[center][h1]-Collab Between Pezz570, Jerkchicken- [color=aec957]Jen Gibre[/color] [color=a187be]Sightless Syella[/color][/h1][/center] [hr] [hider=View Post] [color=aec957]”I guess you don’t care about changing your ‘clan’ that much as you implied.”[/color] Jen would reply. He would catch Syella straightening out her hand and wondered if that same attack was going to be used. Indeed they would as the spear shot out aiming for his chest. Jen would twirl to the side, using the motion to give momentum to a low swing at Syella’s legs hoping to trip her or at least make her stumble. He recalled their first fight and how troublesome that ability was. How wondered now they weren’t amidst a raging fire if he could have the opportunity to probe their limit. [color=a187be]”I do care.”[/color] Sightless Syella said [color=a187be]”But you made it clear that you do not.”[/color] She took the blow to her leg, causing a loud crack. She barely stumbled from the blow, but her skin had formed a crack. Black shoots sprouted from the minor wound weaving together in an attempt to heal her. Meanwhile, she let her tendrils shoot past Jen. She hadn’t intended for that blow to kill Jen. Rather she had hoped he would dodge, allowing her the chance to tangle him up. They then wrapped around backwards, threatening to encircle Jen’s body. Eyes sharp, he’d catch the motion from the corner of his eyes. Syella’s tendrils were not just limited to linear extension, but also could bend. Jen’s staff would swing at the hand projecting the tendrils. He was hoping it might cause an interruption or cause it to veer off course. He was also moving in a manner to cause Syella to be in the way of her tendrils’ path. Sightless Syella frowned. She saw the hit coming, but she could not retract her tendrils in time to get them out of the stick’s path. There was another loud crack. The force of the blow splintered the tendril that made up Sightless Syella’s pinky. The blow knocked the remaining tendrils upwards and at an angle just barely freeing Jen out of the encircling tendrils. Syella ignored the pain. In the scheme of things, he had just shattered the tip of her finger. It would grow back. The Sightless cocked her head. Was he trying to redirect the tendrils back at her? Clever, but this one apparently didn’t realize just how much control she had over the growth of her tendrils. [color=a187be][i]Just how quickly could this man duck?[/i][/color] Syella wondered. The tips of Syella’s tendrils quickly made a tight curl up and backwards. Striking at Jen’s face as quick as a snake. The strike was a success. It hit and caused some more cracking on the body much like his prior blow did. Not only that, but it also did redirect the tendrils. The problem was, Syella had much more control over them than Jen had previously imagined. It would be yet another complication to fighting Syella and maybe others like her. The other problem was that her tendrils would not be interrupted by simply having an obstacle like the user in their way. Jen saw how they wove around Syella and continued their path towards him. Jen would flop to the ground, completely avoiding the tendrils as they whizzed high above him as he lay on the floor. [color=a187be]”You play a dangerous game attacking me up close.”[/color] Sightless Syella said while retracting the tendrils connected to her right hand. [color=a187be]”Dangerous… yes… though in some ways, perhaps more effective.”[/color] Syella took a step forward while extruding her fingers, on her left hand, hoping to impale him in the stomach. Jen would keep a still face, although he was pleased by her response. She had gotten closer to him although there was still some space. He’d roll over to the side, then use his hands to push himself off the ground. In doing so, he’d deliver a kick aimed upwards at Syella and also prop himself to his feet. Again, Syella took the hit. His foot connected with her crotch. Syella grunted, acknowledging the blow. The man had cracked her skin again. It almost seemed as if he were enhancing his blows somehow. [color=a187be]”Come now. Have some dignity. I may be Sightless but I am still a lady.”[/color] Her leftmost tendrils, having missed their target dug into the dirt. Her tendrils felt a pulsing from the ground beneath her feet. A pulsing her body attuned to. The Seed of Insight. It called to her… Syella shook her head. She had no need of the Seed’s assistance right now. Her tendrils, still underground, curled upwards, finding their way beneath Jen’s footing. She hoped to catch him off guard much like during their last encounter. By attacking him from the ground beneath his feet. The motion following everything that had happened so far had made something on his body loose. He’d pull out a pouch that was pretty full. Jen would then launch a swift kick aimed at Syella’s face as he remembered it was the salt for the seed of Insight. [color=aec957]”My Apologies.”[/color] He’d reply dryly. A flash of Insight alerted Syella of the kick. She quickly reached up with our right hand and caught his kick with her injured right hand. Her shattered finger was still regenerating, with tiny black vine-like sprouts shooting out of her wound. At the same time she extruded her remaining fingers to wrap around his ankle. She gave Jen an amused look. She preferred not taking a hit to the face. [color=a187be]”Apology accepted.”[/color] She replied as thorns emerged from the tendrils wrapped around Jen’s leg. Jen would lick his fingers, dip it into the pouch, and pat the wounded part of her hand in mock affection. [color=aec957]”It’s good to know we can mend our differences.”[/color] He was hoping the salt might sting enough to loosen up that grip, or at the very the entirety of his action be bizarre enough to cause a momentary distraction to allow him to untangle the leg or do another strike to break free. Syella’s brows furrowed with confusion at Jen’s actions. Then came the pain. She inhaled deeply, retracting her tendrils which left behind scratches due to the thorns. She removed her hand from Jen’s foot as if it were touching fire. The black shoots from her shattered finger quickly receding back into the wound, no longer able to clot her greenish-yellow Sightless blood from oozing out. Her tough skin around the wound turned slightly brown as if withering, releasing a tiny amount of brown gas with a hiss. The Sightless gave Jen a deadly glare and took a few careful steps back. Now, she definitely couldn’t let this man live. The tendrils from her left hand shot from the ground between Jen’s legs. [color=a187be]”Mind your package.”[/color] Sightless Syella growled. Jen took a breath as he learned of this reaction. The opening he had been waiting for had appeared. There was no longer a need to hold back. There was a literal lightness to his body as he leapt into the air much higher than he had done in this fight. The bag of salt was now the objective in this fight. Syella was now going to do everything to disarm him and scatter the remains. And he in turn would need to protect it and use some of it to either repel or kill her. He’d lick the salty fingers to stimulate more saliva. With that he’d adjust his grip on the staff as he landed on a wall. Quickly, he daubed the salt on that end of the bamboo rod before tucking the bag into his waist. Another leap, and he would attempt to strike Syella’s legs with the staff. There was a catch, the end being used was the non-salted side. The leap caught Syella by surprise. She had heard reports about this one’s magic and now was a clear example of its use. What had Smit determined the type of magic to be? Smell? How odd… Having missed her strike from below, Syella retracted the tendrils on that hand while creating a new set of tendrils on the other hand. She wrapped those tendrils around a not too distant tree and then retracted. The actions reeled her body towards the tree and outside the path of Jen’s attack. Jen would chase after Syella. He knew it would only be a matter of time before she’d try and disable his power. He needed to keep the pressure up! She can’t reliably deploy the blockers if she’s too busy reacting. She may have evaded his sweep, but he was sure to hit her with the next move. The man would move faster than she was; his gait was covering a lot of ground with a series of smaller bounds. Jen would make use of his staff as a barrier. He would be trying to clothesline her with his staff. Then if it worked, he’d start his next attack, which would consist of grabbing her and executing a german suplex. Syella retracted her tendrils. This one did not relent but his next attack would require commitment. She would trade a blow for a blow. As she was lifted backwards into the air, she extended her legs. Wrapping them around Jen’s legs like vines. As her body hit the ground, Syella kicked forward. Tossing Jen, by the legs, past her. Jen didn’t do anything against the vines. It was both too late to really do anything and he was committed to slamming her to the ground like this. Instead he would focus on properly falling so that he might negate most of the impact and recover faster. It was a clever move, doing that to create some space for her. He also knew she could attack from beneath so being on the ground was already not a favorable position. He’d spring to his feet relatively quickly as if his body was made of rubber. The impact against the ground lead to a few more cracks along Syella’s back. Tiny vines immediately sprouted from the cracks, slowly mending her bark-like skin back together. Syella quickly rose back to her feet and swirled to face Jen. She couldn’t be so careless about her wounds this time. Not now that he knew of this weakness. Distance. She needed to keep her distance. Syella leaned back and extruded her legs, launching Syella into the air and away from Jen. She then launched a new set of sharpened tendrils at Jen with her left hand. With her right hand, she launched a set of tendrils elsewhere, wrapping them around a barrel on the ground. Jen was surprised at Syella’s retreat. He expected to go for an attack once he hit the ground. However, given he had discovered her weakness, it was also a good choice for her to avoid getting another hit by him. Given that the salt too also had a deleterious effect on her too. He wondered if she might be considering a retreat. It was an odd citation as he knew he was a threat with this discovery on top of intentions to get to that seed. However the longer they fought, the more she ran the risk of getting exposed to more salt. He would cautiously pursue her as got closer and braced to dodge that barrel. Syella swung the barrel at Jen like a club, anticipating his dodge. Meanwhile the sharpened tendrils in her free hand shot towards Jen, hoping to catch him off guard as he dodged. Syella was using the barrel as a weapon, just like expected. But where was her other hand? He knew she didn’t need to use both arms to lift such a large object. It then occurred to him what was happening. Shit! He’d think to himself. Jen needed to act faster now. Jen would watch that barrel racing towards. He took breaths in as he empowered his staff and hoped it was enough to keep it from breaking as he swung it sideways into the barrel. That sideways momentum would be used to curve the swing upward as he tried to swerve to the side. The barrel itself was less a concern and more those claws. He was hoping the salt encrusted end would connect with one of the arms and if not to at least throw off the initial claw lunge. Jen’s blow cracked Syella’s hardened skin. While the blow mostly damaged the tendrils, some of the salt, encrusted on the staff, did make contact with the wound. Pain shot through her tendrils. Like several tiny needles prickling her. The damage wasn’t as significant as before, but specks of brown did litter parts of her wounds. The sudden pain made Sightless Syella instinctively retract her tendrils. Syella cursed. It had been a long time since she felt pain like this. Her other set of tendrils, however, continued onward. Having released the broken barrel and having a kill in sight, she sharpened the ends of her tendrils and launched them at- A roar ripped through the air as a nearby building exploded into flames. The light from the fire illuminating Jen and blinding the Insight. Syella distanced herself from the light. She was no longer able to make out Jen, and that was dangerous. Instead, she wrapped her tendrils around Malkev’s unconscious body and raised him cautiously as a human shield. The Insight called to Syella. The last portcullis had just been opened. [color=a187be]”It seems… I have run out of time.”[/color] Sightless Syella said regretfully. [color=a187be]”Your friends have succeeded in their mission. All that remains is the unbarring the gate. “However, before I go I would like to leave you with one last proposal. Your companion in exchange for the girl. The one you mentioned who has been touched by the Insight.”[/color] So it seemed he hadn’t exhausted his options to “negotiate” with the Sightless? Nothing good would be coming out of this outside of convenience and a more plausible method of rescuing his target. Syella was tricky to fight, and the only reason this fight didn’t end badly and in her favor was the flame saving his ass. There was no way he was going toe to toe against more than one. He needed to get stronger for that. Issue was time, the longer he took the more corruption she’d be exposed to. Also, no way he was doing this alone. These sightless were only going to get tougher to fight the higher rank they were presumably. As cathartic as it would be to brute force through it, fighting smarter would be the key here. [color=aec957]“It will be done. Where do you want to drop him off? Also, if you could gently drop the old man please.”[/color] Jen would say to Syella. Syella raised her brow. She had expected more resistance. [color=a187be]”At a place and time of our choosing. But when we call upon you, be sure that he comes alone.”[/color] The Sightless dropped Malkev to the ground. [color=a187be]”Until we meet again…”[/color] With that, the Sightless took off. It wasn’t much longer before a roar of cheering emerged from the direction of the Eastern Gate. Word spreading of the final portcullis having been opened, and a cry to action to fight off the remaining wall guard and to unbar the gate. [color=aec957]“Of course.”[/color] Jen would reply to her instructions. Right, all he had to do is wait for some signal from and then drag Chres off. The Sightless would run and drop Malkev. In the distance he heard cheering, he needed to hurry. He would pick up Malkev and carry him to the crowd before running off. [/hider]