☁️ (bigsword) wrote in valloic, @ 2022-10-10 09:31:00 |
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Entry tags: | !: action/thread/log, angel sanctuary: katou yue, ₴ inactive: cloud strife |
Katou didn’t especially care for hard work. If someone else could do something, well, Katou was more than happy to let them. He would much rather laze about, smoking a cigarette or a joint, and watch other people work.
Probably the only thing Katou liked more than relaxing and watching other people sweat was violence. And, luckily, Vallo was never short on excuses for violence. Katou might not have had Shiranui, but he did have his cross rod, and that, he’d thought, would have been enough for something like this. It absorbed the power of everything it killed, which, theoretically, probably should’ve made Katou strong enough to take out just about anything else.
The problem was that it also absorbed the negative energies of everything it killed. Katou was generally pretty good at dealing with that sort of thing. Absorbing the powers of the Messiah meant that, to some lesser or greater extent, he’d also gained the power to purify himself. Usually he’d kill a few things, then maybe take a shower, get himself comfortable, and the negativity would work itself out. If he had to kill a lot of things, then he might need to take a break and actively work some power to make shit feel right again.
These fuckers seemed to be filled with negative energies, like the ghouls back in Hades, corrupted souls, and Katou could feel it sticking to his soul, like he’d gone swimming in a pool of mud or tar or something. If his soul was completely human, he might have been – well, not fine, he’d have been a rage case, all fuck the world and everyone and everything should pay for what they’ve done to me and woo hoo, indiscriminate murder but at least he wouldn’t have noticed it sticking to him. But his soul wasn’t entirely human anymore. It had enough angelic power to it that he could feel it sticking to him, and it was slowing him down and making him wish that he could just go somewhere and shower. Not that showering would’ve helped, exactly, but it would’ve made him feel better.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t realized this was going to be a fucking problem until after he’d gotten himself neck deep in this bullshit, and now it was all he could do was grit his teeth and parry the attacks of this ronin looking asshole with his cross rod, trying not to trip over any exposed roots as he was forced backward through the woods.
The sudden influx of monsters didn't bother Cloud much. If anything he welcomed the chance to spend most of his day and night fighting crap. He could, however, do without the darkness that didn't seem to want to let up. Not that he had ever given much thought to enjoying the sun or whatever but it was strange to suddenly have it gone for days on end. Unnatural. And being in the dark left him uneasy for reasons he couldn't quite put his finger on.
So he focused on the monster part. Daemons. Some who looked eerily similar to the monsters he hunted back home but that he supposed was just a quirk of Vallo.
He'd been sticking to the forest mostly and had long since given up on getting paid for any of the monsters he took down. It was the sound of a scuffle nearby that pulled him from that thought and he followed the noise to see Katou facing off against the ronin.
"Hey, asshole," Cloud called out, hoping to get the daemon's attention. It worked and the ronin spun to face him. Cloud sunk down into a ready position, Buster Sword drawn and ready. He watched as the ronin approached and waited for the ronin to make a move before he gracefully slid past, slicing his sword into the ronin's side as he did.
"Need a hand?" he asked Katou, though really it wasn't actually a question.
Katou probably shouldn’t have felt so annoyed. He should have felt relieved or something, been grateful to have the breather because he was exhausted and this was way, way too much work for him.
“No, I don’t need a –” Katou started, and then bit his lip hard enough for it to hurt. He pinched the bridge of his nose and forced himself to take a breath. Snarly wasn’t terribly odd for Katou, but even he could tell that it wasn’t warranted in this case. He could feel the negative energy roiling in the pit of his stomach. He could fight against it.
“I guess I could’ve used the breather,” he said, dropping his hand back to his side and opening his eyes. “So, good timing or whatever. That sword is ridiculous, by the way. You been carrying that thing around with you all day?”
Truthfully Cloud would have been the same as Katou. Annoyed, over relieved to see someone step in to help. Maybe that was why he had a bit of a soft spot for the kid, or as soft as spots got with Cloud.
"All day, every day," he answered and readied up again as the ronin did the same. Hell, Cloud would sleep with the damn thing if he could. He'd tried on more than one occasion.
"Stay back," he instructed as the ronin went to move on them again. Cloud rushed at it, the two swords clashing with a loud noise. Cloud dug his heels in trying to push the ronin back.
“I can handle myself,” Katou growled, because wow, was Stay Back ever condescending.
Not that Cloud was paying him any fucking attention at all, already rushining the creepy samurai guy. Katou shook his head. He needed to clear his aura, and this seemed like a good enough opportunity, so he called cheerfully, “Just keep him off me for a bit, there’s a good boy,” as if this had been his plan all along.
He closed his eyes, and took a couple steadying breaths, mentally gathering all the filth that had started coating his aura and shoving it in through the cross rod. Once he thought he had it all, he slammed the rod into the ground, releasing a powerful energy burst that shook the trees. If it happened to throw Cloud and the ronin off balance, well, it was Cloud’s own fault for butting in, and Katou, lighter both in spirit and on his feet, wouldn’t let the ronin hurt him.
There was a scowl at being referred to as good boy, because really the nerve. But it didn't distract Cloud enough to stop engaging with the ronin, making some headway at the creature. And really - this was why he preferred to work alone.
He wasn't expecting Katou's attack - hell he didn't even know Katou could do that. So he was unceremoniously slammed backwards, and away from the ronin.
Cloud recovered quickly though, using his sword to balance and get back to his feet. "How about a head's up next time!" he shouted back to Katou.
“My bad,” Katou said cheerfully, not sounding at all regretful. “But I got it from here. Thanks for the assist.”
He was lighter on his feet as he charged toward the ronin, sword raised above his head – the right angle he could cut the ronin diagonally in half from his shoulder to his hip. He saw the ronin raise it’s own sword. If he changed his trajectory, moved from left to right, he only would’ve lost momentum, and so he put on a burst of speed forward instead: if he was fast enough, he could end this before the ronin managed a hit.
He wasn’t fast enough. He’d only started his downward swipe when he felt the sword slice into his side. There was a spray of dark blood – not as much as when he was human, and it wouldn’t come as fast after the initial spray, the blood having more in common with sap than water – but Katou managed to complete his downward swipe into the ronin’s neck. Not a clean swipe all the way through, but it would’ve been fatal if it had been human or angel.
"Katou!" Cloud called out as he saw it go down. He rushed at the ronin and gave one last final push against the ronin, finishing what Katou started.
Once he was certain the ronin wouldn't attack again, Cloud moved quickly to Katou to assess the damage. Truthfully Cloud had no real idea what Katou's deal was, and it seemed most here were something other than just regular people. The weird flow of blood wasn't enough to really tip off one way or the other, just that there was blood. A lot initially. And that was the bigger concern than anything else.
"Shit… okay," he breathed out and set the sword against his back so he could grab Katou's arm and pull it over his own shoulders, bearing most of Katou's weight. "We gotta get you somewhere to fix that up," he said. Calmly. But maybe not quite as calm as usual. For all Cloud talked a big game about not giving a shit, he generally did.
It sucked.
Katou cried out when Cloud first lifted him, but he bit it back – literally in this case: he bit his bottom lip hard enough that he thought he tasted blood. Or maybe that was on account of all the internal bleeding that was no doubt going on. It was hard to say, really.
He forced a smile that looked more like an unhinged grimace. “What, this? This is just a scratch, man,” he said, but he didn’t pull away. He was, in fact, grabbing onto Cloud’s shoulder about as tightly as he could manage, given how weak he felt. His other hand wrapped around his stomach in some attempt to hold the wound closed.
Cloud's brain felt like swiss cheese most days, a bunch of shit circling around that half the time made no damn sense. Things that felt like someone else's life, or maybe his own but still felt wrong or out of place. It was a mess. Liable to fail him at the worst of times and well fuck this was one of them.
He'd shifted Katou, it was clear he was moments away from being able to hold any of his own weight, and opted to carry him instead. A glance down had Cloud's unreliable memory spiraling into flashbacks, a wince on his face as it did. Things he couldn't place and things he could. Biggs bleeding out in Shinra tower the last of it, the worst kind of deja vu.
Cloud steeled his expression. "Don't be a hero," he said curtly and started toward where he knew the nearest waypoint was. "We'll get you some help, it'll be fine," and really he wasn't sure if he was trying to convince Katou, or himself.
Katou grit his teeth, both in pain and a little in annoyance: being carried was distinctly humiliating, like he was some sort of child. There was nothing that he liked less than being a burden, and he was pretty sure that being carried out of the woods was the height of burdensome. But he was pretty sure trying to fight Cloud over it and ending up face down in the dirt for his troubles was the worst option, so he kept his protestations to an annoyed huff was he dropped his head against Cloud’s shoulder.
“Please, you met me?” Katou asked. “There ain’t no one who’d mistake me for a hero. More of a violent bush than anything. Like Audrey 2. You ever see Little Shop of Horrors?” Maybe he was babbling, but babbling seemed better than the alternative. “I’ll kick your ass if you drop me, by the way.”
Cloud wouldn't have been much better than Katou with the whole "being carried off" thing, but as it was he was the one carrying so it was whatever at the moment. The constant rambling though, well that was distracting. And probably not good for Katou. "No, I haven't seen it." The amount of movies Cloud had seen in his life, or at least that he remembered seeing, was something he could count on one hand really.
The waypoint came into view and Cloud glanced down at Katou. "You should stop talking now." It was a waste of energy. Especially when one was bleeding out.
He gently shifted Katou in his grip and walked through the waypoint. It would be okay, help would be on the other side and it was all going to be okay.