The forest had long since gone quiet. Only the crackle of a small fire and the occasional chirp of night insects disturbed the stillness beneath the trees. A short distance from the flames, a woman with long blue hair sat beside a makeshift table fashioned from the flat-cut end of a log, its surface scattered with springs, screws, and carefully machined metal components that caught the firelight in dull silver glints.
One piece clicked into another with a soft
chk.
Yumi paused, her azure eyes narrowing as she turned the mechanism over in her hands, lightly brushing her thumb along the seam. For a moment, the faintest hint of satisfaction crossed her expression. However, her brow furrowed a bit when she tested its movement.
Better, but not quite.With a quiet exhale, she reached for a smaller spring beside the table and began disassembling the mechanism again with practiced patience. Tiny adjustments. Fractional differences in tension. Alignment. Weight. Everything needed to move smoothly, every failure point had to be accounted for before she trusted it.
Beside her, partially wrapped in dark cloth, rested the shape of a larger device. Barely visible beneath the fabric were dark lengths of metal and a silhouette too angular to be mistaken for anything ordinary.
Yumi studied it silently for a few moments before finally setting her tools aside. Carefully, she lifted the object into her lap and pressed a small recessed switch near its side.
Chk—clack-clack.The mechanism shifted immediately. Sections folded inward with smooth, practiced precision. Metal slid over metal in compact layers as the larger shape compressed itself piece by piece until it rested in her hands as a dense rectangular form not much longer than her forearm. The transformation took less than a second.
This time, the smile that crossed her face lingered a little longer. In theory, the device was complete and ready for use, but she still wasn’t quite satisfied enough to move on to the field testing stage. She wrapped the compact object tightly in cloth once more before setting it beside her within arm’s reach. After feeding one final branch into the fire, Yumi leaned her back against the stump that served as her seat back. She nestled the haft of a massive scythe diagonally across her chest, its blade angled safely away from her, but still ready at a moment's notice. Her fingers closed fondly around the leather grip as she quickly nodded off to sleep.
Above her, dark branches swayed softly against the night sky, and before long, the forest returned to silence.
Morning came cold and gray beneath the forest canopy. By the time Yumi set out toward town, her camp had already vanished without a trace. Tools and carefully wrapped metal components rested securely inside the pack on her back beside the unfinished mechanism, while her scythe remained sheathed behind her shoulder as always.
Yumi slowed suddenly, her eyes narrowing slightly as a strange rumble vibrated through the soles of her boots.
Then the ground shook.
A violent tremor tore through the forest floor beneath her boots. Birds burst from the canopy as nearby trees groaned loudly against shifting earth. Before Yumi could fully steady herself, a deafening crack split the air around her…
…and the ground gave way.
Her eyes widened as the earth directly under her feet collapsed into darkness. Dirt, stone, and roots vanished downward in an instant, dragging her with them as the forest floor caved inward around her. Wind roared upward from the depths as countless gigantic bugs began appearing amidst the debris.
Rock and shattered roots tore past Yumi in the darkness as the sinkhole widened around her, smaller tunnels and collapsing caverns merging into something vast enough to swallow entire forests whole. Wind screamed upward hard enough to whip her cloak violently around her body.
Then the hole opened wider still.
Yumi’s eyes widened slightly as the darkness below suddenly expanded into a massive central chasm. Countless streams of debris poured into it from every direction like rivers feeding a black sea. And caught up in it were the shapes of people. Small silhouettes tumbled through the void far beneath her, scattered among the falling rubble.
Without hesitation, Yumi moved. Her foot struck a falling slab of stone just long enough to redirect herself before she launched away from it at a downward angle.
She drew her scythe as she landed atop the shell of one of the massive buzzing creatures, pausing just briefly enough to catch her balance. The blade flashed and plunged into the creature’s face, causing it to take a nosedive. She kept a tight grip on the weapon as she turned it upside down and launched herself downward again, wrenching the blade free as she did so.
Again and again, she propelled off of anything she could get a foot onto, each point of contact another step in a rapid descent through the collapsing abyss, her trajectory narrowing steadily toward the falling figures below.
Actions:
1-2: Buggalo Rodeo | Grade D
[Fighting Style: Scythe] D [Fast] E [Acrobatics] E [Jumping] F
2 post cooldown
One action used to stab face, the second for movement.
3: Human Pinball | Grade E
[Fast] E [Acrobatics] E [Jumping] F
1 post cooldown
Additional movement; the idea is that, between the two movement actions, she's effectively accelerating downward to catch up to those at terminal velocity.
Cooldowns:
E - 0/1 | D - 0/2
Member
RPM
Moonberry
Tau
Scrawl Banditta
Ducksworth
Lunamaria Hawke
Not a Sayan
