Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

The girl doesn't turn her gaze away from the fire hovering over her hand as Nina talks to her. As Nina finishes, the flame fizzles away and Konoe's bottomless stare turns to her. "Push myself? Staying up for a month is pushing it, I've tested my limits more than a few times..." Getting up to her feet, the flame girl walks around the cave to see how each other member of their group was doing before walking past Nina. "You should get some clothes for your little companion there, she looks pretty bad in that torn-up shirt. Not to mention that she's missing her pants." she suggest, before leaning over the river to have a drink. "Check out the forgotten okami outpost a few hours of travel away, should have some equipment there even after all these years of be---"

A sudden burst from underground stops the girl's speech. Nina can see a thick, barbed vine has burst from the ground and impaled the confident fire-wielder through the heart. Her eyes locking themselves in the distance, Konoe falls face-first to the ground as the vine pulls out, leaving a gaping hole where the girl's heart used to be. Once she's taken out, a juggernaut of a plant rises from the hole, it's body standing well over 10 feet in height.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Nina's eyes widened at the atrocious scene, gasping at the splatter of blood and gore-filled hole in Konoe's body as it slumped to the forest floor.

"I..I... Iliana! Momi! We're in trouble!" she said, unsheathing her sword and falling back towards the cave's entrance. "There's a huge plant creature! It - it's killed the fire girl!"

She stumbled backwards, still in shock as the towering beast lumbered closer. Her breathing became sharp and fast, her heart raced, her mind trying to take in the last few moments and adapt to them. Konoe had been so powerful, so confident, and then out of nowhere at all, she'd been skewered. What was this creature? And how were Nina and her friends supposed to fight such a thing?

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

The slow-moving thing takes it's time to move towards the entrance where Nina is, stepping over Konoe's body as it does so. Iliana and Momi appear from the cave quite fast after Nina's yelled alarm. "A juggernaut..." Momi manages to say, Iliana simply staring at the thing as she draws an arrow from her quiver.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

"It... can we defeat it, Momi?" Nina asked, still having trouble dealing with Konoe dying right before her eyes. "It's so big..."

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

"O-of course, it can take a lot of punishment though. And hits hard." the wolfgirl tells her, a hint of fear clear in her voice. With a ponderous gait, the juggernaut is nearing them, preparing for a blow at them.

Before any of them can react to defend themselves, the plant giant's blow is interrupted by a roaring flame engulfing it. It starts to flail around in front of the trio, clearly in tremendous agony from the hungry fire eating away at its body. Behind the thing, a bloodied Konoe leans against her knee in a crouching position. "As... if something... like... that could kill me..." the girl manages to say, the hole still in her chest.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Nina's mouth gaped open. "Buh - buh.. But I saw it impale you... right through your heart!" She knew she shouldn't doubt what her own eyes saw, but she couldn't believe that Konoe was still alive, and not only alive, but still able to function and defeat the juggernaut plant.

"How?" was all she could manage as the tree flailed in front of them.

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Slowly working herself back to her feet, Konoe steps up to the dying juggernaut, giving it a kick to topple the creature in front of them. As the thing vainly tries to put out the fire, Nina can see the flesh on Konoe's chest start to regrow with an amazing celerity. Rubbing at her newly-formed breast, the girl gives a dissappointed look at the whole deal.
"Such... a dissappointing turnout.. and now I have to go and find clothes..." she says, spitting out some blood as her body still seemed to be feeling the after-effects of being impaled through the heart.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Nina looked bewilderingly from the flame-girl to Momi and then to Iliana.

"I... I guess we should get ready to leave?" She suggested out loud. "Apparently there's a place Konoe knows where we can get clothes... you know, for Iris and... and I guess Konoe too."

She was still a bit awestruck at the way Konoe had regenerated from such a mortal blow.

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

"Sure..." Iliana replies, looking as amazed as Nina when she saw the regenerative display of Konoe's body. Holding a hand over her chest, the flame-wielder walks past the dumbstruck trio, moving a bit awkwardly now but soon recovering to her normal way of walking.

The group take some time to gather their few belongings, Iris recovering from her ordeal and now standing tall among the group once more, if a bit blushy at her exposure. Konoe has picked up a weapon from behind a a rock inside the cave, two heavy, inward-curving daggers with a long chain connecting them. The firegirl waits at the entrance, looking into the distance as she gives them time to prepare from the incoming few hours of hiking in the dense forest.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Nina took off her cloak and wrapped it around Iris.

"It should give you some cover at least. Don't be embarrassed though, Iris, you're among friends here. Besides, you're very pretty, nothing to be ashamed of." Smiling and petting her friend's head, she stood by her as they set out for their long hike.

Nina didn't raise any questions to the firegirl about how she had such amazing regenerative property. She supposed it explained why she was able to live for so many years. Instead she concentrated on keeping a look out and making sure Iris and Iliana were both traveling well.

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Iris accepth Nina's cloak, giving back a shy smile as she puts it on. With their preparations done, the group leave their resting place behind. They follow after Konoe who walks some distance ahead of them, keeping her blades on her belt. The girl doesn't seem to mind the huge holes in her white shirt, or the bloodstains that are the only mark left from her brutal impalement.

The group advance through the forest, nothing except a few forest animals crossing their path. Most of the animals are ordinary beings of their kind, but they spot an exotic-looking rabbit with very long, floppy ears and a crescent symbol on ti's forehead. Within the next hour they arrive near the outpost, a skillfully built wooden shack suspended in the treeline, some 15 feet off the ground. A ladder hangs from the railing, giving them a way to enter the somewhat gloomy-looking outpost.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

"Shall I go first?" Nina offered, but the question was more for Konoe, who was perpetually ahead of them and seemingly in charge by dint of her extreme power.

"By the way Konoe, I don't suppose you could close a portal to a distant realm? You seem to have a knack for fire magic at the least, and we are trying to find a mage who could close one for us."

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Konoe answers Nina's question by stepping on the ladder and starting to ascend towards balcony up in the tree. Once her baggy red pants dissappear over the railing, she peeks over the edge to the others. "Magic? Don't know anything about that, I've always been able to create this fire within my body. I suggest you speak to Ranya or something." she replies with her hair hanging down towards them.

Once all of them are up, Konoe pushes the door open to reveal a dusty interior. She seems to know where to look, as the fire wielder walks towards a particular cupboard, discarding the shirt she wore. Taking off her pants as well, Konoe is left with funny-looking underwear made from twisted cloth as she looks throught the contents of the cupboard. The girl investigates the clothes, oblivious to exposing her firm body to the others. The long white hair coupled with her somber look and red eyes give Konoe a rather ghostly look.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Nina shrugged. It had been worth a shot. "Yes, Ranya was where we were headed," she said in answer before following Konoe up the ladder.

After they'd gotten up to the tree house, Nina peered over Konoe's shoulder for some clothes that might be suitable for Iris, but had trouble seeing past Konoe's intense search. Not wanting to push aside the fiery, ghost-like girl, Nina hung back and waited for Konoe to finish her searching.

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Konoe keeps her search going for a while, a few articles of clothing flying out as she rejects them, one uniform even landing on Nina's shoulder as Konoe deems it unworthy. Finding an exact copy of her previous white shirt, the girl throws it on her, backing away from the cupboard now that she's done. With the shirt back on, Konoe gets her baggy pants back from the floor, tightening them over the long hem of her shirt.

As Konoe starts to adjust the ribbons in her waist-long hair, Nina goes over to the cupboard. Taking some time to investigate, she finds a dark green set of clothes that might be a good fit for Iris.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

"Here Iris," she said handing the clothes over to her blind friend. "I found you some clothes. They look about your size. Dark green. You'll blend right into the local fauna."

She helped Iris out of her ripped rags and held the new clothes open for her to slip into, pointing out instructions just in case she seemed like she needed them. When Iris was fully dressed, Nina took back her cape and swirled it back over her shoulders.

"Okay, good. I think we're ready to continue on towards Ranya."

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Iris is happy to find herself some new clothes. She can't help but blush brighter as she stands there naked for a brief moment when Nina removes the remains of her old clothes. Despite her blindness, Iris easily gets into the clothes Nina helps her dress into. The slender-framed girl picks up her sword again, now ready to venture with them once more, in clean clothes and proper equipment.

The group exit the gloomy shack once they are done. Once all of them are down, Konoe addresses Nina properly for once. "You're heading to Ranya's village? I take it you don't need my help anymore?" she says, turning to look away from Nina.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

"Oh... We are very thankful for everything you've done for us," Nina said slowly, searching for words as she was caught off guard by the sudden question. "If you think the way to Ranya's village is safe enough for us to travel without your guidance, the we won't ask you to stay to protect us."

She waited a moment to see what the fire wielder would say to this.

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

"No path is truly safe enough. The chance for danger is present everywhere, no matter how empty. That's what I think. Do you want me with you or not, grasshead!?" Konoe replies bluntly, giving Nina a killer gaze as she seems to get impatient with the green-haired girl

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nina (BlueSlime)

Nina's face darkened. "Old or not, powerful or not, that's no excuse for rudeness... Come with us if you want to. Otherwise we'll do what we can on our own. We're not totally helpless. I'm sure you must be very busy with your own important business too."

She supposed this was just Konoe's way of not making friends and keeping her distance. Very well, she'd let her do it.