((sorry, got antsy and couldn't wait any longer))

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Chiyoe no Kurushime pushed her hand through the air, like a kabuki dancer mimicking the slicing blade of a sword. Her delicate pale fingers were so gracefully place, so careful in their design, that the water under her control moved with fluid ease through the air. Ah good, the caravan was safe. Nothing worse than losing all you own, or so she believed was true, since this is often when complaining farmers said to great warlords when asking them for defense or revenge. 

But other than save their supplies, the dollish oni did nothing more against the beastly creature. Why should she? Her red eyes fixed on the suspicious boy. Every story had two sides, did it not? And she didn't believe that just any beast would wish to chase after such small, meaningless prey. It didn't make much sense, after all. Why waste so much time and energy trying to capture a mouse, when you could spend your time hunting a deer? Unless, of course, said mouse happen to lead you to a herd of deer...

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at the boy in the strange helmet. A loud voice echoed in the most irritatingly condescending manner possible. She glared at the one-eyed oni who had been silent for most of the ride. [@CGinger] And she ignored his words. The human female [@Arthanus] seemed to be doing just fine, attacking blindly and whatnot. All of them seemed intent on just killing the oni beast, instead of really thinking on just why the creature had attacked a small and rather defenseless boy to begin with, what with the treaty in place.

It did not sit well with her, this entire situation. Perhaps she was no courtesan trained in war tactics, but she knew enough from listening to the adults growing up to know that it was not always wise to rush into battle without fully knowing your enemy. She glared fiercely at the boy. Or whatever tricks your enemy might pull to catch you off guard.

As the rather vulgar human [@Leodiensian] fought with the beast, he yelled back at her is the most shamelessly casual way. Calling her 'luv'! Well, of all the insufferable-! No, she'd not think on him. Why, she did care if the beast crush his weak little human bones! Chiyoe gave a haughty huff and upturned her nose at the human pirate. 

It was Firebrand [@ReaptheMusic] that ended up making the most decisive blows. He blinded the creature, but rolled away in the direction of the Caravan. Her red eyes widened and before she could shout 'you fool!' the beast lunged at [i]her[/i]! With gritted teeth, Chiyoe dropped her parasol and thrust her hands towards the supply cart, sending a thick flexible shield of water around it. It left her vulnerable, but Firebrand slammed into the creature before it could hit her.

And over the steep side they went. Assuming both were probably gravely injured, Chiyoe dropped her water shield from around the supply cart and ticked her  head to the side when she heard a groan. A groan from over the edge. Firebrand was still alive then? Impressive... And she owed him now. 

With a growl, she tugged her fine pins out from her hair, letting the long inky locks fall wildly over her shoulders. Her eyes glowed red. Pushing down one side of her kimono, she wore it much like human yakuza women did, though modestly and with far more grace. Taking off her shoes, she set her feet in the grass.

Then it started.

Water from the grass her feet touched was sucked away from the plants, her contact like a magnet that pulsed out about three feet from her body in a perfect circle. A circle of dry death about her as water hovered in orbs above her head. It grew as she moved to stand at the edge of the cliff, staring down at the beast clinging to Firebrand.

And her beautiful dollish qualities suddenly became far less enchanting. Instead they become violently enrapturing, like the haunting sight of a horror you couldn't look away from. Her beauty sharpened and intensified. The paleness of her skin was cold and hard, like that of a stone casket. The red of her eyes began glowing like that of apocalyptic magma, swallowing all human whites and becoming as glowing red as a monster from a child's nightmare. The color of her lips become vibrant too, like freshly shed blood, curving in a sharpened slash of horrific amusement. And the tendril of silken black hair, flowed much like shadows behind her, almost as if they could move of their own free will.

Raising her hands, those lovely round nails sharpened into translucent claws. The water about her head trembled and in a sudden jarring motion combined itself into one large globe of shivering liquid. Just the size of beast. [color=9e0039][b]"May you meet you end well,"[/b][/color] her musical voice sounded too animated, too light, too beautiful. It sounded like the voice of Death.

And all at once the wounded creature was swallowed by her massive orb of water. 

It was an end more found horrifying. Water forced all air in the lungs away. The frantic struggle to swim, then the jerking motion of the body as it twitched with the last energy for its fight to survive. The way the lungs slowly filled with water, flowing in forcefully through the nose and mouth. Lungs contracted, begging for air. Eyes rolled back in pain from the starvation of relief. Immense pain, contracting around a body that was resisting its own demise. And then...

Nothing. 

No life. Just a mass of still warm flesh and bone and blood sinking lifelessly to the bottom.

Chiyoe released the pathetic creature, drawing the bloody water back to swarm around her in red orbs. The female oni lowered her hands and looked down at the corpse of the creature at the bottom of the cliff. A single mournful tear escaped down her cheek, before she hastily brushed it aside.

The her gaze went to Firebrand. With a soft sigh, she raised a shaking hand to have the bloodied water lift him back to safety. And in a final sweeping circular motion, Chiyoe returned the water to its home within the plants around her. Blood turned the flora a sickly and unnatural red. Her memorial to the great beast who lost its life in the fight.

The horrific, unholy and unnatural state of her beauty softened once more. Her long black hair fluttered down to fall over her back and shoulders in a far more natural way. Her pale claws receded into crescent moon nails as she fit her kimono back on the proper way. Her skin flushed with the soft human-like rose tint of life and her lips too returned to a more gentle and sensual color.

Her eyes, which stayed on Firebrand, were the last to return to their normal, almost human-like state. They faded back into that deep dark shade of unyielding intelligence and cynicism. Her dark lashes brushed over her cheeks as she looked down and away from the man who was stuck in between two worlds, one of human life and one of oni immortality. 

[color=9e0039]"Someone should bandage your wound,"[/color] she offered, if a bit quietly. A long pause noted her hesitation. Then a slow bloom of pink colored her cheeks and she looked up and away from the halfling, obviously irritated with her own embarrassment.[color=9e0039] "And thank you for protecting me! Thoughyoureallydidnothavetodosuchathing!"[/color] It was forcefully said, as though she couldn't bare the humiliation of a 'thank you'. And in such embarrassment, she turned on her heels and marched right back over to her shoes and hairpin, hoping the mortification would ebb if she replaced her frivolous adornments. Chiyoe felt far safer protected behind the glare of finery, where it seemed people only saw silks and crystals, but never her.
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