OPEN RP POST DEUX

[formidable]

This a post where I'll RP anything with you and that means ANYTHING. Except smut because I suck at that Got a scenario in mind? I'LL DO IT. Here's some prompts below to help get things moving along if you don't have an idea to play out. The prompts are just prompts, if you have something specific, just let me know either at sweethymns or my AIM (rainsweets). Have at it! ➢ 01. AMUSEMENT PARK: Disneyland? Knotts Berry Farm? Six Flags? A made up amusement park with knockoff characters? Who cares, let's just ride that roller coaster or that giant swing ride! ➤ 02. PARK: Benches, trees, grass, maybe a lake and a basketball or volleyball court. ➢ 03. SNOWY DAY: Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful... or the level of snowfall can be any you wish! Light or heavy, there's going to be some winter related activities somewhere. ➤ 04. DINER: I love food, I really, really, really love food. And so do muses if they like to eat too! This diner seems to have a very HUGE menu with a large variety of dishes! Let's bond over food stuffs! ➢ 05. SICK DAY: Either your muse or my muse is sick. Who's taking care of who? ➤ 06. SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN: Our characters are stuck in a closet and can't get out until there is some kissing, so they better make good use of those seven minutes... DON'T YOU DARE JUDGE ME. ➢ 07. SCHOOL: High school never ends! Or any type of schooling really. So whether it's in class or in the gym, let's try to endure mandatory education! ➤ 08. SURVIVAL HORROR: That old mansion/creepy town/underground science lab/zombie infested city ain't going to be survived by itself. Grab your medicinal herbs and shotguns, let's survive the horror. ➢ 09. WILDCARD: Let's make up shit.

Comments

[onoir]

[ The blows are heavy, but not impossible to parry: the downside is that he has to focus his attention on the fight, away from his Master, which is a risk that he's willing to take if only because he trusts that Ai Thao can keep herself safe and away from harm's way.

There's something wrong with this Servant— there's nothing to indicate any sort of strategy, though Berserkers don't operate on much of one to begin with. A grimace, and Diarmuid dodges the next wide arc of the bludgeoning end of the enemy's bow, and spins his lance so that it cuts a straight line through the front of the warrior's armor. A clean hit, thanks to the armor-felling property of his weapon. ]

...The next hit is the last. Prepare yourself.

[ A calm, steady warning, before the next kickoff. Both Servants are a blur at this point, moving towards a final finisher to end this sudden bout. ]

[emotive]

Alright...!

[She's filled with confidence as she sees Lancer go for the final blow. It would be over soon and they'd be out of the danger zone. But then her heart falls when she sees the rogue Servant, reach for the sword on his back, almost too quick for the normal eye to see. It was a wakizashi and now that the distance was closed between them, the warrior was clearly operating on some sort of logic, wanting to strike at Lancer.]

NO!! Watch out!!

[onoir]

[ He doesn't miss the hidden weapon, but it comes between strikes, meaning that he has to relinquish his finishing blow to dodge. Twisting his upper body, Diarmuid rams the point of his spear into the ground and vaults off into the air, getting out of range of his enemy's full attack—

—but not before getting a nick in his side, a light cut that's inconsequential but a cut, nonetheless.

Thankfully, he remains calm and places a well-aimed kick to the other Servant's back, staggering him and driving him a few feet away. ]

[emotive]

[Thao flinches, but doesn't look away when Lancer gets the minor nick. So far, so good, but she'd prefer he was unscathed.

The Servant falls and rolls due to the kick and he skids further away. His pants and grunts are feral, but he's still in one piece. The aura around him seems to weaken, but there's a beastly sort of resolve in his maddened eyes.

And then out of nowhere, he croaks...]

Mana... Need...!!

[The Servant's gaze lands on where Ai Thao is hiding and he sheathes the wakizashi; more arrows appear in his quiver and he prepares one, pointed at Thao as if hunting down prey]

Mana... Hers...!!

[Ai Thao is understandably, taken aback]

W-What...?!

[onoir]

[ A mana-starved Servant. The information clicks into place, and Diarmuid considers that it may be a Servant whose Master is already dead— in that case, they're slated to disappear in a few days, hours, if they're unlucky and bleeding prana.

He doesn't hesitate to act; the warning is all he needs to pull Gae Daerg from where it'd been impaled in the concrete, kick off, and yell: ]

Run!

[ Vaulting towards his enemy, he aims first to bat the arrows down, and then go for the head; quick, clean. ]

[emotive]

[Ai Thao nods and she runs to the other side of the warehouse. The barrier she put up was going to weaken in a few minutes anyways. Meanwhile, the rogue Servant is caught unawares by Lancer's attack and isn't able to retaliate due to positioning himself in a stance for archery. The hit more or less takes him out and he roars in pain and in rage.

The young Master twists the handles of the door blocking the other side of the warehouse with her Eyes. But when the door falls down to the ground she finds herself in a bit of a bind.

Another Servant. Female this time, in ninja garb, but also covered in shadows, also looking for mana and now a source was standing right in front of her.]

Where are you all coming from!?

[This one dashes towards her- Ai has to think fast. She either gets Lancer's attention or she handles this herself to give more room and more time for the both of them. Better choose the latter.

Gritting her teeth, Ai Thao focuses her eyes on one of the limbs of this Servant.]

I'm sorry, but-...!!

[A cracking sound and the female Servant lets out a yell, not dissimilar to the samurai warrior. The Servant feels the distortion trying to stop her in her path and Ai can only hope this stalls her long enough for Diarmuid to take notice.]

[onoir]

[ Whatever this is, it isn't adhering to any sort of the standards of the Grail War, which is...troublesome. It's one thing to expect fairness from everyone he's to fight (he doesn't— even he's not that naive), but this is clearly beyond the realm of fighting dirty. Two rogue Servants? Are the participants killing Masters without letting their Servants fight?

The idea is deplorable; why summon Servants at all, then?

Ai Thao's yell alerts Diarmuid to the second threat, and he makes his way around to the source of the yell, practically flying past his Master's side to land a quick upwards slash across the female Servant's torso. ]

Are you hurt?

[emotive]

[Oh, thank god. The woman Servant falls from the attack to her torso and Ai Thao is able to deactivate her Eyes, nodding at Diarmuid.]

I'm fine! I was able to hold her off long enough.

[Diarmuid's attack is too much for the Servant and she lays on the ground, slowly fading away into non-existence.]

[onoir]

[ Diarmuid looks visibly troubled, on his end; brows furrowed, he swings his spear to the side as if he's getting blood off of it, when in truth, there's nothing there.

This leaves a bad taste in his mouth. ]

I see. I apologize if I took too long— this was an unexpected development.

[emotive]

No. This is fine.

[The first Servant is also gone, faded away forever. Ai Thao gives a reassuring smile to Diarmuid.]

You did great, Lancer. In fact, I've been amazed at seeing you in action tonight!

[onoir]

Appreciated, Master. Though, I would rather this happened under different circumstances.

[ He turns back towards the direction of the rift in the leyline, tapping his lance against his shoulder in contemplation. ]

Would it be possible that that disturbance is what's affecting these rogue Servants? Either way, it's something that should be remedied.

[emotive]

That's most likely. [She ponders a little longer, walking towards the rift again.]

So we have unknown creatures and rogue Servants... If they're coming from the same source, we're dealing with two different beings that are starved for prana.

[Ai Thao looks at her unused Command Spells grimly.]

Perhaps, in the Servants' case there are few that somehow get through the rifts, but encounter no Master to contract them... And whatever essence is in the cracks is driving them mad, but gives them enough energy to hunt?

It's just a theory. But a dire one nonetheless.

[onoir]

Then it might be the case that there's no War at all.

[ If he just managed to get lucky and found a Master just as he was summoned, he means. His tone is a little dry, bordering on cynically amused, but that would be impolite to his Master; he keeps it down. ]

How should we proceed?

[emotive]

And yet this has to connect to the Grail somehow... How else would Servants appear in the first place?

[She closes her eyes. Rifts aside, she's now responsible for a Heroic Spirit, who without her, may have gone mad, with the lack of an anchor not helping matters at all.]

I feel like this is still a War regardless. We may have to fight other Masters and contracted Servants, but these could be considered stragglers. An extra difficulty.

[Ai Thao suddenly straightens up and stands facing Diarmuid directly, hands on her hips, almost looking authoritative. There's resolve and determination in her eyes and her voice carries the same weight.]

Lancer! Will you truly accept me as your Master and fight in this War, whatever kind it may be?

[onoir]

[ Ah. Now he feels slightly ashamed for his seeming diffidence with regard to his role in this world; it's not his place to doubt. If his Master is so resolute, then he should have the fortitude to answer her determination with a strong will of his own.

Her authority prompts him to close his eyes and lower his head, getting in kneeling position with one fist braced on the ground. ]

From the moment I answered your summons, my loyalty was decided. I, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, First Knight of Fianna, swear my fealty by my honor.

[emotive]

... Thank you.

Since I summoned you unknowingly, but rashly, I'll take responsibility. I owe you that much!

[She's barely a magus. She wasn't even someone with a wish. But Ai Thao knows that part of living, a part of being human is having goals and looking forward. And now she can see her goal is to stay alive, win battles, and make sure the world doesn't fall apart due to the rifts, Servants, and monsters.

Well, they got a lot on their hands at least!]

[onoir]

[ The fact that she thinks she owes him anything is enough for Diarmuid to curl his lips up in a thin smile and straighten up.

A beat, and he reaches out to fix a piece of loose hair sticking to Ai Thao's face, tucking it behind her ear. ]

Bold actions call for bold heroes. I'll make sure that you don't regret your choice to summon me.

1/2

[emotive]

[DAAAANNNNNGERRR ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNEEEE]

[emotive]

[NO, she is PERFECTLY FINE. NOT being CHARMED, nope NOT AT ALL!!! EFF YOU LOVE SPOT THING!!

Well, at the very least she nods and cross her arms.]

Let's go back and recoup for tonight then! I'll have to try harder next time!

[onoir]

[ THEY DON'T CALL HIM DIARMUID OF THE SHINING FACE FOR NOTHING...

There's a nod of deference, but a beat later, with some amount of humility: ]

A request, Master. [ pointing to that little gash on his side; it's bleeding only slightly, but it's a wound nevertheless. ] If you could heal this, I'd be in your debt.

[emotive]

Ahh!! [She looks fretful, almost forgetting that he got scratched.]

Of course, of course! I really have to try harder don't I?

[Her hand hovers the minor wound and with her mana and a simple healing spell, it's patched up in no time. When she's done, she looks towards where the rift was and notices something.]

The rift... Lancer, it's gone! [The ominous bleeding of energy and dark aura seems to have disappeared from the area as well.] Do you think it's because you defeated those Servants??

[onoir]

[ He'd feel badly about making her use prana if this weren't an expected exchange between Master and Servant. It would be patronizing if he handled her with kid gloves, after all.

At her observation, though, he lifts his head and moves towards the location in question, noticing that yes, that inky blackness is gone— strange, but a victory for them, nevertheless. ]

That could be the case. If so, then it looks like we have a set goal.

[ A confident tilt of his head. ]

Eliminate the rogue Servants, eliminate the threat.

[emotive]

I'm so relieved. I was certain it would stay in its place.

But you're right though! [She even makes the V for victory sign with one hand c:]

A victory for you!

[onoir]

[ A...h. He looks mildly surprised by that v sign, mostly because it takes him a moment to recognize it: the Grail conveniently fills in what he needs to know about what that gesture means.

And, well.

This time, he actually laughs out loud. ]

I ask, Master, that you refrain from giving me a big head.

[emotive]

Positive reinforcement, Lancer! I don't find anything wrong with that!

[And with that, she leads the way back to the foreigner's district. There's a skip in her step because so many things have happened and yet for the first time in a long while, there's something certain, something important, to aim for.

And she's met someone who truly was amazing, not only because of his strength, but now maybe she's made a friend? Was it too selfish to think that of him?

Ai Thao hoped it wasn't.]

☚☛

[Perhaps it was the leftover adrenaline from last night, but Ai Thao couldn't really sleep peacefully even if it was in her best interest to recover some lost energy. In spite of that, she finds herself, sitting up in bed at around 6 AM in the morning. She felt restless.

She doesn't call for Diarmuid, not quite knowing what he would do in his thinking quiet moments when dematerialized (although Thao kind of does wonder). Thao decides that if she's going to be awake this early, she might as well do the one exercise that Sensei gave her; a meditation of sorts.

The young woman goes into the kitchen and takes out the now, chilled coffee from yesterday. It was perfectly bittersweet, enough to wake up some of her senses as she takes a sip from it. In her other hand, she holds a very twisted and bent blade. Placing it on the table and seating herself across from it, she begins the exercise.

Mystic Eyes are activated. She stares at the bent blade, trying to make her distortions precise instead of broad.

This time, she wants to untwist it.]