heavyhitter | IC CONTACT (futuro & prisma)

[ She realizes, a little unhappily, that she has no idea what to expect from Sigma in a fight like this. He hadn't been too impressive on the volcano, but that was against crazy monsters, you couldn't expect a pretty normal guy to do much against crazy monsters. How is he with more evenly matched opponents? Can she count on him, or should she be protecting him?

She has no idea, and worse, likes him too much to find out by trial and error. She'll be pissed if she only learns he's bad at this after he takes a spear to the chest, or something. So she drops his hand and steps forward, moving a little in front of him, the knife held ready in front of her.

The first Nalawi bursts from the branches at a run and Ramir springs forward to meet him, looking to tangle up spear shaft in knife blade and force it out of the equation. They're not so bad when they're disarmed, at least there's that... But while she's working on the first one, another springs out shortly after the first, this one aimed with a sword. Completely unfair. ]

[ Crazy monsters, crazy headache, doesn't make for much of a first impression, but things are different now. Granted the closest thing remotely resembling formal training that he's got is a handful of elementary school tae kwon do classes, but that doesn't stop him being huge and resilient by nature. ]

[ So when she steps in front of him, it earns a bit of a hey, seriously?! but she's off and running before he can protest any further. Naturally he follows along to lend a hand... somehow. The swinging blades make it a little difficult to get a fist in edgeways, but he's close enough to quickly lunge at the next incoming Nalawi, bowling it over and pinning it flat. Good angle for twisting its arm until the sword comes loose, bad angle for taking the next charging, spear-wielding deer into consideration. ]

[ Halfway through punching sword deer's lights out, spear deer's got its weapon of choice in his face, and although he manages to lean back far enough to grab it below the point and keep it from going through his face, he does end up flat on his back. With, luckily, just enough time to wrangle his legs out from under him and catch the Nalawi square in the chest with both heels. Winded, it crumples back, and the spear wrenches easily from its hands. Spear's good, he'll take spear over sword. Longer range, harder to kill things. ]

[ So as it turns out, he's pretty scrappy when he needs to be. Scrambling to his feet, he takes a second to swivel around and find Ramir again. ]

You alright?!

[ She can't spare too much attention for keeping an eye on Sigma, what with this knife-versus-spear business. It turns out it's kind of an uneven battle when you pit something so small against something so long, mostly involving her knocking the spear's tip away before it can do any stabbing.

That lasts until she gets sick of it, ducks under the guy's range, and charges the Nalawi. This part is always awkward, it feels like beating up a kid. But that doesn't stop her from punching the guy straight in his muzzle, with just enough time to glance over and catch the end of Sigma's spear-getting victory. Which, honestly, is hugely relieving. She'd been worried he'd have distracted the sword-guy only to get himself skewered.

She aims a huge, delighted grin over, a confiscated spear in one hand and knife in the other. ]

Totally fine! Not so bad when you can see 'em coming, right? [ She edges over to him, flipping the spear to find a more balanced hold on it. ] And check it out, now we both got baby-sized spears.

[ See? He can get along just fine without her babysitting. And her grin's positively infectious, at least for the second he's got to shoot it back her way. ]

Better than nothing! [ Concentration's back on his face right quick once another volley of arrows peppers the ground at their feet and he jumps back a couple of feet. ] God—good thing they sent the storm troopers after you, isn't it?

[ It isn't. This time around, the shitty aim was merely a distraction rolled into an attempt to herd them back toward the opposite edge of the clearing, where two Nalawi had apparently skirted around to during the scuffle with the first three. Because with a rustling snapping of branches, they burst out charging, and Sigma spins just in time to meet the butt end of a spear with the side of his face. ]

[ The world blurs, lunges sideways, tastes a little bitter, but he's still upright by the time the deer flips the spear to its lethal end and jabs again. This one he deflects with the side of his own before winding up and returning the favor, clocking it right over the head with twice the vigor and—by all kinds of luck—managing to wedge the staff into its antlers, dragging the weapon down in their dazed slump. And leaving him pretty defenseless from the side for the second swordsdeer. ]

[ One of these days she's really going to have to sit people down and explain she doesn't get most their stupid pop culture references. If that's what that was. But presently she's a little too busy springing back with her heart in her chest and casting a glance over to make sure Sigma didn't get arrowed anywhere.

Ramir's got him covered from that second one, though. What she might presently lack in supernatural strength she more than makes up for in enthusiasm, and swings her spear like a bat to knock the sword swing out of the air. The weapons lock together and it leaves her spear with a good notch in the shaft and Ramir with the suspicion that it won't hold up to too much more, but it's done its duty. ]

Would you guys just — [ She keeps the tangled weapons born down and pushes closer, pulling the dagger out of her belt to plunge it into the deer's shoulder. Probably non-lethal, as long as he gets out of here to get it looked at soon. ] Fuck off! Holy shit, what's it gonna take to convince you this isn't worth your time!

[ She's got her dagger back again in a second, and abandons the spear as she darts back again, closer to Sigma. ]

You wanna keep running? It's sounding good to me.

[ Sorry to say trying to take the pop culture out of Sigma is probably like trying to take the water out of the Shedd aquarium with a five gallon bucket, but at least there's less security to yell at her if she ever wants to make an attempt. ]

[ But as if exertion and adrenaline aren't bad enough for his heart rate, once Ramir actually digs the knife into something and draws blood, it's thudding against his ribcage. For never having been in an honest to god knife-fight before (let alone a sword- or spear-fight), it was easy to lose the gravity of the situation in the action; everyone else in this equation is actually ready to do some serious harm, and here he hadn't even ever managed to turn the pointy end of his spear away from himself, had he? ]

Running-- [ He spits red, wipes the rest off his bloodied lip with the back of his hand and makes a grab for hers with the other. ] Running's good, let's go with that.

[ He'rll take the lead this time, tugging her back into the cover of trees in at least the vague direction they'd been heading before. ]

[ She hesitates just long enough to scan the trees around them, before Sigma jerks her into a run. There can't be that many cultist left in this particular chase. It's not like there were hundreds of them to begin with, and other recruits have been in to draw them away... god, she hopes that's about it.

She puts on a burst of speed to run abreast of Sigma, hand tight on his. ]

Kinda -- [ Okay, now she's getting short on breath. Embarrassing. ] -- sorta -- lost. Any idea what direction?

[ There can't be many left, just the ones with projectiles. No big deal. She's keeping pace with him alright, but her harsh and choppy breath isn't entirely reassuring. Not that he's doing too much better after the fighting, but whatever, he's not quite wedging words in between gasps yet. ]

Pretty sure it was this way--maybe... left, a little. Hey, you okay?

[ Herding the both of them in an appropriately slightly leftward trajectory, his hand squeezes hers again; after vaulting a small ditch, he can spare her a look longer than a fleeting glance. More than a little twinged with concern. ]

[ She is, with a little more inspection, generally battered. She's had long enough by now to remember that she's not still invulnerable, and the survival instincts of a perfectly squishy human are still pretty deeply ingrained in her, but it's been a long night filled with a lot of scuffling. But she nods at his question anyway, because it could be worse. ]

Just tired. You -- showed up late, remember? [ She glances over long enough to fire off a quick grin, meant to reassure. An arrow thudding into the tree left of her shoulder wipes it off again pretty fast, though. ] Oh my god, assholes!

[ So it's not quite as bad as his imagination out of the corner of his eye had been making it out to be, but it still isn't great. Neither of them are great, but it can't be all bad if they've still got the air to joke, right? That means they can still keep running. ]

Look, they invented city blocks for a reason, I can't find anything out here.

[ He's not built for this just around the riverbend life. Anyway, at the rate things are going, their luck's going to run out before the Nalawi run out of arrows. They're closing the gap on their targets now, the thud at Ramir's side drawing a startled turn to look that nearly meets his chin with a second shaft as it whizzes between them. ]

Dude, seriously--! [ Belatedly he jumps, then ducks his head, really throws some distance into his strides (at least as much as Ramir can keep up with). Fortunately and abruptly though, the trees are beginning to thin, and what looks like a cluster of buildings can be seen peeking through the branches in the far distance. ]

Hey! [ He points, a little unnecessarily, but very excitedly. And moderately apprehensively. ] What d'you think the odds are they'd still try to run us down in public?

[ She can keep up with Sigma, but just barely. Her lungs feel about ready to explode and her legs are ready to fall off by the time the buildings start to come into sight, little flicking oasises of torchlight. Ramir grins, exhausted but pleased. ]

There's no way they'll try it. This is -- secret society bullshit. [ She gives his hand another squeeze and charges on, and sure enough, as they break the last few trees, the cultists behind them split away and melt back into the trees. Ramir firmly hopes they're all gasping for breath, too.

She finally slows her stride once they're safely among the buildings, and wastes no time doubling over with her free hand on her knee, the other refusing to let go of Sigma's. ]

Holy shit. I hate running. I'm never running -- again.

[ Good enough odds for him. They're gonna break each other's fingers off at this point, but his grip matches her squeeze and holds all the way til the forest floor becomes a packed dirt street. A few houses in, he finally trudges to a halt too, a wave of delayed exhaustion finally catching up with his breaths and leaving him hunched and panting where he stands. ]

Me— neither... [ Sigma casts a glance over his shoulder for any signs of life, but they had definitely veered off back there. Right? Right, definitely... ] I give up—

[ He backs toward a darkened storefront, thuds to his knees, slumps to the side, and haphazardly sits against the wall. Probably drags her down with him if she holds on too tight, because he's not letting go. ]

—never getting up.

We're both still alive, I dunno how much better things could get.

[ That's only a little sarcastic, it's also slightly true. They're alive, no major harm done. That's good enough in her book. Still, though, exhaustion dims her smile as she leans a little more heavily into him. ]

Where are you staying, anyway? Let's do a sleepover. [ Because there's no way she wants to be alone, so the solution is to invite herself over. ]

Fair.

[ He sighs, a little deeper than necessary now that his breathing has evened out, slumping a little further down the wall under her encouraging weight. At her proposal, he snickers a little. ]

Just at the inn. [ (I think, is it destroyed? is it on this island?? I don't remember and it's hard to look up at work whatever roll with it) ] ... Sort of. Everything's too small but it's got a roof.

[ He shrugs. ]

What, you wanna do more pillow forts? I'm game... If I don't just pass out when we get back.

[ More pillow forts sounds great to her, just as long as it involves Sigma. She lets out a long breath of her own, holding an internal tiny debate between pride and good sense. She'd like to stand herself up and walk there, and she's pretty sure she could... but man, she is tired of walking on ripped up feet. Finally, with a sigh, she capitulates. ]

I'll let you get away with passing out if you carry me there. [ And so it sounds a little less like the earnest request it actually is, she adds on with a grin: ] I'm pretty sure you owe me some carting around, at this point.

[ Welp, even if she's just masking her break in pride, she's not wrong. He pulls a face at that. ]

Yeah, I got a lot of debt to clear on that front... [ Not to mention that she definitely shouldn't be walking around on those puppies much more tonight. He retrieves his arm from around her and gathers up his feet beneath him. ] But good, I'm pretty sure I actually won't get up again if I stay here any longer.

[ And so rocking forward into a crouch, he gives his shoulder a tap. ] Hop on.

[ She smiles brightly, and finds that she has enough energy left to push herself up and invite herself onto that proffered piggyback lift. She loops both arms around him and presses a quick and grateful kiss onto a readily available ear. ]

Thanks. [ It's a thanks that she means. With most people she'd have preferred to tough it out over asking for help. It's not that bad, she could totally make the walk... but around him, it's alright to think that she doesn't have to. ] Okay, mush!

[ The extra weight settling on his back sets the muscles in his worn out legs creaking, but the smooch to his ear bolsters him through the aches and pains to get the both of them up on his feet... Well, almost, he does stagger a little. ]

Oh god, yeah, I sat too long, hold on-- [ He hooks his hands under her knees, hikes them up over his hips proper and takes a second to settle their collective center of gravity before letting out a determined huff. ] Onward!

[ It takes a couple steps for his second wind to kick in, but once it does, he's off at a reasonably even trot back across town. ]

IC CONTACT (futuro & prisma)

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JUST STARTS HERE I GUESS

gently borrows your format and RETURNS FIRE

immediately sputters out and goes back to text, IT WAS A GOOD RUN

we did good team

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and then they go fall asleep like old people the end