as written by Script and Faithy
Again, Kimi's words caused hesitation. It wasn't much, but it was enough to give them a moment. A moment was all she needed. Kimi's blade sank into the stomach of the woman before she could react, and she gasped loudly. Her eyes widened and she recoiled backwards instinctually.
While he was distracted by his comrade's wound, Aya turned and punched the jumper in the face. Hard. There was a sickening crack, and he fell sideways straight into the sewage. Aya let out a whimper of pain as she pulled back her hand. It was almost definitely broken.
Clang.
The last bar dropped to the ground. Oh no. Aya turned to the grate, where the two Wicks had risen to their feet. The leader of smugglers - if they even were smugglers - pointed to her and Kimi.
"Incinerate them. Now."
The farseer had stepped back, and now the Wicks moved forwards - a young man and an older woman - raising their palms. Fire gathered there, and Aya braced to run in what would no doubt be an entirely vain attempt to escape the incoming inferno.
And then an arrow struck the woman in the back of the head. She lurched forwards with half a gasp, and fell face-down onto the walkway. There was a moment of stunned silence, and the flames in the boy's hand died. The farseer turned around to face the exit into the bay.
"Spirits..." he breathed, voice shaking, "
Run."
In the next moment, a tide of scales burst through the opening. The naga slithered into the tunnel with terrifying speed, and within seconds their vanguard had driven their vicious spears forwards and impaled the smugglers' leader and the remaining Wick through before they had a chance to turn. The seer was already running.
"Kimi, we're getting out of here!" Aya yelled, turning to run as the creatures surged forwards. They must have been hidden amongst the rocks beyond the grate in vast numbers, spilling into the tunnel like a charging horde unimpeded by the waterway.
What was happening? This was supposed to be a simple crime bust! Not an invasion!
____
When the blades sank deep within the female’s gut, Kimi smirked, keeping them buried until the smuggler recoiled backwards away from her. Blood dripped from them and she was about to advance upon one of the others when a loud clank caught her attention. Snapping her head back towards the grate, she just stared and prepared to once again speak another phrase to keep the two of them safe. However, she hesitated, the hairs standing on the back of her neck at his words. Fire… fire wasn’t something that could easily be dodged. Could they outrun it? No… she was closer than Aya and there was no way she could run faster than flames.
The only options were to either sidetrack them with pretty words or leap into the sewer water. Grimacing at the thought of coating herself with what ran beneath him, the fighter decided to with option one. Before she had a chance to say or do anything however, the woman took an arrow to the head. Narrowing her eyes beyond the woman, she swore loudly as numerous Naga made their way into the tunnel. Why the hell would those idiots remove the only thing keeping the bastards from invading?
“Right!” Kimi backed up away from the creatures, wondering if she could persuade them to piss back to where they came from. It was definitely worth a try,
“Naga, go back to where you came from. You don’t want to be here.” She spoke calmly and persuasively, but didn’t bother to stand around to see if it worked. Turning around, she took off like a shot, her blades disappearing back inside of the gloves.
____
"What are you doing?!" The wounded woman screamed as the naga surged towards her, "We helped you, you said you'd spa-"
She was silenced by a disdainful swing of a sword, and the naga pressed on. Kimi's words were lost to the numbers of the naga. Though the frontmost few hesitated, they were soon shoved onwards by the companions as they called out in their own tongue.
"Nearest ladder out, left then right and down the tunnel!" Aya called to Kimi as they sprinted away. An arrow hit the side of the tunnel beside her and she flinched away, thankful for the brief moment of respite as they rounded the first corner.
It quickly became apparent that not all of the naga were chasing them. By the time they'd veered off into the second turn, they had a lead on those that were still pursuing them.
They're clearly spreading out. Spirits, they're raiding the town.
"You go up first!" Aya urged as they reached the ladder, "Don't wait for me - you need to get to the town centre and warn the guard, and the people. If they attack in the middle of the festival this will be a massacre!"
____
Glancing behind over her shoulder, Kimi swore softly when the naga continued to move after them. Mentally noting what Aya said, the female looked for a stinking ladder, hoping that they got to one quickly. She felt the arrow slamming into her shoulder moments before the pain registered, but she didn’t stop running. Rounding the first and the second corner, she left the quiver in her shoulder and hissed, realizing that things were worse than what they thought. How did a simple smuggling operation turn into this? It just didn’t make any sense
“Right! Don’t dilly dally, you can’t handle them alone.” Grabbing the ladder with one hand, she all but flew up it, ignoring the fire radiating from her shoulder. Taking off like a shot the minute she reached the surface, Kimi was incredibly grateful for her training because it allowed her to move quickly. That coupled with whatever else was happening with her was enough to give her the speed that was definitely need. Well, the arrow was slowing her down, but with it still being lodged in the muscle, it was keeping the blood from flowing, which would suck. Thankfully she didn’t get hit anywhere else, like the knee.
____
Aya was only a few seconds behind Kimi, emerging out into the streets. She cast her eyes around worriedly, but her fears hadn't been realised - the naga hadn't struck the streets yet. At least not here.
And so she ran.
As they tore through the city at a breakneck pace, Aya yelled to those she passed. "Naga! There's a naga attack! In the sewers!"
Those that heard her reacted with horror. There were few who would take such a warning lightly in Jikou, where naga raids were not altogether uncommon. But for them to have breached the sewers without the alarm being raised...
The alarm. "Kimi! You're faster than me. Get to the nearest guard post and sound the alarm! I'll carry on to the square and try and get people moving, but the alarm needs to be raised!"
Guard posts were spread fairly evenly across the town, each manned by police and ministry guard officers. Each was fitted with the capacity to activate the towns's alarms - sirens not unlike those one might have during an air raid. The nearest one was only a few blocks away.
____
Hearing Aya shouting at the people milling around in the street about the Naga, Kimi realized she should have been doing that all along. Smacking herself in the forehead with her good arm, she started to shout as well, thankful that the people were taking their words seriously, which honestly, was to be expected. Her shoulder was growing numb, which was good, yet troubling at the same time. She glanced back behind her at Aya, nodding that she would get to the alarm and sound it. There was only a short period of time before the Naga attacked and she’d rather not have a massacre happening if it could be prevented.
“Right! I’ll get to an alarm without delay.” Turning back around, she took off like a shot.
Due to the circumstances, Kimi truly pushed herself to get to down the block, knowing that there was a guard post nearby, well a few blocks away, but that was better than a mile, right? Right. She didn’t even glance both ways before zipping across the street. Her body was begging her to slow down, but like many times before, she ignored it. Kimi knew what would happen if she failed, so she was absolutely determined to keep that from happening. As she ran, she shouted that the Naga were loose in the sewers and apt to come up at any moment. Her mind was going a million miles a minute and occasionally she messed up her words, but luckily, the pedestrians knew what she was saying. After what felt like nine hundred years, she reached one of the posts and took a brief second to catch her breath.
“Hey! Sound the alarms! There’s Naga coming!”
____
There were only two men at the guard post, and when Kimi arrived they were sat at a table playing cards. One wore the green-blue uniform of the police, and the other the purple of the ministry guard. The post itself was a small building - a single storey and barely two rooms, it was more akin to a large shed than anything more substantial.
Kimi's arrival interrupted their conversation, and one of them dropped his hand in surprise.
"Wh-" the ministry guard began to question, but was interrupted by her shout.
"Now, what makes y-"
"Lee, she has an arrow in her arm! A naga arrow!" The police officer cut in, throwing down his own cards and rushing over to a switch on the wall, throwing it down. A moment later, the wail of the city's raid sirens began to sound, echoing through the streets.
The ministry guard blinked, "Oh," he remarked, eyes falling on the arrow with shock. "Spirits! You need medical attention!"
____
The urge to smack the ministry guard was pretty intense, especially when he questioned her words. Why would she make something like this up? The thought was completely asinine and she rolled her eyes, thankful that the policeman had his head out of his butt and noticed the arrow still in her arm. Exhaling deeply when the alarm was sounded, Kimi relaxed and shifted to head back out before realizing that maybe she should get her shoulder looked out. However, the need to find Aya to make sure she was alright was more important than her own health.
“I’ll get medical attention later. I have to go make sure my friend isn’t hurt.” Kimi frowned, thankful that the two of them had decided to go check out the sewers. If they hadn’t been down there, the Naga would have infiltrated the streets and there wouldn’t have been any warning.
____
The ministry guard - Lee, as the police officer had called him, frowned, but didn't protest, simply shaking his head in obvious disapproval. "Once you've found your friend, get inside and bar your doors. The guard will take it from here."
"Stop chatting and grab your gun, Lee!" the officer called from across the room, where he'd retrieved a rifle from a storage locker. With his free hand he picked up the receiver of the post's radio. "This is Officer Xin of Lon Fei Street post, we've got a report of a naga attack in the sewers, at least one civilian has been injured by a naga arrow. Requesting orders, over."
There was a pause before the radio responded. "Officer Xin this is headquarters, do you have a visual on the attack? Over."
"Negative. Over."
Another pause followed. "Officer, please report to your designated mustering point. There's- hold on, receiving another transmission. Over."
A longer pause followed after that, and when the woman finally spoke again she sounded far more agitated. "All available officers, this is headquarters, we have a naga assault on the central plaza, I repeat, all officers to the central plaza."
"Shit," the officer swore, snatching the device up and running for the door. If Kimi hadn't already left by this point, she'd find company as he and the ministry guard also ran for the centre of the town.
____
“Sure, we’ll get inside.” Kimi didn’t say what she was actually thinking and instead turned around and took off like a shot towards the center of town, needing to find Aya before the Naga appeared and started to slaughter the civilians that weren’t running for cover. Hopefully she got to the alarm quick enough, but deep down, she knew it wasn’t fast enough. Shaking that thought out of her head, she slid to a stop, not even sure how she was going to find her cohort.
“Damn it, where are you, Aya?” She glanced around before spotting the assault in front of her. Grabbing her gun, Kimi moved closer and took aim, beginning to shoot at the Naga. Of course, she didn’t have infinite bullets, but she wasn’t too concerned at the moment. If they moved closer, she had other means to take them out, but hoped the officers got there quickly.
____
The scene in the square was one of chaos. The naga had arrived in force, midway through the festivities, and had without hesitation turned their blades on the revelers. The police and Ministry Guard in attendance had fought back, but their numbers had been too few and the crowds too packed for any defense to be effective. The naga had used the element of surprise to great benefit. The officers arriving in the plaza had done so in scattered groups, not an organised force, and had been able to do little to contain the assault.
The square now remained a sight of conflict, but the initial clash had faded somewhat in the time it took for Kimi to reach it on foot. Dead in their hundreds littered the ground like a brightly coloured carpet, their festive attire and masks stained crimson. Stalls and decorations lay splintered and shredded.
Some naga remained in the square - a few groups of two or three totaling around a dozen - but many had apparently moved on further into the township. Those that were still there, responded to Kimi's arrival with hisses of alarm. Her gunshots felled several before they had a chance to react to the lone charging figure, but she remained dangerously outnumbered.
For a few moments, anyway.
What looked at first like a bolt of lightning tore across the square towards one of the groups of naga, sweeping between and around them in an erratic arc. As its path came to a halt on the far side of them, blood bloomed from wounds in their chests and necks, and one of their serpentine heads slid off and to the ground. All four slumped over.
Where the ball of lightning had come to a stop,
a figure wreathed in sparking electricity shook his katana, specks of blood scattered from the blade. His hair was white, and charged with static that made it jut out at odd angles. He wore a dark blue jacket and trousers with a studded belt, as well as an expression that could only be described as ... bored.
The newcomer looked across at Kimi, bright cyan eyes assessing her. "Idiot. Did you think you could take them all on your own?" he challenged disparagingly.
But there was scarcely time for words - there were still another nine or so naga in the square, and they were quickly regrouping to face the new arrivals in a more organised fashion.
____
Never before had she seen such carnage. Her heart felt for the people that now were spread out on the ground, blood soaking into the soil. What had started out as a pleasant day was quickly turning into a nightmare. Frowning heavily, she forced herself to focus, glad that the people that had let the Naga in were now dead. Unfortunately, their death came too late for the civilians. Swearing beneath her breath, Kimi continued to fire towards the Naga, knowing that the majority of the bastards had moved on elsewhere. Acknowledging the hissing, she quickly reloaded her weapon, hating that she wouldn’t use more than one weapon thanks to the arrow still plunged deep in her shoulder.
“I’m so boned…” Kimi muttered, knowing that there was a chance this could be her final stand.
Her eyes widened at the sight of what could’ve been mistaken for lightning except for the fact that it was not behaving like lightning. The breath she had been holding released when four of the Naga dropped down dead thanks to attack. Glancing over towards the male, she knew that he was someone that she should recognize, but for the life of her, she couldn’t remember his name. Shrugging impassively at his words, she debated on whether to answer him or not.
“Nope, just stalling.” She glanced back towards the Naga and narrowed her eyes. Yanking out the arrow before the wound healed around it, Kimi smirked slightly.
“Go back home to the sewers, Naga. Your time here is done.” Once again lacing her words with the strong persuasion as before, Kimi amped up the wattage so to speak, knowing that they needed more of a punch with the Naga.
____
There was a moment of hesitation in the ranks of the naga as Kimi spoke, before around half of them turned away and began to slither down the street. Their companions yelled after them in the naga tongue angrily, but it seemed that Kimi's words had served their purpose.
"Hmph. Neat trick," the stranger noted, eyeing her warily. Powerful Singers were tricksy - you never knew when they were messing with your head. Anyone that could turn away
anyone already hostile with just a few words, let alone naga, was dangerous. Spirit-touched were more resistant to a Singer's manipulations, but not by enough for it not to be concerning.
There was little time to worry over that, however. The remaining naga were moving forwards, some readying bows. He darted forwards, just as two arrows flew - one aimed towards Kimi, the other at him. The speed of his movement meant he evaded it easily, and before the creatures knew it, he was on top of them in a blur of swords.
The two bowmen dropped before their front line knew what was happening, and then he had already ducked within the reach of their spears. Five more bodies fell, and the square was still.
The lightning around the boy - for upon closer inspection, out of the heat of the moment, it was clear that this figure couldn't be any older than around eighteen - faded, and he lowered his blades. He wasn't anyone with whom Kimi would be familiar.
The boy walked over to her, letting his breathing even out and wiping sweat from his brow as he spoke. "You should get somewhere safe. These were grunts, left behind to scavenge. The organised warbands are moving through the city, burning it. They brought an army. We can't win this battle, just survive it."
____
Unlike in the sewers, her command worked a lot better, which was a good thing. Shrugging towards the male, Kimi wasn’t too thrilled that it didn’t cause all of the Naga to leave. Narrowing her eyes towards those that remained, she dug around for more ammo, realizing she didn’t have any left. Sliding the gun away, she flicked her wrists, the movement causing blades to slide out from the gloves she was wearing at the moment. Moving off to the side, not wanting to take another arrow to any part of her body, Kimi just watched as he took out the remaining threat. The blades slid back away and she just crossed her arms against her chest when it was all over.
“Well, that was pretty impressive.” Kimi glanced towards the boy who was moving over to him, her head shaking at his suggestion. She couldn’t just let the Naga burn the town and kill people.
“I can’t… I can’t just let them kill innocent people. I have to try… have to try and save them. Even if I die… if I could save people… I don’t expect you to understand. I have to find my friend Aya anyways.” Kimi rubbed her injured shoulder, hissing a little before glancing back towards the male again.
“Thanks for your help.” She faintly smiled before rubbing her shoulder again.
____
The boy raised an eyebrow at Kimi's statement. "It's your funeral. The front lines are that way, vaguely," he pointed off to the west, "But if you go there, you'll die. The naga are driving people ahead of them in a slaughter."
Smoke was already billowing from fires in a number of places, both in that direction and back towards the docks.
He looked off to the northwest, "Your best hope is to try and reach the garrison. That's the only place that's likely to hold out long enough for reinforcements to come from the capital."
____
“I’ll head northwest to the garrison then. I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life and it’s time to finally do something good. Again, thanks for your help. If you happen to see Aya, tell her I’m sorry and to get somewhere safe.” Kimi smiled faintly before just nodding towards the male, turning towards the northwest.
“I’m Kimi by the way! Maybe we’ll see each other again.” Turning around, Kimi took off like a shot, heading towards the garrison.
____
The boy simply watched as Kimi took off, frowning at her parting words.
As Kimi ran, she'd find that the streets were filled with scattered bodies, most of them cut down as they attempted to flee. They became less dense as she got further away from the square. In places, doors to homes had been smashed in and evidently ransacked. Entire neighborhoods were in flames.
On her way to the garrison, she would encounter multiple bands of naga moving through the streets, each numbering over a dozen. Each seemed to be led by one naga in more elaborate armour, whilst a second naga with their scales covered in intricate painted patterns accompanied the leader at all times.
She would need to make a decision as to how to approach these encounters - whether to engage them, or to try and sneak around. In some cases, these bands were in the process of breaking into homes and slaughtering those inside, whilst in others they were pursuing police, ministry guard, and armed civilians who were in a tactical retreat.
____
As she ran, Kimi frowned, noting all the dead bodies. She paused to check a few of them, but it was obvious that she was too late. Frowning, she kept moving and shifted her gaze from doorway to doorway, her chest aching at how many were already slaughtered. Coming to a stop, she moved behind a house, not wanting to be seen by the Naga that were moving through the streets. It was obvious that she wasn’t going to be able to take them out, but she couldn’t just stand here and let them continue to kill everyone.
“Hmm…” She muttered, wondering if she could do her words thing again.
“Naga, you want to return to the sewers. Go home now.” Like before, she apt up the persuasion, wanting them to leave before any more people were slaughtered. She remained hidden behind the house, glad that they didn’t have to lay eyes on her for it to work.
____
Though some of the naga nearest Kimi seemed to react to her words when they heard them, the naga with the painted face immediately wheeled around to face them and the source of her voice, hissing something loudly in their language and gesturing with a skull-topped staff.
The naga that had halted in their attack seemed to snap out of the trance they'd slipped into. The one with the painted face pointed a hand in the general direction of Kimi's hiding place, and the entire band abandoned their assault on a house in order to instead advance towards her.
____
Shit on a stick…
Her plan didn’t work and although a few of them seemed to be under her influence, they were quickly snapped out of it. To make matters worse, they were heading her way. Shifting her gaze towards the family that was in the house about to be assaulted and hoped they’d take the clue and escape while they could. Of course there weren’t any guns or ammo around her current location, but that didn’t meant she was completely screwed. All she needed to do was stall them to allow any survivors a chance to get to a safe place.
You are an idiot…
She knelt down and grabbed a sword with her right hand and a spear with the left before taking in a deep breath. If she could get the bastard with the painted face and kill him, she might have a shot at convincing the rest to go back to the sewers. Piece of cake, right? Right. Stepping out of the shadows while remaining close to the building in case she needed to duck behind it, Kimi narrowed her eyes and exhaled slowly.
“The painted face is your enemy. You want to kill him and return to the sewers. Kill him and go home.” She spoke calmly and persuasively, watching them all closely.
____
"Your trickss will do you no good, sspirit bearer," the naga with the painted face called mockingly, "You sshould have run while you could."
The naga charged as a line, two with swords closing on Kimi with speed in an attempt to cut her down. They were followed swiftly by three spear fighters who could strike from further away, in an attempt to use overwhelming numbers to bring her down quickly.
The remaining four naga were directed back towards clearing out the houses, whilst the leader remained by the side of the one with the painted face.
____
“You do not frighten me, Naga. Return to your sewers and leave us in peace.” Kimi ignored the flight sensation and knew that fighting would be best.
As the Naga charged, she jumped up and let her foot land on the window sill of the house. Scaling up the building to the roof, she ran along it, charging towards the painted face Naga, noting that there was one standing nearby him. Leaping off the roof, she was now behind the ones that had charged her and moved towards the four that were heading towards the houses again. Cutting through them with the sword, or at least attempting to do so, she knew that she would have to move quickly in order to keep from being attacked from behind.
“I’m a fighter, not a runner!” She snarled her words out, cutting with the sword and jabbing with the spear, trying to save the people while she could.
____
The naga were well trained, and when it became clear they were being targeted, they turned to face their foe. Though Kimi was able to wound one of them, the others quickly came to its aid, striking at her in order to try and force her back.
With those that had gone after her still pursuing her, she was rapidly becoming flanked and surrounded. Though skilled, she was one girl against a full warband of soldiers under competent leadership. Their movements were well coordinated in order to use their numerical superiority to its utmost advantage.
Then, movement out of the corner of her eye. The door of the house that the naga had been breaking in swung open, and three figures ran out into the street - a man, woman and a child. Though they spared Kimi a regretful glance as they did so, they immediately turned to make a run for it down the street.
One of the naga turned towards them, but their leader raised a hand, speaking in their tongue for a few moments with a dismissive tone, and it turned its attention back to Kimi.
It seemed that they were willing to let the family escape in order to put down someone who posed an actual threat.
____
Things were not going as planned and though she did save a family, it was probably going to be at the cost of her life. Scowling, Kimi fought back as well as she could, though with the growing ranks, it was obvious that she wasn’t going to do too much damage to them. Even with her above natural abilities, she wasn’t a super hero. Thanks to her ability to override the cues that she’s overtaxing her body, Kimi was able to keep going when others would have had to stop. When the family ran out, she knew that her choice although not smart, was a good one. Hopefully other families were also escaping at this moment.
“STOP NOW!” She shouted, her voice exploding with power. She knew that her earlier attempts failed, but maybe this time she was using enough strength in her words.
Without looking, Kimi knew that she was bleeding, but the question was whether or not the wounds were severe enough to be a problem very soon. Glancing over towards a nearby house, she wondered if she could scale up it and leap behind them yet again. No, they’d be expecting that. It was times like this that she wished she could just light them on fire. Either way, if they advanced again, she would keep on fighting them, distracting them to let others get free.
____
This time, the naga stopped. For a few moments, their attack ceased and they stared in confusion ahead of themselves.
The street seemed deserted, aside from the family that had already fled. But whether that meant there were others still in their homes, or that all had escaped, was uncertain.
But the moment of reprieve wasn't to last. With a hiss of frustration, the naga with the painted face - again, seemingly unaffected - channeled power into its staff. Light flared at its tip, and once more the soldiers regained themselves.
That moment might have saved her life, however.
Something wreathed in lightning shot past the naga to her right towards her with immense speeds, set to slam into her and sweep her from her feet, only to carry on past the naga on the far side and break free into the open.
As she recovered from the suddenness of the arrival, it would become clear that she had been grabbed up and was being carried by the boy from earlier, his legs moving almost in a blur beneath him. His expression was set in a disgruntled scowl. The electricity wreathing his body danced across Kimi's skin - but like a static charge, it didn't burn or pain her.
"I warned you the warbands were tougher, idiot," he muttered, "Don't expect me to keep saving your life. I just happened to be heading the same way."
____
When the naga ceased in their movements, Kimi wondered if she had enough power now. Maybe now she could send them back to the sewers. Just about to say her next command, the teenager’s attention shifted towards the staff that was being held by the painted face naga. It lit up and she was once again boned as the enemy returned their attention towards her. Grasping the sword and spear tightly as she prepared for another onslaught, Kimi found herself no longer on the ground.
“The hell?!” It took her a few minutes to realize that they were moving away from the naga and that it was the boy from before. He was moving faster than she ever could and the sensation of the electricity running across her body from him was something she couldn’t quite get a grasp on. Snorting at his chiding, Kimi just shook her head and shrugged.
“I wasn’t looking for them to fight. I was heading towards the garrison and came across them breaking into homes… I had to save those people. I don’t expect you to understand and I didn’t ask you to save me, but… thank you. That bastard leader kept turning them back against me. If I could’ve killed him, I could have sent them back into the sewers.” Kimi frowned, hating that she had failed back there despite saving at least one family.
