8 ☽ ACTION ☾ GHOULS

[berthierite]

THE SCENE

[ In one of the back alleys of the City, dark and out of the way, an interesting sculpture has been formed. Berthier's element is not fire but ice, and the back lot that her ghoulish sisters had cornered her in has been coated with it. The three women frozen at the very center; enshrined with mouths twisted. The ice is thick and impenetrable, glittering subtly in what sunlight reaches the concealed location. ]

THE WOMAN

[ And not so far away from this icy prison, Berthier can be found bitterly fighting back her tears. The claw marks down her arms are nothing compared to her aching heart. Why her sisters? Why. ]

Comments

action;

[anatural]

[Korra limps into the alley, using her bloody shovel as a cane. Bolin's gone. Asami's gone. There's only Mako left.

She stops when she sees Berthier. It's been awhile since she's run into the other woman. She doesn't like her much, but she's wounded and obviously upset.]

Are you okay?

action;

[berthierite]

[Her back stiffens, an unfriendly reaction, but when she turns her eyes to Korra she is neither sorrowful nor hateful, her eyes are merely dark and empty.]

Only a scratch.

[byherscore]

[ Diva frowns at the sculpture, wending her away around them and tapping at the ice not caring that the girl who did this was heart broken. ]

Why? We could've played.

[ she'd been having so much fun destroying them. She hadn't been able to play like that since... what was that war called? Vietnam? It had been ever so much fun. ]

((ooc: sob, I didn't quite realize Diva was going to be so mean when I started writing up this tag, so if you want to avoid the negative CR feel free to ignore this tag!))

bertie is all negative cr, it's cool 8V

[berthierite]

[Berthier turns to stare at her coldly, impassively.]

No.

yay!

[byherscore]

[ she giggled then, shifting her focus towards Berthier ]

Why not?

Are they really so important? [ they're practically dead already. Why bother keeping them safe? ]

[berthierite]

My sisters are not toys.

[By which she means that they would be strong enough to slaughter anyone who treated them as such, but all things considered Diva is certainly tiers above.

[byherscore]

But they're so... useless. [ and if they're locked up in the ice, she can't hear them scream. Pressing her cheek against the ice, staring at Berthier she asked... ] Can't you let them free? I'll play with them.

[ and then Berthier won't have to worry at all... ]

[berthierite]

[Her eyes narrow.]

Get away from them.

[byherscore]

[ Diva laughed ]

No, they're mine.

[ hers, her prey. All she has to do is break the ice. ]

[berthierite]

[The chill in the air increases perceptibly.]

Do not touch them.

[byherscore]

[ ah, but was the cold to one who had been frozen in ice for almost five thousand years? ]

But they're already dead.

[ she tapped a finger against the ice, pointing to one of the women. ] What's her name?

[berthierite]

[Rather than answer, Berthier flings a sharp spear of ice at where Diva's finger touches her sister.]

[Hands off.]

[byherscore]

[ she dodges, sliding out of the way in a split second before it pierces her flesh. ]

That wasn't very nice. You could have hurt someone.

[ she licked at her hand, soothing away an abrasion. It still felt cold were the ice spear had grazed her skin. Berthier was starting to prove interesting. That wasn't a good thing. ]

[berthierite]

You are of no consequence to me.

[That is how it has always been. Berthier and her sisters and her clan. No one else mattered.]

[byherscore]

[ her eyes flashed a bright blue, just moments before she's moving, dashing in with a blur of movement to snag Berthier's throat. If there was one thing she hated, it was being dismissed.

If Berthier wants to counter, she'll need to be quick. If not, well... Diva's not above toying. ]

[berthierite]

[ It is not so much quickness as the ability to teleport. She is no longer there beneath Diva's hands, instead hovering above with a dark and... slightly elated expression. ]

Just another little bug.






[[ooc; I am reasonably sure Diva could rip her to shreds eventually! But Bertie will slink off to her secret lair before letting someone kill her, just to let you know! I'm not opposed to doing a few rounds of battle though!]]

[byherscore]

[ her eyes flick up immediately, her interest peaked another notch. She had picked an interesting one this time. How utterly delightful. ]

Oh, there you are.

I thought you ran away.

[ But then her eyes flick back to the ice block and then she grew thoughtful. ] Can you do the same to them?

[ Who would reach them first? Now that would be a fun game indeed.


((ooc: yes, that sounds fine! Diva can easily get distracted by everything else still going on in the city for if/when Berthier would like to run away. I'm game for everything. ))

[berthierite]

[ Berthier can't teleport all three of her sisters at once. Which forces her to instead teleport before them and act as a shield. She tries to bolster it with a wall of ice around the four of them. ]

[byherscore]

[ ah... the noble sister act. She was used to this defense and stops just short of cracking her fist against the ice. ]

So you choose them?

[ wrong answer, but then there were no right answers either. There's only the glint in her eye as she turns, using the momentum to try and crack the ice in front of her. Loyalty, dedication, concern. How she hated them, every last emotion in the book. They always got in the way. ]

[berthierite]

[ Berthier is not a inconsiderable tactician. But... not when she is emotional. Her only defense is to continue lowering the temperature. It can only go so far, however. Too low and even Berthier will find herself encased and so, eventually Diva will break through. ]

[byherscore]

[ but Diva's own breath chills and she's not as fast as she'd prefer as she finally shattered the ice around him, only to fall to her knees to catch her breath. She hated the cold, hated the darkness of a cage barely lit.

She hated with no sense of why or how come. If Berthier needed her chance to escape, it is now. Before she regathers her strength. At least she's had one small victory. ]

[berthierite]

[ Berthier's eyes narrow at her, brow furrowed, something tremulous there. It's the moment she needs to realize she is too emotional right now, and that it is a moment to retreat and gather her thoughts. ]

[ And so she does. ]

[mortemscintilla]

[ He's using the curse as it should be used. A chance for info-gathering, for testing new weaponry and refreshing old skills on zombies. It's not a sense of civic responsibility so much as the curse making him antsy. It's a little too similar to Heaven's War in stench and atmosphere. He can't stay indoors; he has itchy energies that need burning. ]

[ In street-clothes, armed with a pipe (and a set of concealed grenades), 'Li' approaches the tableau of ice sculptures. His eyes widen in pretend-alarm. ]

Um... M-Miss Birdie?

[berthierite]

What is it.

[It isn't snappish. Her element is ice: and when hurt she goes cold and impenetrable.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ He's quite intimate with cold and impenetrable. He also knows what it often conceals. His kneejerk reaction is hardly sympathy. Just a cool mental snapshot; another bit of useful info to collect. ]

[ Not that it shows on his face. ]

N-Nothing.

I was just checking if you weren't in trouble.

[berthierite]

Do I appear to be in trouble?

[That's a bit more snide and threatening.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Sigh. Bitches these days. ]

Well -- n-no. But there's no harm in checking. [ Ever the Good Samaritan. ] I understand a lot of these zombies are from Citizens' homeworlds.

[berthierite]

And who has come for you?

[Ice coooold.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ ~shiver me timbers~ ]

I'm not sure yet. [ He notes how she turns the question around on him. These women must be from her world. ] I've been avoiding going outdoors. Except for grocery runs.

[berthierite]

You don't want to see your friends, your family?

[Yeah, all the questions for you.]

[mortemscintilla]

N-Not in the state the City's made them. It feels like the Deities are insulting us and our memories of them.

[berthierite]

And it is a grave insult.

[Someone is mad :) Does it feel extra chilly right now?]