[ So much for his poor arm that was healed up after the first shadow hand encounter. There's a new bleeding gash on it now, but the muscle isn't impacted so heavily that it would stop Ponta from casting. ]
I'm going to try holding her down!! Please get through to her!!
[ He doesn't feel like anything he says would hold particular meaning to Nimona right now, but hopefully one of the others has a firmer bond to rely on...?
His wind casting strategy changes, from gusts to blow her away to a torrent of wind from above, intended to pin her to the ground. Is it strong enough for that? Probably not. But he's trying. ]
[ me: i'm gonna roll for funsies dice maiden: Rolling 2d20: 2 + 1
WELL I GUESS KOGI'S GOING THROUGH IT. the foot he's been pretending isn't injured doesn't hold his weight enough and Nimona's slash strikes true, raking down his sword arm. with the second tentacle coming at him at the same moment, there's not enough time or strength to block and off he goes, flying into the wall.
the cracking sound echoes throughout the temple. the noise he makes sounds horrific. and best of all, the fact he doesn't get back up immediately is probably the worst ]
[she lets out a little shriek, when she feels the wind again - she doesn't want that anywhere near her, with the way it blows the shadows aside. the rest of this ragtag little team can probably see flashes of pink whenever the shadow is blown too far away. it's strong, strong enough to make her stagger, held under the gust of wind momentarily. she hits the ground, but it isn't going to stop her entirely.
those shadow tentacles grow, expanding from every part of her body, and sharpen and blunt as necessary. one goes for ponta, aiming to stab through his shoulder, trying to get him to stop casting. another sharpens, whirling through the air to slice at datz's face before turning to something a little like a hammer, trying to get him to drop his weapon - however it works out, she's trying to break bones.
but when kogi slams into the wall, she stops, looking at him. and when he doesn't get up immediately, she wails.]
[ oof. the shadow just misses his eye, but his vision gets blurred by the blood flowing down from the gash above it anyway; he can barely see the shadow reshaping itself into a crushing weapon before it swings at him and he feels a sharp pain in his arm.
the pain behind that wail seems worse than this, though, so... he'll deal. while she's having her moment looking at kogi's fallen form, he'll try to peel off to the side and run around to see if he can find that bow she had on her before. is it still on her? on the ground nearby? they were supposed to destroy that thing, right? so maybe— ]
[ Ponta tries to dodge, but his usual speed and agility are hampered by his injured leg and he's not nearly fast enough. The shadow tendril pierces through his shoulder with the precision of a bullet.
Ponta screams, because it's kind of hard not to. Maybe feeling nothing is very very preferable to feeling so much physical pain that you forget about your lack of emotional depth.
And still, whatever happened to Kogi is worse. As soon as the tentacles leaves him, Ponta stumbles to the ground and uses his healthy arm to take out his remaining healing items. He has one revival item and Kogi...
Ponta is going to try and crawl to him to check if he's alive. Because if he's not, he's getting fucking revived. ]
[ it takes far longer than it should for him to regain consciousness, but between the screams from both nimona and ponta both, it stirs him enough to slowly blink awake. he's probably not moving anytime soon, and probably can't feel certain parts of his body, but he's at least (vaguely) alert. peepaw's STR stat comes in clutch yet....
[the bow is - around, it's probably on the ground close by. she's forgotten it existed entirely.
above them is glory, who keeps trying to call out to her - fluttering around and blasting away the tentacles with little beams of light. but when she sees datz trying to go for the bow, she'll come down to try and help him, cover him from getting hit.
she's distracted by this, so she doesn't go after ponta and kogi this round, but she's crawling to her feet, snarling, her mouth opening wide, too wide, as she bellows:]
[ WELL THIS DID NOT GO AS PLANNED and i rolled a fucking 5 here even though i guess in retrospect i should have added +4 since it's stealing but. WHATEVER IT STILL WOULD HAVE BEEN LESS THAN 10
he doesn't have a chance to grab one of his weapons from its sheath before he's getting picked up in (and probably kind of skewered by) her teeth, but he does manage to grab his last resort item out of his pocket and just. slap it on her snout. because fuck if he knows what else he's supposed to do with this.
nimonster has been shown alrond's promissory note that says datz can do what he wants and what he wants is to not be eaten, actually, thanks ]
[ So. This is bad. Kogi is down for the count and Datz is... well, Datz may be getting eaten right now. This means that they're down to... absolutely nobody who can actually fight. Unless they do something, they might just die.
So Ponta remembers another thing he is supposedly blessed with. And well, he's near Kogi right now. So he just... kind of... waves good arm in some kind of dance-like motion to cast a buff on him. Whatever that means.
[ it's hard to say how aware he is of the `vague wiggles` but the rush of adrenaline certainly feels like a kick to the teeth. his next blink certainly feels more aware and with the next breath or two, he does a very creaky roll to his feet. truly amazing he can stand imo. he probably doesn't look any better than he feels but here he is for at least one last round.
[okay well. the boop startles her? she actually has no idea what to do with this, the note slaps her on the nose and she kind of just goes bwuh. and spits him out on the floor, goodbye. she's so sufficiently disoriented by the way that he really just told her no like a misbehaving dog that she doesn't really strike out again. she just stares down at him.
until kogi says her name, anyway. that's a challenge. and she looks up at him, breathing harshly, before pushing datz away from her, and stomping over to him and ponta, snarling.
but - here's the thing. she lifts a claw, like she's going to use it to swipe their heads right off their bodies, when glory shoots another light beam - it slices through the shadows and it hurts, and it's just enough. it's just enough for a weak point to show, something wavery and white and bright, where her heart is.
[ well, he's still not sure if it's really the answer here, but he'd at least spotted where the bow was before she picked him up in her jaws before, so even though he's pretty disoriented himself by the time she spits him out, he manages to grab it and dashes toward the altar while bleeding everywhere and shouting over his shoulder. ]
WE'RE NOT KILLING YOU! WE'RE GONNA BRING YOU BACK FROM THIS!
[ it's fine he has a plan, probably. that revive item won't be for him after all.
his body is heavy, and kogi's certain that without the boost, he wouldn't be able to move at all. but with glory's attack, and ponta's aid, it's enough to give him energy to push himself forward, sword raised.
it's not a perfect shot by a mile. honestly, it's probably the messiest he's ever done. but for this moment, it's enough. his blade strikes true and he closes his eyes tiredly ]
she hears datz yelling, somewhere, she hears him try to make sure she knows they'll bring her back. there's something in her that believes him. there's something bigger that overwhelms her as kogi's blade strikes right into her heart. relief. unabashed relief, as a flash of light breathes fire through her.
this is the end she'd picked for herself, originally. it's funny. even after all that rewriting, even after all those promises, this is still what she gets.
there's silence, for a second, and then - the shadows curl down, and down, and down, and then there's just a girl, standing with blood and shadow all smeared across her face, a sword pushed through her heart all the way out the other side.]
... Thanks.
[she manages, looking at ponta and kogi, with a little smile. and then her eyes close, and she slides off the sword and crumples to the ground.]
silence reverberates through the room - it makes the sound of nimona's collapse almost echo through the empty temple. the human experiment roi mistral, the experiment, nimona, are both gone. the shadow has receded.
in the back of the temple, not too far away, there's a sudden flare of blue light. a massive goblet sits on the back wall of the temple, and inside of it, the sacred flame burns, bright and true, where it was extinguished once before.
a voice - this one awfully familiar, like a cleric who lives in oceanside, calls out - Aelfric, lend me your aid.
the fire swirls, and then bursts like someone poured gasoline on it: the sacred flame ejects from the goblet and drops onto nimona's prone form. it swirls around her, hiding her form as nothing but a silhouette for a moment, consumed by the flame.
(nimona, in the fire, your life flashes before your eyes. or... does it? you see ace, freckled and smiling, shoving a hat onto your head. you see reigen, nico and will, rushing to help you when you could have killed them. you see temenos, holding his hands out to you when you’re terrified, patient. you see ryuki, delighted that he made you happy. you see saya, smiling at you like an angel (even if she probably just said something extremely threatening.)
this is your life, isn't it? and it's worth something.
spell: revive and restore.)
when the flare of the sacred flame clears, nimona is still very, very injured, but she's breathing, slow and shallow. unconscious, but alive. you could say she has 1 HP remaining.
...actually, you could probably say that for all of you, couldn't you? you're barely conscious, if that, bleeding, in agonizing pain, but you are alive. the warm light of the sacred flame washes over the group one last time, and it fills the room like a fireplace on a frozen stormhail night. and as it does, it forms shapes, now familiar.
ponta: the sacred flame forms the shape of cota. he pulls you to your feet, and then lifts you up, smiling at you. is he strong enough to do that? it doesn't matter. he's here for you, anyway.
for datz, its dhurke. he tosses you over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, but it’s with an affectionate laugh, almost playful. this should probably hurt more than it does. maybe it’s hallucinating.
for kogitsunemaru, it is jiji, who smiles at you as he lifts you like a princess, chuckles at the state of your everything. none of these figures can speak: they’re made of blue flames, ghosts, people who were never here, but people who are always with you.
the final one is nimona. she’s lifted not by her own sacred flame, but by the little knight you all recruited, who hovers over her like a worried baby lamb, then lifts her up in his arms. by glory, who nudges her to safety and flutters over her one last time, before turning to blue flame herself and joining the goblet as it burns bright.
a portal opens like a rip in time, showing a clear view of oceanside city, and you're all moved out, one by one, to rejoin the world gently.
may the sacred flame guide you... or something like that. ♥ ]
[ you somehow eked out a "we didn't all totally get boned" end!! a good end!!!
✨ each of you will find that you have your traveler's satchel on you still. in the satchels, you have any item you bought on this trip that is not a weapon, including accessories, jewelry, and fruit... of course, none of those things have powers anymore. you do not get to keep your weapons.
✨ the letters/scrap of fabric/whatever other plot clues i gave you i forgot stay with you, including alrond's promissory note. you also have whatever this is that i cannot see.
✨ your outfits stay with you as well! so do your injuries. nimona, your wolf ears and tail are not real and just attached to your outfit, but... at least you can shapeshift again when you arent fckin dying.
✨ in your satchels, each one of you has a cute plush toy. these toys have a one time use latent power.
for the thief, you have been granted the latent power LEAVE NO TRACE: allows you to transform into someone else for 2 hours. for the dancer, you have been granted the latent power ALL TOGETHER NOW: an item with a 50/50 effect that is either good... or bad, based on a coin flip. i'll message you the details! for the warrior, you have been granted the latent power LIGHT'S RADIANCE: a trial item that allows you to see the path a victim walked from one location to another. for the hunter, you have been granted the latent power ANIMAL INSTINCT: gives you supernatural hearing/sight/sense of smell for 8 hours
(JACKIE CHAN ADVENTURES UNCLE VOICE ONE MORE THING) - For the weekend, you will occasionally feel the urge to perform your path action on people on and off. Enjoy.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
I'm going to try holding her down!! Please get through to her!!
[ He doesn't feel like anything he says would hold particular meaning to Nimona right now, but hopefully one of the others has a firmer bond to rely on...?
His wind casting strategy changes, from gusts to blow her away to a torrent of wind from above, intended to pin her to the ground. Is it strong enough for that? Probably not. But he's trying. ]
no subject
dice maiden: Rolling 2d20: 2 + 1
WELL I GUESS KOGI'S GOING THROUGH IT. the foot he's been pretending isn't injured doesn't hold his weight enough and Nimona's slash strikes true, raking down his sword arm. with the second tentacle coming at him at the same moment, there's not enough time or strength to block and off he goes, flying into the wall.
the cracking sound echoes throughout the temple. the noise he makes sounds horrific. and best of all, the fact he doesn't get back up immediately is probably the worst ]
no subject
those shadow tentacles grow, expanding from every part of her body, and sharpen and blunt as necessary. one goes for ponta, aiming to stab through his shoulder, trying to get him to stop casting. another sharpens, whirling through the air to slice at datz's face before turning to something a little like a hammer, trying to get him to drop his weapon - however it works out, she's trying to break bones.
but when kogi slams into the wall, she stops, looking at him. and when he doesn't get up immediately, she wails.]
no subject
the pain behind that wail seems worse than this, though, so... he'll deal. while she's having her moment looking at kogi's fallen form, he'll try to peel off to the side and run around to see if he can find that bow she had on her before. is it still on her? on the ground nearby? they were supposed to destroy that thing, right? so maybe— ]
no subject
Ponta screams, because it's kind of hard not to. Maybe feeling nothing is very very preferable to feeling so much physical pain that you forget about your lack of emotional depth.
And still, whatever happened to Kogi is worse. As soon as the tentacles leaves him, Ponta stumbles to the ground and uses his healthy arm to take out his remaining healing items. He has one revival item and Kogi...
Ponta is going to try and crawl to him to check if he's alive. Because if he's not, he's getting fucking revived. ]
no subject
for how long is a different question. ]
no subject
above them is glory, who keeps trying to call out to her - fluttering around and blasting away the tentacles with little beams of light. but when she sees datz trying to go for the bow, she'll come down to try and help him, cover him from getting hit.
she's distracted by this, so she doesn't go after ponta and kogi this round, but she's crawling to her feet, snarling, her mouth opening wide, too wide, as she bellows:]
K̴̫̲̠̎̂́̄̇͌̃͘I̶̡̳̙̺͔̝̫̺͗̎Ļ̴͙͖̺̟̻͔͉̉̇̽͜L̴̦͖̟̟̪̥͊̉́ ̷̱̙͔̤̰̠̥̄̑̽̈͊͂M̶̢̖̝͉̳̗̥̘̱̀̈́̑̑Ȩ̸͙͕̳̑̃ ̵͖̠̳̲̃́̏̚̚͠B̴͔̰̝͆͋ͅẼ̸̻͇̩̗͗͋̈́F̷̺͍̥̒͝O̵̪̣̱̪̘̓̅̊R̷̖̀̔̒Ẹ̵̲̖̩͐̍̓ ̷̺͍̼̦͈̐̽̅̄̊̚Ỉ̷͔̞͎̳̤̙̩͈̊̉̋̈́́̒̓ ̶̩̲̹̲̓̒̃̏͝K̴̼͐̽͂̅̐̐̈́͂̍Ī̵̛̟̪͇͇͈͂̈L̵̡͔̤̭̩̬̟͈̯̃̋̇̊L̵̤͕̪̿ ̵̯̯̻̘̪̹͉̹̽Ẏ̵̫̬̮̭͓̰̊̏̑͝͝Ỏ̶̡̧̹͓̼̗̙̑̑̌͒͊͠͝Ù̷̲̣̭̥̌̕͝-̶̯̰̹̙̳̈́͂̚-̵̻̮̠̮̭̫͑̓͘̚
[and tries to just. straight up eat datz. i'm sorry, she tries to chomp him.]
no subject
he doesn't have a chance to grab one of his weapons from its sheath before he's getting picked up in (and probably kind of skewered by) her teeth, but he does manage to grab his last resort item out of his pocket and just. slap it on her snout. because fuck if he knows what else he's supposed to do with this.
nimonster has been shown alrond's promissory note that says datz can do what he wants and what he wants is to not be eaten, actually, thanks ]
no subject
So Ponta remembers another thing he is supposedly blessed with. And well, he's near Kogi right now. So he just... kind of... waves good arm in some kind of dance-like motion to cast a buff on him. Whatever that means.
It better work. ]
no subject
kogitsunemaru has reached awakening status ]
N-nimona. Hold on a little longer.
[ on a scale of one to that's just fucking stupid, grandpa how bad would challenging pull her attention enough for the others do to something......? ]
no subject
until kogi says her name, anyway. that's a challenge. and she looks up at him, breathing harshly, before pushing datz away from her, and stomping over to him and ponta, snarling.
but - here's the thing. she lifts a claw, like she's going to use it to swipe their heads right off their bodies, when glory shoots another light beam - it slices through the shadows and it hurts, and it's just enough. it's just enough for a weak point to show, something wavery and white and bright, where her heart is.
he can strike. that's the way to ends this.]
no subject
WE'RE NOT KILLING YOU! WE'RE GONNA BRING YOU BACK FROM THIS!
no subject
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his body is heavy, and kogi's certain that without the boost, he wouldn't be able to move at all. but with glory's attack, and ponta's aid, it's enough to give him energy to push himself forward, sword raised.
it's not a perfect shot by a mile. honestly, it's probably the messiest he's ever done. but for this moment, it's enough. his blade strikes true and he closes his eyes tiredly ]
All will be well, Nimona.
no subject
she hears datz yelling, somewhere, she hears him try to make sure she knows they'll bring her back. there's something in her that believes him. there's something bigger that overwhelms her as kogi's blade strikes right into her heart. relief. unabashed relief, as a flash of light breathes fire through her.
this is the end she'd picked for herself, originally. it's funny. even after all that rewriting, even after all those promises, this is still what she gets.
there's silence, for a second, and then - the shadows curl down, and down, and down, and then there's just a girl, standing with blood and shadow all smeared across her face, a sword pushed through her heart all the way out the other side.]
... Thanks.
[she manages, looking at ponta and kogi, with a little smile. and then her eyes close, and she slides off the sword and crumples to the ground.]
1/2
silence reverberates through the room - it makes the sound of nimona's collapse almost echo through the empty temple. the human experiment roi mistral, the experiment, nimona, are both gone. the shadow has receded.
in the back of the temple, not too far away, there's a sudden flare of blue light. a massive goblet sits on the back wall of the temple, and inside of it, the sacred flame burns, bright and true, where it was extinguished once before.
a voice - this one awfully familiar, like a cleric who lives in oceanside, calls out - Aelfric, lend me your aid.
the fire swirls, and then bursts like someone poured gasoline on it: the sacred flame ejects from the goblet and drops onto nimona's prone form. it swirls around her, hiding her form as nothing but a silhouette for a moment, consumed by the flame.
(nimona, in the fire, your life flashes before your eyes. or... does it? you see ace, freckled and smiling, shoving a hat onto your head. you see reigen, nico and will, rushing to help you when you could have killed them. you see temenos, holding his hands out to you when you’re terrified, patient. you see ryuki, delighted that he made you happy. you see saya, smiling at you like an angel (even if she probably just said something extremely threatening.)
this is your life, isn't it? and it's worth something.
spell: revive and restore.)
when the flare of the sacred flame clears, nimona is still very, very injured, but she's breathing, slow and shallow. unconscious, but alive. you could say she has 1 HP remaining.
...actually, you could probably say that for all of you, couldn't you? you're barely conscious, if that, bleeding, in agonizing pain, but you are alive. the warm light of the sacred flame washes over the group one last time, and it fills the room like a fireplace on a frozen stormhail night. and as it does, it forms shapes, now familiar.
ponta: the sacred flame forms the shape of cota. he pulls you to your feet, and then lifts you up, smiling at you. is he strong enough to do that? it doesn't matter. he's here for you, anyway.
for datz, its dhurke. he tosses you over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, but it’s with an affectionate laugh, almost playful. this should probably hurt more than it does. maybe it’s hallucinating.
for kogitsunemaru, it is jiji, who smiles at you as he lifts you like a princess, chuckles at the state of your everything. none of these figures can speak: they’re made of blue flames, ghosts, people who were never here, but people who are always with you.
the final one is nimona. she’s lifted not by her own sacred flame, but by the little knight you all recruited, who hovers over her like a worried baby lamb, then lifts her up in his arms. by glory, who nudges her to safety and flutters over her one last time, before turning to blue flame herself and joining the goblet as it burns bright.
a portal opens like a rip in time, showing a clear view of oceanside city, and you're all moved out, one by one, to rejoin the world gently.
may the sacred flame guide you... or something like that. ♥ ]
CYOA COMPLETE ⭐️ REWARDS
✨ each of you will find that you have your traveler's satchel on you still. in the satchels, you have any item you bought on this trip that is not a weapon, including accessories, jewelry, and fruit... of course, none of those things have powers anymore. you do not get to keep your weapons.
✨ the letters/scrap of fabric/whatever other plot clues i gave you i forgot stay with you, including alrond's promissory note. you also have whatever this is that i cannot see.
✨ your outfits stay with you as well! so do your injuries. nimona, your wolf ears and tail are not real and just attached to your outfit, but... at least you can shapeshift again when you arent fckin dying.
✨ in your satchels, each one of you has a cute plush toy. these toys have a one time use latent power.
(JACKIE CHAN ADVENTURES UNCLE VOICE ONE MORE THING)
- For the weekend, you will occasionally feel the urge to perform your path action on people on and off. Enjoy.
ok goodbye go live on a prayer ]