A Hesitantly Wasteful Trip [Mod]

[Chidori Tsukino]

Oh was she nervous; the brunette stalked through the winding tunnels, her nose having quickly adjusted to the smell but her anxiety nonetheless prickling beneath her skin. It was her first foray into one of the areas she knew to be relatively more dangerous, if only because it was further into the outer circle than she'd travelled before - barring the initial trip that led to her awakening. Chidori still hadn't quite figured out just how far in she'd stumbled that day, but a part of her wanted to go back and investigate it thoroughly. When she was more experienced though - the rational part of her made that requirement clear.

Eyes peeled for any mysterious occurrences, one of the mute's hands balanced a complement of needles, poised in the curves of her fingers expertly, just in case a Shadow got the drop on her - that was what she'd started to think of the creatures as, given their large shadowy masses. It was quicker to call them that, once her brain had worked over the details of the first trip and tried to extract whatever useful information it could from the haunting experience. Thankful for the reassuring presence of Lucia, which she could somehow feel in the back of her mind, the artist cautiously advanced through the sewer network, hoping to find some clue - no matter how small - that might help her in her investigations. She even had her camera (one of the shock-proof, water-resistant ones) secured in her inner jacket pocket, should hard evidence come to light....not that that was likely. Still, one had to be prepared. Just in case.

[Erithania]

Beware, the Squiggly Death appears!

Tsundere Magus

Skills

I-it's not like I love you, or anything! Agilao
Pl-please look at me, senpai! Garu
I-I don't know what I'd do if senpai hated me. . . Bufu

Resists: Fire, Dark
Weakness: Rejection/Ice

[Chidori Tsukino]

It was as she rounded what had to be at least the twentieth corner now that Chidori finally stumbled upon something, and for a fleeting (cowardly) moment, she wished she hadn't; sidling its way towards her stood an upright shadow, capped in a jester's hat with two giant hands clasped around its body. Then a mix of battle instinct and Lucia's intervention kicked in and the brunette no longer hesitated to summon the princess-like persona in a cascade of light. Feeling somewhat safer in the protective bubble at the front hem of Lucia's dress, the mute attempted to assess the situation; she'd not faced shadows like this before obviously, so their capabilities were an unknown. That being said, she had to be careful about finding out first hand, so Chidori readied herself to evade whilst she waited for the Shadow to make the first move.

And it did; a sharp lash of fire lanced its way forward, quickly closing the gap between them. However, having been prepared for an attack, the brunette simply ducked back around the corner quickly, letting the tell-tale heat die down before she stepped back out, hand poised at the ready. A small opening formed in the protective bubble, letting her swiftly release the prepared needles in a flurry of motion, arcing towards the shadow with deadly precision. Perhaps surprised by her willingness to fight back, it failed to move out the way, and Chidori watched closely as it stumbled a little, recoiling at least somewhat from the blow. Noting mentally that it did not seem to be overly weak to such an attack, nor did it simply shrug it off, the mute planned a different form of attack the next time, once again waiting to time it as a counter-attack after evading the next blow. Still advancing slowly, the Magus sent off another fiery ball of death to no avail, before being assailed by a blinding flash of light - a Hama attack.

But it still only stumbled somewhat, continuing its gradual advance upon the mute. Furrowing her brows, she retreated back around the corner, ducking out of sight to think of her next move. Individual attacks weren't doing much, it seemed. No, she had to strike it hard with a combined blow if she was to do any serious damage. Remembering the very first battle she'd had, Chidori crouched low, watching for the shadow as it approached the corner. Her mental command already well-heeded, it was only a matter of timing; this time, when the magus rounded the corner and spotted her, it began to cast its next bout of magic and that was when she struck - not after, but just as it opened itself up for its own attack. Using Lucia's Hama to dazzle and offset it, the brunette released a hailstorm of needles upon it, wave after wave of piercing metal, until finally, the blows became substantial. The shadow feebly attempted to cast its magic anyway, letting slip with a freezing blast of ice that clipped the nearby mute's left side, chilling it painfully - an injury she would take care of later thanks to her ability to heal.

Nevertheless, she did not relent. With one more cast of Hama and surge of confidence, Chidori charged at the shadow, gripping a needle in her hand as she plunged it into one f the flailing Magus' eye holes. With a satisfying hiss, the shadow began to dissipate, and Chidori breathed easy once more, sitting down on the sullen path and letting both the adrenaline and the anxiety pass. Eventually, she would heal herself, but for now, she rested, and committed the battle experience to memory.

[Erithania]

One-on-one? I got dis.





. . . n-no? O-okay. H-have some FP?

[Chidori Tsukino]

Several minutes passed, or maybe it was closer to half-an-hour; the brunette lost track of time as she recovered from the thrill, and the pressure of her first proper battle by herself. With Lucia's help, but technically still by herself. When she did collect her thoughts, Chidori pulled out her camera and began to photograph the area, slowly circling back along the path she'd taken, snapping pictures as she went. This way, she could map out the path she'd taken, record her battles in writing and start creating notes on the enemies she'd faced, using her memory as an anchor for a drawing of each shadow. She was nothing if not methodical.

Of course, she still got out of there pretty quickly. It was going to take a lot of cleaning to get the smell of the sewer out of her clothes. Having tested out her side as she backtracked, the mute opted against healing herself magically; she didn't want to risk draining herself from overuse. Besides, it was only a light injury that would heal just fine on its own - she was already getting near-full feeling back in the afflicted area now. Carefully slipping back into the eastern side of Mosaic City, the brunette returned to her apartment for a well-needed shower, followed by a self-conducted debriefing.