deercountry | [Open] 🚬 July Flames

This isn't hunting, this is just mass burning. You realize that people use these woods, right? Hunt in them, gather things from them?

[He's not sure why he's lecturing Dabi - he highly suspects that the other doesn't care and won't listen to him.]

Stop burning everything down - the forest hasn't done anything wrong.

[He rolls his shoulders and dips a hand inside his pocket, ready to switch equipment in a blink if he has to.]

[dabi slowly turns his head to face the other man more fully, eyes narrowing a bit. there's no real quarrel between him and nara'a, but he's also killed people for less than this.]

Dunno if ya aware, but most of the creatures that come into town to kill and eat us come from the woods.

[he gestures towards the woods around them, callous but pointed.]

It's about time someone brought that kinda fear to them instead. See what it's like to be hunted down and killed.

I'm aware, but there's also animals that we kill and eat for food.

[He's not happy about the monsters in the forest either, but to disturb someone's hunting grounds... it makes him angry. Traditions, years of experience have taught him the importance of hunting grounds and what to do when you cross into someone else's.]

[The answer is 'don't fuck with it'. Which is what Dabi's doing right now. His ears flick backwards and his tail lashes angrily. He can control his anger, but Dabi's crossed a line. The other probably doesn't care but also doesn't know he crossed a line, which is what's keeping him calm. For now.]

Also I don't think those monsters are capable of fear. They're too far gone. So you're just destroying the forest for pointless reasons.

[blind wandering will do that. dabi looks around at the forest on fire, eyes narrowed slightly. true, he hadn't intended to get feed caught up in all of this, but when you're out in the forest, it's not the easiest to keep track of your location. ironic, since dabi himself is adverse to fish and thus kind of relies on the non-fish food sources for eating.

blue flames curl around his fingers once or twice before he lifts his hand and aims it at the other man. "don't do this." "you're wrong." "stop it." "why'd you do that?" everyone's always so quick to say those kinds of words to him. his entire life often feels like one solid blur of "stop it's" thrown at his face.]

Nah. I told ya my reason. Ya just don't like it.

[though he is a callous bastard, normally dabi's too self-preserving to burn a bridge he kind of prefers to keep around. nara'a being one of them. but thanks to everything happening right now...]

Maybe next time, they shouldn't kidnap people who fight back.

[He watches the other's hand raising towards him, well aware of how hot those flames are. He grips one of his job stones and his outfit changes. He moves a hand towards the scythe on his back, ready to fight if needed.]

[It's not going to stop the fire that's there now, but maybe it'll stop it from spreading...]

You're damn right I don't like it. I'm giving you one last chance, Dabi. Stop this right now.

[He's aware that commanding Dabi is probably not a good idea. He's more likely to retaliate than comply. But he has to give the other a chance. He has to. He wants to believe in the goodness of people... but he's abundantly aware that he's putting himself in danger.]

[He's too tired to care.]

[there's... a few things here at work. while it's true the evil of the month's plaguing affects plenty of people, dabi is certainly not someone who needs much changing to be a villainous monster. so it's hard to say if this is actually affecting him or not. and because of that question, his rational thought remains. meaning that he's actively conscious of screwing around with something he actually wants to keep around. both nara'a and the feed. which, if this guy's right, is nearby. selfishly, there's a strong desire to not destroy either of those two resources. he's a villain; he's not stupid.

for several long seconds, there's a stand off. a callous disregard versus selfish preservation. but unlike the heroes who find themselves swallowed by the allure and pressure of evil, someone who's already gone over the villainy side and snapped a long time ago finds it far easier to summon up his pride and tell the influence to fuck off.

the flames around dabi's hands flare up for a second and then burst apart in a shallow splash, canceled.]

Ya lucky I like chicken.

[He watches Dabi carefully, ready to react to any movement that's hostile. The flames flaring up get him to grab his scythe, but he relaxes and doesn't draw it as the flames die down. He breathes a sigh of relief, letting his shoulders fall and hand return to his side.]

[He's the hero, he has to be. He doesn't need the push from this place to do something heroic. He doesn't mind if he gets hurt, but he's glad that he doesn't have to in this case.]

Thank you.

[He doesn't say 'I owe you one', because Dabi will take that literally. He sighs and watches the other just as carefully as before.]

Do you want some tea?

[He's nearby, so why not offer? He might as well.]

[it's kinda tempting to sucker punch him... and by "punch" he means to completely ignite the entire area, nara'a included. but dabi's also aware of the man's armor, and the fact the flames from before when he burned the demon off his back hadn't done as much damage as he'd thought. getting into a fight with someone who's not only capable of pushing through his fire but also has the edge on him in physical strength + close range combat weapon = not something he's keen on kicking off.

but he'll use the preference for food to skulk behind rather than his own self-preservation. not about to give the man the satisfaction. it's easier to resist evil influences when you're a selfish, evil bastard already.

anyways... good call on the "owe you" part cause he definitely would've. that said, dabi would probably "owe him one" for not coming at him with that scythe out of nowhere.

that said, the villain hikes a thumb over his shoulder towards the flames still burning in the forest.]

Ya might wanna put that out if you're gonna.

[see, small problem is, dabi can't. his fire's wild.]

[He sighs and nods. He should have figured... he'll have to cut through some things to make a fire break, if he can. Or use earth magic to smother it, that's a decent idea. Still, he's glad Dabi's stopped for the moment.]

Right. We can have tea another time.

[He trudges towards Dabi at an angle, aiming to get past him. He doesn't care that he's showing his back to the other guy - he's got good reflexes. And he trusts Dabi, to a degree - trusts him to be smart enough to not want his own ass kicked. He pushes through some of the foliage, glancing at the other sidelong as he passes by.]

If you're looking for stuff to burn and be helpful, there's a lot of monsters out at the outpost. They could use a hand, if you're willing to give one.

[blame his mother for not passing along the right genes. though dabi could assist if he wanted to try doing some control burning, that's hardly what he specializes in. his flames are quick to spread and due to their sheer heat and power, aren't stopped or smothered as easily as other fires.

perhaps in petulance, perhaps in resignation, dabi slips his hnds into his pockets while nara'a moves past him. glancing over his shoulder at the guy's back, the same thought comes up... but he turns and heads after him. oy, oy. he's not so easy to ass kick without losing a foot or two to reach his ass. ~~go for the head~~]

The outpost?

[no, he's heard of it. scouted the network and knows that strange guy with a big hat and pale skin was talking about setting up something further out in the wilds. but he wants to play dumb and see what nara'a can or will tell him about it. and he does follow along, half to watch the man work (study him) and half to keep an eye out for his own fire.

guess he can be somewhat helpful, point out if something looks like it's about to branch off into worse territory so nara'a can catch it quickly.]

Yeah. We went about three days out past Feed and the other farms. It's an old, run-down church that we put a lantern by. The monsters are pretty rough out there, and they need people to fight them off while others are reinforcing the building.

[He might as well try to get the other to be productive. He steps towards the raging flames and considers how best to proceed. If only he had his black mage job stone... but red mage will have to do. He swaps back to his previous outfit, taking the magic focus off of his belt and unsheathing his rapier. He focuses, brings the two together, and... releases.]

[A large amount of stone crashes down on some of the flames, instantly followed by another set of stone. The flames underneath go out and he sighs. This is going to take a while...]

What's so important out there ya needed a lantern by? Plannin on startin a new part of town?

[another church. hmph, then again, a lot of the architecture in this place was decidedly western from what he's seen. wasn't like a lot of eastern temples and modern malls or business towers were hanging around.

dabi isn't below sidling into other people's groups if he feels there's an advantage to doing so. he joined up with the league of villains back home because they were the best augment to his own plans and the ones who had the most promise to go against the tide of the hero society.

a white brow arches at the sudden wardrobe change, but by now has clocked that as being nara'a changing his skills. it's not just a clothing switch. still no word on getting one of those stones for himself, but who knows. weird shit shows up here all the time. the rapier reminds him of the demon. how about not cutting open your stomach this time, nara'a...

rocks? dabi tenses at the sudden crashing as stones fall from above and smother the flames. yeah, that much debris will certain put out the fire. if he's got more to do. ~~(probably won't be too long before other trenchians and sleepers show up to combat the blaze = ooc note.)~~]

Not really, more like planning more trips out there to see what's beyond Trench. There's got to be more - there's a road that goes out that way, after all.

[He'll probably be fine mana-wise, as long as he doesn't have to raise anyone back from near-death. He casts it again, and another time instantly - Dabi will have time to note that the first cast takes time while the second doesn't seem to take much concentration at all.]

We're trying to see if we can find any signs of recent life other than monsters out there. If there's more people, they might know more about this world.

[Not like he's exhausted his sources for information in Trench, but it's always useful to see if they can find more out there. There's nothing but monsters so far, but that doesn't mean that's all that's there.]

The monsters have to be living off of something out there. Maybe each other, but maybe other people.

So they're making an outpost to stop on the way while explorin further.

[not exactly a stronghold at first, but it's going to turn into it. isn't that how history happens? you stake a place and hold fast to it, then slowly things around it begin to develop as people get settled and decide to stay.

no one's gonna be out here dead in the forest, unless nara'a's planning on reviving whatever beasts end up getting caught in dabi's flames. granted, he hasn't set as much on fire here as he has in other areas, so that's lucky. he notes the lack of time spent on the second casting. like warming up a fire; once it's going, it's easier to produce more heat than when first kindling.]

And the people who can fly? No one's ever asked them to go scout ahead?

[granted, there are winged beasts out there as well ~~fucking butterflies~~ and dabi certainly hasn't volunteered his services to go aerial searching beyond the current borders. then again, since death isn't exactly permanent here, it's not a big deal...]

Likely each other. The Trench locales are simply easier food than other Beasts. And they congregate.

[ooc: would you like to fight a beast out here? i'll drive.]

Exactly.

[He tilts his head at the question. People that can fly?]

I wasn't aware that there were people who could fly here. I haven't seen anyone who can, or I would have asked.

[There must be a reason that there haven't been scouts out that far. It's an obvious missed opportunity... he'll have to ask Manabu. He's not sure who else he'd ask.]

Probably. But there's always a chance... and I don't know if beasts breed or if they have to come from people. I haven't been here long enough to know.

And at the very least, if we can find more things out there we might be able to tell what happened to this place.

[ooc; Sounds fun!]

[good to know he landed something right. dabi quirks a brow at the question.]

I know a few who can. Comes from their own world. Surprised ya can't; you're some magic wizard, right?

[still going with that thought process. as for the scouts, it's probably the logical concept of "go into that forest and you don't come out again" that keeps people from venturing into what's usually certain death.]

No clue. Think it's mostly shit that got corrupted. Used to think it was just people, but apparently animals too.

[he has zero thoughts on what might've happened to trench. doesn't particularly care, unless it has something to do with getting them back home.]

[He snorts a little bit. 'Magic wizard'...]

Unfortunately that one's outside of my skill set. I can jump pretty high, but true flight's not something I can do.

[It'd be fun, but he doesn't want to get too greedy.]

Animals too... poor things.

[He frowns as he thinks of them, but shakes it off. Right, right. Topic at hand.]

I've been called a bit of a nerd for my interest in ancient things... but it's come in handy more than a few times for me in the past.

[prove him wrong, with your magic costume changing and conjuring rocks out of nowhere.]

Depends on how ya wanna define "true" flight.

[because jumping pretty high/far is one kind of "flight" if you're gonna accept propulsion-powered locomotion as "true" flight compared to a sheer lack of gravity and utterly free aerial movement.]

Those idiots in the Sanctuary are gonna wanna save those Beasts too.

[obviously doesn't see eye to eye with this new sect of hunters. no agreement with them.]

Speakin of ancient things, did ya find anything interestin down in the caves last month?

[He would but he left his dragoon job stone at home.]

I suppose that's true. I've already got a lot I can do. I don't really mind - at home I can fly with the aid of other devices or creatures, like a chocobo. Which is like... imagine a giant chicken and paint it yellow, and that's close enough.

[Much smarter than a chicken though. Thankfully.]

I know they are. And while I agree that they should be saved if possible, I don't think all of them can be. And if they've been beasts for a very long time... they may not know how to be otherwise.

[He shakes his head a bit.]

Not really. Though I haven't looked in all of them yet. Why, is there something in particular you want me to check out?

A giant yellow chicken...

[that's not all too hard to imagine, though he can't really see the whole riding aspect. ostrich... and even that's hard to picture in his head. do people really do that? yeah, gonna focus on something else now.]

Nah. It's too dangerous to try and save them. Too much effort and resources. Best to take 'em out before they do worse.

[regardless of the length of time. there's always going to be more beasts. this place is full of them. and the sleepers will just come back once they're dead. if the beasts could be stopped so easily, they wouldn't have the problem they do now.]

If ya find any lunar orbs or weird tools, I'd be interested in takin a look at those. But a lotta the caves have been scavenged already. Ya might be wastin ya time down there now.

Mm. We'll have to agree to disagree on that one. I don't think it's too dangerous to try to save people... but then again someone like me would say that.

[He's well aware of his reputation as a hero at home. He's also well aware of why that label gets thrown around when talking about him.]

Yeah? Still might be worth a look... do you have interesting stuff you can trade for that sort of thing?

Heh, if only disagreein was all that'd result in.

[but it won't. disagreement leads to disdain which leads to the eventual clash. they won't learn until it's made a glowing example that they can't look away from. but... that's for another time.]

Yeah. What kinda interestin stuff ya lookin for?

[there were some other things he found down there in those caves, but those are things he's keeping.

dabi glances to the side, a slight frown coming to his expression.]

Oy...

[somethin's out there.]

Mm.

[He hopes that's all that will result. He's not ready for a huge clash to break out in Trench. He's still getting a feel for the place, for the people who are around.]

Interesting books, mostly. I'm not really in need of much, so I'm only really looking for things to add to my research habit -

[He hesitates, having heard... something in the distance. And it's approaching. He's not sure what it is, but he readies himself for a fight.]

[nah, he thinks it'll be a while before anything comes to a head. it also depends on how far and hard the sanctuary starts to push for things to change. that's something he keeps an eye on quietly. while he doesn't exactly have a problem with what the sanctuary stands for, it's when people start to call other "wrong" or "bad" for doing it another way that begins to spawn problems. and dabi's waiting for the sanctuary to step over that line...]

Come back to that.

[can't say he has much of the greatest reading materials, but he's got a store of them. that said, dabi turns his attention to the side. black flames crawl up the outside of his leg before peeling off as a large black wolf emerges from his body, glowing blue eyes and blue flames dripping from its mouth making it meld in and stand out among the mostly-smothered flames around them.]

Ya wanna take this one?

[asking nara'a because if dabi fights, well...]

[He nods and draws his blade, waiting for whatever it is to come crashing out. His own omen appears, a lesser panda sniffing ahead and trying to determine what it is. He can't seem to figure it out, but Nara'a steps forward, nodding to Dabi. Yeah, he can take this one.]

[There's a crashing sound, and something that looks like a mutated panther leaps out of the trees towards the pair. Nara'a ducks and concentrates, a blast of razor-sharp air whirling towards the creature. He follows it up with lightning, scorching the beast's hide. He follows it by darting in to slash at it, his blade glowing with vermilion energy, backflipping to land where he started, ready for the thing to attack.]

Back up and get ready to dodge.

[His usual warm tone turns cold as he snaps out the order. Not that he expects Dabi to follow, but he has to make the attempt anyway.]

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ngl, if this was anywhere but feed, he wouldn't have...

dabi... pls...

he just wants to burn up beasts, what's wrong with that?

many things... dabi needs a new hobby.

he has... a few. but burning beasts is the current one. thanks event.

try chess, dabi. or checkers.

which one's more like shogi?

... chess? i think???

he could probably be convinced to learn chess...

i bed nara'a knows chess or something simlilar. the nerd.

if they can't find a board, probably can make one.

can't be that hard...

better than trying to do playing cards on toilet paper squares...

honey no...

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