ON DRIFTING CLOUDS (Daryu)

[Zaph]

The day had been a long and an essentially unsuccessful one. Zaph had spent its majority practicing for a concert he was to put on in some grand hall near the eastern side of the Castle Town the next day, but had gladly given up when he realized he no longer needed to practice. He had impatiently paced the city's streets, hoping to find something enlightening, entertaining, interesting, or otherwise engaging to the young asshole's twisted mind. Finding nothing, however, he gave up the search, and as customary, retreated to the bar for the evening. Perhaps, Zaph thought, he could put on a small show there. They did love him.

And he did love them. Or, more specifically, the drinks they had. He indeed hated most people, so thinking that he might have harbored some feelings for any of them in a positive way would be too highly inaccurate. He would drink, he would play, he would sleep, and if he were lucky, with a woman. That is how his nights usually ended: in the bed of some cheap inn with some cheap whore, or when he was lucky, with some expensive whore. When he was even luckier, with not-a-whore. That happened too infrequently to be considered.

The young man stepped through the door and shut it quietly behind him. The bar was full of merry laughter, which Zaph almost detested in all honesty. People were too ignorant, blissfully ignorant, which he concluded was why they could laugh with such ease. Far too cynical for his own good, and Zaph knew that, embraced that, accepted that. Indeed, his life was a sad one, but it was his, and he too embraced that.

Stepping towards the bar, Zaph took a seat on the stool and rapped his fingers against the wood before him. The bartender, having known Zaph for some time, treated him to his usual order, and no words were spoken. The tender nodded at Zaph, and the young man nodded back. Taking a sip of his drink, he looked around the room at all of the people he hated. He glanced almost individually at each one, mentally listing the reasons they weren't worth his time.

Zaph sighed. He finished his drink too quickly for his own good, and tapped twice, ordering another one. The bartender was used to it, and with a chuckle, prepped another drink and slid it Zaph's way. Resting his head uncomfortably on his fist, Zaph started to drink. He was miserable. He knew he was miserable. Like everything else, he embraced it. His misery had become his companion when he had no other to distract him. Usually, the distractions were woman and drinks, but the drinks became ineffective, and the women became routine.

After his fourth glass, Zaph's cheeks were beginning to redden. He looked over at the piano, the only thing that gave the man comfort. He was dying, and he knew that. He was weak, and he knew that. He was getting drunk, and he especially knew that. But above all, Zaph knew he wanted to play the piano. He finished a fifth drink, tried to stand, and became slightly dizzy. Sighing again, Zaph sat back down and rested irritably on the bar.

Hopefully no one recognized him. He did truly hate his fans, and they were far too many for his tastes.

[Daryu]

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOI! FREE DRINKS FOR ANY BROTHAH WHO CAN BRING DOWN MAH ARM!"

That would probably not agree with Zaph's ears.

A wooden sandal-wearing foot kicked open the door to the bar, which thankfully had actually already been opened at the latch, so the one who did the kicking wouldn't need to pay for a new door. In the door way stood a woman, a tall woman, wearing an outfit of red, white, and blue. From her head extended long orange hair, and a single red horn. That certainly stood out. She had a wide grin on her face and in a headlock under her arm was a random man off the street, who she had just recently beaten at arm wrestling and now owed her a drink. She herself was buzzed, of course, and as she dragged the man up to the bar, she slammed down a gourd on the table she had taken from her waist.

"Filler ahp, 'e's buyin'!" she spoke while maintaining her grin, holding the man's head up to the bar and finally letting him go. The man stumbled for a moment, but eventually gained his footing as he pulled out a couple red rupees and tossed them on the table. He did owe her a full gourd of a good drink, after all. The barkeeper blinked for a moment before taking the gourd and proceeding to fill it up.

"I didn't expect you to be so strong, miss...I didn't catch your name."

"Daryu's tha name, wrestlin's mah game! Barkeep! Where's tha strongest table 'ere?" she spoke in a loud voice as she slapped the bar once. The barkeeper was still filling the gourd, but he gave a nod towards a table near the window. She followed the direction of his nod to said table and was about to head off when she saw someone at the bar who just...well, irked something inside her. Daryu was a believer of 'drink and be merry', and there was a man at the bar who did exactly not that. He was drunk, for sure, but he wasn't merry. He looked downright miserable. That wouldn't do. That's a waste of drink and of a man's time!

"You theah, dark 'n gloomeh! Quit wastin' drinks! Gotta be merry when ya drink!" Daryu wasted no time in giving the guy a "light" slap on the side of the head and more or less calling him out for all to see. She really didn't care who he was, who he thought he was, why he was there, or how much of other's people business he didn't mind. He was the gloomy one in the otherwise joyous atmosphere, and that just wrecked it for her. One gloomy person ruined drinks, and despair was contagious.

"C'mon, ahp an' addem! Ya wastin' tha good feelins!"

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[Zaph]

Zaph shut his eyes and moaned, in complete disbelief that someone could handle their drinks with such little class. He typically hated those rambunctious, classless drunks with no mind, manner, or sophistication. Rubbing his temples, Zaph tried not to listen to the parade that was already ensuing in the bar. She was wild, that much was certain, and she was also wasted; far beyond, he assumed, his own current level. It almost made him ashamed to be drinking, for fear that he himself may turn into that some day. He knew he wouldn't. Or he wanted to know he wouldn't.

He never had, naturally. The closest thing that brought him to that point was... well, more than just alcohol. Zaph smiling or being happy at anything was a rarity, and it always was. More often than that, he was cynical, pessimistic, rude, and condescending. He almost wished to turn around and shout loud and rude things at this fool that was putting on a show.

Still attempting to drown out the noise, Zaph rapped again at the bar and downed his sixth, seventh, eighth drink. He'd lost count, and the atmosphere of the bar wasn't making his already miserable evening any better. More than anything at this point, Zaph hoped that this careless brute didn't address him. The last thing that needed to happen was for him to rage out and lash at her in his Heartless form, which, given her demeanor, was the most likely course of action if she persisted in either her attitude or manner, or made the mistake of...

Ah, and too late it was; Zaph buried his head in his hands and sighed heavily as he was addressed. He knew he was being addressed. It was usually the same adjectives that accompanied a calling that alerted him that he was wanted. When the slap came, Zaph acted essentially unimpressed, but it did hurt. He was ready to lash out. She was a brute, only slightly shorter than he himself was, but he couldn't take her in a fight. That much he knew. Slowly swinging around in the chair, he leaned back, and stared at her with a cold and vicious glare. "You've got to be kidding me." He said, again unimpressed. "So, what, you think you're going to come in here and parade happiness and joy to make the less-than-happy bar patrons feel better about themselves?"

Too confident, Zaph rose, meeting and passing her height by a mere one inch. He was leaner than she, less intimidating than she. In fact, in terms of intimidation, Zaph quickly realized he was intimidated by her attractiveness, though no look or expression on his face let her know that. He was staring at her coldly, almost eye-level. "It's people like you with no class that make me even more miserable. I mean, hell, life sucks badly enough WITHOUT your type. If I wanted to make the world a LESS miserable place, I'd start by getting rid of people like you. Get the hell out."

At that point in his tirade, in truth, Zaph was testing her. There would be no way for her to know that, and he was certain that he would at the very least upset her happy attitude. When the young man was honest with himself, he had to say that life was truthfully more interesting with her type around. He certainly didn't hate life, but was far too sarcastic for his own good, and most people often thought otherwise, often thought he was always miserable.

Perhaps he was, perhaps he wasn't. But Zaph was determined to crack this woman, unless she cracked his skull first.

[Daryu]

Oh? Little guy wanted a fight? Daryu maintained her ground as the guy stood up and decided to complain. It wouldn't be the first, and definitely not the last time someone would call her 'classless'. Her joyous attitude tended to get that reaction from the types who went to bars to drown their misery in beer. She also tended to slap those types silly until they got over it, and generally it worked. This guy would be just another day's challenge for her, and may be he'd make it interesting. May be he'd just whine about it when he got his butt tossed to the curb and leave. She didn't know how it end, and right now the ending didn't matter. All that mattered was right now.

"Ah realleh now? Ya wan' me out, da ya?" as she question him, her mouth grew into a vicious grin, showing some sharp canines. She never knew why her teeth were like that, they just were. It helped when she got excited about something though to give her a mean look, but funny enough, they never seemed intimidating when she was in a good mood. With said grin on her face, her left arm moved to grab the man between the legs, and her right to grab him by the shoulder. She had done this maneuver a million times before, so her body knew what to do instinctively.

"Pansees fahst!" Daryu shouted as she put her whole being into a single throw, many of the patrons at the bar ducking in advance as she flung the thin, whiny man out through the still open door of the bar, and into the streets. The barkeeper was actually grateful she moved the conflict outside, and handed her a filled gourd as per her request. With a thumbs up to him, and her gourd in hand, she walked out, her wooden sandals clogging lightly against the floor of the bar, before wood met cobblestone as she stepped outside.

It was night out, so only a few street lanterns and the light of the moon illuminated the street. The current hylian woman took a swing from her gourd before putting it back at her waist, looking at the man she had just tossed. Loud cracks came from her neck and shoulders as she loosened her joints, rolling her neck and arms as she readied herself for a fight. The guy didn't like her, and she thought he needed to get over whatever complex he had, so naturally it would be a fight. Her grin hadn't changed a bit from this, and if it could, it would've widened. She loved fights like this.

"Ya wanna get ridda me, ya gonna hafta beat me! So c'mon, show me how far tha misereh gets ya!"

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[Zaph]

Before he had a chance to react in speech or action, Zaph found himself being picked up. He grunted and gasped for air as he was so easily lifted, and almost was able to grab the woman's arm, but it was just too late. She tossed him-- or threw him, rather-- with such ease, but with such force did Zaph's body fly into the door, causing the door to swing open, and he landed with a few rolls on the sidewalk outside. Coughing and gasping for air, he could hear the bar patrons clapping and laughing with joy. Maybe she was right, but if she was, Zaph would never let her know that.

He attempted to get to his knees at the very least, but the throw combined with the way he landed had caused, he was sure, a rib to crack. If not only one, two. He was pinned to the ground by his pain. His chest throbbed, but aside from that, his other limbs actually seemed in tact. The difference now, aside from his cracked ribs, was the fact that Zaph was now actually pissed. When the hylian-looking woman stepped outside, Zaph knew something wasn't right.

The horn was odd enough, and he'd considered that, but now there was superhuman strength added in. Zaph knew he was light, but he wasn't light enough to be thrown with such ease unless he was thrown by a goron, or perhaps another... monster, like himself. Contemplating this, he stared up at her with gritted teeth and a cutting gaze through bright orange eyes. He wasn't about to let himself be pushed around.

"The misery gets me further than your blind happiness. At least I'm not blissfully ignorant--" Zaph coughed, and hacked up a little blood. Not much, but enough to make him consider that he was in rough shape as it was. He knew he couldn't take this woman in this human form, for two reasons: one, she was much stronger than he, and two, his ribs were cracked in potentially more places than one. He knew he could Pacify, and try to avoid the fight, but...

...His anger got the best of him. It usually did. His eyes glowed orange, like an angry, eager flame, and he began to shake a little. A very faint, glowing, purple-black aura began to build around his frame, licking around his limbs like a cool fire. "Verbal fights are one thing, and I'm always game. But if you think throwing me out of a bar is going to go unparalleled--" He barely had time to choke out the sentence before he bent back over, doubling in pain.

He grunted and writhed around, gripping his shoulders intensely, and let out a dark, low-pitched scream. He knew what was happening, and he was going to let it. It was a scary thought, because he often didn't let himself shift into his Heartless form, and because the woman was still so interesting. He truthfully needed to know more about her, and he thought perhaps the fight he was about to initiate would give him what he wanted.

His last conscious thought was that he hoped he didn't kill her. Surely not... She was... tough... strong...

And then it happened. Zaph looked up through one-color, orange, glowing marbles for eyes, and he had taken his entire HEARTLESS FORM. He stood, the pain now not mattering, and stared speechless at the figure before him. Something new had taken over his body, his mind, his will, his soul. It was powerful, and it was angry.

Now entirely without conscious thought, Zaph was gone, and his monster form was present before the Goron. It parted its feet, lowered its torso, and kept its head level. It brought its arms behind its back, and the same black-purple fiery aura intensified around him, licking about his fingertips, and black tendrils appeared in either hand. They were long, sharp looking at the end, with thorns down the length. They were whips, crafted from the darkness that lived in his soul.

The being stared through orange marbles at its opponent, waiting for her to make a move.

[Lucite Forte]

[rs=2][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpaing,4,true][atrb=cellPadding,4,true][atrb=vAlign,top][style=width: 100px; background-color: f0f0f0; padding: 5px; border: 5px solid #625C5E; width: 100px; height: 100px; margin-top: -4px;][/style][style=width: 100px; margin-top: 10px; font-family: Terminal; font-size: 7px; text-align: justify; text-transform: uppercase;]TAGS: This, Guy, Is, Really, Damn, Scary NOTES: I kept on giggling because I can imagine him ripping off his shirt, despite it all CODED BY TSU DOLL OF LOVE STAMP[/style]

[atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=style, width: 250px; text-align: justify; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; border-left: 10px solid #625C5E;][style=font-family: Arial; margin-top: -4px; font-size: 10px;] You know, it was kind of nice always visiting the bar. Being a kid, people often treated her nicely. Maybe it was because they were all drunk, but who knows, the bar was a fun place to be for a girl like her. The bartender immediately placed a glass of milk in front of the girl, patting the head that lay down on the wood table. The bartender knew Lucite – she was the girl who always helped him out on the busy weekend carrying out the unconscious from the place with ease. The girl who always brought cookies to the bar, letting anyone simply grab as much as they wanted. The girl who always seemed to be exhausted on days like this, spending the whole day before on baking different types of cookies and perfecting her recipes. The bar didn't have milk before Lucite had come years before, but the bartender started to buy it for her as payment for her work. Steaming, homemade cookies rested next to her head, nibbling half of a macaroon she had specially baked herself. She stared at the door tiredly, waiting for someone interesting to walk in and wake her up. The rest of the day would be long and boring, for she really had nothing else in mind to do. With magic, her wish became true. A tall, buzzed woman with a highly-noticeable red horn atop her head had burst into the bar, holding a stranger in a headlock. Lucite quickly sat straight once the sound of the doors banging open was heard. The woman walked over to the bar, uttering a few, muted words, as the shocked girl had stared ahead in a frozen state. No more wishes at the bar. After a few moments of what seemed like muffled arguing, before another stranger was thrown outside of the bar. More noise. The girl tensed up even more, clutching her staff tightly. She swallowed the remains of her macaroon as she slowly turned around, revealing a dark figure with piercing glowing eyes that shone through. Black ribbons flowed around the man, chains traveling down his arm to heavy, spiked metal weights. The girl had froze in place, both fear and horror washing over her, along with a hint of curiosity. What a bad time to come here. No more wishes at the bar. [/style]

[Daryu]

Eager red eyes watched the guy as he eventually got up from the throw, and seemed to...shift. He slowly changed into something more monstrous, his form changing and his body became...different. The guy had some hidden talent, so hopefully this new form of his brought something more interesting to the table. She was getting excited; this wasn't something entirely new to her, but she knew this would be a better fight than against the kid in his normal form. Daryu could match him and do the same, but she doubted he'd give her the chance. It didn't matter; she'd work with what she had, and pass her limit anyway.

Giving her knuckles a solid cracking, she took her gourd and poured about half it's contents into her mouth, before corking it and tossing it towards the bar door. Many of the patrons were watching through the door, and one of them caught it thankfully. It would have ended badly if they hadn't.

"Watch tha' for meh! Imma wan' i' back!" she shouted before spreading her own legs apart, holding up her arms and getting into the starting stance for a goron fighting match. Of course, this was far from one, and it seemed like the kid wanted her to make the first move. She didn't mind that, she didn't mind it one bit. Daryu never was one to show restraint, so she would give her all that she had at any given moment. This didn't change with or without alcohol, and it wouldn't change now.

Generally, Daryu's own mannerisms are loud enough to where the rattling of the chains hanging from her limbs wasn't audible. In that moment before the fight began though, that was all that could be heard. The chains from her ankles lightly rattled against the cobblestone street as she adjusted her feet, the ones from her arms gently swaying as her arms moved into a ready stance. She was shifting from the goron fighting stance to one she developed for a general purpose. One leg was behind the other, one arm held in front of her as she turned her body sideways to her opponent. Her other arm was held back, close to her torso, but both of her hands were held open, her fingers bent, almost resembling claws.

And then she moved. The chain rattling intensified as she practically flew at him, but it was far from that. She launched herself at him with powerful steps, so it was just an emulation of rapid movement. The ends justified the means though, as she cleared the distance between them in a fraction of a second and in that time, her back hand had curled up into a fist. With the distance closed, she would be the one to throw the first punch, literally. Her now curled up fist was flying straight towards the man's torso, her body rotating with the punch to put as much power behind it as she could. It was far from her all, but it was still beyond that of a normal man. Or woman. It didn't matter really, gender was irrelevant.

In a fight, all that mattered was the presence of people fighting.

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[Zaph]

Suddenly, the beast spoke. Unintelligable, as it usually was, the beast made a noise that was an attempt at communication. Curious as to how exactly its opponent would react, it was conveying some message that sounded simply horrific.

The beast was stoic. It didn't shout an awful roar, and it didn't open its mouth afterward. It cocked its head, its eerie orange eyes unfazed. The move was fast, but that was all. It was fast and accurate enough to do damage, but the beast was faster. The beast could evade a direct attack, and it did just that. Without even an indication of dodging, the beast dashed diagonally up with such blinding speed that it created a cloud of dust around its feet and seemed to become invisible for the time it was moving through the air.

In the same fraction of a second, the beast seemed to suddenly reappear, hanging onto the side of the building above the door. The spike-ball weights at its feet apparently hadn't weighed it down during its movement. Such rapid movements weren't typical of the beast, but its evasions were skillful and quick indeed. It stood on the side of the building, as though defying gravity itself, and let out a roar that sounded as evil as its spoken words before.

Deciding to act, the beast held its arms out, the whips moving a bit on their own in its hands. First, the beast lashed out with its left arm, throwing its weight into the snap as it aimed for its opponent's head. Then it followed through with the same fluid motion with the right arm. The beast struck accurately and quickly, but for an opponent with such speed, the beast knew that its strikes were, at best, tests.

[Daryu]

Daryu was right, this fight would be interesting. While Daryu could imitate the running speed of a Sheikah, she didn't have true agility. She just had the strength to force her body to match it, which produced the same results most of the time by different means. This was one of those times where it didn't, as the thing showed itself to have it's own agility. She was hesitant to refer to her opponent as the kid now, because it seemed even language was beyond it now. Perhaps when this transformation happened, he got like...possessed, or turned into a mindless monster. It didn't matter much, their fight was still on just like before. Gender, and species, didn't matter to a fight so long as there were living beings fighting.

Her feet skidded a little bit on the stone street since she didn't have the enemy to end her movement against completely, but it didn't affect her stop much. However, her fist struck at open air, which was a little disappointing. The punch was fast and strong, but it didn't mean anything if it didn't connect. Still, she wouldn't falter. That just meant it would be even more fun when she won against this thing. The crimson eyes in her head turned to look at the creature clinging to the side of a building, which soon lashed out at her with both of the whip-things it had formed out of energy. They had the same aura on them that was around the thing, so odds are they had some magic damage to back them.

If it intended to hit her with them though, odds are that meant they made physical contact. That meant she could touch them, and thus, grab them. While she did lack the pure agility the thing had, and so couldn't react at the same speed as the attacks, minimizing movement could allow her to stop both of them. Her hands had automatically moved near her head after she turned to face it, as it was the natural defense of a fighter to protect their head, and so they were in the prime position to stop both attacks. The whips connected with her hands, the left one with her right hand and the right one with her left hand, and were grabbed on contact. They stung, they hurt, but it was hardly anything. It was barely even warm-up damage by her standards.

"Gonna hafta do bettah than tha'!" Daryu eagerly shouted as she tugged with all her might on both whips, intending to pull the thing off that wall and force it to come at her. Basic physics said that something, once in flight and propelled in a direction, could not be changed. She knew this from throwing many creatures, both human and not. If this thing obeyed the same physics anyone else did, and it couldn't stop from being pulled off the wall, then it would come flying right at her.

And if it did, she was ready. Should the attempt to pull it off the wall be successful and bring it within range of her, she would immediately respond with a powerful roundhouse kick to try and launch the thing down the street and deal a good amount of damage too. If not, she'd wait and see what it did.

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[Zaph]

The beast, curious, tilted its head. Its eyes blinked once, never leaving the eyes of its opponent. It wasn't accustomed to an opponent simply grabbing a hold of the whips. The beast didn't exactly have conscious thought or reasoning skills, but it was entirely aware of the fact that its weapons were not made of a tangible material. The beast deduced that the opponent must be in a considerable amount of pain by touching the whips. The beast, however, was unaffected by such a showmanship of endurance. The beast was, naturally, just getting warmed up. If that.

In the few seconds it had before the hylian-looking woman yanked it from the building, the beast remained silent and still. It didn't think because it couldn't think: it was a simple manifestation of anger, rage, hate, and interestingly, sadness. It had, in essence, multiplied Zaph's negative feelings by around ten and become a physical form of emotional distraught. Zaph himself hadn't let the beast take over in some time, but he had noticed that the negative feelings he harbored in himself were growing stronger. Zaph was worried that the beast would soon take over his hole body entirely and forever, which would mean, of course, that Zaph would essentially lose his soul and be dead forever.

Perhaps, the man had once thought, that was why he was so depressed all the time. The curse he was born with was an asset until it was a detriment.

The beast was yanked from the building, pulled towards the opponent by his whips. If the beast could think and reason, it would have concluded that the move made was about the most stupid one. The beast let itself be propelled forward at great speed towards the opponent, then made its move. It pulled itself toward the opponent even faster by yanking all of its weight forward when it let got of the whips. When it did, the whips vanished, and the opponent's hands were empty, and the beast was flying at the opponent with great speed still.

The beast spiraled through the air and howled, aiming both ankles at the opponents head. The iron spike weights were spinning around the beast's frame, looking dangerous as they approached the opponent along with the beast's feet. The beast had the higher ground, coming diagonally through the air. It shaped its dive into a drill, the spike weights spinning carelessly through the air around him.

[Daryu]

The thing wasn't handicapped by her maneuver, so much as it took advantage of it to launch an attack of it's own. Daryu maintained a menacing, eager grin as she brought her arms back to bear from yanking the whips, immediately moving into a counter measure for the thing seeming to charge at her. Times like this in a fight took split seconds to onlookers, but to those in the fight it could seem like eternity. Adrenaline was already pumping through her currently fleshy body, and the pseudo-hylian was already acting to both protect herself from the majority of the damage, and execute a strong counter against this thing. She wasn't a defensive fighter, but defending against this sort of attack doubled as an offense in and of itself to her.

So when the beast's feet were within arm's reach, she grabbed both of it's ankles with her hands, halting it's progress towards her and already turning her body. The spike weights spun and wrapped around her arms, piercing into her forearms, but she didn't care. She didn't intend to let go of him right now anyway, so if anything this would just make it more difficult for him to try and escape. Her body turned and she brought her arms with her, swinging the caught beast in the process, and immediately brought her arms downward. Part one out of two of her counter was to try and slam the beast into the cobblestone street face first. Naturally, every ounce of her strength was going into each hit, so this too would be at the full power she could muster right now, though that wasn't much since the curse was at full strength.

This directly lead into part two, where she went into a standing jump from the spot she stood, still hanging onto the thing's ankles and it's weights still in her arms with the chains wrapped around them. It wasn't nearly as high as she could manage on a running jump, but she still launched herself a whole five feet straight into the air from no movement. That was the proof of her strength, which now worked to attempt to throw the beast from mid-air straight into the ground once more. If it did go in the direction it was thrown, the weights would tear shallow gashes down the length of her arm before the weights came out of her skin, but she didn't care. It was a flesh wound at best to her, and she still had plenty of fight in her.

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[Sorry for such a late post, shit's been busy lately and I've been feeling very un-Daryu, which is why it's so short too]

[Zaph]

The beast was certainly taken aback. It hadn't expected a counter, if it could have contemplated strategy in a battle. Perhaps it was simple common cognitive "thought" for the beast, but whatever it was, the counter that the beast's opponent made wasn't what the beast had seen coming. When its feet were grabbed, it let out a loud howl, but its glowing eyes remained ever-luminescent and fixed. When the spike weights caught into the opponent, the beast was quizzical at the lack of pain response.

Unfortunately, the beast was dropped to the ground by the opponent, and the ground around the beast broke and shattered loudly, with rocks breaking off in every direction. The opponent was strong, but the beast was also incapable of reacting to pain. Having slammed into the ground so hard, the beast certainly took considerable damage, but did not react so. The beast looked up, noticing that the opponent prepared another attack, beginning with a jump.

The beast simply tilted its head, but was quickly jerked up from the ground, into midair, and then back down. The beast attempted to counter with a rage fit that dramatically increased the black flame aura around him. The beast let out a vicious, gruesome, loud shriek that shook the bar. The aura around the beast continued to intensify, but acted only as a cushion for the damage that would have otherwise been decently massive.

The beast, noticing the damage that the spike balls had done, yanked them back effortlessly back to itself, and howled cruelly again. The chain balls landed next to it, and the beast regained composure, standing, and facing the opponent. The black flame aura was still raging, and the beast disappeared in a extremely fast flash. It reappeared, continuing to get closer to the opponent, until in a matter of about a second, it had closed the distance entirely.

It swung its claws wildly, powerfully, and with good aim at the opponent's neck, preparing its body to follow through with the other arm with as much force and accuracy as the first if the first strike failed. The speed the beast was now using was incredible.

[Daryu]

Daryu landed on the street below after the throw with an audible clack after her attack proved successful, slamming the thing twice into the ground with all of her strength. Her sandals didn't particularly enjoy the abuse of a solid landing, but she didn't care. She could always get new ones afterwards if they broke for some reason. Her eyes glanced to the bleeding from her arms before looking back at the thing, which was now getting up after the impact. It still had fight in it, it looked like; probably used that funny aura to soften the landing, or something like that. She didn't know exactly what it did, she just knew the thing was back up and ready for more.

Before she could ready a stance, which was unusual for her, the thing rushed her again, it's speed even greater than before. She was just able to catch a glimpse of one of it's arms moving and shot her's up to stop the claws from raking her neck. They pierced into her arm a little bit, but it was a lot less than she would've taken. Her body was already beginning to change, as the curse acknowledged the beast to be a threat as she steadily lost blood. Her skin darkened as her body began to increase in size, but before the full effects could take hold, a second arm was swung at her neck. Her arm wouldn't be able to stop it fully, but she moved it up to jam her arm into the opponent's elbow. This stopped the attack from fully tearing out her throat, but the claws did land a decent hit.

That was when things got serious. Daryu's strength was already growing from the curse reducing to 50% mere moments ago, and as her figure grew in size right before the black beast, she pushed it away with her sudden spike in strength, intending to launch it down the street to give her a bit of breathing room. The neck blow was enough to cause a fair bit of bleeding, and had she not stopped it when she did, it would've been fatal. That was a sign that Daryu's life was in danger, and so like a good fail safe, the curse weakened further. It was now at a mere 10% of it's strength, and thus, Daryu now had access to all of her power.

In the center of the streets she grew taller, bigger, massive compared to a human being. The on-lookers in the bar stared out in amazement as the unusual woman grew two stories tall, and became an obvious Goron. The faded red tone of her skin was difficult to distinguish in the limited lighting, but her body now stood nearly as tall as the surrounding buildings, the horn still sticking out from her head as a massive layer of rocks covered her now exposed back. Naturally, clothing didn't grow this big, so her outfit was now in stretched pieces on the street, though her ankle and wrist shackles remained and grew in size to match her. The injuries on her arms and neck still had obvious signs, but the growth of her body and the shift into a full-fledged goron had halted the bleeding. She was far from done.

Pure black eyes stared down from "her" now high vantage point at the much smaller opponent, her grin not having left her face and now even more frightening due to the sheer size of her being. Her overall mass left very little room for maneuvering in this environment for her, but it also made it difficult for the enemy to approach from any direction but forward. Then again, the thing seemed simple enough to do that anyway.

"Get ridda meh now, tineh babeh man!" Daryu bellowed, definitely causing a public disturbance in terms of noise, but that came with being a sixteen foot Goron. She ended up laughing at her own joke, which only echoed even louder than the joke itself into the night. Many of the bar patrons were cheering for her, while just as many were too frightened to speak. This woman just turned into a giant Goron after all, probably bigger than any of them had even known existed, let alone seen. Hopefully she wouldn't break too much, she didn't have the money to pay for fixing public damage on a large scale.

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