Plot Thread 2.2: Footfalls Revisted (THE TRUTH)

[The Other]

The Other eyed his prey with a looming desire, building with each step of the rampaging creature's wrathful charge. His body tingled at the anticipation of the creature's attack, when all such feelings died in an eruption of snow and pale blue light.

He cast his gaze upon the red head who had unleashed the ball of energy that had upset the tyrant's stampede, and his eyes were at once cold and filled with hate. "You, what pathetic gesture of human stupidity is it that you inflict upon me now? It is one thing for you mortals to battle alongside me, but to act in such a way that renders neither harm nor death..." He looked to the beast, beating its flabby chest in petulant anger, it's rage and power gone with Andy's interference.

Shaking his head he shot the boy a look of contempt. "To deny me that thrill, to offer me your aid" The word was bile in his mouth, and he spat it out at Andy, "as though I need it, is inexcusable." The Other swung his arm out and caught the foe's head within his grasp, it's massive arms lunging and bashing away at the Other's grip in vain. "Perhaps you need to be taught a lesson so as you shan't make that mistake again." With a half hearted huff the Other pitched the creature towards the one he'd seen held closely, ever so tenderly, by Andy. To the surprise of at least one, the massive bloated creature was now a raging projectile of limbs and mass heading towards Jasmine, all while the Other gave Andy the same cold hateful stare.

[Andy Jammer]

"SHINKU HADOKEN!"

A beam of blue energy shot out and blasted aside Other's makeshift flying projectiles away from Jasmine. Sending whats left of the creature backwards and out and into pieces before it even got close to her, Andy dusted his hands as flecks of blue energy brushed off him.

"Good team work, I think so don't you?" he moved himself closer to Jasmine and spoke.

"Dios spoke something before he vanished, he said something about Albersato." he frowned, "I don't know what exactly is there...but seeing as leads are a bit on the down low, Albersato may be one to look into."

[glitters]

The creature as massive as it was flung at Jasmine caught her by surprise, she saw The Other pick it up but hadn't expected it to be thrown at her for obvious reasons.
Though as startling as it was, she had a spell built up to release on it. It proved useless as when the creature came close and she opened her palms, throwing her arms towards it and a blue blast of light shot out Andy had already gotten in and obliterated the monster. Jasmine's heart leaped as she watched her spell throw itself through empty space and explode through the wall, showering the group with splinters of debris and she realized she had that monster. She had it! She had yet another moment when she was prepared enough for it and here was Andy again, the sweetheart he was, leaping in to save her from her own competence.

And there he stood blathering about teamwork. It was unusual for Jasmine, but somehow she'd realized she wasn't useless, she wasn't just the girlie sidekick...she was a competent mage.

"You go to Alberisato. I'm not just a healer, I'm not your damsel in distress you need to babysit and save all the time," she snapped, turning on her heel and pointing an angry finger at The Other, "and if YOU do anything again like that to me, I'll make sure you end up like THAT!"

she gestured to the crater in the wall then as she stormed past both of them on her way out the door in a huff.

[Andy Jammer]

Andy blinked, looking at her and looking at the Other before shrugging. Women, never could tell when they were done yelling at you or not...

Regardless he found himself giving chase again, moving to her and in front of her.

"Jasmine...look I am sorry, its..." he paused and frowned, "Its been a long time okay I keep...I keep forgetting that I am not the only who is getting stronger everyday. Its just...when I saw the Other attack I panicked."

He put his hands in his pockets, "I put up a sarcastic front...but thats all I got, sarcasm as a last resort to anger and fear. All I kept thinking about is what would happen to you if he attacked so I...reacted."

He let out a growl, "Damnit I am not...I am not good at this stuff, this relationship stuff...I keep...I didn't have a lot of close friends growing up Jas I...the only friend I had on Earth died and even then I don't..."

This was the hardest part for him to admit, "I don't know what a relationship is...I don't know how this is supposed to work out, I don't know what I am doing, the only thing I feel like I am good at is fighting and...that part is not something I like. I feel like all I do is fight and fight, being with you...being around you I feel like I am capable of more, being more than that."

He sighed, "Damn I sidetracked, lemme pull myself back...I am sorry all right? I panicked and I didn't think before I moved."

[Kato Shin]

I watched them go at it from a corner, sighing and refusing to get involved, but my companion....

She shimmered into view and stalked over to Jasmine.

"Look. I don't know what your problem is," she said, "but you've got a guy who cares enough to protect you. Yeah, you can protect yourself, but if you were fighting alongside another girl mage, and that girl mage shot her spell a tiny bit faster than you and skewered the monster and saved you before you had to use yours, would you yell at her? If it were a girl warrior? A guy warrior who wasn't your guy? Shades of grey but important ones. Stop being a little drama queen and complaining because some guy didn't kowtow to your womanly pride if you're not going to kowtow to his manly pride. Honestly." She rolled her eyes, then looked to Andy.

"Don't get the wrong idea. I don't like you any more than you like me. But your relationship drama's getting in the way of our mission. Unless you want to tell me your drama is more important than my drama, I suggest we move on."

[glitters]

Jasmine balled up her fists as Andy stepped in front of her, she didn't want him to confront her, she just wanted to leave. Hearing his pleas softened her however. She didn't know how she was honestly supposed to feel. She knew he wanted to protect her, she knew he would, she knew she meant the world to him and she couldn't ask for anything better. It was true, she was happy, she loved him.
Yet at the same time he was hindering her own growth and it seemed to be something she failed to realize until now...no, their traveling together like this, the adventuring wasn't actually hurting their relationship, was it? Andy acknowledged it, though. He acknowledged her want to hone her own skills, her abilities to look after herself. There had to be a balance somewhere, she knew it. It was just another bump in the road, that's all. Like when she first learned how to use her magic offensively.

She let out a sigh, her eyes soft as she looked up into Andy's. Stay or go? She didn't want to leave him on this mission alone, someone had to look after him...
Maybe that was the problem. Maybe it was working both ways, both of them being too watchful over each other and not just one side. Oh dear...

"Andy..." Jasmine spoke, trying to figure out how to best word her thoughts as she was trying to settle in exactly what they even were to begin with. That was when Kato's woman thing broke in and as soon as Jasmine found herself calmed down she was riled back up again, and enough that her first thought was to reach out and slap her across the face. However Jasmine took a sharp breath and let it out slowly as she turned her attention to the overly-opinionated woman and spoke as sweetly and politely as she so often did, impressively!

"Look," Jasmine started much the same way the other woman did, "I don't know who you are. I'd like to think that in that respect, you'd be so kind to just stay out of it. I mean not to inconvenience anyone or cause uncomfortable feelings, which is why I'm willing to leave."

She straightened her shoulders and spoke proudly, telling herself she was the bigger person to not worthlessly pick at the insults slung at her earlier about her being a 'drama queen'.

"I am Jasmine Loque, a twilight mage. I'm expected to meet certain requirements in my apprenticeship, these seemingly unimportant instances in our battles being some of them. So now you know enough about me, ma'am, next time you give me your opinion unasked I'll be a little more willing to listen."

'And that's all she knows about me. Enough. How rude...how terrible this is...'

"Just give me a few moments, Andy," Jasmine threw in shortly afterwards and made to move away from the group, she needed a little air and some thinking time.



((shit Miri I looked through Shin's profile and I can't find or I'm stupid and can't see his 'woman thing' I called it, sorry for lack of/wrong description and no name! ; ))

[Kato Shin]

((Bast is traveling with Shin; Sorry, reference to previous thread, don't mind me. She's kind of a biiiitch, sorry if there were any hard feelings or confusion.))

[Andy Jammer]

Andy watched from going from a chance to getting her back from now blown to hell.

Thanks to a person who he 'affectionately' called Bast the Bitch. He whirled around her when she was gone.

"Before you even speak and say you did this 'for the group' or 'that she was annoying' let me remind you are a murderer, for the life of me I do not know why I haven't taken you to a jail cell and no by the way it's not your 'I had a change of heart' speech. But let me make this clear, unless you want that to change real quick: back the hell off."

He frowned for a moment, forcing himself to say, "I suppose I should at least be sort of touched you did cover me, but sadly those feelings are over weighed by everything else that just happened. So, instead of being a fight picker why don't you get yourself prepared to move to Alberisato."

[Monthu]

"Actually... Um... She's a thief, I'm the assassin who kills people..."

Monthu waved sheepishly from behind Bast.

"Oh! And I'm ready to go..." He scratched the back of his head with a short chuckle.

[Kato Shin]

"Alberisato, huh?" I muttered, pulling my furs around me. "At least it'll be warmer there."

"That's the.... kingdom of plants or something?" Bast asked, ignoring Andy and moving closer to Monthu.

"Yeah," I said. "It's also on the other side of the world from here."

"Everywhere's on the other side of the world from here," I heard her mutter to herself.

[The Other]

"You, you braying worm of a boy!" The Other stammered, left struggling for words after seeing the boy so easily annihilate the thrown beast with a single attack. "You stupid, cawing monkey! That is what you possess within you, and you choose to dance like a fairy with your pathetic toy of steel? What good are you?" He had watched Andy battle in at least two separate fights since their first encounter, and to see him so idly toss out a fatal blow never before used left the Other stunned. It was all he could do to grasp at random insults as he pointed accusingly at Andy, all the while still bitter that his plan to rile up the boy had so easily been quashed.

Standing mere inches away from Andy he snarled, a deep, gruff noise that masked his confusion towards him. "I came along on this little venture because I thought seeing you mortals fight for your lives would be enjoyable. Now I find out that you aren't even bothering to give it your all. Is anybody else not giving it their all? Come forward you miserable whelps!" The Other shouted out to the party that stood before him. "Fine, if that's how you want to play, I can see that you've all grown too dependant on me. No longer shall I bother taking part in your battles boy, not till I see that you fight like your life depends on it." With a huff he gave a snooty look, and turned his nose up and away from Andy, crossing his arms defiantly and saying nothing more.

[Monthu]

"At least I'll be more in my element there... I can climb trees and stuff. Easier to do recon, which would be fun, given it's why I'm here in the first place." He slung the string of his bow over his shoulder and twisted his belt slightly, so that his knife was easier to reach in one easy motion, the comforting shape of the weapon digging into him slightly. "I swear!" He continued, double-checking nothing was missing. "If I don't get at least a week off after this, I'm gonna' show 'Tami my war face. And by that, I mean cower in a corner when he turns me down." He smirked as he checked the focus on his monocular before turning to Bast and Shin with a shrug.

"God knows, I deserve a damn holiday. I've transitioned from one world to a completely different one and I haven't even had a chance to enjoy the sights yet!" He gave a false sigh. He glanced across at The Other.

"If it makes you feel any better, big... Creepy... Shadow... Thing… I'm giving 100%."

[Andy Jammer]

Andy turned to the Other and shook his head, "This is coming from...."

Suddenly he stopped as if he just realized something, "I...I did kill that thing, but earlier I had so much trouble..."

He knew he felt different, ever since he woke up from that bandaged person's attack, but he couldn't put a finger on what made him feel so different. But as Other pointed out...he was able to kill a creature he had trouble fighting with one blast...something was going on, something different...all the while he could hear the voice in his head speak again.

You carry the spirit of Duo inside you...

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