[b]Kotori Shirohane - Hall of the Slain: Floor 1 | Sunday[/b]

There was a tension in the air which only grew with every moment that passed in which none of the skeletal attackers came forth to attack. Whilst Ayano could give them some forewarning, it was still a close affair everytime one burst from the shadows and struck out against one of the party members. Luckily, no one had been hit yet - but at the same time, the very limited amount of window of opportunity to attack the enemies meant that the group hadn't made much headway either. All told, it wasn't exactly the most comfortable situation that Kotori could imagine, even as she frightfully glanced all around in the vain hope of spotting a sign of an incoming attacker.

However, having put all her focus on that task had left her oblivious to the ever-mounting whistling sound from before. It was distinct from the sound of the blades being swung through the air or an elemental wind spell - unfortunately, Kotori didn't quite manage to finish the thought when all of a sudden a bright red flame erupted before her; only narrowly missing a skeleton that was sent sprawling to the ground by the sudden strike. Heat radiated off the sudden explosion and tore her from her thoughts; leaving her to close her eyes and quickly shield her face from the imminent attack - which did indeed occur just moments later.

Strangely enough, however, none of them hit. Gingerly peeking through one eye, she saw that all around the group the ground was ablaze; the flame strikes having damaged most of the skeletons and even killed a few - but most importantly, the light scattered the conealing shadows and left their foes open for attack. That, however, wasn't what caught Kotori's attention - instead it was the even more perplexing sight to which she was drawn by a drawn-out cry. It was not human in nature - but not frightening for it either, as it was instead the cry of a hawk; circling above - and accompanied by what she immediately recognised as a persona, even if her mind was scrambling to somehow rationalise it.

[color=green]"Eh?"[/color] was her best attempt and therefore miserable failure at doing so - at least before movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention once more. A skeleton, silhouetted against the slowly-abating flames, was drawing near even without the covering darkness. Kotori quickly remembered that now was no time to be staring at inexplicable occurences or wonder about the unexpected assistance, no matter how welcome it was - instead, she called upon her own persona before directing it towards the encroaching attacker. [color=green]"Zionga,"[/color] she called - a call that was immediately answered by a roaring bolt of lightning that crashed into the skeleton which, weakened both by a previous counter-attack in the dark and the sudden bombardment, was taken down by the attack; much to Kotori's relief.

All around, the others were having similar success against their foes. With their numbers quickly dwindling, Kotori's thoughts strayed back to the strange hawk - and with the immediate confusion lifted, realising that, by the looks of it, it had somehow come to their assistance; the inferno from before having been directed at their apparently common enemy - even if it left her with more than a fair share of questions.