kapuchu

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

As Lily alighted, the Hellhound tensed, muscles shifting under his scales as if prepared to jump on her, but as his eyes fell on the scar crossing her right eye, recognition crossed his features. She was delighted to see the Hellhound’s sudden look of surprise before his brows bunched up into the usual perpetual frown.

“Imp,” came the coarse response. “You remain as aggravating as I remember.”

“And you as fiery as I remember,” Lily sardonically replied. “Haven’t changed a bit in… is it fifty years by now?” As she spoke, her eyes roamed his body, noting the few chips in his scales and his wounds before meeting his gaze once more, at which point she added, “Aside from a few new scars… Did that human actually impale your wrist? Really?” The look she gave him was one of disbelief and quiet mockery.

“I wished to see what humanity is capable of these days. Yet here I am, with little more than scratches.” The dog’s lip twitched, showing a row of sharp teeth underneath. Always so prideful, this one, quick to bark back, and just as ready to bite. “If you are doubtful, I could gift you a second scar. Do you enjoy symmetry?” Fenn asked, his question earning little more than a sigh.

Lily scratched her head, as if deciding whether she should be amused or annoyed. She was certain Fenn found her apparent annoyance entertaining, as was his wont. Demons like him tended to enjoy the misery of others, even were they friends. Probably because they had little else to share.

“I prefer it to remain singular,” she admitted at length, letting her arms fall to her sides. She had decided, she wouldn’t be annoyed. Rather, she’d take him down a notch. “And even if you did… It wouldn’t matter much.” The look she gave him could only be described as impish, and before his very eyes the scar that ran across Lily’s countenance faded to nothing, replaced instead by smooth, immaculate skin. “You’re forgetting what I can do, old boy,” she said as the scar returned. “I just keep it because, well, I like it.” And because it, for one reason or another, actually took effort to maintain that particular change, but that wasn’t something she was going to tell him. His ego was big enough as it is, no use making it bigger.

The demon huffed, rebuffed, and gave her a cooler, measuring glance. It really did not fit him, she decided. “Well then. Are you here at the behest of another?” he inquired.

Lily nearly scoffed. She spread her arms wide, pivoting around. “None but my own,” she replied, stopping to face him. “And I don’t think I’d like this if I was. How about you? Foul weather on the horizon?”

Fenn looked over her shoulder, in the direction she had spied the dark fog earlier. “Aye, though not of the kind you speak.” His gaze moved back to her. “Some may consider us both being here an omen. Our kind are attracted to misfortune like carrion birds.”

She turned around just enough to follow Fenn’s gaze. “Or maybe we are the harbingers of it?” A suggestion only, but one that might have more merit than one would initially give it.

The dog bared his fangs. Or smiled. Hard to tell. “Mayhaps.”

“Worth considering I think.” She pondered the matter for a moment, watching the clouds above. “So what now?”

“Ever since I arrived to this city, there has been tension in the air.” The dog gave another one of his toothy smiles. “There is something brewing in the horizon, and I believe tonight is the night the powers at work unveil themselves. I would bear witness.”

“So you want to get into a fight,” Lily spoke in something akin to disbelief. She shouldn’t be surprised, honestly. Fenn was just that kind of person. Always one to want to get into fights, get his claws bloody and the like.

“Indeed!” Fenn let out a bark, and it took her a moment to realize it had been a burst of laughter. “You know me well!”

Unsure how else to respond, the demoness shrugged and replied, “Alright. I’ve sensed some of the same, too. I also noticed a relatively large group of humans wandering the streets, some heading for the park and others going down into the subway systems.”

He nodded. He might have seen or expected as much already. “Demon’s roam the tunnels under the city, searching for something. They carry an odd scent with them. Foul. It lingers here in the surface as well.”

“Scent?” She hadn’t noticed any scent, but she didn’t quite have as powerful a nose as Fenn did, at least not at the moment. Her attention was drawn to the Minion still lying dead on the ground, the sight of it reminding her of what she had seen earlier. “I don’t smell anything, but there is merit to what you say. You noticed the black fog earlier? It coalesced into a being of some sort which spewed forth a small horde of Hideous. What’s more, there was a woman—demon, I suspect—leading it, clad in pink if that matters. I suspect they have something to do with what you’re talking about.”

“No one we know?” The dog hummed, a noise like crunching gravel rising from his throat. “I believe I know where to start.”

“Never seen her before, and I wasn’t close enough to see any details.” The demoness shook her head, pursing her lips. “I’m open to any suggestions you have. So let’s go.”

Taking it as his cue, Fenn turned and began to walk, nose close to the ground.

Ready though she was to simply follow him, there was something Lily had wanted to do for a long time. Like so many human girls seemed to want to ride horses, so too had Lily wanted to ride hellhounds. Or, well, a specific Hellhound.

She retreated a few steps, moving into Fenn’s blind spot, before quickly pushing off of the ground, landing square on the hound’s back, hands grasping at his fur. “Ready and raring to go!”

Fenn froze, ears standing ramrod straight atop his head, before lowering as if deflating.

“Imp.” The word was charged with an odd mixture of weariness and frustration, as if talking to a misbehaved child. “What are you doing?”

“Something I’ve wanted to do since we first met, but never had the chance.” She gently patted him on the head between his ears. “But you were too busy trying to turn me into a bloody smear on the ground, then.” Leaning off to the side, she sought to at least catch one of his eyes, adopting a casual expression. “Should I get off?”

Fenn seemed to struggle for a response. Not used to being asked nicely, she guessed.

“Aye. Get off,” he finally answered with a grunt.

Obeying, Lily quickly climbed off, taking care to avoid the flames. “We’ll have to ride into battle together some day, you know.”

“You have me mistaken for a horse.”

Deftly ignoring his comment, the demoness continued, “Anyway, back into the subway, or you have any other ideas?”

Fenn tilted his head in the direction he had been heading. “I feel we should meet this woman in pink. To follow her trail, we must follow her path.”

Fenn had a point, Lily decided. Going back into the subway would likely result in just wandering around blindly, but going to the source of it all by following the exact same path would, at the very least, lead to clues being uncovered. She found herself nodding, agreeing with the sentiment. “If you say so. Shall we?”

The dog regarded her for a moment, as if expecting another interruption—the nerve, really—and set out through the city’s streets.

Unerringly, the hellhound’s nose nose led them through the path the cloud had taken, until the two demons beheld the Memorial Park, and the monument within. Grates from which water would spring from in better days surrounded the statue of the city’s founder.

Some of these had been moved, their quarry clearly having entered the undercity through them. Lily regarded the openings, then glanced back at the large demon who accompanied her. Would be a tight fit.

Fenn remained unaware of her musings. “She went in through here,” he said, stating the obvious. “Several demons went in as well. Hideous, Hatred… I suspect this black fog you spoke of was in fact a cloud of Mephistos.” A pause. “There is a more recent trail as well. Humans came before us.”

His arm reached down and removed one of the larger grates. “Follow,” he told her before squeezing through the opening. She did as told and fell in line after him.

Illuminated by the Fenn’s flames, she could see that the tunnel they dropped into was more spacious than she had anticipated. She could walk side by side with the Hellhound without being pushed into the wall.

No words were spared between them for the time being. She knew that idle banter would only irritate the Hellhound as long as he was focusing on the trail, and with the knowledge that so many beings prowled the tunnels by then, it was best to remain silent, lest they be found first. The light emitted by Fenn’s burning fur was a large enough a risk as it was. She could only hope those ears of his would alert him to another’s proximity before they came close enough to notice the glow.

Occasionally, the demon would pause before intersections or tunnels too small for him to go through, grunt, and continue down the larger openings. It was not particularly encouraging, enough that she had to resist the temptation to shift forms into something that could better sense the trail Fenn was following.

Eventually, just as she began to feel truly irritated, she caught sight of something odd ahead.

“There was a battle here,” Fenn observed.

Indeed, though no corpses remained, the markings of combat were clearly visible. Cracks spread from a wall where a heavy impact had dented it, and the walls were pockmarked with the impact of bullets. Several spent casings rested on the tunnel up ahead. Lily grimaced in distaste.

“The humans. Heavily armed, I see.”

“Not heavily enough,” Fenn remarked.

“How so?”

“One demon survived.” He offered her a wry smile. “This trail is growing crowded.”

Disregarding what remained of the scuffle, the pair continued following the trail into the darkness.

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

Lily stood silent for the longest time, watching the fog-being send forth a minor horde of creatures that were definitely of demonic origin. While it was too far away to see them clearly, there was no doubt that anything spawned by a creature such as that one would have ties to the netherworld. Judging by their size and their number, she would guess they were either Hideous or Minions, not that there was much of a difference. Both were weak creatures that could only really kill anything in groups: Pack animals.

While one might be somewhat of a challenge to a single human, when it came to demons they were among the lowest of the lowest. But that meant something, Lily thought. There was a reason for the ones being sent forth being among the weakest of demonic creatures, and in numbers. They were searching for something, and expected resistance. By their very nature, Minions were little more than mindless cannon fodder that didn't care for superior power. They were that stupid, or so the demoness thought at least.

But that only made her wonder as to the second question. They expected resistance, but what kind? Though this city may be one where humans, who thought the occult something interest, seemed to congregate, there weren't much they could do in terms of fighting back. Unless... Lily's palm met her forehead with an audible smack. How could she have forgotten? Idiotic ghost hunters and occult fanatics weren't the only ones who sought this city out, but Hunters too. That human Fenn had fought earlier was proof of that: His presence being just the precursor for all the other ones.

Lily glanced about on the streets below, near and far. Now she was certain, for though she had only had suspicions when she first saw them, no more. The humans she had seen wander the streets earlier were Hunters, of course. It made sense, after all, as no sane human would wander out in a weather this foul—this wrong—unless they knew what they were up against. And only Hunters truly had an inkling as to what facing something supernatural was like. And by the looks of it, these demon hunters were out to either seek something as well, or to face the fog creature.

A shake of her head dislodged the useless thoughts. Whatever that thing was doing, and what the Hunters would do to it, mattered little to her unless it truly became something of proportions. It might yet, but for now it wasn't important.

Another cursory glance of the streets below, however, did reveal to her something she would deem important, or at the very least interesting enough to immediately partake in as opposed to simply waiting.

With anticipation aglow in her dark heart, she stopped off of the edge of the roof, falling down to the sidewalk below. The sidewalk's slabs cracked underneath her feet as she landed and, taking the time to shake the ache out of her feet, she started towards the subway entrance she had spotted earlier.

Hands crossed underneath her chest, Lily stopped a few metres short of a great hellhound, as tall as she when on all four. Her emerald eyes glanced down to the flattened minion below, then back up at the vicious visage that was Fenn, a cheeky grin on her lips.

"One of yours, Puppy?" She asked, indicating the Minion with a nod.

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

@Lmpkio
I appreciate it ^^

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

That human, whoever he was, certainly managed to present a challenge to Fenn. He wove around the great beast's attacks, doing his best to delivering attacks that would hurt or harm him. He seemed a skillful fighter who knew what he was doing around the Hellhound... Or such was what many would have said, were they the ones observing. Lily, however, couldn't help but frown.

She knew what Fenn was capable of, knew how brutal and powerful he was, and so to see him seemingly being pressed by this human? He was playing with him. No other reason seemed possible. But the fact that Fenn seemed to hold back was not the only thing that gave her a bad taste in her mouth. More than two thousand years of experience had taught her a lot, and the most basic of said experiences was that one had to adapt to their opponent. One did not win fights through brute force alone—unless one possessed overwhelming might as compared to one's adversary—but by observing how they fought and adapting accordingly, making use of openings and whatever advantages there were, all the while making up for the disadvantages and weaknesses one possessed themselves.

Snider... did not seem to do much of that. His moves were hazardous, confrontational, and sometimes downright strange. He seemed to care little for his own life, the only goal being to defeat the demonic hound in front of him. Such may have been the case, but it did not help matters. It still left an acidic taste in Lily's mouth. Oh how she loathed those who thought themselves warriors, yet didn't seem to understand even the basic of combat!

She prepared to dive down to interrupt the fight, perhaps teach the human a lesson or two in regards to how one fought, when something happened that surprised even Lily. A great hole opened up in the ground, like the maw of a beast superior in size even to Fenn, gaping in an attempt to fit the entire city between its jaws. A howl and a roar split the sky as Fenn fell into the depths, the darkness within obscuring him from Lily's sight.

Stupid dog, she thought with a small, mocking smile, angling her wings downward into a spiralling dive, Can't even hold onto a damned ledge. She soared over the area at ever lower altitudes, quickly coming to rest at the edge of the hole. She ignored the human from wherever he lay or stood—she hadn't bothered to take notice—as she peered down into the blackness below. She could see nothing, and assumed that Fenn had simply moved on through whatever tunnels he could find down there. For a while she debated following after him, if only to greet him after having not seen each other for a long time, but decided against it after only a short few seconds. Fenn was in town, and she didn't feel like dirtying her clothes—being soaked through was bad enough, but dirty as well? Demon though she may be, but having dirt in her hair and everywhere else would always be a hassle. He would, inevitably, cause havoc somewhere and somehow, so there was no reason to follow him—she would find him eventually.

Casting a passing glance at the poor excuse of a warrior that was the human, if only to note his position, she spread her massive, dark, wings again, taking to the air once more, angling towards the inner city.

Once in sufficient altitude, however, something caught her eye. How she hadn't noticed earlier confused her, and she could only assume that it hadn't been there earlier. A great cloud of fog of midnight black had rolled into town, spreading quickly. Just one glance told her that it wasn't natural.

It didn't belong to this world.

Where most who saw it would be filled with dread, it only filled Lily with a sense of curiosity. She could have sworn it was a familiar thing, that fog, and no time had passed before she felt she had an educated guess as to its origin and nature: Demonic. Whatever it was, Lily felt certain that a Demon of some kind was in charge of this nebulous thing.

She touched down on a rooftop still several blocks away from what she knew was the park of this city—having been there earlier just this day—her wings disappearing through the slits in her vest and shirt, becoming naught in but a moment. She absent-mindedly noted the subway entrance on the street to her left and the array of streets and apartment blocks on on her right. None seemed important, but it would never do to not take notice of one's surroundings.

Turning her gaze back towards the park, the fog continued to roil and move and—Lily's eyes widened. For while she expected the fog to be demonic in nature, she did not expect it to coalesce into one single form. What's more, the fog retreating into its yet building form revealed a humanoid creature—Demon as well, most likely. Lily mused—seemingly leading it towards the centre of the park. The culprit, no doubt.

Yet she was not the only figure suddenly showing herself. From various buildings here and there, humans started to come out, heading in various directions. None were close enough that she could immediately identify them—standing on top of a multi storied building tended to have such results—but something told her that they had something to do with the fog-being in the park.

With a smile on her lips, Lily started to hum, singing a tune under her breath.

"They call us evil but nothing is worse,
Than passive submission to meaningless rules;
These are oppression and misery's tools."

She thought the song oddly fitting, if only for one reason: Her assumption of the identity of the humans. No doubt they were Demon Hunters of one kind or another, and why did they fight? Why, the song explains it just perfectly, Lily told herself, the smile on her lips widening imperceptibly.

Things were about to become interesting.

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

@Kafka Komedy
I didn't even notice I took #200

Oh... wait. No. It was completely deliberate!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAA!

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

@Lmpkio
Well, I'm personally a bit against colouring dialogue, but I'm requesting a change simply because it is literally difficult for me to read. Having to lean close and squint to see what's written.

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

@Kafka Komedy
Not quite the same, but close. But red is still very difficult to read on the site's backdrop.

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

Speaking of finding new shades, can I request @Lmpkio to use another shade than red? It's really difficult to read.

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

Forgive my (slightly obnoxious) curiosity, but one thing I've never been able to grasp, is why a lot of people use colour for the dialogue in their posts? It doesn't serve much of a purpose so... If anyone could explain to me the idea behind it? It's only a matter of curiosity, btw, not a critique!

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

ooh. Stuff's starting to happen!