Nightshift 37: Soccer/Recreational Field

[pleading-ngri.livejournal.com]

[from here.]

Since the recreational field was quiet tonight, Phoenix found himself pausing briefly between doors, glancing up at the sky. It was what the sky looked like on television, pitch blackness interrupted by bright points of starlight, which was what really made him stop in the first place, really. He'd spent his entire life in Los Angeles. He didn't expect anything from the night sky but a dark, dusky rose, dotted with perhaps five valiant stars, assorted satellites, and the blinking slow-motion of airplanes coming and going from LAX. Seeing the sky the way he'd always known it was supposed to look pulled at him strangely. There wasn't supposed to be a single thing about this place that was beautiful, but there were the stars, cold and twinkling and completely unfamiliar.

He turned away abruptly, walking quickly for the next door before he could stare any longer. This wasn't the time to get caught up in things like that.

[to here.]

Comments

[littlestrawdoll.livejournal.com]

Right, stubbornness. The servant wished he could say he was surprised to see it coming from a young boy who was already injured, inadequately armed, and facing down a man-eating bird that weighed twice as much as the boy did, but…

He sighed.

“Risking yours just to end its life doesn’t make much sense, you know?” he said from over his shoulder, turning more fully to face the bird. It was preparing to leap forward, to use a beak that was probably just as sharp as its talons to take his head off.

And because at the moment, he didn’t have many other options to stave the thing off at a distance and keep the kid out of trouble, his eye blinked into existence on the grass of the recreational field, directly below where the bird’s breast would be as it moved forward. Like crosshairs. The eye then emitted a blinding column of light and energy from underneath the creature. An attempt to land a good blow, and at least give him time to do something else should it not be enough to knock the avian out cold.

(The thought occurred to him that it would’ve been easier to do the same to the boy instead, if only to drag him away from danger.)

[damned-monsters.livejournal.com]

[switching posting order by request]

The aquila caught the flicker of movement below just in time to realize something was happening, but not in enough time to adequately dodge. It tried to get out of the way, but it was moving too quickly and the space between then wasn't that large; its startled screech turned into a keen of pain as the blast struck one wing, flipping the bird over to land heavily on its side on the grass.

Its claws still twitched as it struggled to rise, to reach toward its prey, but for the moment it wasn't moving very far.

[for-marian.livejournal.com]

Leon was momentarily taken aback by the blast of power that hit the bird-creature--it seemed like a lot of magic for a patient to have left, and it made him a touch suspicious of the other man--but he shook off his surprise and was moving forward as soon as the light cleared away.

The bird was on its side now, which meant Leon had to change tactics--he'd been hoping to get onto its back, out of reach of both talons and beak, but now he had to skirt around the bird to get to its back, and he could only hope that he was going to be quick enough to make it before the thing righted itself.

Taking the handle of his knife carefully between his teeth, Leon made a dive for the back of the bird's head, reaching out for a fistful of feathers. If he could just get a good grip on the bird's neck before it managed to stand up again, he'd be in a decent position to act.

[littlestrawdoll.livejournal.com]

Wanting to know more about mortal lives and mortal emotions while watching from afar was a lot different than being forced to play by mortal rules. Honne Onna might have laughed at the image. He was being threatened by a giant eagle, undermined by a kid, and was getting tired. One little use of his second sight and he wanted to call a time-out.

The light was enough to make flashlights useless for a few moments, but by the time it faded and left the soccer field lit only by starlight again, the doll was still standing in the same place. The kid, though, was trying to make a determined suicide attack with one arm and a tiny knife.

Ren sighed again. This was getting to be too much trouble! “Hey, come on!” I’ve only got one of those left, and after that, we’ll both be in trouble.

[damned-monsters.livejournal.com]

The aquila somewhat awkwardly worked to get onto its feet, struggling to get its trapped wing back out and functional while favoring the one that had been hit. It wasn't an easy process, to say the least, especially when it was already half-blinded by the unexpected burst of light.

The feel of Leon's hand grabbing onto its feathers, though, impelled it to action. It gave an angry shriek and surged upright again, shaking its head violently in an attempt to dislodge the attacker. There was another human just ahead, but this one was a more immediate danger.

[for-marian.livejournal.com]

For one desperate moment, Leon's one-handed grip became very precarious, but as the bird righted itself he managed to get his legs around the sides of the creature's neck. After that it was no different than riding any fractious animal, though admittedly this one could drop Leon to his death if it managed to get back in the air. Just one more reason to finish this quickly.

Holding on tightly with his legs, Leon let go with his hand and took the knife back out of his mouth. He'd managed to cut his cheek with the blade, but that was of no concern at the moment. Leon raised the knife above his head and drove it downwards with all his remaining strength and as much of his weight as he could put behind it--he was only going to be able to hold on long enough for this one shot. Though his aim could never be perfect with the bird thrashing about and trying to dislodge him, fortunately his target was effectively any part of the back of the bird's neck--if he could hit the spinal cord or any one of the vital nerve clusters surrounding it, he would either kill or disable the bird.

[littlestrawdoll.livejournal.com]

Aw man, this was getting ridiculous.

He couldn’t hit the bird without hitting the kid, and he couldn’t hit (or grab, or something) the kid without putting them both in danger. For a variety of reasons, the servant wouldn’t ever be able to psychically empathize with the people who sometimes looked at someone younger and said, ‘I feel old’, like they were nostalgic or envious of youthful energy. But seeing the boy trying to ride the monster like they were in a rodeo was probably the closest the doll would get.

Back to square one, really. Though chances were even lower the bird was going to focus on him with Leon on its back. Jeez. Well, he couldn’t just stand around.

Ren darted to the side, closer to the creature than would be safe, moving towards its injured side. Grabbing, kicking, or using more of his powers on its wounded wing wasn’t his first intention, but the bird couldn’t guess that, and if it was distracted from its thrashing long enough for the kid to do it and get down, then good. And if Leon missed, or fell, or it tried to fly away and dislodged him, well… The doll could try catching the kid before he broke his neck?

[damned-monsters.livejournal.com]

The human yet persisted in clinging to the aquila's neck, and the great avian thrashed and struggled to dislodge him, though as it did the movements of one wing were visibly weaker than the other. And then the other human was coming closer, approaching its injured side, leaving the creature with the dilemma of dealing with both at once while it was already at a disadvantage.

However, the question quickly became moot when Leon's knife drove through ragged feathers and deep into flesh. This time the aquila's keen of pain cut itself off into a gurgle as it toppled, landing heavily on the grassy field. Its beak opened and closed weakly, as though it were still trying to get at one of the potential meals, but clearly the blow had struck true and well.

[for-marian.livejournal.com]

The blood loss from his injuries--aggravated by all the movement he'd been doing--was starting to get to Leon, and his reaction speed was considerably slower than it would normally be. When the knife struck home and the bird started to go down, Leon had only a fraction of a second to jump free, and that moment passed by before he was able to gather his fading strength. Swearing viciously, Leon pulled the knife out of the bird's neck and braced himself for impact--hopefully he would be able to roll free before the dying bird crushed him or caught him with a twitch of its sharp beak.

[littlestrawdoll.livejournal.com]

The death thralls were obvious even before the thing began to fall, and in like most adventure stories, slain by the underdog. It wasn’t all that reassuring, knowing this person was so effective with knives.

But maybe, somehow, it was fitting that the servant hadn’t done more than he had.

He backed up as the bird swayed, flashlight dropping from his hand. Stopping the kid from being crushed under his opponent’s corpse just seemed like par for the course, though Ren didn’t think either of them would be particularly pleased by the act. He tried to meet the falling creature halfway, reaching out to snag Leon. Like the damsel in distress?

The boy’s light weight made up for the fact that the doll was just a little sweaty and tired himself.

[damned-monsters.livejournal.com]

When the knife was pulled from the aquila's neck it tore the wound a little wider, bringing with it a rush of blood that stained the avian's feathers a little darker. Though it would have been vindictively pleased to crush its attacker as it fell, Ren's interference denied the aquila a Pyrrhic victory.

Not that the creature was capable of much thought by this point, as weakness crept over limbs that were increasingly difficult to control. The aquila could only bleed and make uncoordinated twitching movements as it struggled in vain to right itself. The two humans seemed all but forgotten now.

[for-marian.livejournal.com]

The last thing Leon was expecting was to be swept up off the creature's back at the last moment. At first he was too stunned to respond, but once they were safely out of range of the dying bird's talons and beak Leon managed to gather the wits to demand, "Put me down! What the hell, just grabbing me like that!" How humiliating!