deercountry | July Catch-All

[There's enough time lost to recovering from her injuries that Willow is growing restless. She's still furious with Chara, but there's little she can do about that at the moment, but it's fine. She can bide her time on that one.

In the meantime, her focus has shifted to a familiar feeling of helplessness back in a cold February morning in the driving snow. She remembers now. She remembers the terror she felt when she realized he was far too close for her to escape. She remembers she tried to rip and tear at him with sharp canines, and only managing to grab his clothes before his hands found her neck.

She's going to make sure Maul experiences that same sense of fear and impending doom he caused in her. And far more if she can manage it.

The locator spell comes back to her easily. It's a bit like riding a bike once she gets started, and between the cottage and the Ritual Gig, it's not like she doesn't have access to plenty of supplies.

The park. He's at the park. It's not even far.

She calls out a 'let's go' to Faith, and heads for the door without further explanation. She doesn't want to risk him leaving, and then having to go track him down like she had to do to Warren. It was inconvenient to say the least, and only served to drive her rage.

It's only early in the evening when they get to the park, still light, but only just, and the thunderclouds looming make it seem darker than it ought to be.

Willow spots the the pair sparring in the grass, and it should hardly come as a shock that Savage is here as well, even though some small part of her wishes he wasn't. Whatever. It's fine.

She raises a hand towards the pair and a murmured spell sends a blast of energy through the air to knock the pair apart from each other. She doesn't look much like herself, with her hair and eyes both black instead of red and green, and there's none of her usual gentleness in her expression, cold and determined as she looks to Savage.]

It's not you we're here for. You run.

[Savage was getting used to the blood bond layered on top of his Force bond with his brother. He appreciated knowing what his brother was feeling at any given moment, and it only increased their silent time together as body language, the Force and now a blood bond was such clear communication that it was almost pointless to talk days on end.

They were out in the nearby park for their routine sparring session with one another. He was investing more time to learning the other Lightsaber forms under Maul's guidance, though at this point, he had put the saberstaff away for some good old fashioned wrestling. Unaware that they were being hunted - people tended to leave them alone based on reputation alone.

He turned his head when he spotted Willow and an associate show up on the scene, at first thinking little of her appearance. He didn't even drop his fighting stance, expecting she would pass by until it seemed that her direction was right to them. Something was wrong.

The Force was emitted from her was off, waves of dark energy reaching his senses, and the disturbance in the Force was enough to bring him up to standing. The next clue was her black hair and eyes, noticed just before she blasted them both with magic. He caught himself from tumbling too far, keeping to his feet from years of practice being thrown around.

He snorted like a bull when she made it clear he wasn't the target. Affronted feelings passed to his brother as he moved closer to stand close to his elder brother.]

I'm exactly where I need to be, so maybe you should move along. My brother is off-limits.

[Faith looks at him, unimpressed. She remembers Willow mentioning this guy offhand once, as a friend. She figures Willow probably doesn't want this guy dead. It's her prerogative, really. She has complicated feelings at being called here in the first place, being dragged along for Willow's revenge. She owes it to her, to see this through, and Willow's right. She has a right to her revenge.

She takes her empathy, the softer side of her, her kindness and her ability to recognize that the situation is complicated, that she owes Maul, that she'd do the same thing in his shoes three times over - she takes all of that and crushes it.

No mercy.

She steps forward, her crossbow slung over her back and her dagger at her hip.]

You should really listen to her, man. [But if he doesn't, well. She rushes forward to kick Savage Oppress in the chest with all of the force of a speeding car.]

Edited 2022-07-05 04:40 (UTC)

[There was something wrong with Willow, Maul could see that clearly enough and feel it in the Force. At a guess, he thought she'd been corrupted although this was a much more subtle case than the usual fangs, horns, claws, and tails most people seemed to sport as their condition got worse.

He scowled when he saw Faith. He didn't particularly like the woman and their relationship, as most in Trench were with Maul, was rather complicated. But he had tried to help her when she'd been corrupted. This was how she repaid him? Hmph, why did good people bother with this whole 'helping people' thing again?

When Faith came towards Savage, Maul reached out with the Force and instantly flung Faith back towards Willow. There was clear fury in his voice as he pulled out his lightsaber, something that radiated down his link with Savage.]

Touch my brother and I will end you.

[He glanced over towards Savage and silently nodded his head, glancing towards the two women. Willow was Savage's friend (and some friend, to be so willing to attack him like this) and so Maul didn't want him to have to fight her. He'd take Willow on and Savage could handle Faith. Not that things couldn't be switched up in a moment but that was the initial battleplan.]

Well okay. Don't say I didn't warn you.

[It's said lightly to Savage, as though the whole thing is a game, or a joke. It's not. Giving Savage the opportunity to abandon the fight was a courtesy, thanks to the friendship that had grown between them over the last several months, but he had made it clear in the past where his loyalties lie, and she can't really fault him for trying to defend his brother.

Whatever. It's fine. She'll just kill them both.]

Ignis Incende!

[Maul himself may very well recognize the spell from their very first in person encounter as the ground beneath their feet bursts into flame. Unfortunately, the spell comes just as he flings Faith backwards with the Force, giving her neither time to get out of the way, nor to summon a spell to catch her.]

[Savage smirked when Faith came at him but was flung aside because of his brother, and there was a wash of gratitude down their bond. He was not one to shy away from a fight, least of all one brought to him and Maul. Even those he had developed a sort of alliance with wouldn't be spared that kind of aggression.

His eyes found Maul, and he nodded his head in understanding of the plan. He had just began to move to engage Faith when the ground became fire, which forced him to pick up the pace and finally just settle into a full-on charge out of the fire. Anger and anticipation churned in him.

He pointed at Faith, making it clear that she was his target. Then he gripped the Force around where she was to pick her up and fling her into a tree.]

[Faith is prepared to be blasted back, she's prepared to land on her feet with all of the agility of a cat. What she's not prepared for is to be launched straight into Willow, which knocks her landing off-kilter, but still not enough for her to lose her balance completely. She rises to her feet quickly, drawing a rifle off her shoulder.

Coldblood infused bullets. Explosive. That should knock them off guard enough to interrupt them. Their force powers are a pain in the ass to fight against. She doesn't approach, not before picking Willow up off the floor and up to her feet. She's not rough, but she's not gentle or patient about it.

One thing she is, though, is pissed. If any of them catch a glimpse of her teeth, they'll see glints of more than what's natural, sharp and vampiric. And the veins around her now shining golden eyes darken. Her rage strengthens her.

So when she steps up to meet Savage's challenge and she's yanked into a tree, she raises her body and kicks, causing the tree to bend with an unholy ripping sound.]

Takin' all the fun out of this, ugly. [She sneers, before raising her gun and firing it three times in quick succession with a hollow and sizzling crackle, aimed at the chest. She didn't come here wanting to kill someone uninvolved, but her blood is heating up. And eventually, they all just start to look like monsters.]

Edited 2022-07-08 19:42 (UTC)

[Maul indeed recognized the spell when the ground beneath his feet burst into flames. So, it was going to be that kind of fight, was it? He made a Force-infused leap out of the flames, landing with them now quite a ways behind him and Willow now closer in front of him. He pulled out his saberstaff and lit up one end.

He had one ear listening to the sound of Savage battle Faith. He wasn't too concerned. Savage's greatest strength had always been his size. If he could just get close enough to lay a hand on the Slayer, she'd be done for. Until then, he'd have to work with what he could do.

As for Maul, he wanted to end this quickly. It wasn't a battle he'd wanted and he wasn't looking to prolong it. Magic wasn't something he was used to fighting against and he already knew he had a distinct weakness to it. So he focused in on Willow, ready to slice her to pieces with his lightsaber and end things fast.]

[Willow grins as Maul leaps towards her. It's exactly what she expected him to do, and it's difficult to be intimidated at the sight of his saberstaff, when she had expected and planned for him to draw his weapon too.]

Vozdukh, Priyevratis v Kulak!

[A sudden surge of air strikes at Maul, as though it's formed a fist all of its own with a force strong enough to knock him back towards the flames, and hopefully enough to make him lose his grip on his weapon.]

[Savage continued his charge, taking the three successive bullets fired to the chest with barely a break in his stride. His armour absorbed most of the energy, though he would most certainly bruise from the experience. It only fueled his rage further as he bared his own sharper teeth.

As he closed the distance, he pulled his saberstaff and ignited one end. He moved to cleave through the spot where Faith was standing and firing from. His blow would be strong enough to cut right through the half-torn up tree as well.]

So predictable.

[He's a serious opponent. Her own experience in fighting Maul and watching him fight beforehand hasn't fully prepared her for this. There's a chance, however slight, that she'll lose this fight.

It's incredible.

She grins, her teeth sharpened to a razor point, and leaps past him as he goes to strike. She pushes all her momentum into a kick directed straight into the side of his knee, with all of the force of a moving train. It's enough to break bone, but she knows it's not enough to put him down for the count.

She dodges pre-emptively before he attacks, but it won't be enough to escape without a scratch.]

Edited 2022-07-23 05:29 (UTC)

[Maul ended up blasted backwards, knocked right back towards the flames he'd come from with the force of the spell hitting him right on. His saberstaff went flying and he didn't see where it had landed.

But a Sith Lord who could connect to the Force was never completely unarmed. He'd used the parts of a hallway once to massacre an entire platoon of clones when he'd been supremely pissed off. Once he was back on his feet, he looked around the park and settled for ripping a few branches off the nearby trees, chucking them back towards Willow with the speed of spears being thrown.]

[There's not enough time for her to raise a barrier to protect herself from the branches, not really. Besides, that same spell had proved itself unreliable in Deerington, and she's not confident the powers in this world won't interfere here as well. Instead Willow calls forth a spell to thicken the air around her to slow them down. Another that Maul is likely already familiar with.]

Thicken!

[It's at least enough to slow down the branches, to give her time to dive out of the way, and avoid being skewered in the attempt. She remains still on the ground, feigning injury while she reaches out to try to locate the lightsaber magically. Quietly, still unmoving, she raises it into the air, and with a snap-hiss, it ignites.]

July Catch-All

2 - A Walk In The Park (Closed to Faith, Maul, and Savage)

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