2026-07-25: Frosty Fracas
- Log: Frosty Fracas
- Cast: Katsuko Yoshinaga, Ichika Kawase, Shinobu Shimizu, Remi Ryuuja
- Where: Mt Katamatsuri
- OOC Date: 2026/07/25
- IC Date: Sat Dec 15 2012
- Summary: Inclement weather - rain, snow, and heavy winds - have plagued a few hiking trails outside of Sumaru for a few days now. Such events are not unusual, and often pass by uneventfully, without causing much more trouble than some prospective ramblers and dog-walkers having to alter their plans for the day. But when that weather causes some overconfident hikers to get lost for a few hours, and they then attempt to blame their absence on everything but poor planning, rumours abound. Now, a few days after the incident, the inclement weather has grown worse and a Yuki-Onna has taken up residence on one of the more popular trails. Eager to clear the path so that hikers can make their way up without fear of freezing to death and/or being abducted by a malicious snow spirit, some concerned citizens have put out a bounty on the Demon's head.
(|============================= Mt. Katatsumuri ==============================|)
-==================================================== Sumaru City/Vicinity ====-
Mt. Katatsumuri is a beautiful mountain vista just past the city limits of
Sumaru City. The greenery is plentiful and particularly dazzling in autumn as
the colors change. Once a popular tourist destination for hikers, nature lovers,
and explorers alike, it's seen considerably less traffic after the cable car
lift to the mountain's peak broke down. That's not going to change anytime soon,
for the local government has not seen fit to distribute funds to fix it.
Perhaps that's for the best. While it's a beautiful nature site, the only
buildings here are Morimoto Sanitarium at the peak and Goketsuji, a Buddhist
temple, on the inclines. A sanitarium is not a place that any "normal" person
should want to visit, and the monks at the temple probably prefer the isolation
anyway.
But the walking paths remain, some of them wilder than others. One even leads
all the way up to the back of the sanitarium for those with more courage than
common sense. There's also an old, small Shinto shrine along the way whose
offering box is not yet full and can still accept ¥100 coin donations.
BGM: Mt. Katatsumuri - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odyfd9Q2WY8
-==== Players =================================================================-
Katsuko Yoshinaga [IV] Remi Ryuuja [XVI]
Multiboss [?]
-=================================== Exits ====================================-
<O> Back down the Mountain to Yumezaki - Main
(|============================================================================|)
<Pose Tracker> Multiboss has posed.
The gifts granted to Katsuko by whatever supernatural force lurked beyond the veil were many. Strength, speed, stamina, a Persona - all allowed her to clash with people and demons alike. What was not included amongst those powers, however, was the ability to ward off the cold. No sooner had she stepped foot upon Mt Katamatsuri than she felt a chill whip through her body, and a shiver plagued her spine. It was bitterly cold, even at just the foot of the mountain, and the paths further up were supposed to be worse.
She sighed into that silvered half-mask, then began to make her way up. The money was too good to pass on, no matter the temperature, though she made a mental note to spend a part of her share on a hot drink the moment she got back.
It wasn't long - nor was it far - before conditions intensified to an alarming degree. What had once been cold and biting winds turned into a fierce tempest, with sharp and storming winds so cold that they pierced the skin and stole the warmth down to one's very bones. The odd flake or spray of snow turned to a sheer wall of frozen white, with barely a few metres' worth of visibility before she had even reached the summit. Below, it had layered upon itself into an inches-thick carpet that slowed movement to a crawl, and then again further still as landmarks and paths were left completely obscured.
Then, out of nowhere, the winds began to die down. It was not by much, and it was an agonisingly slow process, but the increase in visibility was not hard to notice. Grim's first instinct was to feel relief - it was a break in the storm, however small, and a chance to recuperate some lost strength while she got her bearings. Her second instinct was suspicion. The storm was not a natural thing, and the break in it might not have been either. Quickly, she raised her scout rifle to a ready position, waiting for whatever came next.
As she squinted past the shadow cast over her eyes by her hood, she saw something emerge from the fog. It was a blur at first, little more than a dark grey smudge in the air. But that smudge sharpened with every passing moment. First into the form of a person, with a round smear for the head, and longer, thinner, ones extending out for the arms. That too sharpened in turn, turning from a distant silhouette to a shadow, distinct enough for her to make out the features of it.
It looked human at first glance. It walked on two limbs, obscured though they were by whatever cloth it wore. Its two arms hung loose by its sides, themselves draped in something too, but no less visible for it. A head held straight and upright sat atop its shoulders, not moving once or turning to shield itself from the wind. All seemed in order, but as Katsuko began to focus on the figure that approached them, she couldn't shake the sense of wrongness that pricked at her mind. Not like the Mark, or some other supernatural phenomena. It was something more primal, like an animal noticing something out of place.
The silken robes draped over its form - white as the snow around them, trimmed in blue and hemmed in purple - hid it to some extent, but anyone focussing on the shapes beneath would have been able to see the truth of it. The limbs were a little too long, the body a little too slender, the fingers longer and thinner than a human's should have been, and the face... It was enough to have her eyes strain as she tried to make certain she saw the truth. The eyes were a hair too big, the lips thin as a knife's edge and wide as her face, while the rest of the features upon the figure looked sharp enough to have been carved and whetted. Then, as the fog began to dissipate, the most damning thing of all became apparent.
The skin stretched over its form was the pale blue of the newly dead. It looked as though every mote of vitality had been drained from it, to the point where even the thick curtains of black that formed its hair - still lush, still swaying in the wind - seemed drained of the living's essence.
"Careful." Katsuko said, speaking to whoever was closest. "That has to be her. Don't hold back - we don't know what this thing can do." Before she could raise her rifle to fire a round through the Yuki-Onna's skull, the demon turned her gaze on the party, lips curled into what was supposed to be a smile.
"Weary travellers, so far from home, and lost in the storm..."
The Yuki-Onna's mouth moved, but did not match the words. Grim could not tell if the movements lagged behind, or did not match the sounds at all, but the end result was the same. The Yuki-Onna's words were carried on the wind, striking at Grim's ears like the howling storm that plagued the world around them. Were it not for the figure standing before them, she wouldn't even have been able to tell where they were coming from. But the worst part was how weak they made her feel.
"You must be exhausted, travellers... Come to me, and rest as you deserve." She said, her voice a sirensong that beckoned all who heard it closer. The words crept into Grim's mind like ivy, ensnaring it in thin and twisting vines, and forcing her to focus on the ghoulish figure standing astride the topmost layer of snow. She tried to raise her gun, but her arms trembled, hesitating before her will won out. But even as she held the demon in her sights, she found she could not pull the trigger, instead shaking her head to try and clear away whatever influence gripped her.
"Lay your heads down, my beloveds... and sleep."
AS: Multiboss has readied for combat as Yuki-Onna! They are now fully healed! Ready for 3 opponents! AS: Persona! Multiboss has used the Recovery skill Irresistible Allure on Shinobu Shimizu! | Ruin: Multiboss gains 1 Limit! AS: Persona! Multiboss has used the Recovery skill Irresistible Allure on Ichika Kawase! AS: Persona! Multiboss has used the Recovery skill Irresistible Allure on Remi Ryuuja! AS: Multiboss's turn has ended. AS: Take! Shinobu Shimizu takes 0 Recovery healing from Multiboss's Irresistible Allure. | Bomb (Attacker takes damage on damaging attacks!) and Charm (Attacker or Ally takes Damage!) added! AS: Take! Ichika Kawase takes 0 Recovery healing from Multiboss's Irresistible Allure. | Bomb (Attacker takes damage on damaging attacks!) and Charm (Attacker or Ally takes Damage!) added! AS: Nerve Up! Remi Ryuuja's SP +8! AS: Take! Remi Ryuuja takes 0 Recovery healing from Multiboss's Irresistible Allure. | Bomb (Attacker takes damage on damaging attacks!) and Charm (Attacker or Ally takes Damage!) added!
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika Kawase wouldn't call herself lost; she'd say she was hunting. She likes the trails around Katatsumuri, and has been on many of them herself in better circumstances.
"Yeah, I'm not planning to underestimate her," the Ogre says, her armor and costume helping protect her against some of the snow--but only some. Ice is a problem for her, after all. She's fucking cold!
But there's no way around it. She continues on, until they reach the source of the cold and ice. And there...
"No," Ogre answers, "MOMIJI!"
She calls forth her Persona, and the mountain demon whirls into being in blue fire. She lifts a hand--and the Charm effect that was clouding Ichika's senses disappears.
...She can't do anything about the other, though...
AS: Persona! Ichika Kawase has used the Recovery skill Me Patra on Ichika Kawase, Remi Ryuuja, and Shinobu Shimizu! AS: Charm results in party damage! Ichika Kawase takes 90 damage! | Support: Ichika Kawase gains 1 Limit! AS: Ichika Kawase's turn has ended. AS: Take! Ichika Kawase takes 0 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Me Patra. | Charm removed! AS: Take! Shinobu Shimizu takes 0 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Me Patra. | Charm removed! AS: Take! Remi Ryuuja takes 0 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Me Patra. | Charm removed!
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Shinobu's saving up for a big purchase. As a result, she needs to take some extra jobs on the side if she wants any extra spending money. A dangerous bounty, therefore, is right up her alley.
She needs to let off a little extra steam, anyway.
It's cold, so she's bundled up in winter gear. It'll only do so much against supernatural cold... but for the trip there, it's just the ticket.
She share's Grim's suspicion, though, when the storm lets up. She looks toward the others, and then into the fog... and then, a figure emerges. A woman, but stretched... too long, and too thin.
"...Right." Shinobu agrees with Grim and Ogre both. "Night Parade really doesn't prepare you for the real thing, huh..."
And, she speaks. The words carry on the wind, and Shinobu feels her body stiffen. For a moment, all she wants is to do what she asks, to let the woman of ice take care of her...
But soon enough that's chased away as Ogre calls upon her Persona, Patra clearing away the fog in her mind.
"Thanks. I wasn't ready for that." Shinobu calls out. She reaches into her winter coat, tossing something to Ogre. "Here, take this and pass it around."
It's a thermos full of hot cocoa - it's cooled off a little by this point, but it's still warm enough to help chase away the icy grip of her voice.
Shinobu, though, races forward with her staff drawn. There's still a part of her that wants to rebel against the idea of attacking the Yuki-onna, remnants of her compelling voice, but she forces herself forward regardless.
"Sorry, lady... I'm not ready to settle down just yet." She replies with a grimace, jabbing her staff forward.
AS: Weapon! Shinobu Shimizu has used the Strike skill Jab Flurry on Multiboss! 3 Hits! | Shinobu Shimizu takes 90 damage from Bomb! | Aggression: Shinobu Shimizu gains 1 Limit! AS: Shinobu Shimizu's turn has ended. | Shinobu Shimizu regains 15 HP from Regenerate! AS: Shinobu Shimizu spends Limit on Help Up! Bomb removed from Ichika Kawase! Hyper (Next Attack BoostedIncoming Damage Down!) applied to Ichika Kawase! They both receive 8 SP and 30 HP! AS: Shinobu Shimizu spends Limit on Help Up! Bomb removed from Remi Ryuuja! Hyper (Next Attack BoostedIncoming Damage Down!) applied to Remi Ryuuja! They both receive 8 SP and 30 HP! AS: Avoid Neutral! Multiboss takes 25 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Jab Flurry. AS: Avoid Worst! Multiboss takes 74 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Jab Flurry. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Worst! Multiboss takes 74 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Jab Flurry. Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Tsurugi isn't out here for the bounty. She's not even here out of a sense of duty or a desire to protect travelers and hikers.
No, she's just here to because this is a valid target for some of her frustrations, and if it also happens to protect others in the process, that's a happy accident.
The cold is testing her determination, though. Despite the fact that her fencing suits are insulted as best as they can be, and the black trenchcoat she's wearing for extra warmth, she's still shivering, teeth clattering. She's taking it worse than most might.
She's carved her own path through the snow with liberal applications of Garu and Agi, and she perhaps stands out easily in the flurry--her all black fencing suit against the white.
But as those words drift out even she is affected, and she falters, shaking her head to try and dispell it until Ogre's Me Patra helps clear her head. "My thanks."
"La Maupin!" she shouts as she raises her revolver-shaped Evoker to her head. Blue flame and glass hail the arising of an androgynous figure in a red leather straightjacket, clutching a chipped rapier through the straightjacket's sleeve.
"My rest will not come by the likes of you!" she shouts as she holds out her sword to La Maupin. "Flarebrand!" she shouts, and flames spring to life to coat both blades. "Better hands than yours have tried and failed!"
They'll both charge forward in unison, flame-coated blades leaving trails of steam as they swing throught the snow--La Maupin swings low, and Remi follows after with a leap and a swing.
When she finishes pressing the attack she reaches into the pocket and throws a handwarmer to Shinobu. "Catch!"
AS: Tandem! Remi Ryuuja has used the Fire skill Flarebrand on Multiboss! 2 Hits! | Aggression: Remi Ryuuja gains 1 Limit! AS: Remi Ryuuja's turn has ended. | Remi Ryuuja: Hyper removed! AS: Remi Ryuuja spends Limit on Help Up! Bomb removed from Shinobu Shimizu! AS: Avoid Worst! Multiboss takes 101 Fire damage from Remi Ryuuja's Flarebrand. Weak! AS: Avoid Best! Multiboss takes 39 Fire damage from Remi Ryuuja's Flarebrand. Weak!
<Pose Tracker> Multiboss has posed.
The Demon noted Ogre's resistance, and turned the smile towards her. It was a strange thing. It took the shape of a human expression, but it looked more like someone had drawn it on her face rather than anything remotely natural, and the proportions of her features did little to aid this. Her entire visage became only a close approximation of a person's, and nowhere was this exemplified better than when her face contorted into anger at Ogre.
"Insolent child. You would spurn my generosity?" She spat, the winds whipping around her as her frustration mounted. "Then fall."
Those same winds grew to a deafening howl, and surged towards Ogre, carrying with them a shredding blast of hail.
What winds were left still winding around the Yuki-Onna surged harder upon seeing Shinobu and Remi cured. It was only moments before she was once more surrounded by a shredding gale, snow and ice forming a white flurry about her as her cold fury manifested itself in frigid, physical, form. It did little to avail her against Shinobu's onslaught, however, and the first two blows caught her in the torso despite her attempts to glide sideways. The last struck against her head, sending the thing reeling backwards, almost spinning like a figure skater across the snow before she came to a silent, graceful, halt.
"Ungrateful... All of you. You must be punished for it." She hissed, and with an outstretched arm, sent the winds around her to slice at Shinobu.
Before she could mount another strike on Shinobu, flames wielded by Persona and some black-clad figure tore through the storm. She avoided the first blade with deft and quiet precision, moving across the snow with practised ease. The other flame carved through her with blazing ferocity, however, and drew a shriek with her that turned the air as white as the ground.
"You would direct your rage at me? I seek only to grant you the sleep you so deserve. If you will not accept it... then the storm shall claim you instead." She answered with her own blade. Ice, clear as crystal and sharp as a razor's edge, lengthened in her grip. Then, with the speed and force of tempest, she struck down at Remi.
Grim had long since vanished into the storm, and it was only when the crack of a rifle rang out that her position was revealed. Every shot was from a different angle, and neither could be discerned as hers or her Persona's. She was an annoyance, to be certain - but the frontliners were the Demon's targets for now.
AS: Persona! Multiboss has used the Water skill Hailstorm on Ichika Kawase! 3 Hits! AS: Persona! Multiboss has used the Wind skill Gale Force on Shinobu Shimizu! AS: Persona! Multiboss has used the Water skill Cleaving Cold on Remi Ryuuja! 3 Hits! AS: Multiboss's turn has ended. AS: Block Best! Ichika Kawase takes 25 Water damage from Multiboss's Hailstorm. Weak! AS: Block Best! Ichika Kawase takes 25 Water damage from Multiboss's Hailstorm. Weak! AS: Block Worst! Ichika Kawase takes 80 Water damage from Multiboss's Hailstorm. Critical Hit! Weak! AS: Block Neutral! Shinobu Shimizu takes 71 Wind damage from Multiboss's Gale Force. | Atk_Dn (Damage down!) added! AS: Avoid Neutral! Remi Ryuuja takes 61 Water damage from Multiboss's Cleaving Cold. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Neutral! Remi Ryuuja takes 40 Water damage from Multiboss's Cleaving Cold. AS: Counter Worst! Remi Ryuuja takes 90 Water damage from Multiboss's Cleaving Cold. Critical Hit! | COUNTER! Multiboss takes 49 Slash damage in return for their attack!
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ogre downs some of the cocoa with a quick untwisting motion on the thermos, recaps it, and tosses it to Tsurugi. "Go!" she calls. An enemy now and then can be an ally today; they all freeze if they don't work together.
Insolent child, the Demon calls her, and Ogre smiles under her mask, her lower face stung by the cold but still visible. This means the demon can see this smirk.
But the frostbitten blast rushes Ogre, and Ogre falls. "Agh--" The cold scythes through her bones, it feels like--oh, she blocks the first and the second with her shield, but then it goes around her barrier, and sinks in.
"Fuck... your 'insolent'," Ogre coughs, as she rises to her feet. "Yo, big sis!" Ogre calls, in the way of a girl ganger to an older, cooler adult. Her words have power; she exposes an Opportunity.
Meanwhile, Ogre calls forth her Persona again, and this time, Momiji in her kimono dances over all of them, healilng the wounds of each combatant who isn't a demon.
Sorry, Yuki-Onna. "Anybody seen the Grim chick?" she wonders then.
AS: Ichika Kawase spends Limit on Shift! Shinobu Shimizu can use another Weak skill this round! Hyper (Next Attack BoostedIncoming Damage Down!) applied to Shinobu Shimizu! They both receive 8 SP and 30 HP! AS: Persona! Ichika Kawase has used the Recovery skill Mediarama on Ichika Kawase, Shinobu Shimizu, and Remi Ryuuja! AS: Ichika Kawase's turn has ended. | Ichika Kawase: Hyper removed! AS: Take! Ichika Kawase takes 180 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Mediarama. AS: Take! Shinobu Shimizu takes 180 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Mediarama. AS: Take! Remi Ryuuja takes 180 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Mediarama.
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
There's someone here she didn't expect to see. Tsurugi... Shinobu watches her cautiously.
Just as she's wondering if she's here to cause trouble, though... she attacks the Yuki-onna, and tosses her a handwarmer. Shinobu catches it.
...Ordinarily she'd be suspicious, but right now, she could really use the heat.
"...Thanks." Shinobu replies begrudgingly, gripping onto it tightly and letting the warmth flow into her hands and through the rest of her body. "Guess we've got bigger things to worry about today than each other."
...As difficult as it is for her to admit that, when she's still carrying a grudge.
Shinobu's strike connects. So, she is physical - at least enough for strikes to connect.
The Yuki-onna's fury is the fury of the mountains, and that fury is visited upon her now. The winds rush toward her and Shinobu spins her staff in front of her to disperse them. It only deters them somewhat - the bitter cold winds still race past her, cutting deep and carrying with them a chill that leaves her weapon arm feeling sluggish.
'Ungrateful'? You decided what was best for us all on your own." Shinobu replies. "You think we want to freeze to death?"
She hears Ogre calling out to her, and it doesn't take long for her to spot the opening she calls out.
"Right! Lachesis!" Shinobu calls. Lachesis appears behind her, measuring rod at the ready. She levels it at the Yuki-onna, as if taking her measure... and then a pulse emanates out toward her, to try to stoke the embers of rage in even this frozen ghost's heart, even as it instills weakness into her.
Shinobu is right on her heels, rushing forward and swinging her staff in two quick sweeps.
As she moves, she feels the pain lessen. She sends Ichika a grateful nod. And as for Grim...
"I dunno where she is, but -" She's interrupted by the 'crack' of a rifleshot, off in the distance. "- seems like she's still going, at least."
AS: Persona! Shinobu Shimizu has used the Almighty skill Goading Break on Multiboss! AS: Weapon! Shinobu Shimizu has used the Strike skill Sweeping Strike on Multiboss! 2 Hits! AS: Shinobu Shimizu's turn has ended. | Shinobu Shimizu: Hyper removed! | Shinobu Shimizu regains 15 HP from Regenerate! AS: Avoid Worst! Multiboss takes 0 Almighty damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Goading Break. | Phy_DN (Physical AttackDefense Down!) added! AS: Block Neutral! Multiboss takes 43 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Sweeping Strike. AS: Block Worst! Multiboss takes 101 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Sweeping Strike. Critical Hit!
Huh? (Type "help" for help.) Shinobu Shimizu has reconnected.
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
'You would direct your rage at me?' "Yes. There is no rest for one such as I. Not while others yet hold my leash."
Strikes with the fury of a tempest come, and Tsurugi does her best to deflect the first two blows, looking for an opening--and suddenly she lunges, lashing out with her rapier even as she takes a grevious injury and is forced back, grasping at her shoulder. She grits her teeth, mostly to force her way through what little pain she still feels, as much as to keep her teeth still.
She catches the thermos and tucks it into a pocket of her trenchcoat. She'll be a lot worse off with the cold if she takes her fencing mask off--and she'll reveal her identity besides. But it is at least nice qnd warm to hold.
But healing magic settles over her, and after a moment she pulls her hand away from the wound. Better. "I see." Mental note, protect the healer for this fight.
Has anybody seen the Grim chick? "If you are ferring to the one with the rifle, she is providing long-range support. Heed the gunshots."
She gives Shinobu a nod. "Yes. My only aim this day is to slay the demon." Is she shivering, despite all the heavy layers? Nah, surely not.
"The only one to be laid to rest this day is you-- Persona!" Persona and User touch blades again, and this time when the flames explode, they flow over the blades and down their bodies to splash around them. "Let's go!"
They both charge forward again, leaving large swaths of steam billowing in their wakes as they leave trails of flame. Persona and user split and attack from different angles in unison.
AS: Tandem! Remi Ryuuja has used the Fire skill Scorching Wrath on Multiboss! 3 Hits! AS: Remi Ryuuja's turn has ended. AS: Avoid Neutral! Multiboss takes 64 Fire damage from Remi Ryuuja's Scorching Wrath. Weak! AS: Avoid Best! Multiboss takes 46 Fire damage from Remi Ryuuja's Scorching Wrath. Critical Hit! Weak! AS: Avoid Best! Multiboss takes 37 Fire damage from Remi Ryuuja's Scorching Wrath. Weak!
<Pose Tracker> Multiboss has posed.
"Do not direct your anger at me, child." She said, her voice reaching odd pitches and her tone becoming many things at once. A siren's call, the fury of a raging storm, the admonishment of a mother to a daughter... All of them merged into something that spoke from all angles that the wind blew from, reaching the ears of those that listened at a pace that did not match her lips. "And do not keep your friends from their slumber. They are tired, child, and they must rest... Like you."
"I think you desire rest." She said, responding to Shinobu's question with a cold and bitter voice, as much as the winds that began to roil about her. "You travellers are weary, and I am granting you the chance to finally lay your burdens down. Do not seek to strike me down for my charity, wretch." It wasn't clear where Lachesis' work ended, and the Demon's true feelings began. What was indisputable was that her cold, cold, heart had had some sparks of fury stoked within it, and that rage left her unfocussed enough that Shinobu's blows caught her with frightening force. The first staggered her, leaving her open to the second, which sent her reeling backwards with a wailing shriek.
"Fool... to spurn me in such a manner? I will teach you humility..."
Remi's sword struck true, and the blade carved a portion of her thin body away. The silks hid it, but the wound had been made, and the Demon glared at Remi with frostbitten hatred.
"Should you not then be grateful?" She spoke. Her voice rose with the winds, always a hair louder, always audible above even the most deafening of gales. "I offer you the solace of rest. Of peace. You would know serenity... and you reject me." She spoke, even as she weaved around Remi's strikes. Shinobu was right in that she was physical enough to hit, but in that moment - even as flaming strikes hacked away pieces of her robes - she seemed more wraith than anything tangible.
Whipped up by fury, the winds surrounding the Yuki-Onna grew ever more intense, whirling about her and picking snow up into their grasp as they moved. Her form first grew obscured, then hidden, and then lay on the cusp of vanishing entirely. She was only a mere handful of seconds from disappearing back into the void and striking with hidden impunity before something streaked out from the sidelines, striking her in the shoulder. The line from the tracer round was a bright red, glowing like fire, and streaked through the air to show precisely where the party's target was. Distracted, the winds died down just enough to grant them all a clear shot once more, but the tradeoff was made clear when the Demon's head snapped to the source - Grim.
"Changing position!" She shouted out, wasting no time in hurrying away as storm of crystalline shards rained down upon her previous hiding spot. With Grim driven off, the Yuki-Onna once more turned her attention to the rest of the party. The winds still shielded her, but their intensity had been lessened, and her position revealed. She was still a viable target - as long as the offensive was pushed.
"If you will not accept my offer..." She began, raising higher upon streaks of icebitten wind, "...Then I shall take you to your rest myself." Ice and wind dispersed into the air, and the Demon's magic was made manifest. Some seeped into her wounds, mending whatever damage had been done with a faint, blue, glow. The rest stole what little warmth it could from the air, and when even that was gone, it stole it from the party instead. Skin, flesh blood, bone - nothing was safe from the Yuki-Onna's freezing magicks.
AS: Multiboss spends Limit on Broad! AS: Persona! Multiboss has used the Recovery skill Absolute Zero on Ichika Kawase, Shinobu Shimizu, and Remi Ryuuja! AS: Multiboss spends Limit on Medicine! +75 HP to Multiboss! AS: Persona! Multiboss has used the Water skill Snowstorm on Remi Ryuuja! AS: Multiboss spends Limit on Exploit! Multiboss can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Multiboss has used the Water skill Snowstorm on Shinobu Shimizu! AS: Persona! Multiboss has used the Recovery skill Flash Freeze on Ichika Kawase! AS: Multiboss's turn has ended. | Multiboss: Broad removed! AS: Take! Shinobu Shimizu takes 0 Recovery healing from Multiboss's Absolute Zero. | Def_Dn (Block Penalized!) and Spd_Dn (Avoid Penalized!) added! AS: Block Neutral! Shinobu Shimizu takes 148 Water damage from Multiboss's Snowstorm. Critical Hit! | Spd_Dn (Avoid Penalized!) added! AS: Take! Ichika Kawase takes 0 Recovery healing from Multiboss's Absolute Zero. | Def_Dn (Block Penalized!) and Spd_Dn (Avoid Penalized!) added! AS: Take! Ichika Kawase takes 0 Recovery healing from Multiboss's Flash Freeze. | Paralyze (Physical and Avoid Penalized!) added! AS: Take! Remi Ryuuja takes 0 Recovery healing from Multiboss's Absolute Zero. | Def_Dn (Block Penalized!) and Spd_Dn (Avoid Penalized!) added! AS: Avoid Best! Remi Ryuuja takes 59 Water damage from Multiboss's Snowstorm. | Spd_Dn (Avoid Penalized!) added!
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Shinobu has the matter of not wanting to freeze to death covered. Ogre chimes in, "Yeah! We didn't ask you for shit!"
But Shinobu also takes advantage of the opening she gave--and Grim seems to still be going, so that's good enough. Remi and Shinobu can both identify her with the rifle.
Then--
"Yeah I'm tired," Ogre says. "Tired of you!" And, admittedly, of studying for exams. But she's not going to tell the demon that.
She doesn't want to learn humility, either. The snows get much more intense--but Grim is still helping. Ogre feels cold from thsoe assaults, frigid cold--she can't move, her shield is brittle, it's all the worst.
"Shhhhh," Ogre answers.
Then she narrows her eyes. "Is that how it is?' she asks. "All right."
"Momiji," Ichika directs. "Let's kick some ass."
She throws out her hand, and Momiji rushes the Yuki-Onna, hurling out rock and stone from the snowy earth and tossing it straight for the demon twice over!
AS: Persona! Ichika Kawase has used the Earth skill Sequence Magna on Multiboss! 2 Hits! AS: Ichika Kawase's turn has ended. | Ichika Kawase: Paralyze removed! AS: Avoid Best! Multiboss takes 13 Earth damage from Ichika Kawase's Sequence Magna. AS: Avoid Worst! Multiboss takes 83 Earth damage from Ichika Kawase's Sequence Magna. Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Tsurugi says her only aim this day is to slay the demon, and Shinobu considers her carefully for a moment. ...And then she sighs, massaging the back of her neck. She can't deny that they could use the help - the Yuki-onna is pretty strong.
"...Alright. Then let's get along for now." Shinobu replies.
She nods her approval as Ogre echoes her sentiment.
The Yuki-onna thinks she desires rest, and Shinobu grimaces. She says they're weary, and she's granting them the chance to lay their burdens down.
"Deciding what we want for us now, are you?" Shinobu mutters. "Projecting your wants onto us, and getting mad when we reject them..."
...It's like dealing with her mother, she finishes in her head. But at least her mother only metaphorically causes the temperature to drop whenever she enters a room.
"'Humility'? You're one to talk." Shinobu bites back.
The Yuki-onna certainly seems angrier than before, and the chilling winds around her only intensify. And for a moment, she seems to vanish - at least until something strikes her. She's visible now, but that's only a small solace. The air freezes, and a snowstorm is unleashed. Shinobu's body feels sluggish - and due to that, she takes the full brunt of the blizzard. She's hammered by the snowstorm, and for a moment she seems to be buried beneath it...
...but a moment later, Lachesis bursts out of the snow, Shinobu hauls herself out it a moment after. She finds herself very grateful for her new winterwear.
"After me." She calls over to Tsurugi, to prepare an opening. "Lachesis!"
At her call, Lachesis races forward. Her measuring rod lashes out at the Yuki-onna... but as it flies through the air the weapon bends, to strike at impossible angles. The apportioner is not limited to measuring distance alone. This might create an opening one can act on.
AS: Persona! Shinobu Shimizu has used the Strike skill Measure Twice on Multiboss! 2 Hits! AS: Shinobu Shimizu's turn has ended. | Shinobu Shimizu regains 15 HP from Regenerate! AS: Shinobu Shimizu spends Limit on Shift! Remi Ryuuja can use another Weak skill this round! Hyper (Next Attack BoostedIncoming Damage Down!) applied to Remi Ryuuja! They both receive 8 SP and 30 HP! AS: Avoid Best! Multiboss takes 10 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Measure Twice. AS: Avoid Best! Multiboss takes 10 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Measure Twice.
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
"A hound knows no rest than what its benefactors allow," Tsurugi retorts to the Yuki-onna. "And I will not rest while I ahve yet more work to do. The only thing I require of you is your demise!"
Biting winds come and tear at Tsurugi--cutting at her through the multiple heavy layers she's been trying to use to resist the draining of her ehat. Her body lets out a violet tremble as she hunches over, and the clacking of teeth is definitely audible now.
It takes her a few moments longer than is maybe desireable for her to recover herself. Anybody really close to her might hear her swearing under her brath. "... of all the things I c-can still feel..."
Why did it have to be the cold?
Shinobu accepts getting along, for now. "V-very well." This really isn't the time to turn this into a battle on two fronts anyway.
But that frigid, blinding cold and win will be a hinderance if they can't do somethinga bout it. "Burn, brilliant blaze!" she calls while gesturing for the demon. La Maupin gestures, and a scorching fireball explodes to try and cut through the chill and snow, evaporating the snow.
But that's not all she can do. "Come, swift winds!" At her direction, winds explode from beneath herself, Ogre, and Shinobu before wrapping up around them to enhance their movements, and maybe to push back against the winds of the storm just a little.
Then, Shinobu calls to follow after her, and Tsurugi calls out, "Acknowledge!" With Shinobu and Laches creating the opening, Tsurugi and La Maupin dart in in tandem. As they run their blades ignite with flame once more as they try to hit another coordinated attack.
AS: Persona! Remi Ryuuja has used the Fire skill Agilao on Multiboss! | Aggression: Remi Ryuuja gains 1 Limit! AS: Remi Ryuuja spends Limit on Exploit! Remi Ryuuja can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Remi Ryuuja has used the Almighty skill Masukukaja on Remi Ryuuja, Ichika Kawase, and Shinobu Shimizu! AS: Take! Remi Ryuuja takes 0 Almighty damage from Remi Ryuuja's Masukukaja. | Spd_Dn removed! AS: Take! Shinobu Shimizu takes 0 Almighty damage from Remi Ryuuja's Masukukaja. | Spd_Dn removed! AS: Tandem! Remi Ryuuja has used the Fire skill Flarebrand on Multiboss! 2 Hits! AS: Remi Ryuuja's turn has ended. | Remi Ryuuja: Hyper removed! AS: Take! Ichika Kawase takes 0 Almighty damage from Remi Ryuuja's Masukukaja. | Spd_Dn removed! AS: Avoid Best! Multiboss takes 111 Fire damage from Remi Ryuuja's Agilao. Critical Hit! Weak! | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added! AS: Avoid Best! Multiboss takes 81 Fire damage from Remi Ryuuja's Flarebrand. Critical Hit! Weak! AS: Avoid Neutral! Multiboss takes 119 Fire damage from Remi Ryuuja's Flarebrand. Critical Hit! Weak! AS: Multiboss spends Limit on Break! AS: Multiboss spends Limit on Broad!
<Pose Tracker> Multiboss has posed.
"Your petulance will do nothing to aid you." She said, seemingly drifting on the wind to vanish away from the first rock. It barely managed to scrape her, leaving little more than scrapes and grazes in its wake. It was the second she inadvertently dodged into that struck with the force to knock her back, but wind and snow propped her up against rock and stone. "What follows will be your faults... and yours alone."
The strikes came at unnatural angles, but there was no angle the wind could not blow, nor any that the cold could not infest. The Yuki-Onna moved as the air did, the strikes barely skimming the edges of her shoulders as she levelled a gaze as cold and piercing as the driving winds at Shinobu. Blackened eyes narrowed at her while she spoke, and the Demon's anger mounted.
"Your exhaustion is clear. Your burdens drag you further down. Accept me, and what I give freely to you, or your end shall be painfu-"
Whatever else she had to say was cut short by a burst of flame, striking into her like a cannonball. Another wailing screech ripped into the air and drowned out the storm, high-pitched enough that frozen ground around them began to crack, if only a little. She moved as swiftly as she fought, ducking dodging on the myriad winds that plagued the mountain, but it was of no use. The fire seared away pieces of her that the ice struggled to reconstitute, and she was left a glaring, battered, thing.
"Then like a rabid hound, I shall put you down. All of you... shall join me."
She broke suddenly from the fight, fast as gale and far from the reach of even Grim's tracer rounds. What few came close to the Yuki-Onna were battered away by swift winds, leaving the tracer rounds a little more than signals of both her and the Demon's positions.
"Embrace me, travellers. Embrace me, and lay your weary selves to rest in your graves." A wave of energy, pale as the driven snow and quicker than a blink, burst from her as she raised her hands and brought them out to her sides. When it hit, however, there was no pain - but neither was there any other feeling but the biting, draining, cold. It was a freezing curse that chilled deep, reaching past even the depths of one's body to steal the life from their very soul, and drain them until they were naught more than frigid, grey, husks.
She followed it no more than a metre behind, the very air freezing in her palm and sharpening to a keen and gleaming edge. The icy blade in her hand looked as though it had been wrought from crystal, and what little light still reached them caused the thing to gleam like a gem as she swung it down with unfettered ferocity. Ogre, Shinobu, Tsurugi - all had made their choices in her eyes, and if they would not acquiesce to her demands and meet a peaceful end, they would be dragged to their rests kicking, screaming, frozen, and mutilated.
AS: Persona! Multiboss has used the Recovery skill Frost Curse on Ichika Kawase, Remi Ryuuja, and Shinobu Shimizu! | Ruin: Multiboss gains 1 Limit! AS: Persona! Multiboss has used the Water skill Cleaving Cold on Ichika Kawase, Remi Ryuuja, and Shinobu Shimizu! 3 Hits! AS: Multiboss's turn has ended. It's time for an All-Out Attack! | Multiboss: Break and Broad removed! AS: Take! Ichika Kawase takes 0 Recovery healing from Multiboss's Frost Curse. | Exhaust (Damage when using WeaponTandem!) and Water_Break (Water Affinity Down!) added! AS: Nemesis! Ichika Kawase can take another Weak action this round! AS: Avoid Best! Ichika Kawase takes 39 Water damage from Multiboss's Cleaving Cold. Weak! AS: Avoid Worst! Ichika Kawase takes 127 Water damage from Multiboss's Cleaving Cold. Critical Hit! Weak! AS: Avoid Best! Ichika Kawase takes 39 Water damage from Multiboss's Cleaving Cold. Weak! AS: Take! Shinobu Shimizu takes 0 Recovery healing from Multiboss's Frost Curse. | Exhaust (Damage when using WeaponTandem!) and Water_Break (Water Affinity Down!) added! AS: Nemesis! Shinobu Shimizu can take another Weak action this round! AS: Nerve Up! Remi Ryuuja's SP +8! AS: Take! Remi Ryuuja takes 0 Recovery healing from Multiboss's Frost Curse. | Exhaust (Damage when using WeaponTandem!) and Water_Break (Water Affinity Down!) added! AS: Nemesis! Remi Ryuuja can take another Weak action this round! AS: Avoid Worst! Remi Ryuuja takes 99 Water damage from Multiboss's Cleaving Cold. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Neutral! Remi Ryuuja takes 67 Water damage from Multiboss's Cleaving Cold. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Neutral! Remi Ryuuja takes 67 Water damage from Multiboss's Cleaving Cold. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Worst! Shinobu Shimizu takes 69 Water damage from Multiboss's Cleaving Cold. AS: Avoid Neutral! Shinobu Shimizu takes 71 Water damage from Multiboss's Cleaving Cold. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Best! Shinobu Shimizu takes 38 Water damage from Multiboss's Cleaving Cold. Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Tsurugi, the hound... "Sucks to trapped," Ogre says--but then she spots her reaction to the cold. ...It's not any kinder than Ogre's own reaction. "You OK?"
They're going to get along for now. And Shinobu--she's right again, for Ogre. Besides, on that note...
"'Humility'," Ogre says. "It's nice when you're being social, I guess. But I'm a Phantom Thief. I stylishly steal hearts while gloriously battering my way through whatever obstacles they put before me."
5rOgre grins, though she's still fucking freezing. "Humility's for other people. Mona would say so."
But suddenly--the demon comes at them again. Embrace her, she says--and Ogre feels that curse again, that attempt to drain her, until an icy blade hacks away at her.
She throws up her shield, but ice is her weakness; each toll of blade on metal sinks into her bones, until the blade cuts her arm deeply. "Tch--"
"Sorry guys," Ogre says. "I can't take much more--so I'm not gonna stop to heal this time."
"I'm gonna BREAK IT!"
Momiji reappears, extending her clawed fingers towards the Demon--and from the sky a stone smashes down towards her.
"Yo, Tsurugi! Time to bite!"
And then four small waves of force seek to slam the demon Yuki-Onna back up again!
AS: Ichika Kawase spends Limit on Shift! Remi Ryuuja can use another Weak skill this round! Hyper (Next Attack BoostedIncoming Damage Down!) applied to Remi Ryuuja! They both receive 8 SP and 30 HP! AS: Persona! Ichika Kawase has used the Earth skill Magnara on Multiboss! AS: Persona! Ichika Kawase has used the Wind skill Mazan on Multiboss! AS: Ichika Kawase's turn has ended. AS: Avoid Worst! Multiboss takes 174 Earth damage from Ichika Kawase's Magnara. | Bind (Magic and Avoid Penalized!) added! Haze removed! Explosion! 30 damage! | Multiboss is unable to continue fighting! AS: Avoid Worst! Multiboss takes 124 Wind damage from Ichika Kawase's Mazan. | Blast (Magic and Block Penalized!) added! | Multiboss is unable to continue fighting!
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Shinobu glances toward Tsurugi. ...It seems like she has problems with the cold. Maybe that's why she has so much fire.
"Don't freeze, now." Shinobu says. Ogre speaks on humility - Shinobu isn't a Phantom Thief, but battering through whatever obstacles are in her way... That's something she can approve of.
"Not bad." She replies with a nod, and turns her attention back to the Yuki-onna. Her exhaustion is clear, she says - even if she gets interrupted. She sends Tsurugi an approving nod at her timely interruption, then looks back to their target. Shinobu rolls her neck.
"I see how it is. We're allowed to choose, as long as it's what you want." Shinobu replies.
She's reached the end of her patience, it seems. A wave of energy erupts out from her. Painless - but carrying with it a deathly cold, chilling her to her core. And right behind it, the Yuki-onna herself. Shinobu's movements are sluggish, but she raises her staff in time, trying to parry and redirect her icy blade. The frost cuts deep... but she isn't frozen yet.
"Sorry... Can't do that yet." She replies.
Ogre apologizes, saying she isn't going to stop to heal this time. Shinobu shakes her head, offering her a grin.
"Nah, I get it. Get her ass, Ogre." Shinobu encourages. And sure enough, Ogre puts on a pretty impressive display... She'll have to give just as good, too. She flexes her fingers to shake off the chill, readying her staff. "Alright, Lachesis... let's break the ice."
She extends her hand, and a card of the Hanged Man appears before her. She grasps it and holds it aloft, letting its power shine on Lachesis.
She leaps and Lachesis swings her rod, catching her and sending her flying. Shinobu accelerates downward toward the Yuki-onna with a meteoric dropkick, slamming her staff down at the same time. Lachesis materializes once more to follow it up, striking with her measuring rod from the opposite direction.
AS: Tandem! Theurgy! Shinobu Shimizu has used the Strike skill Measured Fate on Multiboss! 3 Hits! | Shinobu Shimizu takes 90 damage from Exhaust! | Aggression: Shinobu Shimizu gains 1 Limit! AS: Shinobu Shimizu's turn has ended. | Shinobu Shimizu: Exhaust and Atk_Dn removed! | Shinobu Shimizu regains 15 HP from Regenerate! AS: Avoid Best! Multiboss takes 34 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Measured Fate. Critical Hit! | Multiboss is unable to continue fighting! AS: Avoid Neutral! Multiboss takes 70 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Measured Fate. | Multiboss is unable to continue fighting! AS: Avoid Best! Multiboss takes 28 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Measured Fate. | Multiboss is unable to continue fighting!
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Lika a rabid hound Yuki-onna will put them all down. "You shall not," is her short rebuke. And mayube the heat from her blade is helping her to warm up a little bit more.
Or she was doing better until that frigid curse tried to claim them all. She staggers for a moment, almost frozen in place, and it's that moment that the Yuki-onna's blade strikes true. She grunts as she bears it, and at least manages to stir into motion to deflect the next blows, pushing back with some effort with her rapier atgainst the crystaline edge.
Ogre asks if she's okay. "I will endure." That's... not exactly a yes. She's still trembling as she tries to warm up. Shinobu says not to freeze. "This will not be the threat that ends me." One might note that while she is dealing with the cold... especially poorly, her Persoa does not seem especially wake to it.
Curious.
But Ogre calls on her to bite, and Tsurugi lets out a bitter laugh. "Very well." She caught what Ogre said about not lasting much longer--so they need to end this in a hurry.
She forces herself upright. "Burn the demon! Agi!" If she can time it with Ogre's spells she may be able to have a greater influence.
"Now-- Ouragan!" Both her and her Persona take up positions, and a flurry of winds erupt around the Yuki-onna. Tsurugi and Ogre stream forward, using the winds to dart around the Yuki-onna and slice her.
And then, at the end, with a shout, Tsurugi launches herself forward, seeking to drive her rapier right through the demon. "Perish!"
AS: Persona! Remi Ryuuja has used the Fire skill Agi on Multiboss! | Aggression: Remi Ryuuja gains 1 Limit! AS: Remi Ryuuja spends Limit on Psych! AS: Tandem! Remi Ryuuja has used the Wind skill Ouragan on Multiboss! 3 Hits! | Remi Ryuuja takes 90 damage from Exhaust! AS: Weapon! Remi Ryuuja has used the Pierce skill Balestra on Multiboss! 2 Hits! AS: Remi Ryuuja's turn has ended. | Remi Ryuuja: Exhaust, Hyper, and Psych removed! AS: Avoid Neutral! Multiboss takes 110 Fire damage from Remi Ryuuja's Agi. Weak! | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added! Bind removed! Explosion! 75.75 damage! | Multiboss is unable to continue fighting! AS: Avoid Best! Multiboss takes 78 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Ouragan. | Multiboss is unable to continue fighting! AS: Avoid Neutral! Multiboss takes 135 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Ouragan. Critical Hit! | Multiboss is unable to continue fighting! AS: Avoid Neutral! Multiboss takes 116 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Ouragan. | Multiboss is unable to continue fighting! AS: Avoid Neutral! Multiboss takes 98 Pierce damage from Remi Ryuuja's Balestra. | Multiboss is unable to continue fighting! AS: Avoid Worst! Multiboss takes 172 Pierce damage from Remi Ryuuja's Balestra. Critical Hit! | Multiboss is unable to continue fighting!
<Pose Tracker> Multiboss has posed.
She raised her blade again, ready to strike once more and end the fight for good, but something stopped her. A reflection in the flat of her blade - the glint of a sniper's scope. She snapped her head around, but it was too late to do anything before a burst of fire erupted near her hand. That explosive round had detonated right on target, and all that Grim had left her with was the hilt and a shattered half-blade. But the disarming had always been the secondary objective. The first was to distract.
The Yuki-Onna no doubt had some withering remark for Ogre. Some reprimand a mother might give to a disobedient child, or a rejection of her ideas outright. But whatever she'd thought of was summarily knocked from her by the strike of stone. Descending like a hammer blow, it crushed her completely and utterly, smothering the screams of her pain beneath mounds upon mounds of earth. Waves of force stole even the ability to scream from her, knocking the wind from whatever passed for Demon's lungs, and all she could do was level a glare at Ogre before Shinobu dove in for the kill.
She was let faring no better by Shinobu's strikes. A sickening crack could be heard as both foot and stuff plunged down onto her back, and one more unnatural feature was forced upon the Yuki-Onna - a spine bent at at an angle that neither Demon nor human should have been able to twist themselves into. She had no chance to straighten, as she never hit the ground. The measuring rod came first, and once more, she bent in a way that filled the air with a thunderous SNAP.
Even so, she drifted to her feet. Ragged and cut apart and burnt nearly to cinders, but she was upright nevertheless. The winds howled, the snow clustered, the ice crept forward from around her... and all was cut short by the hound's onslaught. Fire engulfed her form in crimson, and erupting winds only served to fan them further. Cut and burnt again, she writhed in place, the very screams robbed from her as the air was burnt out of her lungs, only for that too to be stolen from her. Pierced clean through the heart, the Yuki-Onna took one last, mournful look at the party. Her mouth hung open as if to speak, but all that emerged was the quiet whisper of dying winds, followed by her body crumbling into a snow stolen away by the wind.
With her vanished the storm. The gales dropped to gusts, and then again to winter breezes. The freezing cold that stole the very life from those trapped within it began to thaw, and though it was still a December night, the cold was - at the very least - sensible. The snow remained, thick and pristine in the parts not scarred by battle, but it too would no doubt be drained away once the sun's warmth once more draped itself across the land. All that seemed to persist of the Yuki-Onna were her robes and her blade.
The robes, damaged though they were from the relentless barrage of attacks from the party, were still in remarkable condition. The white was as pure as the drifts of fresh snow around them, while the hem and trim had been applied with such surgical precision that any master artisan would have found the work remarkable. The blade, on the other hand, was a far rougher piece of work. Less a fine blade and more an approximation of a katana, it held the vague shape of one, but the details had been lost to the Demon's haste. There were, however, two notable things about it. The first was how, no matter how it was warmed, the crystal remained cool to the touch. It never remained heated for long, retaining even the heat imparted by scorching flames for moments at a time.
The second was how a chunk of the blade was missing.
Grim was, of course, nowhere to be found. Unwilling to reveal her identity to strangers, she had vanished into the night like a shadow, leaving not even footprints behind. But surely she had nothing to do with that.