violent delights have violent ends

Deimos drops the cloak onto Hotaru, though it isn't the most subtle of gestures. Luckily, most seem to be focused on the smoke, the sudden burst of lightning, and the fact that a demigod has just disappeared with a unicorn. Into the air the golden eagle flies—not a normal sight in Torchline—and from the shadows where the peryton had been lurking, its unfurling wings suddenly make it present. Rising into the air as well it follows the eagle down the darkened coastline. Current posting order: Hotaru, Jack, Maeve, Aurelia, Adam, Seren. If you would like your character to try and intervene, pop a note in your admin-chat! If you're KQ locked, you may not join. You have 24 hours to reply or your actions IC will be rolled with disadvantage. Please post a summary of all actions taken/items/shifts/upgrades/etc used. Devil's Advocates: 50/300 HP Slagveld: 265/300 HP Hotaru: 88/88 Atlas: 0/22 Jack: 42/42 Maeve: 30/30 Aurelia: 7/60 Seren: 40/60

JACK

It's all going to hell in a handbasket out there. And it's like hell in a handbasket in the Slagveld, too. Jack takes note of the departing stranger(?) above, of the way the fire begins to suffocate and die under his influence, the ominous creak of the ceiling.

And then Aurelia kills a motherfucking unicorn and almost dies herself and oop, there Jack goes. The raw grief from Hotaru slams against his mental defenses, almost staggering the captain then and there, and he has to drop his Air Manipulation to focus on keeping himself in check.

There's a time to save a burning establishment. And there's a time not to be killed by a crazy, lightning wielding arsonist. Jack knows what's good.

"Run!" he barks to Aurelia as he slips back out of the building, grabbing her by the arm to try and roughly pull her away from the fray. At the same time, he presses a little bottle of something he's been keeping for such an occasion. Hopefully they can get out clean.

---

Jack abandons the Slagveld to run (because fuuuuuck that noise) and tries to pull Aurelia with him. He also passes her this:

Type: Light
Festive Cheer | A delightful tonic which provides Upgraded Healing when consumed. One use only.

you are a quiet god
and your hunger is cavernous

Jack? Using a one-time item on someone other than himself? Wow. When is the wedding, you two? Jack is able to leave the immediate vicinity. Aurelia receives upgraded healing. Current posting order: Hotaru, Maeve, Aurelia, Adam, Seren. If you would like your character to try and intervene, pop a note in your admin-chat! If you're KQ locked, you may not join. You have 24 hours to reply or your actions IC will be rolled with disadvantage. Please post a summary of all actions taken/items/shifts/upgrades/etc used. Devil's Advocates: 50/300 HP Slagveld: 265/300 HP Hotaru: 88/88 Atlas: 0/22 Jack: 42/42 Maeve: 30/30 Aurelia: 27/60 Seren: 40/60

Maeve

So many things happen at once. Adam appears seemingly out of thin air and relief releases the tight feeling in her chest as she realizes he's safe too. That only leaves the woman who is possibly still inside. Possibly shattering into pieces as Atlas is taken from this existence and gods if Maeve's heart doesn't break too. Impossible fury runs hotly through her veins and if it wasn't for the fact that Adam is panicking she'd likely strike out, but there are other things to handle and she simply can't break right now. "He's with Jata! Adam, he's with Jata. They left together to help Samuel." She says quickly, grabbing his arm with blood stained hands to keep him from going any further. "He's not in there."

It seems as quickly as one problem is fixed, another arises and this time it's in the form of a starchild trying to get between Aurelia and Atlas, but she's gone in a blink. Her feet barely touch the ground before she's disappearing and Maeve knows that she's on the star covered beach, hidden away from the chaos that's unfolding here. She struggles to get her wits about her, heart in her throat as her eyes flick up to the building, hoping that Hotaru made it out. Please let her have made it out. No sooner that the thought crosses her mind does a streak of lightening, made of nothing but righteous fury and mourning, slams into Aurelia. The smell of burnt flesh fills the air, threatening to make her sick and she knows it's from Ru, the feeling settling in her belly and making it grow sour. Not because of what the woman has done, no, but because it came to this.

She knows better than to say anything. Than to give her away, but she looks in her direction, sea glass eyes filled with unshed tears as she stands in shock, having nothing left to do but wait to make sure that Seren was okay. Dread curls in her chest, making a home there as she struggles to keep it together, torn in too many different directions with nothing to do but wait.

---

Maeve moves over to Adam (where he is several meters away), keeping him from going further and tells him that Pet left with Sunjata and is safe. She waits for Seren to reappear, wanting to make sure that her friend is okay.

I'm undone about to burst at my seams
'Cause I am picturing you beside me
So let me be everything that you need

Aurelia

hear those bells ring deep in the soul
chiming away for a moment

Her heart is already hardened by a life lived in chaos that burns just like this - and she barely gives the unicorn's body a second glance before it's gone. There is no space for more regret upon all that already rests on her shoulders. Not even when the arc of lightning streaks across to her, and all she can do is brace against her shield as it shakes through her. Her bones rattle and her heart shudders, and she feels the force of her own life give.

Blood pools against the back of her gritted teeth from where she's bit her tongue, but she swallows it down. With furious embers in her gaze, she sets the street ablaze. A line of fire drawn through the sand, directly in front of her, that roars upward to meet the already smoke-filled sky.

She goes with Jack at first, taking the potion he gives her. For once, she follows his directions and runs. But that is the extent of their getaway, because Aurelia silently breaks away from him to sprint into the alleyways she's come to know so well, letting herself get lost in their intricacies. To disappear into shadows and darkness - elements she is no stranger to. She won't have anyone else dragged down with her, regardless. If it ends like this, if she dies here in the streets, it will be on her own.

But that hasn't happened yet. So it's within the confines of the alleys that she takes to her shift, to let that once-hidden part of her soul guide her to safety. Her paws cover as much ground as they can, diving through spaces too small for a human to follow. She hopes it will be enough.

---

Upon taking the hit from Hotaru, Aurelia immediately summons a wall of fire across the street in front of her using her Mastered Fire. She tries to use that as an opportunity to leave without being followed or seen, accepting Jack's help but diverting from his path to escape through the alleyways and use the cover to her advantage. She'll shift into the red panda in order to dash through smaller spaces.

feel your breath course frankly below
see life as a worthy opponent

A wall of fire rises thick and hot. It's a good thing Maeve has scuttled away lest she be caught in the blaze. There is still no sign of Seren. The Slagveld and DA are no longer on fire. Posting order if Hotaru wants to pursue Aurelia is Hotaru then Aurelia. If you would like your character to try and intervene, pop a note in your admin-chat! If you're KQ locked, you may not join. You have 24 hours to reply or your actions IC will be rolled with disadvantage. Please post a summary of all actions taken/items/shifts/upgrades/etc used. Devil's Advocates: 50/300 HP Slagveld: 265/300 HP Hotaru: 88/88 Atlas: 0/22 Aurelia: 27/60

moral of the story is, i will gut you if i need to

i will carve my way out

Jack comes running out of the building, heading straight for Hotaru’s prey as she convulses and burns where she stands. For once he is not on her radar. Perhaps if his blow had been the killing one, she would spare him her attention - her magic - and his life would be forfeit too. Instead there is only the buffeting waves of her grief, her fury and need for vengeance, unaware of how it drags him into the undertow by his nearness to her. All she cares about is the way Aurelia tries to run.

Hotaru has nothing left to lose, and she lunges forward as Jack moves to grab and pull at Aurelia before sprinting off, eyes narrowed into slits of cold fire. Before the fire conceals her vision she is already calling on her magic once more, sacrificing every bit of stamina to try and call a more distant bolt down from the skies. To maim, to kill. A life for a life. Aurelia certainly hadn’t hesitated before killing an innocent creature, and Hotaru has never paraded herself around as a good person. This is only justice in her mind.

As the fire springs up between them, Hotaru wasted no time. She won’t lose her prey, won’t forsake this chance when the woman is already wounded. It’s now or never, and there’s no time for hesitation or fear. A wall of fire is nothing compared to the yawning black void where Atlas’ heart had once beat in time with hers. So she wraps herself in her jacket and the cloak that had been dropped on her as entirely as she can, and jumps high through the flames. Whether it scalds her or not doesn’t matter, she lands in a roll to try and dampen any that cling to her before springing to her feet to try and ascertain Aurelia’s position. A huntress following the trail of blood of her wounded prey. Sprinting after any movement she can see, ready to kill with magic, fists, or the dagger strapped to her belt.

- - -

- Hotaru runs forward when she sees Jack heading for Aurelia and tries to call a lightning bolt down vertically onto her. If the fire is already there, sh aims for the last place she saw Aurelia.

- When the flames spring up, she wraps herself as entirely in the coat and cloak as she can and jumps high through them, hoping her bracer will also help, and immediately landing and rolling to try and minimize damage by smothering any clinging flames.

- She then jumps up and tries to find Aurelia, running after the first movement she sees.

Lightning manipulation: Can create and control Lightning. Must be within a 30ft radius.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered

Type: Dark
Ornate Leather Bracers (Upgraded) | The wearer can, at will, redirect both magical and physical attacks. For magical attacks, can redirect them within 10ft. Physical attacks must be within melee range to be directed, and can then be redirected within 10ft.

Type: Grey
Leather Jacket | A leather jacket that can reflect basic fire damage away from the wearer. Can be used again after a two post cool-off period. (Made by Deimos)

with only my teeth

HOTARU

The blindly-aimed lightning does manage to catch Aurelia as she flees, such is the strength of Hotaru's magic. Still, Aurelia knows the streets and sands better than Hotaru, and so she is able to flee into Haulani's alleyways even as her life begins to ebb away. The red panda is lost in the shuffle as more and more citizens awaken and come out to see what all the fuss is about. **Aurelia has received life-threatening injuries. Her next thread must be receiving magical medical aid, or she will die** ~FIN The Slagveld and DA are no longer on fire. You have 24 hours to reply or your actions IC will be rolled with disadvantage. Please post a summary of all actions taken/items/shifts/upgrades/etc used. Hotaru: 88/88 Atlas: 0/22 Aurelia: 0/60