Following Lights [Astra]

[Lexos]

Sometimes, the lights took Artichoke to strange places.

Onibas was a wreck. Smoke filled the air, building were in ruins, and the sound of absolutely nothing made itself starkly known. It wasn't a surprise that with all the chaos, the people of the town forgot to tidy up. But the will o' wisps- if that was even what they were- didn't seem to care, as they darted through the what was left of this part of town, forcing him to take huge strides just to keep pace; the little lights even flickered madly if he stopped to avoid stepping on a piece of garbage.

Just as he was wondering if he was going anywhere, the orbs made a sudden turn and whizzed into a small house. Artie ground his foot into the ground to stop his pace. The place had been looted before, that much was clear from the window glass scattered around the yellowing grass and the way the door barely hung onto its hinges. But the will o' wisps easily whizzed their way through the open entrance, looping around one another as they did.

Artichoke wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to go inside. Was somebody in there, and was it someone sick? Dangerous? He wasn't the most cautious of people, but a day of wandering around the wreckage of Onibas had given him a slight edginess. The boy hovered by the entrance, shifting from one foot to another, in hopes that- if someone was inside- they would see the lights and come out; but after half a minute of silence, he didn't see any choice but to step forward.

"Hello?" Calling out, Artie took one step toward the entrance. He felt something hard under his feet then. The seventeen year old had a split second to move back as a massive swarm of cockroaches scurried out from under a broken piece of wall. The sound of their sudden movement was loud enough to hear as the huge, brown bugs crawled over his pant leg, the walls, and the street turning the mostly-empty to street to a mess of movement.

Artichoke recoiled, kicking his leg back and forth once, twice, three times to shake off the five that had made their way onto him. His face quickly melted from wrinkled disgust as he turned to the will o' wisps, now flickering energetically and bouncing up and down.

"Was that your idea of a… prank?" He asked, the corners of his mouth turning upward slowly.

[Kitty Kat Astra]

WORD COUNT: 482

Merc

How many hours had it been since she had last been awake? The last thing that the corrupted Valkyrie remembered, was scouring through an abandonned store in the hopes of finding something edible, as hunger was quite overpowering. The structurial systems of Onibas had more or less broken down, as the plague had made people flee the country, leaving behind only the infected. It meant that trading had mostly broken down, and that people were reliant on scavenging and stealing. Finding debris from a fallen row over herself, she attempted to push it away and get back onto her feet. Fortunately for her, the blackened Valkyrie armor that she was wearing, had taken most of the brunt. Groaning lowly to herself, this was all due to the infection that had taken hold of her body. It was draining her of her strength and disallowed her from sleeping. So occasionally, whenever her body simply refused to go on further, she would collapse wherever she had gotten to, plagued by unrelenting nightmares. The back room of the store she was in, was rather dark, and aside from a few beams of light coming from a half broken door, she was left in the dark. Walking over to the door, Astra lifted her leg and placed a solid kick onto it. Knocking it directly off of its hinges and sending it flying, it likely came flying straight past Artichoke. It knocked up enough dust that she was somewhat shrouded when she stepped into the other room. Coughing lowly, there was traces of blood on her hand. This was starting to become painful and dangerous. Astra figured that she wouldn't have long left to live at this point. The blackened rings of insomnia around her eyes and her defeated look telling the story well enough...

...Raising her foot again, she stepped down harshly, as a disgusting squish was heard, followed by low squeaking as she moved her foot from side to side, splattering the remains of a cockroach across the floor. "Disgusting creature." Astra said in the coldest tone possible. It seemed that she was radiating an aura of cold, death and decay, hopelessness. Raising her eyes she saw him before her. Following, she raised an eyebrow at the strange mage, who seemed uninfected with the disease. "...Whats the matter, pup? Have you gotten yourself lost?.. Aww, unfortunate for you.."  The voice in which she was speaking was almost seductive, purring at him. That quickly changed, though. Taking a step closer to him, she was attempting to intimidate him, clearly. "I'm hungry. Hand over anything you have, or we'll have trouble." Astra said coldly, pointing to him with a sleek smile on her lips. It was clear that she was threathening him. So many things had changed in such a short amount of time. Had she truly fallen so low that she would steal from others?.. It seemed like her desperation and being d evoid of the light had claimed more than just her pride.

SPOILER: Click to show

Skill Name: Eyes of the Heavens



Description: As a Valkyrie, Astra has a natural aptitude at judging an opponents strenght and threat level. It allows her to judge wheter she stands a chance, or wheter she is outclassed completely. The eyes grant the same information about casted spells.







Skill Name: Eyes of the High Heavens



Description: The Valkyrie are those chosen by the gods, who shall watch the battles of the mortals, judging the mortals as worthy or unworthy to enter the divine halls. It is through this knowledge, that Astra has gained an insane insight into combat, allowing her to react faster and make better decisions than an average person.







Skill Name: Heroic Presssence



Desciption: Astra's pressence can be felt on the battlefield. Capable of inspiring herself or any chosen ally, the effects of poison, paralysis, sleep and fear can be temporarily ignored. Once the effect of Heroic Pressence fade, the entire backlash from any such effects are felt immediately. (Three turns before backlash kicks in)

[Lexos]

SPOILER: Click to show

Kitty Kat Astra

The lights bobbed up and down, which Artie assumed meant that the answer to his question was 'yes'. He snorted, and started to laugh, when a rumbling from inside the building caught his attention. In a split second, his vision was blocked off by a door barrelling towards him.

The teen was moving instantly. He ducked to the right. At angle it was coming at, though, he wouldn't be able to avoid a collision with his shoulder. Artichoke winced, and anticipated the crunch of breaking bone.

It never came. After a second of nothing, the teen opened his eyes. The will o' wisps were hovering in front of his body, steaming almost imperceptibly. Artichoke blinked. Huh? He turned his head to the door behind him, looking for all the world like a puppet being pulled by a string. A corner of the wood- the part that would have hit him- was steaming hot. Artichoke blinked. Relief was muddling his thoughts, but he pieced together the situation, turning to the smoking flames. Were they trying to protect him?

Reveling in that epiphany had to be cut short. The culprit behind the flying door made itself known. She was partially hidden behind some dust, but, after the outline of armour, Artichoke's eyes were drawn straight to the blood in her hands, striking red and alarming.

The figure- a woman, but she didn't look much older than him- had stopped to stomp on a roach. Her demeanour didn't look friendly in the least. Artichoke took a step back; he wasn't stupid, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to know that blood, plus eye bags, plus coughing, in a heavily diseased area did not mean anything good. He took another, feeling adrenaline pushing his legs to move. It was definitely too late to hope he wasn't seen, but he could at least put enough distance between them to have a good head start when she did.

Too late. The woman turned to him, only about five steps between them. Artie stood still enough to look like he hadn't been backing away.

"...Whats the matter, pup? Have you gotten yourself lost?.. Aww, unfortunate for you.." The will o' wisps hovered in front of him, and if Artichoke had to guess he would say it was protectively. The woman might look ethereal- white hair, grey eyes- but the bags under her eyes and her pallor combined to just make her look twice as sick as she otherwise might have. Along with her low tone, which might have seemed flirty in a more normal situation, she gave off one impression: a desperate predator.

Artie was not going to be one of those gazelles that got eaten and left in the sun. The woman took a step toward him, and he didn't move back. More and more he was thinking of the raiders that Aether had mentioned. "I'm hungry. Hand over anything you have, or we'll have trouble."

Artie raised his hands in silent surrender. He wasn't getting infected, today. "Alright." The boy gently shook his shoulders, letting the straps of his bag slide off so he could get his food, never breaking eye-contact with the sick woman. He wouldn't betray how nervous he was. Slowly, one by one, he unpacked his food and gave it to the- whoever she was. His heart sank to see it go, but with effort he could get more food; a cure was harder to find.

[exit]