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 Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2015 6:45 pm
The rules were simple.
Drain what energy one could muster. Turn it in as instructed. Avoid fights with those more powerful. Deal with the rest as one sees fit.
Umber adhered seamlessly to these notions, in part to please those of greater power than he, and in part to earn the wary trust of the creatures who so loathed him prior. They knew no further tolerance of him, beyond the abstinence from kill on sight. He didn't mind; already it was more than he could ask for.
As tradition for the hunt called, blackberry paste marked symbols over symbols on his arms. The smell of it caught in the air once in a while, returning to him reminders of its presence beneath the dark of night. He stuck to rooftops primarily, as instructed, though he knew not how to quiet his steps across the clatter of shingled roofs. No part of this venture mimicked the forest floor he grew up with - every dozen feet demanded a leap to the next parapet, and that lip let him down to another flat or sloped surface of such uniform texture that the whole endeavor nearly put his feet to sleep. Only the variation in heights left something exhilarating in the pursuit of a proper victim.
And, as he slowly grew accustomed to his bestowed tasks, even draining energy knew a semblance of monotony.
However, Umber kept his complaints neatly shelved and compartmentalized while he spotted a man smoking on a corner, just outside a storefront with blacked out windows. The blaring blur of the televisions inside offered their own auditory camouflage for the hunter at work. And given that so few remained outdoors at this hour, the chosen mark seemed too easy to leave unchecked. Umber lingered only a moment, just long enough to estimate the time that the man might spend outside given the length of his cigarette. He took but a second longer to recognize that his body was toned from rigorous work, and thus he could put up a reasonable fight if not caught off-guard.
The latter was not part of his intention.
Umber descended like a passing shadow, using the available awning to allow him to slip to the ground as soundlessly as possible. With feet out of boots and now planted on concrete, he took stock that the man had not yet noticed him; whether he had hearing issues or too much on his mind to recognize the outside world, Umber cared little. Soon a hand seized the man's mouth from behind, seared slightly from the exhale of smoke, while his free hand sought energy in the form of a medium-sized globe from the sudden captive. He struggled, mostly to break free, but exhaustion soon set in to thwart the attempt.
And soon, Umber was the owner of yet another brilliant ball of energy. He glanced at the swirl of a thousand tiny fireflies rising in swells within the strange sphere for just a moment before a sense of uneasiness befell him - and a quick look around confirmed no obvious origins to such a sudden attack of nerves.
Someone watches.
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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 3:41 pm
It was cold - freezing! Why couldn't this uniform come with pants? At least in the winter or when the weather called for it? This wasn't the first, nor would it be the last, time that Genevieve mentally complained about the unfairness of things. She might be a positive person, why would anyone want to spend their lives depressed or in some down? You only lived once and you never knew for how long that would be so why waste it with negative feelings? But how could she keep herself from complaining within her own mind at this and considering it unfair? She was expected to come out and patrol and in clothing that was far from ideal for the given weather.
Brushing curls of dark hair from her face the senshi of vampires felt her ankle go out from under her as she landed on yet another roof top. This was not easy, jumping in heels. She could run in heels and jump normally but a jump from one roof top to another meant the landing was hard and well...things happened like now. Picking herself up from the ground she huffed and fixed her dress. Once her dress was fixed she continued on her way, slower than she had been going, as she took care at each jump that she made and even more caution was taken with each landing.
Red heels clicked as she walked and clacked hard on the ground with each landing as she made her way across the city's skyscape. As she came to the ledge of a building she felt something...something odd but she was familiar with it. She'd felt it before but why now? It was someone from the other side and that was all she knew, she didn't know who or anything else about this individual. It did cause the red and black clad senshi to let herself fall off the ledge of the buildings roof so she could land on the ground and look about. Where were they?
Looking around dark blue eyes took in everything which she could before they landed on the figure. Well, didn't they look threatening? ((Hope this is good Strick love.))
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Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 2:36 pm
Her outfit stood out against the dreary wash of darkness just as brilliantly as her headache-inducing aura. Umber's gaze darted to her immediately, and he pocketed the orb without taking his eyes off the newly arrived senshi.
What, he wanted to say. You have no need to stand and watch when duty either compels you to fight or to flee. War does not often stand for interims.
HIs gaze remained on her features a moment longer before he turned to leave down the stocky, dank alley from whence he came. If she is more content to watch me leave, then let her do so. I have no business with her so long as she does not seek to stop me - that measure of the war is better left to those well-versed in combat, and privy to more substantial weapons than a pair of gloves. Xenotime may urge me to take her, but few benefits stem from such rash behavior.
The alley yawned wide and offered many an obstacle to hide those who walk in the shade, and inhibit others. He kept to the very center, walking along the thick blacktop caked with the grime of too many visitors and too little care. With enough trash built up underfoot, it started to feel like a true trail again.
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Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 5:06 pm
She had been in one fight, brief as it was, before now but she was still new in this whole idea of being a senshi. That didn't deter her though, after some time watching the other. As they started to leave she jumped into action and took off after him. "Hey! What did you just do to that man?" She wasn't sure what he'd done, though the man was obviously lacking consciousness or perhaps dead? She didn't stop to check, she'd feel guilty over that later.
Right now she was focused on running after the dark haired chaos agent with her heels clicking as she ran after the figure. "You can't just go attacking people and leaving them like that!" She shouted at his back. How dare he be so uncaring! Didn't he have a conscience?" She questioned him. Was he really going to leave that man back there for anything to happen to him? And what did it say about her also leaving him? But she was trying to find out just what had happened and question this person, so for the moment it was only a passing thought. The guilt over it would crowd in upon her later when she was done with this whole encounter as was common occurrence for her, feeling guilt after the fact.
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2015 5:18 pm
This can't be happening, he thought with exasperation while he kicked aside some detritus that obstructed his path. She stood and watched me pocket an energy orb, yet that was not enough to incur action. Leaving the area, though, offended her greatly. I do not understand these creatures or their pervasive need to interfere with natural order.
"It's not your business what I did to that man, or any other," he responded in even tone. He hadn't stopped to look at her; Umber remained steadfast on his path without altering his gait. "What you're doing now is interloping where you don't belong. You had nothing to do with what transpired, and accosting me now will not somehow reverse anything I might've done. You can leave now."
Except she didn't.
Finally Umber halted and drew a slow sigh through his nose, aiming to calm the slow stir of embers within. His eyes closed for a beat to watch the fading stars swirl so emphatically on the inside of his lids. When he opened them again, his gaze trailed across the landscape of trash caked to the corners of the alley before he half-turned to regard the one dogging him. "Why not?" The question came honestly, without taint of sarcasm or acidity.
"He is not my responsibility. Nor is he yours. Should a worse fate find him while he sleeps at that bench, it is not my place to own his untimely end. It is no one's concern but his and his family's. Meanwhile, my responsibility is to myself, and seeing as I've already filled it, I have no further need to loiter there - and no guilt complex dictating that I do so. In short - yes, I can just go attacking people and leaving them like that." What sort of misplaced hero complex does she profess to own? It's like she's possessed of an unhealthy need to extend her responsibilities far beyond herself. How wasteful.
Seeing no further need to interact with the creature, Umber resumed his course through the alley.
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2015 7:04 pm
"Yes it is, it's clearly my business because he's on the ground and your walking off with something. I want to know what you did and why?" If she could have she might have stomped a heel on the ground, but she was walking after him and couldn't stop to do such. "I'm not leaving until I know so you might as well tell me." She added after some moments of following him silently. "You're one of them - a Negaverse agent. You're like those who kidnapped the others." Like that Captain but this one didn't feel the same...well he did but not as strong.
He stopped, was that a good thing? She came to a halt right behind him and waited and watched, dark blue eyes hesitant and cautious. "Because he did nothing to you. He didn't deserve whatever you did." She said slowly in answer to his question. Why attack a random person and then leave them on the ground? "I may not know him but he is a fellow person and I saw him there - that makes him my concern." How could someone be so calm and uncaring? So....set apart from their fellow man? Would he feel anything if he saw a child hurt? Would he do to a child what he had to that man? A small child? She wanted to ask but was fearful of the answer and so refrained from it. It was sad to hear how he spoke and see how uncaring he was.
"it would be your fault if he was hurt - you left him there and put him in such a vulnerable position. Don't you care about those around you? About anyone?" She questioned as she watched him continue on his way. She wanted to shout at him, to question him and find out if he was that detached from his own race. How could he be so cold and unconcerned and uncaring? It made no sense to her, she couldn't fathom it.
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2015 9:30 pm
There's nothing to know. Any answer would start a fight. It is already thin ground I tread on, walking away from one of the enemy. I was warned that I am of more value to the Negaverse alive and able to drain energy another day, than to turn and fight only to wind up dead. This girl, however belligerent, may be the fighter that I never was. Unlikely, but not impossible.
"We operate on different wavelengths," he answered matter-of-factly. "You believe in deservedness, and set goodness toward others as a baseline. You expect caring from the fewest number of similarities possible - because he is of my species, I must express concern over him. I don't. As I said, he is his own responsibility - his own life, and I will not burden him with the caging of care that you seem so ready to entrap with. I find no use for fault or unnecessary responsibility, either. I do what I must to survive, and if that involves draining away someone's energy at a bus stop..." He let the statement hang in the air, a tangible wall between them.
Must you persist. Already your voice grates my nerves. Shale quickened his pace, aiming toward the end of the alley where he turned right to follow a winding, mottled sidewalk around storefronts laden with 'closed' signs. Numerous flower arrangements set in windows and luxury boutique items sat on quiet mannequins, remaining unseen by the lieutenant as he intended to outdistance her, but her persistence remained wholly evident in the loud clopping of high heels against pavement.
Ultimately he abandoned the notion.
"Make your assumptions about me, then," he shot back. "It won't undo what's already been done. He will wake in time. If you must bleed over what happened to him, then go wait for him to wake back at the bench. If you are so stricken over the though of him dying out here, then be his vigil against any youma that might catch his scent. But leave me, and take your misplaced guilt with you."
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 9:10 pm
"So that was..energy." And he wasn't likely to be dead, that was a relief to her. But he really was so detached from that man and people in general but how? How could someone be so removed from his own species. It wasn't that he needed to care for everyone or be willing to throw himself in front of a bus, or some form of danger, for everyone but common care of some form was something she couldn't help but expect. When had she ever seen a person who seemed to lack all caring? Never. Everyone seemed to care to a point for other people even if it was only select people or select groups.
"I don't know how all this works, your side or mine, so I want to know. I want to make sure he isn't dead and will wake." She answered while her hands had come to settle in her lap as she stood watching him as he'd seemed to become upset? with her persistence. She just wanted to know the other side and understand what they did and learn whatever she could glean from this person. She didn't want to make some enemy, at least not yet. "It's not guilt. It's concern or worry for a fellow person and someone who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." She tried to defend but her voice was soft as she gently, hesitantly, walked toward the other figure.
"I am not trying to harass you - I'm trying to understand and learn. I - I think what you've told me helps a little bit at least." And it did. It was more than she'd known before.
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 12:29 pm
"He'll wake," he tossed over his shoulder. "They all do." So long as they still possess their starseeds. I've never had to fight someone to claim their energy, at least. The element of surprise remedies most of that. But I've never taken a senshi's energy before... They are creatures of another world. I wonder if their energy is more potent than simple civilians. It would be a better source than unaffiliated people, at least - I would rather drain those I'm trained to attack than those who are of no import. And if all goes well, I can drain this one until she passes out and take her starseed.
When Umber angled his gaze toward her again, level from the streets to night blue eyes, his temper cooled considerably to the point where impassive grey regarded her. His arms crossed, his body language betraying his disinterest in simply opening up to her. "Guilt, or concern, or worry... Whatever it is, it's misplaced. There is no need for me to care about a stranger that does not fulfill any of my needs. It's obvious you glean something from concerning yourself with him that benefits you. That same sentiment does not hold true for me. Nor should it. It's unbecoming." Solitude over solidarity, they said. This is the path I was to take.
"If you want to understand and learn, then I'll show you. Give me your hand." He held his outward, open, expectant. Even if she refused, he would seek it. Fight as she may, energy draining only required contact, and ultimately would put him at an advantage.
I heard it mentioned before to use what energy one has when in a tight situation. I don't think I'll lose.
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 7:52 pm
"That's good to know." That was a big relief to her. She would have worried over anyone in the future as well. This knowledge would help to ease her mind in the future so she could focus on fights or on whatever else she needed to, rather than worrying over the civilian or civilians. Had she any clue he was thinking of draining her she might have turned and fled but she was clueless; and didn't flee. She was however thinking she should leave as it seemed she was very much bothering the other with her presence and she didn't care to do that. She would handle the man left unconscious, to make sure nothing bad happened to him as he was incapacitated.
How concern for other people could be unbecoming was beyond her. Was it odd that she worried and cared for those around her? Those who were, as far as she knew, innocent and helpless? She wasn't going to volunteer at a hospital but she also wasn't the sort to not be worried and help if someone fell down in a street or some woman had a purse stolen. She figured it was all just normal behavior that everyone had to one degree or another. This person was very different though.
"How can you...?" Something seemed wrong about giving her hand to him, about letting him show her. She'd seen it, even if from a distance and not really truly seeing it. But she had enough of an idea of what had happened- right? Shaking his head then, curls swaying about her face, she smiled at him as gently as she could. "No thank you, I do think I have the basic idea down. I really should be checking on the man you left behind - I wouldn't want anything to happen to him and your answers have helped me understand better." She was hoping she could go, she did have a person to check on, and she turned to go even though she knew it was stupid. She didn't want to appear nervous or afraid, she wasn't afraid but nervous - yes.
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 8:52 pm
So much time and energy wasted on those who will never know to thank. What needs are met by playing hero by night? I wonder if this same disposition possesses the others - if they all masquerade in these dark hours to take their fill of protecting the public and spread their hate of the Negaverse. What is the purpose. What is the point. I don't know enough about their kind to know even that. All I learned was the Negaverse's sanctioned information and nothing beyond their scopes. It's troubling, how little I understand of this war. She may already have an advantage on me there. How fool I was to talk of energy draining.
It won't happen twice.
He watched her a long moment, studied the manner by which she smiled or shook her head or simply stood beneath the lamplight waiting for their encounter to conclude. Her disposition spoke of politeness, possibly no different than most of the strangers he encountered. However, her aloofness in responding to him suggested something more akin to businesslike politeness, which he found strangely jarring given their position in a war. She appeared almost impossible to exist, he realized, given both her current temperament and her dress and the fairytale manner in which she cared for the man that he drained.
Idly he wondered if all of it wasn't simply a dream. If this night amounted to nothing more than a lucid hour spent in bed, without the power of the Negaverse backing his movements. It doesn't matter, he reminded himself. Act as though everything is real. Should it be a dream, you will find no negative repercussions to your non-actions.
You already confessed to wanting to know more. The rest wasn't an ask. Very little time was spent telegraphing his motions before he sprung to catch the hand, every effort spent toward usurping a portion of her energy.
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2015 2:39 am
Surprise flashed across her features as he took her by the hand. She didn't know what to expect, she assumed he was going to drain her energy as he had mentioned showing her. But she didn't know how that was done, she hadn't been close enough to see him take that mans energy.
She struggled, trying to push herself back, away from him, using the heels of her shoes to help. "Please, don't." He had said he hadn't killed the man, energy draining didn't kill, but still she tried to free herself like some frantic animal as she yanked again to try and free herself. She needed both hands for her attack and couldn't get her hand free in order to do it. For a moment, while struggling, she wanted to ask if he'd leave her on the ground here when he was done? She was sure he would finish what he was trying to do, what he'd done to that older man. She wanted to ask him not to leave her on the ground. But that last though fueled her on in her attempt to get away.
When an idea hit her she stepped closer to him, invading his personal space, as she felt the weakening kicking in. She let him keep his hold even as she brought bother her arms together, her hands making a cupping motion in her lap, before she brought her arms up like splashing someone - him. The attack a ghost of a whisper. She just hoped she had enough energy for it to work, she also hoped it would free her. Quote: Sailor Scout Attack: Sailor Nephthys raises both her arms in front of her, as if splashing someone with something, as she calls her attack. This attack summons three bats, playing on the lore that vampires could turn into bats, and not only do they serve as a distraction but if they bite a person they drain that person(s) of energy. The bats actually do drain a victims energy, equivalent to pulling an all nighter. For those people it will be noticeable if they are using a lot of their own attacks or are very active in a battle. This attack can be aimed at more than one person, as there are three bats. They can be attacked and destroyed or avoided of course. This attack is an instant cast and the bats will last for fifteen seconds before vanishing of their own accord. The spell can be cast three times in battle.
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2015 5:56 pm
The pleadings fell on ears averse to such sounds, and Umber held his grip all the tighter. Her wrist provided ample purchase between the distal portions of radius and ulna with the wrist bones, and with the gloves providing traction, he was loathe to release her. The drain began producing a sizable energy ball in the opposite palm before her struggles grew too great before ceasing altogether. Instead she closed the distance, a move he recognized for dog bites to overwhelm the digastric, but had not expected.
Wary of the lack of distance, Umber backstepped enough that the spread of hands toward him only glanced at his chest, which offered no cause for concern. Instead, bats appeared out of the ether, both agitated and bloodthirsty, darting after him while he attempted to pocket the energy ball. His free arm raised over his head in a protective motion while he ducked to avoid attacks to the face and eyes.
What sort of magic is this. There were no bats around us. This is not their normal behavior... This senshi warps nature. This cannot be right.
Twice or more they caught teeth in his arm, drawing small rivulets of blood to the surface, but perhaps the most disconcerting was the sudden exhaustion that overcame him. His lids felt heavy and taxed, as compared to the wide awake sensation of patrolling in the dead of night. Movement felt sluggish and compromised. When wagering a continued attack against her with his current state, Umber wondered if the payoff of potentially stealing away her starseed outweighed the risks of fighting in such an altered condition. Inwardly, he wagered not.
Instead Umber drew away from the girl, her bats, her impossible mentality, and shrunk back into the darker portions of the street. The bats persisted for a measure before vanishing altogether, leaving Umber tired and confused of the whole matter of magic. Rather than experience a second go of it, he slipped into the streets with quota met and head full of questions better reserved for more experienced officers. While not the first time he experienced their strange magics, it was the first time he could trust his own mind without a head injury to alter the memories.
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