deercountry | November Catch-All (Mostly Closed)

Entry tags:

November Catch-All (Mostly Closed)

Who: Childe and any plotted threads/CR
What: November Event, and possibly more later
When: November!
Where: All around Trench

Content Warnings: Torture, kidnapping, blood/organ harvesting, pretty much all the cw"s from the event

[This post is for all the threads I've got planned for this month- if you'd like to plot something out you can reach me at

bucketsofbeans or just PM me!]

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"Ngh-!"

The chains fly past him, hoping to capture Lumine as he's pushed away. Unfortunately, he isn't given a chance to make sure she was alright for the moment, because two of the zealots descend on him to distract Childe from their prize. They'd heard about him- he'd foiled a few of their plans to kidnap other Sleepers the last few days or so. Killed off a few of their compatriots. Well, they'll make him pay while also taking the girl.

One lifts a hand, palm sparkling with the intent to electrocute the Harbinger into paralysis. His blades manifest, blocking that attack while the other zealot rounds him to aim their powers at him- or specifically, at the ground beneath his feet. Childe feels his footing slip, and all of a sudden he's hitting the ground while a zealot laughs wickedly. He rolls away with only a breadth of room to spare- a second attack slams into the ground next to him, electricity fraying off every which way.

The third zealot makes its way towards Lumine, summoning more chains to wrap her up in. Two chains zip through the air, this time from either side of her, trying to grab her before either of them can get far.

Lumine can clearly see Childe's at a disadvantage from the corner of her eyes, brought to bay by the two zealots, and almost gets caught off guard by the chains when she reacts to him nearly getting electrocuted. She manages to get them twisted around her sword, letting the blade disappear into a flurry of gold and the chains loosen their grip, before she tries to escape her captor once more.

No, she can't get distracted, not if she wants the both of them to survive this. Childe is more than capable of taking care of himself, he'll be fine.

A part of her runs different scenarios in her head, wondering what brought this on this rather aggressive attempt to take her. Why her, of all people. Surely, it can't just be because of her blood; there are a lot of palebloods out there, and yet they zeroed in on her. There's nothing special about her, nothing unique–except for one thing.

She groans when a chain surprises her and comes out of nowhere, aimed for her neck. And it's only quick reflexes that she manages to resummon her sword, holding it up to keep the chain from completely wrapping around her neck and choking her.

"Childe," she gasps at him, digging her heels into the ground as the zealot tries to drag her towards him. "Go to Aether– They might go after him, too–"

Childe springs to his feet, gathering hydro energy at his core only to unleash it outwards, blasting the zealots away and freeing him for the moment to move as he needed to. His eyes snap in Lumine's direction, and it's almost as if his feet begin to move on their own, sprinting towards the zealot that is dragging her. It's almost as if he's gliding along the ground, and his strike is so sudden that the zealot is forced to drop the chain and block in order to keep Childe's blade from severing its head from its neck. A rare fire burns in the Harbinger's eyes, but he still keeps his wits about him. The other two zealots could easily try the same thing.

"Comrade," he finally responds to her, "if we don't take care of these ones right now, we'll certainly put your brother in danger. This fight will be exciting- let's not waste it."

The other two recuperate, positioning to summon more chains to capture their target. One begins to wave their hands in a certain pattern, its aim to warp reality around them so they wouldn't be able to tell where the chains were coming from.

He's right. Childe's right, they have to take care of this here.

Lumine struggles for air as the chains slacken and break their grip on her, staggering unsteadily back on her feet. In the time that she's finally managed to catch her breath, the zealots start to regroup, rethinking their strategy. Clearly, they didn't expect her to be such a challenge to grab unlike the others, but their chattering conversation seems to sound more amused than frustrated.

Obviously, the Harbinger isn't the only one getting excited over this fight. Lumine, on the other hand, is the only one who doesn't share their enjoyment, wanting this to end already.

"Might want to tone down that thirst for blood, Childe," she mutters under her breath as she turns to the zealot who's clearly casting a spell, walking and then sprinting towards it, summoning a ball of electro in her palm. The creatures chatter loudly at her, the sound grating in her ears just as the air around them starts to vibrate and shimmer.

She doesn't give them the chance to warp their surroundings, Lumine ducking to avoid the zealot's hands and slamming electro into its chest. "Not today, ugly."

He has a good amount faith in her abilities on the battlefield, turning his back to deal with the zealot that had just barely avoided a swift death by his own hands. He won't play with them much longer, given that their target was Lumine, and he swears to himself that by his honor they won't take her. The zealot is still recovering from his first attack, so Childe continues his assault. It dodges a few of his attacks, but its real purpose was just to capture their target and nothing more, and it isn't long before his blade is run through the zealot's chest. It glares at him in its dying breath, and he rips the hydro blade out, letting it dissipate from his hand.

Lumine's zealot is taken by surprise, electricity running through it and sending it flying onto its back. Childe turns just in time to see her deal that blow, grinning. He'll always be impressed with her, he feels, and seeing her wield electro so skillfully only makes him more excited. But he can't let himself be left out, his bow manifesting in his hand, taking aim.

"Don't take all the fun, now!"

Rapid fire bolts of water are fired right at the other zealot, giving Lumine cover to finish off the one she currently has on the ground. He laughs maniacally, enjoying this tag team fight. He'd love to see them try to chain her now.

What part of this is fun, Childe?

And it isn't because she's unused to this style of fighting or she's gotten rusty lately; she's not and she hasn't. But this fight seems to be even more exhausting than sparring with him or fighting Ei in her Plane of Euthymia. Lumine wonders if it's because of the blood pollution, affecting her senses and abilities, weighing down her.

"You're not going anywhere," she wheezes quietly, summoning a meteorite with a wave of her hand to block the zealot when it attempts to create a portal to escape to. "We're not done yet."

Her sword is back in her hand, Festering Desire's blade gleaming dark and red in the overcast. She walks over to the zealot, still staggering on the ground from the electricity it just took, before she stabs its leg to keep it in place. The scream that it emits almost shatters her eardrums, the scent of blood making her dizzy once more.

But even before she can start her interrogation, to ask it what he wants from her, several portals appear beneath her, black holes opening up to swallow her whole. Lumine's eyes widen, legs tensing to prepare to jump as high as she can. If they can't chain her down, then maybe they can make her fall.

It seems he got his wish a little sooner than he expected. Childe also sees the folly in his assumption. There was probably more than just the three, meaning they knew what they were up against. Was it because the zealots had observed Lumine before this confrontation? Surely they had with him, having sought them out and systematically murdering every zealot he had the chance to. Did his own fun put her in this situation because they'd come prepared to deal with them?

That thought gets shaken off quickly, because it doesn't matter to him how many they send after her- he'd defeat them alongside Lumine. The portals that appear under her feet so suddenly shocks him, and there's only a brief flash of light before he's closing the gap between himself and Lumine, electricity arcing off behind him as he switches to his delusion. As she jumps, he grabs her in midair, landing with a loud boom as his feet slam into the ground. Debris flies up every which way around them, and he quickly puts her back on her feet.

"They came prepared." He moves his mask off his face, eyes scanning for additional zealots that may be hiding. There's nowhere to hide, but they've proven to be capable of being more than just sneaky.

"Stay close to me. Their whole strategy was to separate us from the start. I should have seen that coming."

Lumine anticipates a fall into darkness, if not chains wrapping around her ankles with the intent to drag her down. But it doesn't come, arms snatching her before her feet can touch one of the portals and she's ensnared into the zealots' trap. The electricity arcing when they settle back on solid ground, landing with a force that shatters concrete and soil, is enough to tell her that Childe's summoned his Delusion.

So their situation has become that dire, that Childe would switch to his Delusion mid-fight. Should she give herself up, then, and let him escape to warn Aether? That's something that lingers at the back of her mind as she draws her sword once more, releasing the zealot's leg in a flurry of gold.

"Thanks. We should've both seen it coming."

It was a failure on her part too, preoccupied with making sure the other is safe. Now, it seems that she's placed them both in harm's way, possibly Aether as well with this oversight.

"What now?" she asks him quietly, watching the zealot she had pinned down earlier rise to its feet. "It doesn't seem like we're just dealing with two creatures here. Either that, or they're stronger than the two of us combined."

"I don't know about that," he says, the fresh memories of fighting zealots for some time now suggesting that they probably weren't stronger. "Dispatching them has been challenging, but nothing that we can't easily handle. They use the shadows and clever ruses to capture people. Most have been Coldbloods, but I see that they've sent at least one Darkblood after you, and it still hasn't been enough. You are still standing here, after all."

The zealot Childe has previously pinned down with arrow volleys has finally been able to recoup and join its companion, who is picking itself up despite the wound that Lumine has left in its leg. A horrible screeching chatter erupts from the two of them, making the Harbinger tense up. Were they calling reinforcements, or conveying a new strategy to what he assumes is their hidden allies? An attack could come from anywhere now.

"Let's take them out quickly. Follow my lead, and make sure you keep up, comrade."

Not that he thinks that will be an issue. She also commands electro, after all. His electro blades are slammed together, forming his bladed staff. Walking forward, he spins it a few times, before lunging and throwing himself forward, trying to spear the Darkblood zealot with it with an attack that Lumine knows all too well. The reality warper needs to go first.

Edited (i had a kind of redundant sentence lol) 2021-11-22 01:02 (UTC)

There's something weird going on.

The number of zealots they've dispatched to capture one person is just way too many. Even if–even if they've managed to gauge her abilities and decided that this is the most effective way for them to take her, isn't it a little too ...

"Drawn out ..." she murmurs to herself, her brows furrowing.

This fight is taking way, way, way too long, especially for her and Childe. She wonders, as she takes an offensive stance with her sword held in front of her to dash after him, if she's missing something again. Something crucial, something important. Something that they're not seeing.

"Childe, wait–"

A portal appears right in front of him, shielding the zealots from his incoming attack. Numerous chains burst forth to wrap around him, sharp hooks gleaming to pierce and fasten. Lumine herself is shackled to where she was standing, more chains wrapping around her wrist and ankles tightly, as a portal opens up behind her at the same time, another zealot stepping out. She struggles against her bonds, but the more she moves, the tighter their hold becomes.

The chains that suddenly burst forth from the portal that opens throws him completely off guard, and he's barely able to use his weapon to eat a few of the chains as they wrap around it. One cuts into his arm and fastens into it, another wraps directly around his midsection. Childe tries to step forward, but he finds that something has securely grabbed a hold of these chains and begins to pull him towards the portal. Not a bad strategy, he thinks, but he won't let them succeed. He grabs the metal, concentrating electricity through his hands that race across the metal and shock whatever was holding onto the chains on the opposite side.

The bindings go limp, and he rips both of the hooks that had sunk deep into his body out and throws it down onto the ground. Turning, he sees the scenario that they were trying to avoid for so long play out in front of him- Lumine in shackles, with a zealot preparing to take her. His expression quickly turns from amused to immediate concern, wasting no time to close that distance between himself and the zealot. His bladed staff is swung, sweeping the area between Lumine and their new assailant, forcing it to jump back.

He spends those precious moments trying to remove the chains from her ankles, hurriedly ripping the hooks out of her boots before another set had a chance to make all their efforts fruitless.

"This might hurt a little comrade, you'll have to bear it while I get these out..."

They're in a rush and truth be told, pain is negligible at this point. If she felt them in any way as she twists the chains around her arms and roughly yanks them to free herself, Lumine sure isn't showing it on her expression. If anything, she's more concerned about getting the chains and hooks loose than dealing with whatever injuries she's acquired; it can wait.

Once her hands are free, wrists bruised and bleeding from the cuts she incurred from the hooks, her sword reappears in her hand and she directs a bolt of electro along its blade towards the zealot approaching Childe from behind. The creature staggers, clearly taken aback.

"Don't worry about me," she tells him, gritting her teeth and jerking her leg hard enough to rip the chains from her ankles. They're superficial wounds, something she can easily get a Minister to fix for her.

And perhaps he really should've worried more about himself than her, Lumine calling out his name when another portal opens behind him, ejecting chains to wrap around him and no doubt keep him from freeing her. Not that it's necessary, as more chains return to coil around her wrists, ankles and waist once more, like live snakes possessing minds of its own, dragging her away from him.

As he stands up, the chains wrap around every limb he has, including his midsection and neck. Childe lets out a choked noise of desperation as he tries to fight against the chains dragging him backward, staring in horror as Lumine is dragged away from him so easily. He tries one ditch last effort, manifesting his bladed spear in his hand and throwing it as hard as he can toward the portal that sprouts the chains that hold her, knowing that if he can manage to get them to slacken she would have a better chance of freeing herself. Lightning crackles and explodes as it hits its target inside, loosening the chains on Lumine for the moment.

He's about to use the same strategy again to free himself, as a new zealot comes up behind him without warning and places its hand on his temple. His eyes dilate as he stares at Lumine, as the paleblood zealot wipes his mind temporarily and his body slumps, easily dragged away now. The zealot only glares at her, standing its ground before turning and entering the portal.

Childe is quickly dragged away, unable to put up even the simplest of a struggle as he's not sure where he is, or even who he is. The last part of him that seen is his boots as the chains pull him into the portal.

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November Catch-All (Mostly Closed)

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