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 Posted: Tue May 10, 2016 6:39 pm
 When: Mid-evening, Winter Bloodfest 2016 Where:: Civisect, Bloodfest main fairgrounds
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2016 6:41 pm
“Hey, kid. You got something like a blindfold?”In the middle of loading his pellet gun, Kursha glanced down at the miniature greenblood. He may not have had the wealth of experience with handguns that he did with long guns, but it did not take long to get accustomed to them. And against short range, motionless targets, there was little challenge to be had. It was time to up the difficulty. As the greenblod fumbled over a reply, he shook his head. “Nevermind. I got this.”He took a moment to memorise the targets. Pretty simple pattern: queen's guard, mutant, queen's guard, mutant. The challenge would be in mentally judging the distance between the targets. Taking a deep breath, Kursha closed his eyes. He wasted no time thinking about it. Five shots fired off in quick succession. His eyes snapped open. Three of the mutant targets spun on their axles. So did two of the queen's guard. Well, s**t. That wasn't too bad. Returning the gun to his counter, Kursha pointed to the stack of the key chains hanging from one of the hooks. “I got enough for one of those, right?” he asked. “How about it?” Once the greenblood had retrieved his prize, Kursha said his thanks and went to see the next attraction. He had taken only ten steps away from the booth, when a face in the crowd made him stop. On sudden impulse, one he could not explain, he ducked out of sight into a booth serving potstickers. Peering beneath the short curtain, Kursha studied the yellowblood as she made her way to the Gunnery Games. His digestive cavity twisted. She looked unfamiliar, and yet she had given him such a visceral reaction. Ignoring the booth attendant as they asked if he planned to make a purchase, Kursha continued to watch. His instincts rarely misguided him, especially not so suddenly, and without precedent. The yellowblood loaded the pellet gun expertly and fired off her shots. She hit three out of the five, the third landing on one of the queen's guard and the fifth just barely missing one of the mutants. Not too shabby of shooting—about the level he might have expected from someone with a little bit of practise. However, he suspected the yellowblood was more than just a hobbyist. There was enough delay between her fire that it almost looked like... she deliberately misplaced her shots. When the yellowblood had finished and turned to leave, Kursha ducked out of his hiding place. He followed her from a distance of about twenty feet, pushing through the crowd to keep her in his line of sight. After two minutes or so, when they had reached a place where the crowd thin he quickened his pace to catch up to her. He had soon fallen in step directly behind her. “Hey. Not bad shooting back there.”
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2016 7:48 pm
Luxara decided she didn't want to pick anything up tonight after all. Maybe she would save up for a military jacket, as a lark. Actually, that might be the first time she would ever but her own clothing. A real lark, for sure. The jewelry strewn on her person chimed with her movements. She gazed about the festivities from behind her tinted visor. There was a bowling game she had been wanting to try out, and maybe tonight she would finally get to. It wasn't gerbowling, but, hey, she couldn't knock anything innocuous.
However, something was eating at her more and more as she made her way through the crowd. Luxara felt like someone was watching her. That gut feeling similar to her days in the forest. Hunt or be hunted. She picked up her pace. Never ignore those feelings, even if they might be irrational.
She could only hope.
The masses started to wane some, and she continued on while trying to work out a plan. She could keep going like nothing was going on, strafe until she felt better, or go back to the hotel. All of these had risks, assuming there was something up.
Before she could decide, someone came up behind her and spoke right behind her head.
Luxara twitched. It may look like surprise at suddenly address, but truly, upon immediate voice recognition, she was only full of fear. It was her own fault; she knew Kursha was at Bloodfest. Play with fire, it leaps at your fingers.
She put a hand up to her chest as she glanced behind her. "Oh, honey, don't startle a girl like that! I could've fallen into someone!" Luxara tried a drawl. "Thank you, though, sweetheart. It's nice to know not all of these games are rigged against you."She was nearing a static cluster of trolls. Luxara didn't arc around, instead going through and using them to distance herself from Kursha while also veering off elsewhere. Frankly, this was to be a momentary conversation and nothing more.
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 7:03 am
Kursha was not convinced. If anything, the yellowblood's response only furthered his suspicions. Her words, her mannerisms, they stank. It would be too much to say they reeked of deceit—after all, what would there be to lie about?—but something about them struck him as off. What that something was? He couldn't say. The answer eluded him. He every intention of finding out though. He had hardly opened his mouth to reply, when the yellowblood whisked away without offering so much as a goodbye. Normally, such a thing would have irked him. Trivial slights fell a little lower on his list of priorities though. He had a mystery to nail and a burning question in his stomach to settle. He would not let her go so easily. Not to mention, being called "sweetheart" left a bad taste in his mouth. “Hey, wait up!” Kursha called, jogging after her. Rudely, he pushed aside the trolls the yellowblood had passed only moments before. Several let out disgruntled murmurs or snapped at him, but Kursha paid them no mind. Shoving aside an orangeblood with a little more force than was necessary, he trotted up to the yellowblood's side again. “What's the big hurry?” he asked her, clapping one hand on her shoulder. “I figured that we could chat, one marksman to another.” He offered her a disarming smile that belied the presence of the long rifle over his back.
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 7:55 pm
He touched her. His hand was right there, over one of the burns he had given her. It took so, so much willpower to not slap his hand off. Or grab his wrist and twist his arm before kicking him in the chest and bolting. Heck, Luxara wasn't sure how she was managing to keep it cool at all right now.
If he kept this crap up, new plan: get to the hotel and pick up her crossbow. But only if she couldn't lose him. She should have roomed with someone, then at least she wouldn't be stuck in this situation all by herself. Stupid!"Haven't you been here for more than one day, darling?" She wanted to barf so bad, but forced herself to smile in a way that wasn't just tight and nearly a sneer. "There's so much to do, and so little time to get to everything. All a girl can do is rush. Maybe we can chat later, after the games close for the night. I really wanted to check out this one booth, and I'm meeting someone there," she totally wasn't doing either thing, but maybe he'd step off if she piled up all the acceptable reasons to leave her alone, "so you understand my predicament. Don't you?"Step the ******** off.
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2016 8:42 pm
Her smile. For a moment, he had it. Then, just like that it was gone again. A sense of familiarity, both haunting and bitter. More than anything else it left him feeling annoyed. He was missing something obvious and he knew it. A tingle ran down his spine. “Completely. But before that, just tell me...” Shifting his weight onto his left foot, he bevelled his right, and slipped his hands in his pockets. A placating gesture. Even if he did not register the yellowblood's slight tenseness on conscious level, he moved naturally to counteract. He offered an innocent grin. “You missed those shots on purpose, right?”
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2016 9:03 pm
Oh no. He had been seriously watching her. Closely. Probably with that stupid thing his eyes did. So now was he on patrol to catch rebels at Bloodfest? Was that it? Was he the queen's barkbeast, hounding rebels forever? She wanted to spit.
"Why- why in the world would I ever do that? Who would want to miss at a shooting game? I like to win just as much as the next troll. What a concept."
She paused.
"Don't you think it's a little creepy to be watching someone so closely? There are better things to do than watch people line their shots. Now, I have to be somewhere, and you should be back with your girlfriend. Ta-ta."Green Minuet Luxara's just pulling straws right now
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Posted: Sat May 14, 2016 12:42 am
It wasn't just her smile that was familiar. It was her voice too. For a moment, Kursha's own smile faltered, as in the back of his mind a thought sparked. He shut it down without a moment of consideration however. He refused to think about it. When the yellowblood went on to chastise him, Kursha opened his mouth to defend himself. Maybe she was just a bad actor. After all, he was certain she was lying. He clammed up before getting even one word out though. The yellowblood had cut him off with a ridiculous accusation. “My... My girlfriend?” he sputtered. Rather than looking embarrassed, he just looked perplexed. Did she mean Elidae? But that was ridiculous. With their split shifts on the booth, they had a limited amount of time together and that was hardly enough for someone to base that kind of conclusion off of. As he pondered over the curious statement, the yellowblood turned to leave once again. Damn, she was annoying. Persistently so. Again, that thought. Grabbing her shoulder for the second time, Kursha forced her to face him. Once she had he released her, bringing his hands up in a apologetic gesture. “Look, I'm sorry,” he said, laughing. “But do we know each other?”
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Posted: Sat May 14, 2016 8:41 pm
Goddammit, would anything work? He must be toying with her because why in the world would he bother otherwise?! Luxara felt fear-laden anger rise up inside of her."No, we don't," she said with furrowed brows but a face that still tried to twitch into a smile despite her attempts at a frown as if habit, "but you are keeping me from where I need to go. Do you mind?"Talking him down was useless. She shoved past him, tired of this game. Time to fold. Time to run. And if he was hellbent on keeping up, he would regret it. She would make sure of it.
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Posted: Wed May 18, 2016 1:12 am
The yellowblood tore free one last time. Kursha dropped his arms to his sides, watching her go. His body was tense and his expression blank. He debated whether or not to sprint after her. He still had his doubts, questions that needed to be answered. At this point however even he had no excuse. She had denied him three times. To pursue her any further would invite trouble. But if he let her leave now she would disappear forever. He took two steps towards her then stopped. Suddenly he knew his decision. It would be a gamble, one that he hoped to lose. Standing tall, Kursha lifted his chin. He called out, raising his voice just loud enough for the retreating yellowblood to hear. “Luxara.”
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Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 7:34 pm
There was a rush of disbelieing relief when he didn't follow her further. Not a gawk, not a complaint. She might get out of this one yet. That said, she had to keep her pace even. Her heels clicked dangerously as she stomped off. She couldn't run like a scared hopbeast now, even though as soon as a wall of people closed behind her, Luxara totally could. Just duck a little, and he'd probably lose her.
She considered and considered, pumpbiscuit throbbing. The adrenaline of sweet release.
It only amplified upon hearing Kursha one last time. Her name. Of course! Of course she couldn't get home free. And she hated it. Luxara had worked so hard to blend in, wearing clothes that made her skin crawl and acting so fake, just to reap a little bit of fun because he had to be a goddamn a*****e.
Did he expect to win? Did he think after screwing her over like that, then tracking her like this, she would flounder?
b***h, please.
Dianea flipped her hair, not giving him a another look. If he wanted anything more, too damn bad.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 1:58 am
Damn it. Kursha bit his tongue, watching Luxara go. Of course it was Luxara. He knew right from her smile, though he had hoped otherwise. He had even tried to pry it from her. Just give him one excuse, one reason to disbelieve. He would swallow it, no matter how transparent the lie. But no. She pushed him further and further away, disregarding the very nature of the game she played, and the rules she had to abide by. For a moment, the rifled weighed down heavily on his back. His trigger finger twitched. That would be callous though. Even colder than she had been, and colder than she deserved. She was not deliberately bypassing the rules—she just had not yet come to realise her position... or appreciate his. One. She got one free card. Hopefully between now and the next time (which seemed inevitable) she would get her s**t together. If not... well... While ignorance was something to be pitied, it could not be rewarded. Next time he would not hesitate. Watching until she disappeared into the thick of the crowd, Kursha turned and walked off the opposite direction.
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