Wash the Moon Away.

Shine like the moon

---

The calm waves gently made landfall, as the ocean let out a low hum, the bird sang within the air, but their voices were eerie, unlike the sea. They could sense the chilling tension within the air, they knew that they were amidst the oncoming storms range, and fled while they still could. Unlike the birds, however, people were foolish when it came to danger, and they wouldn't leave so easily, even if it meant their lives. She brave determination was simply stupid, one couldn't continue their journey if they fell, and all for some meaningless possessions, which wouldn't let them see the real truth. These people, they weren't like the ocean, they were restless, and the howls were ringing through the air with such a passion that even the waves began to vibrate and the sand almost hovered over it's resting place. Tonight wouldn't be filled with the sweet sounds of dreams, but rather the foul aura of nightmares. The clouds moved to expose the radiant moon within the sky, which flooded the village with an unnatural glow and power. It was almost ordained that the moon would hit this place, it had an unnatural purpose, and the natural warriors that lived within became mindless. This was something that Sharp couldn't allow, she couldn't allow for such valiant warriors to become mindless killing machines, to know truth in this world they would have to become real warriors with control over their bodies, and if it meant replacing their curse with Chaoris's truth, then so be it, she would cure them all if she had too.

As Sharp stared out upon the now glowing ocean, she allowed her silver eyes to scan the horizon, their normally dimmer hue being filled by the light. Normally it would be beautiful, but she viewed it with contempt, this was unnatural, it wasn't a truth of the universe, it was simply an unnatural event that tainted the sky and the hearts of true warriors, and now she would end it's lies, here tonight. Chaoris didn't know about this job, he didn't have too, she was here to convert them for his sake, that and she found it harder to confront him more lately, she started to feel the tug of emotions upon her, even if they were faint, ever since she had seen her father a while ago. The echo that what she was doing was wrong and against her nature crept in her mind, but she tried to hide it, she tried to fight it, she didn't want it to become the focus, she didn't want to grow contempt for him, for what she had been doing. She felt the pull towards something a nature that was so wildly different, it filled her with a sense of wonder and hesitation. if she embraced it and found the answer she had been searching for, where her emotions had gone, would she be miserable for it? Would it cause the pain in her heart at this very moment to go away, or to become expounded to the point of no return? What even was the feeling that she was experiencing, she was helping Chaoris, but not by his will but her own, but why? He was her god, of course, he was that and her master but... it wasn't just that, she was doing it for another reason entirely...

Thankfully her mind wasn't allowed to wander without purpose for long, as the sound of dreadful panting filled the beaches atmosphere, and a large shadow cast itself over the ground.

"You come to challenge me... a warrior with no heart who can only see the moon, and not the truth in front of them."

Sharp turned her head slowly, her little trinket already allowed her to see the beast, but she wished for it to know that she could see it, she wanted to make sure that it really did have nothing but mindless savagery in its heart.

"If you desire blood without any purpose, come then, try and lay your claws upon me."

With a bit of a howl, the beast charged forward and lunged at Sharp with it's massive claws, only to be met by the air and a few petals floating in the wind. Looking upward the beast let out a savage howl, ad Sharp landed perfectly upon the ground behind him, her form previously dancing gracefully within the air under the pale moonlight. Attempting lunge again this time with a fierce some bite, he got around her throat and snapped his jaws shut, only to taste nothing, all that was left there was an illusion, Sharp's real form to the side of the attack, and with a glowing white hand, she tapped the beast upon the back, the mindless creature falling to the ground in agony as it riled and growled, its form twisting and reverting back to that of the human that apparently inhabited the massive monster. After but a brief time, the monster laid there as but a human, and Sharp looked once again upon the ocean.

"The weakness of your curse belies your courage, and conviction, when you awake recognize this moon as a foul a front to what it means to be a warrior and not the crutch that gives you strength, strength only comes from true glory in battle and combat, not being a hideous monster, that only seeks the smell of flesh."

Turning to head into the town, Sharp noticed the fog that would normally have set in from the ocean was missing, and the sounds of panicked screaming and howls lighted up the night sky. The ancient architecture gave way to cracks from the roars, and the various beasts wandered all about, attempting to venture towards the woods and the roads, along with the fresh hunt in the village itself. If Sharp were to purify this place, she would need to act fast, or somehow find aid within the village, though what kind of aid she would find, she didn't know, she only wished that they could fight better than she could right now, and weren't bogged down by the confusing emotions that drove Sharp to the brink of mental insanity, and confusion. TO accept and possibly be miserable, or to remain the same and never know the answer to what she truly was before all of this happened. It was a painful thought, and unlike this would, it would haunt her the entire time she was here.

---

Total WC: 1083/10400
Post WC: 1083

’If she weren’t so busy with the guild it might’ve been nice to bring Aiyana along.’ Two children raced past, screaming in delight over their game of tag and the festival currently going on around them. Small bulbs dangled overhead between buildings and trees as well as stalls filled with a variety of objects. In all her time across the various societies…Mao always enjoyed the spirits behind these little celebrations, amused that regardless of culture people found a reason to party.

She just wished the timing was better.

As these people milled about blissfully unaware of the brewing trouble Mao cast her eyes skyward towards the moon. Such a brilliant celestial body…how could it cause such chaos? Catching the occasional sight of an elderly person she could only see worry on their features as they shuffled home, no doubt eager to leave before the final dregs of pink left the sky as the sun bid them adieu from the safety of the horizon. The young folk scoffed at their tales of rampaging werewolves those many years ago, waving the memories off as little more than ghost stories to ensure their behavior or perhaps “kill the fun.”

Mao simply shook her head, ’How can they misinterpret their fear so easily? It is not age that shakes them so, but knowledge of what’s to come…’ Call it the folly of youth, the young viewing themselves as invincible, but Mao could only pity their naiveté. They lacked grown instincts and could only wish for her sense of smell that could pick up on the elderly’s true emotions where the humans could delude themselves into thinking it merely a shared desire for party-pooping. ’Then again with such good standing in the village and country in general I suppose it’s easy to deny their inability to keep control once in a while…after all one does not wish to accept nightmares or the scary possibilities in life.’

Pity welled up in the woman though not for the people, but the clan. They strove to help people, using their “curse” as a strength rather than their weakness and yet, regardless of their training or wishes a price must be paid once every fifty years. No form of control saved them the last time according to records as they’d rampaged, held back only by mages and Rune Knights alike when they reached cities and towns. There’d been unfortunate casualties due to lack of preparation then as the previous incident had been all but forgotten. This time however the current council wished to avoid the catastrophes of last time and called out to any guild who might listen for aid. Though she imagined people opted to keep an eye and ear out near their home in case they made it that far, Mao chose to come to the source instead and see if she couldn’t help staunch the flow if not subdue it entirely. Call it egotistical, but her intentions lay in figuring out her potential.

She wouldn’t boast any superb control, likely not even able to compare to the werewolves on any day or night aside for this one. If anything she needed to further become accustomed to her limits now that they’d altered so drastically without the control gene to bind her, subduing the power of her barghest lineage and the freedom of her Cheshire one. Yet for all her animal nature Mao didn’t wish to cave to the inner beast constantly lurking, waiting to remove any true sense of thought in favor of instinct and the simple desire to eat. Amongst her people there existed a constant taunt whispered in the presence of “mixed breeds” – a reminder that their rocky heritage could result in an unstable mind and body that would force them into chimeric abominations someday. Though a part of her knew it to be nothing more than a rumor based upon inhumane experiments upon those of mixed houses…the fear had already long been in place beforehand. She admittedly couldn’t shake it, fearful that someday she might race the countryside in a form akin to Sorrow and constantly seeking out food without abandon. She didn't want to become like the chimera she put down back in that temple, burdening the thing with a final duty before it continued to live a painful life until she relieved it…though it’d at least retained some sense of self as it asked for the final act of mercy.

At the same time there’d been the allure of a challenge, these people strong when in control and yet the Perfect Moon bolstered their abilities even as it drove them mad for a night of bloodlust. While she’d need to keep in control there existed a slight relief in knowing they could not only keep up, but surpass her and force the woman to attack methodically and not purely on wild instinct. If she didn’t keep her wits about her…well…then the sacrifices her friends made to help in gaining her freedom would be for naught and she’d die with regrets for not paying them back in turn as a member of the same pack.

The nail in the coffin had been the desire to ensure the lives of both the villagers and the clan members, knowing that outside of this instance they used their strength and curse for the good of other’s rather than the darker intents they could’ve chosen. They didn’t harm willingly and at the same time even the elders of this village wanted their lives spared, just the rampage stopped. Mao wanted to bring about their wish as some abroad might not be so mindful about the life they quashed in favored of those they saved.

A howl soon followed by multiple others caught her attention, a quick look to the skies confirming the only light stemmed from the brilliant moonlight and its starlight cronies. They’d been basked in the dark cover of night and it seemed the werewolves finally broke free at the peak of their powers from whatever bonds they attempted to barricade themselves in back at their homestead. She’d been told of their measures to prevent rampaging, each Perfect Moon new innovations tried and failing post-dusk beneath their enhanced strength in their lunar lunacy. Crashes could already be heard as screams worked their way like a wave through the crowd and people started scattering. Through the wave of chaos she walked until she stood before the beast, little more than trash and a few last people tripping in their escape around them.

Huffing breathes puffed from the large beast, the thing easily towering over the short mage as she stood resolutely. Eyes crazed and barely able to focus swirled around her visage as it fought to remain on at least one target before the excessive rush of adrenaline forced out a howling roar in her face to intimidate her and work off some of that extra energy. It ended on a canine whimper, the roar ending abruptly with an audible “SMACK!” as a tendril forced its head aside with a slap, the end hardened.

”Bad dog. We don’t harm our friends: we protect them.” Since the people couldn’t very well step up to these hulking creatures she’d just have to do it in their stead as another tendril shot out, slamming into its belly and sending it flying through a stall when it appeared ready to roar in anger again. Likely the action only stunned it, but she’d have to act quickly before friends showed up from the noise as Mao didn’t want to become overrun with the beasties. Packs could be helpful and dangerous depending which side you stood. ’I probably should’ve sought out help…well another thing to work on alongside my control.’

The atmosphere was becoming lively, but not in the way that Sharp wished for it. There was violence and the scent of destruction starting to loom, but it wasn't pure, it was twisted by that fake phenomena, they weren't fighting with their own wills, but rather letting some kind of curse take them over to cause mindless bloodshed. While all bloodshed was good, it wasn't as worthy as that which was fought with honor, principal, and skill, it was just more fuel to the fire to attempt to find someone who was worthy, and Sharp knew this, this is why she was here, to try and stop such false worship, and horrible sacrifices... and to try and calm the little voices in her mind that brought torment to her. She was unsure about how to actually fight them, did she simply kill them, or did she try and cure them and keep them from turning into such vile monsters and instead remain pure in their fights. She didn't know, it seemed like it went against what she had been taught and the minor feelings she had, she knew that killing them was the quickest and the easiest solution to the problem, but she knew that it would end in misery for them, and they wouldn't be actual warriors, but just a broken tribe, and at that point she would have to kill all of them. Was this really worship of Chaoris though... could she claim to be doing what he willed without killing and bloodshed? It seemed cowardly, but at the same time, she couldn't silence the little bit of pain within her mind, that killing them was somehow... wrong.

Her blade became conflicted between two different voices that spoke out about how to worship and what was 'right'. Was this how everyone felt all the time, if so did she really want her feelings back? No, she had to get them back to know who she actually was, it was the only way to actively figure it out, and to bring resolution to her wandering mind, even if it could turn hurtful. She pondered all of this, as she casually moved towards the village, the sounds getting bigger, scarier, and far more violent, it made her sick because she knew the cause of it and what the sounds all meant, there would be much death this night, or maybe not... she could try and prevent it, the exact opposite of what she normally did, either way she had to make a decision fast as she came upon the outskirts and the buildings became their proper size within her vision.

Jumping up to the top of a roof, she looked down into the town, and tried to listen for the majority of the howls and screams, it was hard but had pinpointed a location that was close enough for her to move their swiftly, even if it might not have been the main grouping of the werewolves, instead it was probably just a small splinter group hunting down a few people who were weaker than them, which was quite possibly the majority of the people within this village. As she arrived on the scene, her location fluttering about with fake rose petals, Sharp saw them a small group of three werewolves within the little streets clearing. They were trying to slash at the various civilians running about, which meant that she had to get their attention, good thing Sharp was good about being loud and getting people's attention, though her method could be considered crazy, suicidal, or just plain both.

"You who wields the power of a curse without your minds, come and face me if you dare! You're fangs and dull and your claws aren't sharpened, you are weak and worthless, you shan't even make a decent offering to the god of blood! Prepare yourself for battle, if you can even still view it as such!"

Drawing her blade, Sharp poured her energy into it and caused it to spark to life. The new hilt sported a cross guard with tinier blades along with the main blade itself though her nervousness was shining through it. The blade pulsed an unstable beam, rather than the sleek sword she had before, and her hand despite having fought battles before that were far riskier was shaking. She couldn't explain it, but she was hesitating a bit, she couldn't fully point eh blade or really threaten with it. Turning to look down towards her shaking hand she grabbed it with her other.

"Stop shaking, and listen to me!"

As Sharp tried to regain her composure she noticed through her little trinket that the werewolves weren't willing to wait for her to regain said composure and instead rushed right for her. With a twist of her wrists she managed to throw the blade up to block the majority of the blow laid against her by the first werewolf, but with the thunderous impact of the wolf's strength, she was thrust down the street, into one of the homes at a crossroads, crashing through the door. Shaking off the blow she looked around and saw various people hiding for fear of what was outside, their eyes sharing the trait of insecurity that Sharp's held. For a brief moment she could connect and understand them, they were thinking that they wouldn't make it out of this, and Sharp was thinking the same, not about herself, but about them. Leaping up to a standing position Sharp headed outside and tried to focus her blade upon the beasts, hopefully, she could distract them long enough to purify them of the curse, if not she might have to kill them. If only she had someone else here, though, like Chaoris to have her back, then this would be far easier then her solo mission. Sadly it looked like everyone here besides the beasts was afraid for their lives, she couldn't blame them, but she wished at least one other here held the soul of a warrior.

---

Total WC: 2090/10400
Post WC: 1007

’This might not be as strange as I first thought.’ The stall stood thoroughly destroyed, splinters of wood and prizes strewn about, but the beast currently laid amidst the wreckage in a perfect slumber. ’I apologize in advance if you wake up in pain, but I’m afraid there’s not much to be done about that…hopefully the people will see fit to heal you after this. If the elders remained just as concerned for you as for the common people then I’m sure they’ll find a way to help the people see good in you again despite this event.’ Mao truly hoped the people wouldn’t hold this against them, the people unable to help themselves in this crazed state. However she’d learned from this simple bout alone that one couldn’t hold back and hope to take on more than a few of these beasties before having to bow out of the bout.

Yet at the same time as odd as sporting new appendages might’ve been the mixed breed mage found it not as odd as she initially believed. She hadn’t time to really dwell on it in her fight against her sister, and the spurts before that came and went with various levels of effort on her part. Now that she could do it freely without combatting seals it came almost effortlessly like swiping at foes with her tail.

”Heh, a hunter merely needs to learn tactics and how best to use their weaponry. Using one’s claws and fangs comes naturally from birth: you merely need to know how much force to apply. Intuition will remain an ally of our kind, though I suppose these ‘humans’ aren’t completely lost on their animal pride.”

An eyebrow raised, a little bemused at Sorrow’s potential remark of racism, yet he’d sounded impressed at the same time. ”Indeed. Just because the young chose to celebrate despite warning doesn’t mean they’re without some regard to premonition or listening to their elders. They did increase security somewhat after all, though it’s still possible people opted to protect their home towns more than at the source. It’ll be our job to ensure they don’t have much to deal with just in case.”

”Still, don’t forget to prove to these wolves who’s the true boss here.”

This time she outright rolled her eyes. “Alpha” wasn’t something Mao ever cared to achieve, keener on protecting the growing pack of family she’d gained since coming to Fiore. When need be she might demonstrate potential strength for such a spot during times of duress, but she’d always been the accommodating type and didn’t foresee that changing. ’Besides it’s not like I’m eating last…’ Though in the moment she became a bit peckish,  part of a food stall disappearing behind her: wood, dishes, some unprepared and prepared food all in one lump sum. Later they might believe one of the werewolves took a hefty bite of the thing, unlikely to tie it to her as she raced to find more of the werewolves as howling continued to ring throughout the night.

A crash nearby caught her attention, the woman rounding a corner to find a trio with their little group leader snarling at some house. ’Damn! I hope I’m not too late…’ Biting her lip Mao sent a silent prayer that whoever went through that door or hid in that house hadn’t come to harm, at least not mortally. She retained some healing measures – likely influences left behind by the power of the crystals before leaking into her true abilities – and would seek them out shortly.

Once she’d dealt with the primary menace.

One of them more towards the back turned and noticed her charge as the other two seemed to contemplate chasing after their prey, the snarls alerting the pack mates as the first one fully rounded on her. Teeth and claws bared, it might’ve been a sight to behold to a greenhorn or when her people first dropped Mao off in this place. She’d fought greater intentions to kill however, witnessed enough death to encourage her to fight harder, and found greater resolve to live through it all. Determination welled up as a tendril manifested next to her, looping around its outstretched claw and at the same time offering her a foot hold to get over the rabid beast, its head following her with a snarl rather even as it gave an offhand tug to wrench its hand free. The tendril merely moved with it however, refusing to release its grasp until Mao mentally moved it, the thing yanking its arm up, over, and behind and bringing the cursed creature down onto its backside and belly up in the air.

The one trying to jump her from behind found its head slammed down into the ground as a second one manifested and bashed it in the skull. A second whip and it sent the beast flying only a few feet away to skid across the ground. ’Stunned at best,’ came the offhand thought as she summoned the other two next to her. There wasn’t much space between the beasts and thus little time to fully plan things out, her body going with the flow as it so often did in combat. Unlike the prior two these tendrils created wing-like shapes as they flared out and curled in the air over her, providing a small shield that the beast scratched and slashed at with a vicious vibration of vocal cords. It earned a small wince as the claws managed to dig into the hardened exterior a bit: she couldn’t use them as shields too much without the odd arsenal suffering. ’At least not if these are merely underlings…no…any proper alpha would be quite stronger than these simple hunters.’

Quickly she ensnared the beast with the wider limbs, the things curling around its body and hampering even arm movement, head unable to find purchase with its formidable teeth as she raised the thing into the air and slammed it down on the ground multiple times. Just enough for it to cease moving after a small whimper, its breath evening out. Ears pricked up even as the woman’s nape tingled, movement behind her determining that the other two had yet to bite the dust though she’d merely disabled them for a moment. Surprise wouldn’t be on their side as Mao intended to keep it a close ally. When they charged for her neither mindless beast expected that a split second later they’d be slamming into one another with a sound ’crack!’ audible as jaws clicked and bones rattled from the force of the collision. Instead she now stood where the other one had been charging alongside its pack member for her, offering her the beast’s old perspective for the head-on crash. Any other time she might’ve winced, but the stakes were too high to fully empathize or sympathize right now as the woman brought a pair of tendrils down and slammed them straight into the heads of the werewolves, this time soundly knocking them out like their prior brethren.

Only with the immediate threat subdued did her eyes turn back to the house, spying a rather tall woman standing there with a sword in hand. Vaguely she smelled familiar, but for the moment Mao couldn’t quite place why or where and concern slowly replaced it as she walked towards the woman. ”Are you all right? Are you a villager or someone who’s come to help them?” She found it hard to be sure, able to smell a lack of surety in the strange woman’s stance and left the animalistic mage pondering if she were merely a scared villager trying to protect her homestead and family…but instincts also impressed upon Mao that she wasn’t wholly normal either. ’Not that either need be wrong…’ “Is your family…okay in there? Do you need me to treat anyone’s wounds?” It was a bit of an assumption, but she could also smell fear coming from inside and simply guessed that the armed woman might live there.

Sharp ready her blade, and her mind to attempt to take down these hunters who were basking in their false moons glow, only to have her mind breached by the appearance of a sudden, and adorable, little savior. Sharp contemplated taking advantage of them, with her drawing their attention, but instead she froze again and could only watch. Why wouldn't her body move right now, when she needed it too? Would she have to cut off her legs just so she could flutter by on her wings, to overcome this madness, no that wouldn't help, they probably wouldn't flutter, or move at all for that matter. She couldn't control her emotions right now as she had never had them before, and this was becoming a real problem. She didn't have much to focus on other than the moon's glow, and these beasts howls, and how her new emotions were conflicting with the minor feelings she had gathered from Chaoris. It disrupted her ability to move, her entire magic disrupted, it was disheartening and was starting to drive her towards madness. These beasts in a way were bringing out these realizations in Sharp's minds, they weren't in control of anything, and really she wasn't either.

She didn't have anything else to do but sit back and watch as the girl destroyed them with tendril and skill. Sharp had found at one thing that she desired here, a warrior that could battle against these pitiful creatures in full. She would have joined in and crushed them, but again she couldn't move, and merely watched the devastation unfold, her mind wandering between the emotions running throughout her body, and attempted to find the main reason why she felt this way. her search like before was fruitless, and as the last fell to the ground to take their long deserved nap, Sharp could barely focus, that is until the girl who had been fighting spoke up to her. Mao's voice sort of soothed Sharp's mind, at least enough for her to snap back to reality at least enough to stagger back a bit, and look towards Mao. It wasn't much, but at least, she could move a bit, and focus on completing this task, if only for the moment.

"I have no family here, nor anywhere, and I would never reside in this village of beasts."

Sharp moved a bit past Mao over towards the fallen werewolves, their bodies out cold, making this process far easier than it would have been if she had done it all alone, or tried while they were awake. Reaching down with her glowing white hand, she touched each one, and they began to recede back into a more "normal" form. it wasn't much, but it was all that she could do for them, to cure them, from this false sense of being a warrior, and turning them into real fighters, who didn't need any fancy tricks to battle against enemies, but rather just needed their will and determination in order to win the day. If only she could destroy this false moon, then it would be all done, but she didn't know of any trick which could do so, and she didn't wish to destroy the lives of so many with it blowing up. She didn't know why she didn't wish to destroy their lives, but she just had the small feeling that it would be bad.


"As for helping them, I just don't know anymore, what is worse to live by a curse and be a false warrior to use the curses power to make yourself fierce some, but lose your sense of self at the same time? Are we all like them, where we aren't in control of anything? I can't tell anymore."

The sounds of howling echoed throughout the village once more, they were becoming restless once again, maybe the sound of the fight had caught their attention, or maybe it was just their bestial savagery, Sharp didn't know or care to know, she had to collect herself so she could, at least, battle against them to the point of submission. She didn't have to kill them, honestly, she didn't know if she could right now, so instead she would focus on what she could do, just cause them to submit.

"Sorry for you having to go out of your way for me, it isn't the way of the warrior for me to be caught off guard, I bring shame to you for having to fight against my opponents, and I bring more shame by asking, since you seem here ready to fight, to subdue these beasts so that I may cure them of this infernal weakness within their bodies. My body isn't responding as well as it normally does, which is why I must shamefully ask you for this assistance. Are you up for the task?"

---

Total WC: 2902/10400
Post WC: 812

The reaction of the woman left Mao a bit nonplussed as she moved beyond her towards the slumbering werewolves. Had she been fighting them before Mao stepped in then? Was there something wrong with living in this village? It almost sounded like an insult, at least the words themselves, but the tone failed to convey the sentiments of one disgusted at the notion…and yet that wasn’t the strangest aspect about her. No, for the briefest of moments it was like looking into a mirror of the past as she momentarily recalled how lifeless she sounded and acted back in the beginning of her missions. It was a chilling reminder, one she tried to shake off even as eyes watched in wonder as the “curse” lifted and they returned to human forms, albeit remaining asleep.

Her words only further confused the tailed woman while further stoking the feeling of discomfort. This woman acted as an echo of her former self in ways she didn’t want to remember, not right now…maybe not ever with Syu finally dead. More than anything she wanted to bury deep those memories of her people, distance herself despite knowing the likelihood of them simply letting this all drop remained nil. Even if they did, they’d merely send out another probe with a secondary mission to discern what went wrong with her mission. It’d been similar though as she questioned the reason behind it all and her lack of control in her actions. Each “awakening” left the woman in a state of despair as many dark decisions came about her findings as races became subjugated or erased entirely for their “worthlessness.” Even now having that freedom, the control factors purged from her body with the help of two ancestors...it all felt unreal to her.

Howling snapped her out of her reverie, reminding Mao that right now was hardly the time to become lost in thought much less the past. It seemed to work similar for the tall woman who, now that she looked again, seemed oddly familiar yet the tailed mage couldn’t place where or why for the moment. A part of her wanted to reassure the woman even as the mixed breed couldn’t fathom a single word to do such. ’Perhaps she goes by a strong warrior’s code?’ Though what caused this strange woman to buckle eluded her for the time being, Mao unsure how to go about asking such a question when she seemed so ashamed of it. Curious as she was, the woman settled for nodding, ”Urm, all right, I appreciate the help since, if you can truly cure them then they need not fear losing control like this again.” If they could make things easier for people in the long run…then she might’ve stumbled upon the perfect partner even if they viewed this as both a blessing and something of a shameful act for whatever reason.

Unfortunately as she stared down almost a handful of the beasts Mao accepted things could’ve been better. Perhaps it was “shameful” because she wouldn’t be able to offer much assistance due to whatever held her back currently. ”If there’s any way you can help I’ll appreciate anything you’ve got, but if you truly cannot then please cure them as I incapacitate them.”

Dashing forward as two of the foaming, rabid beasts charged, Mao teleported beyond them, moving between the dimensions in the mere blink of an eye. Tendrils shot out near her feet from small portals, the things curling around their hind legs and snapping like a whip as they forced a trip and then slammed the beasts into the ground. If nothing else she’d provided an opportunity hopefully, though these things also sported strong, predator instincts and capabilities so she doubted the window would be for long. She’d have to keep her awareness open more than she liked, wishing to cover for the distressed woman if possible.

Two huddled behind the middle wolf as its chest puffed out, causing her eyes to narrow as they knew what was up a second before her. ’They’re resilient,’ she comforted herself before swapping places with one of them, the thing getting an earful of the howl as it assaulted the senses. Then again even from behind the thing it was something else, but given the way the other lackey could barely stay standing – almost outright face-planting at one point and catching itself on an elbow – that would’ve left the woman as little more than a target meal.

As much as she wanted to use more defensive measures these guys proved strong earlier and those looked like mere pups compared to these fellows, their teeth and claws likely to take chunks out of even her primary weapons. ’I guess I’m about to get a serious bit of teleporting practice in…’ Wincing the woman vanished as teeth sank into the fluffy fur of the packmate she’d been standing next to instead of its intended target. The action of moving and appearing elsewhere remained foreign to a degree, but Kasmeer assured her it’d become a lot like breathing with time.

She manifested a foot from the ground, the sudden falling throwing her off and causing her legs to buckle when they touched down. Yet as one of the rabid beasts swiped at her Mao already bent backwards, letting gravity do the rest as her back hit the ground, a hand cushioning her head somewhat in her gauntlets. Rolling away saved her from the palm trying to slam down on her and keep the wily woman in her place.

Bounding up, Mao jumped up into the air to avoid a charge from the slightly recovered wolf – though it still seemed a bit off kilter, unable to dodge as she slammed one of the tendrils onto its back and head, ”Down boy!” Summoning one away from her, the thing would lash out at one of the beasts currently gunning for her newfound partner, Mao wanting to provide at least a little backup, though she winced as claws sank into the thing after her momentary grip on its limb. ’Damn that hurt.’

The sensation from the new limbs remained dulled compared to anything done directly to her, but she could still feel the occasional sting of pain from them and tell when they latched onto or touched something. ’I wonder if it’s somewhat how Aiyana felt when she acquired tails. I should’ve been more sympathetic about it.’ Not that she’d been harsh about it, it’d just been hard to understand until as of late. She supposed it might’ve been like growing a couple pairs of arms and learning to not let them get in each other’s way.

The storm had only just begun it seemed, more of the foul creatures were approaching, and Sharp didn't really have time to respond to Mao, which was a bit of an inconvenience right now, she needed to communicate exactly what was going on and how Sharp could fight against them, or at least, Sharp could attempt to reason with herself that she could still fight right now. Honestly, she was running right now from Chaoris and trying to run from herself, but no matter where she went it all seemed to catch back up to her, even on a battlefield where she normally flourished. it was hard to focus with so many conflicts swirling within her mind, though the addition of a temporary comrade eased it a bit, but at the same time brought her shame, she shouldn't have to ask for assistance against an enemy that she originally wished to do battle against, it was shameful for a warrior to require such assistance in battle, and she should rather perish than accept such help, but part of her felt that it was needed, she couldn't die anyway and was she really a warrior when she faltered so much? For the first time, she started to think that she wasn't like Chaoris, nor could she ever be like him, even if she could understand what his message was and what he was going through. She hadn't done much with the man aside from a few kill missions, but the bond that she shared with any who held her key let her know how he was doing, and what he was feeling, at least to the best of her abilities. This let her know that in this moment, with this failing that she would never become like him in any regard, and that made her almost unable to render her weapon towards the opponents that she now faced.

It was two of the beasts, their mindless rampage attempting to engulf Sharp in this moment. Their broad and powerful bodies darted from side to side as she attempted to get a beat down upon them. She wanted to draw her gun to her side and fire towards them, but that might have killed the beasts, and while her normal instinct was, again, to kill them right now she couldn't bring herself to accomplish the act, so instead she would be stuck trying to best them in hand to hand combat. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but when your body wasn't properly responding, close combat became a problem. She for the first time in, well since she could remember, she would be fighting on the defensive, or at least with defense in her mindset. From the left came a claw-bearing down upon her, and with a flick of her wrist she moved her blade to block, the crackling sound of its energy sizzling against the claws, almost distracted her from the other blow coming from the second beast. A double flank attack, thankfully, Sharp darted backwards in rapid succession, skipping around the back of the streets with efforted grace. The beasts kept up their pursuit, however, and more and more blows would cause the atmosphere to ring out in the crackling of blade and claw. it was a fighting retreat as the two beasts moved in tandem, trying to encircle their prey, and go in for the kill. Sharp couldn't do much except to try and hold them off until either she could get her act together, her blade broke, or she was dead. Sadly during her fighting retreat, her blade snapped, and with it much of her conviction to keep up the retreat. slashed clear across the road into a building, smashed through it, along with one of the beasts that would pin her down to try and finish her off. The other seemed to become distracted by an attack directed towards it, so at least it was just one that wound eat her magical entrails.

There wasn't much Sharp could do, she could only stare into the eyes of the beast that held her down, and ponder why such a foul creature could beat her, and why it was so crazed. It was like her, it didn't know who it was right now, and she could empathize, which is why she felt calm if she were to 'die" right now, it wouldn't be so bad, at least, she would die able to understand the lack of understanding between the two of them. The beast should have already finished her off as she started to ponder what she would do after recovering in the celestial realm, but it hadn't attacked, instead all it did was stare into Sharp's eyes, with its mouth gapped open and unable to tighten its grip upon her throat. Raising her hand to its giant claw aligned hand, Sharp would pat it gently.

"It's okay, we aren't really that different... we both don't understand why it is we do what we do, and are just being lead by the instincts given by other sources. I can't be free from it, but at least, you can..."

While Sharp would have been content to have fallen at that moment, she had been graced by a sorrowful saving, through some abilities she didn't yet know she had, the creature was calmed by her gaze and touch, and it was then that she could purify it. Her hand glowed white as the clawed hand she was touching started to turn back into that of a human, with the effect cascading all along the beast, till the body of a worn out person fell to the ground. Dusting herself off, Sharped moved towards the entrance to the now wrecked home, and looked up as the second beast moved in, trying her hardest to look into its eyes.

It closed in towards her with a nasty growl, only to become subdued once it got a good look towards her face. Sharp didn't know why, maybe it was because could understand them, or maybe she had changed in more ways than one, but the beast was calmed, and she once again applied her purification to them. She couldn't fight them right now, but maybe if she got close enough she could calm them and then cure them of this horrible curse. It was at least enough to make her not give up again and instead have a bit of desire to help, even if she herself was broken right now.

Leaving the building, Sharp looked around and found Mao, with her own opponents, defeated, at least in some sense. It was incredibly strange, Mao seemed familiar but at the same time so confident, unlike Sharp was, perhaps it was just Sharp who was dealing with such struggles, certainly felt like that. Approaching her, she would look towards the knocked out beasts, and then towards Mao.

"Thank you, for the help back there. I'm a burden right now, but I managed to cure them, shall I cure these ones as well? It will take away their source of pride, but will allow them to free of this blasted moon, I'm just not sure which one is crueler to take away right now."

---

Total WC: 4019/10,400
Post WC: 1207

One canine lay on the ground, thoroughly defeated after taking another howl in Mao’s place and then charged upon by one of its pack mates before the wild beast realized too late it’d downed the wrong target. ’At least they can still recognize one another in this state.’ It could’ve proved troublesome if they completely turned on one another. Between her constant pestering and that heavy duty final assault by the other opposing werewolf it wouldn’t be getting back up any time soon – not without one hell of a headache. ’I should use this more to my advantage then, they can fight on far more equal ground than I can.’

The plan seemed solid at first as Mao truly embraced the practice she’d jeered about earlier, though it came with a bit of daring. She’d position herself, keeping them moving until the duet stood opposing and then vanish so they’d collide instead, reappearing in time to witness it and wince – they basically hit with the fury and sound of crashing boulders – but after the second time she could see them rearing a bit more from the hit and taking a few moments longer to recover. It seemed like a solid plan to keep following until after the third time they completely forgot about chasing the half-feline target and instead started assaulting one another more. Snarls of challenge, fangs bared, Mao realized too late that in this heightened state they could still be prone to turning on one another in a fit of anger.

They clashed, arms moving with a frightening flurry of movement as they swatted attacks away and subsequently attempted to attack the other themselves, parrying blow for blow as mouths remained open and emitting a constant barrage of harsh vocals. Neither wanted to back down, not when the moon spurred them to release normally subdued instincts and desires of bloodlust, adrenaline encouraging from their veins. Finally one of them slipped, its foot sliding and knocking its balance off just as the other struck out and that was all the opportunity it required before it started beating down on its brother-in-arms. As that arm raised it delivered a solid blow to the face and the other enraged beast tumbled to the ground spectacularly.

When it refused to back down, rearing up a second time to likely deliver a finishing blow Mao reacted. Its claw came down into dirt, the woman not stupid enough to swap places with the downed wolf and instead force the attacker away, a quick glance confirming that the second of the three wouldn’t be waking up any time soon. Blood coated parts of it fur, causing a small spurt of guilt, but they were hardy and more than anything it seemed like small streaks rather than anything truly extreme or worrisome. ’When this is all over I’ll do my best to heal him and avoid scars…’

Again the thing charged with an intimidating howl that reverberated in her chest. ’Not yet…’ In front of her a portal appeared, the thing rapidly firing shards of condensed….gods only knew what she’d been eating, the portals often appearing at random to gobble something up, a strange instinct really, but whatever’d been consumed partially in the passing moments had been reduced to odd, crystalline looking shards that forced the beast to turn its head away even as it continued to rush forward. Eyes were unfortunately squishy no matter how much power one sported, but the attack wasn’t too much for the beast either aside for maybe a minor headache.

Above it she appeared, the thing stopping as it realized her scent remained near and yet…oddly not where she should’ve been. ’Back of the neck, back of the head, kidneys,’ she thought of her first targets even as the tendrils lashed out in quick succession, forcing the thing to the ground and with a few more blows it ceased moving, already suffering from the smaller bouts earlier with the other beasts.

Breath slowly came back to Mao as she wiped a bit of sweat from her brow and caught sight of her temporary partner-in-crime. She posed a curiously troublesome question, one that caused Mao to pause and consider it. Sure, the easy answer was “yes” because it’d make things overall easier. If they lost the werewolf trait then they couldn’t transform and go crazy every fifty years, problem solved! Yet at the same time the clan did pride themselves on their control normally and using this supposed “curse” to help people…going about it in this way removed the choice entirely from them since they couldn’t offer an answer themselves. What if they didn’t want to be permanently cured?

”I know this is a rather selfish question to answer, but…is there a way to maybe just force them back to human for the moment? Like…’curing’ them a tiny bit? If we could simply ask them it would be an easy enough problem to solve, but…alas…” her eyes turned skywards towards the overly illuminous moon, ”but….it might also be for the better so they don’t awaken while we’re preoccupied and harm people. More than using their curse they are renowned for helping people…I’m sure some part of them would rather not harm those they keep dear…so if it must come down to it then…and you can’t merely reverse the transformation for now…cure them…” She felt awful saying that, only now realizing that in a way it’d be like someone cutting off her tail whilst she slept, deciding it for “the best” for her. Would it be worse to take back her statement though…? ”Otherwise…” Mao couldn’t help amending it, unable to help thinking of the werewolves, ”we’ll have to do a solid job of ensuring they can’t cause havoc until the sun starts peaking over the horizon. If we really can’t keep them in check somehow then curing would be better than letting anyone die.”

Sure it sounded wishy-washy and rather hopeful, but Mao truly wanted to help both sides here. If in the morning the werewolf pack would rather lose their curse to avoid suffering one night of casualties then so be it, at least it’d be their decision then. If they truly couldn’t be subdued before then however the decision would be made in their stead to ensure they retained the chance to find another way of life rather than relying on the curse’s strength to help people as at least they and their neighbors would be alive for the possibility.

"You wish for me in the middle of a battle attempt to hold back to only partially revert them back to human? Are you mad like these beasts, they have fallen into madness without purpose and will do so again later as long as that blasted moon rises on the same cycle; it would be better to kill them off before they fall down a tainted warriors path, especially since they have no control over their actions... right... now..."

Sharp's adamant words turned from verbose to timid, she was torn, she wanted to kill them for going against a warriors code and not being able to experience the truth of the universe that Sharp knew right now, but at the same time, she could understand them not being in control of their own lives right now, as she was hardly in control of her own life in this moment. Could she really say that she believed in the warrior's code and the universes truth, the more her minor feelings surfaced and conflicted with what she had known for a long time; She couldn't say with one hundred percent certainty that she didn't feel that it was possible for her to try and just halt the process for now, but the moon's magic might be too strong for her own shaky purpose and abilities. Could she, unlike her feelings, accomplish a singular goal and get the job done without resorting to violence and death as she so often did; Sharp frankly didn't know, it was worth a try she supposed, all that would happen really if she failed is that she would just return to the celestial realm, broken even further than she already was.

"I suppose I could try to just halt the moon's influence, but if we want to ensure they won't wake up and become stronger again, we could try to move them out of view of the moon. It's big, imposing, cruel, and it's light shines everywhere, but, there is probably a few places that it can't shine, no light can shine everywhere at once, one only needs to look up and see some stars shining to know that fact."

Sighing Sharply, (get it, it's a pun) she moved over towards some of the beasts that Mao had just felled to the ground, Mao's strange fighting style confusing sharp for what little she had witnessed of it. It revolved around strange movements and space manipulation, or maybe Mao was just a master of the makes no sense fighting style, aka the macgyver make it up as you go along style. Either way, Sharp didn't wish to get anyone's hopes up, now that she knew that they could be gotten up, even just a tiny bit.

"I have to warn though that, I recently lack confidence in my abilities, so it may not work even if we take measures against it, are you prepared to shoulder with me the burden of taking away a warriors heart and pride if it fails? I may not be able to affect them with a full cure if they end up having an immunity to this half cure, or booster shot. If that's the case then we may have to put them down for good if they are too strong for us to handle at the moment. I understand that you are strong, but it is the weak one who believes himself unstoppable."

Attempting to gather the energy within her hand, she tried to hold back the full potential of her abilities. It was quite hard, as she never really held back before, so it was not only unsure to work but completely new for her, on top of that if she wasn't, conflicted right now then she wouldn't have been able to even rationalize herself enough to give this an attempt. Basically, everything was working against her right now, and attempting to trash her expectations into the ground, in addition to her pride and her abilities. It was a horrible existence right now, but all she could do was attempt to power through it. As she attempted to flow the energy into them, she winced as she felt the virus, for lack of a better word, fight against her in a harsher way, like a beast in a corner. Though she struggled, after a small while she managed to isolate the virus a bit to the point where it might be sustained till the end of the night, or so Sharp might have predicted, she wasn't the best at mathematics nor subtlety so it might be completely wrong, but it was the best she could do.

Stammering a bit, Sharp got up, her legs shaking slightly as she started to move over to the other one, she attempted the same procedure again, this time becoming exhausted after it than the last, for obvious reasons. Shaking as she stood up, Sharp gathered her breath, ignore the fact that she didn't need to breathe I just want to be dramatic. Glancing towards Mao, Sharp tried to regain her composure.

"I tried my best, I'm not sure if it will last long enough, and if it does we may have to put them down, but there, I gave it a shot. I'll recover in a little bit, just don't expect me to be doing any flips. Trying to suppress a virus, for lack of a better word, rather than crush it is far harder to perform as it starts to adapt and attempt to fight back, my magic might not hold if a sudden adaptation occurs and it can overcome the power supply left in them."

"The reason why I am tired, because if you end up protecting me due to my weakness, if because I have to give part of myself to them, it's difficult to explain, but i'm not the flesh and blood that many of you exist in, i'm made out of what people refer to as magic. The term doesn't matter, no terms matters, but the actiosn that are applied to it, and mine is that I give of myself to cure or help others, and to do truthful battles against others, i'm a simple creature, I don't conform to normal logic, which is why it is even more confounding that I am internally conflicted at this moment and have to ask for assistance from another. Such weakness is shaming, but it is good that you know in case my weakness holds you back, so you understand that my 'life' isn't as important, I will just regrow safely elsewhere, don't foolishly defend that which is weak and doesn't need it, not when such beasts beset you."

Coughing a bit to clear her through and look around, Sharp attempted to calm herself, she was talking far more than she normally did, probably another affect of her little condition.

"Sorry, I don't mean to talk your long and probably sensitive ears off."

---

Total WC: 5179/10,400
Post WC: 1160

Perhaps it’d been a ridiculous request and asking too much of another. It was a fair point, but Mao hadn’t been able to refuse her heart’s desire to ask all the same even if it became a blatant “no.” She wanted to preserve some part of the people and their pride, their strength, unsure if basically removing a part of themselves was the right way to go…call her weak, call her silly, call her sentimental: as someone who once held no choice in matters of her life she wanted to preserve this one option of their’s. If they chose in the morning to give it all up and acquire strength another way to help those precious to them then that was fine, but she didn’t wish to make this decision in their stead without testing their options first.

Something Mao said must’ve affected Sharp to some extent however as the woman acquiesced, deciding to give it a shot at the very least. That was all Mao wanted, her attention briefly turning to the brilliant moon looming overhead. ’If it’s a matter of a place beyond the moon’s reach that’s…well not impossible.’ A cave or something would’ve been ideal, but they didn’t really have time to go searching for one and while she could have Kasmeer run off to discover such a place a temporary solution came to mind. Besides if they were weakened it wouldn’t be such a problem aside for certain temptations. ’But if she’s willing to try then so am I if it means accomplishing a peaceful solution to all of this.’

Mao nodded, ”Yes, if this doesn’t work…then I will accept them being cured even if it’s not what they want come sunrise. I don’t view myself as unstoppable: far from it. However I’m someone who held little freedom of choice until recently so…I cannot help wanting to give them the choice if we can manage it. If, however it proves impossible then I will settle for merely preserving all the lives that we can. If nothing else they deserve the right to live just as much as the people they normally protect.”

All the tailed woman could do was stand and watch, recovering as her newfound partner set to work on temporarily curing the newly fallen. It worried Mao how tired this made her, wondering if a full and proper cure might tucker the tall woman out less…but that selfish side silently thanked her for these efforts too. Would it be odd to express such gratitude over things that weren’t even done for her sake?

”It’s fine,” she assured the woman with a smile, ”If we can manage this on the other’s then I will happily do as much of the fighting as needed. If keeping them out of the moonlight weakens the ‘virus’ at all then I think I can help with that.” With a wave of her hand over the group the ground took on a dark, cloudy quality to it as a ring of spikes jutted around the edges. Like a mouth of fangs the thing rose up, “swallowing” the group and removing them from the women’s presence. ”I have someone working on finding a better resting place until morning for them, but for now I can hide them in another space so to speak. I just have to be careful when eating other things for the time being.”

Her explanation intrigued Mao as well as she considered it. The woman could essentially throw her life away as she pleased without repercussion other than vanishing for a spell in a way reminiscent of her mate. The way she spoke resonated in Mao in a strange way, one that left her feeling sad as she’d felt similar before, her life not “mattering” as long as Chesha could eventually live freely…A steely resolution took over her as she regarded the woman, wanting to speak honestly and strongly at the same time, ”I thank you very much for accepting my selfish request. I know this isn’t the easiest method, and if it does prove too much then please tell me. We all need help at times though and without your’s I’d be stuck senselessly beating them and merely hoping for the best, but together with you there’s a real hope for these people. But…even if you say you’re not as important…it eases some burden knowing you won’t suffer a permanent death, but that doesn’t mean I’m just going to let you needlessly suffer either. You are important, and I will protect you to the best of my abilities as much as the other’s here. There’s no reason you should be subjected to more pain simply because you can’t die the same way as others.” Maybe there was some immortality she couldn’t comprehend at work there, but the notion of simply allowing this woman who’d agreed to help her suffer needlessly sat wrong with Mao. Call her crazy, it was simply how she felt about it.

”How are you holding up though? Will you be able to manage more? Because unfortunately they’re only going to offer us a little bit of rest,” her fists clenched, the metal of her gauntlets scraping against itself as she felt the three bodies lurking around them, trying to hide in shadows and behind the stalls even as the low growling became more and more audible, ”If we can find the Alpha amongst the pack though this might get easier. One of the elders mentioned they’re tied to him…so if we can take him down the others should fall naturally…” It’d be easier than taking on the entirety of the pack as well, Mao wanting to accomplish her goal without causing her partner to suffer for it. Holding too many of them in that space would prove more and more tantalizing too, death unfortunately easy to bestow upon the wolves as they laid so deliciously prone before her gaping maw in that other place. ’The faster the better…but I can’t get cocky either. Not after she warned me against it.’

"You are thanking me for accepting a request?"

Sharp was a bit shocked by this little revelation, that another could be thankfully simply for giving an order. Weren't orders supposed to be accomplished or contested depending upon the resources of the one carrying them out? It wasn't something you thanked another for doing, you just made sure that the task was completed by them or another. The risks were all Sharp told Mao about, so why thank her and say she wanted to protect her? Sharp's life didn't have any meaning, it barely had any way of communicating with others, it was strange to wish for one to be safe when it didn't matter if they were safe or not, Sharp would just re-appear in the other realm, it didn't make sense for Mao to care about her, she would be just fine even if it was painful, but what was pain but weakness leaving the body anyway.

"That's, very odd. Why would you give thanks to another for doing what was asked, it should be expected and if they fail then they suffer whatever your whims are, or you were a poor leader and didn't ask the right servant."

Sharp tried to ponder on all of it, and what it might have meant to Mao rather than just herself, but it was hard because Sharp didn't understand others perspectives unless she was trying to cut them open. She figured that if she wanted to understand Mao then cutting her open would be a good way to do it, but at the same time, Mao didn't seem like the type to wish to engage in such violent combat, at least on a whim. This meant that Sharp had to attempt to rationalize a different story, about why Mao was treating Sharp with such a different tone.

"That's all I've witnessed before at least, and it's all that makes sense to me. I can only reason that you are perhaps broken, or have a different "value" set. I have heard of these values, but I only know values in terms of what matters to the truth of this world, which is all I can understand through primal combat, with my blade, though right now I lack the ability to fully discern even from a sword another's intentions. it might be I who is broken, who truly knows anymore what is whole and what is shattered. if a simple emotion you try to express is lost upon me, and I have to try and gut you to understand it, then I suppose I am the lost one. Trying to save me, I don't understand when I will just be sent back to the celestial realm to recover, it won't matter in the end, I can't understand it, but if you wish to waste your time trying to stop me from dying or feeling pain, I won't argue with you, that's your own "value" right?"

Though the conversation was a bit brief, at least for Sharp whenever she did conversations, she did feel the need to get a move on potentially, and try to ambush these beasts on their own terms, or perhaps on their's, after all right now Sharp didn't have a warrior's pride, rather a small token of her stubborn sense of honor, and the desire to try and figure out what exactly was wrong with her right now and why couldn't she act as she always did. Perhaps it was the moon, affecting her like the beasts that tried to claw and destroy Mao and herself. It didn't matter in the end, all she had to do was try to not fully cure them, even though that made little sense to her, and avoid killing them, two very contradictory orders from what she was used too. Perhaps this was good for her, though, in her own way this could try and lead to her solving what was going on within her body and soul, and why her mind echoed with strange tiny thoughts and feelings.

"Then the alpha is the one that we must hunt, the others should become easier to track down and defeat, though I pray it isn't the alpha I know, lest we deal with more than we can handle. Still i doubt it, but the beast will be more fearsome than the rest if it is the alpha, if you could see me when I wield a blade to kill, then that which I call my master is even more fearsome. The sky is painted red merely by his blade swing, and if it is the same case with the alpha, expect a fierce some opponent unlike any we have seen before this night, one who is both cunning and merciless. Don't flinch, don't give away your intentions, focus, remain calm, the only vibe they should feel is that of your attacks cutting the air in two as you attempt to slice them, your killing intention must be silent, lest the beast locates your intention hidden away within you and manipulate its strength against it, and come out on top. Despite being verbose, as you have probably gathered, I don't feel much, which is why I am gifting you with what I believe combat to be, and what the beast might as well, use it with wisdom, and let us depart for it."

With that Sharp readied herself as best she could to attempt to try and fight against the next wave, with her abilities somewhat crippled. She didn't mean to sound like someone who was droning on and on, but she didn't wish for Mao to be foolish in her warrior ways, as Sharp couldn't understand Mao's side Sharp tried to communicate what it was that she felt, even if it was only emotions that she had 'gathered" from Chaoris in the first place, and not truly her own. Still, she tried to ready her blade and follow Mao, who clearly had the senses to track them down, if not because of the animal parts, because of her own sharp reflexes, reflexes which for Sharp were, ironically, dulled at the moment.

---

Total WC: 6205/10400
Post WC: 1026

Perhaps she didn’t often receive thanks? Though this girl proved odd thus far, her ideology intriguing even as she seemed troubled over her indecisive behavior. People thanking Mao admittedly sometimes left her embarrassed, not used to it as jobs were expected to be completed by her people so she could certainly sympathize with the woman, but it left her saddened for Sharp as well. It meant her life hadn’t been filled with such blessings or kindness if it came off as foreign. As she expressed her views this time Mao’s ears slid back…yeah, that sounded unfortunately familiar.

’Not that Syu didn’t look for any instances to claim me broken….if not for Chesha I’m sure I would’ve been labeled as such and thrown away given the opportunity.’ A humorless chuckle escaped at Sharp’s minor accusation, ”I’m sure my people would agree with me being ‘broken’ – I know one of my late siblings would heartily say such. I’d rather not fight you over our ideals though…I don’t see a point since I can understand the ability to discern things through ‘primal combat’ as you call it because I hail from two predator lineages: hunting and fighting for my life will always lie underneath all that I do. But like any other wild predator…I don’t have a reason to kill aimlessly nor a desire to do so, and I’d rather not see people suffer unnecessary pain. If I’m weird for it, then so be it.”

Mao shrugged, not particularly concerned if it left her as an oddball. ”I see no reason you should feel pain simply for immortality: seems like a tortuous way to live. But I suspect it’s not the life of a masochist you live as much as a fight for a purpose you believe in, however I also can’t claim to be of pure intentions either since without you I can only beat these people down until they can’t get back up for a while and hope they stay down until the rampage is done. If you can temporarily cure them – and permanently do so if they wish it – then it’s merely another reason to protect you if not fight alongside you.” It might sound awful, but her ability remained a reason to keep her alive regardless of Mao not wanting to see anybody hurt. Some pain would be a necessity and unavoidable, but she refused to watch anybody be torn to ribbons either.

Sharp spoke of her true abilities and a more fearsome master, momentarily confusing Mao before revealing it to be a warning: do not waver. She couldn’t approach this like a ravenous beast…well like the bulk of the pack right now. Their intent thickened the air with a fog of bloodlust, most of them merely mindless beasts right now on the warpath. One wouldn’t have to use much of their imagination to envision these creatures lurking around every corner right now as it very well felt like that, though Mao’s awareness of the area kept such visions securely in check.

It was odd to miss her crystal magic in this instance, the bonds with the gemstones providing that odd, calming air for her most times, and right now she couldn’t help thinking it’d be useful. Yet it also weakened her as a hunter, tied to the rabbit bloodline weaved into her long ago to prevent her from lashing out as she pleased. ’Though I could’ve used it to calm some of the beasts, make it easier to subdue them as well…but…’ But she wouldn’t regret it and she tossed aside the wishful thinking as they pressed forward, Mao honing in on a few more beasts.

”If you’re tired then hang back, I’ll try to deal with them as best as possible so you can partial-cure them after.” Briefly Mao considered reassuring the woman she’d do her best to look out for her even during combat – since more beasts could crop up at any time – but some part of her thought Sharp might take it more as an insult since she lived by what sounded like a warrior’s code. ”I know it’d be more efficient to simply hunt out the alpha, but I can’t let these guys have their way.”

Desperate begging could be heard from the couple as the man stood in front of the woman, the two just about pressed against a building in their attempt to stay away from the wolves. However the trio kept them pinned, the pair knowing they would be dead within a moment’s time and yet the will to live had yet to leave them, a small flicker of hope alive that maybe, just maybe they could reason with the beasts. They’d helped them time and time again, so the hope persisted that somehow, someway they could fight the moon’s inspired craze and awaken to their senses. Each step however continued to dim the flame, tears now streaming down the woman’s face as she nearly dissolved into body-jerking sobbing if not for the fear choking her and causing an alternative prayer that no sudden reactions might save them. Somehow.

Mao could almost feel the tightening of muscles, experience the varying levels of desire to pounce upon prey from the trio. They needed a new target.

A sharp whine echoed out as the sudden drop of her body forced the crouching wolf’s head into the ground. Bone crunched between boots and ground, teeth grinding as its body jerked in surprise, spasming yet unsure what to do to remedy its situation. She’d targeted the one on the left, feeling its urge rise higher than the other’s – either eager for the hunt or used to striking first she couldn’t determine right now – and as she hoped the sudden sound and failure on their brother’s part caused the other two’s attention to shift sharply. As they peered back towards their prey in a moment’s hesitation on which to go for first the pair growled: nothing but two large urns now stood where the humans once cowered.

Tendrils latched onto the furthest one’s limbs, forcing them to cross beneath the beast when its attention returned to the tailed mage, fighting the thing as it attempted belatedly to escape its new confines. ’If I can just pop its arms out of their sockets he’ll be easier to deal with…’

However that’d be an ongoing struggle for the moment as the other werewolf turned and lunged for her. ’Damn they’re fast!’ If she’d sported a moment’s hesitation it might’ve taken her arm if not gouged a hefty portion of her body out, the girl jumping backwards even as another tendril shot out of the space near its outstretched claw and spun the beast midair. Another one rocketed out, the end hardened and rounded like a mace as it socked the air from the predator, knocking him harshly into his already dazed brother as he tried to stand only to fall harshly and experience a spinning world anew. A fang-rimed portal devoured him as the other regained its balance and dove for Mao yet again, the wolf stashed until she could be sure Sharp remained free to cure it and then it’d merely end up back in that other space after to await the morning.

The little game of chase she played with the one free beast proved more obnoxious than she initially thought. Rage fueled him, spurring the gray wolf to move faster and backhand Mao. She managed to avoid hitting the building, though disoriented she manifested a few inches above the ground yards away, hands and knees braced against the ground to prevent a complete flop. ’Huh…guess it’s true.’

Again it charged, leaving the girl desperate, which naturally called for matching measures as her hand raised in its direction. It charged right into the urn, a hollow ‘thunk’ noise as its head slipped through the opening and it slowed quickly. The howl of rage it’d been in the midst of bellowing ceased quickly, replaced with a whine of both confusion and minor pain – since the urn locked the sound down to its sensitive ears. Eyes sharpened, pupils thinning to slits as a chunk of one of the brick houses vanished with an audible “crunch” and reappeared above her foe just as it considered pawing at the large urn. Somehow, someway the clay decoration survived the downfall, covered head poking out almost hilariously from the rubble as the gray beast twitched a few times and then gave up consciousness with a sigh.

A huff left Mao as she peered over at the third, the thing still struggling with its bonds. Fueling the annoyance into the action, she forced the tendrils to wrench sharply back into their portals. Finally she watched the joints bulge out of their sockets, leaving the creature whimpering…though pitiful as it was and she’d feel bad about it in the morning, right now she needed to….’No, I won’t make that pun.’ One had to have some standards sometimes even if the final blow to the werewolf’s consciousness came in the form of a swift smack by a tendril, this time armed with an iron frying pan. The resounding reverberations impressed her as a pink tongue lolled out of the canine’s mouth. ’Now to get these two temporarily cured as well and let them rest the…err, night’s events off…hmm….’ Why, oh why could she sense Aiyana snorting in laughter in her mind?

It was rather strange, this girl viewed that Sharp shouldn't have to suffer through pain merely because she believed so? How could one think like that, how did one find values to abide by? Sharp didn't understand it, all of it was confusing and drove her slightly deeper into madness. The animal featured girl not only didn't wish to fight to try and show her values but at the same time was descended from a predator? Was this her just deciding to be a certain way, to go against one's nature at such a high level, was she weak or strong willed? She mentioned that she didn't have a need to kill aimlessly and Sharp could relate to that, she only tried to kill the worthy or the cowardly. One who picked up his sword to fight for that which had just lost, that was the type of individual that she wished to get to know by crossing blades, for it was the only way to try and understand why it is that they would do battle in such a hopeless situation. To convert such soul to Chaoris was her mission, but was it what she wanted? Perhaps This odd feature girl was strong willed and Sharp was simply weak-willed, she couldn't comprehend that of the girls, as others might have called it, compassion and thus was trapped in a cycle of only one kind of understanding, the need to carry out her mission for her master and god.

Then what Mao said struck a chord with Sharp, a fight for a purpose that she believes in. This is where Mao was both right and wrong, all Sharp knew was how to take orders and carry them out, was that the same as believing in them? She knew that Chaoris was in fact, a god, but she didn't fully know how she knew that but was that why she was following him or was it because he had her key... or maybe it was for a different reason. She could feel her heart tug at the thought of it, and she knew not why it did, maybe Mao might know more, but when one couldn't find the words to say in the first place what they wished to convey, then she wouldn't speak of it again. Perhaps maybe after she had figured all of this out, Sharp would know the words to speak to mao, that is if they ever met again. Who knows, Sharp could always end up a believer in destiny, or maybe she already was and knew that she would end up meeting all of those she had known, be it by blade or words again in this life or possibly the next. If she ever could truly die, that is what she would hope for, so that she might, unbeknownst to her be judged for all she had done, and get to know them all on a much different level, a deeper level, one which wasn't all about surface talk or clashing of swords, but of emotional connection and hope, even if for her there would end up being none of the hope, and only judgement.

As she pondered about what it was Mao had said, Sharp almost didn't notice that there were more of the beasts, a testament to her being distracted, and dulled currently to find and defeat the Alpha was in fact, the main goal or was it the Omega? Sharp was incredibly confused by that statement, mostly due to the designations of her siblings, but at the same time that such creatures would use a designation, or could be classified as such. Surely a beast wasn't the beginning and another wasn't the ending, Sharp knew one who could be the ending, these beasts were nothing compared to them. She didn't know whether her Omega would be insulted by being compared to a beast by name, or would simply find sick pleasure in twisting it apart, not just physically but mentally as well, or maybe they would do neither and ignore it for the sheer sake of giving it no importance. It didn't matter right now but was a thought she had all the same.

Sharp's blade wavered, she could try and fight, but at the same time her mind was wandering far too easily right now, so she might end up giving herself away to an easy blow, but it wasn't the way of the warrior to hang back. How could she find a middle ground, what in the area would provide her with some relief to the struggle that she held within her drifting and filler filled mind being as clouded as it was; instead, it might be best to rescue those trapped by the beasts, or at least she would have rescued them if Mao hadn't already done so in a brief flash. This girl was skilled, but it was a strange fighting style, brutal but cunning, or was it cunning but brutal, oh well it probably didn't matter, she didn't seem to have green skin anyway.

Mao seemed fully capable of handling these monsters, though, so for now, she would try and locate that couple or possibly other couples, which meant clearing her mind in the best way she could and focus on the environment around her using her little-embedded trinket. Looking about, she actually found them nearby, but the place the urn's had been wasn't along the street but rather in another's house, a house which currently had more of the beasts within it. These people were having a worse night than the last group of bandit's Sharp had decided to try and convert. In no was it Mao's fault, but now it looked like Sharp a purpose, it was only a couple of the werewolves, probably a husband and wife combo, thank goodness they hadn't had a kid yet, or they had left the house because frankly it would get awkward if she had to fight a tiny werewolf.

Sighing and gripping her blade as she tried to slow her breathing and twitching, Sharp watched and waited. The couple screams were frightening, if not muffled by the other sounds around and the building, but that didn't spur Sharp into action, rather it was when one of the beasts would attempt to come down with their claw to cut one of the two poor people that Sharp would warp into the building and strike it's back with her blade. it didn't do enough to take the beast out, but it certainly caused it to flinch and react, but thankfully with surprise on her side, even with her slower movement, Sharp could dodge out of the way. it took all of her focus just to make that move, however, and the second werewolf was on the ball. Striking to the side of Sharp, she was hit and pinned into the wall. it would normally be over for her, but this was perfect, the two others were safe due to her distraction, which she frankly stole the idea from Mao, and now she could attempt to subdue them with a bit more tact, tact which meant focus one of them down until she was victorious. It was a simple but good plan, especially since right now all she could focus upon was one of the beasts which was still roaming about the smaller house.

Despite what Mao had said, Sharp ignored the pain that she had been previously feeling, she needed to keep fighting and if she died then it didn't matter, except for leaving the one she was fighting next to alone for a while. Stil, she would rather not let someone willing to fight on her behalf be fighting alone, and thus she hatcher the second part of her plan, it was risky, but at the same time, it was probably her best bet. Flickering out of the grasp of the beast with another teleport Sharp didn't move to attack the beast, but rather pulled a more brutal tactic. Appearing next to the shocked couple, Sharp sliced open the side of the room for them to attempt to run away while she didn't know if they would escape it was better than remaining here. Thankfully they rushed out to try and survive, which was good, Sharp didn't need them getting in the way and more importantly, there was now a hole behind her. As the wolves attempted to land their blows upon Sharp, she took them right on the chin, and planted her blade in the ground to stop their movements as to allow the couple time to run, but more importantly she was learning. They were slower than the others Mao was fighting but more brutal, if she hadn't been made of magic, this might have actually killed her but now, that and if they had used their claws rather than their fists.

Such a change in a fighting style meant only one thing, just like her there were uncertain, they must have just recently turned, perfect, Sharp might not need to even use her other powers, which she had originally intended. In order to beat them she was originally going to use the couple as bait and then ambush from the roof when the wolves charged them through another series of teleports, but now she was glad she took a risk, she now knew exactly what to do and it would be simple. Summoning up some of her ether Sharp unleashed around her the aura of her purifying fire, but this time, she would focus on their affliction rather than their strengths. it was a new twist for her, and she wasn't sure it would fully work, but when their pushing against her stopped and they reeled back in a bit of pain and then started to shrink down, Sharp breathed a sigh of relief as she had managed to defeat them in an easier method than she had originally planned, thankfully it was all due to them only recently getting the moon's influence, and now that they were already inside, it would be easier to keep them from returning back, at least during this battle tonight.

While Sharp didn't see the couple, they couldn't have gone far, hopefully, they hadn't run into the alpha or the Omega, which was just prove a horrible nuisance. Rushing over as fast as she could back towards Mao, Sharp would look at those she had defeated, and simply throw out a wave of her energy briefly setting them on fire, but then reversing it for the time. It still pained her just as in person, but these were weakened enough for a faster little approach, that and Sharp had enough practice after the first few times to give it a shot, though it might not last as long, which put them on a bit more of a timer. Time for a different sort of time, regardless this job would need to be completed sooner rather than later.

"This should work just like when I physically touch them, if they are weak enough a few of my spells might work, though they might not be cured for as long, which is why we will have to hurry. We will probably have to avoid helping others if we want to help everyone, can you do that? It might go against that which you view as an ideal, but my understanding, if I am correct, is that you wish to save most of the people, and to do that we need to stop the ring leader, without them the rest won't be as focused, their howl and presence gifts them all a great purpose, or so is my theory. I could be wrong, wouldn't be the first time, but I noticed they are only fighting against those unlike them, such a mad beast should fight it's own kind too, but they are organized. I might be thinking too deep, but all the same, watch out, the alpha might be able to greatly direct them, even without a roar, as that moon probably gives them some strange abilities as well, ones which aren't easy to predict."

---

Total WC: 8238/10400
Post WC: 2033

It would seem Sharp either found an easier method to temporarily cure them or eased into the odd style somehow. Unlike the previous bunch she let out a wave, causing the group to revert back to humanoid figures that Mao quickly swallowed up with the odd, mouthy portals to rest in that other realm until morning. The notion of leaving others to fend for themselves may not have been pleasing to hear, but it was something Mao would accept in this instance. She’d have to hope that others walked about town, staving off the werewolf threat. ’Besides we need to take out the Alpha above all else if the pack falls with him as its admittedly the quickest route.’

From what little she knew of the Alpha – aside for their stupendous and legendary strength – the beast sported a golden fur unlike any of the other’s. Most of the pack to date came in standard wolfish hues, most of them silver with a few black and brown variations, but supposedly the leader’s fur boasted a golden hue so spectacular it was as if the gods spun it out of the precious metal themselves. Such had been the elder’s words at any rate when she spoke to one of them.

’And yet I haven’t seen one even I could claim to be blond. The Omega’s probably the closest color wise as its white.’

Screams echoed in the air, alerting the pair to trouble – trouble that suspiciously sounded like it involved the same couple they’d just spent the past bit saving. ’More already?!’ Though what worried her more was this off sense coming from that direction. A strong killing intent emanated in the same direction, enough to prompt Mao into quicker travels. Without another thought one of her hands latched onto one of Sharp’s, the pair warping behind the couple in a matter of seconds, sandwiching the poor couple between the two groups of hunters. Immediately Mao’s eyes widened as her gem colored eyes scoured over them, ”The Alpha and the Omega?”

Perhaps the couple simply lost the lottery today in terms of luck, constantly being hunted by one group after another and now stumbled upon the end game bosses so to speak. Both were on their knees, hugging the other, shaking as they stared down their inevitable demise as everybody who lived here knew of the power both boasted. They’d defeated countless enemies, more than the rest of their pack members combined and now both stared down the unfortunate pair, ready to add them to the total with but a swipe of their claws or snap of their jaws.

”I cannot take both on,” Mao stated firmly, eyes narrowing at the duet ahead, letting their gaze remain on the man and woman for the moment as they seemed to taunt them with their demise and ignore both mages, ”Not at the same time. However since you seemed to have recovered some…I need you to take on the white wolf for me. I’ll take on the alpha with everything I’ve got. All I ask is that you don’t die yet as I won’t have room to offer aid.” Fighting that golden beast proved daunting in thought, yet a surge of adrenaline spurred on a slight shiver through Mao, tail puffing up some behind her. However the limb remained up rather than falling down, staying strong before the intimidating foe rather than curving to show submission. She wanted to be able to help Sharp, ensure her companion’s survival in all this…but she couldn’t. This fight would require tremendous effort on her part to end things peacefully and with her life intact. Sharp lived by a warrior’s code so she didn’t think the woman would hold it against her in the slightest, and if anything perhaps it offered her some thrill? Though these beasts remained chaotic by the moon’s influence, at least to some degree, and Sharp showed distaste for that so she probably wouldn’t take too much satisfaction in this fight. It was hard to say, Mao only knowing her for so short a time.

The couple disappeared with a wave of her hand, this time stuffed into a separate pocket dimension from the slumbering beasts she currently harbored – no reason to make their night even more terrible, but they certainly couldn’t be trusted to not run into trouble either. The eyes of their foes quickly shifted towards the mages, stances shifting, readjusting to attack further away foes. Low growls rumbled in their chests, neither feeling the need to loudly vocalize their intent like the others who’d been near frothing at the mouth with their snarls and howls.

Wind started howling around them, pushing the night’s clouds along. The standstill wouldn’t remain for long though, Mao wanting to separate the two to prevent either from ganging up on one of them, moving both her and the golden leader a couple streets down. He took that as his cue to attack, lunging forward and crumbling another festival stand to smithereens beneath his might. Unlike the previous fights he recovered much quicker, already rebounding towards his lively prey. Mao’s eyes widened before she disappeared behind a tendril, the thing flaring out widely into a giant petal-shape. He made swift work of it and left it in tatters on the ground. A moment allowed her the opportunity to disappear from sight at least, even though the utter destruction and decimation of the limb left the woman wincing. ’Not as bad as I feared…but still like having some flesh wrenched from a limb.’

Losing the tendrils however was more uncomfortable than painful, Mao more worried about the loss of an asset than the accompanying sensations. She couldn’t remain stationary too long, leaving a few presents in her wake as the tailed woman stayed on the move, ducking and weaving through alleyways to both keep the beast away from Sharp’s fight and some distance between her and the alpha. Despite his impressive size he forced the buildings apart, scooting one off its very foundation even as another’s wall crumbled in his pursuit of her. ’More clever than their underlings, yet still ruled by the moon’s influence to a degree…’ Mao noted.

From below a tendril shot out, little more than a copy this time and latched around her pursuer’s neck, tugging downwards and causing a stumble in his gait even as the slippery half-breed disappeared from sight again. The thing didn’t last any longer against him than the actual tendril before, little more than an annoyance to the beast as it finally snarled. A louder one followed suit quickly after as yet another copied tendril shot out, this time yanking one of its arms upwards, nearly forcing the dashing beast into the ground from the movement, though a swift jerk of its muscled limb tore the false limb asunder. Annoyed in its chase it gave a mighty howl as if to declare its dominance and reluctance to bow to its prey.

The tricks served their purpose: to both keep him at bay and incur a bit of annoyance. Mao couldn’t predict his temper well enough as she stared in wonder. Before her the very house shuddered, a few tiles shaking loose as it continued to quiver until finally the pack leader lifted the little two story abode, chucking the thing with surprising velocity at her. The show of strength left would’ve left a normal Mao breathless – and later she’d be impressed by the recollection – but right now she saw a challenge. With the house already in motion there wasn’t much she could do to save someone’s home, the conscientious side of her only briefly considering it as the dominant hunter merely saw a meal and took advantage of it. The “offering” flew right into the large, gaping portal, parts of the building crumbling as it scraped against some of the fangs lining the thing, and then finally it snapped shut into a giant, crescent grin. Almost like a natural instinct she’d shifted it towards the dimension linked to her otherworldly stomach, away from both the bad luck couple and the other one holding the currently slumbering humanoid werewolves. The building and all the belongings inside quickly crumbled, parts consumed and other bits condensed into odd materials. Some of the energy went towards restoring her missing “limb” though it remained out of her mind, attention solely focused on her foe.

The oversized smile caused the beast to pause, resizing his current prey and perhaps lifting her up to an “adversary” category. All the woman saw was an opportunity though, suddenly before him as if she’d lunged, and mirroring the wave of her hand two tendrils shot out to slap the beast harshly. Anger bubbled up, now viewing this as a clear fight for leadership in his moon-induced craze, head whipping back to roar defiantly at her.

Mouth agape, the orb slipped inside easily, and subsequently shortened the length of his battle cry altogether. Even as confusion settled in aggression remained at the forefront as the golden alpha flung one of his clawed hands out and performed the very same action.

Mao reappeared atop the building, catching her breath after being knocked through the brick wall and recovering before she slammed into another. Below the beast followed through the hole quickly, trying to discern the location of his opponent to no avail. The scent trail simply vanished inside, but it’d already worked out her obnoxious vanishing act quirks, figuring she couldn’t be far as he returned outside.

And like that Mao returned inside.

He just checked after all so why go again? The beast knew her scent would be inside, now checking outside and trying to catch a whiff on the gentle breeze. From within the shadows of the home Mao’s dilated, feline pupils watched the glorious golden canine outside as he attempted to track her new whereabouts down. A loud crunch caught his attention as another mouthy portal chomped down on a large tree nearby, missed branches bashing against the cobblestone ground and drawing his attention away further. Slowly he started padding in that direction, trying to find any sign she might truly be there.

Again his attention danced according to her whims as a large, fang-rimmed portal shot out from the window towards him. Easily he nimbly avoided it, now lunging towards the building to bring it crashing down around her. Time seemed to slow down as he slowly realized his mistake as something appeared in the corner of his eye: that tri-pronged tail. The eye on that side of his head turned, slowly catching sight of the rest of her, a palm pointed at him. In quick succession things began pelting his body, forcing him into a roll from the blows, some concussive and others managing to pierce his tough hide. Just when he thought he could right himself for a brief moment something snagged a limb, forcing it around his throat and causing him to gag as things continued to pummel him. Another manifested above him, lifting a leg up to keep his soft underbelly exposed for the final volley.

Finally things quieted down for a moment, long enough for him to stand and stare at the bruised woman, a most vicious sound ripping through his lungs at the injustices just incurred upon this most glorious of beasts. How dare she do this to him! How dare she challenge his authority! How dare she!

How dare she!

Anger fueled him as the chaotic beast growled at that impassive face: the cat passively taunting the dog.

This time Mao made no visual cues for anything, simply staring him down as the final blow activated. Within the confines of his stomach the explosion occurred, pummeling him from the inside with debris his digestive system would no doubt dislike later. The yip however proved satisfying, though Mao didn’t smile in the slightest, merely watching as finally her golden foe teetered and fell. Another of the mouthy portals surrounded him on the ground, letting the beaten beast fall smoothly into the safety of another realm to rest and await the morning. A sigh escaped Mao, feline eyes watching the wisps of breath escape into the cool night air. She ached all over from that mere slap, but that alone before the wall proved a great strike. ’I need to work on my movement more…too many hits and he’d have had me easily.’ Closing her eyes she sought out Sharp’s location, trying to discern if she remained in combat or not before teleporting nearby the tall woman.

Sharp didn't have much confidence in herself to keep these people from turning back mid-fight, which is why the faster method, even if it proved a bit more painful and taxing was the easiest one, at least from a logical perspective. To attempt to locate both of the ones in charge, it would be the easiest of the tasks, and knowing Mao, at least on this mission, she had a way of locating the beasts. Perhaps it was her connection to the more bestial side that assisted her, or maybe it was just dumb luck, one could attribute such findings to anything really. Sharp didn't mind not pondering on it for long, but she did wish that it was an actual skill that she found them, for the sake of getting this over far easier than normal. Perhaps after the two were taken care of Sharp could try to find a bit better solution for these mindless beasts but alas tonight was yielding less than fruitful in terms of permanent solutions that could please everyone,, though Sharp had yet to realize not all of the time everyone could be pleased, and difficult tasks would need to be carried out in order to ensure the better survival of all. One thing she did understand though was that sticking with mao would cause this entire mess to blow over and end in a decent fashion.

Surely enough they came across the beasts, though it was both at the same time, which was efficient and a bit annoying, it would require far more effort to fight both of them at the same time, as Mao had expressed with her inability to fight both of them at the same time. As much as Sharp disliked those who would back down from a fight, she could understand and respect knowing one's limits, that's what had gotten her through the night so far, but right now Sharp wouldn't have the luxury of holding back, even if her body would have thanked her for it. Sadly Sharp couldn't promise not dying so she just kept quiet and instead would focus her attention to the white wolf. it was a curious beast, not quite as big as the alpha, but it didn't resemble the other that she knew as Omega, it appeared clever and strong, but not quite nearly as clever or strong as the one Sharp knew. It's movements even before combat were sleek and filled with focus, which was something that Sharp currently lacked, and meant that she was at a massive disadvantage right now, her only real choice was to close the gap and get in as many blows as she could before the beast got too much of a lead-in, which was easier said than done against a creature of such size and strength. It was so tall in fact that almost made Sharp look normal, which again wasn't a good sign, then again it could be slower than the others, but Sharp doubted it, typically with these beasts they were stronger in all aspects of their appearance. This lead to how Sharp should approach them in combat, perhaps Sharp should avoid a frontal assault and instead try for another back strike, yes that was probably the best.

Withdrawing her blade Sharp let the glow give off her killing aura, and the white wolf looked towards her, after the fight with its friend was getting underway. Good this would make it far easier to battle against him if he was just focused on Sharp. Leaving an illusion as she teleported behind the beast Sharp attempted to swing down for an early lead in damage, only to have the beast huff out of its nose and turn around with a back swing, knocking her clear down the street. flipping back mid-flight and sliding backwards Sharp braced her fall and looked up only to see the beast directly in her face. She was already on the defensive despite her attempt to ambush, this wasn't a creature that focused on logic but instincts and killing intent. Sharp's own aura was plain as day, she screamed threat ran than being unable to be read like she normally was, which meant that a beast that focused upon nothing but simple processes could easily fight her. Slashing, she barely blocked with her blade, only to be thrown backwards once again by another swing, this time, it was up, and before she could recover mid flight the best jumped up, grabbed her and threw her into the street, leaving a crater where the worn dirt road had been.

Landing on top of her, the beast proceeded to land blow after blow upon her body, leaving her bruised and beaten till she let out a loud scream as it pierced her slightly. Getting up the beast started to sniff the air to try and locate it's friend and his opponent, though it was interrupted by Sharp getting out of her small crater and leaning on her sword. She wasn't about to give up this fight just because she had taken a bit of a beating, she would actually go all out against this beast with everything in her arsenal. Pointing her wrist mounted projectile weapon at the enemy, Sharp would unload towards him, the explosive bullets screaming into the air, but weren't enough. darting from side and side the beasts speed overwhelmed Sharp's aim and battered senses until once again he was on top fo her. Swiping her left arm aside the beast grabbed her left leg and proceeded to toss her from side to side into the dirt, almost like some kind of trickster god. Knocking the ever loving sense out of Sharp, when the beast finally stopped Sharp was next to unconscious, drifting in and out of reality, the thumping of the beasts body upon the ground the only noise she could really hear, beyond the ringing of her ears. The pain penetrated her body, she couldn't feel much, and almost just wished to stay in the hole that was made for her, but she couldn't do that, she had to get up and fight, but how, nothing she had could defeat this creature, none of her ordinances couldn't penetrate its hide or land upon it.

"Are you so dense, you rely on others to fight your battles, foolishly attempt to fight with technology instead of your own abilities, DO YOU KNOW NOTHING OF TRUE COMBAT!? STAND AND FIGHT WITH YOUR OWN INITIATIVE, SLAUGHTER HIM BY YOUR HANDS, PROVE YOUR WORTH AND POWER."

"How, can I even hurt a beast this size when I am like this, when I am broken beyond all forms of belief, no form of mercy of power can help me right now, and all that I have gathered has failed me as well, perhaps Mao should just finish the beast off, and wake me when they are ready to be purified..."

"You would have another fight your battle when you can still think, feel, know the atmosphere, you aren't the same, perhaps you should just go and exile yourself in shame from my sight so that another who is worthy can take your place. Either that or stand and fight, show them what I have taught you, show them the litanies of the blood god, no mercy, break their defenses by anyway method possible, WIN, SURVIVE, FIGHT, SLAUGHTER, SPILL HIS BLOOD THEN DRINK THE CUP OF VICTORY FROM HIS SKULL. STAND AND FIGHT WITH YOUR OWN STYLE, AND SHOW HIM WHAT IT MEANS TO WORSHIP THE BLOOD, GOD!"

It wasn't much of a pep talk, especially because Sharp wasn't sure if it was the real Chaoris, or if it was just a hallucination brought on by massive head trauma, but it did at least give her one thing, it gave her the willpower to stand and attempt to fight. Having her energy envelope her, Sharp cast a few of her healing spells if only to keep her moving, and patch up the holes within her body. It would be no small task to attempt to fight against the beast, but as she stood up and her white ether surrounded her, Sharp dusted herself off, and assumed more of a fighting stance, her breathing becoming calm and sharp, much her stance. Unlike how one would normally fight, however, Sharp closed her eyes, and with the flick of her wrists threw down her weapons to the ground. She wasn't going to fight this beast with her ordinance, with creations of others and man, she would fight him with her own body, it was the only way to make up for her failing, and to understand the true flow of combat in this situation.

As the beast howled and turned around to face her once again, Sharp merely planted her feet firmer to feel the tremors that the beast created with his own. As the pounding got more and more focused, she felt it, his body heat, his motives, and his blows, it was obvious by how he had planted himself before the blow, he was coming in right. ducking down to the right underneath the beasts blows, Sharp slammed her fist into the rib cage of the wolf, then ducked to the right further to knock the arm off balance, and follow up with a backward elbow blow. The beast reached as if to try and strike her with his left arm in a long side swipe, but it was then that proceeded to flip over the beast dodging the blow and catching it in her own hands, activating a surge of strength she would toss the beast over her as she landed, though it would brace itself onto the ground and land without recoil, Sharp could now move in and did.

She barraged the beasts belly with punch after punch, dodging her way in and out of the beasts hit range, it's long arms providing the needed leeway to get a blow settled back down, at least until it crashed down onto the ground with its hind leg, leaving a bit of a crater and almost knocking Sharp off of her balance. punching Sharp, she grasped the hand with both her own and used it as a balancing platform to flip once again, and upon landing deliver a roundhouse kick straight to the beasts head knocking it down slightly to the side. following it up with a straight up power kick, Sharp felt the beast buckle as she slammed into its arm. She couldn't let up right now, but rather than simply keep attacking physically, Sharp let out a bit of her magical power and attempted to purify the beast, though it howled in some pain as Sharp's energies attempted to reduce him back to human, the create didn't change. this wasn't easy, it would require far more effort than normal.

As the beast attempted to charge and grapple her, it was now that Sharp teleported behind the beast, the illusion in front of her actually working due to her calmer attitude. Landing another kick straight into the back of the creatures head, Sharp quickly recovered upon the ground and sprouting her wings upon her back twisted and grabbed the wolf's head between her legs and with a corkscrew twist tossed him into the air, shifting her attention into the air, Sharp unleashed a flurry of teleportations, illusions and blows upon the beast midair. Almost defenseless the beast cried out to attempt to attack her, but to no real avail, it was being juggled within the air by her at a lightning speed. Finally with a powered downward thrust Sharp knocked the beast into the ground, this time finally giving it a crater to call it's own. Landing upon the ground Sharp huffed and puffed as her body felt weak, and started to flicker in and out of this plain, she had been using too much energy.

"Not yet... I have to just hold out a bit longer."

Moving towards the beast who was now beaten and struggling to get back up, just like Sharp had been a little while ago, she had her hand glow and placed it upon their chest, only to see them spasm and shapeshift back down to a human size. Unlike many of them she was surprised when this one didn't have the pects of the brawny man but rather the bosoms of a supermodel, looks like the curse didn't care about maintaining beauty. Though it was just temporary at least now Sharp could say that she had done her part, and perhaps she could locate Mao or Mao could locate her, and they would be able to finally finish this night of wandering. Calling out to her Sharp would attempt to get her attention.

"Mao, if you have felled your beast, I shall cure it so that we can finish this night off with the rest of the ones running around, hopefully, disorganized and easier to pick off, though I thank you for your assistance, without it I would have failed and had to return to recover midway through possibly even the first real fight."

---

Total WC: 10433/10400
Post WC: 2195

Her partner definitely looked worse for wear, Mao fretful about her condition. Belatedly she recalled that this woman didn’t bear the same status as herself, but still to see an ally – even if temporarily – injured incurred some worry. Offers to heal her though refused to stutter forth at first, Mao unsure if she’d even accept at first before deciding to be more assertive for once and insisting on doing so: after all she was the one providing at least the temporary cure to the wolves. It’d at least be her excuse if she tried to speak against it before presenting the alpha to the rather tall woman. Watching the glorious golden figure give way to a rather built blond fellow the tailed woman belatedly realized he and the omega shared scents a bit, for once realization dawning that they were a mating couple. ’Certainly a power couple if I ever saw one…at least not one to mess with.’

As they slept peacefully in their humanoid forms the Pharoah’s mage promised to return quickly, wanting a look about town. Things sounded a bit quieter at least as neither keen ear picked up the sounds of utter chaos and rampaging anymore. Howls and growls ceased filling the air as they once ran rampant and as Mao ported around town she found various figures strewn about, slumbering almost peacefully. ’I suppose taking out the alpha truly was the way to go. I just wish we could’ve found them sooner before they could make such a mess of the festivities.’ Sniffing a few of the bodies granted Mao the knowledge she wanted: the wolves fell with their leader.

Unfortunately the celebration would be on pause indefinitely, many stands and stalls overturned or crushed, others merely a mess in the face of chaos and people’s haste to escape to safety. A few homes sported holes or needs for some repair. A small part of Mao felt guilty at causing a bit of it but…well it’d been for a fair reason and couldn’t be fully helped. ’Besides possessions don’t hold a candle to retaining one’s life and memories…everything else can be replaced in time.’ Even now with the fallen forms people started leaving their safe places, taking in the damage while others sought out those separated from them earlier in the blossoming rampage.

For all the fright many people proved hardier than she expected, a pleasant surprise, but she supposed if they retained a great rapport with the werewolf pack then their resolve shouldn’t be anything to shake a stick at either. The more fragile ones of their community would no doubt be supported by the other members, her heart warmed by people more concerned with finding one another than their possessions.

However her primary goal lay in finding the same elder she’d spoken to before the festival really started gaining momentum, the elderly woman with her walking stick also observing her people.

”Thank you child,” her old voice held a strength behind it, one that fascinated Mao as the woman eventually pulled her eyes away from her people, ”I know our little council will be pleased with your efforts as well. There are injured to be sure, but I think we might be lucky in sporting very few casualties. It’ll take a little bit of time to make sure, but we’re a close knit community and I have faith.”

”Thank you, your words are kind, though I greatly appreciated your advice. It was true: once we felled the top two the rest of the pack followed suit…and I wasn’t alone so I cannot take the full credit. If not for my ally Sharp I’m not sure how well I could’ve kept them subdued as she sports an ability to return them to these human forms. And…erm, well I’m not sure how to offer this really since it’s not by my efforts, but she can apparently, if they so wish it, cure them of their werewolf transformations so they needn’t worry about rampaging in future generations like this anymore. I…well, I wanted to at least offer them the option rather than simply take it from them.” Mao’s eyes slipped away, awkwardness fully setting in though her attention whipped back at the elder’s chuckles.

”Thoughtful indeed, and very kind of both of you. You may tell your friend however that they won’t accept such an offer, though I think after seeing all of this they’ll be redoubling their efforts in finding a way to curb it for the next event. Be it calming the inner beast through discipline, magical methods, or simply physically restraining themselves…we’ll find a way. Ah!”

The sudden exclamation caused the animalistic mage to jolt, surprised as the even shorter, elderly woman quickly tottered towards a home. Through the open door Mao could make out a few items flying through the air even as she easily heard audible ruffling of objects and drawers before the elder returned and brandished a necklace towards her, ”A gift for you, or your friend for your hard work. I know neither of you might be looking at the moon quite the same way after tonight’s events, but this amulet should award its wearer a bit of extra power by the same celestial body that transformed out trusted warriors into beasts for a night.”

”Thank you, again,” she accepted the necklace with a smile and a bow to the elderly woman. They parted, the trinket the only thing the village could afford to offer after the destruction heaped upon it, but Mao figured for her efforts Sharp earned the bonus. She’d return, assuring the odd woman that she could return to the other world to heal and rest as the wolf people wouldn’t be accepting the offer more than likely, but giving her the necklace as the people’s thanks for what she’d done. After all she’d been the one able to shift them back: Mao just punched things.