destinystrings | [OPEN] Dog Wrestling

Entry tags:

[OPEN] Dog Wrestling

Who: Yamato and YOU
Where: Capricorn Ward - early evening
Format: Begins in prose, but I'll follow
Summary: ~~Playing~~ Training with Cerberus by fighting it with one's bare hands. Who's up for Demon Tangoing?
Warnings: Sharp claws and sharp teeth.

It had been a very long time since Yamato had last done this - probably not since he was in his earlier teens. Life had been too busy, his duties had taken precedence, and the Chief of JP's couldn't really risk being seen playing with his demonic familiar, after all. One had to maintain a certain image, even for the lower subordinates.

Now, however, he had no need to maintain image or even care about it. Yamato had reached rock bottom as far as his 'reputation' was concerned, and there was a bizarre sort of liberating feeling about it. He didn't have to care anymore, and after reuniting with his old time demonic familiar, Cerberus... well, if Yamato wanted to let off steam and relax by partaking in old plays, then he will!

Although, he made sure to do it in a somewhat deserted place - like the park in Hinoto-Ri. The sun was beginning to dip in the horizon, turning the sky into an indigo colour, and Yamato thought he was just out of sight from the main path. Hopefully anyway. His coat and phone was neatly set to the side, Cerberus - who nearly up to his shoulder in height - stretched and-

Well, they played. Playfighting was the best way to learn how to strengthen one's body through use of spiritual energy. The human body was weak, but it could be reinforced if one knew how to use their spiritual power in that way. Resist Physical - it was a natural ability of Yamato's by now. So there was no issue in wrestling his large, demonic familiar to the ground and initiating a round of playfighting. He trusted Cerberus not to use its claws or fangs too much.

Of course, if you're just walking through the park, as an average passerby, it would look like a man was in the middle of fighting for his life with a giant beast...

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In retrospect, Yamato should have known someone would have leapt to the wrong conclusion if they came across him. He and Cerberus took the playfighting to serious levels, even to the point where Yamato had to hold Cerberus's snapping jaws at bay from his throat. He was far too out of practice as far as he was concerned, because he was exerting more energy than necessary to keep the great beast's head away from him, able to feel the disturbed air from the fangs gnashing mere inches from his throat.

Yamato wasn't concerned though, even if Cerberus looked like it was trying its best to murder him. Cerberus could very easily overpower Yamato and bite his head off if it wanted to, and although it wouldn't make it easy for Yamato to fight back, it wouldn't intentionally injure him too badly either. He was just a bit disgruntled that Cerberus was putting him on the defensive too often.

He had just managed to shift his legs under Cerberus enough to try and kick him off when - another demon entered the fray, knocking Cerberus aside in a sudden movement. Yamato promptly sat up, ignoring the burn of exertion in his arms when he snapped his head around to pin Daichi with a mildly irritated look.

He could hear Cerberus bellowing angrily at being interrupted - oh, he did not want to be Wu Kong right now.

"Of course I'm alright. I wasn't in any danger," he said, sounding miffed, and started to climb to his feet. His shirt was scuffed to hell and back, with grass and mud stains, as well as a few blood stains from where Cerberus's claws had ripped through the fabric. "Call off your demon."

"Wha--?!"

Not in any danger. While he was covered in blood and scratches and stains.

Yeah sure.

In response to Cerberus' angry bellow, Wu Kong let out an equally as angry shriek, though didn't let up on his grip. The shriek was enough to snap Daichi back to attention, and he fumbled again with his left hand hit the right buttons and unsummon Wu Kong. He... didn't really trust the Cerberus, but it was better than letting a full-on fight break out, and he still had Agni at least.

"What do you mean you weren't in any danger?! You're bleeding, that thing was totally attacking you!"

Cerberus snarled when Wu Kong vanished, its long tail lashing about in agitation as its gaze fixed on Daichi instead. It growled lowly, and Yamato turned from Daichi as he made a sharp sounding noise that bordered on not-quite-human. Cerberus instantly quietened, lying down on its belly with its head resting on its paws.

He turned back to Daichi, one eyebrow quirked. "As I was saying, I wasn't in any danger. Cerberus and I were merely pl- training. As for this..."

Yamato looked down then, lifting his arm up to see the clawmarks on his side. The cuts were shallow, and had been accidental, but he supposed it did look quite bad. It stung too, now that he was aware of it, but again, merely superficial wounds.

"It's nothing life threatening."

Cerberus' agitation wasn't exactly missed; Daichi was already half sinking into a fighting stance on instinct, his feet planted firmly apart and his knees slightly bent. It was a relief when the demon seemed to quiet, but that didn't mean he was entirely off his guard, though he did loosen up a bit and turn his attention back to Yamato.

"Yeesh-- just because it isn't life threatening doesn't mean it's dangerous! Besides, it could get infected and make it like ten times worse!"

Hey look, someone learned something at the hospital.

Yamato gave Daichi a long, flat look.

"I'm well aware. Did you think I would leave this injury be? Don't be an idiot," Yamato said dismissively, pressing his fingers gingerly against his side to test the shallowness. Not too bad... a Prayer would be overkill, but possibly too much for him to heal with an unaided Diarama. Prayer it was.

It was then that his gaze snagged onto Daichi's hand... "Hm? Are you injured as well?"

"Well, no, but--" Goddamnit, talking to Yamato always made him feel like more of an idiot.

Thankfully, Yamato provided his own distraction this time, and Daichi's attention was redirected to his own bandaged hand and wrist, idly lifting his right hand a little higher as if he needed to inspect it himself. "Wha-- this? Uh, yeah I... kind of broke my hand a while ago, but it's not that bad. I'm just waiting for it to get better."

Yamato gave Daichi a long, considering look. How could he have broken it? He knew Daichi was prone to running away from harmful events, unless forced to...

"Do you not have any decent healing spells? I can cast Prayer on it, if you wish," Yamato offered, moving away to where his coat was neatly folded up on the floor. He leaned over, letting out a small grunt as he pressed his hand against his injured side, scooping up his phone and flipping it open. Healing option...

"...What?" Daichi hated it when Yamato gave him those long looks you know, because it rarely ever ever meant something good or nice, and it just kind of made him more nervous. Ahahah...ha....ha................

"Oh-- Uh, nah, I'll be fine. It's actually been healing pretty quickly since I went to the hospital. I can't really move it that well, but I'm pretty sure I just have to wait it out at this point."

And after a moment of consideration, a grin. "Heh, thanks for the offer though."

Yamato lifted his shoulders in a shrug when Daichi refused his offer, selecting Prayer for just himself instead. The healing light washed over his wounds and bruises, and the ache in his side was gone. He was still scuffed up, with an odd scrape here and there, but otherwise he was healed.

"Hm?" He snapped his phone shut, half turning towards Daichi with a puzzled expression. "...There is no need to thank me. It was merely courtesy."

He slipped the phone into his trouser pocket, and he strolled back over to Daichi, giving his fingers a little snap (yes, he wasn't wearing gloves, SHOCKER). Immediately, Cerberus jumped to its feet and padded over, its tail wagging from side to side almost like some pet dog.

If Daichi was observant enough he would probably actually notice the lack of gloves. But alas, it's Daich we're talking about. Maybe he'd notice in a few hours.

"Yeah, but I think a few months ago you would've just told me to suck it up and make do with my other hand," He says teasingly, along with a small chuckle to himself afterwards.

A chuckle that was completely gone when Cerberus bounded over, to which he immediately jumped away with a bit of a yell. Not at all like his previous bravado from when he had Wu Kong out, it seemed. "Ge-- Is this thing your demon or something?!"

Yamato looked slightly amused at Daichi's twitchiness, reaching out with a hand to bury his fingers into Cerberus's mane when the beast was close enough. It sat down beside him, its tail thumping against the grassy ground as Yamato scratched it behind the ear, more than happy to be treated as if some kind of pet.

"...yes, he is. I recently managed to summon him to this world, as he wasn't with me when I faced off against Hiro in my world," he answered. "Not to worry, unless you attack me, he won't harm you."

Daichi was watching Cerberus carefully, though, the demon seemed to be pretty chill now... Still, he didn't remember Yamato from his timeline having a Cerberus either...

"What is he, your pet or something?" could you have demons as pets, was that a thing you could do.

Yamato didn't answer immediately. Calling Cerberus a pet sounded a bit...degrading. No, he wasn't a pet. They playfought, certainly, and Yamato did give him the occasional bellyrub, but he was mostly...

"No. He's my familiar - the very first demon I possessed," he finally said, grunting when Cerberus nudged his side with its snout. He shifted his hand to rub between its eyes instead. "Since childhood."

"Since you were a kid?" He's surprised to hear that-- well, no, he's not really surprised that Yamato's been doing it for that long-- except he sort of is? He both expected this and didn't expect this. It was kind of confusing. Either way, the point is, he was looking a bit shocked.

"Dang... I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but somehow it's weirder having it confirmed, and all. They really let you play with this guy when you were just a kid?"

"Well, yes," Yamato said, sounding a bit bemused by Daichi's confusion. Hotsuins learned the art of demon taming as soon as they were able to channel their own spiritual energy. Yamato had to learn how to summon, manage, and negotiate with demons from a young age, and Cerberus was his first. Beast demons were simple, but much more fickle than their more eloquent demons.

"It was encouraged, in fact. Learning how to fight demons barehanded is necessary, and allows the body to become more durable than the average human's, due to how our spiritual energy flows through us as we mature."

Basically, use of spiritual energy to enhance his strength and durability during childhood meant that his body was naturally resistant to physical and almighty damage as he grew older. The human body was miraculously adaptive.

"Really? I thought spiritual energy just had to do with demon summoning and protected you and stuff." Like maybe some kind of...spiritual, bolster, barrier, protective thing or whatever, but he never would've guessed all the rest of that. Seems someone missed the memo!

You know, despite the fact that he could probably punch out Botis now with absolutely no problem. And didn't totally shatter his wrist when he punched a robot.

Yamato's gaze flattened a little.

"...no. Spiritual energy is much more than demon summoning and protections. It is something that resides in everyone, and can grant advantages that those with lesser spiritual energy would not possess."

Like naturally athletic people would find an extra boost to their abilities, or they rarely caught diseases, or they had a unique sort of sixth sense. Really, the talents it bestowed were random and subtle, but it helped outside of the summoning arts.

"That is why when given access to a large amount of spiritual power, you can boost your own abilities. For example; when I channelled the Dragon Stream, I was able to enhance my abilities to allow my magic and speed to reach near superhuman levels. Of course this carries risks, but..."

Of course, that never happened in Daichi's timeline...

Yeah yeah, he's used to your disappointed deadpan, Hotsuin!!

"You can do that?!" Yeah, he definitely had not seen that in his timeline. All he remembered was that Dragon Ring trap thing, and that was pretty bad on its own-- plus the fact that they used it to stop Mizar and yeesh.

"Is there anything you can't do with that thing?"

Oh? Didn't he use it that way when fighting Saiduq and the others? Weird.

"...the Dragon Stream is pure potential, Shijima," Yamato reminded him after a pause. "So long as you have the willpower, and imagination, the Dragon Stream can accomplish many amazing feats."

"So what, you can do anything with it as long as you can imagine it or something?"

He's pretty sure he's played that video game sometime when he was in primary school.

"The Dragon Stream takes the form of whatever its master wishes," Yamato sighed. "So yes, so long as you can imagine it, you can do whatever you want with it. That's how it could do so many things in our world, like forming barriers, becoming a dragon and devouring Mizar, or enhancing one's own strength. It has even been used to carve mountains and rivers in Hotsuin history."

"Whoah...." He's a bit awestruck by the thought. Something limitless like that was a bit big to wrap his head around, even after everything that had happened.

"Can you do that stuff here?"

"No," Yamato said, his eyes narrowing a little. "I cannot. I'm cut off from the Dragon Stream here."

Bred to channel it, it was almost like he was missing something inside of him without the constant presence of the Dragon Stream in the land beneath his feet, or humming above him in form of a shield. It had been disconcerting at first, but now he was simply used to it.

"Aw..." Well he sure sounded oddly disappointed. Not that it was a great thing to equip Yamato with more power (given how bonkers he went when they were trying to beat him back home), but.. well hey, it sure did come in handy against Mizar.

"That sucks. It probably would've come in handy in the future."

"It would-" Yamato paused suddenly, his eyebrows furrowing together in thought. Ah, well, he had successfully summoned Cerberus from their world with very little trouble. Although Amon had taken more effort, and had drained him a great deal, Cerberus had answered his call as if Yamato was standing within his own world - probably because they had known each other for over a decade and were linked quite closely. If the same could be said for the Dragon Stream...

It was tied to the earth, but, perhaps, if Yamato could solicited enough resources and power, and see if Nitta could channel Lugh...

He realised he had been intensely quiet for too long, and shook his head. "Apologies. A thought had occurred that, perhaps it could be doable."

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