ProfetessaOscura

((Eh. He lost a lot of blood and only has efficient use of one arm. He’s a little pooped.)) ”Distraction sounds good, but not part of my wheelhouse. Janice had explosion things?”

Corwin's eyes dulled slightly, as if he was considering the idea. Janice and Cadenza? They did seem kind of close. Whelp. That made him feel about twenty times more awkward than normal. He brushed it aside, looking to Cruz. "That stinks. You should have a little backpack with food in it; I've got some friends who always carry allergy medication with them in this cool little hip-leg bag that looks like it's from an apocalypse novel. But..." he was rambling. Real focus should be on the fight. Right. "They're fighting so close to each other. He's kinda pushing that guy closer to the ice. But... I guess I'd be scared to try shooting at them, they're moving so fast. Should we... focus on evacuation, then?"

“I just don’t think it’d take a knife to get you to explode,” he grunted. “And you’re not my girlfriend!” He protested loudly, as an afterthought.

Corwin reached his hand into each of the pockets of his cargo pants, pulling out fistfuls of semi-melted candy bars. “Low blood sugar?”

Sorry for the very late reply; it looks amazing!

Vespyr kept Cumulo on the defensive, but only just, pressing him back... back toward the ground that, to his eyeless senses, had suddenly become smooth, not course like sand. Skates would work far more effectively. The blades of skates operated under the principle that they melted ice and refroze it almost instantaneously, operating under a very low friction. With zero friction, she would have exemplified speed and glide.

((Myla is the first bestest gorl? Or..? I'm terrible at Hollowknight, but my brother 112% completed the game.)) Corwin had no clue about Trace's takeover, and seemed a little confused. Still, he offered helpfully, "What if I were to punch you in the face?" ... One blade held Vespyr's sword at bay, while the other slashed toward his exposed shoulder. Vespyr silently retreated half a step, moving just out of dagger reach. He had the longer weapon. He just needed to be close enough, but just out of range. He cut a whirl of attacks around Cumulo's head, shoulders, slicing feints at his legs, then shooting up to thrust at his chin. Split-second attention needed to react, and committing too-hard to a defense or attack could put either of them in death's path.

((I can't believe I've been looking at your profile this whole time and not really registered that it's Hornet from Hollowknight. My brother's a giant fan, and the art is epic!))

Corwin let loose a string of unsavory curses that were hardly fit for the ears of his fellow children, much less the servers of the 17th shard. "You must truly be terrified," Vespyr said quietly, "Sparrow is... different, after all. And you always made missteps when you got afraid. You were wise to fight me directly, to avoid collateral damage initially. I could guarantee something swift, relatively painless that way. Now..." Vespyr flicked the sword in his hand, burning into the bolt of lightning. He shot into Cumulo's electric field, absorbing as much as he could before Cumulo got wise, slashing out across Cumulo's arms and waist.

Vespyr laughed dryly. "It is not so bad, to choose to be unsuitable."

“I feel as though I should apologize for your demise taking this long,” Vespyr admitted, “His reasoning doesn’t matter, but it seems he’s a fool who has forgotten even the direct order of his Queen. If she wants you dead, it is because you are an unsuitable tool.”

Vespyr started, then removed his hand. His heart was pounding faster than he liked, and he calmed himself. He'd clearly... underestimated his friend. His peaceful friend. Who... Had just done something only heard of in epics. He tilted his head, confused and relieved.

Vespyr had been waiting for something like this. He burned more of the bolt he was currently holding, latching his hand onto Sparrow's shoulder. Soak it in. No, more than that. This was a war he fought with Cumulo, forcing the flow of energy to burn around Sparrow's internal organs, around his heart, preserving his life. If it had been lightning from nature, it would have been simple. But this? This was a struggle against Cumulo's will, Cumulo's strength in his own ability. And it was very likely a war that Vespyr would lose. He was unaware of Sparrow's debilitation of Cumulo. He had no idea that, if he just kept struggling, preserving Sparrow for as long as he could, Cumulo would fall. He just. Couldn't lose this man.

((Is he knocking him out or shutting down his nervous system or just making him feel no pain?))

((Sparrow's doing something. I'm backseating Vespyr's whole "Let's just end him already" thing to see where this goes.))

"That must really make kissing complicated," Corwin said, then his face flushed red. "Sorry. Just cure her already. She'll probably be so outright infuriated at us that she'll explode anyways."

Corwin grunted, letting go of Janice, but also ready to catch her if she swooned. Dramatically. Like some princess from a fairy tale. Honestly, he didn't know! What was Janice's deal? He hovered, looking at Cruz. "You gonna de-poison her already?"

"Kill, capture, brutalize... you keep changing your narrative." Vespyr looked to his friend @Fallapede with something of impatience. "He says he's stolen a body. I know it grates on you. But not everyone can be saved. Many do not want to be saved, and they would take advantage of any mercy to ensure that we could not save ourselves."

Spoilers: Mistborn 1-3, Secret History, and Mistborn 6. Enjoy!

((Back!)) Vespyr would have rolled his eyes, had he still possessed them. "Spit the lies off your forked tongue already."

((Gonna be gone for about a day due to camping. Assume Vespyr is following Fallapede’s lead. If Cumulo starts to do something weird, @me and I’ll try to get back asap))

Vespyr lowered the sword to Cumulo’s throat as an answer, but hesitated, deferring to Sparrow. Perhaps he trusted that man too much… Not every enemy or monster would be won over with kindness, and most would certainly sink their teeth in the second his back was turned.

Vespyr snorted in derision.

((Gonna wait on Fallapede before taking further action. What say you that we plan Cumulo has something up his sleeve and manages to gain an upper hand again, allowing time for Janice to get un-poisoned, Cadenza to effectively use Corwin's blood, and Finn and Cruz to start sniping, proving themselves efficient and high-stress thinkers of quality? Cumulo may or may not make it out of this, but I definitely want Fallapede's input/insight, because Brother Sparrow has a really interesting character arc that I feel could potentially be revealed.))