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...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"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."

"...Yamato?"

Daichi was sort of used to Hotsuins spacing out and getting lost in thought by now, but that didn't mean he was any closer to being used to it. Though he just kind of looked at Cerberus curiously until Yamato finally came to, perking back to attention when Yamato tuned back in.

"Huh-- Really? You can get access to the Dragon Stream even here?"

"Theoretically, it's possible," Yamato said. "What do you know of contracts between humans and demons - or other entities?"

"You mean besides the usual need for a lawyer?"

Ahaaaaa anyway--

"I mean... not much, really besides all the auction stuff. There wasn't exactly time to read up on a lot of demonology stuff.."

"Hrm, I'll just go into basics then," Yamato said briskly, "You have different types of contracts when it comes to demons. You can have temporary ones to an individual, or a cause - this is the type of contract Kujou made with Shiva. They're usually done for a single act, and require a form of... tribute. These are most common with more powerful demons. The second contract is something you're more familiar with - ones that are made until death of the human. Once you die, the contract is null and void. Well, usually, in any case."

His contract with Cerberus was still in effect despite dying in his world - perhaps his revival remade the contract? This never happened before so... maybe Yamato had unknowingly taken advantage in a loophole.

"And lastly, the third contract is made between a demon, or entity, and a clan. So long as the clan exists, the creature would be bound to serve them until every last drop of that bloodline is extinguished," Yamato smiled wryly, "Not many sign this contract, for obvious reasons, but this is the type of contract the Hotsuin have with the Dragon Stream. By using this contract, I can use it as a type of... how to explain... I can use it to call forth the Dragon Stream into this world. If all goes well, of course. There are many factors that can make this fail, as the Dragon Stream is a special case..."

Give him a minute to process all of that, Yamato, he didn't expect a sudden infodump like that. Though thankfully this one seemed...pretty easy to follow. He hoped.

"So... like an anchor?" That was kinda want it sounded like. Hotsuins existed in this world, so the contract was still valid, right? "What could happen? I mean, I guess it'd be hard since we're not actually from this world? And the way the Dragon Stream acted back home was already pretty crazy..."

"That's the odd thing," Yamato hummed, "When I summoned Cerberus, there was no... strain to it. Although I summoned him from another world, and there should have been some sort of drain on it, there wasn't. I presume it's mostly due to the, ah, crossroad nature of this world. Perhaps so many people from alternative worlds coming here make it easy for creatures and demons to cross into here as well."

He shrugged, "But, right, what could happen. There are numerous ways it can go wrong, so I will have to prepare extensively before attempting it. The Dragon Stream is in contract with the Hotsuin family, but it is a primal force and is prone to moments of mindless aggressiveness. When that occurs you merely have to reassert your dominance over it."

I.e Defeat it in battle.

"Reassert...dominance?"

hang on give him a minute

"Wait-- You mean you have to beat it?!" Suddenly he looked like that was a much less cool idea than he had initially thought it would be. "Can you even beat something like that?! I mean we couldn't even beat Mizar without it...!"

"Ah, sorry, I wasn't clear," Yamato chuckled quietly. "You don't reassert dominance in battle - well, that is an option, but I don't recommend it unless the Dragon Stream is handicapped or weakened in some manner." He wasn't around when everyone fought the Dragon Stream, after all, so he didn't know that this is what Daichi and Co. did.

"Reassert dominance... what I mean by that is imposing your will upon another entity through spiritual dominance. That is the basis of demon contracts. When you summoned your first demon, you had to show your strong will to live and triumph, correct? In low levelled demons, this normally translates to defeating them in battle, as they defer mostly to physical strength or ingenuity. The Dragon Stream is a special case, in that you assert dominance by controlling it through your spiritual strength."

Oh dear, it seemed Yamato was beginning to slip into lecture mode once more.

"Such as, when I was fighting Hiro in my world... when channelling the Dragon Stream, I had to maintain an iron will to keep it obedient. It is primal, and if my will hesitated or weakened for even a moment, well, unfortunate symptoms would have occurred, such as my soul being devoured, or my internal organs rupturing, or my body even exploding. This was the risk that Nitta herself ran when channelling Lugh. If she had failed to assert spiritual dominance over Lugh, her Death Clip would have come true.

"So, in conclusion: asserting dominance over demons is mostly about strength of will. If that entails physical fighting, then so be it, but it is usually just about showing your, ah, moxie."

Edited 2013-04-09 10:06 (UTC)

"R-Right... Lugh..."

Daichi gulped slightly at the memory, a distant frown coming to his face. Of course, the actual events hadn't played out the worst case scenario-- she'd survived and triumphed, of course! But the thought of it possibly going wrong... well, he already spent one day worrying himself sick over it in the middle of an alien invasion, he didn't really wanna think about it again.

"S-So-- you have to do that here, with the Dragon Stream? How are you supposed to do that? Just think really hard?"

He was hoping he'd actually be able to lend a hand, buuuuut...

Yamato laughed a bit.

"Nothing like that. The Dragon Stream's contract is bound to my blood, so in theory, it would be quite simple to summon it through that. That is, I would have to create the proper summoning circle, and offer up the proper amount of blood. This is where it becomes complicated, however..."

He pressed a hand against his mouth, frowning in thought - and unknowingly resembling a certain other white haired man. "The amount of blood offered as tribute is in proportion to the demon's power. That is why you have some extremely powerful demons that can only be summoned after sacrificing 'x' amount of humans or animals. With the Dragon Stream, I would have to offer up an obscene amount of my own blood - more than I have in my body. Normally, if we have to awaken the Dragon Stream from hibernation or death, we have a large portion of the Hotsuin family offering blood, but..."

He and Miyako were the only ones here, so Yamato would have to either research a way to summon the Dragon Stream with a reduced tribute, or start the process of withdrawing blood over the course of months.

Daichi admittedly spaced out a moment watching Yamato's gesture-- a familiar gesture, but he couldn't quite remember where he'd seen it before...

Of course, the topic of conversation snapped him back to attention pretty quickly, and well-- it...certainly wasn't what he had been expecting. he was just a Tamer, not a Summoner after all--!

"S-Seriously...?" Needless to say, his face turns a bit pale at the thought of...sacrificing your own family to summon a weird magical entity. "D-Dude-- forget I asked! If that's the only way to do it, it's not even worth it."

"It isn't the only way. Don't be ridiculous," Yamato snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "Do you honestly believe I would sacrifice myself to summon something no one else could control here?" Well, Miyako could, but Yamato had a better affinity with the Dragon Stream. "No... it will only take a bit of research and, hm, 'cheating', to summon it with minimal tribute."

"No, but-- dealing with something that you have to summon like that by yourself? I mean I guess you have Miyako here, but it sounds dangerous..."

Don't snort at him when he's trying to be concerned ok!! "Besides, how are you supposed to cheat something like...that it sounds like it'd be more dangerous than just doing it the right way!"

"The Hotsuin have developed numerous ways to cheat in summoning," Yamato said, his eyebrows furrowing together now. Honestly, was Shijima concerned about his safety? A nice gesture, but, unnecessary. Yamato summoned demons since he was five years old - he was a genius even within the high standards of the Hotsuin family for succeeding in such an amazing feat.

"Such as our creation of a demon summoning app. Of course, Alcor's was superior," he could admit that much at least, "But we managed to digitise the summoning rituals, and cut down on many of the processes of tribute, summoning spells, and willpower. It worked no matter how lacklustre you were - of course, the demon may still devour you if you weren't strong enough, ahaha."

He waved a hand. "So there is no need for concern. I know what I'm doing, and I am the most powerful summoner within the Hotsuin family. There is a chance of failure, but the rate of success is higher."

Oh yeah. They did make their own summoning app, didn't they? Guess he kinda forgot that part seeing as he went the whole week using Alcor's app.

"So... you can digitize communication with the Dragon Stream?" That... sort of sounded like what he was saying? Maybe? Possibly? He really had no idea and you could probably tell from the look on his face.

"Urgh... if you say so. Try not to get a city block killed, at least."

[OPEN] Dog Wrestling

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