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Post by Miska on Nov 2, 2015 17:31:19 GMT
OOC: Archer, you jerk. You played with Miska! XP
***
At Archer’s commanding tone to retrieve the sword immediately, Miska stifled a laughter. “Are you commanding me to?” he jeered, but it was in good humor. “Don’t forget that I am in charge here, Servant Archer. I’ll retrieve it when I feel like it.”She could act immature sometimes, but it just showed how young the Kopparsvard lordling still was. But despite what she said, she definitely moved as hurried as she could towards the Sword, perhaps with a big smile for bantering with Emiya like that. Miska was not stupid. She did not need Archer to tell her that she should do her mission as fast as she could. Yet, at Archer’s second command she did it without hesitation. “Move!”
“Πιο αποτελεσματική!”
It was close. Very close. Were not for Miska’s timely enhancement on the effectiveness of Venetia Gear’s movements he would have been vertically cleaved right along his head. As he floated and unable to stop the momentum, he could see the grey-golden sword shifted slowly from it’s downward slash and now turning its point towards him. A straight thrust. She would not be able to evade this with the buoyancy of the water. Her mind spun quickly, trying to analyze something-anything- that might allow him to escape the next attack. That was when three invisible…things ( ‘Arrows?’) pierced through the water. One hit straight at the blade and deflected it away from Miska. Now it spun slowly in the water, appearing harmless. Miska found her voice. “What was that?” she demanded, “It was- No, Archer. I can still see it. It’s right in front-“-In blood the blade, to its golden hilt, I'll drown-“…?!”It was a voice. A soft but forceful voice, reverberating across the water towards Miska, although it could not be heard by Archer. The sword slowly stopped its spinning, and now began to tilt sideways as if preparing for a mighty attack. It was from the direction of the sword that the voice came. A regal but tainted voice, filled with rage and regret. “Archer! It-it’s still alive! The sword!”-Felon pagans to th' pass shall not come down-From the golden hilt to the grey-black blade, the holy sword began shining. Even on the safe haven of the wrecked cruiser, a good distance away from the muddy bed of the river, Archer would still be able to see the unmistakable glow of Noble Phantasm being prepared. It turned the red River aglow with silver light, the silver light of the dawn of Roncevaux Pass. And it pinpointed the sword location exactly. Even the helpless Miska, still reeling from his sudden burst earlier, could not help but admire the light of the Three Saints. The only thing that might seem to be of note was that he was a good distance away from the sword now. But seeing it like this, distance meant nothing. -I pledge you now, to death they all are bound-“Archer, do something!!” -With Durendal, in bane and renown!-*** Hope we're not taking it too far. Tag: emiya
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Post by emiya on Nov 2, 2015 19:37:51 GMT
ooc: How so? And that was a somewhat odd direction you took things, though it ended up being cool. xD
This...this was impossible. Inconceivable.
First off, no mere wraith should have been able to survive his arrows. It should have been dispersed the second one of his arrows pierced the spiritual core. Either he missed, unlikely, or this Noble-Phantasm wielding spirit was able to either avoid or block his strike.
The fact that it was using the Noble Phantasm, something that generally takes an absurd amount of prana, was something else. While it could be being fed by the powerful curses in the water if it was attuned to them...how was a wraith attuned to darkness and pain able to use a holy sword like Durandal? Perhaps it was a nature of it not being Durandal, but a prototype owned by the King of Heroes that allowed this.
In any event, things needed to end. Fast. “Miska, clear a path. I’m going to obliterate that wraith, and I don’t want you getting caught in the explosion.” Hopefully Durandal’s prototype was as supposedly indestructible as the one owned by the Paladin...because he wasn’t holding back. Projecting a wickedly spiraled sword, he nocks it in his bow. Breaking the phantasm, his target is the shining light that grew at the bottom of the river.
“Caladbolg!”
It wasn’t the most powerful weapon in his arsenal, though it was generally strong enough to get the job done. What made Caladbolg such a mainstay of Emiya’s general combat Noble Phantasms was efficiency, and adaptability. It costed very little to project and used, and, because of it’s numerous interpretations, to shape with Reinforcement. After adjusting it so that it’s explosive radius was narrow in effect, focusing primarily on a small target, he lets the arrow fly. It’s usage as an arrow allowed it to fly through the water as if it was nothing there, before impacting the spiritual body that was his target, and causing an explosion deep underwater that resulted in a powerful waterspout.
If whatever spirit that was haunting Gilgamesh’s copy, or simply was able to pick up the shining sword still remained and was able to unleash the holy sword’s power, then it seemed like Miska’s story would end. It had taken until the end of the incantation to charge his arrow, though it had struck before Durandal could be swung. All he could do was wait for the water to subside.
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Post by Miska on Nov 4, 2015 2:52:48 GMT
Where Miska was, though, there was hardly any explosion at all. There was strong current and violent movement of the red water, resulting in a powerful waterspout. From above the river’s surface it was indeed seen as an explosion, but on the muddy, blood-red substance that covered the river bed, there was none. An arrow on the caliber of Caliburn should be expected to lift the riverbed on impact and blew the sands and debris several meters high. However, the strangely gum-like substance of the river bed seemed impervious to such force. If Caladbolg had hit the riverbed rather than the Spirit, it would likely had simply stuck in the mud. Thankfully, it hit the spiritual body that was its target. The resulting shockwave was great, but only on the water. The water around Miska hardly moved at all, as if there was an invisible layer between the water “close to the riverbed” and the water “far from the river bed”. But this info Archer would not know, unless he had been deep down on the riverbed before. As soon as the explosion occurred, there were energetic movements all around the vicinity. Vagrant Spirits now gathered around the explosion, definitely having sensing the magical energy from there. Their numbers were many, a reminder of the initial briefing that stated “massive numbers of underwater Vagrant Spirits” as the danger. Thankfully though, the mission occurred in the mouth of the river, where the river widened to meet the sea. There was still room to maneuver even with such number of Vagrant Spirits. But seeing them circling like hungry ravens even before the explosion truly subsided was worrying. Moreso if one could not get a clear view of his Master.
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Post by emiya on Nov 4, 2015 5:50:20 GMT
The mass of Vagrant Spirits wasn’t wholly unexpected. Still, it was hugely inconvenient. As he could not ascertain his Master’s presence, he relied on verbal communication.
“Miska, respond. I repeat, respond. Are you there.”
His plan to deploy the line was still in his mind, but if it were to come to that, he would need some kind of stimulus from his Master. Without a response, she was dead already, and it was pointless, or she was unconscious, and likely have been long enough for the curses to eat away at his holy shroud and begin devouring her. Either way, neither option was a particularly good use of his life to retrieve his Master. If there were screams of pain, then that meant that there was time, and that she was alive. But silence...silence destroyed any hope.
There wasn’t much he could do without a response, so he began the process of dispersing the Vagrant spirits. It wasn’t an especially difficult task, arrow after arrow was released, and as they impacted the spiritual core of the wraiths, they vanished like mist in the sun. “I repeat, respond…” He says, one more time. Hopefully, something would change the situation, because as it is, things were rather bleak.
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Post by Miska on Nov 6, 2015 7:50:39 GMT
Miska could not believe she survived the explosion. When she saw the light about to be released, she instinctively ducked, almost touching the mud. Turned out this was the best idea. The strange properties of the riverbed let no vibration went through. When the explosion subsided, she had hardly moved an inch. Lifting his head visor, hhe peeked to the undulating murky darkness at front. There was only one shining object, spinning slowly as it spiraled gently towards the riverbed. Durendal retained its glossy blade and golden hilt even after the impact. It seemed floating in the water now, serene and harmless.
Somehow, a glorious feeling of having won swept over Miska. He felt like laughing when someone called him.
“Miska, respond. I repeat, respond. Are you there.”Archer’s voice. Miska was about to answer, but found that her throat was dry. She cleared her throat first. “I am here, Archer.” and then realizing she had been called by name, added smugly, “And I hope we’ll use formal titles, like Chaldea told us in briefing.”
Unfortunately, while he could hear Archer’s voice, The Servant could not hear him due to temporary instability on the communication line. Miska stepped forward, intending to grab the first Noble Phantasm of the mission when the voice repeated. “ I repeat, respond.”“I am here.” Miska’s answer was positively annoyed. And this time, her voice went through. “What is the matter?”
Just then, he saw it. Spirits. Great number of Vagrant Spirits were now closing on him, their red robes fluttered even in the dead stillness of the red river. “Vagrant Spirits, Archer! They are closing in!”
Even before she finished, she noticed some Vagrant Spirits had dissipated, their core pierced by spirit arrows. Her Servant was doing his job, but it was not enough. A spirit thrust itself forward, narrowly missing Miska if not for yet another timely effectiveness boost from her spell. Then another one came from behind, and this one she dodged too. But still another darted across making her jumped forcibly forward. This was bad. She could not possibly keep using her spell forever. Boosting the effectiveness of Venetia Gear movement did not cost much due to having been properly “understood” by her, but if she had to keep doing it with each step… *thunk*That was when his elbows hit something. Looking down, his gaze met Durendal, still floating slowly down. From the corner of his eyes he saw another Spirit closing in on him from the front. Instinctively, he grabbed the Holy Sword and spun around, directly clashing its black blade with the headlong Spirit. “Haa-!”It worked! The blade merely touched the Spirit’s cowl, but it was enough to send it reeling backwards in a gesture Miska could only interpret as agony. The other Vagrant Spirits halted their rush, and now simply circling around Miska as if wary of the blade. Miska looked down at the holy blade gripped firmly with both her hands. It did not falter, nor did it try to move free out of her grasps. Under the water reflection the sacred blade of Durendal glinted as if happily winking at her. The strong curse of the water did not affect the blade even a bit. Before this mission, Miska and the engineering team had discussed how to bring some form of self-protection for the one in Venetia Gear. Using the water sample of the Mion River, brought from a successful mission led by a Russian Master earlier, they tested various bladed weapons and even high-tech guns in the red liquid. The river corroded them all. Even Miska’s own sword, which he thoroughly understood and boosted accordingly, was not immune to the effect. Only items with very strong sacred properties such as the Venetia Gear could resist the abominable curse of the water. This they confirmed when they persuaded a Once and Future King to (reluctantly) dipped her holy blade in the water (they told her it was very, very urgently needed. And for research purpose only). In which case, the presence of Durendal was a Godsend. Miska quickly made the sign of the cross, thanking The Lord for His hidden aid. He never forsook His Believers indeed! Now Miska did not need to boost Venetia Gear every so often. Just walking at its supposed pace while swinging Durendal would be enough. The Peerless Sword was too big for him, and it did not shine brightly like it did just before the explosion. But for the human Magus, this was more than enough. He would find out how to make it shine later if he could properly understood this blade. Far on the broken cruiser, Archer would be able to see the bright glint of the sword now moving around one golden silhouette. The various Vagrant Spirits were held in bay, and those who did dare to get closer swiftly got its core destroyed in a single slash, or double slashes if it was agile enough. “Archer! Make a way out!” barked Miska.
***
Feel free to direct Miska! Just please let me name the second Noble Phantasm. Tag: emiya
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Post by emiya on Nov 6, 2015 20:11:50 GMT
Hearing his Master's somewhat annoyed words brought relief to Emiya, aside from an amusing sense of nostalgia, it meant that his shot was successful in protecting her. “That's good. I was worried for a moment.” Smirking at the interjection, he shakes his head. “I'm afraid you might need to obtain a Command Seal to enforce something like that. Miska suits you far better than 'Master' does.” As he teases, he already recognizes and begins to deal with the encroaching problem. For the spirits, a similar solution to what happened before should work sufficiently.
Projecting the Sword of the Red Plains once again, he charges it with prana before firing it off into the distance, before aiming at a particular vagrant spirit. The arrow curves, the trajectory planned near-instantaneously to intersect with as many Vagrant Spirits before exploding, decimating the numbers. Between that and the hail of lesser fire he rained down on the spirits, their numbers diminished rapidly.
“A way out? From what? You seem to be doing a good enough job as it is.” Still, he continues laying down covering fire, with a particular focus on guiding Miska towards another flash of light. The spirits were too close for him to make out enough for Unlimited Blade Works to analyze and record a copy of the blade, but he felt that was where the weapon lied. “Try to make your way to the next weapon. This many opponents isn't a threat to the mission...let's just hope there aren't any more strange spirits like the one that wielded Durandal's prototype.”
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Post by Miska on Nov 10, 2015 17:08:20 GMT
Miska could not believe what she heard. Here she was, fighting underwater for dear life, with a single sword too big for her own, surrounded by hostile Spirits that seemed not about to cease. And her Servant said she was fine~ Did she just tease her? If there is one thing Miska absolutely hates, it’s being teased. He had lived with it his entire life. With him being pressured to act high without a personal charisma to back it up, he was a natural target to be teased. Bullied even, and he had always felt at loss. He could never fight back, could never find a suitable witty answer to fight back, and all it left him was a feeling of humiliation and worthlessness. It was his worst enemy. Gritting her teeth, his painful anger was obvious in each of her words, “Archer, if it wasn’t clear before-“But then another Broken Phantasm teared through the Spirits around her. Archer was doing his job, despite his teasing. “Try to make your way to the next weapon. This many opponents isn't a threat to the mission...let's just hope there aren't any more strange spirits like the one that wielded Durandal's prototype.”“How to get ou-“ he paused, swinging Durendal backwards and cleaved another Vagrant Spirit in two. This water was heavy to move in, and it’s tiring him faster than he’d like. The sound of his breath was clear on the communication line. “Can you try to distract them? Like…like… creating an explosion somewhere far away to draw them in-? Waah!”
A Vagrant Spirit struck at her head and she ducked just in time, missing it by an inch. Remarkably, none of the Vagrant Spirit had the idea to try severing the LifeLine between her and Archer. Yet.
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Post by emiya on Nov 13, 2015 2:36:01 GMT
Pulling out another Caladbolg, I move to carry out my Master's request. It's a solid idea...and with a third, I can turn the attraction into a kill-zone. All Miska needed to do was have more confidence in herself, and thicker skin to go along with it. My Master had a solid tactical mind, obvious skills...but if there was one thing the young Master couldn't do effectively, it was take a joke.
"Caladbolg."
The arrow flies, coursing with more energy. My two most common arrows, Hrunting and Caladbolg, are very mana efficient, a fact I'm thankful for.. If I was experimenting more, after all the phantasms he'd used, I'd be running very low on mana. It seems like I'll need to keep up the cover for a significantly longer time yet, so I can't afford to grow complacent. Not while my Master's life lay in the balance.
Caladbolg's explosion is no less spectacular because it's slightly farther away, even if his enhanced vision didn't make the distance completely negligible for me. The spout of water, and the spiritual rippling that accompanied the vagrant spirits converge on the huge focus of magical energy that accompanied a Broken Phantasm's use. "Are you doing any better, Master? I'm going to work on culling the wraiths' numbers a bit, but let me know if you need assistance."
Caladbolg flies once again, and I can feel the huge eruption of spiritual energy that all but tells me that a huge number of vagrant spirits just had their spiritual cores pierced and evaporated. I turn back to my Master, resuming more standard covering fire and leading the way to the light that might be another sword.
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Post by Miska on Nov 13, 2015 16:35:17 GMT
‘Alright, Archer!’Was what Miska would like to say. But he could not. Because Lords rarely praise their Servants right? So, he kept the raise to himself. The crowd of Spirits around him suddenly moved to the direction of the explosion, leaving wide gaps in their circles around Miska. Quickly seizing his chance, he boosted Venetia Gear movements to 320% effectiveness and maneuvered his way through, swinging Durendal when necessary. He aimed to get around the sunken Spanish Ship and hoped that the ship would be enough to conceal where he aimed to go next. Although it would still be easy to know where she was going. The Lifeline extended from her suit all the way up and far away to where Archer stood. Hope that the Spirits did not noticed this…. With one forceful jump (which turned into smooth glide in this deep waters) Miska got behind the wrecked ship, putting it between him and where the spirits circled him before. It seemed that they were a little confused… And their numbers were dwindling rapidly as more arrows rained from Archer, although Miska did not dare to look to make sure himself. He made a feint, and then ran to the opposite direction as fast as he could on the mucky surface. It was more like hopping than running actually… He had to remember to advise Chaldea to put a decent propeller on the Suit for later missions. Walking is such a slow option!
As she hopped onward, the movements around her became calmer and calmer. Soon she was in the meditative rhythm she had found herself before. “No Spirits in my sight Archer,” she reported as she continued her way. Wherever she landed, the blood-red mud around her feet was pushed up and made thick globs that sunk down again very slowly. “I –think- they’ve lost me.”It was a bold statement, but as of Miska’s current situation it was only right for him to deduce that way. He stopped his spell and walked a little in Venetia Gear’s usual speed, only now realizing how slow and clumsy the Gear’s movement was. And there was a Master who survived a mission wearing this ineffective suit? Incredible. A few more steps and she stopped, looking around. All around her was the usua junks littering the blood-red mud of the riverbed, but there was no indication of how far she had gone, or where she was now relative to where she first started. She was sure she was going south, but maybe not? Retracing the LifeLine was useless as the wire disappeared in the waving redness just a little over a meter on her sight. She could only see red, red, a silhouette of a big tire, red, red, red…. “Archer, can you see me down here? Where I am? How far I am to where we started?”He was not sure how far he had gone or if Archer could see him, but he turned towards the direction of LifeLine and waved Durendal energetically in hopes of making him easier to identify. Then he suddenly remembered what he was holding, and her tone became obviously proud, like a child opening her Christmas present. “And you know what? This sword I am holding,” “This sword- guess Archer- It’s Durendal! The Legendary Holy Sword of Paladin Roland! With three relics of the Saints! I heard a voice saying so, when- when the sword went bright and glowing before." The amazed glow in her eyes even seeped into her voice. " Isn’t it amazing? Durendal really exists!”
As it was, Miska could not see the invisible spirit that had held the sword, nor did he was told of the origin of the Noble Phantasms littering the Mion River. On the other hand, Archer could not hear the phantom voice saying the strange lines when Durendal was about to be unleashed.
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Post by emiya on Nov 19, 2015 1:40:06 GMT
Shot after shot points the way towards the next shining light. I continue to lead my Master on her way, not leaving the chance for her to get complacent, to take a rest. That would be deadly in water filled with curses like this, protection or no. Even still, despite this, morale needed to be maintained. It wasn’t the easiest thing...but this Master seemed to be helpful in providing the material necessary for it.
“Lost you? I suppose that’s one way to say it.” I shoot down three more that begun to reform. The way should be relatively clear after the purge I performed with my twin Caladbolg shots. “That, or I’m performing my job adequately. I wonder which is more likely?”
As Miska tries to regain her bearings, I become alert, and voice concern. That was a trap. “You can’t tell what’s down there, Master. Eventually the curses will prevent you from knowing left from right, up from down, everything. Just follow my arrows. I’ll lead you correctly.” Her question was reasonable though, so he answers. You are about 15 meters northeast from where you initially descended. In about another ten, you should reach another Noble Phantasm.”
I wince slightly as Miska talks about Durendal. I could tell her the truth...that it wasn’t truly Durendal, and simply a prototype owned by a certain egotistical monster from ancient Mesopotamia. No, maintaining Miska’s morale was a greater consideration. “I have trouble being surprised, considering just who and what we are. You shouldn’t be surprised if you see Roland later on in Chaldea.”
That last point Miska said was especially suspicious, however. “Master, I don’t think I need to say that voices in your head are to be taken with a grain of salt. Especially considering the quality of the water you’re walking through. Try to keep the goal in mind.”
(OOC: Very, very sorry for the wait. Hopefully I'll be more present from now on)
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