jerenda
Member
|
Gabriel forced herself to stop being so paranoid about everyone and waved to the couple fighting in the corner, on the off chance that either of them were looking at her. She skidded to a stop near the northeast pillar, however, canceling her half-baked plan and starting at the fireworks with an expression akin to horror. Not only did the three people charging at the mage completely fail to injure him, but he had somehow escaped and come up behind them – and she had a sneaking suspicion how he had managed to make it there. She took a step forward, reaching out with her right hand, slightly desperate now. Her intent was to whip that staff out of his hand before he could complete his maneuvering, but her single step forward brought her into the strike range for Tantatto’s pulse. Gabriel stumbled sideways, the main force of the blow deflected by the warriors between her and the small blue creature, but the backdraft was still enough to make her lose her balance. Instinctively, she latched onto the northeast pillar and pulled before she could topple completely. Her power struggled through the blast, sending the young woman flying towards the pillar. Now the sideways force acted as somewhat of a cushion- in dead air, she would have gained more momentum and possibly been seriously injured. As it was, the wind was knocked out of her, and she felt dizziness sweeping through her. She didn’t let go of the pillar, clinging to it with her powers for stability as the pulse rippled past her. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, increasing her heartbeat uselessly, now that the immediate danger was past, but she stayed pressed against the pillar and prayed fervently for the pounding in her head to recede. An ear-piercing ring sang throughout the arena, causing the noise in her head to spike almost unbearably. Gabriel refrained from crying out only by clenching her teeth together compulsively, lips drawn back in a silent snarl. Afterwards, the arena seemed almost peaceful by comparison, and she forced herself to let go of the pillar. The young Angelborn settled back firmly onto her feet, turning around to place her back to it and surveying the arena. She couldn’t afford to let her guard down like that- pain wasn’t important if it left her open to attack. The mage was, yet again, directly across from her with his back to a pillar. The shadow-cloaked man was fighting the small blue thing, and there were now three wolves, all of whom had launched flying objects at Marcos, objects that reminded her very much of her wooden boomerangs but with blades. In the center of the room, at about chest height, was a swirling blue orb that seemed to promise certain doom to anyone who touched it. Although it was tempting to pull the annoying ice mage directly into his own creation and figure out what it did that way, she was reluctant to do something so obvious after the way he had played with her last pull. Lying almost directly below the sphere was a five-foot sword made of solid steel that seemed familiar. … Reeve? Where was her *ahem* “ally,” after all? Gabriel glanced around, feeling slightly panicked, before she caught sight of him. He seemed to be fine, standing in the eastern side of the arena and- taking off his shirt? Why? She was completely distracted from her bafflement by the torso he revealed. Muscular, yes, but that wasn’t what caught her attention. Crisscrossing his well-defined muscles lay a network of scars, numberless lines twisting around each other and testifying louder than words to what kind of a history lay behind this strange man. The strangest part of it was that, jutting from where Gabriel would have sworn his heart should be, was a metal spike. Shouldn’t he be… like… dead? Completely oblivious to her presence, Reeve plucked one of the spikes hanging on his belt with his left hand. In a single motion, he pulled the spike from his chest and drove the new one through it. For the briefest of seconds, Gabriel could almost see the cavity where it lay, complete with something dark red deep within him. Feeling no pain, breathing no air… Horror swept through her, as some deeper instinct screamed out, repulsed by the thing, whatever it was, residing inside this being she had called human. Gabriel froze as she battled her instincts, common sense warring against fear of the unknown. It probably wasn’t long, but it seemed like an eternity inside that frozen moment. Shut up, shut up! He protected you, and you’re not human either! You have no right to judge! Shut up! Her eyes flickered with anger, a scowl forming on her face, but she won. The Angelborn walked towards Reeve, forcing herself to look into his eyes with no trace of any emotion besides anger. Anger was safe. Anger she knew how to deal with. Why was she angry? She had a legitimate reason to be mad at him, she was sure… oh yes, that was right. Trying to get himself killed. “Alright, Mr. I-Work-Alone. Clearly we're in desperate need of a plan, unless you want to be skewered by the pretty boy's icicles. What have you got?” To her surprise, Reeve looked at her and instantly blushed. Although, on reflection, she shouldn’t have been surprised when he started to say “We’re not al…” Gabriel didn’t even try to respond to that. She just raised one eyebrow and glared, using her extra inches of height to the best of her advantage. With a sigh and a sag of his shoulder’s Reeve was defeated, ‘Okay, fine. I have an idea, but I’ve no idea if it’ll work. I need you to keep Mr. Frosty busy for a while, I’ll work out the rest.’ He moved as if to walk back into the fray, but paused as he remembered something, ‘Oh, and, err, don’t move anything I drop.’ For some insane reason, he was still blushing as he walked away. Gabriel shook her head at him, but she felt some part of her relax. She didn’t have to be in charge… And she was definitely willing to keep Mr. Frosty busy. Her anger vanished, replaced by a wicked grin. Gabriel headed into the center of the arena, summoning Reeve’s sword from the floor as she went. She had to pull on it a little at a time to make sure that it didn’t hit her in the stomach, but instead came dancing willingly across the floor to her, where she could pick it up. Aeons, but this thing was heavy! Could she really throw it? No, probably not, but maybe... She was heading from the east towards Marcos’ pillar, not attempting to hide, since there was no point, but definitely giving that evil ice globe a wide berth. Gabriel pulled back on the sword with both her hands and tossed it at the ice mage, but from the moment it flew outwards she knew it was a terrible throw. It was just too heavy for her to aim properly- that is, if she wanted to hit the ice mage. It went flying across the room anyway, dipping downwards towards the floor as gravity took its toll. Maybe it would skim past his toes if she was lucky. “Aeons,” she cursed, then she slipped the new knife out of her belt and tossed it at him. Her aim was dead-on this time, the slender, wicked projectile whispering through the air and flying directly for his left thigh. Yes, she should aim for his center of mass, but the wolf’s projectiles appeared to be aimed for his stomach and she didn’t want to knock those out of the way. She didn’t see why he shouldn’t get his fair shot at the mage if he wanted it. “Hey, ice mage!” she shouted, pulling out another knife and flipping it in her left hand. Her right hand beckoned to him as she smiled menacingly, but there was no power behind the gesture. “Come out and play.”
|