(no subject)

[bodilesswarrior.livejournal.com]

[Barbara is wandering the Plane, memorising the new constellations; it's the closest thing to a proper layout this place has, even if it keeps shifting and flickering

suddenly her head snaps up, and her eyes focus on something that isn't there; her voice is hoarse with wounded hope as she calls out]

Robin? [and then, an aching whisper] Jay?

[she's heard his voice here – cocky laughter, angry muttering, passionate ranting – just as she's heard her first parents, and Flo, and Marcy and James and Mom; she'd written that off as too little sleep and the Plane's machinations, but he looks so real, darting between the stars]

Robin!

[a flash of a smirk over his shoulder, and he's running into the shadows; Barbara gives chase, pushing as hard and quick as she can, certain her hands will suffer for it and not caring at all]

Bet you can't catch me, Batgirl!

[she remembers that cheerful taunt so well, and it makes her heart pound and her eyes burn, and please, please let her catch him before he's lost again –

and then he disappears, and something – something that smells of blood and decay – sinks its teeth in her leg and rips her from her chair]

What the hell -

[she managed to grab her Escrima sticks before they fell, and now she's beating at the thing to little avail as it chews on her legs]

Weak spot, where's the –

[where's Robin, and she has the sick, sinking feeling he was never there]

Comments

[collector]

[Braxiatel's voice is sharp, cold, and solid, a voice to cut through battlefields and illusions.]

Barbara.

[He shoots at the creature with his staser and won't stop firing until it stops moving.]

[bodilesswarrior.livejournal.com]

[his voice tears her from the confused grief blurring her vision, at least, and she turns strategically, giving him the clearest shots she can; she deftly flips round as the creature drops her, landing in a brief hand stand before her bloody legs fall limply to the ground

she turns her head up, smiling ruefully through drying tears] Thanks, Brax. It...caught me off... [closes her eyes, for a moment; when she speaks again there's rage in her voice, at the creature and herself] It lured me, that's what it did. And I fell for it.

[collector]

[Braxiatel is quickly at her side, one eye still on the corpse] A telepathic lure isn't a too-uncommon technique. Nor a particularly nice one. But it fits the pattern.

[bodilesswarrior.livejournal.com]

[rather bitterly] Of messing with our minds, you mean? [she's a bit breathless, but remarkably casual for someone who was almost eaten by a giant plant monster; her legs sport several deep gouges, but of course she doesn't feel them] We'll need to warn people.

[collector]

Exactly that. It seems to be a running theme.

[Braxiatel finally puts away his staser, but he'll be quick to draw it if he must.] We'll need to get your injuries cleaned up first. Creatures of that nature rarely brush their teeth.

[bodilesswarrior.livejournal.com]

Maybe the Machine feeds on our misery.

[she looks about to argue, but instead reluctantly nods] Wish I had one of my first aid kits on me when all this happened.

[begins to drag herself towards her chair, shifting as much as she can so she doesn't scrape the wounds over the Plane floor too much]

[collector]

I'd not be surprised.

[Braxiatel isn't sure if he should offer to help her or not - his old-fashioned manners drive him to offer help, particularly to ladies, but then perhaps Barbara doesn't want his assistance, and he knows that the automatic actions he has trained himself for to mimic humanity are somewhat out of style and thus occasionally offensive to changing values - and so he fails to do anything at all.] I wish I'd brought some of my own healing supplies. But there should be linen in the bathhouse.

[unto-death.livejournal.com]

[Botta is still carefully exploring his new surroundings, still vaguely hoping to find either a way out, or something that will wake him up from this bizarre nightmare.

Oh, look, there's a woman getting attacked over there by some kind of monster. He knows what to do about that, and drawing his huge sword, he hacks at the thing, splattering gore and decaying flesh about.]

Get away while you can, miss!

[bodilesswarrior.livejournal.com]

[well, that's certainly enough to make the creature drop her, and she twists both so that she catches herself on her hands and give her rescuer more room to swing that sword]

Not my style, sorry!

[crawls swiftly over to her chair, grabbing a batarang from its storage under the seat before turning back]

Get back, this will explode on impact!

[unto-death.livejournal.com]

Understood!

[Apparently she's not a civilian after all, and he retreats as instructed, keeping an eye out in case whatever explosive she has doesn't kill the thing after all, or more monsters decide to attack. He gathers mana around himself, ready to cast on the thing.]

Pillars of Earth, obey my call...

[bodilesswarrior.livejournal.com]

[Barbara's throw is expert, hitting her target with deadly accuracy despite the darkness - right into the creature's torn, bleeding mouth

the small explosion rocks the creature violently, wreaking havoc on its insides, but it doesn't burn, and it still moves, sluggish and weak]

[unto-death.livejournal.com]

[And seeing that, he allows the held spell to resolve.] Grave!

[Three huge spears of rock jut out of the surface below the creature's remains, stabbing through and crushing the body into a mass, before the mana fades and the rocks crumble away.

Not seeing any other attackers nearby, he turns his attention to the woman and kneels beside her.] Are you all right?

[bodilesswarrior.livejournal.com]

[she doesn't bother reaching for another, just resting against the chair and watching him work; when he kneels down, she grins weakly] Nice attack. I'm...

[finally gazes down, looking at her legs properly; they're strewn with ragged gouges, some deeper than others]

I've had worse. Didn't hit an artery, at least. [looks up again, smile returning] Thanks for the save.

[buckingbronco.livejournal.com]

[Dino prides himself on being something of a gentleman when he can, and he is not going to let anyone fall pray to the monsters here if he can help it.]

Hold still. [That's the only slight wanting he gives before he touches the shoulder of the firey horse (http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u65/Plantress/RP%20Stuff/skudelia.png) standing next to him.]
Brush that thing off, Skudelia.

[Skudelia charges forward, pivoting at the last second so it can lash out at the creature with a kick, catching it in the side and sending it flying a good distance.]

[bodilesswarrior.livejournal.com]

[Barbara immediately freezes, and doesn't even flinch when the horse kicks the plant off her; she falls backwards, twisting to catch herself on her hands, remembering a time when she could throw herself onto her feet and effortlessly join the fray]

...Good horse.

[the plant begins to advance again, battered but not burned; Barbara drags herself back, towards her chair]

[buckingbronco.livejournal.com]

Charge!
[The horse takes off and charges the monster again as Dino puts a hand to his whip before glancing over at Barbara]
You doing all right over there?
[He's still keeping half an eye on the battle. Skudelia isn't doing as much damage as he should be doing to that thing...normally flames should be eating away at it already.]

[bodilesswarrior.livejournal.com]

[Barbara's been keeping an eye on the battle, too, as she slides herself backwards, and glances up at the question]

Sure. [nods at the plant...monster...thing] I think it's resistant to fire.

[buckingbronco.livejournal.com]

[Dino frowns] Fine, let's try something else. [He whistles sharply and the horse springs back as Dino pulls out a gun, grateful that he makes habit of caring one. He quickly opens fire at the monster...and every shot he fires misses it, only angering it more. After six or seven shots he stops] Tch, that didn't work...

[bodilesswarrior.livejournal.com]

[it's really just rude to laugh at the man who saved your life, so Barbara does her best to suppress it to a faint smirk] Give it here.

[le-traitre.livejournal.com]

{Without any warning, words in Latin appear on the creature shortly before it explodes--rather messily. But the man casting the spell soon walks over, kneeling slightly and offering his hands to help her up}

Madame.

[bodilesswarrior.livejournal.com]

[Barbara is thrown back, but flips in the air so that she lands on her hands; she turns her head up, apparently unperturbed by the gore covering her] Thanks. Um - could you just roll my chair over? [she nods towards it, several feet away]

[le-traitre.livejournal.com]

Of course.

{And he does, bringing it over to her silently. He pauses before asking} Madame, you saw something, did you not?

[bodilesswarrior.livejournal.com]

Thanks. [she pulls herself into the chair, twisting gingerly into position; she really has done this entirely too often]

...I did. [stares down at her hands, curled again around her Escrima sticks] I chased him here. Some kind of - psychic lure, I think.

[le-traitre.livejournal.com]

I see. I had imagined something like that since I was...similarly drawn to it.

{It similarly exploded. He watches her coolly, not without caution, since he's not sure how she'll react to him since their first meeting. Meeting new people via killing people is not exactly a good icebreaker.} Are you injured at all?

[bodilesswarrior.livejournal.com]

[looks up, sympathetic despite her own attempt at a certain distance] Horrible, isn't it?

[nods to her torn, battered legs] Nothing some soap and bandages won't take care of, I think.