It Feeds On The Blood, It Feeds On The Heat

[itstillhurt]

Who: Azula and various CR
Which: Noctaere Plot Log (Closed)
Where: Various locations in Reverein, the Wastelands and Interactive Dreamscapes
What: On the night of the 21st, the heat becomes unbearable. A thunderstorm rolls over Reverein, but there's no rain- posing its own problems when lightning strikes the dry earth. The shape of a bird made of blue flame can be seen fleeing from the village, but the weather disturbances remain, as does the damage it's causing. Fires are a serious concern. The unnatural storms will last until the end of the 22nd. After that, the unnatural dry and intense thunderstorm will subside into a normal heavy rainfall.

Warnings: A lot of violence, possibly including arson and burns. Also some examination of a backstory including abuse, neglect, war crimes, and themes of genocide.

Comments

[toph_luck]

[ Honestly she's lucky the fire bird doesn't go straight for burning HER instead. The blast of heat from beside her catches her off guard- ]

What the!?

[ She can't feel anyone, but she can hear those wings beating along with the gust of wind, fire blasting down from one direction and starting to scorch her feet. It gives her a direction and an estimate, wincing for just a moment as the heat starts to lick her feet before acting. ]

Take this bird-brain!

[ She takes several steps back, and with a lift of her arms a thick wall raises between herself and the heat, cutting off its attack hopefully before her feet are too badly hurt. Only moments later pillars start shooting up, 20, 30, 40 feet high and counting, like a disorganized row of trees dotting the road around her, a stone jungle that will catch wings and strong winds. She's serious now.

There's no aim to the pillars, so it's unlikely she'll actually hit the bird, but who knows. They're mostly as blockades to help her track where it is. ]

[itstillhurt]

[Fortunately for Toph, the Noctaere isn't nearly maneuverable enough to account for the sudden barrage of surprise attacks. It tries to dodge, but eventually, a pillar gets lucky, striking the center mass.

It's the first time Toph hears a voice from the creature, a distinctive grunt of pain as the Noctaere is struck and another as it tumbles momentarily into another rock pillar, smashing through it.

The voice is distant and distorted, but it sounds a little like Azula.]

[toph_luck]

Huh? [ It's less the sound than the shape. It feels like a bird, but not really. It doesn't have the structure of a living creature, yet she can feel those vibrations shifting through it as it collides with rock after rock.

A shape in the midde? Maybe detectable.

But that voice sounds familiar. Gratingly so... It can't be. ]

What are you!?

[ She calls out, a sweeping motion bringing the nearby rocks down on top of the crashing bird. All the advantages in the world, and it fell into her own trap.

Spin, jump, kick-. A sizable boulder's heading right for the bird with a sudden 'thunk' from her feet. ]

[itstillhurt]

[The creature continues to say nothing, aside from another distorted grunt of pain as the boulder strikes the bird, too entangled within the stone pillars to get free.

It doesn't even make a noise of frustration as it redoubles its efforts to break free of the rocky pillars surrounding it, unable to fully spread its wings. The only sound aside from the impact is the rush of firebending again as it finally resorts to a familiar technique, conjuring a massive explosion of unnaturally powerful blue flame that knocks away the pillars and washes over the surrounding area.]

[toph_luck]

[ Ugh, so unhelpful. Great! There's something weirdly familiar about it though. It's not until the swirling burst of flame explodes outwards that she realizes. Rocks shatter and break apart, the same technique Azula used in their first fight...

But so much bigger. WAY bigger.

It knocks Toph backwards even from her distance, coughing out in the smoke and temporarily losing her bearings. There's an angry grunt, and her food slams down to send a heavy stone column slamming into where the fire bird was, but it's probably too late, and there's a familiar blistering pain on her exposed skin. ]

AZULA!?

[ No confirmation, but who else could it be!? ]

[itstillhurt]

[And 'no confirmation' is exactly what she gets. There's no response to the name, only the same silence.

The Noctaere has already moved by the time the column shoots up where she was- but now it's definitely being much more cautious, staying at a distance and only throwing quick bursts of flame with its wingbeats rather than attempting another prolonged assault.]

[toph_luck]

[ Great...Some kind of weird... Azula monster. So just Azula. But this one can fly.

Her body's already aching fromt he blast, but she just grunts and powers through it, pushing herself back with a wave of rock after the first blast of flame scorches one of her legs. She cant find it!

Pushing, pushing, listening for the wingbeats in her struggle before she feels like it's safe enough to spin around and throw up a wall of stone between herself and the blasts. Then another, and another, until there's several layers of stone shielding around her.

Okay, breath. Breath Toph. Where is it... ]

[itstillhurt]

[The Noctaere goes high at first, wary of another counterattack, but Toph is clearly on the defensive. It wheels around taking another pass and breathing fire at Toph, but her stone wall blocks the flames. It tries to circle around and attack from another angle, but she's clearly able to track its movements by sound now, and every time it tries, it's met with another layer of defense, until Toph is entirely shielded by slabs of rock.

A new approach, then. It circles tighter as it begins breathing another slow, steady stream of fire at the rocks themselves, trying to heat the air around her and force her out. It stays in motion, hoping to avoid another letting her track its movements, but there's only so far it can go without disengaging.]

[toph_luck]

[ Be patient, and wait for the moment to strike. That's her style.

Easier said than done when your feet are half-burned and there's a blasted mark of fire and stone across your arm. It's fine, she's fought through worse... Probably.

When it comes to fighting Toph is nothing if not endlessly creative, something necessary for bending. By the time the bird starts trying to heat up her dome, she's gone, deeper underground and somewhere else, letting it attack an empty area.

A few moments later? A decoy figure of stone shaped like her in rock armour, not unlike the armour version of herself that she launched at Aang once emerges from the dome, dashing off in one direction away from the town. It's time to lead this destruction elsewhere. ]

[itstillhurt]

[The onslaught continues until the Noctaere sees the rocky figure fleeing from the makeshift shelter. Then it swoops toward it, breathing fire on it in an attempt to burn her inside of it.

The good news is, the ruse seems to work- it's thoroughly distracted by what it assumes is Toph wearing a protective layer of stone, and it follows away from the village, still trying to force out the girl that it thinks is inside.]

[toph_luck]

[ Not quite as smart as Azula then. Hmm... That earthbender brain sure is ticking, thinking of what to do. The decoy's directed along while Toph moves underground with it, slightly struggling with the concentration required but otherwise holding up.

A bit further from the town, she has more room to shoot out pillars, mostly guessing at where the creature is based on the impact of the blasts and the tremors of the wind.

Jeeze, what a nightmare to fight. ]

DID YOU JUST-

[itstillhurt]

[The pillars force the Noctaere upward and away from the ground, disrupting the attack on the fleeing figure, and finally, the Noctaere loses patience.

It swipes its wings, and twin arcs of blue flames shoot toward the rocky form, ready to slice through it and reveal... nothing.

It was a trick.

There's a moment where the Noctaere does nothing, simply staring at the empty rubble it cut down. And then it seems to show a rare emotion again- frustration. It begins flinging fire around the place, trying to inflict as much damage on the landscape as possible in an attempt to smoke Toph out. When that fails, it swoops around and begins to fly away toward the wildlands]

:>

[toph_luck]

[ Oh no you don't. Stone pillars launch out after the fleeing bird once the jig is up. She can't just let a monster like that escape and come back, can she? Especially if it's her.

Toph follows, popping out of the ground with a deeper, stern expression. Hmmm, this isn't good at all. She can deal with those burns and rock injuries later. ]

[itstillhurt]

[As the pillars begin erupting around it again, it suddenly whirls in the air. And then it sees her.

As soon as it spots its target, it hurls a small, glowing orb of energy directly toward her, a ball of explosive flames. It doesn't wait to see if its attack was successful before it turns and continues to flee.]

[toph_luck]

[ This is why she hates fighting flying things. It's nearly impossible to read their attacks. All she can do is hope to make contact and go from there.

There's a startled yelp, throwing up a barrier as she feels the explosion ripping towards her. It's a moment too late, softening the blow but replacing it with more flying rocks to send her hurtling off to one side, caught in a slide of earth to ease the crash.

Pff- When she stands a few seconds later the bird is gone, spitting dirt from her mouth and frowning. ]

Great... That's another thing to deal with...

[ She can't tell where it is anymore so... Hmm. Time to walk along. She'll catch up eventually. Maybe when it's calmed down. ]