Morph #3: The Struggle. [Action/Video]

[xenamorph]

[As weird as it was staying in Spock's guest bedroom, they were polite enough. Still, she really didn't spend much time there.

At first, she'd spent a lot of time just flying around, but it didn't really ease the tension. Something was missing. She was having trouble sleeping. She had so many nightmares, she lost track of which ones were which, and she'd wake up in the middle of the night, screaming into her pillow.

And then she'd fly again.

It wasn't enough.

Something is missing.]

[Video]

"So, um. Can anybody show me how to program that... battledome thing? And what else do you people do to entertain yourself around here."

[She stops for a moment, staring blankly at the camera as visions of violence and blood fill her head, before she blinks and snaps out of it.]

"Uh. So, if anybody could help me out on either end, I'd appreciate it."

[Action]

[She's going to be at the battledome today, trying to figure out how to make it work. She needs to...

Something. She's looking for something. She's not sure what.]

Comments

[Action]

[xenamorphs]

[This. She had missed this. She had needed this. The part of her that had tried to deny the urge was gone, and now there was just her, the adrenaline, and the feeling of enemies crushed beneath her. The flesh of the simulated enemies was bitter, putrid, and repulsive, but it may as well have been ambrosia in her current mindset, because the sheer heady rush of power it represented was so sweet. She was savage and feral, and she shrugged off the weapons as they bit into her hide, going for the heads and necks of the enemies with her jaws and her massive limbs

She didn't realize it, but in her mind, and in thought-speak, she was laughing, a triumphant, gleeful laugh. Yes. This was who she was. This was what she was meant to be.]

[Action]

[windandrain]

[Saori darted forward, ignoring the bear and setting to work with her sword, blade flashing in the bright sunlight. Ashigaru fell, shredded and bloody, blue-black ichor spraying all over the ground even as she slipped aside.]

[Action]

[xenamorphs]

[For her part, Rachel seems to be loving this maybe a little too much. She scarcely even notices as the field begins to clear and the bodies begin to stack, still slashing and ripping with almost feral viciousness at the enemies.]

[Action]

[windandrain]

[After a while, Saori takes a step back and watches Rachel go to town. That's...not what she'd expected. The...berserk anger there.]

[Action]

[xenamorphs]

[It takes Rachel a moment to notice that she's being stared at, as her laughter dies down, and only then does she realize exactly what just happened.

She reels back from the body she's mauling- long since stopped moving, now only a body for her to vent her rage on- and quickly begins demorphing.]

[Action]

[windandrain]

[Saori just watches, hands on her hips as she waits]

[Action]

[xenamorph]

[Finally, she's finished demorphing, and she turns to face Saori a bit defiantly, as if expecting some sort of judgment.]

"So. Guess there was a reason to hide it."

[Action]

[windandrain]

[Saori shakes her head]

No, you've nothing to hide, Rachel. You're a very angry young woman, but there is no shame in that. I thought it best to let you do as you wanted. It was clear that you needed a release.

[Action]

[xenamorph]

"... Yeah. I guess."

[Needs this. She needs this. Needs violence. Needs to kill.

There's something dark inside you, Rachel.

Guess you were right, Jake.]

[Action]

[windandrain]

You guess?

[Saori gestured to the ruined corpse that she'd been mangling.

This girl...there was something seriously wrong with her.]

That doesn't seem like much of a guess. I'm certain of it.

[Action]

[xenamorph]

"It's... not something I'm proud of. Is all"

[She shifts uncomfortably.]

"Sorry. I shouldn't be complaining."

[Action]

[windandrain]

It's alright. I've been there, child.

[Saori looks at the corpses]

I've been that angry before.

[Action]

[xenamorph]

[She follows Saori's gaze toward the savaged bodies and frowns.]

"You don't seem that angry."

[Action]

[windandrain]

Outward calm is not the same thing as inner peace.

[Saori's lip curls upward into a half smile, and all around them thunder rumbles, punctuating her words.]

If I didn't keep a tight leash on myself, I'd be worse.

[Action]

[xenamorph]

[... Okay, what...?

The thunder is met by her head snapping up and looking around for the source. Was that part of the simulation?]

"... Did you do that?"

[Action]

[windandrain]

I did.

[Action]

[xenamorph]

"How did you do that?"

[Suddenly the thought of the Ellimist flashes through her mind, and she draws herself upright slightly, as if bracing herself for something unpleasant.]

[Action]

[windandrain]

Magic.

[Action]

[xenamorph]

"That's cute. Seriously, how?"

[Action]

[windandrain]

[Saori's hand rises to eye level and sparks crackle between her fingers]

You transform into animals. You're in another world, taken against your will, and given wings. You just did a training simulation against holographic undead.

[She snorts, amused]

And you question the existence of magic?

[Action]

[xenamorph]

"Well, all of these are technology. I think. I mean, morphing is just advanced alien technology, going to another world is technology, and getting wings isn't that weird if you've been turning into a bird for three years. Even this thing is just a really advanced hologram..."

[She suddenly feels a little less certain of herself.

Also a little afraid. Which, for her, typically translates as anger.]

[Action]

[windandrain]

That's somewhat outlandish, to give science all that credit.

[A whirlwind kicks up around them]

Child. Magic is very, very real.

[Action]

[xenamorph]

[Okay. Okay, what in the world is that.

She takes a step back, staring at the woman through narrowed eyes.]

"Who are you?"

[Action]

[windandrain]

[She faced the girl levelly, ignoring the narrowed eyes and spoke as plainly as she could. The attitude was not appreciated.]

I am Saori Kimura, the Daughter of Wind and Rain. Myojin of Storms. In your tongue, I am a god.

[Action]

[xenamorph]

"A..."

[...god?

The word dies before she can say it. She's encountered only two people with that kind of power in her life. She wasn't fond of either, but one of them was probably the single most terrifying thing she had ever seen or heard of. She had nightmares about Crayak. About a cage. About being trapped in the body of a rat.

And about a massive, powerful monster. A ten foot tall creature that looked like a human but had powers of destruction she could scarcely imagine. A creature of claws and strength and rage.

A creature that she had become.

There is a such thing as too much power. After that day, after everything the Ellimist told her, after everything she's seen in the past three years, she realizes this.

She thought she had escaped that, coming here. Apparently, she was wrong.

It's not often Rachel is at a loss for words, for actions, for anything. There aren't many things that can leave her gaping, speechless, clueless, terrified and frustrated with her own helplessness.

But talking to a deity, that was one of them.]