[center][h1][color=tomato]Wukong[/color][/h1] [i][h3]-Carmine Hall- "I WAS WRONG! IT HIT THE FIRE, NOT THE FAN!!!"[/h3][/i][/center] Time seemed to slow down to a crawl before her eyes, almost stopping as events played out around her in near stop-motion as perception and mind raced faster and faster. The sheer pain of being cooked alive in the deepening flames she'd been sent flying into, the body of the bony monstrosity she'd tried to hurt prior crushing down on her chest, her respiratory system convulsing terribly as the smoke flowed in and the blood-curdling screams of raw pain and terror came out of her mouth, and even the searing stones and broken fragments cutting into and burning her back was all simply unimaginable. Unimaginable to live through this far at the very least. Any less luck on her end, or the lack of her grimoire's activation, and she'd have been outright dead and left as food or worse. This all frankly was going on as her staff was already, since the beast had pounced on her and she'd reflexively raised that staff, pushing as hard as possible back against the beast's body in a rather desperate and reflexive reaction to try to keep its away from her head. Her hands likewise gripped the staff as tightly as possible, the one thing seemingly keeping its maw away from herself for all she knew. Yet to ever say this whole situation was foreign to her was something of a lie if she had to be honest...because this sort of thing was not something she thought she'd ever feel [b]again[/b]. She still saw it all in her nightmares now and then. Just as vivid as is she was still there those many years ago. She could virtually feel the contrast of the piercing, deep cold of that day as it had crept into her very bones like specter. She could hear the crunching of the dense northern forest debris underneath her feet with each hurried and panicked step. She could remember the feeling of the tremendous foot of that [i]beast[/i] crushing down on her chest, and feel the claws starting to gently sink into her flesh as it didn't even bother to go for the kill. Toying with her, even as her last real sibling tried to get the thing's attention. Hell...oh hell. She could hear the [b]crunch[/b] of Lyria's bones in its maw after it has tossed her around for fun. The images of that thing as the crimson blood dripped from its face, and as its eyes stared into her very soul, would forever stain her memories and nightmares alike. It was carved deep into her, etched in like a deep wound that would never fully fade away. Or had it ever fully healed in the first place? What had they done to deserve this? Why? [i]Why?[/i] [i][u]Why were things like this???[/u][/i] [b][u][i]WHY WERE THEY JUST WATCHING THEM DIE LIKE THIS WITHOUT BATTING AN EYE?!?![/i][/u][/b] She wanted to run, flee, be anywhere and anything else than there. Her basest instincts screamed at the top of their lungs, and her heart felt like it was racing faster than any car could comprehend. She could see the almost-darkness starting to encroach on the farthest edges of her peripheral vision. The pain began to deeper. The panic began to settle in even more. It had to stop. [color=tomato][i]'I-I...'[/i][/color] There had to be some way to make it stop. [color=tomato][i]'I...'[/i][/color] Please, anything, anyone, please make the pain stop! [color=tomato][i]'I...!'[/i][/color] [b]MAKE IT STOP!!![/b] The adrenaline surged through her body, and Wukong forced her body to eek out a melody with all of her remaining strength. It was a desperate plea for survival eeked out in reality as soon as she could force it to as soon and quickly as possible. This desperate melody, this attack cast out as her staff was pressed against the general body of this monster, was her way of screaming the words she had taken most to heart 'that' day. Yet right now, her very soul silently shouted these words out far louder than any sound vocal chords could have ever made. Louder than any siren or bell, louder than anything she could imagine on the face of the planet. [center][h3][b][i][color=tomato]'I WANT TO LIVE!!!'[/color][/i][/b][/h3][/center] She would fight to her truest and most final dying breath. She would struggle until the most bitter of ends came. She would defy death until every bit of life in her was spent. [i]Her journey was not yet over, not if she had anything to say and do about it![/i] [center] [hider=Banner Sheet] 9 | Female | G.E.M.I.N.I. | Wisdom At Journey's End Cherrywood Sage’s Staff | Quarterstaff | Physical | "Thrums With Power" (Aesthetic) Blooming Crimson Peach | Unhindered Mobility Tao | Wind | Oneness [Flight (6), Storm (4)] | Push (2), Pull (2), Restrain (4), Summon (4), Trap (0), Damage X (6) DAMAGE: D | SPEED: D | SENTINEL: D | 500 PHYSICAL: D | ARCANE: E | CHAOS: D | 228 [Bronze Beam][Damage X][Push] = 112 [Bronze Touch][Damage X][Push] = 80 [Bronze Touch][Damage X][Push] = 80 [/hider][/center] [@Izurich][@BrokenPromise][@Ponn][@FamishedPants][@SilverPaw][@ERode]