Seeing Red [PMMM x LoR]
The Expectation For The Meaning Of Existence
New
- Location
- Earth
Yuma is calm like a pond, your tug causing only the faintest ripple. She slips her bindings with ease, now that the Hermit has to split her attention.
While you drag her support into being, Yuki built more distance. The Hermit tuts and follows, her staff elongating again.
"It's not like you to run away, old friend," she taunts jovially.
Yuki barely dodges by floating aside, but that gnarled wood bends at a right angle to hit her anyway. It stabs into her leg's stump, sending a spike of pain through Yuki. It mixes with the weariness and familiar anger, forming a cocktail of emotions.
She is not running away. She is waiting.
Tearing herself free of the staff with a splatter of fresh blood, Yuki tries to break it with her mallet. The Hermit's weapon retracts before her own connects.
"You already lost your hope," the Hermit needles, prodding at her own shortcomings. "That fleeting glimmer of purpose you found at the side of your seniors. But like all things, you left them behind without a second thought."
Yuki snarls. Even though she knows what her enemy does, it still works. Bile rises in her throat, her blood pumps harder and faster.
A moment later, deep forest green light shines by her side. A small hand grasps hers, transmitting a gentle wave of magic through Yuki's body.
All pain is washed away before the light can fade. Yuki's bruises heal, her sore muscles mend, the hole in her abdomen seals up, and her leg regrows from the stump above her knee.
When the Hermit can see her again, there are now two green magical girls. Both in pristine condition, and both glaring at her.
"Its normal to lose hope when things are hard," Yuma says decisively, her own staff in hand. "But as long as we live, we still have hope somewhere. Life only stops when we're dead, and things can get better as long as it goes."
Yuki steps in front of her friend, mallet at the ready. Seeing her completely restored makes the Hermit take an unconcious step back.
"I lost that hope," Yuki agrees, crimson eyes gleaming. "When I felt I was a prisoner to my nature after all. And now that I know I can change, I don't need it anymore. I always sought purpose for myself, when the only purpose I ever needed was to be with my friends."
Yuma nods excitedly. And although the Hermit tries to discourage them, Yuki takes off before the first word leaves her mouth.
Suddenly, her enemy is the one in peril. Yuki charges right at her, forcing the Hermit to fall back. Magical shields are smashed through with heavy strikes of the mallet, branches coming to life fail to hold her. And when the Hermit manages to clip Yuki's wrist, another pulse of Yuma's green magic heals the wound away in a heartbeat.
"I'm done with you," Yuki growls, each swing getting closer to hitting her enemy. "Leave. Me. Alone. Already!"
The Hermit chuckles as she dodges every swing, barely fast enough to evade them.
"You say you changed, but you're still the same," she taunts. "Even now you're trying your best to kill me."
Yuki slips up and takes another stab into the chest, then gets clobbered over the head as she rears back. Her reflexive counter smashes into the Hermit's arm; bone breaks under it, forcing her to switch her staff into her off-hand.
Her bad hand, the other woman uses to start weaving something. She takes her distance, carefully watching how Yuma heals Yuki's injuries. Azure light mixes with pink as new chains begin to form.
"This is different," Yuki says simply.
Then she vanishes, and the Hermit barely ducks in time to avoid a blow to the head. Yuki kicks her back and sends her rolling through the dirt.
"I'm not coming at you for revenge. I'm beating you down so you finally leave me alone."
The Hermit snarls and stabs her staff into the ground, pulsing magical power into it. The earth and roots rise up like waves, shaking the entire forest. Yuki flies over them, but she has to fall back and grab Yuma before the dirt can bury her.
Then she has to block the Hermit's staff with her body, lest it pierce straight through Yuma's Soul Gem. Blood trickles down from the wound, even if it vanishes in moments.
"Does the reason really matter, when the actions are the same?"
"Of course it does!" Yuma shouts back.
The Hermit chuckles, bombarding them with acorns transfigured into knives.
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions, little girl! You will learn the same in time!"
Just as she shouts those words, Yuki turns around. Yuma spreads herself as wide as possible, skewered by dozens of wickedly sharp blades. They pierce her body that feels no pain, one screeches across her Soul Gem but fails to scratch it. She acts as Yuki's shield now, surprising the Hermit.
With the time to focus, Yuki teleports again. This time with Yuma in her arms.
The Hermit grins victoriously. She turns around to where she can feel her enemies appear, her bad hand lashing out with the completed chain. It winds around both of Yuma's wrists, but fails to arrest her momentum.
In that same moment, a wooden staff smashes into her face, breaking her nose. It is followed by a pale green mallet that splinters her leg at the thigh.
She rears back in pain, falling to the ground with just one leg. A quick, almost instinctual tug on the chain has Yuma torn from existence. The girl barely manages to heal herself before she is dragged off.
But the damage is done, and they both know it.
"Ah, it seems you bested me today, old friend," the Hermit admits, jovial once again. Her tone is tailour-made to tick Yuki off.
Yuki stares down at her with furrowed brows. The hand holding her mallet twitches. She wordlessly stomps down on the Hermit's staff, breaking the implement before it can do more damage.
Viridian chains emerge from the earth, winding around each of her enemy's limbs.
"Go on, do it," the Hermit urges. "Just like those men and that woman not long ago. I can't defend myself, and you know you want to."
The worst part is that she is right. And that this is the one thing Yuki must not do. Not for any silly moral high ground, but for a very practical reason.
"Oriko will die if I kill you now. I know that as much as you do," Yuki says it out loud, her tone flat. She can almost feel Kirika starting to struggle against her bindings in the ether.
"And yet you will kill me," the Hermit taunts, smirking. "You can't escape your own nature, old friend."
Once again, she is right. Yuki still teeters on the edge. The grip around her mallet is white-knuckled, the subject of long and well-kept wrath at her mercy.
You quickly need someone to help her through this. But even though Kirika struggles, she is still bound tight.
[] Kirika, The Longing Quiet
[] Yuma, She Who Yet Lives
[] Homura, The Burning Heart
[] Ai, Midnight Of Purple
[] Kyoko, Hope In Her Heart
[] Mami, Of Unwavering Devotion
[] Nagisa, Herald Of Halcyon Days
[] Madoka, The One Reborn
-Yuma's disposition changes to "Friend"
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2mQxEtNgA0[/URL]
"My, this is a surprise. We never got the chance to speak, now did we?"
"I have spent far too much time gazing into your remains. You have received your answer, Carmen. Now begone."
"You aren't wrong. I guess I will be on my way, then. Good luck, Oriko."
"Thank you, and farewell. As for you, I'm not interested in whatever you may offer."
"Then it is fortunate that I come without any offers whatsoever. I have no critique to give your decision, for it is yours to make. I merely wished to see for myself what motivated this little one to reject her nature."
"You know Yuki?"
"Indeed, child. I spoke with her not long ago, and she developed further since last we met. This is her chrysalis, much as it is yours. The question that remains is whether she will spread wings by the end, or wither away."
"She will fly."
While you drag her support into being, Yuki built more distance. The Hermit tuts and follows, her staff elongating again.
"It's not like you to run away, old friend," she taunts jovially.
Yuki barely dodges by floating aside, but that gnarled wood bends at a right angle to hit her anyway. It stabs into her leg's stump, sending a spike of pain through Yuki. It mixes with the weariness and familiar anger, forming a cocktail of emotions.
She is not running away. She is waiting.
Tearing herself free of the staff with a splatter of fresh blood, Yuki tries to break it with her mallet. The Hermit's weapon retracts before her own connects.
"You already lost your hope," the Hermit needles, prodding at her own shortcomings. "That fleeting glimmer of purpose you found at the side of your seniors. But like all things, you left them behind without a second thought."
Yuki snarls. Even though she knows what her enemy does, it still works. Bile rises in her throat, her blood pumps harder and faster.
A moment later, deep forest green light shines by her side. A small hand grasps hers, transmitting a gentle wave of magic through Yuki's body.
All pain is washed away before the light can fade. Yuki's bruises heal, her sore muscles mend, the hole in her abdomen seals up, and her leg regrows from the stump above her knee.
When the Hermit can see her again, there are now two green magical girls. Both in pristine condition, and both glaring at her.
"Its normal to lose hope when things are hard," Yuma says decisively, her own staff in hand. "But as long as we live, we still have hope somewhere. Life only stops when we're dead, and things can get better as long as it goes."
Yuki steps in front of her friend, mallet at the ready. Seeing her completely restored makes the Hermit take an unconcious step back.
"I lost that hope," Yuki agrees, crimson eyes gleaming. "When I felt I was a prisoner to my nature after all. And now that I know I can change, I don't need it anymore. I always sought purpose for myself, when the only purpose I ever needed was to be with my friends."
Yuma nods excitedly. And although the Hermit tries to discourage them, Yuki takes off before the first word leaves her mouth.
Suddenly, her enemy is the one in peril. Yuki charges right at her, forcing the Hermit to fall back. Magical shields are smashed through with heavy strikes of the mallet, branches coming to life fail to hold her. And when the Hermit manages to clip Yuki's wrist, another pulse of Yuma's green magic heals the wound away in a heartbeat.
"I'm done with you," Yuki growls, each swing getting closer to hitting her enemy. "Leave. Me. Alone. Already!"
The Hermit chuckles as she dodges every swing, barely fast enough to evade them.
"You say you changed, but you're still the same," she taunts. "Even now you're trying your best to kill me."
Yuki slips up and takes another stab into the chest, then gets clobbered over the head as she rears back. Her reflexive counter smashes into the Hermit's arm; bone breaks under it, forcing her to switch her staff into her off-hand.
Her bad hand, the other woman uses to start weaving something. She takes her distance, carefully watching how Yuma heals Yuki's injuries. Azure light mixes with pink as new chains begin to form.
"This is different," Yuki says simply.
Then she vanishes, and the Hermit barely ducks in time to avoid a blow to the head. Yuki kicks her back and sends her rolling through the dirt.
"I'm not coming at you for revenge. I'm beating you down so you finally leave me alone."
The Hermit snarls and stabs her staff into the ground, pulsing magical power into it. The earth and roots rise up like waves, shaking the entire forest. Yuki flies over them, but she has to fall back and grab Yuma before the dirt can bury her.
Then she has to block the Hermit's staff with her body, lest it pierce straight through Yuma's Soul Gem. Blood trickles down from the wound, even if it vanishes in moments.
"Does the reason really matter, when the actions are the same?"
"Of course it does!" Yuma shouts back.
The Hermit chuckles, bombarding them with acorns transfigured into knives.
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions, little girl! You will learn the same in time!"
Just as she shouts those words, Yuki turns around. Yuma spreads herself as wide as possible, skewered by dozens of wickedly sharp blades. They pierce her body that feels no pain, one screeches across her Soul Gem but fails to scratch it. She acts as Yuki's shield now, surprising the Hermit.
With the time to focus, Yuki teleports again. This time with Yuma in her arms.
The Hermit grins victoriously. She turns around to where she can feel her enemies appear, her bad hand lashing out with the completed chain. It winds around both of Yuma's wrists, but fails to arrest her momentum.
In that same moment, a wooden staff smashes into her face, breaking her nose. It is followed by a pale green mallet that splinters her leg at the thigh.
She rears back in pain, falling to the ground with just one leg. A quick, almost instinctual tug on the chain has Yuma torn from existence. The girl barely manages to heal herself before she is dragged off.
But the damage is done, and they both know it.
"Ah, it seems you bested me today, old friend," the Hermit admits, jovial once again. Her tone is tailour-made to tick Yuki off.
Yuki stares down at her with furrowed brows. The hand holding her mallet twitches. She wordlessly stomps down on the Hermit's staff, breaking the implement before it can do more damage.
Viridian chains emerge from the earth, winding around each of her enemy's limbs.
"Go on, do it," the Hermit urges. "Just like those men and that woman not long ago. I can't defend myself, and you know you want to."
The worst part is that she is right. And that this is the one thing Yuki must not do. Not for any silly moral high ground, but for a very practical reason.
"Oriko will die if I kill you now. I know that as much as you do," Yuki says it out loud, her tone flat. She can almost feel Kirika starting to struggle against her bindings in the ether.
"And yet you will kill me," the Hermit taunts, smirking. "You can't escape your own nature, old friend."
Once again, she is right. Yuki still teeters on the edge. The grip around her mallet is white-knuckled, the subject of long and well-kept wrath at her mercy.
You quickly need someone to help her through this. But even though Kirika struggles, she is still bound tight.
[] Yuma, She Who Yet Lives
[] Homura, The Burning Heart
[] Kyoko, Hope In Her Heart
[] Mami, Of Unwavering Devotion
[] Nagisa, Herald Of Halcyon Days
[] Madoka, The One Reborn
-Yuma's disposition changes to "Friend"
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2mQxEtNgA0[/URL]
"My, this is a surprise. We never got the chance to speak, now did we?"
"I have spent far too much time gazing into your remains. You have received your answer, Carmen. Now begone."
"You aren't wrong. I guess I will be on my way, then. Good luck, Oriko."
"Thank you, and farewell. As for you, I'm not interested in whatever you may offer."
"Then it is fortunate that I come without any offers whatsoever. I have no critique to give your decision, for it is yours to make. I merely wished to see for myself what motivated this little one to reject her nature."
"You know Yuki?"
"Indeed, child. I spoke with her not long ago, and she developed further since last we met. This is her chrysalis, much as it is yours. The question that remains is whether she will spread wings by the end, or wither away."
"She will fly."
Norr
Misophist
- Location
- Any chair
The Hermit is that one toxic 'friend' you made once who keeps stalking you and poisons any new relationships you try to form and refuses to leave you alone because they don't have anything better to do. Stalker yandere basically.
The hermit cannot help but try and make everything look worse than it is, doesn't she?
Thank you, Yuma *so what if we are destined to become witches?* Chitose.
Toxic friends should be removed from your life.
Though, without using a mallet, or attacking them if at all possible, that is a special case when it comes to that.
Of course she would resort to shifting the blame, as if Yuki was the one responsible for the hermit putting her in a situation where there aren't many alternatives.
It does, at the very least it can give an explanation.
Brings a tear to my eye to see Oriko trust her friend that much.
Hmm, while she's not my first choice I think she still could say some things here, she does know how it feels to see a friend change into an enemy and she absolutely knows what it is to lose a friend and try again and again to have them live anyway without ever losing hope that one day, she will do it.
Nagisa is the one that I think has the least compatibility here, lacks the perspective to offer advice.
Plus, there is no certainty that we need to use every girl, this feels like a potential ending:
[x] Madoka, The One Reborn
[x] Madoka, The One Reborn
Nyarky's basically already put my thoughts into words.
Nyarky's basically already put my thoughts into words.
[X] Madoka, The One Reborn
Redsoff
[DETACHMENT]
- Location
- By [your] side
Yuki stands above her opponent, weapon in hand.
The Hermit lies at her feet, bound and chained.
It would be so easy to finish it all, but it is the one thing Yuki cannot, must not do. For the lives of the Hermit and of Oriko, her friend, our linked. And yet, even now her rage threatens to force her hand.
To save her friend she must learn patience.
To protect what is dear she must temper her emotions.
To achieve her goal she must never, ever give up.
There is one other so devoted to protection.
[X] Homura, The Burning Heart
Homura was weak.
She was not blessed with talent, her body was sickly and clumsy, her social skills nonexistent. As a Magical Girl, little changed. her weapon is useless in direct combat and her magic, while potent, cannot be utilized to its fullest potential by itself. Her disadvantages were numerous.
But that didn't matter.
She had someone to save, and that goal cannot be accomplished by her weak self.
So she threw herself into the crucible and forged herself into a warrior.
She clashed with thousands of relentless foes.
She fought in a thousand familiar battlefields.
She held a thousand weapons, beheld a thousand greetings, witnessed a thousand partings, suffered a thousand failures.
And although her heart has hardened, that molten core, that eternal flame lit in her soul is still ablaze. A fire that will endlessly burn for her.
And so she got to her feet.
And turned back the clock.
For the sake of those most dear to her, she changed. She grew. She became more than she was.
And if someone like small, shy, clumsy Homura can, then I think Yuki can to.
So temper your rage, steady your hand, and move towards the future with courage in your heart.
The Courage to Protect.
The Hermit lies at her feet, bound and chained.
It would be so easy to finish it all, but it is the one thing Yuki cannot, must not do. For the lives of the Hermit and of Oriko, her friend, our linked. And yet, even now her rage threatens to force her hand.
To save her friend she must learn patience.
To protect what is dear she must temper her emotions.
To achieve her goal she must never, ever give up.
There is one other so devoted to protection.
[X] Homura, The Burning Heart
Homura was weak.
She was not blessed with talent, her body was sickly and clumsy, her social skills nonexistent. As a Magical Girl, little changed. her weapon is useless in direct combat and her magic, while potent, cannot be utilized to its fullest potential by itself. Her disadvantages were numerous.
But that didn't matter.
She had someone to save, and that goal cannot be accomplished by her weak self.
So she threw herself into the crucible and forged herself into a warrior.
She clashed with thousands of relentless foes.
She fought in a thousand familiar battlefields.
She held a thousand weapons, beheld a thousand greetings, witnessed a thousand partings, suffered a thousand failures.
And although her heart has hardened, that molten core, that eternal flame lit in her soul is still ablaze. A fire that will endlessly burn for her.
And so she got to her feet.
And turned back the clock.
For the sake of those most dear to her, she changed. She grew. She became more than she was.
And if someone like small, shy, clumsy Homura can, then I think Yuki can to.
So temper your rage, steady your hand, and move towards the future with courage in your heart.
The Courage to Protect.
[X] Madoka, The One Reborn
- Location
- Who knows?
[X] Madoka, The One Reborn
Yeah I don't see the other two offering particularly much here
Yeah I don't see the other two offering particularly much here
[X] Nagisa, Herald Of Halcyon Days
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Dang Yuma is hardcore. Agree with Nyarky that bringing in Madoka feels like a potential end, but Redsoff sold me on their analysis.
In a meta sense, I'm sure we can make friends with Madoka and Nagisa outside of the Hermit's thunderdome if things don't pan out like we hope.
[X] Homura, The Burning Heart
[X] Madoka, The One Reborn
I could see either one of Madoka or Homura being a good call here, personally. And if there's one trait Madoka absolutely has, much to Homura's eternal annoyance at trying to make thing work out and have her not become a magical girl, It's the courage to protect.
I could see either one of Madoka or Homura being a good call here, personally. And if there's one trait Madoka absolutely has, much to Homura's eternal annoyance at trying to make thing work out and have her not become a magical girl, It's the courage to protect.
- Location
- Oregon
[X] Madoka, The One Reborn
I think the virtue Madoka will provide here is Facing the Fear, Breaking the Cycle.
I think the virtue Madoka will provide here is Facing the Fear, Breaking the Cycle.
CanIChangeMyName
Just a passing through rider fan, remember that!
- Location
- What are you a cop?
[X] Nagisa, Herald Of Halcyon Days
To be a contrarian whilst also making a vote I think would work out
To be a contrarian whilst also making a vote I think would work out
Redsoff
[DETACHMENT]
- Location
- By [your] side
Whoever's picked is gonna be the Courage to Protect.
Naron's doing them in order, and we got the Expectation for he Meaning of Existence last time.
I think that Madoka is better saved later. Have a proper finale and everything. We are not gonna resolve this now because we then we wouldn't need to choose any of our other friends anymore and that's just not happening.
It would be a waste of good storytelling. So she's still gonna be locked up until we go through all of our friends.
