terrible and beautiful

[makesdestruction]

Something moves, and sound pierces its rest. 

It is much longer before the pieces can be understood.

Metal screams. There is a noise like a panicked heartbeat, thud-thud-thud-thud-thud, and the downward press of sunlight on sleeping skin.

"Discov...!"



"...event...can't believe this is..."



"...did it! Operation successful!"




Something rumbles and hums.

"The draining process has begun."




Scattering, clicking. Chirping noises in the darkness.

"You're going to secure our future. The future of Team Flare! The future of the beauty that's left!"



This shouldn't be, this sensation of weakness. That was when it fell, when it dragged the lives of the creatures that tried to destroy it down with it, and let itself rest. (It cannot remember what those creatures were, or why, but not all of the sounds it hears are unfamiliar.)

And then it all stops.

Sunlight warms almost-skin again, and it stirs.



In the gardens, there's something that looks almost like a giant egg. Going near it leaves your chest heavy, and the shadows around it seem impossibly dark, even when the 'shell' pulses with light.

Feels like...something is listening.

Ｙ

It waits until the weight of sunlight fades.

A sharp crack splits the air.

As it turns out, this thing was not an egg at all. A creature itself moves-twists-shifts into being.



Yveltal's wings unfold, stretching wide, wide, wide, blocking out the sun the moon the stars--

--and then it collapses, drafts of air alone shattering branches and tearing petals from their flowers.

It's so exhausted, it nearly doesn't get up again. The life that was drained from it hasn't returned.

Black protrusions like claws on its wings and tail draw furrows in the earth, sinking in deep. It needs to fix this before it dies again.

The area around every spike darkens in spreading circles, grass and flowers and bushes withering unnaturally fast, flickering light--red lines being drawn beneath its body.

With several more wingbeats, Yveltal rises into the air--it even makes a few lengths of its body away from its 'nest' before slamming down to earth once more. 

Repeat action; repeat results, and it seems these plants aren't enough.

With the jerky and uncertain movements of something that belongs in the air, Yveltal starts dragging itself along the ground. It needs something with more life inside, or it might not even be able to shift back into its cocoon.

It's not going to try to kill anything, but...it's not going to let anyone get away. 

Comments

[panaceaa]

They fall.

Maybe it's because of the noise the creature makes, sounding almost mournful enough to give them pause. Maybe they're simply too slow. But Guardian doesn't see the sweeping movement until it's too late, and they fall hard regardless. (Well, shit, 2: electric boogaloo.)

Yveltal doesn't have much to worry about in the way of being attacked. Guardian doesn't even think about drawing their sword;
there's no way they could possibly win a fight against something this big. What can you do.

They are, in all honesty, prepared to die. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[makesdestruction]

Yveltal wastes no time in covering Guardian with a wing and yanking them closer, claws squealing over armor and tucking them beneath beneath its chest. A vulnerable position that doesn't matter when the opposing party is unarmed and lacks attacks. A potential punch won't do much even in its current fragile state.

In the space of its chest between its wings, there's a blinding glow. It can't miss when its target is right beneath it, right?

Pitch black and deep red tangle together into a roaring beam of Oblivion Wing straight down, blasting the ground and killing the plants that remain.

[panaceaa]

WELL.

SHIT.

They'd been expecting the claws, the movement, but -- to be drawn closer underneath, the glow, all of it; Guardian kicks at the thing in a blind panic, a move that seems to be ineffectual against something much greater than them. It's a familiar feeling. One they don't like.

The beam hits them, and it certainly feels a lot like dying.

It's tangible, almost, the feeling of their life slipping between their fingers, and it doesn't take very long at all for the impact to hit. They start to cough. And they can't stop, and they can taste blood, which doesn't stop either, making it near impossible to breathe.

If they can't get out from underneath this thing soon, they might suffocate even if Yveltal isn't trying to kill them.

[makesdestruction]

The kick makes it growl and arch its back. It doesn't need stomach bruises on top of the rest of its exhaustion, stupid thing.

Yveltal isn't satisfied with what it gets, but that's what it was expecting. Life drained from a creature without much in the first place isn't going to do much beyond taking the edge off.

Fortunately for Guardian, Oblivion Wing is only a single attack, not a many-turn Leech. When it hears the metal thing making panicked strangled sounds, it pushes itself up by the wings and peers under itself. What are they trying to do now?

[panaceaa]

Guardian is not a snack that smiles back. They're barely even a snack, it looks like, and this is a fact that would give Guardian some measure of petty satisfaction if they knew what was even going on, exactly. As it is, they're glad to be given even just a little room to move.

All they do (all they can do) is tear off their helmet, turning onto their side and coughing still. But at least they can cough out. And not, like, suffocate on their own blood. Again.

They're not even paying attention to Yveltal at this point. Sorry, buddy. Too busy coughing up pink onto the grass.

[makesdestruction]

It's enough to leave it shuffling back. Pink? Psychic color, usually. But...that looks like...Poison.

Yveltal needs that even less than it needs bruises. It drags itself to the side, out of range, and continues to watch the metal-wearing thing. Poison, sickness. It's hard to make sick, like any Legendary, but in its current state the risk isn't worth it.

Eventually, though, it reaches out towards the helmet, scuffing it to knock against Guardian's back.

[panaceaa]

Guardian does notice when Yveltal moves. They just ride out the last of the coughing fit, though, relief crashing through them in waves as it stutters until they're finally able to breathe uninterrupted. No dying today, it seems. Even still, they spend several moments unmoving. Things like this take a minute to recover from.

And then they stiffen when their helmet hits their back, because there's only one way it could've done that. They look at Yveltal over their shoulder. There's pink all over the lower half of their face.

It's not really....doing anything.

Their voice is hoarse. "So are you gonna kill me or what?"

[makesdestruction]

Castle translation isn't quite working for it yet, but it's pretty sure the thing is asking a question. Pity it isn't sure what it might be.

Yveltal lowers itself until it's resting on the ground, legs tucked beneath its torso. That energy boost was definitely not enough for another flight attempt.

Its neck and head still stretch high above, and it pushes its beaklike snout a little nearer. Still not near enough for that maybe-poison to be in its range, however.

[panaceaa]

Well, that suits Guardian just fine. They sit up, somewhat laboriously, in a way that has them facing Yveltal as they do, and they barely even deliberate before tearing a section off the end of their cape. They can just fix it later. Probably.

...They realize they should probably be more concerned about this giant creature that's still very very close to them, considering, but they find they're more preoccupied just wiping their blood off their face.

Priorities.

They eye Yveltal as it moves, though, for all they don't bother moving themself. "I'll take that to mean you're still undecided." It'd seemed to have made up its mind when it...blasted them with whatever that was. Shouldn't... yeah, that should've been something that killed them. Felt like it almost did, but. Hm.

Their hud had been hanging back, as it's programmed to do during a battle, but sensing the lack of commotion, it moves forward to hover just a couple feet above Guardian's shoulder. They're not expecting it to move again though, to the middle point between them and Yveltal, only to ping at the creature inquisitively. Which, well- maybe Guardian should have expected that. It's a curious AI.

(They're wary about Yveltal snapping the bot up, though. That's something they're much less sure about being just able to fix.)

[makesdestruction]

Yveltal watches Guardian clean up. So probably not a willing attack--yes, sickness, or had been poison. Not a Poison-type [Pokémon] in an unusual shape, as crossed its mind. Some [Pokémon] wore metal, too, didn't they? The ones that the others would climb on, at least.

The hud gets a lowered head and a noise back. It's too loud to be called a chirp, but it's closer to that than a full-on scream or roar.

This thing has no life energy and it isn't on wheels, but it's moving. How?