TRANSCENDENCE 17

Time comes naturally to Savannah, but hours pass and the night grows heavy over the forest. She couldn't find Argoth - he was an enigma amongst the trees. She searched the normal places, but he was gone.

And before she knew it, she was lost. The darkness was something she avoided, ran from - it hinted at the awakening of beasts unknown. They were all-devouring, moralless and evil.

She had seen them herselves. A handful of the beasts had succumbed to her, but Savannah knew she had no chance against any larger than her...

So it was just her luck to be lost in the dead of night.
(Savannah)
How terrible the fate of Savannah would be upon this night.

It was clear to some Yokai; any that had lived long enough, that a particular one -- the one known as Shriek, had gone into hibernation. Some say it even slept as Alteros sunk to the depths of the sea -- the more.. Powerful Yokai haven taken to hiding for the time being.

It was passively gaining power this way, of course. Like most Yokai -- a state of hibernation allowed it to become even stronger as it emerged. Faster, bigger, more powerful; dark magic becoming even stronger.

For an unfortunate Savannah, however? She would hear the occasional scream -- not of animals, but something that was clearly more of a shriek, perhaps due to Yokai -- of lesser forms, being slain.

Then, she hears the singular voice; the Yokai being up in trees.
.
.
But, it's not like you can hear which direction telepathy comes from.

"Hello little girl."
(Shriek)
Savannah stops. There's a noise.

She grips her staff close to her heart, both arms wrapped around the gnarled piece of wood. She glances to and fro. Something is approaching. She backs up, leaning against the trunk of a tree.

And then she hears it. She takes in a sharp, shuddery breath, and then speaks.

"Who are you?"

She doesn't know where it's coming from, but she knows that yokai can be reasoned with. Sometimes.
(Savannah)
It was good that Savannah stopped -- Shriek liked things like that.

The hunt was always easier when things like this happened; prey stopping for brief moments, senses of confusion washing over them. They wouldn't be able to escape now, would they. . ?

The voice only continues to ponder; attempting to send vile messages of telepathy, due to the nature of the Yokai -- it could only be described as. . . Well, unpleasant! Perhaps it could be percieved as a minor headahce when the voice was heard?

"I am a beast.", it speaks; as though fear was not logical to the creature. After all. . .

Why should it be scared when the thing it hunted already stopped moving?
(Shriek)
Savannah knew she couldn't run. She shuddered beneath the voice's murmur. The moon had denied her on this night - it was covered by clouds, and only dim, filtered light shone through.

A single hand peeled away from the grip of her staff. Flames flickered at the tips of her fingers, lighting the general area... but there was nothing around. In her baggy clothing and with her heavy staff, Savannah simply couldn't get away, even if she used time magic...

So she had to face it.

"Then show yourself, beast."
(Savannah)
Indeed -- it would be difficult to escape from a beast who lived within the shadows -- one who could percieve and travel through them better than anyone else could. Of course, though it had been hibernating; perhaps it was more of an advantage. Maybe it was an advantage that it escaped raids that had been thwarted by arbitrators; attacks upon the swamp. . .

Maybe it was all an advantage.

Either way, the creature -- Shriek, soon begins to descend from that of the trees, the largest body of the Yokai, perhaps larger than Gaea could be described as (since she was only five feet tall, after all --). . . Slams into the ground behind her!

CRASH

"I am here.", it states; declaring its presence!
(Shriek)
Savannah lets out a startled shriek. Fear, pure and raw, shakes her to the core. She hadn't felt this in ages, forever, perhaps, and although it was invigorating, it wasn't exactly pleasant.

She whirls around to face Shriek, the flames at her fingertips still alight. Sparks fly from the movement, and the ground near her feet seems to sizzle and simmer...

She tilted her head up to face the yokai, mustering the bravest expression she could. Her heart was pounding... could he hear it? Could he smell her fear?

Was this her fate? Was it the lifestream, snapping back at her?

"W - .." She swallowed, hard. "What do you want from me?"
(Savannah)
Shriek felt somewhat.. Well as it was screamed at. It was normal, of course. It being a more powerful Yokai, usually caused others to scream, cry, many things like that -- overall? Sometimes they ended up within the stomach of the Yokai -- where they would remain until nature called for it.

Of course, they didn't really! Instead? They were consumed completely; their mana would become fuel for the creature to help further it towards a state of evolution, one that would bring forth a choice from the five elements -- the one that would suit the Yokai the best.. But, it was uncertain as to which element that Shriek would end up choosing.

"I want to see how strong you are, little girl.", it calls; staring. "You must show me your strength or risk death.", it demands -- glaring, scarlet eyes going towards the SOUL -- No. No undertale memes.

Of the girl.
(Shriek)
Savannah is quivering. It shows in her voice - it's unnaturally high, shuddering and shaking.

"I - I'm strong. I'm so strong, I'm friends... F - Friends with Argoth the Crusher! Did you hear that?!"

She moved her arms from her chest, slamming her staff down against the ground... as if it would do any use.

"Argoth the Crusher! He's my teacher, and I'm his teacher! So you b - better... back off!"

She stepped forward. She knew she wouldn't get away - it was fight or die.
(Savannah)
Shriek cared nothing for the likes of Savannah and what she had said -- if she was strong? She would have to show it to the Yokai. Shriek had not fought in ages, something that was somewhat depressive! It had been hibernating for all of these years.

"Argoth the Crusher?", it begins, a pause of sorts. Red eyes only continue to stare, as something seems to emerge from the shadows; more red eyes. If she could feel it, t wasthe pulsing of mana within the air.

Calling to others.

"Argoth the Crusher? He means nothing. Yokai do not give themselves useless titles like that," the Yokai speaks -- before occultic mana begins to surface around the body of the Yokai!

"Prey do."

Then he lurched forwards! Holy shit!
(Shriek)
Her threats meant nothing, as she had feared. Savannah scuttled backwards, but only bumped into a tree. She shrieked, and suddenly... the tree began to wither. It twisted and shuddered under her mana, until all of the water stored within its leaves and trunk began to pour out. It decayed at a rapid pace, until,

WHAM!

it hit the ground.

The water swirled around her, simmering under the heat of her fire. But there was something else. Something hidden. She moved swiftly, almost unnaturally... as if she were moving out of the flow of time.

"Y- You don't scare me!" she barked, "I'll kill you!"
(Savannah)
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There was a voice in the back of Savannah's head - something screaming at her.

You can't die. You can't die. Defy fate - defy destiny! You can do everything he thinks you can't. You can beat him, you can hurt him, you can kill him! Defy fate!

And so she did. When the world had set her up to die at this very moment, Savannah decided she wouldn't. Shriek's corruption bit at her heels but time mended her wounds and crippled the hoard of weaker yokai ambling towards her.

Her waters moved with speed and precision - they were powered by fire, and they were blazing hot. She struck and struck time and time again against the yokai's tough hide. She was precise and unrelentless, she was powerful and she was cunning.

And she wouldn't give up.

"Your strength means nothing to me," she cried, fueled by adrenaline and steam-power, "You will be but a blip in my timeline!"
(Savannah)
Perhaps that voice was Shriek's? Who knew. Either way, even with the mounds of Yokai backing up the creature; it seemed that he could not best the power of Savannah.

Steam was a bitch!

It was so unlikely, perhaps due to the Yokai not being one to fight in several decades; the fact that it couldn't beat the likes of Savannah, perhaps the Yokai it summoned were disappointed as they were used as body-blockers.

Even if it wasn't downing her, perhaps the occultism of the Yokai could be considered as potent.

"Impressive.", it speaks -- staring! "But I do not go down easily like this.", the creature states,

before lurching forth again! Holy shit!
(Shriek)
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Savannah's growing weaker. It's easy to see - she lurches instead of lunches, stumbles instead of charges. However, the steam at her fingertips still scorches - the yokai finds itself covered in burns beyond the potenty of a normal magi.

Time drags him down. It's as if the world doesn't want him to move, as if space itself is trying to keep him in place. Savannah moves with a certain slugginess as well, but it's evident she's adapted to it. She's practiced.

But the tinges of occultism are getting to her. Her entire body is searing, like a burn that wont go away. It creeps and crawls within her, making the very marrow of her bones squirm. Moving is hard, it's a struggle. There's no doubt that the yokai is a challenge for her, but Savannah won't give up!

Not yet!

Despite the pain and the very denial of movement due to time, she drags herself forward... and delivers one last powerful lash of steam before the darkness seems to reach her very heart.

It's visible on her skin, like veins of pure corruption seeping through her veins. She struggles to lurch forward even as the yokai is subdued, she struggles to keep moving - but the toxin, the opposite of life pumps through her blood.

She gags, she lurches. A shaky hand grips at the bark of a tree, and she's wheezing, struggling for air. It feels as if death itself is struggling to catch her from the vial grips of occultism, something the teenager had never been exposed to before...
(Savannah)
Shriek can feel the fact of it's body being slowed down, stopped by the force of time magic; steam magic coming to blast it; burn it, sear it. . . Dirty tricks by the girl! Shriek was only capable of tentacle slams and amazing smashes from tentacles that rarely ever happened -- it was quite. . . Disappointing to happen, all-in-all. How could she even be beaten, like this?

It didn't make sense that she could move with it easily, either -- it almost frustrated that of Shriek. Ever blast of magic -- powerful occultism booms around her, attempting to defeat her! It was almost like dropping bombs against that of the girl. . .

But he was still overpowered. Something that was terrible and terrifying on it's own.

But, even as it becomes apparent that the girl had won. . . Shriek begins to chuckle as it stands there. She seemed to be in grave pain! But Shriek does not move -- if it moved, it would surely fall. It was braely staying up!

So, it watches. Unable to move.
(Shriek)
Savannah falls. Her body is giving out. She overpowered Shriek in battle, but her tiny body was not made to handle the overwhelming corruption the yokai exuded. Her body was fighting its hardest to expel the darkness - she gagged and puked, shuddering against the cold, dewy grass of the forest floor.

Her fingers curl inwards and her whole body shakes. Grunts of effort escape her, as if she were fighting off some brute force. It was evident that if something wasn't done, the girl would die. Although she had the blood of a magi running in her veins, Shriek's darkness was too much.

Her mind was whirling. She couldn't think, she couldn't move. Everything hurt, everything pulsed, everything was dark. Fate was dragging Savannah down, closer and closer. Her struggles ceased. Her panting grew slower. She was bent down towards the ground, head dipped so close that the grass tickled her nose. Sweat coated her body and her tremors had yet to cease.

But then something happened.
(Savannah)
Her body had kicked into survival mode. There was no thought involved in the process - her soul was struggling to pin itself to the earth, and it did the best thing it knew how.

She grabbed on to time and she held it.

But she could see it now - she was so close to dying. She was leaving, leaving the defunct vehicle that was her body, leaving the poison and the hatred and the darkness of Eternia. The stars awaited, where her soul would be cleansed, where she would atone for the sins she could commit in such a short life.

She would be free -

But this was her destiny, and she had to fight it. Her soul clung as tight as it could, wrapping its entire essence around the being of time. It was a malleable thing in a metaphorical sense - if you were strong enough, you could bend the flow of time to your will... even against destiny.
(Savannah)
And so she did.

The darkness erupted out of Savannah's body in a wave, pushed out of her as it had been pushed in. She took in a sharp, shaky breath - the first breath after death. She was moving backwards, before the darkness, before the pain, before the corruption and before injury.

Her body mended and healed under the force of time's movement, and it was as if the battle had never happened. It was as if Savannah had never fallen, as if she had never broken, as if she had never been defeated.

And slowly, as she rose, she could see it all. Time was laid out before her in a beautiful spectrum, patching the grass and the trees and the skin where she had healed herself. Time was on the fallen trunk she had dismantled minutes before and time was in the sky, upon the clouds illuminated by the moon's dreary glow.

She saw it all. She knew it all. She touched it all. She had transcended.
(Savannah)
"You laugh," she hissed, "as if you have defeated me."

She moved outside of time's influence, shifting to stand before the yokai within an instant. Her hands flickered with flames burning almost as hot as the hatred in her eyes.

"But it is you!"

Her hands raised upwards and water erupted from the grass surrounding them, leaving it dead and dehydrated. The stream ripped through the air at speeds unknown, flying towards the yokai as if it were one of its own tentacles.

And then it struck it. It was strong, enough to send the giant beast ambling over. Savannah's blows had already weakened it, and she knew she was in control now. She could kill it. She could end this all.

She moved to stand before the fallen yokai's head, bending down to stare it straight in its eyes. Her hand rustled within the large pockets of her oversized coat, where a dagger is procured.

"I could cut off your head right now," she began, "I could tear off your heart and send it to the Republic for money. I could buy myself a house. I could buy clothes, a weapon."

"But I will leave you to be humiliated. I will leave you to suffer under the gaze of other yokai - you will be an embarrassment. Defeated by a fifteen year old human with stark green hair!"

She began to saw away at the yokai's horns as she spoke.

"They will never even believe it, they won't believe a thing. They'll think you're too scared to admit some noble defeat at the hands of a bounty hunter - they'll think you're crazy."

CRRK!

The horn was removed, and on to the next.

"You are a fool, they'll be right. They'll laugh and ridicule you and then devour you like you deserve to be, you wretched beast, you..."

She continued on until the next horn was gone. And then she stood, holding them like trophies.

"What do you think, beast? Tell me your thoughts before I leave you to your shame."
(Savannah)
Shriek wanted to escape -- it was possible that she could lash out if given the correct amount of time. . . But, it could not! IT was, unfortunately, fate that the Yokai found itself completely immobile -- completely unable to escape, ror so anything; incapacitation! Something that made the Yokai furious, though it could not stop it!

With the eruting blast of darkness from the grl, it was rather interesting -- it seemed as though the cabbage-haired girl had stopped t all from happening, and then teleported. . ? In front of her -- it could be said that for once, a Yokai had felt fear introduced towards it. It was just so. . . It was strange! But, the Yokai was defeated; it had to take the humilation. A code of honor, perhaps?

As the horns are sawed off, the Yokai was.. Well, it was somewhat disappointed in itself! "You will regret everything once I ascend.", the creature demands; a threat of sorts made!

Though, it was true-- they usually came back stronger than ever, ascended, and usually ended up defeating those who had wronged them in the past.

Yokai were strange.
(Shriek)
"You may ascend one day," Savannah begun, "but I have already ascended."

She took her staff and slung is over her back. A final, hard stare is given to the yokai. Savannah made a note - not all yokai are good - before she began to walk away.

"The next time you come looking for a fight... hold some humility."

Fire flickered at her fingertips. She tossed a spark towards the field of dehydrated grass that was their battlefield, letting it catch flame. If the yokai wasn't fast enough, it would perish with the rest of the grass.

"Goodbye, beast."
(Savannah)