings, but both lions were too savvy for that; Noct rolled out of the way, his wings pinned tight to his sides, while Leo lunged at the bear again, using the Nightmare's distraction to lure it outside.
Once they were outside, Noct gave a toothy, feline grin. While it was true that he was mostly focused on the fight right now, he couldn't deny the enjoyment he found in fighting with Leo again; Noct wanted to wrap this fight up quick, so the two of them could catch up and find out what the other knew about the war. Spreading his wings, Noct took to the air, his eyes on the bear below him. The lion just saw Sammy streak past, a blur of shadows and light, as he put space between himself and the bear so he could attack. Glancing farther a field, Noct saw Ezio and Sky by the football field on the other side of the school; while he wasn't happy to see the Nightmares that occupied the two, Noct knew them to formidable fighters, and he sensed that none of the Nightmares were Bonded to Reapers, so that meant a fair fight for them.
"Devil's Trench!"
Recognizing that as his cue, Noct dropped out of the sky, angling for the bear as a fissure opened in the earth. Noct could just trace the trench back to its source; Sammy stood about twenty feet away from the bear, crouched close to the ground with his hands shoved into the earth, the faintest green glow around his fingers as he worked his magic. Roaring, Noct flew full bore into the bear, using his weight to slam the thing into the pit. Noct came in for a landing, his claws ripping up sod as he fought for traction, as he roared to Leo, "Your turn!"
~- Lock Me Up in Chains -~
Cheyenne circled opposite the tigress, the two big cats forming a large ring around the two humans as all four watched their respective opponents. Cheyenne knew Nightshade and her Reaper all too well; they're personal group of Reapers kept hounding Michael and his friends, causing Cheyenne and the other Spirits quite a bit of grief as they tried to keep the Tamers safe. They'd lost far too many to the ones that had the gall to call themselves the "Magnificent Seven"; hell, just last month there'd been a young girl full of promise. She'd just met with her Spirit partner, too...
Almost as if she knew what was on the cougar's mind, Nightshade jeered, "What, thinking about Tina and Jay? Give it up, little kitten; you know as well as I do that your kind is losing, so why do you put yourself through the pain of lost allies? All you're doing is committing suicide, little kitty!"
Anything else that Nightshade might have said was lost as the tigress gave a mighty yowl of pain. Taking the initiative, both Michael and Cheyenne struck first; while her Tamer pressed the attack on the Reaper, Cheyenne lunged at Nightshade. Coming up behind her, the cougar grabbed Nightshade's tail in a firm grip with her teeth before yanking hard, causing daggers to shoot straight up Nightshade's spine all the way to her skull. Howling, the Nightmare spun around, venom in her eyes, her claws already extended to slap Cheyenne across the face.
Cheyenne ducked to the side, taking the blow on the shoulder instead of her cheek. She rolled across the grass, coming to a stop at the moment that she felt her legs pinned close to her body. Turning her head slightly, the she-cat saw smoky chains wrapped tight around her body, keeping her from being mobile. She heard Nightshade stalking toward her, and the unmistakable promise of murder as the tigress hissed, "You bitch!"
"Get your species correct, Nightmare!" With a snarl of her own, Cheyenne sent an electrical current across her body, snapping the illusory chains Nightshade had wrapped the Spirit in. Springing to her feet, Cheyenne pounced at Nightshade again, intent on landing on the Nightmare's shoulders. From there, it'd be a simple matter to get a kill bite on the tigress' neck.
At least, Cheyenne would have done this, but the fog thickened, making it impossible to see a damn thing. Stopping in her tracks, the cougar turned blind eyes around the area, her concern suddenly slipping from Nightshade to Michael. Unable to see him, she took a deep sniff of the air; still unable to sense him because of the fog dampening the air, she thought in a panic, Michael?
I'm here, Chey girl, his voice slid across her mind, easing the Spirit's worries some degree. That worry came flying back though when she heard the voice of a strange man, and what he had to say just set her on edge. She was set further on edge when the voice of another joined the conversation, as another young man replied crisply, "What are you talking about, mister? It's never too early for hostile intent."
The fog cleared, showing the dark-haired stranger that had spoken before. The lack of fog also showed the red head that had appeared at Angie's side, and Cheyenne felt her hackles rise into a stiff ridge as she stalked to Michael's side. This just wasn't their day. Not only did she and Michael have to deal with an unknown Reaper and whatever his plans were, but Dante had just joined the party.
Well. Shit.
~- Report -~
"Little Lucas, you were always such a good boy to see if I needed anything."
Lucas heard Twila's amused snort in his mind as she felt his irritation spark across the link. Though the comment hadn't been meant as a slight, the Reaper did have a mild issue with it; with his height of 6'4", the only ones in their personal group that were taller than Lucas were Jace and Lady Danu herself. And considering Lucas did have some pride in his stature... yeah, Twila had the right to be amused.
"Please, do tell me how the others are below. I do hope the practice has been going well."
Bringing his stung ego to heel, Lucas replied pleasantly, "Training is going well as always, milady. I left Eric and Jace to see if they could coax Christa into a bit of practice. You know how she is; a genius when you can get her motivated, otherwise..." Lucas let his voice trail off, not feeling the need to bring up Christa's short comings. Danu knew them nearly as well as Lucas did.
"And of course, those out preying in the fog. You have been watching them, haven't you?"
This time it was Twila who spoke, her soft voice revealing the spirit that was always present in her actions. "Yes, milady, we have been watching them. Angela and Nightshade left a short while ago for patrol. I believe Dante followed them a little bit after they left to ensure they had some help on the small chance they ran into something too difficult for them to manage." Twila's tone of voice stated quite clearly what she thought of that eventuality.
"Mor'du and Sonnet are monitoring the high school at the present moment. There's a rather large patrol of Spirits and Tamers concentrated there at this time, but it shouldn't be too much of a difficulty. Mor'du informed me a little while ago that the Spirit Leo has formed a Pact with a young girl, so Mor'du wishes to monitor Leo to see where his skills lay after being dormant for so long."
Twila fell silent, certain that the report was complete. So it amazed her when Lucas spoke again, a certain edge to his words. "Milady, Dante has just reported in that he and Angela have encountered an unknown Reaper while Angela was engaged in a battle against the Tamer Michael and his Spirit partner Cheyenne. Would you like me to dispatch anyone else to their position? Or do you want me to tell Dante to monitor the Unknown for the time being?"
~- Complaints -~
Sky leaped backward, her ponytail slapping against her neck. She hated it when Nightmares showed up at school; it not only put her friends in danger, but the mess the fighting cased always left her with a headache as she and the others tried to find a way to explain away all the damage.
At least the lacrosse and cheer teams were out of the danger path.
The wolf spun around, jaws snapping, and made another pass at Sky. She kicked out, catching the beast square in the jaw before she reached a hand behind her back for the knife she had hidden up her shirt. This was another reason she hated it when the Nightmares and Reapers came to school. Unlike the guys, Sky still hadn't met her Spirit partner yet, so she had to settle for whatever weapons she could hide on her person to supplement her magic with. And when all she was wearing was the short skirt and tank of her cheer uniform? She was lucky to hide the knife Sammy insisted they all carry.
Ezio dropped out of the sky then, raking his talons across the wolf's back. The beast howled, twisting around to take a shot at the raptor, but Ezio had already returned to the air. Sky lunged then, light magic sparking across the length of her knife, and buried the blade up to the hilt in the wounded Nightmare's side. The wolf howled again, turning into dark mist as it gave up on the fight and returned to the Nightmare realm.
"Really now, did you have to be so mean to the poor dear? And this was his first day in this realm, too."
The voice sent a chill up her spine, and a rumble in the earth set a frost in her bones. Spinning on her heel, Sky watched as two more Nightmares approached her. One was a sleek, silver furred she-wolf with vivid green eyes; she almost seemed to glide across the grass as she walked. Though she had a good size to her, the wolf was dwarfed by the grizzly that stalked at her side, a soft tremor moving through the ground with each fall of his massive paws. For a moment, Sky stood frozen; even when Devon went flying past her, Largo hot on his heels, she didn't budge a muscle. Sky wasn't sure if she'd seen the she-wolf before, but she had seen that bear.
"Mor'du..."
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