Mens Sana in Corpore Sano

Zoe hadn't ever had anyone bow to her before, like that. Made her feel a little special, honestly. Still, this Luna had given her a job, and she was gonna at least try to help Maya. A job, she could do. Maybe it'll get her mind to focus, at the very least.

All at once, the rabbit's posture and disposition seemed to change. She was very still, and her posture was rigid, yet relaxed. Curiosity got the better of her, and she couldn't help peeking around to see Luna's face, seeing her changed eye color along with her distant gaze. Was this part of her own magic, too? She was careful not to touch her, unsure of how much contact might disturb what she was doing.

Still, she had a job to do. She backed up from Luna and took a seat behind her, right at the location that she had laid out, watching her like a hawk for any changes she could notice. She described it as "great discomfort", and while that was fairly vague, she could think of a few things that might count: shivering, twitching, arms subconsciously going towards parts of their body that feel in pain, among a few others. She wasn't going to jump right in for just one, but once it got to a certain point she'd be quick to pull her as hard as she could. The fox's gaze bore into Luna's, not in an oppressive way, but a watchful one, right now acting as her lifeline.

Zoe's fist clenched as she sat there, watching. She was having trouble staying calm, through all of this. But, she was trying to internalize what she could for now, when she was needed.

"Hang in there, Maya..." Zoe's voice was practically under her breath, more for herself than anyone else. A quiet prayer, for things to work out.

The first thing that Luna cold describe of her arrival area is desolate, a frozen wasteland graveyard, could even feel the chill of the environment. If it wasn't for her mental fortitude and dream aspect, she would have shivered. Something is very wrong here. This place, it was almost mirroring the chill of Maya's body in the real world figuratively and literally.

In the immediate part of her sight are...two of the same person? One of them was brutally stomping the other to the ground. Was the dominant one the cause of the mage's reality plight? Unfortunate her control was far from adequate this early on in someone else's dream that she only have her real world abilities for now. And judging by the fact that this other being not only acknolwedged her being but was unfazed by the instrusion, she was likely not one to be taken lightly.

After bracing herself, a brief surge of mana occurred and a sudden gust of wind washed over the field, one that is so thick it was almost solid. The one lying down would be far less affected due to her prone state, but the one standing would feel the the torrent of air that would force her away from the lying figure.

"Two occupying the same mindscape? May I inquire who you are and why are you doing this?" Luna's voice was non-confrontation and even cordial while maintained a relaxed, demeanor yet. However, her eyes and ears remained alert for any action she spoke. An illusion spell already in mind if the other one decided to move aggressively against her.

"My name and intentions are none of your concerns," the woman snarled, digging her foot deeper into her lookalike, causing her to let out a pained scream. "You should be concerned about yourself, little rabbit."

The doppelganger's eyes were fixated on Luna now, shining bright in the dark, snowy world. The light itself was focused around Luna and the two women, as if they were actors on a stage.

"I'm very busy, as you can see," she continued, seemingly unfazed by the sudden gust of wind blowing her way, despite her hair and clothes very much confirming it reached them.

Luna noticed the light shining upon herself, and wondered if it will trace her presence whether she is out of sight or not. She will have to test the extent of its power soon.

"Unfortunate, I cannot in good faith allow what you are doi-" The moon rabbit used her dialogue to draw the doppleganger's attention as her hand had quick drew her hand gun to fire a pair of sharp quills at her as she finished her sentence. "-ng to continue." Her eyes rather focused on the projectiles itself at the moment, ready to suddenly change their trajectory with an alteration of the wind at a moment's notice.

For a moment, even before she pulled the trigger, Luna could see the light gleam on the monster's barred teeth, with her lips curling into a smile. Luna would find that the doppelganger had no intention of avoiding the attack. Her reaction, as the IDOL operative predicted, was beyond the peak level of any regular human. Even through a surprise attack made with a gun, no less, the doppelganger raised her hand as quickly as Luna drew the pistol, and struck leftward.

"Tsk. Weak body," she grumbled, staring at the two quills stuck in her forearm, blood trickling on the fallen Maya.

Her gaze shifted back on the moon rabbit. Murderous intent, so strong and oppressive that it could make one grasp for air, pierced right through Luna. The doppelganger's smile turned into a full-blown grin. "I'd be careful if I were you, rabbit..." She pulled out the quills from her arm, wiping the blood with her sleeve. "For when the next droplet falls... I will kill you."

Her ears twitches, eyes fixated on the motion, the speed and instantaneous response. And that glare...that killing intent was so concentrated that was was nearly suffocating, like a rabbit staring up at a bird of prey that it cannot get away from. Had it not been for her past experience deal with this situation, she would have been paralyzed with fear on the spot.

Luna murmured a few words to herself, almost like a foreign spell of a sort. Then her form blurred briefly and fade for a moment, all while Luna step to the side and kept an eye on the light above to see if it still followed her. Luna then appeared, followed by another Luna, stepping from the opposite direction with the same spotlight following the second one. The crunch of feet on the snow occurred from both moon rabbits.

"And the curtain rises." The Lunas bows before each rabbit sprint towards flanking opposite side of the doppleganger, moving in an unnaturally fast velocity, powered by the wind.

The woman's gaze never left her bleeding forearm, though her devilish smile would tell Luna that she was definitely being watched. Her bright, yellow eyes descended together with a single droplet of blood as the two shapes of Luna prepared to flank her.

"Now which one is it?" she said, noticing the droplet almost falling from her limb.

(Sense - 88!)

"It's you, isn't it?" The unhinged doppelganger snapped her head towards the left Luna. "Yes, it is."

Luna could only try to act detached and emotionless, even as the predator successfully sniffed her out. All of her intricate illusions, all of her trickery and psychological defenses, none of it mattered to the bloodthirsty being before her. And as the first drop of her blood fell onto the white snow, so did the doppelganger spring into action, a lightning-fast dash towards the uncovered Luna.

This was inconvenient, very inconvenient. Despite her effort, she was already discovered. Was she losing her touch?

Luna's acute ears picked up the motion as soon as the woman's sprinted towards her direction. In an instance Luna gathered the wind at a specific area, her feet before detonating it, causing her to be launched forward in a boosted run while at the same time. The wake of the boost also blasted the doppleganger with a blinding miniature white-out mixed in with sharp bones shrapnels, unearthed from the impact.

She did not just run in a straight line though. Her rabbit agility made her movement pattern very unpredictable, able to change direction on a dime and running in a scribble-scrabble jagged path.

Luna did not dare to even turn around as she started running for her life. She had hoped that the blast of snow and bones would be enough to halt the woman's advance, yet that couldn't be further from the truth. The doppelganger rushed towards her with merciless agility, with the same sadistic figure that would not flinch even as the bones grazed her.

Before she knew it, the rabbit girl felt a great weight push against the back of her head, slamming it against the floor. Another weight followed on her back. Luna was now pinned down, by strength she could not hope to fight against. Then, a sharp pain ran through her spine, as if the tip of a blade was being pushed against her. Again and again, the doppelganger stabbed Luna, until her natural shield could bear no more.

(Struggle[2x dis] - 43)

The pain multiplied tenfold. Whatever the woman held against her back now pierced through it, lodging itself deep within Luna's body. Blood rushed to her mouth as the pain took over all of her senses. In just one move, she had lost the game.

The pain hazed over her senses that it took all of her will to simply not to black out on the spot and literally everything she has to not cry out.  She knew she could do no more to win the battle but maybe... Using the pain as a focus point, she muster the mana within around her, calling on the wind to  concentrate rapidly to a point in her hand, as a last ditch effort to harm this monster.  To...

But her strength gave out before she can fully finish what she started.  Despite her best effort, her body failed her, the hand that was going about to raise drops onto the cold sand.  This wasn't just a failure, she was completely overwhelmed.  No...not yet....  It was her last though before her being and senses in the dream realm faded.

---

"GHK!"  Luna's real body doubled in pain as she grits her teeth from the pain that she was experienceing  from the dream world.  A hand is clutching her body where the ice blade had stabbed her while the other hand braces her body so that she doesn't collapse.  There was no wound in her body but the pain was very real.  Combining this with the vertigo of being ejected from the dream world, she want nothing more than to vomit.

Zoe's finger tapped against the ground, anxious about the whole thing. She was tasked with a duty, that was for sure. But it was one she could do nothing but wait, and hope. It was the kind of job that put her on edge, as it was entirely out of her hands. Even still, her gaze had been trained on Luna the entire time, watching for little movements that stood out. Being away from the epicenter of the freezing cold, her body was starting to limber up again. Her fur was less fluffed out, and her breaths were more controlled. Her tail was swishing behind her in agitation, and her entire body was like a tightly wound spring, ready to let loose the second she got a whiff of her target.

And then, finally, after what felt like an eternity, she finally could see something: the rabbit let out a noise of pain, her body keeled over and she had all the signs of a stab wound. Nothing seemed to change on Maya, either. Something definitely happened, and it didn't look good.

All at once, the fox's body sprung to life, closing the gap between them extremely quickly. For only a moment, Zoe was hit face first by that same familiar cold, but she was laser focused, right now. She quickly grabbed Luna by the waist and hopped back as far as she could. In her mind, she was internally playing out her instructions to make sure she was doing everything right. She remembered that she said...four feet? Something like that, anyway.

Her feet skidded across the ground as she touched down, now successfully away from the cold. All of this only happened within the span of a second or two, fast enough that it might catch Luna by surprise. Zoe could tell from her reaction that she wasn't in any condition to get up and get moving again, or at least...she acted like it. She didn't look like she was in any pain, but a lot of that was so far over her head that she wasn't going to question it. She gently laid Luna on the ground so she could catch her breath, and leaned over so that she could get a good look at her.

"Are you okay? What happened?" The quick action made her a little out of breath, but her look was one of concern, one that was, at the moment, focused on Luna, the only one who really knew anything right now.

Luna's disorientation is exacerbated from Zoe dragging her away from Maya's frozen prone form causing brief moment of panicking. It takes a few seconds before she came to her senses and realized what is happening; Zoe is dragging her away as she had been instructed earlier. The moon rabbit didn't make any other effort to move or resist until she was lain prone on the street ground, still clutching her body at a non-existing wound, the pain still remaining.

"Something...someone else is there. A being...that looks like her but was far more malevolent. She was tormenting her. I had intervened, but in the end, I was overwhelmed."
Her hands shifts underneath herself, to push herself into a sitting position with a groan. She closes her eyes and, regardless of the pain, tries to review the entire battle in her mind. It was her first time going up against something that has little to no regard to their personal safety. Her normally restrainted method of attack was a poor match-up against this foe.

Zoe couldn't find any kind of physical injury on her, even though the woman was holding her side. She couldn't see any sign of bleeding or distress from it. It was more than a little worrying, considering she at least looked fine. Not to mention how she described it...

"Someone else? I-Inside Maya?" The worry on her face was on her sleeve, as her ears flopped down. She hated how useless she was in all of this. All she could do was pull her out of a bad situation. She couldn't do the things Luna could. And she couldn't help Maya.

"So...what're you gonna do?" The rabbit looked like she could barely stand, much less go back in to fight...whatever was inside of her. She didn't want to ask her to do it, not in her condition, but she knew she didn't really have any other option, either. The fox grit her teeth. She hated all of this. Why did this have to happen? Why now? And...why was she so weak, that she couldn't help the person that needed her, right in front of her? Luna would practically be able to feel her frustration at all of this, but also her fear that things were only going to get worse.

She reached into her pouch and quickly drew a small spherical pill into her hand.  It is an energy supplement that allows a temporarily physical boost, mental boost, and some minor restorative properly to operatives.  Without a second thought, she pops its into her mouth, chews it briefly and swallows it.  The aftertaste left behind is something akin to unprocessed wheat, yam, and kale mixed with chicken broth  After 15 seconds, she is feeling somewhat less fatigued and dizzy than before.  Unfortunately, the stabbing pains remains and is something she has to carry the burden, evident by her hand still clutching her body.

"I need to re-engage.  I am not certain how long she has left."  She slowly gets up and starts to make her way back towards Maya before sitting cross.  Her gaze move from Maya to a very worried fox.
"Before I make another attempt, have she...Maya have spoken to you about anything in reference to this?  Any information that may help raise my success against this being is welcoming."  Though still soft spoken as before, her tone seems to have changed from her usual gentle self to a slightly more rigid tone.  Even her expression has shifted to being more hard-line.

The sudden shift in tone was enough to cause her to flinch a little bit. Internally, she couldn't help but be a little happy that she was going back, even if it was a selfish thought. Whatever she had just taken had seemed to remove some of her nausea and fatigue, but she was still holding her side.

"U-Uh..." She shrunk back a little bit, her anxious state showing through more. Internally, she shifted through her memories for anything that could help her.

"When we met, she was...really different than she was now. She seemed like she...enjoyed, messing with people. Hurting people...and then, one day, she seemed really different." She thought back to the forest, the first time she'd seen Maya the way she is now. "She picked me up when I needed it, and encouraged me..." The fox shook her head, getting off track.

"She changed, somehow! And..and I don't know how! But...but if whatever is in there, is...the old Maya...then it's not something you can beat on your own! You have to get our Maya to help! It's the only way! I think!" Zoe just noticed how loud she was getting, worked up over her train of thought, and shrunk back, a little, her indecision and worry getting to her again. "A-At least, that's...what I think, anyway...I dunno anything about all this dream stuff, so..." Who was she, to try and tell this woman what was best, in a field she barely understood? Just nothing special, after all.

Luna listens close to Zoe as she absorb the information: of how the Maya that Zoe knows is the one that has changed for the better presumably, and the malicious Maya is how she was before.  But that means-

Her eyes widens of the implications.  If the malicious one fully overcomes Maya, there is a good chance that she will be the one that will be in control.  This incident could escalate to potentially a city-wide threat.  

"Do you have any information of the 'old' Maya that would help?  Any little thing Could help."  The rabbit assures her.  Throughout the conversation, Luna is able to pick up the indecisive nature of the fox and her frustration within her voice.

Zoe's ears flopped downward at Luna turning the conversation back to her. She didn't really think she was qualified for any of all of this, but she was asking for her help. Luna could very easily see how out of sorts all of this left her at. It was hard to get her to focus on one specific thing while all of this was going on, but she was trying her hardest.

"U-Uh..." She stumbled over her words, trying to get something out. She physically shook her head, as if trying to force herself to focus. Her ears perked back up as she did.

"When we first got here, she...tormented us. Both Eri and I. She was really strong, and fast...and she loved to mess with people. Really get under their skin. I was...kind of a hothead, back then...so it worked really well on me..." Zoe nervously scratches the back of her head and looks away, a little embarrassed about it all.

"I fought her to keep Eri safe. I didn't feel like I stood a chance, and probably didn't, but that didn't stop me at the time. She's got these, like...seal things, that she can turn off parts of your body with, or manipulate them with! Even though I got her a few times, it never felt like I really did anything...she just looked at me and laughed, at the time. I felt so powerless...and useless...eventually, she fell onto her back at one point, and it seemed like I finally did something to her, but then she just got up again with that same look on her face. I think she was just messing with me, honestly. It worked, at the time..." For a moment, it looked like she was going to get lost in her memories again, but she shook that off (physically, as well as mentally). "Eri reached out to her, giving her a chance, and eventually, Maya did the same for me. And now, she's completely different than she was when we first met. I-I think that's everything...I dunno how helpful all of that is..." Zoe looked up at the rabbit, still wrestling with her own thoughts and still having that same, unsure expression, both in her mannerisms and in her tone of voice.