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Post by Raphael on Oct 23, 2013 15:38:55 GMT -5
A dark portal opened up along the cliffside, and Arin emerged from the portal first, looking around and noticing all of the scattered blades on the desolate ground. How strange that they all looked similar in design to a key, perhaps there was some meaning behind it that his childhood stories could elaborate on. Now that he thought about it, his parents did tell him once about a war that happened long ago, that scattered the worlds and sealed away a great power from the reach of anyone uneducated in its history. "So, could this be where that battle took place? I always thought that it was just a fairy tale." He couldn't sense any darkness weighing down on his heart, seems like none of those creatures were here to hunt him down. Arin was relieved...until he saw that his swords had become nothing but mere handles. "...Terrific...Guess I'll have to learn how to turn those two on and off as well..." *Alright, we're safe from the monsters, now what can I do about getting rid of these weird clothes?* "Just remove the cloak, the magic will do the rest."
Slowly removing the cloak, he noticed that his clothes had slowly transitioned to look just like the clothes he had on before, only now he had an dark ring on his right wrist, which was slowly absorbing the vanishing cloak in a mist of light "Should you ever be in a world infested by darkness, this ring will manifest the protective garment I've made for you." Arin raised an eyebrow and stared at the ring around his wrist oddly "Kind of dark, don't you think? Makes me think you're trying to trick me into accepting the darkness and let it consume me again..." "There are better alternatives, but until you can find me, this is all I can provide. When the time comes, I will speak with you again, find your bearings until then, and see what you can do on your own."
Sighing, Arin looked over at Locust, to check the state he was in "How are you holding up Locust?"
(I just copied and edited, to make things simpler on us. You can do the same, or start from scratch)
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2013 18:36:19 GMT -5
{I think that is what I'm going to do as well)
"Peachy." Locust sarcastically confirmed. The twinges of pain had subsided for feelings of a strange emptiness. He guessed it was a side effect of losing as many insects at once like that. The gestalt sat down on the barren earth to ease his stressed mind ever so slightly. That was the most he was fought since he woke up with this body. Exerting his will in such a way was not as easy as one might think. His insects wiggled and skittered about as he could not control all of them as tightly at the moment. The ones that he could control the best he used to turn his head from side to side in order to scan their surroundings.
From what he could see of this place, there was nothing but abandoned weapons. They all seemed to be shaped in a similar fashion; all made to look like keys. To him, that seemed like a silly shape to have blade forged in, but then again, he was a pile of bugs right now, so it wasn't the most absurd thing he'd witnessed recently. Though even with that rather amusing thought, there was something about the place that just kept his mood subdued.
"I'll be honest with you. I haven't actually had this body for very long." He confessed to Arin. "Maybe a couple of weeks, maybe a month, maybe more. I don't know."
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Post by Raphael on Oct 26, 2013 8:36:03 GMT -5
Arin crossed his arms and placed a hand on his chin, looking around while he was lost in his thoughts "That's right, you were human before this happened to you, right? You sure you don't remember anything important about your past?"
He felt a slight twinge of pain in his chest that dropped him to one knee, keeping his body propped up with one arm while clutching his chest with the other hand. During this time, a small wisp of darkness escaped his body, which was purged by light glowing from his body. Locust was sure to check on him, but Arin gave him a nod, signaling that he was fine "I don't know how I know this, but my heart is in a vulnerable state...My guess is it's still recovering from my waking up near the mansion, I can't quite explain it myself...I may have to keep my new suit on until I can fix what's happened to my heart."
As Arin rose to his feet, he felt something different resonating with his heart, something more at home than the lingering darkness. He looked around to find it, to sense where it might be, but he couldn't quite pinpoint it yet "Do you feel that?" To Locust, he wouldn't feel anything but the ambient, lifeless air of the graveyard. What Arin was feeling was in his heart, and would only get stronger the more that he searched for the source.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2013 13:29:29 GMT -5
"Nothing useful. I just woke up like this." He gave his friend a half-truth. He remembered his life before the darkness enveloped his world, though that seemed to be fading like a dream remembered a week late, and he remembered waking up in this body in a dark alley in the world they were in before, but area between those two events was more or less blank. No clues at all about how and why he was the way he was now. Locust looked down at the mass of bugs that made up his waist, legs and feet. Maybe someday he'd tell someone about his past, but now wasn't the time.
The gestalt's focus snapped to Arin as his ally abruptly dropped to a knee in pain. A faint aura of darkness escaped from him, but was extinguished by a more powerful light. Strangely, the light caused more uneasiness in him than the darkness, though both were unnerving to Locust's components. Why was that, he wondered. Arin recovered quickly and eased his worries a bit.
It seems he wasn't the only one with issues adjusting to a new body. Or maybe it was just a side effect of warping between worlds the way they did.
'Do you feel that?'
Feel what? Locust looked around seeing if he could spot anything. Nothing. He couldn't sense anything. But then again, he had no reason to think Arin was just trying to joke around.
"I can look around a bit further." He informed Arin as a handful of insects seceded from his main body and took flight in the eight cardinal directions. "If I concentrate, can see what they see.
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Post by Raphael on Oct 30, 2013 16:00:11 GMT -5
Arin started walking forward, slowly turning his head left and right as he felt that strange pull in his heart urging him forward "Call them back, Locust...I can't quite explain it...but I think something is calling out to me..." After a bit more searching with his eyes, they seemed to stop to the left of the crossroads leading toward the center of the graveyard "This way!"
Hooking his sword handles underneath his belt, he sprinted down the open walkway, skidding to a stop before making a hard left turn and sprinting down the adjacent road. "It's down this way, I can feel it!" Seemingly endless swords passed by as Arin sprinted down the walkway, some stabbed into the ground, some laying on top of each other at odd angles as if ripped from their resting places.
This trek through the graveyard of keys eventually led Arin and Locust to a crevice in the mountainside, where a dim light shone from the darkness of this hidden cave. Hesitant, Arin leaned on one side of the crevice and peered into the cave, trying to see what was causing the light within "I heard stories of this place. Apparently there was a great war that took place many years ago, over a power that everyone wanted for themselves. The war forced that power to hide itself in darkness, unreachable by those searching for that power..."
Swallowing the fear in his heart, and urging himself forward, Arin cautiously stepped into the dark crevice, advancing on the light that kept this place from being bathed in complete shadows "...I think this world is where the aftermath of that war resides...But I was told that nothing was left alive..."
If Locust stepped inside along with Arin, a bright light would flash behind him, sealing the cave with an invisible barrier. Should he hesitate too long, the barrier would leave him outside, to wait for Arin's return, or to find a way to burrow inside
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2013 23:16:38 GMT -5
Locust eyed his ally as he pulled back his scouting wasps. He could kind of understand if a tangible entity was what was being sensed, but a telepathic tug? Then again, he was a giant talking pile of bugs. Who was he to question what someone was sensing.
The gestalt staggered to his feet and slowly followed his friend. He did his best to keep his eyes on Arin, but once the sprinted on through the graveyard of weapons, it was almost a losing battle. He was going to do some complaining when he caught up to him, but Arin instantly had started into a small history lesson.
"A war, huh?" He looked around again at the blades. "We think we could believe that." There was definitely nothing alive anymore here, nor did he think anything would ever live here again.
Locust wanted to follow his friend through the barrier, but something in the depths of his soul made him hesitate. Something feared the light and caused the components that made his body to stop moving just long enough for the insect man to miss his window and be cut off from Arin. Whatever lay inside was now for him and him alone to face.
"Arin? Arin!" Locust banged on the invisible wall separating them. "We seem to be cut off. I'm going to try and see if there is another way in."
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Post by Raphael on Nov 13, 2013 21:26:14 GMT -5
Arin heard Locust's call and walked back to the cave entrance, pushing against the barrier, noticing the faint flow on and around the surface he was touching. How strange. The barrier wasn't there beforehand, it must have triggered when he entered the cave "It must have activated when I entered the cave. If you can't find any way in, well, let's just hope those bugs of yours are good diggers." Leaving Locust to find his own way inside, Arin made his way cautiously into the cave. The trek through the dark cave was somewhat bumpy starting off, being too dark for Arin to see the rocks he would keep bumping his feet and sides against when the ground wasn't smooth or if the crevice was too thin to walk straight. Finally, he found his way to a point in the tunnel-like crevice that opened up to a wide clearing. The clearing had a gradual decline leading to the center of the floor, which Arin observed to be in a perfect circle, as if caused from a large explosion. At the center of this rounded cave floor, a sword was stabbed into the lowest part of the center. The sword looked half gold, and half black, split vertically but seemingly hooked together by spikes that criss-crossed in a puzzle fashion near the tip, as if it was meant to split in two. The two sides of the blade had separate hand guards, and there were even two matching keychains connected near the bottom of the sword's grip. "You found your way here faster than expected, your link to the darkness must be stronger than I once thought…Now, to see if you are worthy of wielding a light strong enough to tame your darkness. Approach the keyblade, and place your hands around the grip." Arin stepped forward as that familiar voice echoed in his head, much more loudly than usual. As his hand clasped around the handle of the sword, the entire weapon began to shine brightly, and Arin found that he couldn't remove his hands from the sword grip "What's happening!" The light soon become too bright, and he could feel his conscious fading until everything went white. When Arin came to, he found himself falling headfirst to a round pillar surrounded by darkness, almost pitch black. As he neared the surface, his body flipped and he landed on his feet on the black top of the pillar. A few steps toward the center and the pillar shined pure white before revealing a mosaic of himself in a floating pose in the collage, seemingly asleep. The background reminded him of his home; the Land of Departure, surrounded by a ring of round pattens with that special heart badge that Master Eraquis and his pupils wore. In the smaller circle, an assortment of different emblems, which some seemed to have a similar heart shape. But the center symbol was completely blank, as if something was missing. (the lists of symbols are: Heartless, Nobody, the eye of darkness , curled heart design, a blue, purple and gold luminescent keyhole, and a fleur-de-lis).
While he inspected the surface of the pillar, two of the encircled emblems began to glow, and from them emerged the small humanoid shadow creature like the ones from back at the mansion, as well as a silvery figure he had never seen before. From the way it was portraying itself, it looked to be some kind of swordsman (Neoshadow and a Samurai, his forms when the darkness swallowed him up). The two figures began to merge together, forming into a black mass. When the mass began to reform, it took a humanoid form in an odd black and white designed uniform, a long bandana ties around the eyes but showing yellow rings shining through the cloth, and the black cloth flowed freely, but with no wind blew in the dark, secluded space. As Arin watched the form finish taking shape, he noticed that it was a mirror image of himself, wielding the very same sword that he was holding onto in that cave "…I…don't suppose you're only here to show me the ropes? Eheh…" Not even bothering to respond verbally, the doppelgänger rushed at Arin and swung, full force at him, making the weaponless hero roll out of the way of the strike "I guess not!"
Back in the real world, Arin was down on one knee, clutching the stone-sheathed sword firmly, and looked to be caught in a trance. Surrounding his body was a dome of light, surrounded by a swirling whirlpool of darkness spanning a few feet outward in a funnel shape. Anything approaching Arin while stuck in this trance would instantly be attacked by the pair of creatures that he saw in his "dive to the heart" ((Doppelganger: link but replace Sora's head with Arin's)
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2013 20:36:57 GMT -5
Locust nodded his head in understanding of Arin's suggestions. The first thing he did was look around. There must be another entrance into that cave system somewhere, right? Surpisingly, Locust started feeling better and better. It seemed that the moment's reprieve he received while he was here was enough to revitalize him. Maybe his injuries weren't as physically damaging to him as he had thought. He moved back among the keyblades, his eyes scanned the landscape for more openings that could connect into the sealed off area Arin was trapped in. So far... nothing. Not even the smallest crack that he could slip through. He waded through the abandoned blades once more back to the area he had left his friend. On his way back, his hand brushed the hilt of one of the weapons. A searing pain raced through his head and he let out a monstrous, inarticulate scream. The insects making up his body screamed with him, giving the sound an alien feeling to it. His suffering form looked to start to fall to his knees, but the swarm took flight and dispersed into the air while Locust's will wavered. Each individual fought for dominance now. Every heart strived to make its ambitions a reality. And it was at this moment that Locust realized something truly horrifying: He wasn't alone in his own head. 'Give me control!'
'No me!' 'Mama! Mama! I'm scared!' 'Its so dark' 'Hate. Hate. HATE!' 'I want revenge.' 'Am I dead?' 'I want...' 'Huh?' 'Pain...' 'It hurts...' 'Mama...' 'Waaah...' 'Milo...' 'Give in.' 'Give in.' 'GIVE IN!' Give in to the darkness, Milo.This was the last thing Locust heard before blacking out.
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Post by Raphael on Nov 21, 2013 23:35:20 GMT -5
Arin had to back-step when he got to his feet, the doppelgänger already coming at him again and aiming at Arin's neck with every swing. A few spins left and right to dodge diagonal slashes and he was slowly being backed to the edge of the platform *Crap! If I don't figure something out, I'm going to be my own killer. But I can't fight back without my swords!* ========== In the cave, Arin's body was morphing between his original appearance and that of the doppelgänger, signaling the internal conflict his darkness was forcing upon his body, and the fluctuation between light dominating darkness and vice-versa was showing which side was taking dominance. ========== Arin was backing closer and closer to the edge, mere feet away from being forced off the platform. With no other options, Arin reached for the keyblade just as the doppelgänger was swinging his arm in a horizontal slash. Catching the copy's arm and grabbing the hilt of the blade, Arin forced himself back to the center of the platform *If this is some kind of test, then I'm not gonna let no weapons make me fail!*
While the doppelgänger struggled to get his weapon back, Arin slammed his free hand on the double's wrist, wrenching the sword free and using it like a baseball bat to send the copy stepping back and giving the two a great deal of distance between them "Now who's the one with the sword, huh?" The doppelgänger just stood there, arms to the side as if not putting up any defense against Arin now that he had the sword in hand "Not gonna do anything huh? Fine, I will!"
Arin rushed forward, sword in his right hand, right arm crossed in front of his chest, and bracing for an upward diagonal slash. As Arin made his strike, he felt the weight in his hand almost vanish completely, staggering as he passed his silent clone and looking back to see that the it hadn't even budged an inch while he passed "…Wh…What?!"
Arin spun to face the doppelgänger, just as it did the same. And in a black electric mist, the sword found its way to the clone's hand once again "…You gotta be kidding me…What I wouldn't give for my swords right about now…" A sudden weight in his belt made him look down and spot his sword hilts, but without their blades. "…Here goes nothing I guess…" Taking the grips in both hands, he focused with all of his willpower on the sword handless, trying to find what it was that sparked the creation of those razor sharp blades currently absent from his weapons *Come on…Come on!*
The doppelgänger's sword vanished, replaced by each hand holding one half of the sword in dual wield fashion, and was slowly approaching with its blades poised to strike. Arin was focusing harder now, he could feel he was close, he just had to find that right trigger for it to work on his command *Come on! You did it before, release your blades already! Come on! Release!*
As if timed perfectly, the swords were fully formed, just as the doppelgänger's swords were about to connect and deal a fatal blow. While relieved, Arin didn't waste time with the shock of accomplishment. He brought his swords into the path of the doppelgänger's blades, staring the copy in the 'eyes' with a fierce glare. This wasn't just a one sided battle anymore, now it was an even fight that could go either way "…My turn…" ========== Back in the cave, the auras surrounding Arin fluctuated for a while, before finally stabilizing at equal distribution again, and slowly receding back into his body. Arin's body was also no longer morphing between the two forms anymore. He had control of his power again, now it was time to win this internal battle and prove his worth to this 'voice' that was guiding him.
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Post by Raphael on Nov 29, 2013 0:03:36 GMT -5
Arin and his doppelgänger struggled for several minutes, each one fighting for dominance while blade pressed against blade. Arin was gritting his teeth, using all of his might to keep his 'other self' from getting the better of him. Finally, he made his move. With both of the doppelgänger's blades pushing on him from above, he sidestepped to the right, shifted the grip of his black sword to reverse hold, so that the blade aimed for his shoulder, rather than the ground, and he lunged forward with a left hook, aiming to cleave the clone's head right off. But his copy made the most unbelievable dodge he had ever seen. The doppelgänger literally dropped to its knees and bent backward, barely avoiding Arin's dark sword by inches.
Arin didn't waste time wondering how he managed to drop so quickly, he swung his right arm in an arc, aiming his golden blade straight for the double's midsection. But it was stopped in its tracks by a round, black, blue, and purple sphere surrounding the clone. this made Arin step back and wait for the barrier to vanish "Okay…Things got a bit tougher…Alright you wannabe!" Arin felt something flip on in his heart as he took a singe step forward, shuffling hid foot into an appropriate position. He outstretched his left arm, edge of his dark blade aimed at the rising doppelgänger, while he rested his golden sword on his right shoulder. As he slowly took his position, his body was glowing brighter, and a swirling ring of shadows circled Arin's glowing body "Bring it on!"
The shadows engulfed Arin almost in an instant, a swirling column of darkness as tall as his body, before exploding in a shower of light and dark particles. The doppelgänger was rushing forward, both halves of its keyblade dragging on the ground. As the distance closed, Arin swung his light sword overhead to try and split the doppelgänger's head open with his blade. The clone brought both halves of the keyblade up and blocked the strike, but was wide open to a left hook by Arin, who's dark sword managed to connect with the duplicate's midsection, but only barely. The copy leapt back several feet just before the strike became fatal, clutching its midsection while the keyblade halves dropped to the ground beside Arin.
Arin didn't waste time letting the doppelgänger recover. He rushed at his look-alike and aimed his left hand at it "Fire!" A black wave of flames flew at the doppelgänger, which was quickly deflected by a dark barrier. But Arin expected this. His copy seemed to know the same, or similar moves as him, so he went on the offensive, and forced the doppelgänger's hand by making it cast its barrier to block the fire wave. This left Arin with an open strike, if he was lucky enough to catch the copy without his blades. Arin leapt up and swung with his left hand in a right hook, blade trailing behind again.
Not surprisingly, the keyblade deflected Arin's attack, so he changed tactics. Arin used the momentum of his left hook to sweep the doppelgänger's leg, forcing it to lose balance. Still using the velocity of the spin, Arin swung hard with his light sword, and connected with the doppelgänger's side. While it was wounded, he capitalized off of the copy's vulnerability by flipping the dark sword handle to a conventional sword style, and drove the curved sword into the double's back. Frozen in place by the shock of a fatal blow, the doppelgänger's arms went limp. Finally defeated, the doppelgänger dropped the light and dark halves of the keyblade, which vanished in a flash of light and veil of black, ionized smoke respectively.
Arin's swords scattered into light and dark particles, just as he felt the rush of his power boost vanished as well. And with nothing to keep the doppelgänger standing, it too went limp and fell to the floor. But rather than just lie there, the duplicate began to morph into black mass. While he knew he had won the fight, and likely passed the test that was put before him, he couldn't help but feel he had done something wrong. Because the doppelgänger was smiling as it began to vanish, as if it had won. Arin watched as the last of the black mass vanished, and he saw the center symbol of the collage light up.
The light revealed a new heart design that reminded him of the emblems one of the apprentices of Master Eraqus wore (mark of mastery emblem now added to Arin's station of awakening). Then, he heard it, those voiceless words were speaking to him in his mind again.
"The test is now complete. You have passed, and have now proven to be worthy of the power that was bestowed upon you by grasping the keyblade." "Wait! What gift are you trying to 'bestow' upon me? All I did here was relearn how to use the swords and special power that you gave me back at that mansion. Are you telling me that there's more?" "The key was a means to test the strength of your heart by pitting you against your darkness, as well as pass on the power to wield a weapon similar to those you saw in the valley. But by passing this test, a much more challenging road awaits you once you leave this place." "You're telling me I just gained the power to wield that 'keyblade' my other half had? Then why give me the swords in the first place?" "Because your heart is not yet strong enough to forge your own key, only then will the power be fully available to you. This 'station of awakening' will be here to aid in helping you develop your skills, but only when you become a keyblade wielder yourself will you be able to fully use this place, and will remain locked in your heart until the keyblade manifests itself in your hand."
Arin sighed and shook his head, crossing his arms "…Okay, fine. Then tell me how I get out of this place? I have a friend waiting for me outside of the cave, and I have no idea if he found his way inside the cave yet." "This world is available while you slumber, simply force yourself to wake, and you will return to the real world. You have learned everything that can be taught for now, we will not speak again until you forge your new blade." "…Terrific…You know, for an 'inner voice' you sure seem to make things difficult for me to understand…Here goes nothing I guess…"
Arin closed his eyes and started concentrating as hard as he could, trying to force himself to wake up *Come on, Locust is waiting for me, wake up already!* He could feel a slight tug on his conscience, then all went black.
When he came to, he was inside of a much darker cave, the only remnant of light being a faint glow from the keyblade, and the light coming from outside of the cave, leading Arin to his exit. Arin cautiously made his way through the narrow cave, until the light outside made things easier for him to see the ground, and he could walk freely again. Arin checked his waist and was relieved to see the gold and black sword handles hooked around his waist, at least he wasn't leaving anything behind in that dank, dark cave to worry about.
As Arin left the mountain crevice, he started scanning left and right for Locust, trying to find out where his gestalt friend had gotten off to "Locust? Hey! Locust! Where are you?"
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2013 1:07:33 GMT -5
From where Arin emerged, he could easily see in the distance something flapping amongst the dust in the dry breeze. On closer inspection, he might find it to be a very familiar old, grey robe that seemed to have been recently abandoned on the hilt of one of the dead blades in the massive field that doubled as a grave memorial of a time long passed. The breeze grew stronger, turning up more dust and making a peculiar sound among the swords. It almost sounded like cries and whispers. "Mama..."
"I'm so cold." "Why? Why us?" "Its your fault." "Your fault!" "Where did you go?" "Why did you run?" The wind whipped up into a frenzy, forming a large dust devil around the young man. The whispers grew louder with each new voice. Each one grew more frantic than the last. All of them crying out blindly, it seemed, for someone. "Its all gone."
"It was so dark." "It was so bright." "How could we have predicted..." "Its the end of the world!" "Mama... Where are you? Papa..." "Nothing matters anymore." Among the shadows cast by the abandoned weapons and the dust storm that was beginning to rage, jet black beetles and other insects began to emerge from the ground. All made a clicking noise almost lost in the sounds of the wind and angry voices. It would be terrifying and disorienting to a normal person for such an event to happen to, but in the midst of the chaos came a single voice that could be an anchor for sanity. A voice an ally could recognize. "Arin."Without warning, the insects rushed together, forming a massive, writhing pillar of darkness. From out of this darkness exploded to bright yellow eyes. Eyes that seemed awfully similar to that of a Heartless. The pillar started to move and take a shape. It sprouted humanoid arms that ended with clawed hands and legs ending with similarly armed feet. A vaguely humanoid head pressed out of the top of the pillar around the eyes, though was otherwise featureless. For a second, it cocked its head to the left as if puzzled by the man before it, gauging if it was a friend or foe, but a second can't last forever. The creature, who now could not be identified as anything other than Locust lunged at his ally with a slashing claw in an attempt to rake it across the man's chest and leave deep wounds. The voices persisted, but became wails of pain and suffering rather than comprehensible words. Occasionally one thought slipped in with the screams: "Help me."
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Post by Raphael on Nov 29, 2013 2:50:25 GMT -5
Arin leapt back when the creature took a swipe with its claw at him, already knowing another strike might be coming at him not too long after the first. He could hear the voices chattering in the silent graveyard, and he could tell something was wrong with Locust, but he had no idea what "Locust? What the heck are you doing!" He rolled out of the way of another attack, drawing both of his sword handles and releasing the blades. When Locust's clawed arm came at him again, Arin swung hard with his light sword, aiming for Locust's forearm. The gestalt was comprised of many bugs, so this shouldn't cause too much damage, hopefully it would do enough to keep him at bay long enough to figure out what was going on.
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