How Valkyhn Lost His Life (insaney)

[Lunch Box]

Edit: Crap...I *once again* forgot to put who I'm fighting. Mods, if you would so kindly? This is a battle with meh and insaney.

He breathed deeply, as if he had never breathed in his life before. The smell of the fresh dew on the morning grass filled his nostrils and overwhelmed his senses. For those few moments, the man had entered an eternal bliss that nothing could ruin. As he opened his eyes, light flooded his senses, combining with the smell of the morning to calm him to an almost unbearable state of relaxation. The white adjusted to form shapes, and finally vibrant color. Never had he seen color so vibrant, so many hues and shades. His life truly had changed…

But for the better?

Unable to ponder the depths of his past, like so many times before, a slight falter, a snapping of a twig, brought him out of his state of lucidity and back into the world of reality. Quickly, he spun around at the sound, eyes darting, grasping every angle, every detail of his surroundings. His hands slowly rested upon the hilt of his sword, grasping it softly.

Nothing but the wind…

Content, but wary, he slowly turned back to his original position, eyes still darting about, though not as frantic. Then, slowly, he closed his eyes, listening. Seconds passed like minutes. The wind blew, leaves scuttled, trees swayed. Then, he opened his eyes with a sharp intake of breath. Immediately, he calmed himself, thinking.

But there was nothing to think about…

… … … …

Nights like this were when he felt the loneliest. Nothing to accompany him, save a spider, wrapped up in its web, suckling on its dinner, or an owl, hooting in the silence of the night. The clouds that blotted out the stars of the night sky that not only gave him, but the world light amidst the immense, endless darkness. The moon, new, recovering from its monthly cycle. A new entity that was building, unable to present itself to the world yet, slowly rebuilding itself like the regenerating tail of a lizard.

A faint wind had blown all day, and now that the darkness overcame the light, the wind grew sharper, colder, cutting deep into the body, refusing to relinquish its grip. But the coldness of the wind did not affect the body of this man. The body of this man had turned cold long ago, unable to feel any love or compassion any more. Or so he thought… Many a time he had tested this theory. And many a time, his consciousness, his morality, had failed him. Perhaps he truly had died, a soulless body trapped amongst the world of the living, void of any feeling, pleasure nor pain. All those he had loved had been killed. And the one whom he considered his equivalent, his rival, had surpassed him, defeated him, destroyed him. It was his fault. HIS, that the man had become so lifeless, so void of feeling. How the man longed to feel compassion, to feel happiness, hell, to even feel pain. But HE had taken it away. All away.

His thoughts drifted to earlier that day. The one that had stalked him in the forest, it was him. The man was sure of this. Perhaps, along with his humanity, the man had also lost his sanity.

Perhaps he had gone insane…Or maybe he hadn’t…

And his thoughts drifted to the battle that changed his life.

No, not changed…ended.

… … … …

The man was participating in his favorite pastime as of late: sitting amidst a great, tall tree, staring at the stars glimmering through the atmosphere, his sword across his lap. He stroked the silk of the hilt. Soft, but cold. His mind drifted in every direction but one: His past. And even when it did, he shook the memories out, like a dog shaking out the water in its fur.

The summer breeze brought with it a smell of smoke. The man turned to the origin of the smell to see a glimmer of red in the distance of the immense forest, slowly growing, accompanied by black smoke. Alarmed, the man quickly jumped off the tree, landing with a falter. He widened his legs, granting him balance, and saving him from a fall on his face. He sprinted off towards the wildfire. If one were to look just a few seconds later, they would have seen a wolf disappearing out of sight. A shimmering magnificent blue wolf.

He was close now, only about two hundred yards away. On he galloped, not stopping to gain a gulp of air. Fluidly, he dodged trees, avoided roots that stuck out of the ground, smelling his surroundings. At first, nothing but the smoke, and then, a faint sense of human. Wary grew inside him. Had a human started the fire? Or was it trapped? As the smell grew larger, more evident, he realized it wasn’t human. The stench triggered a thought. The man stopped in the middle of his tracks, skidding a few feet to a stop. He changed, standing up on two legs, gripping his sword like it was the only thing keeping him alive. Little did he know, it would be the only thing that kept him alive.

The smell of the monster was coming closer, fast. He had experienced it before. But now, he was prepared for it. The monster appeared.

“Valkyhn, what a pleasant surprise.”

Valkyhn stared at the figure, cloaked in the shadows. “Rain…” He drew his sword. “Did you do this, vampire?”

“No…not a vampire…”

[insaney]

“Pitiful demon hunter…”

The creature lifted up its arm and fired a long stream of flames out of the palm. The trees around him withered with the heat surrounding the stream. The ones that were unfortunate enough to be in the line of fire were obliterated almost completely, leaving behind ashes, fragile pieces of evidence of their former existence.

“…Running into this forest will not save you from Hell’s fire.”

There was a black blur followed by another stream of fire.

“Ahahaha!” the creature laughed, “Run, run, run!”

Another blur, another blast. The dark clad person had dodged every bit of the fire-streams with using only a fraction of his speed. Getting in close was not a problem, but attacking was. The heat surrounding the demon created a devastating shield; getting up close and personal would mean burning yourself to ashes.

The person looked down at his right hand. The glove around it had almost fully burned away, leaving scorched skin that was already beginning to heal. Despite the wound, he remained calm, sitting on a branch, hiding in the canopy’s shadow. He leaned back and tilted his head to the side a little, allowing the in demon to come into his gold eye’s view.

It was almost impossible to describe the demon behind the wall of heat; it distorted its form and burned all outside forces when they tried to enter. He kept on watching the creature as it opened fire again. Gold eyes widened as a grin swept over his face.

That was all he needed. He saw it, the concentration of heat moved from all around him to the front when he fired the blast, leaving his back side almost completely open. A gold-bladed katana found its way through the demon’s back, it twisted and lifted, cutting through the flesh until it was raised so high that it left the demon’s head.

It had no time to react. No time to scream.

Rain’s skin was burning away again. The handle of the blade scorched, forcing him to make it dissipate into the air, along with the embers of the flames. His deed done, the Grim Angel shoved his healing hand into his pocket, looking down at the remains as they withered away.

“You’ll be at home in Hell.” He chuckled, wiping the sweat of his face and walking away from the burning forest. There was nothing more he could do here; half the forest was on fire, even someone like Rain has his limits.

He exhaled, stepping through and over the flames like if they were just bush and grass under his feet. Rain raised his eyes as he heard the clicking of a sword inside its sheath, meaning someone was ready to draw. He saw a man, a familiar person, standing with his hand ready at his sword’s handle.

Oh! I know this guy!

“Valkyhn,” Rain smiled, “What a pleasant surprise.”

“Rain…did you do this, vampire?” He replied, pulling his sword from his sheath in a threatening manner.

What…what is he doing?

“No…not a vampire…” Rain responded, ignoring the threat of the blade, “and I didn’t cause the fire either…”

He shrugged and calmly walked passed Valkyhn, not really willing to explain the situation without being asked about it first. The man hadn’t lowered his blade all this time; he kept it high, the tip aimed at Rain’s face. The Grim Angel kept strolling along into the shadows cast by the flames, before he completely disappeared into the darkness, Rain raised one hand out of his pocket and waved without turning around.

“Later.”


OoC: I’m sorry, but you’ll have to give him a reason to fight Valkyhn xD.

[Lunch Box]

“DON’T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME!!!”

Rain didn’t stop. No falter, no glance. He had now almost completely disappeared into the shadows. Human eyes would have been unable to see him; Valkyhn stared at him, the blaze of the fire unaffecting. Rain raised his hand, shrugging Valkyhn off. “Hey!” Valkyhn ran towards Rain, dodging the flames surrounding. Reaching him, he spun him around, grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulled him close to his face, sword inches from his neck. “Don’t disrespect me!”

“Why? What are you gonna do?” And he was gone. Suddenly, a sword pressed against Valkyhn’s neck, and Rain’s voice spoke softly into to his ear. “And don’t you ever grab me.”

Valkyhn gripped his sword tightly, eyes slanted to the right, staring at the blade ready to slice his neck open. Silently and subtly he shifted his feet to gain balance, hoping that Rain wouldn’t notice. “Okay.” He swallowed awkwardly causing the sword to cut thinly into his flesh. “I’m…sorry…? But, you’re kinda in my bubble.” And Valkyhn skillfully and quickly slipped his sword up, shoving it between Rain’s sword and Valkyhn’s shoulder, pushing it away far enough to duck down. Without missing a beat, he twisted around, swinging his sword directly at Rain’s face.

Rain disappeared. Expecting this, Valkyhn immediately stopped, and swung back around, hoping for Rain to be there. As his sword swung through the air where he thought Rain would be, his eyes widened in disbelief. Taking a second to react, he rolled forward, spinning around to face…nothing. Valkyhn stood up slowly, wildly searching the area. Sweat, not from the fire surrounding him, dripped down his face, into his eyes; he could taste it. He gripped his sword tightly in front of him with both his hands. His heart pounded in his chest. He searched for Rain, but came up with nothing but flames. Before, he had been able to see him, barely, but now…

Suddenly, two red blurs flew towards Valkyhn out from the midst of the fire, hitting him square in the chest with such immense force, he was sent flying, turning, rolling, flipping in the air, bouncing on the ground before finally hitting a tree and coming to a stop. Coughing out blood, he slowly pushed himself up to his knees, grabbing his sword. Standing up, he staggered, staring at two red, origami-like butterflies fluttering about. He stared at them in wonder.

And suddenly pain shot through his right shoulder as a sword protruded from his shoulder blade covered in blood. Blood flew out of Valkyhn’s mouth as he screamed, dropping back down to his knees. Rain pulled the sword out of Valkyhn, raising it to strike the final blow. “Nice try.” And Rain plunged his sword down.

Valkyhn raised his sword in unison, defiantly. And perhaps it was the pain creating an illusion, but as the swords touched and Valkyhn fought for his life, a distinct sound penetrated the area.

Bells.

[insaney]

OoC: Just so you know, if the bells in your post is referring to Rain’s weapon-clashing-sounding-like-bells-tolling-thing, it only happens when Grim Angels’ weapons clash Valkhyn isn’t a Grim Angel.

BiC:

Simple self defense on Rain’s part and lacking defense on Valkyhn’s side allowed the humming sword to pierce the werewolf’s shoulder. The blade was plunged and then pulled out so swiftly that it gave the illusion that the shoulder was pierced by a breath of sharp air. A small amount of blood squirted out of the wound, forcefully pulled out by the miniature vacuum that the swift slash had created.

Valkyhn stumbled backwards, obviously caught off guard by the suddenness of the blow. His offense, however, did not falter, as he raised his sword once more, lunging forward. Using his one right hand which grasped Night, he lazily deflected the blow and intentionally failed to exploit the opening that was left afterward.

The werewolf recovered and swung again, diagonally this time. Rain ducked the blade and moved slightly to the side, backhanding Valkyhn in the process, sending him stumbling over the entangling roots that carpeted the forest floor. He swung again, but Night met the sword swiftly, deflecting the attack with a vibrant spark.

“Why do you insist on attacking me?” The Grim Angel asked as Valkhyn’s blade tried--in vain--once more. Valkhyn refused to answer, choosing instead to lunge forward again, making a quick thrust with the blade.

Rain spun around it and raised his sword, flipping it around so the dull side would do the damage.

Ryukansen!

“If you wish to use a thrust attack on me,” the dull edge slammed into the back of Valkyhn’s head, sending him face first into the ground, “use a technique that surpasses that of the *Gatotsu!”

The man on the ground, turned himself over and backed away, dragging himself along the ground.

“Now would you like to answer the question?”


*Gatotsu: Fang Thrust