Everfree Forest, Night Time
"LUCENT BEAM!"
*BOOM!*
"GAH! Son of a-!" K didn't even get the courtesy to finish his sentence as he had to roll out of the way of a lunar beam crashing down upon him, where yet another crater formed on the already damaged surroundings. The moment his roll ended, he immediately jumped backwards, the ground he was previously on suddenly being viciously marred with claw marks as Nova blurred into existence and skidded a little on the ground.
K landed in a crouch, slightly out of breath, but he didn't get a chance to fully recuperate as he instinctively raised the Blink Dagger in a reverse grip. A resounding clang echoed throughout the gorge, as dagger held its ground against glaive, effectively blocking Luna's downward strike that was meant to cleave him in half.
K easily overpowered her, pushing her off which allowed Luna to make a temporary retreat. His leg lashed out at behind him with a powerful kick, knocking Nova into a tree, who immediately went out of action. Luna gritted her teeth in anger, as she saw her companion fall, and threw one of her glaives at K's exposed back with deadly accuracy, charging forwards as she did causing K to curse inwardly. He spun around, expertly grabbing the spinning weapon as he did so, and met Luna's charge with his own.
Luna didn't want to admit it, as it was a severe blow to her pride as a warrior, but she knew all too well that K was still stronger than her. This had not been their first encounter nor would it be their last one either. Narrowing her eyes, she knew that she would have to use her trump card earlier than expected. Hopefully it would catch him off-guard.
"I'm sorry, Tia," Luna mentally apologized to her sister. "But I'm afraid I will have to use that move."
Across Luna, oblivious to her plans, K was cursing his luck. What were the odds that Luna knew he was here? In fact, HOW did Luna know he was here? Was there some kind alarm enchantment on this cave? That would make some sense, but why is only Luna here? Surely an unknown that was near the Tree Of Harmony would warrant both the princess' attention, right?
"Agh, I gotta stop over thinking stuff in the middle of a fight," K thought resolutely, focusing on the alicorn in front of him as he went back into his stance. "The important thing is that it's only one princess I have to deal with... Is it just me? or is it getting darker for some reason?"
K knew that it was a rookie mistake on his part but he looked up anyways, tearing away his attention from Luna. He couldn't help it. The moment his eyes looked at the sky his face blanched in fear. He quickly diverted his eye back to Luna, who was now being shone upon by the moon's rays like a spotlight, and allowed a small inaudible curse to escape his lips. This time however, he didn't move or do anything to escape. His Blink Dagger currently useless as it's blink energy had been used up during their impromptu duel. So all he did was heave a defeated sigh and look back up at the lunar eclipse. As well as the multiple concentrated beams of lunar energy that were now racing towards him.
"Well cra-"
*BOOOOOOM!!*
Her energy spent, Luna nearly collapsed onto the ground were it not for Nova who quickly rushed to her side to offer support. Still breathing harshly, she scrutinized the giant steaming crater for any signs of her defeated adversary. Although she wasn't surprised when she found none and only let out a small frustrated sigh.
"It seems that, once again, he was two steps ahead of me," Luna thought with a tinge of bitterness, respect and frustration, all at once if such a thing were possible. "As to be expected of him... But what was he doing here in the first place? And so near to the Tree... What was his purpose?"
It had been an incredible roll of chance that she chose this particular night to hone her skills, after being imprisoned in the moon for a thousand year. And what better place to train, than the unpredictable and dangerous Everfree Forest? So armed with her gear, as well as accompanied by her loyal partner, Nova, who had been imprisoned in the moon along with her, the both of them set out towards the forest. Only for them to have a brief encounter with The Keeper.
Storing away her thoughts for later, she leaned away from Nova so that she could stand properly, levitating the glaives to her side holsters and abruptly turning away from the crater to leave. Only to for her slip up and fall on her rump, exhaustion still evident on her expression, as beads of sweat rolled down onto the rough surface. Nova was quick to move towards her mistress, butting her head slightly against Luna, worried on her state of condition. Luna merely grinned at her lifelong friend, stroking the fur on Nova's exposed head.
"I am fine, Nova, just a little tired." Luna tried to say convincingly, but still Nova wouldn't have any of that as she tried to check Luna for any visible injuries. This action caused Luna to roll her eyes, lightly shoving Nova away in a playful manner. "Stop being such a mother hen, Nova, I told you I'm fine."
Luna giggled lightly at Nova's irritated expression before standing on all fours albeit a little wobbly, her face turning serious as she once again looked at the crater.
"Although this is a cause for concern," Luna mused to both herself and Nova, who listened attentively at her words. "The Keeper only takes action when he must prepare for something of epic proportions. For him to be on the move... I must speak of this to... Tia."
At this, she let out a tired sigh, knowing that once she gets back home Celestia will either scold, pester, worry, question, or all of the above and more. She felt her eye twitch as she heard Nova silently snicker at her decided fate.
"Oooh, I am not looking forward to this evening, but..." Her horn started to glow in preparation for a basic teleportation spell, humming slightly as it charged up. "It is much better than isolation... though maybe I can avoid Tia's overprotective mother phase if I offered her a day to spend with you Nova."
One known fact between the two was that Celestia adored Nova almost as much as Luna. Which is why it was to Luna's great Nova's usually gruff expression faded away to one of immense horror. She could almost feel the comb forcefully being raked on her fur, getting rid of all the knots she in them she didn't know she even had. And the frills... By Selemene, the frills.
Nova didn't have time to bark out a negative response to that plan as they both poofed out of existence. Most likely already in Canterlot, at this point.
Truthfully, she should've stayed for a while longer because if she did... well... she would've seen the very bottom of the crater shimmer slightly and reveal a charred and smoking K lying face down, still alive and kicking, although twitching a little every now and then. Painfully, he turned over so that he was now lying on his back, eagle spread, allowing a small flask to roll out of his hand.
Smoke of Deceit. Such a small useful tool to use in the nick of time. Though B.K.B would've been a better choice for that situation. And although his semi-immortal body could handle it, it was still troublesome to deal with 3rd degree burns marking his exposed skin, his clothes relatively unharmed due to the enchantments placed on them.
Groaning in agony, K got up to his knees, ignoring the way his body flared up in pain every time he moved a muscle. Reaching into his shirt, he clenched a little red trinket that hung around his neck as a makeshift necklace. After moments of holding it tightly and bits of reddish glow escaped his enclosed fist, he opened his hand, almost instantly feeling a rush of energy fill his body. Slowly, the burns and injuries started to heal, not completely though but just enough.
Sighing in content, as the Heart Of Tarrasque did its job, K looked around at the deep crater he was in and began to walk out of it. As soon as he got out of the crater, he gave it a backwards glance before collapsing back on his knees and eventually on the ground again. As he lay there on the cold, rough surface, feeling his vision dim, he couldn't help but let out a bark of laughter. Was it not only this morning that he was tending to a certain zebra who was unconscious, as well?
Before his eyes fully closed, he heard the familiar sound of sprinting hooves as well as a weight of something suddenly jumping on his chest. Looking towards his chest, he saw a white rabbit looking back at him with a stern but worried expression.
"...Snowball?" K barely managing to groan out. What was his ex-guard/assassin/messenger doing here? Last K had heard from him, Snowball had retired and was living under a new alias... What was it again? Anchor? Antler? or was it Anger?
"Angel Bunny, why did you run off- Oh my!"
Oh yeah! That was it, Angel. Weird choice, considering... Wait... Why did that voice sound so familiar?
Turning his head slightly to the side, he saw a butter yellow pegasus over his body carefully tending to him with worry stricken eyes. She was saying something to him in a frantic tone but he couldn't hear any sound, before his eyes closed shut.
"Oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh, what do I do? What do I do?"
Clearly Fluttershy was panicking. Honestly, who wouldn't?
If you saw a strange creature, severely injured and inches away from a huge crater, with your pet bunny standing on it, wouldn't you react the same way?
Fluttershy was about to turn in for the evening, wishing all her animal friends good night, when Angel suddenly sprung up from his bed, expressions of shock, fear and worry evident on his face. This was more than enough to worry her greatly, but when he made a mad dash for the exit, quickly making his way into the Everfree Forest, Fluttershy didn't even worry about the dangers. Only her worry for Angel and what could have happened that made him react that way made her throw away all caution to the wind, giving chase to the frantically moving rabbit, who weaved and hopped around any obstacles large enough to impede him in his rush.
All her questions and worry were answered when they reached their unknown objective, which led to Fluttershy's current state of panic.
"Oh, it's gonna be okay, Mr. Strange Creature," Fluttershy said with worry as she carried him on her back, heaving with ll her might. Though his hands and legs were still touching the floor, so it was more of a half carrying/half dragging situation. "Help's on the way."
And with that, she made her way back to her cottage, Angel following close behind her, discretely analyzing their surroundings for any imminent threat. Judging from The Keeper's condition, Angel couldn't help but think that it was more than likely that in the near future, he would have to take up arms once again. And call a few friends while he was at it. Faust knows that he would need all the help he could get.