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 Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 6:01 pm
 
Setting:
In the early hours of the morning, two Lunarians have a bad run-in with one another.
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Never Crazy generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
1!
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Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 6:01 pm
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Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 6:23 pm
Cais was already bleeding from a mild cut on his side when he had finally slowed, taking the first look back at the Nobles handiwork for the first time with a half-smile. The plan had worked, a once-prominent lookout position for the Legion was now in smoulders. He coughed and shook his head, setting off again. The fighter was unsure if the others had managed to slip away or if they had been followed, but he was still here, still alive and still unnoticed as far as he knew.
With a hand out he leaned on a nearby boulder, masking into the darkness as best as he could. He must have ran over 2 miles and yet he could still see the warm embers under the billowing smoke moving out into the blackened sky. Cais coughed again, wiping his side clear of blood with a small groan. Good thing it's a flesh wound. He thought, though he would be lying if he didn't admit that it stung like hell.
It was complete, now he could go home, clean up and rest a while. The idea propelled him back into motion and he pressed on with a quick burst, trying to move as silently as he could. He'd have to duck back and turn a few times to make sure none would see where he'd come from, that was for certain. He shot an unamused look back towards the flickering lights of the Imperial City as he moved ever closer.
Inexperienced as he was with working in groups, he felt his part had been done well as he'd managed to take down two members of the Legion. They'd gone down, but he wasn't sure if they were dead - internally he hoped they were and glanced at his blades to see the remnants of crimson on their tips. There was a grin before a chill ran up his spine and he stopped. Had he heard the scratch of a footstep? Or was he dragging his feet?
Shaking his head he took to a faster movement, keeping pressure over his bleeding wound. Have to make this a clean get away...
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Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 11:30 pm
Van was not pleased.
This sort of thing wasn’t usually her jurisdiction. She and her division of the special forces dealt with traitors and deserters, were tasked with collecting intelligence and keeping their own intelligence... well, secret. They stole stolen information and destroyed evidence of the many black operations that the higher-ups ordered. Sometimes, they silenced men and women who used to pull for the Emperor, until circumstances had taken them away or given them a change of heart. That was the kind of dirty work Van and her fighters did. They did not chase Noble guerilla fighters through the jungles because some idiot sentry had fallen asleep on the watch.
Yet, here she was. She’d told her lieutenant and the half of her squad to remain behind and extinguish the fire. The rest of them had been ordered to spread out and bring the others back—dead or alive. The captain didn’t doubt the abilities of her men, a selection she’d hand-picked herself. It was more that this kind of thing was insulting to their skill, like asking a tenryujin to chop wood for a living.
She was coming up on one of them now, the very embodiment of stealth with her dark camouflaged attire and padded shoes. Her eyes were the only visible feature of her face, concealed by a cloth mask. The fighter she was chasing appeared injured, which meant a simple fight especially if she was able to surprise him. However, as she watched him, his slight form stiffened suddenly, and he took off faster than before.
It was now or never. Channeling her ki to her feet to enhance her speed, she bounded out of the trees parallel to the fighter, the dark steel of her blades nearly invisible in the shade of the night. She slashed across, from left to right, then raised her sword again for a downward slice.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 5:38 pm
It was like a searing hot pain across his chest and Cais coiled back in surprise with a stunted cry. He could feel the blood begin to rush to the area and was already thankful he had recoiled just slightly enough to not be completely taken back by it. "Nnng!" The fighter gritted his teeth and glared into the darkness.
At the first sensation of pain, adrenaline rushed to his brain and the blades on his hands were up, one in defense and the other making a strike towards the darkness. His eyes had failed to adjust correctly and he was certain the strike was nothing direct as he managed to jump back, both arms up in a defensive stance.
Twice he had to shake his head back into focus while swallowing to calm down his heard and erratic breathing patterns. Immediately his first defense went up - his mouth. "And here I thought no one lived around here." The figure finally was coming into view and he could barely make out its outline. Tentatively he took a step backwards, ignoring the now dripping wound over his chest which was soaking into the fabric.
He could talk all he wanted, he could do that until the cows came home. This however was not one of those situations and even he could feel the sweat pouring from his brow in uncertainty.
Now look what you've gotten yourself into...
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 8:23 pm
Van’s face set into a grim smile when she felt the first slash cut, though not as deeply as she would have liked. This fact quickly became apparent when the downward strike did not his soft flesh, but was instead deflected. The sound of metal hitting metal rang through the still air of the night. The captain leapt backwards, the points of her swords drawn in a cross formation to deflect any other potentially serious blows. There was still more fight in this fighter than she’d given him credit for.
It wasn’t until after she’d settled on her feet that she felt the sharp stinging on her left arm. Three cuts, though shallow, marred her skin. Van fought the urge to hiss—she’d experienced worse before and from much bigger opponents. This was merely a flesh wound.
Now the question remained: should she kill him, or take him in for questioning? He wasn’t down for the count, but she was far enough away from any Legion encampment that it would be a hassle to wrestle the man anywhere. Besides, he didn’t look like a captain, so she doubted the quality of much of the information he could or would give. The answer seemed clear, then.
Lunging forward, she dropped low to the ground to brace one arm in the dirt as she swung one leg around, hoping to sweep his legs out from under him. He seemed disoriented enough, so once he was on the ground, her job would be exceedingly easy. It wasn’t until he opened his mouth that the thought gave her pause, even if it was for a split second. The timbre of his voice was somehow familiar, and this combined with the fighter’s bone structure, his posture...
“Cais?” she’d asked before she could stop herself. It had been months since their encounter in the glass shop, but the person before her was unmistakably him.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 8:38 pm
THUD!
He was on the ground in a matter of seconds once being hit. He lay in shock for a moment before rolling in the dirt with a few coughs, staring back at his opponent who had said his name. "How do you-" Cais stopped, thinking it over while letting his eyes fully adjust. Suddenly they were wide and he scrambled to move though his legs seemed less than cooperative.
With a grunt he stared back at her. He knew that voice, the hair, the almost - "Van." He said sharply with a blink. "That girl from the shop..." He floundered on the ground and suddenly cursed under his breath. If she had seen him here...
He paused, a twinge of fear running through his expression. If she was here and attacking him. "I see..." He said, slowly pushing an arm against the ground to try to move up. He had his suspicions that day but never acted, but if this was her and she really was one of them and then... He grunted. s**t, she knows where I live. One thing he had going for him when it came to serving his cause was a sort of anonymity that came with being unknown, but that had been shattered in the matter of moments.
Their eyes locked and to his best effort he attempted to stand. He couldn't say the words, but his expression said enough. They seemed to echo the words So you're here to kill me?. Swallowing, he'd finally managed to sit up and continued the struggle.
She was well trained, further on the chain than he was and it was completely apparent with her skill of being silent - how expertly she had attacked with no warning and little mercy. Definitely one of THEM.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 9:04 pm
Before she could follow through with the final blow, he’d said her name. The word in and of itself was harmless enough, but in the heat of battle it could stop her cold. Coming from her fighters or lieutenant it was preceded by “Captain” and followed by “emergency,” and coming from the enemy, well... perhaps it was a conditioned response from having to fight her friend Kiran so often, but she always paused to see who it was. Cais was no friend, however; one business transaction hardly warranted the kind of mercy that would spare lives.
Yet, she did nothing, hesitation evident in her posture even though her face remained covered. It was so much easier to kill, to terminate when names weren’t attached to faces. Years of carrying out assassination ops never made it any easier.
Part of her ran through her options once again—she could continue the way she had been planning to, take him in, or let him go. Suddenly, taking the fighter in instead of simply killing him seemed the smarter choice. She knew where he lived and where they made business; all the Legion had to do was apply a bit of pressure, and perhaps then they could get him to talk.
Finally, she heaved a sigh, shaking her head once. “Sorry, hun. It’s nothing personal.” With that, Van made the decision to turn the swords in her hands, so that the blades were faced out to the side instead of in front of her. She wasn’t planning on using deadly force, at least not this time. Cais was barely standing when she leapt forward, closing the distance between them in one bound. Her fists wrapped in the steel of the sword’s crossguards, she aimed one fortified punch at his ribs, and the next at his right knee.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 9:29 pm
Cais didn't speak for a long while but had become frozen while staring up at her. He'd felt it the end and almost succumbed to allow his life to flash before him. It stopped before it had ever started while he watched her eyes which had become full of thought. The fighter hesitated to even attempt to move until her words seemed to spur a "fight-or-flight" instinct.
But with a jab to a rib and another sharp turn into his knee he cried out. There was only a single moment, a single way to redeem this onslaught. Grabbing out quickly he grabbed her arm, keeping it close to his body and glaring back at her. Gasping for air and filled with pain he still managed to keep a grip, using her as a post to finally regain his foothold. Hissing in pain he swiped his blades back at her, wheezing for air.
"You think I'm just gonna let you... you're wrong." He managed to get out through the gasps, lifting his hands again. His body faltered slightly as his knee irradiated in pain, nearly buckling completely. Cais stumbled back, glaring at her defiantly. "I'm not done, not yet." It was getting tiresome, too much even for his body as it was bruised, bleeding and probably broken in some places.
Again he lifted his weapons into a defensive position, watching her motions carefully before leaping into an attack and striking at a more vital area. Given his condition it was only a slim chance he'd manage to make any sort of hard attack if he could hit her at all. Landing sour he fell on one knee before lifting it and looking back with a look of agony mixed with his defiant hatred.
There was slim hope, and that was enough to keep him going - for now.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 9:50 pm
Van grunted when she realized he’d caught her arm, clinging to her with some sort of strength he seemed to have summoned out of nowhere. He was tenacious; she’d give him that much. Most fighters at this point would have been dead, dying, or begging for their lives. The captain never rewarded those who did so, but she did enjoy a prolonged fight to a certain extent. To say that she was enjoying this one, though, was a bit of a stretch. Above all else, Van just really wanted to be home and in bed, and Cais wasn’t making it any easier for her.
Throwing up one sword-arm to block the incoming claws, she had the audacity to laugh, even after the swords grazed her face and the dark mask fell uselessly to the ground. If there had been any question as to her identity earlier, it was clear who she was now. “You’re better with those than some I’ve seen before,” she admitted, a slight strain to her voice as she held his weapon away from her face, “Though if this cut on my face scars I really will kill you.” It was just like her to worry about such a thing in the middle of the fight, even more so to be entirely serious about the comment.
She watched him stumble back from a combination of his own choice and her own force, her face a mixture of emotions. He seemed nearly dead on his feet—just one more hit would finish him off. Even easier to see was his intent to harm, a hit which took only a step and a flick of the wrist to avoid.
The woman frowned down on the boy at her feet. “I don’t usually do this, but if you just sit still I’ll let you live.” Somehow it seemed wrong to kill him in this state.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 10:02 pm
The laughter got to him and though he was talking a big game the flippant way in which he was avoided, and what had sent him stumbling, finally gave way and he fell back on both knees, grabbing the dirt under him in pain as his right knee seemed to scream out all on its own from pain. Red eyes full of disgust he glared back. "Don't give me that." He said, though had decided not to move regardless. "Don't you dare give me your pity!" Cais growled, though had lost all energy to make an action to go with his words.
For all of everything he knew he had tried but came up short, which perhaps was the greatest pain of all. Placing a hand on the handiwork of her initial blow he pressed tightly, finally able to apply the pressure it so needed. Distrust ran rampant through him and an even deeper pain reminiscent of battles in his past. One of blood versus blood.
Cais growled again, punching his free hand into the ground while remaining steadfast in his heated gaze. "I don't need your lies, just do it and do it quickly." His gaze darkened. "Even if you're telling the truth you and I both know my living won't make the situation better, Van." He used her name again, there was little point in ignoring it given he was certain his fears would be realized. What on earth would his family think once the Legion came knocking?
Cais gnashed his teeth and watched her carefully. He'd clearly lost.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 10:22 pm
Her eyes narrowed at Cais’ words, hearing the distrust in his tone. Of course, that was to be expected—the last time they’d run into each other, she’d said she’d come back around. And here she was trying to kill him. Even as a captain, though, she took no offense to anything he said of her or the Legion. They would say anything that needed to be said, to bend a situation in their favor. “I guess I lied before, huh?” she asked, her voice gentle compared to his. The corner of her mouth lifted into a smile, though the expression was mirthless, and her eyes cold.
She wiped her swords on the hem of her shirt, before returning them to their sheath. She wouldn’t be needing them anymore. Van was not bloodthirsty like many of her colleagues, and even if she was, killing Cais now would be giving him exactly what he wanted. Over the course of their fight just now, Van realized that he was more valuable to her alive. At the very least, he would be able to tell the rest of them exactly what the Legion was capable of.
“Not better,” she agreed, fishing for something from the small pack strapped to her back. “But possibly worse. For you, that is.” Finding the thing she was looking for, she dropped a soft object onto the ground in front of him, which, upon further inspection, was a roll of bandages. It wasn’t much—he’d probably bleed through them before long—but it was enough to be both merciful and mocking at the same time.
Turning then, not even bothering to make haste, Van began to walk away. “Rest assured we’ll be seeing each other again, Cais.”
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