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 Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 8:14 pm
Through Kindness
Rank: Two
Antagonist: Hark the Flying Angel
NPC Accompaniment: No
Souls available: 
Mission: SUCCESS/FAILURE
New Delhi, India, was a complex, crowded place, with the added confusion of a caste system along with the modernization that always came with such large cities. It was night, and all was mostly quiet throughout the city, though the slums and low-income areas were still awake - such people had more to do, and less time in which to do it. Lights were still on, flickering against the glum darkness as people cooked and cleaned, or attempted to complete what household chores they could. A few staggered about the streets, either inebriated or high on whatever substance they could find for the night.
On the surface, it appeared that the rumors that had been circulating throughout the city lately didn't even exist...
Rumors of death and sleep, of gold coins that dented when one bit into them. The poor and homeless were a superstitious folk, for all that they had their roots in the ultimate practicality of poverty. Some of the less fortunate of the New Delhi populace were tempted to wander the city streets, wanting to run into such a thing, in the hopes of being the first, and landing hands on that fabled gold piece, while the even more stayed awake, huddled into the corners of their shelters in fear.
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Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 6:03 am
Zoe let out a little grunt as she rounded the corner, reaching out with one hand to stop herself from falling on one of the homeless people. She was dressed in something dark and conservative, and proper shoes as well. Proper footwear to hide feet that had been resplendently decorated to look rather like a famous Indian landmark.
"Koh." Jared's voice was almost chiding as he held her elbow, watching as she shimmied down another narrow alley way. "You know, just because we walk around like little ninjas doesn't mean we're going to actually find this person. We should triangulate the known attacks, run a probability search and then maybe stake out the top three areas."
Zoe turned back with a frown. There was just the touch of bags under her eyes as she lead the way. "But this stuff should be on instinct too, you know? We should just know somehow where the next killing is going to take place." her voice was hushed, but there was no way to hide the slight impatience in her voice.
Jared rolled his eyes, looking around anxiously. He'd been against the idea of his technician taking this mission because it was so dangerous. Not the mission itself, but the environment. Skulking around the dark corners in a country like India? Heck, in any country. But it had been one of the better options.
Better than the one in that crowded location. He could see the damage bill on that already.
"Come on." Zoe urged, motioning with her hand. "Let's go here. It's dodgy and hoochie coochie looking."
Who even said hoochie coochie in this kind of situation?
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 1:07 am
Unknown to the two figures walking through the narrow alleyway, there had been an audience to their short conversation. As they turned in the direction the girl had indicated, a figure peeled itself away from the shadows behind them and shook its head, a small smile tugging at firm lips that were hidden beneath the loose, flowing robes and headgear that it was wearing. These two were amusing, unlike the others that had come in search of the mysterious killer. Though... there hadn't been too many of those, since most officials didn't seem to care what happened here so long as it didn't spread to the higher castes.
This area belonged to it. Every soul, every whisper, and intruders to the area had to be watched carefully.
There was nothing to be found in the direction that the two had headed, and therefore, they posed no threat. Satisfied, the figure glided silently down the street in a different direction, outward demeanor calm, but eyes and ears constantly searching for a someone, anyone, who needed help and reprieve from their current life.
The Angel didn't consider itself to be doing harm; rather, it felt it was assissting those who could no longer bear the strain of their position in life. Aiding them in finding a path, a way out, was merely a task that had to be performed for those under his care.
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 1:25 am
Jared sighed as they neared the end of the alley way. "See? Look. This is pointless. Ridiculous. Plus we're losing night, so it's not as if we can go home and do this from the beginning." it was a joke. He should have known that she wasn't ready to face another mission so soon. It wasn't even about physical training: it was about common sense. His only response from the technician was an angry little grunt.
"You know what. Fine." she snapped out, scowling as she spun around to look straight at her weapon. "We'll go your way next. Which way, or great master?" she asked, and her voice was loud enough to have Jared wince.
"Can we start it off by you being quiet, and us skulking in the shadows and not walking around so brazenly?" he asked, his voice dipping into a whisper. They'd practiced communication that wasn't simply reduced to making vocal noises. They'd practiced everything. He wasn't about to mess up now and admit to Ashley that ... they'd LOST the target. How embarrassing would that be?
Zoe nodded her head sharply, and turned back the way she came. She stopped for a moment under the eave of a building and arched a brow. 'You coming?' read her stance.
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Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 3:13 am
The Angel paused, stepping lightly to the side as the sound of voices returned. He could identify the same two he had observed earlier, and they were coming closer. Perhaps he should... no. He had found another in need of help, and they were nearby. The voice of duty called louder than the voice of caution, and as an entity delivering relief, there was no shame in his actions, no need to hide. Even these two foreigners would understand.
Decision made, the Angel strode across the narrow street behind the girl-stranger, heading to the North as he followed a particularly loud plea for help. It was a woman, this time, begging to be taken away from this world to the next, tired of her never ending rounds of childbearing and childcare as her husband amused himself with others while she was too far into the pregnancies to be of use. She was starving, having gotten into an argument with her husband days before, and her children were of little use - they were little better than streetrats, only coming back when they thought they could scavenge what clothes and possessions she had left.
The fire of righteousness was alight in the Angel's eyes, visible over the folds of cloth as he turned again into the alleyway where the woman dwelled. His movements were almost reverent as he bowed before the door, pushing it open with one hand as he stood up once again. Stepping inside with no sound but for the slight woosh of air through cloth, he closed the door softly behind him.
The woman had her eyes shut, huddled against the far wall as she prayed under her breath for a way out of her situation. She was oblivious to the figure behind her as it moved ever closer, one dark hand reaching deep into the folds of clothing before emerging with a small object held loosely between three fingers. Almost there, now... The Angel chanted quietly in his head, a prayer and song for himself, feeling stronger and more alive as the sense of purpose filled him once again. He was doing good.
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Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 10:32 am
This situation was ridiculous. He shouldn't have taken the mission on their behalf in the first place. But pride drove Jared forwards as he took care as he walked down the streets. He had to remember the locations to the different murders, and knew they were in the vicinity in which the Angel had done its work. It was a neighborhood though, not one single location like the park, or even a building. He hesitated as he looked between two streets, warring with the feeling of confusion. Zoe had not been wrong to follow gut instinct after all: because what else did he have to go on? Except he would not admit this to her, especially not now, when he had decided to take the lead in the situation.
He decided to go up. Simply because it would make him downwind. It was a silly excuse, but it worked well enough in his mind that his steps were full of purpose, not hesitation. Zoe snorted behind him, making him wonder if she really knew him that well. Did she know that he too, was following the gut rather than something more coherent and logical? THAT was not a nice thought. No, he didn't want her to know him that well, when he could barely make sense of her mind.
He stepped in front of one of the buildings with a frown, tucking his body into the eave of the shadows as he wondered which way to go now. Straight, maybe? Or perhaps back the way he had come... Zoe seemed to be feeling obedient enough because she stopped alongside him, tucking herself neatly away so that the still darkness and the shadows hid them from view. He could think, then. He could think without having her demand to know which direction to turn.
Except... he could feel her gaze, pushing at him insistently, daring him to make a mistake.
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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 9:52 am
His hand, and the object held within it, was mere inches away from the nape of the woman's neck when her eyes suddenly flew open, a scream tearing through swollen and dry lips before the Angel could prevent it.
"Don't be scared, little one," he purred, his voice soft and reassuring as he lifted his free hand to stroke back the woman's tangled hair. "You prayed, and I am here." The hand that was stroking moved down to cup the now-awed woman's face, a split second before his other hand came up to press the object close against the back of her neck. The needle slid cleanly through the skin, severing nerves and life.
Without another sound, the woman crumpled forwards, falling against the Angel as she breathed her last breath. She'd been right to pray, she thought, as she stared up with eyes turned increasingly blurry at the figure dressed all in white. This man would be able to take her to a better place.
The Angel stood unmoving for minutes as he watched the life seep away from the woman's body. Strange, how the ones who screamed were always the most peaceful upon release... but he had no time left to contemplate the issue. While screams were not uncommon in this cursed place, there were chances that others would come to investigate, and he had to prepare the body before it could be found. The strangers that he had passed by earlier would be likely to investigate the sound as well, and he had to hurry, much as he disliked to rush. Death was a sacred thing.
Setting his hands under the woman's armpits, he lifted her up before laying her back down on the pallet. He was careful to remove the object of delivery from the back of her neck before straightening, hand going back into his robes for the gold coins that he always kept on his person. Removing two, he placed them reverently on the eyelids, using their weight to keep them closed.
One more thing.
He placed one hand on the woman's rapidly cooling chest, and the other on his own, chanting softly under his breath as he recited the prayer. The entire process would be nothing without it.
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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 10:07 am
They heard the scream at the same time, and Jared's eyes narrowed at the building in front of him. So perhaps relying on gut instinct wasn't such a bad thing: although this had probably been a fluke, really. Zoe reached out and tightened her grip on his elbow, bridling with excitement and anger. This had been a point of contention between the pair because Jared... well. He had almost seen the logic in what this target did. Almost. His turned his head to his technician and he shook his head. They couldn't go barging into the room without just cause, could they? What if the target had another means of escaping? What if they simply lost the Angel in the midst of it all? It should be planned, calculated logically, and executed with...
Crap. Who was he kidding? He saw the burning intent in her eyes and knew he would just lose if he argued the logistics with her. Besides, luck had allowed them to this building now, what if luck failed them later? He nodded his head and then shifted form, feeling her hands as she reached out to grip him automatically.
Be careful. This one is a slippery one.
She snorted in response, and he couldn't help a smile either. Sometimes, sometimes they worked so well together that it scared him.
Zoe walked towards the door and paused for a moment under the eaves, looking around to make sure that no one was going to comment on the fact that a small girl was about to run into a building with a sword in her hand. It would suck to be yelled at for causing too much of a commotion. But the scream had died away long enough that she was worried the Angel might escape.
Barging in with guns blazing wasn't what was recommended, but that was the way she thought, and the door was frail enough that she used her shoulder and the combined weight of herself and Jared to shove it open, losing her stepping for a moment as she ran through the doorway.
"Honey, I'm home." her voice wasn't loud. But it was angry. Jared didn't understand why this case got to her so much, and she didn't either, most of the time. But killing people and leaving gold coins like a mockery of a funeral rite?
People sucked.
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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 10:28 am
The Angel heard the commotion, but remained where he was as he had yet to complete the prayer. The only reaction to the intrusion was in the speed of the chant as he sped it up, wanting to complete it before all else happened. It was his duty.
When he was done, he straightened, arms going back into their customary hidden position within the folds of his clothing before turning to regard the girl who had so rudely interrupted his prayer. "Yes?" Calm was the way of it, particularly as he had done nothing wrong.
But despite all his intentions, the Angel frowned as he waited for a response - hadn't there been two foreigners to his area? Where was the other?
Then it dawned on him, the conversation he had overheard earlier on the street. These people were not here to observe, they were here to stop him. No. His shoulders tensed, as he prepared to run. He still had tasks to do, people to save, he couldn't be caught here and now, and by strangers who would never possibly understand, no less.
Roll one ten-sided dice for an attack. 3-10 is success, 1,2 is a miss.
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ikshiva rolled 1 10-sided dice:
9
Total: 9 (1-10)
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Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:18 am
Zoe. NOW He never called her Zoe unless he was in weapon form. It was something that she didn't really understand, but she'd picked up the same habit from him as well. She listened and obeyed instinctively, shifting her weight so that most of it was concentrated on her legs as she lunged forewords, curving herself so that she would come in low. It helped balance the weight of the sword in her hands, and it was the one move that usually didn't have her sitting on her a** by the end of it. She threw her weight into the thrust, aiming narrowly in a low to high slash in the Angel's direction.
It didn't need to kill him. She didn't think she could, in the first attack. But she needed to maim him. She needed him weak, because she knew that she wasn't skilled enough yet to run after him otherwise.
She needed him weak, and maimed and twitching and... a dirty thought entered her mind. She'd been too late to help this victim by seconds, hadn't she? She'd been too late because she'd been busy focusing on her gut instinct rather than what she was supposed to do.
Well, she'd learn this as a lesson then.
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Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 11:27 am
There was surprise, then calm on the Angel's face as the girl lunged form him, wavy sword in one hand. Instinctively he dodged, though not quickly enough - the sword bit into his side, and blood began to spread through the pure snow white of his robes. He glanced down, frowning as he saw the ruining of the clothing he wore for deliverance, before pressing one hand to his side.
The other hand slipped beneath his robes, and though his lips were firmed and almost chalk-white against the pain, it re-emerged with an object held loosely between the first three fingers.
He eyed the girl now standing defiantly before him, carefully stepping away from the body of the one he had freed just moments ago. It would not do for his blood to soil the corpse - for all that there was no longer life to it, it had once held a soul in need. Knees bending slightly, the Angel made his pronouncement.
"You are of the deluded, and it is now my duty to grant you freedom for your irreverent thoughts."
He lunged.
Your target attacks! If you choose to counterattack in your next post, roll one ten-sided die. 3-10 is success, 1, 2 is a miss.
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ikshiva rolled 1 10-sided dice:
10
Total: 10 (1-10)
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 8:59 am
Zoe snarled as the Angel attacked, her grip on her weapon tightening as she narrowed her eyes. Was this how it was going to be, then? Her attack hadn't been good enough to kill him, but there was a sweet feeling of relish at the thought that it wasn't over yet. She'd attack him again. And again. And again until the man was nothing more than meat.
Zoe Red's tone was worried as he spoke to her. Focus on the task at hand. And don't get so... excited.
Zoe backed away from the Angel, narrowly missing falling on her a** as she stumbled: she tensed, her arms lunged up as she threw herself towards the angel. She'd get him back for that! She'd get him back.
Letting out a slight snarl, she threw her strength into the attack.
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 7:55 pm
The Angel snarled, the sound seeming inhuman as his lunge missed - and then the girl was on him in a flurry. "No! I have a job to d--"
The girl's hit was true, and whatever the Angel had intended to say died with him as the body now sagged, then hit the ground with a fairly audible thump. Fingers loosened in death, and a small acupuncture needle tinkled onto the ground, rolling in a loose circle before coming to a stop just as the Angel's body vanished in a puff of disintegrating dust.
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 7:13 am
Zoe's breathing came heavily as she stared at the acupuncture needle. It was over now, was it? It was over. She glanced down at Red and grimaced at the sight of blood, not wanting to clean it herself. There was nothing remotely clean to wipe the blood off with. It took a couple of minutes before Red shifted form, standing next to her with a slightly disgusted expression on his face.
"That was good, Zoe." he said quietly, walking over to the soul. She ignored it, feeling her heart beating heavily inside her chest. "You... you okay?"
Zoe watched as Red consumed the soul. Watched as his face lit with pleasure and shook her head. She wasn't okay. Not yet. The man hadn't been doing the right thing, killing people.
Now it was over, and she was still left feeling somewhat frustrated.
"You want to go buy a souvenir tshirt?" he asked hopefully, wanting to rid her of the mood.
She smiled.
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Cosmoses generated a random number between
1 and 100 ...
10!
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 7:20 am
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