02-24-2017, 10:30 AM
The blood river starts to widen as the party gets farther from Luci's dreamscape. Luci sees the city slowly give way, mixing anachronistically with Kuzuru and the Sage's subconscious. Growing through the windows of the skyscrapers now are great palm trees, and between them are alleyways filled with smoking lava. And all around, the tangy scent of fresh blood.
"Just fucking GREAT!" Luci reiterates, with more passion this time. Ahead of them, something huge is bubbling up out of the blood, and creating large choppy waves around it as it displaces the fluid. They watch as a huge bloody hand ascends from the depths, with long sword-like appendages stemming from each of his fingers.
The ship starts to rise, riding atop a growing wave. Kuzuru slashes at a bloody tentacle that manages to worm it's way onto the deck, and the sage politely pokes a blood-orc through the eye as it tries to jump aboard.
The wave crashes, and they bounce off the surface of the river as it lands, gaining speed before they hits another, more sharply slanted wave. A gust of wind catches the sail as the boat crests, propelling it into the air twenty feet above the raging river.
While the men scream like they're auditioning for an action-comedy, Luci removes her trusty spraycan from her holster and fires from the hip, painting a long golden cord from the can to a palm tree jutting out of a skyscraper. With lightning speed she wraps her spraycan around the mast of the ship.
The ship catches and swings like a pendulum, the palm tree splintering with the strain.
Luci releases the glowing golden rope at the top of the ships arc, sending them flying forward again.
The ship veers right this time, heading directly towards another skyscraper.
The trio frantically rushes portside to try to get it to change course, but the sailboat merely tips left, and the hull smashes into the building, breaking glass but seeming to glide easily on the surface of the wall. The crew lurches forward as the boat snags on another palm tree jutting out from one of the windows, and the boat slides the entire length of tree before flying off the tip. They hold tightly to the deck as the ship spins around several times in the air, threatening to throw them off, but manage to land with nothing more than minor bruises in the choppy blood ocean.
A skateboard enthusiast might point out that they had successfully completed a wallrun-railgrind-900 with a sailboat.
The trio is far from safe. Above them the giant hand flexes, then reaches out lazily to slash their boat.
They scatter, barely managed to evacuate before the catboat is shredded by the wicked blades on the giant fingers.
Underneath the blood, Luci is panicking. She cannot swim through the thick fluid, or even tell which way is up. She kicks desperately, her lungs burning. Darkness starts to creep into the edges of her mind.
Luci feels someone grab her by her hair and pull her up to the surface. Kuzuru shoves her onto a piece of the catboats driftwood, and she takes several deep gasping breaths as she scans for the Sage.
"And here I thought you had a pair of natural flotation devices," the demon says with the air of someone who was very proud of their joke.
Luci's face is wracked with concern as she gazes out into the ocean of blood. Above them, the hand is cracking it's kuckles.
Kuzuru laughs. "The old man? THAT'S what you're concerned about right now?"
Luci stares at him with her big gold eyes. He sighs.
"Fine. Stay here," he says as he lets go of the driftwood and floats out into the whirlpool.
"Be careful!" Luci calls. Kuzuru laughs again.
"I'll be fine, I'm in my element," he says with a grin.
Luci watches the bounty hunter dive into the blood. It is a very tense few moments before Kuzuru breaches the surface, the Sage under his shoulder. Luci watches as they manage to find another piece of driftwood to climb onto.
The hand seems to have noticed them again, and it's long deadly fingers start stabbing at the Sage and Kuzuru .
Luci scrambles to pull out a lighter as the pair dodge the attacks wildly. She flicks it hurriedly, cursing as it refuses to light. She tries to wipe off the blood, but there is nothing dry enough. After a few nerve-wracking tries, it lights. A quick blast of aerosol from her spray can is all it takes to turn the tiny flame into a roaring inferno.
Luci stands on her piece of driftwood with shaky legs and begins to whip the long tail of flame around and around her head, ringing her in a crackling halo of fire. The fire starts to grow into a shape; first a large birds head appears, it's eyes the same bright gold as Luci's. Slowly it's body emerged, made of deep red and orange flames. Then a massive set of wings unfurls, crackling with sparks, and blue torch-like flames licking at the bottom. Finally its tail emerges, a vibrant plumage of golds and reds and oranges and every color of the pyromaniac rainbow.
Luci makes a whipping motion and the phoenix streaks off towards the hand, bellowing it's beautifully haunting war cry. The hand notices the attack, catching the bird in mid-flight and crushing it in a tightly balled fist.
The phoenix explodes, blowing the hand into a fine red mist. There is a very brief moment of calm, and then a powerful whirlpool emerges where the hand was.
Luci tries to latch onto a building, but her rope isn't long enough. She sees the worried looks on her companions faces, and tries to smile at them as they sink.
Eventually, they try to swim through the thick liquid again, but the current of the whirlpool is too strong, and they are pulled down, down into it's depths.
***
In an alley in Teir 5, mysterious graffiti is bleeding from a wall.
A pair of rainbow eyes with pupils of liquid gold.
An ink painting of a raven.
A portrait of a man with a description written beneath it.
A dripping rainbow chameleon atop a bay window.
A crude yellow smiley face.
A portrait of Ballad with bleeding gashes covering his face.
A shaky, jumbled mess of lines and angles.
A surreal futurist portrait of a woman.
Some were even signed.
"Just fucking GREAT!" Luci reiterates, with more passion this time. Ahead of them, something huge is bubbling up out of the blood, and creating large choppy waves around it as it displaces the fluid. They watch as a huge bloody hand ascends from the depths, with long sword-like appendages stemming from each of his fingers.
The ship starts to rise, riding atop a growing wave. Kuzuru slashes at a bloody tentacle that manages to worm it's way onto the deck, and the sage politely pokes a blood-orc through the eye as it tries to jump aboard.
The wave crashes, and they bounce off the surface of the river as it lands, gaining speed before they hits another, more sharply slanted wave. A gust of wind catches the sail as the boat crests, propelling it into the air twenty feet above the raging river.
While the men scream like they're auditioning for an action-comedy, Luci removes her trusty spraycan from her holster and fires from the hip, painting a long golden cord from the can to a palm tree jutting out of a skyscraper. With lightning speed she wraps her spraycan around the mast of the ship.
The ship catches and swings like a pendulum, the palm tree splintering with the strain.
Luci releases the glowing golden rope at the top of the ships arc, sending them flying forward again.
The ship veers right this time, heading directly towards another skyscraper.
The trio frantically rushes portside to try to get it to change course, but the sailboat merely tips left, and the hull smashes into the building, breaking glass but seeming to glide easily on the surface of the wall. The crew lurches forward as the boat snags on another palm tree jutting out from one of the windows, and the boat slides the entire length of tree before flying off the tip. They hold tightly to the deck as the ship spins around several times in the air, threatening to throw them off, but manage to land with nothing more than minor bruises in the choppy blood ocean.
A skateboard enthusiast might point out that they had successfully completed a wallrun-railgrind-900 with a sailboat.
The trio is far from safe. Above them the giant hand flexes, then reaches out lazily to slash their boat.
They scatter, barely managed to evacuate before the catboat is shredded by the wicked blades on the giant fingers.
Underneath the blood, Luci is panicking. She cannot swim through the thick fluid, or even tell which way is up. She kicks desperately, her lungs burning. Darkness starts to creep into the edges of her mind.
Luci feels someone grab her by her hair and pull her up to the surface. Kuzuru shoves her onto a piece of the catboats driftwood, and she takes several deep gasping breaths as she scans for the Sage.
"And here I thought you had a pair of natural flotation devices," the demon says with the air of someone who was very proud of their joke.
Luci's face is wracked with concern as she gazes out into the ocean of blood. Above them, the hand is cracking it's kuckles.
Kuzuru laughs. "The old man? THAT'S what you're concerned about right now?"
Luci stares at him with her big gold eyes. He sighs.
"Fine. Stay here," he says as he lets go of the driftwood and floats out into the whirlpool.
"Be careful!" Luci calls. Kuzuru laughs again.
"I'll be fine, I'm in my element," he says with a grin.
Luci watches the bounty hunter dive into the blood. It is a very tense few moments before Kuzuru breaches the surface, the Sage under his shoulder. Luci watches as they manage to find another piece of driftwood to climb onto.
The hand seems to have noticed them again, and it's long deadly fingers start stabbing at the Sage and Kuzuru .
Luci scrambles to pull out a lighter as the pair dodge the attacks wildly. She flicks it hurriedly, cursing as it refuses to light. She tries to wipe off the blood, but there is nothing dry enough. After a few nerve-wracking tries, it lights. A quick blast of aerosol from her spray can is all it takes to turn the tiny flame into a roaring inferno.
Luci stands on her piece of driftwood with shaky legs and begins to whip the long tail of flame around and around her head, ringing her in a crackling halo of fire. The fire starts to grow into a shape; first a large birds head appears, it's eyes the same bright gold as Luci's. Slowly it's body emerged, made of deep red and orange flames. Then a massive set of wings unfurls, crackling with sparks, and blue torch-like flames licking at the bottom. Finally its tail emerges, a vibrant plumage of golds and reds and oranges and every color of the pyromaniac rainbow.
Luci makes a whipping motion and the phoenix streaks off towards the hand, bellowing it's beautifully haunting war cry. The hand notices the attack, catching the bird in mid-flight and crushing it in a tightly balled fist.
The phoenix explodes, blowing the hand into a fine red mist. There is a very brief moment of calm, and then a powerful whirlpool emerges where the hand was.
Luci tries to latch onto a building, but her rope isn't long enough. She sees the worried looks on her companions faces, and tries to smile at them as they sink.
Eventually, they try to swim through the thick liquid again, but the current of the whirlpool is too strong, and they are pulled down, down into it's depths.
***
In an alley in Teir 5, mysterious graffiti is bleeding from a wall.
A pair of rainbow eyes with pupils of liquid gold.
An ink painting of a raven.
A portrait of a man with a description written beneath it.
A dripping rainbow chameleon atop a bay window.
A crude yellow smiley face.
A portrait of Ballad with bleeding gashes covering his face.
A shaky, jumbled mess of lines and angles.
A surreal futurist portrait of a woman.
Some were even signed.
![[Image: V4Dvvfy.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/V4Dvvfy.gif)