oo2 || Video

[freezerburned]

Alright, I think I've got this shadow thing worked out.

[Isaac mutters into the video, as he absentmindedly flexes his fingers, casting shadow puppets on the wall. After a few moments, the shadow of his hand peels from where it sits, becoming a separate entity entirely.

He flexes his fingers, and the tangible shadow of his hand flexes as well- except the dark 'fingers' begin to file down to sharp, pointed claws. Useful, even if the shadow is trembling, as if he's still having difficulty keeping it whole.]

Now I wanna see what it can do to someone else. [And Isaac grins back toward the camera, dropping his hand and letting the shadow dissipate into nothing.] Anyone wanna go at it? Powers on powers. No holding back.

I'll be at the arena in fifteen.

[[ooc: feel free to just tag in with an offline if you want!]]

Comments

[video]

[hollowchild]

Oh, I'm not worried about being hurt.

[video]

[freezerburned]

...oh?

[That makes him pause, the grin slipping from his lips.]

[video]

[hollowchild]

I made a promise to someone, that's all.

[that and she's spent enough of her life fighting that she's really not afraid.]

If you'd like to spar to try your shadows against mine, I will. But I won't truly fight.

[video]

[freezerburned]

You're a little sure of yourself.

[YOU'RE ONE TO TALK.]

But yeah. That'd be good practice for these powers, I think.

[video]

[hollowchild]

Am I?

[shouldn't that be setting off some warning bells, issac? or the fact that she promised someone she'd stop picking fights? no? cool.]

I'll meet you at the Arena, then.

[video]

[freezerburned]

[Isaac doesn't have warning bells. The part in his brain that would start ringing if something is off doesn't exist.]

Cool. See you.

[action]

[hollowchild]

[might be lucky for him she's serious about not fighting for real, then. sophie shows up at the arena in pretty good time, in normal street clothes, fairly bundled against the cold. she's definitely familiar with the place]

[action]

[freezerburned]

[Isaac turns to her when she walks in, grinning at the familiarity of it.]

Hey! Glad you could make it.

[permaaction]

[hollowchild]

[sophie smiles in return, a little surprised at the sudden friendliness. she shrugs out of her coat]

Hello, Issac. So, how would you like to go about this?

[freezerburned]

[He gives a little one-shouldered shrug, making his way toward her.]

You think you're pretty good at fighting, huh?

[hollowchild]

I already told you that I'm not fighting today.

[but if he's paying attention, he will notice that her weight just shifted subtly onto the balls of her feet, and while she doesn't look intimidated in the slightest, she is watching him pretty closely. good fighter remains to be seen, but experienced fighter? definitely]

[freezerburned]

Yeah, yeah, don't worry.

[He raises up his hands. See, Sophie, he's innocent.]

I'm not a jerk. I wouldn't hit someone if they weren't already going to hit me.

[hollowchild]

[very convincing, issac.]

Well then, that makes things simple. So, how would you like to do this?

[freezerburned]

I don't know. Can you actually fight with just shadows?

[hollowchild]

I haven't actually tried pitting my shadows against others, but they're solid enough, so it seems like it should work.

[freezerburned]

Weird. Yeah, I guess there's no harm in trying.

[He glances up toward the ceiling of the arena.]

Let's put out a couple lights first.

[hollowchild]

[there are probably lightswitches for that, so she'll find them and cut about half the lights]

Better?

[freezerburned]

Yeah.

[There's a pause.]

I'm, uh- better at it when I'm sitting down. Come on.

[And he'll lead her to a part of the floor that's sort of nearby the walls. Isaac isn't quite sure where this is going, but he's- rather amused that after all his fronting, Sophis is most likely going to continue to be a teacher to him.]

[hollowchild]

It's easier to concentrate that way.

[she will, yes. and possibly smack him around a bit in the other thread too, because violence is fun. as far as she's concerned, everyone needs to be as skilled as they can, because there's a war on. sophie sits down across from him, wherever he sits, leaving about five feet between them]

[freezerburned]

[Isaac nods and rolls his shoulders a little.

His shadow grows up on the wall behind him like a weed, becoming more slender as it grew taller, the conservation of the shadow still a rule that he has to obey.]

Alright.

[The shadows arms stretch out, clawlike fingers tearing themselves away from the wall.]

[hollowchild]

[no longer bound by such rules, sophie's shadow simply seems to stand up off the floor, fully three-dimensional as it comes to stand between her and issac. it's shorter than she is and more solid in some places than others. she hasn't put any effort into giving it a face of any sort, though it has perfectly articulated hands with inhumanly long fingers]

[freezerburned]

[Isaac's own shadow swoops to wrap around him, shaking just slightly with the strain of being separate from the wall. Isaac steeples his fingers against the cold ground, brow furrowed in concentration.]

You're still better than me.

[But not for long, he hopes. Not with his own shadow lashing out against hers, one of the arms stretching to skewer her shadow person through the chest.]

[hollowchild]

You sound surprised.

[it works, but it also doesn't hurt her shadow, to be skewered where it wasn't terribly solid to begin with. her shadow wraps one of its long-fingered hands around the arm of his shadow, trying to hold it, and takes a step back, seeing if his shadow will stretch. behind it, sophie's looking curious, focused but not taxed]

[freezerburned]

Disappointed, maybe.

[He's breathing a little hard, and the shadow moves after it, still connected to Isaac's back. After a few moments of the stretch, the darkness breaks off like glass shattering and recoils back to Isaac's side, swirling around his shoulders and regaining the volume that it had lost. It's tangible, it can be manipulated.]

I've been practicing a lot.

[And he takes a deep breath before the tendrils of darkness all shoot out at once- six of them, narrow and thin, like fragile ribbons, aiming to wrap around the limbs of her person.]

[hollowchild]

You have been practicing.

[she sounds approving as the tendrils catch around the shadow-sophie, who actually solidifies enough to keep them holding before systematically trying to fight free. the fingers of one of its hands lengthen even more and sharpen to wicked looking crescents, then flex and bend to try and sever one of the tendrils]