riverviewlogs | i fight for every life

You didn't!

(She looks immensely pleased by this information though, as she definitely wants them to be friends.)

How is it going?

Really well. He really knows what he's talking about, and even though we're doing it... uh, the 'old fashioned way', (she raises one hand to make the air quotes, rolling her eyes,) I actually prefer it to using my phone already. I like developing the film. It's a comforting process. Can't really think about anything else.

(She smiles then, a little sheepish.) That, and he's kind. I'm happy to know him.

Me too. I would have never gotten that chance, at home.

Because you're from the same place but at different times, is that right?

(Like her, and Taako. It's still strange to think about though.)

Yes - about a hundred years give or take. But he's not the same Kirk from my universe either.

Right, right...

(Lucretia has begun to think she might never understand how the pool of people the portal selects from actually works. She frowns thoughtfully.

She doesn't have a lot of time to walk and stew over it though, because they push out of another clearing, and suddenly the roar of water is much louder, getting closer. Lucretia turns her head toward the sound, distracted.)

We're close.

(As they get within sight of the falls, the falls dampen all other sounds - the rustles in the underbrush and the songs of birds in the trees. Beverly raises her voice some to be heard.)

Aren't they magnificent?

Yes, (she breathes, though Beverly may not have heard her, as she's stopped in place to take everything in. The falls are much bigger than she thought they were going to be, the roar of water absolutely phenomenal. She hangs back in awe.

How has it taken her this long to come exploring? She can see the painting she'll do in her minds eye: blue and yellow-green, cerulean for the body of the falls but periwinkle for the foam coming up from the base. She has those new brushes that Taako got her for Candlenights safe in her bag, and this is absolutely the place to test them.

Beverly is quite a ways ahead of her when a very different kind of roar sounds, sharp and droning over the top of the falls. Lucretia's head whips about in surprise, just in time to see something crustacean-esque and huge hurl itself from the white water and up onto the bank. She's never seen anything like it, and for a moment she's stuck in place, watching the whip of its tentacles as it pitches itself forward... toward Beverly.

A little shockwave of dread propels her to move.)

Beverly– (She breaks into a run. She's not close enough to get a shield off and the thing, whatever it is, saves a fucking wisdom throw against her attempt at hold monster. It's towering over Beverly, claws open wide, and Lucretia's heart is beating so hard she can hear it in her ears because this isn't a cycle, there isn't a fail safe here, and she has no idea what will happen if Beverly is seriously injured or killed.)

(Everything happens so quickly, there's barely time to react. One moment, Beverly is by the edge of the water, shrugging off her pack and admiring the view in front of her, the next moment, a monstrous shape is leaping out of the water, all claws and tentacles and pure malice. As the creature lunges for her, all she can do is duck and throw her arms up, little protection as they offer.

Except she forgot about the bracelet, the one Lucretia gave her for Candlenights. Whatever power Lucretia poured into it blasts forth now, hurtling the creature partially back into the river with an enraged howl. Sensing that this might be her only chance, Beverly reaches for the laser gun at her belt, only to find it gone, knocked aside probably when she first fell. Now, she scrambles desperately backwards. Not like this, it can't end like this.)

Lucretia!

(Seeing the shield blossom forth, Lucretia, for a wild moment, thinks that Beverly had done it, that she has some kind of power she's never known about. Then she notices the little golden glint at her wrist, and it all falls sharply back into perspective.

The intense relief feels like a flood.)

I'm here! (The distraction has given her more than enough time to get within range, and this time she wastes no time throwing globe of invulnerability over a circle of ground underneath Beverly to encase her in clear magic, keep her from further harm. She had noticed Beverly attempting to reach for something at her hip and she's casting around for it now too, but it's hard to find anything on the ground amongst the thick, high grass.

The monster is pulling itself back onto land, but it's focused on her now. Lucretia's panic has completely disappeared by this point. She's straight backed as she faces the thing down, a fireball exploding to life in her palm. If shit goes south, she can teleport Beverly direct to Taako, get her to raise the alarm.)

Are you okay?

(Wordlessly, she nods, her gazed fixed not on the creature, but on Lucretia. There's a subtle, yet powerful shift in Lucretia's manner that demands Beverly's attention and lends her strength.

Realizing that Lucretia, focused as she is on the creature, can't see her nod, Beverly swallows.)

I'm all right.

(She gets to her feet, uncertain of what she can do to help but determined to stand by Lucretia's side for whatever is about to happen.)

(She'd take Beverly's hand tightly in hers to reassure her if only she didn't need them both. She feels full of adrenaline as the chuul rounds upon the pair of them, lifting a massive claw to strike–

and its attack bounces harmlessly off her shield, which holds beautifully. Lucretia grimaces, staring at it as it prepares another attack. If it wants to wail away on her shields, let it, but they had come to the falls for a reason and she's not about to let this thing ruin their day either.)

What is it? (She wonders aloud, throwing her fistful of fire, watching it explode and eat into the tentacles cloaking its face. The roar of pain and fury it makes is deafening.)

(That is a question she can help with: fortunately, her tricorder did not disappear into the long grass along with her gun and pack. She flips it open, calibrates it, and starts her scan. The roars of the creature are terrifying and she can't help but move a little closer to Lucretia and her fireballs.)

A crustacean. Hard exoskeleton, poisonous tentacles, appears to be primarily nocturnal.

And...

(The chuul lets out another roar of anger as it strikes futilely against their shield.)

Might very well be sapient.

(She glances down at the tricorder for a moment, brow furrowed. Poisonous tentacles? Yuck.

The chuul takes its third strike against the shield and Lucretia's attention snaps back to it. She'd been about to make a shrewd comment about its 'sapience', but her magic won't withstand all the blows in the world if it decides to stand there and brute force its way through.)

Okay.

(She's thinking, thinking. Even though it's a nasty looking thing she has an automatic hesitance to kill it, but then again... if it attacks without provocation like this, it's probably better off not being around in future. Lucretia nods, and takes a step forward until she's standing protectively in front of Beverly. When she speaks, her voice is calm, calculating.)

I'm going to blind it. We'll retreat, leave the shield where it is as a decoy and get ground advantage over it so I can use a delayed blast to finish it off. Don't look directly into the light, keep your head down.

(She lifts her palm to cast sunbeam in a wide, glancing arc. It spreads a little wider than she intended but that only serves to fully catch the chuul in its radius and it shrieks, reeling back from the powerful blast of light.)

Okay, go.

(Beverly isn't too keen on killing it either. Neither her medical or Starfleet ethics approve yet...it doesn't look much interested in talking or negotiations, only in trying to kill them. So she nods in agreement, despite her doubts and takes a step back, ready to run at a moment's notice.

As soon as Lucretia gives the word, she's off, clutching the tricorder tightly. The shriek of the creature penetrates her bones, almost brings her to a stop. But she has to keep going. At the top of the hill she stops and chances a quick glance back to make sure Lucretia is still with her.)

(She isn't. She'd stopped to lay the groundwork of her plan: a small, glowing bead of concentrated power, which she lobs toward the creature almost casually.

What she hadn't been expecting was a retaliation.

Lucretia had assumed the chuul would have been blinded enough not to notice but it whips its unseeing head towards her spell anyway. Lucretia swears under her breath: it can detect magic. Of course. That's why it's here. It must have sensed her, sensed Beverly's bracelet. Everything seems to happen in slow motion: it reaches out with a claw, striking the bead hard enough to send it straight back at her, and Lucretia has at least enough time to throw up a shield of faith, but the bead still strikes the top of it and explodes forcefully, with a lot of heat and noise.)

(Beverly doesn't see the shield. All she sees is the chuul' deadly claw coming down, followed by a ground-shaking explosion. She cries out, a wounded, wordless sound. The chuul turns towards the sound briefly, but the magic surrounding Lucretia still is apparently a more appetizing draw. With no fear for her own safety, driven only by a determined, wreckless anger, Beverly stumbles back down the hill for Lucretia.

She can't lose her, not like this.)

(The shield soaks up most of the damage but shatters uselessly, and thankfully her arcane ward takes the rest of it for her. Lucretia is unharmed, but the explosion has left her dazed, with a very loud ringing in her ears that makes concentration a bit difficult.

She staggers out of the smoke, coughing. If the others were here they would have laughed at her for this. Nearly getting blown up by her own delayed blast fireball. How embarrassing.)

Right, (she says, trying to focus, trying to ignore the pounding in her head. She casts cone of cold, an instantaneous spell, and watches ice bloom over the monster's exoskeleton, freezing it momentarily into place.)

(When Lucretia reappears, unhurt and most definitely not dead, Beverly skids to a halt down the path and breathes a sigh of relief. But now what? Clearly, things did not quite go according to plan, yet she doesn't know what to do to help. As the creature freezes, she too, feels rooted to the spot. This feeling of uselessness is unfamiliar and unnerving.)

Lucretia?

(Lucretia gives her head a shake, turning as the monster finally stills. They've got five minutes at best before it breaks free– Beverly is similarly frozen in place halfway up the path. She looks lost. Lucretia joins her, reaches out to take her hand.)

Are you okay? (Sorry if that was a little too loud, Bev.)

I... (She brings her free hand up to cup Lucretia's cheek.) I thought I lost you there for a moment.

Oh.

(Beverly mustn't have seen her shield. Lucretia kisses her apologetically, giving her hand a squeeze.)

I'm sorry, I– it can detect magic, it knew what I was casting even though I blinded it. We should probably get out of here, it'll thaw out soon.

(Beverly looks over Lucretia's shoulder at the creature and barely suppresses a shudder.)

Do you think it'll follow us?

I don't know. It's horrible but– it was only attacking us because it sensed magic, it wasn't being... inexplicably hostile.

(She's reluctant to kill it, obviously.)

If it pursues us after this, I'll put it down. But for now I think– um, we should go, maybe warn the Perimeter Guard.

(Beverly shares in that reluctance. Perhaps they can find an alternative, down the road. For now, though, it's time to get out of here, so she starts back up the hill, not quite running this time, but still moving swiftly.)

We should. If nothing else, they can put up warnings for magic users.

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tmw you had this open on your laptop that is dying...

pours one out...

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