[Center][color=ed1c24][h2]Fujiwara no Mokou[/h2]
Level 6
55/60 EXP

Location: the Midnight Walk (2.4)
Wordcount: 944(+2) [/color][/Center]

Upon returning to the stagecoach, Mokou had spent a bit of time simply sitting on top of the main section, plucking the strings of her new lute as if testing the sound. She didn’t attempt to play a proper song, not yet, but one could see that old memories were stirring within her. Unfortunately her attention was eventually shifted as the convoy reached the saltwater lake, causing the phoenix to look up from her lute and let out a sigh, placing the instrument down and rising to her feet, [color=ed1c24]“I’ll take a look around myself. If I find anything I’ll head on back”[/color] she says, waving a hand at the rest of the group before she takes to the sky once more, a streak of orange following her movements as she flew ahead.

With a high vantage point, Mokou was capable of seeing much of the same as Heismay, from the yellow wreckage to the various monsters that inhabited the frozen lands. But Mokou’s eyes were drawn to the lake itself, her years of experience warning her that something lurked within the dark waters. Slowly, Mokou lands next to the edge of the lake, her hands in her pockets as she stares out at the unfrozen water. For a few moments her red eyes simply scan the still waters. It was quiet… Far too quiet for a lake of this size. Casually, she kicks her foot across the floor, knocking a series of stones into the water and disturbing the eerie calm, testing to see if anything actually took her bait.

For a few moments it seemed like nothing had happened. Mokou was so busy looking at the big picture that she didn’t notice some of the smaller details at first–had the fog always been that thick, drifting and coiling above the surface of the frigid water? As the seconds ticked by, however, with the biting cold wind in Mokou’s ears and the muffled sounds of combat a ways to the south, the dark water of the lake began to churn. Something was coming. Given the sheer scale of displaced water one could easily be forgiven for thinking that Two-Toed Tom had somehow recovered and followed the Seekers here, hellbent on seizing his hard-fought meal at last. This was no mere alligator, though. As a massive shape finally began to emerge from the deep, it became clear that this thing was much bigger, much stronger, and much, much stranger.

First, there came jagged, aquamarine scales, encrusted with barnacles. Then came a crown of gold, its odd greenish luster the product of some primeval, abyssal metallurgy. Then came the eyes, huge, bulbous, and moon-like, the color of sour milk. Then came the teeth, a maw of spiky fangs the size of spears, redundant in their quantity, like vile palisades. It was an [url=https://i.imgur.com/vDV4mMA.png]aquatic monstrosity[/url], and if its head alone stood as tall as the stagecoach itself, one could only shudder to imagine the full scope of its loathsome enormity. Though its eyes lacked pupils, Mokou could feel its baleful gaze rest upon her, and a hideous rumble issued from the beast as it exuded its Breath of the Sea. When that fathomless vapor brushed against Mokou, it not only had a good chance to inflict stress, but one Blind token and two Vulnerable tokens.

Mokou, however, simply stares back at the leviathan before her, narrowing her eyes at the monster rising from the depths to face her. When the putrid breath rolled over the lakeside, Mokou simply took to the air, a flurry of feathers forming in the air before raining down. Yet her opening volley was met by the beast’s jagged scales, each feather dispersing on contact with little effect. The milky voids that counted for its eyes simply follows Mokou’s movement… Before it inhales with a deep breath. In an instant afterwards, it regurgitates a torrent of both water and undigested fish, using it as a beam to knock the phoenix from the sky. But for Mokou, the torrent of water was a simple thing to dodge, the immortal practically sliding underneath it as another torrent of larger feathers flew towards the beast.

For a minute, the duo found a rhythm in their attacks, the leviathan attempting to knock Mokou out of the sky with its breath and water, whilst the phoenix rained fire down upon its wet, glistening scales. Yet the beast quickly grew tired of the fact that Mokou was flying far above it, and thus…

It chose to act on its rage.

As Mokou narrowly avoided yet another torrent of water, treating the fight more as a chore rather than a battle, a sudden chill went down her spine, causing her to stop for a moment. Admittedly, it was less fear and more out of curiosity, as the immortal registered what had just happened. That chill was a primal response to something, and in a way, Mokou was intrigued by what would have caused it. Her answer would be quickly found when she looked back down, noticing a gleaming light from within the leviathan’s eyes.

Before it leapt out of the water, its long arm outstretched to snatch Mokou out of the sky. Normally, the phoenix would be capable of dodging such a strike, yet in that instant, she was caught off guard, resulting in the beast easily wrapping its webbed hand around her body, leaving only her head visible as gravity took control once more, sending it falling back into the lake with its prey in hand, struggling within its grip, attempting to drown Mokou by holding her under the surface.