you have heard the stories about how the dead have already cried, like crushed grass and wilted flowers and memories carved into stone, then forgotten.
The impact is loud, a hollow sound, when the shaft of his horn meets the bone of Helios' legs. It is like elk, fighting, the clatter of forest beasts locked in combat. Jask pushes, and pushes, as his shoulder aches and stings and he becomes gray and red and red and red so that point that his leg matches his robes.
There are things Jask cannot do:
Smile like a man that smiles. His is carefully practiced, sure, turned up at just the right angle, tucked back at just the right amount-- but it is perfect in an unsettling way, friendly in a way that looks either disconnected or too eager or both all at once.
Speak loudly; make himself heard. It has never seemed important and the few times it has Jask has remained silent, and still, like a spider hunting its prey. Now he is too old to know the difference.
See, and I mean really see, the moment that Helios' wings blink into existence, as if pulled from a pocket of space where they wait to be called. One moment he is pushing, desperately, aggressively, and the next he is blind in more ways than one, vision going fuzzy at the edges.
His mind reels, trying to make sense of what he's seeing without actually making sense of it at all. His collar, that black, laughing snake coiled around the columns of his throat, dictates that it cannot be-- wings do not just blink into existence. Magic does not just happen, not in this world or any other. It hurts to even try to consider.
For a moment Jask is full of radio static, the rush of a brain trying to fill in the blanks. Suddenly he is very hot, and then very cold, staggering forward as more of a trip than a shove, falling into Helios' teeth before he knows it's happening.
The teeth come down, the skin sinks and then splits in places (more blood,) and Jask decides without knowing he's done it that the wings have been there the whole time, he just hadn't noticed. Things do not just come into being. Magic does not just happen. They have always been there. It is simply the way that it is.
He feels it now, the teeth-- pain that blooms, and Jask pulls his body away (easy, because these teeth are not sharp, and gripping, once he sees they are there) and twists his neck to point the long spear of his horn at the soldier,
any part of him,
and lunge.jask
There are things Jask cannot do:
Smile like a man that smiles. His is carefully practiced, sure, turned up at just the right angle, tucked back at just the right amount-- but it is perfect in an unsettling way, friendly in a way that looks either disconnected or too eager or both all at once.
Speak loudly; make himself heard. It has never seemed important and the few times it has Jask has remained silent, and still, like a spider hunting its prey. Now he is too old to know the difference.
See, and I mean really see, the moment that Helios' wings blink into existence, as if pulled from a pocket of space where they wait to be called. One moment he is pushing, desperately, aggressively, and the next he is blind in more ways than one, vision going fuzzy at the edges.
His mind reels, trying to make sense of what he's seeing without actually making sense of it at all. His collar, that black, laughing snake coiled around the columns of his throat, dictates that it cannot be-- wings do not just blink into existence. Magic does not just happen, not in this world or any other. It hurts to even try to consider.
For a moment Jask is full of radio static, the rush of a brain trying to fill in the blanks. Suddenly he is very hot, and then very cold, staggering forward as more of a trip than a shove, falling into Helios' teeth before he knows it's happening.
The teeth come down, the skin sinks and then splits in places (more blood,) and Jask decides without knowing he's done it that the wings have been there the whole time, he just hadn't noticed. Things do not just come into being. Magic does not just happen. They have always been there. It is simply the way that it is.
He feels it now, the teeth-- pain that blooms, and Jask pulls his body away (easy, because these teeth are not sharp, and gripping, once he sees they are there) and twists his neck to point the long spear of his horn at the soldier,
any part of him,
and lunge.
Summary: Jask registers his attack on Helios and is still making his own when Helios summons his wings. Because Jask's collar keeps him from perceiving or recognizing magic, and because it is harder for his brain to reckon with something popping into existence right in front of him than it is to deny that, say, he's being burned or hypnotized or something else, this causes him to temporarily break. His brain rushes to find a solution, and settles on: they've literally always been there, he just hadn't noticed. This is enough time for Helios to get a good grip on his neck, which bruises and breaks the skin, before Jask rips out of the bite and turns at whatever angle he can manage in such close quarters to attempt to stab Helios with his horn.
Attack Used: 2
Attack(s) Left: 0
Block Used: 0
Block(s) Left: 1
Item(s) Used: n/a
Response Deadline:Aug 2
Tags: @
