The Heretic Anthem

Subject: The Heretic Anthem Thu Aug 20, 2009 2:39 am

Shou had to visit Yon once more, although, there would probably be many times after that next too. The other was the first human who had offered help in training him, directly aiding with his quests for strength. They came to the clearing once more that was outside of the Lower Commons, the seperating field of grass between civilization and the Western Forest, the home of spirits of all kinds, light and dark, lesser and high, chaotic and peaceful.
Coming to this same place, Shou was expecting that another spar had been in order. He sighed, knowing this meant an inevitable loss, but Yon's attention seemed towards the forest, a smile on the human's lips. "Come on, Shou. Tonight, we're going in there. That'll be our training." The oni looked passed Yon and towards the wood, slipping his hands into his pockets as he took a couple of steps forward to stand beside Yon, both of their gazes set the same way.
"I don't know.. I've gone in there a few times, I get outmatched pretty easily." The oni forced himself to say, but he was in no way backing out. Shou looked to Yon, "Have you done this before?"
"Heh. Yeah. All the time. Don't worry, you're in good hands, man. This is a regular training for me, and with you by my side it'll be easier than the norm. You just need to see what a worthy opponent looks like." Yon began to step across the field then, and Shou followed, the excitement within the oni suddenly flaring up as he would return to the forest that housed such dangers. The sensation of his life on the line.. it would be relived again and again, he knew, so long as he faced threats greater than him. Shou was beginning to like that feeling.
When they passed from the meadow and into the wood, the sense of sight was nearly lost to them, braving the darkness that fell through the forest at night. Yon was leading the way into the place, whistling out loud and walking with a bounce in his step. Shou almost felt foolish for having used discretion and entered the forest quietly. He supposed he was just paranoid and Yon, having been here so many times before, hardly thought of things like fear and precautions.
"Hm. That sucks. Usually a demon would have hit us by now." Yon pointed out, a little disappointed. "Guess the hunt ain't at its best tonight." Shou recognized the terminology, hunt. Just hearing the line itself made him a little more confident in himself, growing into the role of the hunter and not the weak. That's right.. tonight he would be the strong.
Yon came to a stop in his trek and Shou ended up bumping into the man's back, unable to have seen the halt in movement in the dark. "Eh?" Both of them questioned, Shou taking a step back and Yon looking away. "Your sensing's bad. Especially if you can't feel what's coming." The human stated, fingers clenching down around his staff. "Get ready for a fight." Shou blinked, oblivious to any of these things that Yon was mentioning. There was a stillness in the air, each second that passed seemed almost elongated.
Just when Shou had thought Yon mistaken in his claim, the human suddenly tensed, then cursed. "Jump!" He shouted, leaping into the air, making the distance to a branch of a tree. Shou was a little slow in following, and by the time he kicked off the ground, tendrils bursted from the dirt, five of them, whipping out towards them. Discs of fire came under his feet and he thrusted himself upward into another jump, moving away from the threat of the things. They sunk back into the earth, the human stepping out and looking to the spot suspisciously. "We won't see something like this too often." He stated out loud to Shou, remembering that this was still a training run and to help the oni get used to battle conditions.
It bursted fully from the ground now, its body a massive hulk that ripped through the earth, tearing the trees out from their roots, a large dirt hole where the spot had been and where the demon emerged. Shou had never seen an oni as such before. Its main form of a body was almost nothing but a giant ball, brown in skin color, dirty as the very origins it came from were. It had no eyes but a giant mouth, dual large rows of jagged-set teeth. Yon had moved away from the tree as it was destroyed, moving to an area less affected by the thing's appearance. "Ugly thing, ain't it? Now we get to fight!" Yon shouted, and Shou nodded in response.
"Infernal flames, swirl and contain!" The oni yelled from his post in the skies, thrusting his hand downwards towards the creature from the earth. Fire bursted into being around it, whirling about the oni and increasing the temperatures of the flare as he held the spell, concentrating his magical abilities. The heat caused the thing to shriek out and Yon dashed out towards the thing. "Divine powers that be, cast your holy magic upon this filth!" The human demanded, thrusting both hands forward. The area underneath the beast and the raging flames began to glow, a circle of light forming beneath it. Suddenly, it blasted upwards with spiritual energy, engulfing the thing and Shou's spell both within its destructive explosion.
The oni's shriek pierced through the night, and while Shou was in awe of Yon's technique, both of the fighters knew it wasn't finished. Boulders of dirt shot outwards from the damaged area, as the flames died away and the light of Yon's spiritual technique faded. One of them blasted straight into Shou, knocking the demon off from his post in the air and causing him to lose some elevation before catching himself with a disc of fire. Yon had deterred the boulder with his staff and looked forward to see the demon with several of its tentacles blasted off, but agitated to a far more than pissed off state. More boulders shout out, and Shou lightly swore to himself before his body began to glow.
The disadvantage of having to cast chants with his spells was beginning to irritate him, seeing this spirit in front of him having no trouble with its magics. To become the lion, after all, was to embrace his true self, his stronger form. Being a human only served to be more convenient in other sorts of situations. In battle, the lion would submerge.
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Subject: Re: The Heretic Anthem Thu Aug 20, 2009 2:40 am

The light around his form began to die down and color took over his form, a red-maned lion that reared its head back and roared out into the sky upon its appearance. Yon glanced its way, "Ah, so that's what his spirit form looks like." The human briefly observed before chuckling briefly and speaking out loud to Shou. "Oh? Finally taking the situation seriously, then, huh? Do your best.. for this demon to have survived against such an attack.. it could pose as something of a problem. It's wounded, though, so we're getting somewhere."
Yon used his staff again to swat away another boulder that came his way, though he didn't seem to dare chance using the weapon in close quarters. The demon they were fighting was large, and its large tendrils would probably be enough to swat at him and take him down with so simple of a hit. The human was surprised the thing was still alive and well enough to fight. The technique he had used had used a lot of his energy. The human leapt to the side as another rock was headed his way, studying the demon ahead more intently.
Shou, in his lion form now, began to run across the sky freely, circling the large area around the earth-based oni. Opening its great maw, it shot out fyreballs towards the thing, sometimes meeting boulders head on in the air and sometimes striking the demon, causing it to shriek loudly with each explosive contact. Shou's constant movements kept it safe from the boulders that were chucked his way, always remaining one step ahead of its projectory path. "Damnit.." The lion grumbled to itself, glaring the other's way with its narrow yellow eyes. "This is getting me nowhere." Shou could only watch his lesser techniques pick away at the oni slowly, but he was counting moreso on Yon to exterminate the demon himself.
The human would answer that call, "Holy bindings, seize this demon!" He clasped both hands together tightly, a line of light shooting out towards the thing and bringing a cease to its movements and an end to the boulders that flew out at them. Yon then dashed from his position, moving forward and pushing off the ground with his staff to send him above the demon, the best vantage point for this kind of technique. He thrusted both of his hands forwards, cards suddenly coming forth from his sleeve and falling down towards the oni, coating its body all over with the things. The human would land on the other side of the thing, a smirk coming to his face as he suddenly spun around and thrusted his hand outwards to it. Each and every tag exploded suddenly.
The multiple explosions renewed the shrieks of the night, blasting off the remaining tendrils of the beast, while explosions continued to rip apart its body in its entirety. The wails of the thing died away as its large body fell to the ground, slamming against the dirt. The lion oni that was Shou began to glow once more while running, descending towards the ground. By the time he came to land in front of Yon, he was in his human form once more.
"Great work." Shou stated, looking towards the remaints of the shredded body of what had once been an oni. "Those techniques really are effective against my kind, huh?"
Yon snickered. "That's an understatement." The demon could only nod his understanding, though, marveled by the strength that had been demonstrated in front of him this night. He had gotten in some training on his fire manipulating abilities, but other than that, his eyes had been studying Yon. The spiritual arts held a great deal of magic to them. "Well. You wanna keep going through the forests, then? More demons to be hunted." The human offered, a grin coming to his expression. Shou paused for a moment, then matched that grin with one of his own. "Very well. It sounds like a good deal of fun."
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Subject: Re: The Heretic Anthem Thu Aug 20, 2009 2:43 am

1,704 Wods.

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Subject: Re: The Heretic Anthem Thu Sep 03, 2009 11:00 pm

Updated