monomachy: buckybear @ ij (sober)
Ντιάνα ([personal profile] monomachy) wrote in [community profile] abraxaslogs2022-09-27 06:23 pm

fake water all across the road

WHO: Diana & Inej.
WHEN: September.
WHERE: In the desert along the southern trail between Solvunn and the Free Cities.
WHAT: Protecting the supply caravan.
WARNINGS: Possibly some bandit fighting.


[A few days in Libertas was all it took for Diana to see that there were plenty of people to help with the search and rescue efforts. Almost all of the large rubble has been moved by that point, and the hounds are more effective at finding survivors than any one person. So it is that when the call goes out for Summoned to escort a supply caravan across the desert, Diana has to only briefly weigh her options before volunteering. She has trained in tactics for most of her life, and knows how important supply lines are to an ailing city; she has also been in this world long enough to know how dangerous the desert can be.

Being paired with Inej is a stroke of luck and a blessing, and despite the wreckage left behind in Libertas, she finds that the first leg of the journey is fairly easygoing. The portal got them close to the supply drop, but the rest of the journey must be made on foot--or, in their case, on horseback. Diana's steed is a dapple gray mare, beautiful and sure of foot, and hardy for the desert clime. Her name is Quicksilver, and she's easy to ride, mostly able to manage the route on her own, which allows the Amazon to keep an eye on their surroundings.

Much of the journey is made at night in order to avoid the desert heat, so it is near the end of the day, as the sun sinks towards the horizon, that they prepare to set out. Once her own supplies are gathered and packed upon Quicksilver's back, Diana makes her way over to Inej to check in with her.]


How goes it?
shadowthief: (Trouble's coming)

[personal profile] shadowthief 2022-10-27 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
[She mutters something in Suli under her breath and takes in all of Diana's instructions, watching her sink low to try to catch some sense of the beast underground.]

What about you? [She keeps her voice soft, unsure how well a basilisk can hear, but it seems to be in her best interests to call as little attention to herself as possible.]
shadowthief: (Wraith ~ attack)

[personal profile] shadowthief 2022-10-27 10:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[She nods and her attention focuses where Diana's gaze shifts. Her breath catches in her throat, distantly aware of her companion's instruction but letting her focus narrow down to the beast alone.

The slight rumble of the ground turns rapidly more violent before the basilisk finally moves to strike. The first thing that runs through her mind is:

It's bigger than I thought.

The next is automatic reaction and reflex– her dagger thrown with practiced precision, landing in the right eye of the basilisk.]
shadowthief: (Wraith ~ shadow of a girl)

[personal profile] shadowthief 2022-10-28 12:39 am (UTC)(link)
[This thing is a demon of lore brought to excruciatingly dangerous life before her. That malicious maw is a thing of nightmares, and Inej is uncertain how they can fight something with a poison with such a vast reach. She’s certain if they’re affected by it, there is no getting out of this in a favorable way.

She recalls Diana’s earlier suggestion to get behind the beast, and tries to slink carefully in a wide circle. If she can get close enough, perhaps she can take out the remaining eye— surely if it was blinded, it would retreat?]
shadowthief: (Wraith ~ threat)

[personal profile] shadowthief 2022-10-28 02:11 am (UTC)(link)
[Arguably, none of the stories of legend felt like they would end in victory and infamy when those heroes were in the heat of battle. They can only hope this will turn out the same in the end.

Diana's challenge serves as enough of a distraction to give Inej her opening for her next attack. She casts a spell she's been perfecting and from it, a blade made of shadow forms in her hands, which she drives into the remaining eye of the beast- and in something of an impossibly smooth, acrobatic sort of movement, grabs the dagger she'd first thrown, the blade tearing further into the soft tissue of the eye as she pulls it sharply down and out.

She knows how to fall, it's innate as she goes down to make herself as small as possible, tuck and roll as far as the momentum might carry her and immediately scramble to her feet to flee the serpent's reach.]
shadowthief: (Fog wandering)

[personal profile] shadowthief 2022-10-30 11:33 am (UTC)(link)
[The silence in the wake of the beat's exit is oppressive, broken by Diana's comment. Her voice pulls Inej's eyes away from where the creature had burrowed to escape.]

Good. [She nods and makes her way back to where Diana stands.] Are you all right?
shadowthief: ({A} Hands)

[personal profile] shadowthief 2022-11-01 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
[She nods, and sends a silent prayer to Sankt Ilya for a speedy recovery for her friend.]

All right. I hope you’re right. The sooner, the better.

[With that, she takes lead but lingers close to Diana in case she needs more help than she first thought.

It’s a quick assessment and back on the road after that. The wheel is fixed and they have time to make up for now.]