Possessed By Hatred! A Noble Spirit Tested (Tal and Cellus)

After getting struck by the attack Cellus stumbled back, letting out a piercing scream, as though her real self had been fighting and screaming for escape and had finally broken through. She fell against the wall and slid down, sobbing and shaking, curling into a ball once she hit the ground.

~~~~~
Evil Seed (Cellus) Resists Light Attack
Roll 13 + Resistance 5 = 18 (Fail)

The member 'Cellus' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 13

Shaking his head in confusion as the light faded around him, Knuckles groaned in pain, a seed laying in a puddle of spit at his feet, "What hit me...?"



"And that's my cue to exit stage left," Jacen grimaced at the unfavorable turn of events, his form dissipating.

"No ya don't!, " Knuckles grabbed for him, but he was already gone, "Damn!"



Wasting no time, Tal rushed over, scooping Cellus up in his arms and covering her with the top portion of his own gi, leaving him shirtless, "Cellus... So sorry, I am, that I was not quicker to your aid."

Cellus didn't answer Tal, she merely continued to sob, reaching out to cling to her fellow grasslander as if he was the only thing keeping her in this world, as if she feared Jacen would snatch her away if she let go.

Tal was equally silent as he held her close for a long moment, pouring his healing energy into her to secure her wounds before even thinking about his own.

      

The others looked on silently in both shock and sympathy. There were no words that could possibly help at this point.

At length, Tal carried Cellus over, handing her to Burk with an expression that brought a cold sweat to the large grasslander's face.

"Tal!," he called after his friend as the monk turned to leave, "Where are you going?!"



"To kill Jacen," was the hero's singular reply before he stepped out the door and took to the sky.

"Don't..." Cellus choked through her sobs, "Don't... please... don't let him... go alone..." she whispered, before burrying her face in Burks chest.

"You got it, little lady," Knuckles gave her a thumbs up with a confident grin, "I've been meanin' to try out a new technique anyway."

With no more goodbye than that, the young brawler ran out the door and leaped high into the air, but instead of coming down, he only seemed to move higher until, finally, he steadied himself like a bird in flight.



"We need to warn the others," Burk looked down at Cellus with a kind but firm expression, "I've... never seen Tal that focused. Whatever we're facing, it's bigger than just an old tiger's last bite. Want me to carry you?"

Cellus nodded slowly, drawing Tal's gi tighter around her and holding on tightly to Burk. She felt the desire to be held, to be told that it wasn't her fault, even though she knew it was. If she had been a little bit stronger, none of this would have happened.

Thankfully, Burk knew his friend, "It wasn't your fault, Cellus. It wasn't. I had one of those things in me too, and who's tougher than me, eh?"

Cellus turned her tear stained face up to Burk, "But-but I started it, if I had fought him harder... you wouldn't have had to-" she broke off, her lip beginning to quiver again. She quickly burried her face again to hide her shame.

"Hey...," his voice and expression softened as he cradled her, "You can't think about things like that. What if the Great Chief never sent us to find Tal? What if we didn't go? It's not the choices we could've made that fill our lives. It's the choices we did make, and I bet you anything Knuckles is glad you were there to bring him back at that castle."

Cellus didn't look up as Burk spoke, but her body relaxed slightly. She let out a whimper and clung to Burk even tighter, letting a quiet, "Thank you," slip past her lips.

Burk only smiled in response, "Let's head back to town. Tal and Knuckles are gonna need some help for this."

And so, Brother Light by their side, the the two made their way back to town...