ATTN: @PaulHaynek & @AzureKnight (Kirei/Lavinia)
Lavi had been listening intently as Takeshi offered his services for removing the odd sigil that had been inscribed on Ripcord’s neck.
”My Lord Takeshi,” She started. ”While your method of removal has me rather curious, I feel that someone more familiar with the dark arts would be of better use here.” She gave the young heir a gentle tap on his shoulder as she walked past him, stopping in front of the sisters.
While Lavinia’s mask hid her eyes, her warm smile and forthcoming demeanor told the sisters immediately that she only had good intentions at heart. Lavi, however, also considered the fact that Ripcord likely still didn’t take to her very well.
”That mark must be a rather nasty thing, Dear Ripcord.” Lavi said. ”No one should be made to feel like prey, having their dignity robbed in such a deplorable way. How long have you had this mark, Love?”
"If I had to guess, a while, since we returned from the sakehouse," Ripcord says. "I killed a Varjan. He took it poorly, it seems."
”Indeedly so.” Lavi added. She eased her way closer to Ripcord, holding out a hand. ”If you don’t mind, Love, I’d like to get a closer look.”
Ripcord narrowed her eyes, but relented. It was one or the other, and trusted neither option over the other. It was just the grace of Umami taking a liking to Lavi that swayed her.
As she thought, Rip was still somewhat uneasy around the Umbra Witch. Understandably so, despite the fact that Unami herself forgave the ordeal. Having Ripcord’s permission, Lavi placed a light hand on the elder sister’s neck, taking a more in-depth inspection of the sigil. Ripcord would notice that Lavi’s hand was glowing with a dim turquoise light, and would feel mana shift as Lavi analyzed the mark.
”Such crude implementation of dark arts shame the Witch Community, those brutes always find ways to make my blood boil.” She spat. ”Aside from the obvious threat of the Varjans always being able to track your, and by extension our every move, I’ve heard that the mark will never fade on its own. Only when the one who placed it in the first place removes it themselves, or when the marked one passes on.”
Quickly realizing that she spoiled the mood, Lavi again dawned her warm smile. ”Unless you’re a professional and well-proven adept at sorcerous practices, like myself!” She hymned. ”Please bear with me for a moment, I plan to…reverse -engineer this sigil’s properties, so to speak.”
"Ironic, since I was design to kill you, kith and ken," Ripcord says. "Umami and I both," she says, "Now, even my home rejects me. Karma, perhaps..."
”Oh my...” Lavi said, listening intently. ”Well, it’s certainly good that we’re allies then!”
She wouldn’t dare say friends. One should always mind their place.
Moreover, did Ripcord say that her home rejects her? ”I’m truly sorry to hear that. A person should always have a home to go back to. Honestly, you may be worse off than me. You have a home that you aren’t allowed to go to, while I no longer have one in the first place. You have a metaphoric slap in the face, so to speak.”
Ripcord would feel something stirring on her neck where the sigil layed. ”Hmm, I think I’ve just about got it, Dearie.”
"Oh," Ripcord asks. She was curious about many things, but minded her own, for the moment.
”Ah~ I think we’ve got it!” Lavi chirped. The turquoise glow had shone brighter for a moment, and as it did the sigil that plagued Ripcord’s neck had slowly begun to dissipate. Soon, it was as if it was never there in the first place.
”I much prefer working with more complicated spells. They at least follow a specific methodology, cruder arts like this are often jerry-rigged and are much more frustrating to work though!”
"In my line of work, killing is preferred over spells," Ripcord says. "Seems not all Varjans believe the same. Engineering such nonsense, trying to ensure I would die," she scoffed, "I wasn’t built to die."
Lavi chuckled lightly at Ripcord’s statement. ”We needn’t let ourselves be defined by what we were born as.” She responded. ”Are you feeling alright, Love? I don’t think forcibly removing that mark has any negative side effects, but one can never be too careful. Even with as gentle hands as mine.”
"We are defined by who and what we are," Ripcord says, "There’s no second chance for me, just renewed purpose. My knife stabs another, and another bleeds out," she says, "For the Varjans, once, and now for this lots. Nothing changes, neither in war nor profits."
”...Heh. I suppose I’ll take that as a yes?” Lavinia says. ”I won’t pretend to understand the life you and Unami have had up until this point, but I can only hope that you find another facet of it to enjoy aside from cloak and daggers. That may have tonal dissonance coming from a literal witch of darkness, but hopefully you see my point.”
Ripcord shrugged.
At least, she was honest. That was good enough for the time being.
”Hmm, well, I’m glad to have been of help regardless. I suppose I’ll leave you to your devices, but please feel free to reach out to me if you need anything.” Lavi said, also looking at Unami, still feeling a bit guilty. She was forgiven, but there was still a rocky road ahead before the relationship could fully be mended.
"I can’t think of anything I would need you for, but Umami does need an outlet," Ripcord says.
If Lavi wasn’t wearing a mask, The Claremont Sisters would’ve seen her eyes widen with a bit of perplexity.
”Outlet, you say? I…can’t imagine what that would entail.” She said, turning to the younger of the siblings.
"Something to do when I’m not awake. Neither of us are magically inclined, too much Human in our blood, but its interesting, nevertheless," Ripcord says.
"Umu!" Umami nodded. "You can pull me out of a hat!" she says, flashing into her Wererabbit form, "Just don’t pull too hard."
”Uh…” Lavi wasn't quite sure on how to process this scene. Suddenly, she busted out into a light laugh. She couldn't help at being taken aback by how cute Umami was in her wererabbit form.
”Well, Dearie, I'm not THAT sort of magician.” She said, hands on her hips. ”I'd like to think my spells amount to much more than simple parlor tricks. But, I might be able to accommodate you in this case -”
Lavi cut herself short, after giving it some thought. Lavi could only make a large hat from either darkness or ice. The former would likely scare the poor thing again, and she probably doesn't much care for the cold either.
Rabbits didn’t much care for either, true. Skittery sorts, after all.
Pondering for a bit, an idea had finally popped into Lavi’s head. She turned to bubbly Umami, who was still in her rabbit form.
”Tell me, Dearie, would you be interested in a game of hide and seek?”
Umami's eyes sparkled as she nodded. "I'm the bestest at it!"
”Oh? Is that right?” Lavi responded, pleased by the girl’s enthusiasm at the proposition. In truth, Lavi wanted to continue to build a good relationship with the girl, still feeling guilty over having scared the poor to death. Also, she found the subject of Umami’s speed and agility to be most curious.
”Let’s up the ante, then, Love.” Lavi continued. ”For this game, you’ll be it. You’re allowed to use all of your forms in order to chase me, so make use of whatever form you think will work best. Also, the loser of the contest has to give something to the winner.” Stepping off to a nearby tree, Lavinia would place her staff at the foot of it.
”Worry not Dearie, I will not use magic in order to cheat. We need to make this fun, not unfair!” She mused. ”In order to win, all you need to do is slap my arse.” Lavi made a childish and mocking gesture towards her posterior, although it wasn’t mean-spirited.
”Do you agree to the terms, Little Umami?”
"Hide! Hunt! Bite!" Umami grinned, suddenly adopting a predatory gaze that wasn't possible for a rabbit. She was locked in, focused by malicious intent; the gaze of a career assassin, hardened with purpose...
"I can win this!" Umami suddenly beamed, her expression melting with innocence, as if she hadn't Flashbacked on Lavinia.
Leaping into the air, Umami would disappear into the earth like it was water...
"Run, Witch..." Ripcord advised, as the ground shifted and started to sink underneath Lavi's feet.
Lavi shot a quick glance at the elder sister’s statement before shifting her attention back to Umami. Honestly, she didn’t even say to start yet! Lavi couldn’t do very much to quell the excitement bore from youthful eagerness. With a cautious smile, Lavi put her leg muscles to use and jumped onto a high branch on a nearby tree. She couldn’t imagine what Umami called herself doing, but something told her it was bad news…
If creating a sinkhole could be considered bad news, then yes; as she leapt ahead, the ground would collapse inward, and would have crushed her legs.
Lavi could tell that Umami had moved on, but without using her own senses or magic, she wasn't about to know where she was coming from.
As far as advantages went, she had the high ground, but Umami had access to the underground and then skies in equal measure. Lavi didn't have the luxury of a waiting game.
She was being hunted.
Ripcord swiveled her eyes into her head, looking for Umami herself.
”Goodness, this child…” Lavi said, watching as the ground she was just standing on imploded. Being honest with herself, Lavinia was expecting this as an opening move. Moreover, Umami seemed to be a tad bit more clever than she gave her credit for. She had positioned herself so that she would be downwind of Lavi, and on top of that she’s now covered in mud. Coupled with the third point of not being able to use magic (including mana-sensing), Lavi had put herself in a rather compromising situation. Even Ripcord was putting in effort to find her sister, making use of her unique biology to scan as many directions as possible.
Lavi would have to trust her primal instincts for this contest. The ground wasn’t an option, and it’s not as if the skies would grant her an automatic advantage either. Standing still meant being a sitting duck, and immediately taking to the skies is likely what Umami is wanting.
For now she would have to stick to the trees, and hoped that as she hopped from branch to branch it would cause Umami to bring herself out into the open. Thereby, putting herself within eyeview.
A crackling sound filled the silence, though... it was similar to snapping, like bones or sheets of ice...
Ripcord turned her head without moving her body, and looked back to the sunken hole, as ice crawled out of it. Like a spider's web extending of its own will, the ice was leapfrogged by water, then frozen, and repeated as it snaked into the trees and crept up the bark like liquid ivy.
"It seems she really liked her taste..." Ripcord says.
”Seems that way.” Said a familiar voice, one that came from beside Ripcord. Taking a seat beside Ripcord, Kirei watched as the little game between Umami and Lavinia unfolded. ”I saw that Lavinia had decided to talk to you and your sister, and now it’s become a peculiar game of tag.”
Meanwhile, Lavi was silently cursing to herself as Umami is under no such stipulation to use magic, having taken some of her own DNA. She quickly leapt out of the freezing tree and onto another. This girl was quite the little something! What was also troublesome was that Umami didn’t want to simply chase Lavi like she was trying for earlier. She wanted to remove all of her options, preventing her from doing anything. If Lavi got frozen, she could simply remove the ice no problem. But that was only under the stipulation that she could use magic. She would have to resort to strength alone to free herself, or stave off the numbing feeling, both of which made her an easy target.
Indeed, Umami was a troublesome child.
"Tag is a queer thing to call a hunt," Ripcord says, as the ice branched off; vines of water lashing out, lassoing around branches, and freezing over, so new water could path over. "Umami is made of two parts predator, two parts prey, and a binding of opportunist. As such, she can think on both sides of the coin..." she says, "Chimeravore doesn't last forever, so she's building an arena like a spider, hoping that her prey gets caught before her silk runs out."
The canopies swayed.
The underbrush rustled.
The ice was racing ahead, and closing the cage.
However, it was flagging in speed, and the last gap was slow to close...
...or was it?
Was Lavinia inside of a cage... or a funnel?
If she charged through the gap, she would be safe from the ice.
If she charged through the gap, would she be safe from what was hiding behind it?
Or, would it be safer to break free from elsewhere? Risking Umami's opportunities within, and potentially freezing herself?
Inside?
Outside?
The choice wasn't hers, either or, as the gap was shutting...
”Hmm, you gals sure do know how to make a simple game of tag interesting.” Kirei mused. ”Although, you prefer the term hunt, as it were. Aside from all that, if you’ll forgive me I couldn’t help but notice that odd mark that was on your neck. The one that Lavinia helped to remove.” He said, giving Ripcord a side eye.
Seeing the swirling ice climb up all around her, Lavi’s first thought was that she was being trapped like a mouse in a cage. That was until she thought about one matter that stuck out to her - why was the opening closing so slowly? If Umami did indeed want to trap her, why was she leaving such an obvious escape route? Not wanting to take any chances, Lavinia decided to rely on her natural resilience and make her own exit. Due to her biology, she had a resistance to snow and ice, not to mention she didn’t find the exit given to her to be very forthcoming.
For the first time during this game, Lavinia transformed into her witchbeast form, causing white feathers to plume around the vicinity. With her monstrous strength, she spun in a drilling motion toward a different part of the ice, attempting to shatter through an exit the spire in a less compromising position. She wasn’t sure if her gambit would fully work or not, but it was better than the alternative.
"Make a point," Ripcord says, curtly, as Lavinia exploded from the iced over canopy, and found herself face-to-face with a wickedly smiling Umami.
If Lavinia ever imagine herself a mother, Umami would be her daughter; wearing her Bestial Form, as if it where her own. In her hands, she held Lavi's staff, and licked her lips... before pointing it at her.
From the canopy, shadows leapt like tendrils, and surged up at the Witch.
"She extended Chimeravore by taking Lavi's DNA from her staff..." Ripcord realized. Judging from her tone, this was new behavior for the Lesser Chimera.
”Hahaha!” Kirei let out a laugh at the sight of falling ice and creeping shadows. ”I think our Umbra Witch may have bitten off more than she could chew!” He said, looking at the shocked expression she had on her face. ”Your sister is deceptively clever, it seems.”
Kirei lounged on his back, folding his hands behind his head as makeshift support. ”Getting back to my point. I believe I recognize that mark from somewhere. I believe it’s used by certain sects of criminals I’ve dealt with back in the Mist Continent. They’re put on fall guys and targets marked for death by higher ups. Since they’re so similar, it tells me that whoever put that on you likely has connections over there. The Varjans despite nations that are on friendly terms with yōkai, so they don’t go there very often. Point being, it’s sort of easy to deduce what Varjan group likely interacted with them.”
While Kirei talked with Ripcord, Lavi internally cursed some more at the sight of Umami holding her staff and now using her shadow magic against her. ”Oh! You bratty little CHEATER!” She exclaimed. Having handicapped herself, Lavi had used various aerial maneuvers in order to dodge the aggressive tendrils grabbing at her.
"Never was one for names. We got ordered, clean up or stitch up," Ripcord says. "Higher-ups dealt with the paperwork," she frowned, "No different here."
Lavi would feel the umbra energy kissing at her skin, unable to purchase, but one tendril would touch and tug - pulling at her. It was cold. After another tugged, she would realize that, within the shadows, covered and disguised, were tendrils of water from the ice that she couldn't see or predict.
All or none, the capturing tendrils were mixed in with the decoys.
”Goodness, this seems to be quite the predicament I’ve found myself in…” Lavinia uttered. When Ripcord told her they had been made specifically to take out mamono, that statement seemed to hold much weight. Using her own biology and magics against her with not but a few drops of her essence, on top of having strong predatory instincts herself. Umami was a bubbly, but dangerous adversary. She noticed that some of the tendrils that reached out to her were colder than the others.
She was mixing in shadow and icy coils, distracting Lavi with decoys to make her easier to capture.
Having to quickly think on her feet, there was one idea that popped into her head. The Sun.
The umbra coils would grow weaker as they drew closer to the morning star, as would the power of water and ice. This would be a double-edged sword, however, as Lavi’s eyes were highly sensitive to sunlight. She may end up compromising her sight for the rest of the game if she wasn’t careful. But, having left herself with no other means of countering Umami’s copied spells, she had little choice. Quickly, she began moving upward towards the morning light.
Kirei continued to slouch as Ripcord spoke, looking at the continued game between the other two taskforce members with a bit of intrigue. ”I can understand. Some things are just beyond a person’s pay grade. However, I will say that one of those groups was known for delving into unethical biological experiments. Ones that involved creating bioweapons that were meant to aid the Varjans in taking out mamono, enemies that the Empire has had trouble with for centuries.”
Kirei paid close attention to Lavi’s ascend toward the sunlight. ”She’s making quite the gambit. At any rate, if you don’t wish to discuss it further, we’ll drop it here. But, just know that you don’t have to feel as though you're trapped in a specific way of life due to that group. You’ve been gifted new beginnings, thanks in part to Lavi’s aid. ”
"New beginnings, huh," Ripcord says. "Maybe, yes. Maybe, no. There's blood on our hands that good deeds and well-wishes can't just cleanse."
Umami would throw the frost and shadows beyond Lavi, her sensitive nose scenting blood in the water, before they curved down at her within the blinding shade of the Sun.
All she needed was to stop her ascend for even a moment.
Just long enough to get close and sink her fangs into that big butt.
Ripcord’s words stuck a cord with Kirei, though he didn’t show it through emotion on his face. Instead, memories and various feelings started swirling in his mind. Most notably, the face of a man came into view in Kirei’s psyche.
”I suppose it doesn’t.” He responded flatly.
It seemed this game of theirs was about to reach its climax, as Lavi scrambled to higher ground to get away from the shadowy tendrils. The witch also scented blood within the water Umami was manipulating as well. She couldn’t tell if the girl was actually intelligent or just had strong instincts, perhaps both?
The main issue is that as she got closer to the sun, the harder the strain on her eyes became. She couldn’t cover them up, she needed to see in order to evade Umami’s coiled onslaught. Since the sisters stated that they weren’t adept at using magic, Lavi was hoping that she would’ve run out of mana by now. Taking her staff for herself may have mitigated that outcome, much to Lavi’s chagrin. At that moment, another thought popped into the Umbra Witch’s head.
If her eyes are sensitive to light, so too must be Umami’s! At least currently. Breaking off ice off of one of the tendrils coming for her, Lavi hoped to use the ice as a mirror. Reflecting concentrated light off of it, her aim was to temporarily blind Umami and impair her. Then perhaps she could finally gain an upper hand, along with some much needed breathing room.
Umami was reflected in the ice-mirror, but her hair had grown over her eyes, and blocked the sense - instead, she was reliant on her ears, mutated and enlarged into a Werebat’s, and the hypersonic screech that echoed off Lavi.
It would seem, like a proper Chimera, she could mix and match, as needed to cover weaknesses, but she wasn’t adhere to the standard trio of beasts.
However, she also wasn’t made from the long haul - dogs and cats were burst hunters, rabbits and sheep were fear sprinters, and bats simply couldn’t hold themselves against gravity forever.
Eventually, her caloric-fueled energy was going to burn out.
Lavi would find herself free, at last, and sailing towards the sun... as Umami was falling back towards the earth in her Human Form.
Lavi grew wide-eyed and gritted her teeth as she saw that Umami’s hair had grown out and was now covering her eyes. The latter didn’t have multiple targets to worry about unlike the former, so echolocation was perfectly serviceable for her. Lavi also noticed that she had now taken on different traits, as if she was mix-matching aspects of various mamono.
However, it seemed that this had backfired on the Chimera Mamono, as it appeared she used up too much of her stamina and began reverting back into her human form. The tendrils she used to hunt Lavi with had dissipated, which caused the hellkite to stop mid-flight. She looked as her opponent started falling back down to the ground with bewildered eyes.
”Umami!” She exclaimed. She made a mad bee-dive for the falling girl, tucking in her wings to reduce drag. ”Please let me make it in time! This is all my fault!”
Ripcord would extend her hair, and small pockets of slime would form in the air around Lavi, as if thickening the water molecules, before the disappeared with the air - creating a pressure vacuum that yanked Lavi down with more speed than she was gaining from terminal velocity alone. Ripcord’s hair fell limp, as she grit her teeth. "Hate... magic..." she groused.
Umami, meanwhile, would fall, but Lavi could catch her with the speed boost that Ripcord give her by doing what Shoggoth did best: cleaning messes.
Kirei was roused by the scene, but also noticed that Ripcord and Lavinia had already acted in response to save the chimera girl. That didn’t stop him from pinching in though. Waving his hand in a circular motion, he generated a bit of wind magic under Umami. A small squall that whipped up and acted as a way of slowing her descent, allowing Lavinia to reach her even faster.
Lavinia had just about reached Umami, thanks to the efforts of Kirei and Ripcord, and had made a grab for her.
”I’ve got you Umami!” She yelled.
"Nn...nn..." Umami groaned, before she stomach growled in protest of being so empty.
Being caught was secondary to being full. Still, the concerted efforts would allow Lavi to catch her, which was likely primary to the Chimera.
The efforts of all three individuals had been successful. Ripcord giving Lavinia speed and Kirei giving Umami cushion and lift prevented her from hitting the pavement. Kirei’s wind also allowed Lavinia to make a gentler descent as she landed on the ground with the younger sister.
”Umami?! Oh, thank the Demon Lord! Are you alright?!” She asked, eyes full of concern. She was quickly silenced by the growling of Umami’s stomach, which also served to answer her question.
”Heh, I think she just wants some lunch.” Kirei interjected.
Lavi looked down at Umami with a tired, but relieved expression. ”You are such a troublemaker, do you know that Love?”
"She’s not gunna answer," Ripcord says. "I better round up something to eat. By time she’s full, she might have eaten all of me..."
”...I see.” Lavi said with a nervous giggle. The Claremeont Sisters were certainly quite the pair. What was supposed to be a simple game of tag turned into the scene of a battlefield. The ground and surrounding trees were utterly wrecked with patches of ice, blood, and debris. But to Umami, it likely may have been just a game. Lavi, still holding Umami, walked along with Ripcord as she ventured off for food.
”Next time, either neither of us can use magic or both of us can!” She sneered. She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but that whole ordeal had Lavi pushed back against the wall.
Kirei got up and decided to go separate ways, glad that everything worked out. Of course being the captain of the taskforce meant that he had to quick an eye on the doings of its various members. ”Glad you gals had fun!” He said cheerfully. ”Hopefully Takeshi-dono and Ayu-chan won’t be too upset at the mess!”
As he walked away, he gave a wave farewell to the monstrous dames. ”Oh, and remember our talk, Rip-chan.” He said.
"If there should be a next time," Ripcord says, leaving Kirei on "heard" - for now - by simply raising her right arm in departure. She was too Kuudere for goodbyes and thank-yous.
”My Lord Takeshi,” She started. ”While your method of removal has me rather curious, I feel that someone more familiar with the dark arts would be of better use here.” She gave the young heir a gentle tap on his shoulder as she walked past him, stopping in front of the sisters.
While Lavinia’s mask hid her eyes, her warm smile and forthcoming demeanor told the sisters immediately that she only had good intentions at heart. Lavi, however, also considered the fact that Ripcord likely still didn’t take to her very well.
”That mark must be a rather nasty thing, Dear Ripcord.” Lavi said. ”No one should be made to feel like prey, having their dignity robbed in such a deplorable way. How long have you had this mark, Love?”
"If I had to guess, a while, since we returned from the sakehouse," Ripcord says. "I killed a Varjan. He took it poorly, it seems."
”Indeedly so.” Lavi added. She eased her way closer to Ripcord, holding out a hand. ”If you don’t mind, Love, I’d like to get a closer look.”
Ripcord narrowed her eyes, but relented. It was one or the other, and trusted neither option over the other. It was just the grace of Umami taking a liking to Lavi that swayed her.
As she thought, Rip was still somewhat uneasy around the Umbra Witch. Understandably so, despite the fact that Unami herself forgave the ordeal. Having Ripcord’s permission, Lavi placed a light hand on the elder sister’s neck, taking a more in-depth inspection of the sigil. Ripcord would notice that Lavi’s hand was glowing with a dim turquoise light, and would feel mana shift as Lavi analyzed the mark.
”Such crude implementation of dark arts shame the Witch Community, those brutes always find ways to make my blood boil.” She spat. ”Aside from the obvious threat of the Varjans always being able to track your, and by extension our every move, I’ve heard that the mark will never fade on its own. Only when the one who placed it in the first place removes it themselves, or when the marked one passes on.”
Quickly realizing that she spoiled the mood, Lavi again dawned her warm smile. ”Unless you’re a professional and well-proven adept at sorcerous practices, like myself!” She hymned. ”Please bear with me for a moment, I plan to…reverse -engineer this sigil’s properties, so to speak.”
"Ironic, since I was design to kill you, kith and ken," Ripcord says. "Umami and I both," she says, "Now, even my home rejects me. Karma, perhaps..."
”Oh my...” Lavi said, listening intently. ”Well, it’s certainly good that we’re allies then!”
She wouldn’t dare say friends. One should always mind their place.
Moreover, did Ripcord say that her home rejects her? ”I’m truly sorry to hear that. A person should always have a home to go back to. Honestly, you may be worse off than me. You have a home that you aren’t allowed to go to, while I no longer have one in the first place. You have a metaphoric slap in the face, so to speak.”
Ripcord would feel something stirring on her neck where the sigil layed. ”Hmm, I think I’ve just about got it, Dearie.”
"Oh," Ripcord asks. She was curious about many things, but minded her own, for the moment.
”Ah~ I think we’ve got it!” Lavi chirped. The turquoise glow had shone brighter for a moment, and as it did the sigil that plagued Ripcord’s neck had slowly begun to dissipate. Soon, it was as if it was never there in the first place.
”I much prefer working with more complicated spells. They at least follow a specific methodology, cruder arts like this are often jerry-rigged and are much more frustrating to work though!”
"In my line of work, killing is preferred over spells," Ripcord says. "Seems not all Varjans believe the same. Engineering such nonsense, trying to ensure I would die," she scoffed, "I wasn’t built to die."
Lavi chuckled lightly at Ripcord’s statement. ”We needn’t let ourselves be defined by what we were born as.” She responded. ”Are you feeling alright, Love? I don’t think forcibly removing that mark has any negative side effects, but one can never be too careful. Even with as gentle hands as mine.”
"We are defined by who and what we are," Ripcord says, "There’s no second chance for me, just renewed purpose. My knife stabs another, and another bleeds out," she says, "For the Varjans, once, and now for this lots. Nothing changes, neither in war nor profits."
”...Heh. I suppose I’ll take that as a yes?” Lavinia says. ”I won’t pretend to understand the life you and Unami have had up until this point, but I can only hope that you find another facet of it to enjoy aside from cloak and daggers. That may have tonal dissonance coming from a literal witch of darkness, but hopefully you see my point.”
Ripcord shrugged.
At least, she was honest. That was good enough for the time being.
”Hmm, well, I’m glad to have been of help regardless. I suppose I’ll leave you to your devices, but please feel free to reach out to me if you need anything.” Lavi said, also looking at Unami, still feeling a bit guilty. She was forgiven, but there was still a rocky road ahead before the relationship could fully be mended.
"I can’t think of anything I would need you for, but Umami does need an outlet," Ripcord says.
If Lavi wasn’t wearing a mask, The Claremont Sisters would’ve seen her eyes widen with a bit of perplexity.
”Outlet, you say? I…can’t imagine what that would entail.” She said, turning to the younger of the siblings.
"Something to do when I’m not awake. Neither of us are magically inclined, too much Human in our blood, but its interesting, nevertheless," Ripcord says.
"Umu!" Umami nodded. "You can pull me out of a hat!" she says, flashing into her Wererabbit form, "Just don’t pull too hard."
”Uh…” Lavi wasn't quite sure on how to process this scene. Suddenly, she busted out into a light laugh. She couldn't help at being taken aback by how cute Umami was in her wererabbit form.
”Well, Dearie, I'm not THAT sort of magician.” She said, hands on her hips. ”I'd like to think my spells amount to much more than simple parlor tricks. But, I might be able to accommodate you in this case -”
Lavi cut herself short, after giving it some thought. Lavi could only make a large hat from either darkness or ice. The former would likely scare the poor thing again, and she probably doesn't much care for the cold either.
Rabbits didn’t much care for either, true. Skittery sorts, after all.
Pondering for a bit, an idea had finally popped into Lavi’s head. She turned to bubbly Umami, who was still in her rabbit form.
”Tell me, Dearie, would you be interested in a game of hide and seek?”
Umami's eyes sparkled as she nodded. "I'm the bestest at it!"
”Oh? Is that right?” Lavi responded, pleased by the girl’s enthusiasm at the proposition. In truth, Lavi wanted to continue to build a good relationship with the girl, still feeling guilty over having scared the poor to death. Also, she found the subject of Umami’s speed and agility to be most curious.
”Let’s up the ante, then, Love.” Lavi continued. ”For this game, you’ll be it. You’re allowed to use all of your forms in order to chase me, so make use of whatever form you think will work best. Also, the loser of the contest has to give something to the winner.” Stepping off to a nearby tree, Lavinia would place her staff at the foot of it.
”Worry not Dearie, I will not use magic in order to cheat. We need to make this fun, not unfair!” She mused. ”In order to win, all you need to do is slap my arse.” Lavi made a childish and mocking gesture towards her posterior, although it wasn’t mean-spirited.
”Do you agree to the terms, Little Umami?”
"Hide! Hunt! Bite!" Umami grinned, suddenly adopting a predatory gaze that wasn't possible for a rabbit. She was locked in, focused by malicious intent; the gaze of a career assassin, hardened with purpose...
"I can win this!" Umami suddenly beamed, her expression melting with innocence, as if she hadn't Flashbacked on Lavinia.
Leaping into the air, Umami would disappear into the earth like it was water...
"Run, Witch..." Ripcord advised, as the ground shifted and started to sink underneath Lavi's feet.
Lavi shot a quick glance at the elder sister’s statement before shifting her attention back to Umami. Honestly, she didn’t even say to start yet! Lavi couldn’t do very much to quell the excitement bore from youthful eagerness. With a cautious smile, Lavi put her leg muscles to use and jumped onto a high branch on a nearby tree. She couldn’t imagine what Umami called herself doing, but something told her it was bad news…
If creating a sinkhole could be considered bad news, then yes; as she leapt ahead, the ground would collapse inward, and would have crushed her legs.
Lavi could tell that Umami had moved on, but without using her own senses or magic, she wasn't about to know where she was coming from.
As far as advantages went, she had the high ground, but Umami had access to the underground and then skies in equal measure. Lavi didn't have the luxury of a waiting game.
She was being hunted.
Ripcord swiveled her eyes into her head, looking for Umami herself.
”Goodness, this child…” Lavi said, watching as the ground she was just standing on imploded. Being honest with herself, Lavinia was expecting this as an opening move. Moreover, Umami seemed to be a tad bit more clever than she gave her credit for. She had positioned herself so that she would be downwind of Lavi, and on top of that she’s now covered in mud. Coupled with the third point of not being able to use magic (including mana-sensing), Lavi had put herself in a rather compromising situation. Even Ripcord was putting in effort to find her sister, making use of her unique biology to scan as many directions as possible.
Lavi would have to trust her primal instincts for this contest. The ground wasn’t an option, and it’s not as if the skies would grant her an automatic advantage either. Standing still meant being a sitting duck, and immediately taking to the skies is likely what Umami is wanting.
For now she would have to stick to the trees, and hoped that as she hopped from branch to branch it would cause Umami to bring herself out into the open. Thereby, putting herself within eyeview.
A crackling sound filled the silence, though... it was similar to snapping, like bones or sheets of ice...
Ripcord turned her head without moving her body, and looked back to the sunken hole, as ice crawled out of it. Like a spider's web extending of its own will, the ice was leapfrogged by water, then frozen, and repeated as it snaked into the trees and crept up the bark like liquid ivy.
"It seems she really liked her taste..." Ripcord says.
”Seems that way.” Said a familiar voice, one that came from beside Ripcord. Taking a seat beside Ripcord, Kirei watched as the little game between Umami and Lavinia unfolded. ”I saw that Lavinia had decided to talk to you and your sister, and now it’s become a peculiar game of tag.”
Meanwhile, Lavi was silently cursing to herself as Umami is under no such stipulation to use magic, having taken some of her own DNA. She quickly leapt out of the freezing tree and onto another. This girl was quite the little something! What was also troublesome was that Umami didn’t want to simply chase Lavi like she was trying for earlier. She wanted to remove all of her options, preventing her from doing anything. If Lavi got frozen, she could simply remove the ice no problem. But that was only under the stipulation that she could use magic. She would have to resort to strength alone to free herself, or stave off the numbing feeling, both of which made her an easy target.
Indeed, Umami was a troublesome child.
"Tag is a queer thing to call a hunt," Ripcord says, as the ice branched off; vines of water lashing out, lassoing around branches, and freezing over, so new water could path over. "Umami is made of two parts predator, two parts prey, and a binding of opportunist. As such, she can think on both sides of the coin..." she says, "Chimeravore doesn't last forever, so she's building an arena like a spider, hoping that her prey gets caught before her silk runs out."
The canopies swayed.
The underbrush rustled.
The ice was racing ahead, and closing the cage.
However, it was flagging in speed, and the last gap was slow to close...
...or was it?
Was Lavinia inside of a cage... or a funnel?
If she charged through the gap, she would be safe from the ice.
If she charged through the gap, would she be safe from what was hiding behind it?
Or, would it be safer to break free from elsewhere? Risking Umami's opportunities within, and potentially freezing herself?
Inside?
Outside?
The choice wasn't hers, either or, as the gap was shutting...
”Hmm, you gals sure do know how to make a simple game of tag interesting.” Kirei mused. ”Although, you prefer the term hunt, as it were. Aside from all that, if you’ll forgive me I couldn’t help but notice that odd mark that was on your neck. The one that Lavinia helped to remove.” He said, giving Ripcord a side eye.
Seeing the swirling ice climb up all around her, Lavi’s first thought was that she was being trapped like a mouse in a cage. That was until she thought about one matter that stuck out to her - why was the opening closing so slowly? If Umami did indeed want to trap her, why was she leaving such an obvious escape route? Not wanting to take any chances, Lavinia decided to rely on her natural resilience and make her own exit. Due to her biology, she had a resistance to snow and ice, not to mention she didn’t find the exit given to her to be very forthcoming.
For the first time during this game, Lavinia transformed into her witchbeast form, causing white feathers to plume around the vicinity. With her monstrous strength, she spun in a drilling motion toward a different part of the ice, attempting to shatter through an exit the spire in a less compromising position. She wasn’t sure if her gambit would fully work or not, but it was better than the alternative.
"Make a point," Ripcord says, curtly, as Lavinia exploded from the iced over canopy, and found herself face-to-face with a wickedly smiling Umami.
If Lavinia ever imagine herself a mother, Umami would be her daughter; wearing her Bestial Form, as if it where her own. In her hands, she held Lavi's staff, and licked her lips... before pointing it at her.
From the canopy, shadows leapt like tendrils, and surged up at the Witch.
"She extended Chimeravore by taking Lavi's DNA from her staff..." Ripcord realized. Judging from her tone, this was new behavior for the Lesser Chimera.
”Hahaha!” Kirei let out a laugh at the sight of falling ice and creeping shadows. ”I think our Umbra Witch may have bitten off more than she could chew!” He said, looking at the shocked expression she had on her face. ”Your sister is deceptively clever, it seems.”
Kirei lounged on his back, folding his hands behind his head as makeshift support. ”Getting back to my point. I believe I recognize that mark from somewhere. I believe it’s used by certain sects of criminals I’ve dealt with back in the Mist Continent. They’re put on fall guys and targets marked for death by higher ups. Since they’re so similar, it tells me that whoever put that on you likely has connections over there. The Varjans despite nations that are on friendly terms with yōkai, so they don’t go there very often. Point being, it’s sort of easy to deduce what Varjan group likely interacted with them.”
While Kirei talked with Ripcord, Lavi internally cursed some more at the sight of Umami holding her staff and now using her shadow magic against her. ”Oh! You bratty little CHEATER!” She exclaimed. Having handicapped herself, Lavi had used various aerial maneuvers in order to dodge the aggressive tendrils grabbing at her.
"Never was one for names. We got ordered, clean up or stitch up," Ripcord says. "Higher-ups dealt with the paperwork," she frowned, "No different here."
Lavi would feel the umbra energy kissing at her skin, unable to purchase, but one tendril would touch and tug - pulling at her. It was cold. After another tugged, she would realize that, within the shadows, covered and disguised, were tendrils of water from the ice that she couldn't see or predict.
All or none, the capturing tendrils were mixed in with the decoys.
”Goodness, this seems to be quite the predicament I’ve found myself in…” Lavinia uttered. When Ripcord told her they had been made specifically to take out mamono, that statement seemed to hold much weight. Using her own biology and magics against her with not but a few drops of her essence, on top of having strong predatory instincts herself. Umami was a bubbly, but dangerous adversary. She noticed that some of the tendrils that reached out to her were colder than the others.
She was mixing in shadow and icy coils, distracting Lavi with decoys to make her easier to capture.
Having to quickly think on her feet, there was one idea that popped into her head. The Sun.
The umbra coils would grow weaker as they drew closer to the morning star, as would the power of water and ice. This would be a double-edged sword, however, as Lavi’s eyes were highly sensitive to sunlight. She may end up compromising her sight for the rest of the game if she wasn’t careful. But, having left herself with no other means of countering Umami’s copied spells, she had little choice. Quickly, she began moving upward towards the morning light.
Kirei continued to slouch as Ripcord spoke, looking at the continued game between the other two taskforce members with a bit of intrigue. ”I can understand. Some things are just beyond a person’s pay grade. However, I will say that one of those groups was known for delving into unethical biological experiments. Ones that involved creating bioweapons that were meant to aid the Varjans in taking out mamono, enemies that the Empire has had trouble with for centuries.”
Kirei paid close attention to Lavi’s ascend toward the sunlight. ”She’s making quite the gambit. At any rate, if you don’t wish to discuss it further, we’ll drop it here. But, just know that you don’t have to feel as though you're trapped in a specific way of life due to that group. You’ve been gifted new beginnings, thanks in part to Lavi’s aid. ”
"New beginnings, huh," Ripcord says. "Maybe, yes. Maybe, no. There's blood on our hands that good deeds and well-wishes can't just cleanse."
Umami would throw the frost and shadows beyond Lavi, her sensitive nose scenting blood in the water, before they curved down at her within the blinding shade of the Sun.
All she needed was to stop her ascend for even a moment.
Just long enough to get close and sink her fangs into that big butt.
Ripcord’s words stuck a cord with Kirei, though he didn’t show it through emotion on his face. Instead, memories and various feelings started swirling in his mind. Most notably, the face of a man came into view in Kirei’s psyche.
”I suppose it doesn’t.” He responded flatly.
It seemed this game of theirs was about to reach its climax, as Lavi scrambled to higher ground to get away from the shadowy tendrils. The witch also scented blood within the water Umami was manipulating as well. She couldn’t tell if the girl was actually intelligent or just had strong instincts, perhaps both?
The main issue is that as she got closer to the sun, the harder the strain on her eyes became. She couldn’t cover them up, she needed to see in order to evade Umami’s coiled onslaught. Since the sisters stated that they weren’t adept at using magic, Lavi was hoping that she would’ve run out of mana by now. Taking her staff for herself may have mitigated that outcome, much to Lavi’s chagrin. At that moment, another thought popped into the Umbra Witch’s head.
If her eyes are sensitive to light, so too must be Umami’s! At least currently. Breaking off ice off of one of the tendrils coming for her, Lavi hoped to use the ice as a mirror. Reflecting concentrated light off of it, her aim was to temporarily blind Umami and impair her. Then perhaps she could finally gain an upper hand, along with some much needed breathing room.
Umami was reflected in the ice-mirror, but her hair had grown over her eyes, and blocked the sense - instead, she was reliant on her ears, mutated and enlarged into a Werebat’s, and the hypersonic screech that echoed off Lavi.
It would seem, like a proper Chimera, she could mix and match, as needed to cover weaknesses, but she wasn’t adhere to the standard trio of beasts.
However, she also wasn’t made from the long haul - dogs and cats were burst hunters, rabbits and sheep were fear sprinters, and bats simply couldn’t hold themselves against gravity forever.
Eventually, her caloric-fueled energy was going to burn out.
Lavi would find herself free, at last, and sailing towards the sun... as Umami was falling back towards the earth in her Human Form.
Lavi grew wide-eyed and gritted her teeth as she saw that Umami’s hair had grown out and was now covering her eyes. The latter didn’t have multiple targets to worry about unlike the former, so echolocation was perfectly serviceable for her. Lavi also noticed that she had now taken on different traits, as if she was mix-matching aspects of various mamono.
However, it seemed that this had backfired on the Chimera Mamono, as it appeared she used up too much of her stamina and began reverting back into her human form. The tendrils she used to hunt Lavi with had dissipated, which caused the hellkite to stop mid-flight. She looked as her opponent started falling back down to the ground with bewildered eyes.
”Umami!” She exclaimed. She made a mad bee-dive for the falling girl, tucking in her wings to reduce drag. ”Please let me make it in time! This is all my fault!”
Ripcord would extend her hair, and small pockets of slime would form in the air around Lavi, as if thickening the water molecules, before the disappeared with the air - creating a pressure vacuum that yanked Lavi down with more speed than she was gaining from terminal velocity alone. Ripcord’s hair fell limp, as she grit her teeth. "Hate... magic..." she groused.
Umami, meanwhile, would fall, but Lavi could catch her with the speed boost that Ripcord give her by doing what Shoggoth did best: cleaning messes.
Kirei was roused by the scene, but also noticed that Ripcord and Lavinia had already acted in response to save the chimera girl. That didn’t stop him from pinching in though. Waving his hand in a circular motion, he generated a bit of wind magic under Umami. A small squall that whipped up and acted as a way of slowing her descent, allowing Lavinia to reach her even faster.
Lavinia had just about reached Umami, thanks to the efforts of Kirei and Ripcord, and had made a grab for her.
”I’ve got you Umami!” She yelled.
"Nn...nn..." Umami groaned, before she stomach growled in protest of being so empty.
Being caught was secondary to being full. Still, the concerted efforts would allow Lavi to catch her, which was likely primary to the Chimera.
The efforts of all three individuals had been successful. Ripcord giving Lavinia speed and Kirei giving Umami cushion and lift prevented her from hitting the pavement. Kirei’s wind also allowed Lavinia to make a gentler descent as she landed on the ground with the younger sister.
”Umami?! Oh, thank the Demon Lord! Are you alright?!” She asked, eyes full of concern. She was quickly silenced by the growling of Umami’s stomach, which also served to answer her question.
”Heh, I think she just wants some lunch.” Kirei interjected.
Lavi looked down at Umami with a tired, but relieved expression. ”You are such a troublemaker, do you know that Love?”
"She’s not gunna answer," Ripcord says. "I better round up something to eat. By time she’s full, she might have eaten all of me..."
”...I see.” Lavi said with a nervous giggle. The Claremeont Sisters were certainly quite the pair. What was supposed to be a simple game of tag turned into the scene of a battlefield. The ground and surrounding trees were utterly wrecked with patches of ice, blood, and debris. But to Umami, it likely may have been just a game. Lavi, still holding Umami, walked along with Ripcord as she ventured off for food.
”Next time, either neither of us can use magic or both of us can!” She sneered. She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but that whole ordeal had Lavi pushed back against the wall.
Kirei got up and decided to go separate ways, glad that everything worked out. Of course being the captain of the taskforce meant that he had to quick an eye on the doings of its various members. ”Glad you gals had fun!” He said cheerfully. ”Hopefully Takeshi-dono and Ayu-chan won’t be too upset at the mess!”
As he walked away, he gave a wave farewell to the monstrous dames. ”Oh, and remember our talk, Rip-chan.” He said.
"If there should be a next time," Ripcord says, leaving Kirei on "heard" - for now - by simply raising her right arm in departure. She was too Kuudere for goodbyes and thank-yous.