The expedition to explore the Hylands proper still hadn't been set up, which wasn't surprising considering how much there had to be organized. Supplies, equipment, routes... there was a lot to prepare and to take into account. There had been plenty of people who'd entered the Hylands in the past so it wasn't like it was completely terra incognita, but for the most part it'd been left alone due to being a harsh terrain with little opportunity for farming or building sprawling cities, as most of it was too cold and too rocky, with mountains just making matters worse. It was only the developments of the last war that had the countries of Astorea and Falderen believe that they could no longer just avoid the issue of the Hylands. However even with the expedition still being in the planning phase Mizuki couldn't make herself stay away from the place. It wasn't a big zone, but it was large enough for any adventurer to want to explore every nook and cranny, and Mizuki herself had personal interest in some of the things that might be found here... and some of the people that lived there. It had already been a great concession for her to avoid moving too far, instead staying around the foothills where she would be able to retreat quickly to more familiar ground if something happened that she didn't expect. Up in the mountains if she got too eager to move onwards she could find herself caught in an avalanche before she could even register what was happening. Her breath turned white whenever she exhaled, the freezing weather making her glad that she was clothed warmly and that her race was one more suited for this climate. While she hadn't noticed anything like a resistance towards magical or extreme forms of cold this kind of winter weather was one which she wasn't too bothered too much by, allowing her to make her way through the snow at a pretty good pace, feeling the soft whiteness underneath compress beneath her feet in a soft crunch. Crunch crunch crunch... She looked up at the mountains in the distance, tall and proud, cold and hard. Those would be a real challenge to traverse, to get to the heart of the Hylands and find those places so far hidden and barely known. She shook her head in wistfulness as she instead kept circling around that alluring but dangerous place. She would explore these foothills thoroughly, amidst the snow and the cold winds, so that when the actual expedition came about she'd at least have some idea of what to expect. Back on Earth she had also been looking up information on how to deal with harsh weather in the mountains and similar things. The body might be different and the world might throw curve balls, but some things should remain the same. Her pondering was interrupted when she heard a roar, loud enough that it felt for a moment as if the ground itself was trembling. Entering a low crouch Mizuki looked around warily, her ears sharp as she tried to figure out where that roar had come from. It wasn't very difficult to track it down, as another roar soon followed and helpfully told her that it (and most likely the previous one) had come from the Northwest. It only took a second for the Lupis to decide whether to move away or towards the danger, and then she was running straight towards it, using both hands and feet to push herself away from the white ground and towards whatever beast was roaring in the distance. Snow sprayed out behind her, forcing her to abandon her original top speed as she had to take the treacherous terrain into account. Still, she wasn't going to let that slow her down too much. It took several minutes of running before she got close enough that she had something to go by other than the roaring, which after the initial surprise and instinctive fear slowly became grating and painful for the ears. The snow around here as a mess, as if something huge had been stomping about and clawing into it. In some spots she could see the rock and the dirt beneath, with the dirt just as tossed about as the snow and the rock showing signs of extensive damage, deep claw marks and large cracks. Her pupils dilated and her ears went stiff as her sensitive nose smelled a very distinctive smell, like iron only harsher: blood. There was red snow further along, where the blood had been spilled. Some tattered fragments of cloth, a small piece of metal: something had managed to breach the protection of some traveller of adventurer and in the process wounded them. However the Lupis didn't think it was the same thing as what had made such a mess: if that thing hit someone she was pretty sure there'd be a lot more blood and perhaps even chunks of flesh. More likely that it was a result of someone trying to block or clumsily dodge. At least the tracks weren't difficult to follow, Mizuki following them as she moved a bit slower and more cautiously now. There was more blood, although thankfully there wasn't any patch of red snow large enough to indicate that someone had been inflicted a fatal wound. Then again, in this kind of situation there were more threats than just getting your stomach torn open. _____ In the distance, still outside of Mizuki's sight (although she was steadily gaining ground) a group of travellers were trying to get away from a huge monster, covered in thick white fur and roaring as it tried to grab them with its large hands, thick clawed fingers digging up heaps of snow and leaving deep marks on the rock below. It looked like some kind of ape, although a monstrous one and more humanoid than most. With how easily it was destroying everything around it there was no question on whether these unlucky travellers could hope to fight it: the only reason they had managed to stay outside its reach for now was a deep wound in the monster's leg. The man who had managed to inflict that wound was now unconscious, a broken shoulder and a heavy concussion his reward for giving his friends a chance to get away. His friends were carrying him with them as best as they could, but even as he had slowed down the monster considerably he himself had turned into a burden. Arrows were doing little as they barely penetrated the thick fur, and the fire magic that one of the unfortunate was unleashing was making the creature hesitate, but then attack with a greater fury as if angry that the small human thought it could scare it away with such small and weak flames. Why there was a full grown yeti so far down the mountains was anyone's guess. The more important question was how to stop it from leaving a path of destruction throughout the foothills without being eaten by it in the process. Or letting anyone else get eaten. @Seigi
Answers. What Seigi needed were answers. Answers that she hadn't even heard any rumors about. Which was, honestly, kind of weird. But what could you do? Dive into the Unknown! While it was true that even Faderen and Astorea still held many secrets, it was a fact that the Hylands held so much more. This was, essentially, like mapping the unknown. Discovering India, or America(?), or something like that. The chance of getting the answer the crimson-hair was looking for was, admittedly, pretty low, but not zero. No, as long as Seigi kept looking, it would never be Zero. This wasn't being stupid. This wasn't being naive. This wasn't being unrealistic. It was a logical fact. If one were to just sit around and do nothing their chance for something to happen was statistically lower. If you wanted your life to change, you had to do something. Very simple. And it was precisely because of this that Seigi found herself, today, in this cold place. Sure, she had spent quite a fortune on the supposed-to-be expedition but, after weeks of waiting, Seigi simply decided to take matters into her own hands... or claws. A worried gaze went down to her bandaged-up arms. Well, whatever. The weather wasn't even that bad. Maybe it was indeed her burning spirit that kept her warm, or she simply had lost a certain touch to reality, but nonetheless, the red-hair had gone through worse. Then again, despite her light clothing, the big fur-cloak was maybe truly all she needed to keep her warm inside. Nonetheless, all this didn't change how lonely it was. A beautiful scenery, indeed. But there was this depressing, white, silence. Even as Seigi continued to walk, and walk, and walk. Hoping to reach a destination even unknown to herself... ... It was, ultimately, the growling of a beast that pulled Seigi out of her weird state of tranquility. At first, she hadn't even noticed it. Over and over, the beast gave out its battle-cry as a few brave men fought for their life. Closer and closer, Seigi walked until she realized -by pure chance- just how close she had already been. It wasn't out of a sense of Justice at first, but rather pure curiosity, that made the hero-girl rush over. Not even taking two minutes to arrive at the scene of action. It was like something right out of a picture book. Even a child could piece together the situation. A trading-caravan and a monster. Simple, really. For just another moment, Seigi hesitated. Still, in this self-induced slog that dulled her entire being, this was precisely what Seigi needed. She could feel it. By now, it was more second-nature than a farce. As her vision sharpened and her muscles started to tense up, any and all needless thoughts were pushed out. These people needed saving. These people needed help. These people needed a hero. Even if Seigi started to doubt her immortality, against a foe like that, she wasn't afraid of dying. And definitely not with the back-up of these adventurers! Throwing her fur-cloak aside, the red-hair rushed down the snow-covered mountain-slope. Whirling up a lot of snow in the process, Seigi used her Heroic Might and her momentum to make a big jump towards the giant beast. Being on its right flank, she gave it a good old fist onto part of its face. "HYYYAAA!" The bandages were holding. @Ueno Mizuki
By the time Mizuki arrived at the scene the situation had already escalated, the Caenis taking a couple of seconds to see what was going on. She could see the travellers trying to escape the hungry and oversized yeti, she could see the blood on the snow and the singed patches of fur, she could see that the way things were going the yeti was eventually going to grab someone and then things would really go wrong... and she could also see that someone else had also heard the roaring and arrived. This one had arrived in time to save the travellers by jumping straight towards the angry primate-like monster and punch it in the face. A very courageous and valiant thing to do, Mizuki mentally marking the rescuer as a good person and an ally while she herself focused on the yeti. Unfortunately that punch alone wasn't going to take care of the problem. Seigi's Heroic Might had allowed her to punch it quite powerfully, makings its head turn sharply and its neck complain from the sudden impact, but beyond being dazed the yeti's sheer size prevented it from being hurt too badly. Still, the red-headed heroine had done a wonderful job saving the travellers, as the yeti was much happier trying to eat the one who had attacked it so suddenly than to keep chasing the little people who were doing nothing but trying to run away. Roaring once more, loud enough that Seigi might end up wishing she had earplugs or something at the ready, the monster of snow-white fur tried to repay the favour by grabbing the red-headed heroine, raising its arm to grab the little person who had just struck it. However it appeared that there was more than one of the little people who was willing to fight rather than run as before its hand got close to Seigi another figure ran in and interfered. It didn't take long for Mizuki to understand what was going on and what she should be doing right now. The travellers were gaining ground now that the yeti was distracted, but the person saving them was now at risk all on her own. The strength with which she punched the yeti was impressive, enough to actually make its head turn forcefully, but the brute was already recovering... Moving on all fours Mizuki rushed towards the two combatants as fast as she could, nearly slipping on the snow but managing to hold her balance for long enough to jump up just like Seigi had done, although where the red-headed heroine had managed to reach the yeti's shoulders in one large leap the Lupis first jumped onto a knee, then launched herself further upwards. As the yeti reached for Seigi Mizuki flipped upside down while flying upwards, planting one foot against the underside of the primate's arm and curling herself up. She might not have Seigi's Heroic Might, but she did have some hand-to-hand skill she was confident in. Uncurling herself like a spring she released all her strength into one explosive kick, compensating for lack of raw strength with precision and control. The yeti's arm was pushed upwards, passing several feet over Seigi's head while the yeti looked confused. It pulled back its arm, Seigi for a moment completely forgotten as the monster instead looked at the figure which fell back to the ground, where it caught itself with all four limbs and dashed to a safe distance so the yeti couldn't just kick her. "Need some help there?!" Mizuki shouted towards Seigi, taking advantage of the fact that for once the yeti seemed to be too puzzled to just go about roaring constantly. She hoped her ally wouldn't dally for too long and get down from the yeti so they could figure out how to actually beat the thing. While they'd done a good job messing with the primate they were far from actually bringing it down... @Seigi
Well. Well, well, well! This... wasn't going quite as Seigi had planned. Yes, the red-hair was a small girl with HEROIC strength, but, the enemy was a giant ball of mean fur with strength appropriate for its size! So, even if Seigi was an ant able to carry a car her size the Yeti could just stomp her nonetheless. Not to mention, damn, it was actually quite fast! Unable to outrun these big, strong, muscular hands, there was only one way forward. "GUTS AND EFFORT!" Seigi cried out as if giving herself more strength as she braced for impact as, suddenly, the monster's hand went flying! The travelers got away safely but now this stranger put herself in danger!? Well... she DID manage to make the Yeti nudge, too. Regardless, the crimson-hair was less suicidal than she used to be now so following the wolf-like being for a short tactical meeting wouldn't be so bad, right? Getting to a relatively safe distance besides the feline warrior, the hero managed to get a better look at her. Fluffy. Her stereotypical love for that hadn't changed. But... Heterochromia. Oh.My.God. This was so anime and awesome and cool and if Raina was more open about what she liked with others she had totally done such eyes herself! Stereotypical blue and red! "You.Are.Awesome!" Were the first three words Seigi 'introduced' herself with towards Mizuki. Well, good thing that could be seen as complimenting her moves from earlier rather than something else! Another raging roar from the Seigi took her a notch down onto reality. Yeah, he was quite loud. She got that already, but Seigi's mental fortitude was EX+. Nonetheless, the monster clearly wouldn't let them chat away all leisurely, and they needed a plan. "I'm Seigi Ling Ling, a Hero!" Was the shortest introduction she had ever done. "Alright, wanna help me take this monster down? Just gotta punch it harder! Maybe... from two different angles?!" Really, outside of just punching harder, there wasn't much Seigi could do. Maybe, her dark claws, but she wasn't too fond of using them. @Ueno Mizuki
Mizuki blinked as the first response she got from her new battle partner was a rather energetic and sudden one, staring at Seigi with eyes golden and icy blue before returning her gaze to the yeti. The big primate wasn't going to let them just talk freely, even if they had a couple of seconds as it tried to get a proper grasp on the current situation. First it had been chasing a bunch of travellers, easy prey even if one had managed to inflict a serious wound on the beast's leg which had prevented it capturing them easily. Then suddenly it was punched hard enough that even its huge and sturdy body couldn't negate the impact completely, having to recover before it could even think about counter-attacking. And then when it was about to strike down the red-headed human who could hit deceptively hard one of those two-legged wolves from up in the mountains interfered and managed to mess up its punch meant to remove the first nuisance. Well, that just meant it now had two insects to smash. One might be unusually strong, but in the end they were still small people, easily crushed once you cornered them. The yeti roared at them, already declaring its victory before the fight had even officially started. Mizuki meanwhile spoke quickly in response to Seigi. "I'm Ueno Mizuki, a hunter. Punching harder might work, but we'll have to find a weakness to exploit." Seigi hitting the thing's face had already managed to knock it off balance, even if only for a moment. However that alone wasn't going to be enough. They didn't have the time to carefully formulate a strategy, as the yeti raised both its massive hands and slammed them down on where Mizuki and Seigi were standing, using enough force that the ground briefly quaked in response and snow was sent flying everywhere. Devastating as the attack was it was also very telegraphed and not too fast, so Mizuki and Seigi could both easily get out of the way, even if they'd have to be careful not to let the shaking ground throw them off their balance afterwards. Mizuki's eyes briefly glowed as she scanned the monstrous ape's body, looking for weak spots... and actually found some. Since she didn't want to give the yeti an easy target she kept moving, running away from Seigi so the yeti couldn't attack both of them at the same time even as she yelled at the redheaded heroine. "It has a big wound on its leg. Target that! If we can cripple it this'll become a lot easier!" The sword wound on the yeti's leg, large enough that the only reason blood wasn't still seeping from it was because the cold had already patched it up. While that would be dangerous to the yeti itself over time right now it was preventing blood loss unless they forcefully opened the wound once more. With a wound already present the yeti's thick fur wouldn't be able to protect the primate against powerful impacts either. Mizuki herself meanwhile grabbed a handful of snow even as she ran, quickly mashed it together into a ball, and threw it straight at the yeti's face. While it did no damage it immediately pissed the beast off, if only because, well, nobody likes getting hit in the face with a snowball, even if it's really small. Still on all fours Mizuki began to evade as the yeti focused on trying to crush her, ignoring Seigi for the moment as instead the Caenis jumped and ran around even as the yeti punched the ground, grabbed handfuls of snow without touching the wolfwoman, and even tried to flop on top of the Lupis with no success, although that last one certainly had Mizuki's hair and fur stand on edge as she only barely escaped. On the bright side, at least with the yeti pushing itself back up after the attempted body slam they had a couple of seconds to catch their breath, and Seigi would have an easier time attacking the big brute. @Seigi
"Watch out!" Seigi yelled as the Yeti was on the loose again, barely escaping herself. It seemed really, really mad. The super-cool wolf-girl had a point thou, attacking the already damaged part of the monster was indeed a smart idea. Totally fitting her definition of punching harder, too! Seeing how Mizuki made a good job at distracting the Monstrosity, behaving like an annoying fly against some human, Seigi nodded again as she hyped herself up. "He won't even see what's coming!" Punching both of her fists together, Seigi tried to get some foothold in the snow before she dashed off. Bolting towards the Yeti in a straight line, the girl kept accelerated as she came closer and closer until her fist connected with the wounded part. "VIOLENT DESTRUCTION!" She cried in near cartoonish manner. Violent, indeed, there wasn't much technique behind this punch except pure brute-force as she could feel some bones cracking. "Hah... haha.... ta- huh?" Too early to be happy about this, the giant frame of the Yeti started to lose balance as he was about to fall on her. "GOD...DAMNIT!" Luckily for Seigi, she had to just run into the opposite direction of the Yeti falling as she was essentially already under him, thus, evading it. As the monstrosity landed, however, the shaking earth was the least of the duo's problem as A LOT of snow blew up into the sky before threatening to bury both of them under. Not like it would threaten their lives, but it was certainly a problem! @Ueno Mizuki
It looked like their plan was effective, as Mizuki could also hear the bones cracking inside the yeti's leg. Big and strong it might be, but it was still made of flesh and blood, and once its tough fur and skin were no longer in the way the inner structure hidden underneath was a lot more vulnerable. Still, she stared with some awe as a relatively small girl like Seigi managed to put out so much destructive power. Of course Mizuki herself was no slouch but she was pretty sure she couldn't deal that much power with a single punch. That Heroic Might mastery was really something. Fortunately Mizuki was also not in the path of the falling yeti, although she still moved yet further back just to be safe. The yeti's fall was slow but no less forceful because of it, and when he hit the ground the entire area shuddered from the massive impact, and a small hill's worth of snow was thrown up into the skies, for a brief moment blocking out the sun as Mizuki's eyes widened in complete surprise and even a little bit of panic. While it wasn't exactly as dangerous as one of the yeti's attacks, it still wasn't a pleasant sight to see such a large volume of snow descend down upon you. "Oh shit oh shit oh shit." Repeated the mantra of those knowing themselves to be in some serious trouble Mizuki began to run even further away, only to come to a skidding halt with her hands and feet leaving grooves in the ground as she looked around at Seigi. Thankfully snow was light enough that even after it was thrown into the air it didn't immediately come crashing back down, but she still wasn't sure if the redhead would be able to get away from the miniature avalanche in time. Turning around Mizuki instead headed straight towards her combat partner, glancing upwards to check if she had the time to reach Seigi. It was already falling down, and since it was gathered in huge clumps it was faster than she had hoped. Gathering all her strength in her legs she jumped, while in mid-air placing her hands together and focusing as best she could under the circumstances. A bluish-green glow formed around her hands before she hit the ground, the wolfwoman slamming both hands into the ground to send the gathered energy into the ground. At least one advantage of the situation was that the snow was no longer completely hiding the ground, allowing her to use her Nature Magic a lot more efficiently. Just as the snow began to smash down into them a web of vines and roots shot out around Seigi and Mizuki, interweaving and connecting overhead. While it wasn't fast enough to keep all of the snow out the Lupis managed to create something of a small dome, preventing them being buried to the point of being unable to move. The Lupis panted from the exertion of running so fast and then immediately forcing such a burst of growth, the only light the two had left at this point being Mizuki's glowing eyes as the snow had done a good job covering them up. Pant pant pant "Not good..." More panting "We have to dig... our way out. Before the yeti finds us." Around them the net of plants began to fade away, the snow shifting slightly before coming to a rest again. It looked like the impact had managed to compress the snow enough that it wouldn't immediately collapse on top of them... although they might still want to hurry. Mizuki for her part was already startled enough with the snow moving at all, then shook her head and looked at Seigi. "Can you... dig us a way out? Bit tired here." They hadn't defeated the yeti yet, but after such a rush Mizuki needed at least a little bit of time to at least let her heart settle down and her breathing stabilize. @Seigi
Suddenly, everything went darker and darker as Seigi realized she couldn't get out in time. "Well...Fuck..." She wouldn't just die though, right? It was just... snow. Could always free herself or something even if totally stuck! Hopefully, her strength— "DAAAAMMMNNNN!" Seigi cursed out in annoyance. She was too awesome to die to a mere pseudo snowslide. Bracing for the impact it was then that @Ueno Mizuki protected both of them with her... nature magic? Wow, the girl could not only do the punching and kicking, but also the magic tricks! "Mizu...ki?" Seigi called out without raising her voice as her only guidance was the wolf girl's glowing eyes and her voice. "Ah!" Jogging over to her, Seigi nodded. "Leave it to me! But..." Before pressing her own body closer to the Caenis, back first, or at least attempted to. "I... have an idea! Cling tightly to my waist!" There was no time to just dig a hole with her hands like that. Not to mention Seigi imagined her way to be way more awesome anyway! "Ready or not..." She lifted her leg high up before hammering it down into the ground with all her strength... . A small shockwave, produced by this motion, was all she needed to make the small cave crash down on them. "Last chance to get on board on the Seigi express!" She warned Mizuki if she had still been reluctant about grabbing on. Putting even more strain on her legs, enough that her muscles turned sour, the red-head used her colossal strength to jump right into the crashing down ceiling. Kinda like a spring. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Followed by weird noises as she started punching, and punching, and punching. Over and over again. Faster, faster, faster. Stronger, stronger, stronger. Removing the snow in front of them with sheer Heroic Might and GUTS AND EFFORT. The two girls soared higher and higher through the snow until at last, gentle rays of the sun greeted them. "ORA!" Yet, Seigi wasn't finished. The force behind her jump allowed her to fly higher up, still. With Mizuki still holding on. "Ever wanted to be a bullet?" Seigi now asked as, for a few seconds, the two of them pretty much floated shortly before about to descend. "Well." Fuck, when did Seigi start asking rhetorical questions anyway? Regardless, the Martial Artist now grabbed the still onto her clinging wolf-girl. "GIVE HIM HELL!" With that, Seigi turned Mizuki into a human bullet of Carnage. Even amongst the bed of snow, the yeti was easily recognizable lying there. Ah, Mastered Heroic Strength truly was great.
It was good to see that Seigi had actually made it through the snowfall, making Mizuki feel glad. She hadn't been too sure that she'd made it in time, but it looked like she and the heroine were lucky after all. But there were still challenges ahead (such as the yeti, who was big enough that it didn't have to try very hard to survive the miniature disaster it had created) and Mizuki frowned as she realized that getting through this snow might delay them long enough for the yeti to get them. When Seigi suggested that she should hang on the Caenis first blinked in surprise, but didn't waste any time before nodding and reaching out, wrapping her arms around Seigi's waist and holding on tightly, although she tried to avoid squeezing her companion. She didn't have Seigi's superhuman strength but she could still do quite a bit of damage if she wasn't careful with her strength. She wasn't sure what Seigi was planning, but feeling the way her feet impacted with the ground she quickly figured it out. The snow on top of them should be thinnest, so it wasn't a bad idea... When Seigi launched herself Mizuki closed her eyes to protect them from the snow they would impact with, although she winced slightly as Seigi began to yell loudly even as she beat into the collapsing snow roof, her sensitive ears receiving the full sonic assault. She didn't open her eyes until light broke through to signal they were out of the hole, the wolfwoman looking around to locate the yeti even as Seigi apparently did the same, because the next thing Mizuki felt was Seigi grabbing her. Wait, what are you planning... A silly question: she knew damn well what Seigi was planning. She just wasn't sure if she was in agreement. However there was no time to argue, so she just nodded and gritted her teeth as she prepared herself, an idea quickly forming in her head as she balled her hands into fists and her fur and hair began to bristle. All right, do it. The moment Seigi launched her Mizuki did her best to control her flight, using all five of her limbs and her combination of Mastered Martial Arts and Trained Acrobat to enter a controlled spin. During the spin she kept a clear image of her own body as it spun through the air, the wind whistling in her sharp ears even as she began to change the mental image... and her own form with it. The fur became more prominent and the skin disappeared until where there had been a Caenis before there was now a wolf, large and covered in black fur where every strand had a white tip... and two different eyes, one golden and one blue. The wolf stopped spinning even as it opened its maw to reveal sharp fangs, its intent clear as it shot straight towards the yeti like a bullet, even if it wasn't a human bullet. The yeti was pushing itself up, and when it noticed something flying towards it the monstrous primate looked over its shoulder and lifted one arm to swat it out of the air, only for Mizuki's transformation to make her flight path non-linear enough for the massive hand to miss her, and in the process leaving the yeti opened for Seig and Mizuki's combined attack. Hitting the yeti's chest the wolf immediately pushed herself up with all four her paws, closing her jaws only when she could do so around a portion of the yeti's neck. While the thick fur was still acting as a pretty effective layer Mizuki could still feel how her long fangs were digging into its skin, drawing blood as she tried her best to transfer as much of the force behind her flight into the fangs now tearing open the yeti's throat. The size difference was too big for this to be the finishing blow, but she still managed to take away quite a large chunk when she forced her jaws shut and in the process bit off a portion of the yeti's nick. Not wanting to risk herself too much Mizuki then jumped away, the yeti roaring as it suddenly had another wound on its neck while the wolf landed on the snow and leapt to a safe distance, spitting out the fur, skin and flesh that she had taken with her. Red stained her fangs as she looked past the yeti towards Seigi to see whether the heroine had landed safely after throwing her. The yeti had been keeping them busy until now, but so far as the Lupis was concerned it was about time to try and wrap things up. She kept herself low to the ground as she bared her fangs at the yeti, snarling as the yeti glared at her, obviously displeased about what she'd done to it with her new fangs. Once again Mizuki seemed ot be doing a good job of being the distraction, although Seigi would have to be careful not to get overconfident. As for Mizuki, if the yeti turned its attention to her companion she was planning to aim for the throat again, and this time bite a bit deeper and harder. @Seigi
Seigi landed, more-or-less safely, on the snowy ground below her. Well, kinda. She was pretty much stuck with her lower body now! Good thing that the Yeti was totally concentrating on Mizuki though, giving Seigi enough time to free herself. It took the suddenly orange-haired girl a few seconds to actually free herself before finally able to get back to matters at hand. Right. The heterochromia cutie transformed into a real wolf thingy after Seigi shot her! So... so... "AWESOME!" Sadly it hadn't been enough to take out the Yeti BUT he now had a fatal wound on its neck, too! It was easily visible that he, to an extent, already slowed down. Taking a split-second between one strike or another to gather some strength. With its back turned to Seigi, the hero girl didn't want to risk calling out to Mizuki and pulling the attention away. Instead... instead Seigi managed to get a good look at her bandaged up arms now, they were pretty much torn to pieces, revealing the sunlight absorbing void below them. Urgh. Not so great but... exactly what they might need? Well, no use crying over spilled milk. If penetrating power was what the tag-team needed, they would get it. She had done it before, she'd do it once again. Closing her eyes for a second to gather even more strength in her already torn body, the girl's flame of passion intensified tenfold. "Yush!" Punching both her fists together for a moment, the impact removing whatever bandaged leftovers around her arm, the girl went onto another sprint towards the monstrosity. "Here I come!" She called in a near whisper as she got closer and closer and, finally, dug her claws slightly into the Yeti's thick fur. It didn't do much damage but it gave her enough hold to push herself up. Again, and again, onto its back, nearly like a beast, until she reached its neck region. "GIVE IT ALL YOU'VE GOT!" Seigi now cried out as, at the very least, the Beast had to notice her now. But, too late? "CROSS DIVIDER!" Slashing both of her arms in a cross-like pattern aimed at the already present wound, her arms now substituted as sort-of pseudo blades as she hoped to cut deep enough into the Yeti's neck to finally finish it off! Heck, maybe she'd gather enough force behind to severe its entire head! @Ueno Mizuki
Mizuki slowed backed away from the yeti, quickly finding that this wolf form had more advantages than just sharp fangs: the large paws and the webbing between the toes meant she had a much easier time standing on the snow. Having fur everywhere also meant the cold was even further from her mind than it already had been. It felt strange to not have thumbs and she wasn't used to putting quite this much weight on her front limbs, but on the other hand she already went on all fours often for fighting so the sensation wasn't completely foreign to her. She could get used to this. More importantly though, the yeti. It was still focusing on her because of the wound she had delivered on its neck, which meant Seigi was free to attack it from behind. The female wolf opened her mouth and snarled at the large primate, Mizuki wondering if she could even talk in this form. Not that she had anything to say to the yeti, but it would be more important in the long term. For now, though, fighting. The yeti was visibly slowing down now, as Seigi's brutal attack had opened the wound on its leg and now it had a fancy new wound on its neck as well, and even a monster as big as that wasn't immune to the wrath of winter and blood loss, especially when the cold snuck right into its insides through that spilled blood. Mizuki kept her tail high and her front low, ready to dash forward or to the sides in case the yeti tried anything. The yeti was keeping its eyes on Mizuki, apparently having decided not to waste any more energy on attacks that it didn't know where going to hit. Unfortunately for the beast, that meant that Seigi had the perfect opportunity to climb up its back and strike at the wound on its neck, the primate releasing a shriek of pain which ended in a gurgling note as the blood began to flow more freely, staining Seigi's black hands and slowly filling the yeti's throat. Mizuki jumped backwards when the collosal beast collapsed, a slow event which nevertheless had the ground shake yet another time (although fortunately this time it wasn't accompanied by a snowfall, as the previous collision had already pushed a lot of the snow away). It looked like Seigi's attack was enough to finish the beast, as the only thing left was to wait for its brain to stop sparking and its heart to stop beating. Mizuki slowly approached the fallen foe and her victorious companion, her eyes narrow as she looked at the yeti's large arms. Even if they were death throes those things could still easily break bones on a creature as small as herself. Looking at the yeti's eyes she felt relief when she saw that the light was fading from them, signalling that the creature truly was dead now. With that threat out of the way the wolf sighed, then looked up at Seigi only to notice the strange trait her arms possessed. Dark, not just like Mizuki's fur but as if no light touched them... Opening her mouth Mizuki tried to speak once more, only to find that she didn't know how. A wolf's muzzle wasn't the same as a human mouth, and her throat didn't work the same. Yet she still felt like she had a voice, even if she had difficulty forcing it out... Kggghhhh... Ahhhh.... She blinked as she heard her own voice, resounding throughout the area as if she had spoken even if she hadn't managed to produce the sounds with her maw. It sounded strained, as if she'd forcibly pushed the sounds out. Closing her eyes Mizuki tensed, once more trying to speak without the proper vocal cords. Hhhhyyyy... tink.... hiiit... goess... liiiike... this.... If she was still in a humanoid form Mizuki would be sweating at the effort. It felt like she was using a new set of muscles that she hadn't been aware of up until now and which had no physical components, and it was taking some serious work to make them function. Fortunately it also seemed that she was quickly getting used to the sensation, as the amount of effort required quickly decreased until she felt like she could speak properly... even if she still wasn't sure how. Looking back up at Seigi the wolf spoke without her mouth, even if her voice sounded as clearly as always. I'm glad... to see that you're all right. Although... what is going on with your arms? That looks... serious. As she spoke Mizuki's body mimicked her words, her tail going down to show that she was more relaxed and her ears pointing forward, until she mentioned the arms at which point her ears went backwards and she lowered her head a bit. The Lupis herself was barely aware that her body language was in accordance with what she was saying, as her entire focus was on this new way of talking, which felt a lot like forcing one's thoughts into sound using only one's will to shape them, which was a lot more complicated than letting the mouth and throat figure it all out. @Seigi
Blood, splattered. Her vision, red. The Hero, disfigured. The Beast, slain. Victory and Defeat in the same beat. Then again, Seigi wasn't a hero yet, still a fledgling. Still a long way to go. For a Hero would have simply suplexed the Yeti into submission. As the monstrosity fell forward and Seigi kept clinging onto its back, it was only after the body stopped wobbling, and its death confirmed, that the girl made a jump in the air. "WE DID IT! Dudududu du du du-dudu~" Humming some kind of victory tune, the orange-hair hadn't paid too much attention to her arms, or Mizuki, until she spoke up. Right, she was a wolf now! Like... actually a wolf wolf wolf wolfy wolf! And still those beautiful eyes! BUT also a wolf! Which meant... "Fluffy!" Ignorant of the fact that her arms and bloodied face had potential to make her look like a monster herself, Seigi ran towards @Ueno Mizuki to snuggle her. The danger, after all, was gone. Yet, stopped mid-track as the... telepathy? finally worked, and Mizuki 'spoke' up. Her arms... right? Her joyful face darkening a bit, but enough to be noticeable, Seigi slightly lifted her pitch black claw-arms and looked at them. She could, quite literally, feel the Darkness stemming from them. But... "Just a flesh wound!" The hero-girl gave Mizuki a big smile. "Hehehe~ don't worry about it! It's because of those worried, or weirded out, reactions that I usually hide them! Yup." It wasn't even a lie. Not at all. Anything that did not kill Seigi was, technically, 'just a flesh-wound' AND one of the reasons she bandaged up her arms was exactly because of what she said. "So, you're a fluffy werewolf or something? That's nearly as awesome as your beautiful eyes!" She tried to change the subject.
Mizuki watched as Seigi celebrated their victory, relieved that even after that hectic fight the heroine was still doing all right. She'd have to wash off the blood, but Mizuki wasn't one to be easily bothered by the presence of blood. Her own fighting style made getting bloodstained quite likely since she ripped open her enemies from close up with her claws, so blood was pretty normal. Still, she tilted her head as Seigi appeared completely unbothered by it. Seeing Seigi charge towards her Mizuki blinked, leaning backwards as she wasn't sure how to react to that. Let the younger woman express her excitement at her wolf form, or evade? She was reminded of an excited child, and while Mizuki had nothing against children she wasn't exactly an expert at dealing with them. Fortunately before she had to make her decision Seigi was slowed down by Mizuki mentioning her black arms, allowing the wolf to focus on that issue instead as it looked pretty serious. As Seigi claimed that the black arms were of no concern Mizuki slowly stepped forward, studying the arms from up close. She even sniffed them carefully, her nose almost touching the tainted limbs even though she doubted that scent would tell her anything. There was something strange about those arms, a peculiar sensation... but nothing she could really place or know what to do about. What she did notice was how rather than being merely black they were well and truly dark: aside from the blood she couldn't see anything but darkness, even out here in the afternoon with white snow all around them. Speaking of the blood, she pulled her head away before the strong scent penetrated her mind too deeply, the wolf shaking her head before speaking once more with some concern. That doesn't look like a flesh wound... it looks like a curse or something. But I don't think I'm capable of helping with that. Mizuki was quite good at using Nature Magic now, so if it was a normal wound she could have fixed it up pretty easily. However this didn't look like a healing spell would take care of it, and while the Lupis had plenty of healing potential she wasn't an expert at undoing curses and the like. I'd suggest finding a priest or something to take a look at that, although I'd expect you to have already tried that. How did your arms end up like that? It was obvious that Seigi would rather not talk about it, but Mizuki wasn't sure that this was something you could just ignore. @Seigi
