Mila Devian and Kisoro Collaborative Post
((OOC: Kisoro's speach is in orange while Mila's speach is in red. Their direct thoughts are italicized and in their respective colors))
Mila stopped, her blade held out to the side near the ground where it ended up at the finish of her swing. It felt like hours as the energy crashed toward the man, damaging the Zero-space buildings on either side. At first his face had an interested look, but it quickly shifted to panic. Just when Mila was sure he wouldn't be able to dodge, the man suddenly turned to ash. His cuffs clattered to the ground with his clothing, and Mila immediately became suspicious. Understandably, the man was alarmed. "What'd you do that for? I didn't do anything to you." She sighed, calming herself, and gave a small chuckle. "Sorry about that. I was chasing something else and you happened to have a similar feel." Her attack had sliced his clothing, but as he began to reform from the ash cloud, Mila noticed he seemed to be otherwise unharmed. His eyes began glowing red, and she wondered just what kind of creature he was, perhaps some kind of dust or ash monster, and why he had been handcuffed. He soon realized who she was, however, and began trying to defend himself. "Oh, you must be an undead exorcist, am I right? In that case let me assure you, I'm a good monster, I don't hurt people, you don't need to worry about me if that's why you swung your sword at me."
"A good monster, huh?" she replied, her nose wrinkling as she caught the strong odor of garbage emanating from the man. "Unless you were after that shadow spirit, if that's the case you'll never catch him that way. I know how you can catch him though." As he spoke, Mila sighed again and ran her hand over her blade, returning it to its normal appearance. She sheathed it, but that didn't mean she wasn't ready to fight or defend at a moment's notice. "I was indeed after that one. You are right, I got too worked up to think straight, so sorry for the hassle. Hope I didn't scare you too bad," she teased with a wry grin. [color= #B24700]"I wouldn't mind some advice. That bastard is rather tricky to pin down, and he has already killed a few humans. Well, whatcha got, Dusty?"[/color] she said with an impatient, but subtly teasing tone.
Dusty, I suppose that's an accurate enough nickname. Kisoro thought to himself. "Well, the best way to trap a shadow spirit like that is to lure it in, that way you don't have to chase it." Kisoro stopped speaking mid thought. His smoke and ash began to form over his clothing and the pants lifted into the air, the smoke filling them. Then all the smoke and ash was suddenly replaced, a man now stood there wearing only a pair of pants. He reached down and picked up the two pieces of the shirt. "Great, now I don't even have a shirt. Oh well, I'll make due." then looking at the woman he continued to speak. "By the way, my name is Kisoro, just so you know from whom you are receiving advice. Now, as I was saying, the best way to catch this thing is to lure it, and I just so happen to know a spell that will do just that." A smile formed on Kisoro's face as he spoke. Making sure to pause just long enough to emphasize that he was vital to the plan's success, Kisoro went on speaking. "I can cast a spell that will make a person seem as though they are terrified, at least as far as a shadow spirit can tell. The spell causes the person to emit the same energy or aura that a person emits when they are scared, they won't look any different to a normal human, but a shadow spirit will sense that from miles away, no way he can resist it. If I cast that on you, the spirit will come right to you and then you can trap him in Zero-space. Then BOOM! You do to him what you did to my shirt." Kisoro looked at the woman with as friendly a smile as he could muster, waiting to hear if she would approve of his plan. It was kind of odd to be helping an undead exorcist catch a monster within a few minutes of coming to this side of the Boundary, but Kisoro wasn't about to pass up the opportunity for some fun, plus the bonus of getting on an undead exorcist's good side.
As Kisoro spoke, Mila got a thoughtful look on her face the fingers of one hand resting on her lips and the other hand on her hip. It wasn't so much that she was deeply pondering his plan as wondering what she would do about him. The plan itself seemed good, but there was nothing to stop him from running off as soon as she trapped the shadow spirit in Zero-space. She still had a few questions she wanted to ask him, and there wasn't time now. She needed to make sure that he would still be there after she dealt with the shadow. As soon as Kisoro finished, she had an idea. "Well, Dusty," she said, sticking to the nickname she gave him, "sounds pretty good, but I have a slight... adjustment."
Several minutes later, everything was ready for the shadow spirit. On Mila's insistence, they had moved to a small, wooded park, one of many in the area, to prevent the spirit from getting suspicious. There was not much to the small park, just a dirt path through the trees, leading to a wide clearing. Mila quickly climbed one of the trees overlooking the clearing, high enough to see anything coming, but low enough to jump to the ground without injuring herself. Once she got herself settled and readied her blade, she turned her attention to the figure standing in the clearing at the end of the dirt path.
Kisoro found himself standing in a park during the middle of the night waiting for a deadly shadow spirit to come attack him. Why'd I let her talk me into this? He thought to himself. The exorcist was hiding nearby, ready to jump into action as soon the spirit showed itself. They had been waiting for the better part of an hour and Kisoro was really hoping that the exorcist was a patient person. Then it came, Kisoro could sense the spirit nearby, it's lust for fear keeping it from concealing itself. Kisoro hoped the exorcist, who had not yet deemed him worthy of knowing her name, was able to sense the spirit as well, otherwise it might not end well for Kisoro. The spirit moved closer and closer, creeping its way through the shadows of the trees. Not yet, not yet, wait for him to get closer. Kisoro thought to himself, as if his sheer will would help the exorcist with her timing. Closer, closer, thirty meters... twenty... Okay, now it's up to the exorcist. He thought, trying not to smile with excitement. It was so invigorating being trapped in his fragile human form.
Nearly an hour had passed, with Mila straining her senses for any sign of the spirit. Kisoro seemed almost anxious as he stood alone in the dark, emitting the fearful aura so strongly even Mila could sense a bit of it. If they weren't careful, he could end up attracting more than just the shadow spirit. For now, however, Mila decided to just let him be. She could deal with whatever came. She shifted her stance a bit, hoping her muscles wouldn't get too stiff while they waited. Suddenly, a bit of motion in the trees attracted her attention, and she finally felt the presence they had been waiting for. When she turned to look at Kisoro, she realized he sensed it too. She smiled at him, though he couldn't see her from where he stood, and readied herself to make the Zero-space spell as soon as the spirit was close enough. It inched forward at an irritatingly slow pace, but Mila stayed as still as stone, no longer as worked up as she had gotten in the alley, but still filled with a deadly determination. Finally, the Shadow came to the edge of the trees, within striking distance. A wry grin once again appeared on Mila's face, and she quickly and quietly launched the Zero-space spell as the creature was occupied with trying to get Kisoro trapped in one of his nightmares.
It did not even notice her until she transformed her blade into undead mode and jumped down. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she swung her blade up until it was directly above her head, releasing an energy wave at the monster and forcing it to dodge away from Kisoro. Kisoro, whether he liked it or not, was trapped in the Zero-space with them. The shadow spirit tried to meld with the shadows and get away, but he could not fully hide here. Quickly realizing this, the spirit began racing through the shadows trying to get behind Mila and attack. Mila would not permit it to move freely, constantly throwing energy waves directly in front of it so it had to change course in order to dodge. At the same time, the spirit was being drawn closer. Finally, it jumped from the shadows at Mila, gaining a more solid form and extending long sharp tentacles to impale her. Mila did not seem to have enough time to dodge.
At the last possible instant, she jumped and flipped upside down faster than the eye could track. The shadowed tentacles shot past where she had been, and she swung her blade down at them. The blade, edged by a layer of razor sharp energy sliced through the tentacles easily as if there was nothing there. The creature screamed its agony, retracting its injured tentacles and stumbling back as if to escape. Before it could even turn, Mila was dashing toward it. She swiped at it twice, making an' X' of energy that it could not entirely dodge. While it was distracted by this attack, she covered the remaining space between them and slashed up through the shadow. It screamed shrilly before another horizontal strike beheaded it. Before it could fall to the ground, the entire creature seemed to shatter into several shards. Mila casually covered her eyes with an arm to protect them, and a single, long shard stuck in her arm. She ignored it as she searched the ground with her eyes for a moment. She quickly found what she was looking for, a small, knobby, blackened rock that had flecks of light green over the surface. She deposited it in a pocket with a look of satisfaction before she realized the shard was still in her arm. She carelessly pulled it out, putting it and some of the other largest shards in a bag that she pulled from her other pocket. She would be able to sell them and the soul stone for a good price.
She calmly walked over to Kisoro, her arm starting to trail blood, and casually said, "Well, that is done. Thanks for the help. Oh, by the way, you can call me Mila. Mila Devian." She extended a hand. Her introduction out of the way, she released the Zero-space spell before continuing. "Seems like I owe you a shirt."
Kisoro watched the whole fight with excitement, his eyes as wide open as they could be. The exorcist moved with a practiced precision that made it clear her skills were well developed. With each swing of her sword, Kisoro found himself liking the exorcist more and more. Then the exorcist delivered the final blow, and the shadow spirit was no more. Kisoro jumped up and down and clapped in excitement. "That was great! Nice to meet you Mila!" He said as he reached out his own hand and took hers, shaking it before letting it go. "So, uh, I don't mean to sound desperate or anything, but I'm not from around here, I don't have any money, I don't have a place to stay and I'm kinda desperate. So what do you say?" Kisoro said with a sheepish smile on his face.
"In other words, not to sound desperate, but you are?" Mila said, raising an eyebrow as she considered him. She still wasn't sure of Kisoro and she knew nothing of his past or of his intentions. Still, she figured he did not seem to be dangerous, or like any kind of trickster spirit. If she agreed, she would still be able to keep an eye on him to make sure of his character as well. If he was what he seemed, then there would be no issue. If not, she would rather have him close so she could deal with him. It simply would not do if she let him go and he ended up rampaging and murdering throughout the city. "Fine," she said lightly, "I do happen to have an empty guest room. But, I do want to make one thing clear." She stepped toward his side as if to walk around him, but instead stopped and laid a hand on his bare shoulder. When she spoke again, her voice had lost all its teasing qualities. Instead, her tone was serious and threatening, with an edge of malice. "Cross me, wreak havoc, or harm any human, and I will destroy you without hesitation."
She let her hand drop to her sword hilt as she walked around him, quickly disappearing into the trees without waiting for him to follow.
Kisoro swallowed with an audible gulp as Mila made her threat. "D-don't worry about me, I won't cause you any trouble." He stuttered before turning to follow Mila through the forest. I think this has been a good start to my life on this side of the Boundary. And i think I may have just made a friend. Kisoro thought as the two of them moved through the shadows.
It was the following evening and Mila was taking Kisoro to a bar called the UE. Earlier that day, Mila had bought Kisoro a new shirt, which he had seemed a little overly excited about in Mila's opinion. "So what's so special about this bar?" Kisoro asked as they walked, his curiosity prompting him to ask even though they were almost there.
"You will see soon enough. We're here." She walked in confidently, taking in the few people sitting around. It was still too early for the bar to have many, but Lillith was already back from school. She and Roth seemed to be working on some sort of homework, and Mila strolled over, obviously comfortable in this setting. "Whatcha working on? Oh, and this is Kisoro, by the way."
Kisoro followed Mila into the UE. He stopped just inside the door and looked around, taking in all the sights. When he heard his name, he hurried toward where Mila was standing. As he was walking he tripped over his own feet and fell to the floor face first. Rolling onto his back, he looked up at the others."Hi, nice to meet you." He said with a sheepish grin.