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((Sigh. You don't have to rub it in...))Get the HELL up. Sasha's moving into the stands, where the spectators are, towards the upper edge of the arena. It's time to do several things at once.
The familiars, the archers, the power; it's all madness. But like war, grandfather said, there's always a method to the madness, or someone there to get something out of it at the expense of poor boys sent to die for what they didn't even know or care about. All that time thinking about her new friends, about Mina, about the glass angel and the blood and the terror—all of it made clear that Witches were just a thing. A twisted, wretched elemental of hate and selfishness that couldn't be anything else. Yet there was still a method. A button that could be pressed. And if attacking her directly isn't so wise just now...
<YOU CALL THIS 'FAIR'?!> Sasha telepathically yells directly at the Witch, glaring at the gray armor in the middle of the field for a moment. <I thought Knights were 'honorable'! A challenge to one is challenge to all, or your 'glory' is worthless! What kind of Knight needs her minders to do her job? I see you for what you are, cowardly shadow!>
Immediately following that taunt, Sasha bolts up through the stands as fast as she can, zigzagging and hopping to present a more unpredictable target for any more arrows. She's going to try and reach a midway point between the ring of snipers and the arena, moving among the stands and the people. If this somehow fails, and I wind up attacked by melee familiars, hit them with Manabolts at at least Moderate cost. Use Teleport to escape their reach if necessary.
Sasha remembers what it felt like to run her magic reverently over her grandfather's old gun, almost apologizing when she made any modification—but she knows he wouldn't blame her for going a little further if it meant saving lives. Her friends' lives. First, she needs to find out what it takes to kill these things. Shoot the first familiar that's messing with the people in the stands she meets with a Manabolt, at as good a power as I can get it without causing area damage to any nearby civilians. If that fails to cripple or kill it, keep hitting it until it works.
If mobility works this time and she gets to do her running, Sasha goes into a strafing run along the stands towards Alida's position (she's closer to her than Tooru if the witch was staring opposite of Sasha), shooting the bow-armed familiars with more Manabolts at as much power as will deal the heavy damage needed to do serious harm. If possible, aim specifically to destroy their bows or the arms they're holding them with; a disabled sniper is as useless as a dead one, and it's more economical. Sasha's goal here is to cripple or destroy as many sniper familiars as she can this turn. We NEED these guys off our backs. Avoid melee familiars entirely during this run. Teleport if it becomes necessary to avoid interception.
(I thought about using Telekinesis to rip the glaives from these guys' hands, but they look strong enough to ignore the strength of 'one adult hand's worth of force.)
(Also, Sasha's kind of wanting to see if the combat and gunshots from her rifle will shock any of these people further from the stupor they're in.)
You struggle against the mud for a second, before mentally deciding "screw it" and just
teleporting out of the mud and into the stands. You don't stop for even a moment to get your bearings; you were placed precisely where you wanted, near the base of the closest staircase, and facing towards the edge of the arena. You start sprinting up the stairs immediately, swinging your head around to check for melee threats, while telepathically shouting a taunt at the witch.
...Only, there's no knights right around you, just crowds of humans chained to their benches. Humans who all look as if they're waking up from a deep sleep, struggling sluggishly against their bonds. Confusion on their faces, just starting to give way to fear. Both emotions you can deeply empathize with, in this moment--your brain is running a mile a minute, trying to come up with a good plan, but it's crumbling even as you try and think of it.
You look up towards the top edge of the arena, and see two archers at the top of the staircase you're running up. The archers! You reflexively dodge to the side even as you notice them, a moment later realizing they aren't even shooting at you. You start to spin around to look behind you, thinking some of the
other archers must be aiming at you--but then stop yourself, focusing on the two in front of you. None of them are shooting at you, else you would have heard those enormous arrows smashing into the ground. Which means you get the first shot.
[Joy]You come to a stop for just a moment, snapping your rifle up to your shoulder and looking down the scope. It takes you a mere instant to line the crosshairs up with the weapon arm of the archer on the left, and you pull the trigger almost on reflex.
There's a bright flash and a boom as your rifle fires a magical blast, but no recoil. Even before it fades, you're already lining the crosshairs up with where the next knight had been. It, too, is reacting quickly; one arm is already lifting one of those massive arrows from the ground, surely to launch at you. You don't give it a chance, pulling the trigger again as the crosshairs line up with the familiar's shoulder.You lower the rifle and spare one moment's glance to look at the two knights. Each is missing one arm... with the one you shot in the shoulder missing most of its shoulder as well. Yet, they're far from dead, both defiantly staring down at you as they reach for the swords sheathed at their hips. You mentally curse your choice to aim only for disabling shots, then spin around to your left and start running between two rows of seated humans.
[Joy]Just a second after you start running, you're forced tumble forward into a quick roll to dodge under an arrow aimed for your head. The ground shakes beneath you as it embeds itself into the brick behind you. You raise your rifle and aim at the distant archer who shot at you, this time lining your sights up on its center of mass.
A bang and a flash, and a moment later you're watching the monster crumble with a basketball-sized hole in its chest, just below its head. You smile, and start to aim at its partner--who is already aiming at you--when your rifle is suddenly ripped from your hands by another massive arrow coming from your left, somewhere on the far side of the arena.
You tumble backwards as an explosion of red erupts from right beside you, the result of the close miss hitting one of the trapped humans instead. You fumble around at the air in front of you, your mind not yet catching up with the fact that your grandfather's rifle was just destroyed and ripped away from you.
...You freeze, as you realize you're spattered with warm blood, on your face and on your hands. You're fine, there's no pain whatsoever, but someone just
died. Right next to you.Tooru didn't have the focus to split for delivering a coherent message, but she telepathically sent her gratitude to the other girls as well. The solution for what to do next was simple, at least: keep singing! The witch was angry, very angry, but Tooru was fast, and had apparently disrupted what she was doing. The thing looked a lot less terrifying right now, despite the increase in hostility. Still, she wasn't about to sit around and wait to see what it did; she started to move evasively, while also preparing an Outburst with an indefinitely delayed fuse to deliver to her opponent should she suddenly charge, or leave Tooru an opening.
You try to telepathically send a message of gratitude to the other girls, though you can't tell if it works, focused as you are on your song and the witch. You start running to your left, towards Alida, while summoning a solid ribbon into your hands. You can sense the power coiling into it, carefully folding it to keep it stable even as you jam more energy inside. In seconds, you have a powerful bomb in your hand, ready to detonate on a moment's notice. The witch, for her part, still doesn't move; she just stares you down, her gaze following you as you run. You can still
feel her rage and hatred, and yet she's still not attacking you. What is she waiting for?
...Behind her, there's a flash of light in the stands, like a laser being fired. You look toward it as it fades, and a moment later another laser flashes, and this time you can tell what happened; it's Aleksandra, shooting one of the many archers ringing the labyrinth. She takes off running right after firing her second manabolt, then curving left into the crowd... where she's soon shot at by several other archers. You lose track of her then--a manabolt is fired from somewhere in the crowd, taking out another archer somewhere to your left, and several massive lance-sized arrows are fired into the crowd in that area, but you have no clue if any hit Aleksandra, or even came close.
Your attention shifts back towards the witch, still standing on her golden platform. She's watching you, but still not doing anything else. You've almost reached Alida, and yet the witch isn't even
trying to stop you...
One at a time? That's not good.. but it might not be all bad. The howling didn't help much, it just made my bodies work better together. I don't think it'd help Tooru, fighting alone over there.
I'll try singing something else. Something that'll hopefully help all of us, make us that much stronger, faster, tougher.. I don't know when it'll be my turn, so I should get it starting now.
Nah, that'll help, but only a little. I'm strong enough already, I should just be ready to charge in as soon as possible. The other knights might fire arrows at me, but I'm like super-fast.. I can dodge them.
Activate Painless to prepare for combat.
You stay back and watch for now,
preparing your magic. Though Tooru's in a dangerous situation, she's not actively
in danger quite yet, you don't think. Still, it frustrates you to watch her stand there, muddied and vulnerable, without being able to
do anything about it just yet. The witch could charge her at any moment; you're basically gambling that she'll give you time to prepare. Your wolf body lets out a low growl of irritation, and you pet yourself on the head with one of your human bodies.
...It feels remarkably comforting. Between that, and the sheer absurdity of petting yourself while preparing to charge into battle, you manage to relax a little.
Tooru starts running towards you, still singing, but surprisingly she
isn't getting shot at, unlike you had been. The witch doesn't charge her either. The only enemies that are even vaugely moving towards Tooru are several knights with melee weapons, who are making their way towards her from the far side of the arena, moving through the stands. They have no hope of intercepting her, though; she's
much faster, even running through deep mud.
A pair of loud bangs interrupt your thoughts, coming from somewhere to your left, on the opposite side of the arena from Tooru. You lean slightly out of the exit with one of your human bodies--keeping your other two pairs of eyes locked firmly on the witch--and watch for the source. You can't find it, but apparently the witch's familiars
did; several of the archers that are ringing the top tier of the arena fire their massive arrows into the stands. You see a manabolt fire out from somewhere in the crowd, targeting an archer outside your view, and confirming your guess that Aleksandra has joined the fight.
Right now would be the perfect moment to charge, if you're going to charge at all. The archers are distracted, and Tooru has almost reached you.
Soul Gem: Glowing with a Vibrant light!
Form and location: Medallion, pinned to her left breast.
Age: 14
Hair Color: Salt-stained blonde.
Health: Fine! Two human bodies, one mounted on a wolf body, the other carrying her soul gem.
Inventory: One club held by each body, or "held" in the case of the wolf. One lengthened lance!club held by the mounted body.
Totem: A fishing club.
Stats:
Bravery: Talented~
Joy: Skilled!
Innocence: Amateur...
Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Skilled!
Creativity: Cursed ;-;
Love: Cursed ;-;
Abilities:
Mobility Lvl3
Close Combat Lvl3+1
Totem Manipulation Lvl2
Regeneration Lvl2
Berzerker Lvl3
Painless Lvl2 (Active; one cheap cost per turn.)
Effigy Lvl2 (Active; two cheap costs per turn.)
Duet with Reality Lvl1
Soul Gem: Glowing with a Shining light!
Form and location: Necklace, worn around her... neck...
Age: 13
Hair Color: Bright scarlet.
Health: Dirty, but healthy and defiant.
Inventory: Totems! One stable outburst bomb!
Totem: Ofuda talismans, primarily thrown as manabolts.
Stats:
Bravery: Cursed ;-;
Joy: Talented~
Innocence: Skilled!
Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Cursed ;-;
Creativity: Amateur...
Love: Skilled!
Abilities:
Mobility III
Mana Bolt III (+I)
Regeneration II
Totem Manipulation III
Invigorating Passion II
Outburst III
Duet with Reality II (Active; one moderate cost per turn.) (Current Song: White Night Fantasy. ++Debuff resistance ++Area.)
Soul Gem: Glowing with a
Wonderfully Brilliant light!
Form and location: A simple bracelet made from crude steel, worn on her right wrist.Age: 12
Hair Color: Black.
Health: Muddy! Bloody!
Inventory: Still has Alida's coat. No longer has a gun! :<
Totem: An AK-47, virtually identical to her grandfather's.
Stats:
Bravery: Skilled! Joy: Skilled! Innocence: Talented~ Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Cursed ;-;
Creativity: Cursed ;-;
Love: Amateur...
Abilities:
Mobility: Level 3
Telekinesis: Level 1
Manabolts: Level 2 (+1)
Close Combat: Level 1
Totem Manipulation: Level 2
Regeneration: Level 1
Determination: Level 3
Stasis: Level 1
Teleportation: Level 1 1: A fully loaded AK-47 magazine.