2310/Shadow and Souls

Shadow and Souls
Date of Scene:	09 January 2017
Location:	Plot Room #1
Synopsis:	Shadow is out and loose, and attacks a girl and her dog walking home! The girl and dog transform for the first time into Twinsoul Newfoundland, and Sakura captures the Shadow card!
Cast of Characters:	Nanami Hamakawa, Sakura Kinomoto

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Nanami Hamakawa has posed:
It's late, and Nanami is pointedly heading down to a store through back alleys. The point is twofold- one is avoiding the irritant of strangers shying away from Alcyone's sheer size, the second point is declaring that she is finally capable of going to the store on her own. Plus, Tokyo isn't as dangerous as California, nearly.

Or at least, it's not that dangerous under normal circumstances. Nanami is bundled up, her leg brace invisible under her long coat and warm layers. Alcyone moves next to her, wagging her tail slightly. This cooler weather suits her just fine, better than California ever did. The two of them seem slightly oblivious to anything around them, though this isn't true of either dog or girl.

Sakura Kinomoto has posed:
It was a nice, dark day, though... nanami was likely noticing something was off. The area around her seemed a lot less... dark than it had before. In fact, almost all of the shadows had seemingly disappeared. There was still darkness, just no shadows. More an absense of light than shade.

Of course, the people had begun to disappear as well. As if there was no one there to begin with, absorbed into the darkness...

Nanami Hamakawa has posed:
Alcyone noticed it before Nanami, and froze in place, effectively stopping her handler. It wasn't so much that the dog noticed the particulars, just that something was wrong, setting off doggy instincts. She didn't growl, trained against that. Nanami looks around, suspicious of whatever has caused Alcyone to lock up.

"Alcyone...?" Nanami asks. The stop-and-freeze is a signal, something Alcyone's trained to do in case of undetermined danger to her handler. Nanami's blue eyes cast around, and she bites her lower lip. It almost seems like the lights are out, but... that doesn't make any sense...

Sakura Kinomoto has posed:
Then... their shadows began to get pulled from them. They were tugged, joining with a great, swirling mass of shadows about a dozen feet away. Which then surged out at them, tossing aside carts and trash cans before it reared up in a tidal wave of shadows, trying to envelop her!

Nanami Hamakawa has posed:
Nanami dropped like a rock, Alcyone moving to stand over her handler. The dog barks at the shadows, spooked beyond all rational thought (as far as such thing for a dog goes). Nanami clings to the dog's fur, burying her face in it. She doesn't know what's coming, but she can't run, and certainly can't fight a shadow. She simply prays, hoping that Alcyone's barks will scare off the shadowy shape threatening to devour them both.

Sakura Kinomoto has posed:
Andthen, a voice. "Float!" the voice called. And suddenly the two were floating up in the air, out of the reach of the shadow! They were dropped on the roof besides a girl in a strange, bunny costume. Who was being recorded by another girl. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Sakura-chan, you were so cute there~"

The girl sighed, before smiling to them. "It's going to be okay, okay? There's no need to be scared. Everything will definitely be alright!" She then turned towards the shadow, before drawing another card. "Jump!" she yelled, before leaping down from the roof to land on the ground by the shadows, turning to face it.

Nanami Hamakawa has posed:
Alcyone's barks turn into a yelp of surprise. This is mirrored by one from Nanami, and both parties look at Sakura in shock. "..O-okay," Nanami says, rattled. She stiffly scoots her leg out, using Alcyone's bulk to help her haul herself up. The dog braces herself, watching Sakura's antics with surprise.

"What the... what's going on? How is she doing that?"

Sakura Kinomoto has posed:
Sakura Kinomoto leaped up, narrowly avoiding strikes as Shadowy tried to smash her with... a car. "ACK! Careful!" she yelled, hopping across the street corners. "Kero-chan, how do I defeat it?"

"You need to get rid of the shadows, that'll weaken it considerably!"

"Well how do I do that?!"

Tomoyo, meanwhile, recorded it all. "That's Sakura-chan. It's... mmmmmm... how to put it..." She rubbed her chin. "Her magic is being adorable," she said with a big grin. "And the cards think so too!"

Nanami Hamakawa has posed:
Nanami started a little at the fact that the thing threw a car at Sakura. "...Magic? Like. Real magic?" Magic that could, supposedly, fix her leg?

But... if she didn't have her leg all messed up, she wouldn't have Alcyone. The older teen purses her lips, carefully kneeling to watch the fight.

Sakura Kinomoto has posed:
Sakura Kinomoto leaped up again, jumping over another attack... then gets walloped rather hard by one of the mass of shadow's limbs and when flying!

Right at them, intending to slam her straight into Nanami and send them both flying off the roof.

Nanami Hamakawa has posed:
Nanami screamed, Alcyone barking in acute distress at being split up from her handler. It was high enough that Nanami knew, with cold, freezing certainty, that she was going to die of a spine injury. The coldness of that certainty was like icy seawater, washing over her.

That cold certainty transmutes into grief, grief at having failed Alcyone, at wasting the poor dog's life, of grief for the lost possibilities of life. The cold of it becomes entirely literal, a frothing, icy-cold spray of water shooting up around Alcyone and Nanami both. When they are visible on the ground, in a disgruntled heap, Nanami's clothing has changed, a long, furry, white-trimmed coat covering her body, her hair now braided up, close to her scalp. Both dog and girl are covered in the remains of icy water, but glaring down the shadows.

Alcyone looks around, a confused rumble in her throat. "What...?"

Sakura Kinomoto has posed:
Sakura Kinomoto let out a shriek when she slammed into the girl, sending them both toppling out and then--

then it was all okay. She blinked a few times and looked around in confusion. What in the world?

She then looked to the other girl and perked up. "Oh! You're a magical girl too? That's great! Hi! I'm Sakura Kinomoto, a pleasure to meet--"

And then a telephone pole was sailing at them and she shrieked.

"Sakura! Tomoyo yelled.

Nanami Hamakawa has posed:
"...A magical-- oh crap!" Nanami yelps. Alcyone alarm-barks, her voice distressed. The two of them walk in a straight line, a wall of surging, high-pressure water shooting up between Sakura and the telephone pole.

"...What!?" a female voice, different from Nanami's, demands to know. Nanami looks down, eyes wide with shock. Alcyone spoke! Like a human!

Sakura Kinomoto has posed:
Sakura Kinomoto blinked a few times, her eyes going wide. "What in the..." Then... "Your doggy can talk? That's so cool! I've met a few talking doggies! I wonder if--"

"Sakura, Shadow!" Kero-chan yelled.

"Oh! Right, umm, ummm..." Then perked up. "Hey, you've got water powers, right? Do you think you could cover and surround shadowy in water?" she asked, running back towards the edge of the roof and gazing down at the swirling mass of darkness.

Nanami Hamakawa has posed:
Nanami stares at the water and shakes her head. "I guess so!" she calls to the younger girl. The dog growl-grumbles, as if unsure about this whole 'talking' idea. The shiny-new magical duo walks at Shadow with intent clear in every step, the surging magical water-wall cutting off one route of escape.

"If it's a shadow, though, why not just turn on the lights!?" Logical older teen is logical. Logical older teen is also praying her cell phone hasn't gotten ruined by all this salt water.

Sakura Kinomoto has posed:
Sakura Kinomoto nodded and then drew another card. Thunder. "That's what I plan to do. If you could?" she said with a smile. Then... Glanced over. "Wait. Are you only just finding out you're a magical girl?" she asked, staring at her. "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry! I thought you knew! Oh, ummm, well, err-- AHHH!" and had to duck under a flying mailbox. "I-I'll explain after!"

Nanami Hamakawa has posed:
"Considering I thought magical girls only existed in anime and manga until now, yes!" Nanami says back, not smiling. She instead focuses on pinning the Shadow between her (thankfully, safe) phone's pinpoint-light flashlight, and her wall of water. "This is the best I can do!"

Sakura Kinomoto has posed:
Sakura Kinomoto nods and then, once thewater is there... "Thunder! Light it up!" Lightning strikes from the sky and ARCS through the water, sending bright flashing lights around shadow, dissolving its body away in a fine mist until all that remains is a shred of its former self.

Then she draws another card. "Windy! Create the chains to bind it up! Go!" she yelled. A surge of magical wind enveloped the card, containing it in a small sphere. "Return to your true form! Clow card!" She yelled. The card formed and flew up in the air, before slowly flowing down to land between the two.

Nanami Hamakawa has posed:
Nanami falls back on her butt, the fur coat vanishing. Nanami and Alcyone burrow against each other, Nanami clinging to her dog and shoving her face against the dog's fur. She feels leaden, exhausted, and doesn't seem to remember that she's left the light on her phone on.

Sakura Kinomoto has posed:
Sakura Kinomoto blinks a few times and then walks forward, reaching a hand out. "Ummmm... miss? Are.... are you okay? Err..." She then took the girl's hand. And smiles. "I know it might be really, really scary. But there are a whole lot of us! Magica girls, I mean. Dozens! we're all a team, you know? So everything is going to be okay!"

Nanami Hamakawa has posed:
Nanami looks up, and her expression is not one of fear, but dead-eyed exhaustion, like someone who hasn't slept in a full week. Alcyone seems to fare better, but Alcyone has also not been wheelchair-bound most of her natural life. "My name's Nanami Hamakawa. 'm not scared, just... really tired all of a sudden..."

"Nanami!" Alcyone barks, her voice full of worry for her handler. She paws at Sakura's leg, gently, large dark eyes pleading and confused.

Sakura Kinomoto has posed:
Sakura Kinomoto nodded, giving the girl a nod. She then looked to the dog. "Well... do you think you could carry her if she weighed nothing? We can take her home, okay?" she then drew another card. "Float! Ummm, oh. Bring Tomoyo down!" Once done, she'd nod. "Make Nanami-san weightless!" And, true enough, she now weighed 0 lbs! And would put her on the dog, gently. "So, ummm, welcome to Tokyo! I'll get you home and you can sleep, okay? and I can give you my number and answe any questions when you're feeling better."

Nanami Hamakawa has posed:
Nanami shook her head. "My parents will freak if they see me floating." Still, the rest of Sakura's ideas seem sound, and Nanami simply buries her face against Alcyone's thick fur, eyelids drooping.

Alcyone pulls, stopping for a moment and turning her head to flick an ear before walking on, heading for the new place that smells like the family, smells like home.

Sakura Kinomoto has posed:
Sakura Kinomoto nodded. "Don't worry. We can get you inside through a window or something, okay? And if you want to go in the door, I can just end the card once we get to your house. Besides, you're not floating. You're just weightless! Unless your doggy jumps, you'll be fine." And of course she reached out and started scritching the doggy's ears. Because doggy.