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 Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2017 8:48 pm
Anakeion was 'patrolling', if you stretched the weight of what patrolling could possibly mean from a five-pound range to a five-ton range -- conceptually, she reasoned to herself, any day she put on her uniform like a breath of cold air and left her house not-as-Amaris was patrolling, in a way. Patrolling for evildoers.
It really, really wasn't, but she liked her uniform and she liked how being Anakeion felt, and still-healing burns and her prince's wary words and Chrysocolla's hands on her neck wouldn't stop her. It just meant she wouldn't pick a fight, not openly, not without trying fairly hard to keep it lightheartedly friendly.
Whistle while you work, they said; and Anakeion hummed a song to herself, staff flung over her shoulder. She was oblivious to approaching threats, blissfully wandering the streets.
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Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 8:05 pm
It'd been two to three days of no progress and zero outcomes. So much effort had been put into hunting members of Order that Sarabauite didn't even have money to buy to eat something, having processed through two boxes of Hotpockets and innumerable microwavable dinners within hours. Starseeds were the only things worth consuming at this point, but there were just none to be found.
Have they caught wind of me? she pondered, observing the area of her typical patrol through glossed eyes and heavy, darkened bags. Rumors could have spread that many have died around here. I haven't even seen a page... let alone a senshi. This is frustrating. Too frustrating...
A brick fell from the chimney she sat upon as she went on the patrol again. Then, like a prayer answered, she became aware of a blip beyond her. Without provocation, the captain raced in the direction of Anakeion, and did not hold herself back with instigating something.
Turning her jitte about, Sarabauite took a leap and tossed her weapon out to the squire, reading herself to summon it back.
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 11:54 am
Sarabauite was rewarded for her efforts -- Anakeion dropped her staff like a hot poker, letting it roll off her shoulder and hit the ground with a noise that made her cringe (it wasn't broken, but it was still glass, sometimes she wondered), as the jitte managed to catch the side of her shoulder. It'd be red tomorrow, because that'd hurt; she hadn't been paying attention, and yet again, she'd been caught offguard.
Oh well. At least it wasn't another corrupt. She kind of hated those guys, at this point; maybe the Chaos rotted their brains faster, with direct starseed access. But Anakeion was no great scientific ********>" she shrieked, dancing away from where she'd been standing when the weapon had made contact, spinning around and searching the area for her unseen assailant. "Hey, get down here! That's bullshit!"
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 5:46 pm
The captain's jitte subsumed back to Sarabauite's hand before it had a chance to clang against the ground. For a moment, she considered just remaining in hiding and flinging her weapon out again as it had worked the first time, but was quick to dash away the notion. What was she, a lieutenant? When did she ever lack tactic and skill? Could she not even think critically anymore?
She tested the weight of the jitte in her hand as she revealed herself, one finger picking at the point that marred Anakeion's skin. Her steps were slow and meticulous, as if preparing herself to respond should the squire attempt to retaliate by her appearance alone. Despite this, no fear lingered in the captain's eyes, only the glow of a want not even Anakeion's starseed could satisfy.
"I'm here," she said; gentle, listless. "I seem to have caught you off-guard. Aren't you a little careless for someone on patrol?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 7:27 pm
There was pink high on Anakeion's cheeks as she bit back a hasty retort - under other circumstances, with an enemy who looked like this she would have talked first and fought later - but under most circumstances she didn't get some weapon thrown at her from the rooftops, rendering those sort of ideals null and void. "Get some ******** honor, god!" She bent at the knees to pick her staff up again, rocking back on her heels before spreading her stance.
"Yeah, busy wondering about stuff like my little sister's grades, mostly. I just like to think I look like hot s**t in cotton and metal, right? Or whatever these fabrics are. Ain't no fashion designer myself." Anakeion took a deep breath, pushing out her chest and letting it sink back. "Now, you could say you meant to hit a bug, n' we can both go home happy."
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Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2017 11:27 am
Just how did members of Order flourish with their lofty thoughts even higher than they should be? They really were people of the stars, especially if they couldn't keep themselves grounded in reality. Earth was a battlefield, and once you hensioned, all thoughts should've been on surviving.
Not siblings or honor or how great one's uniform was.
(Though Sarabauite's lingering gaze on Anakeion's chest cutout was for the benefit of starseed ripping and not, well, y'know.
Y'know.)
The captain could only hum in thought, grimacing as the squire flung curses and excuses at her, before she suddenly felt tired and just wanted her starseed already. "That's well and good, I guess. But please, enough idle chitchat." Sarabauite readied her jitte again, this time defensively. "The only flea worth hitting was you, and I'm pissed I missed, but it just means I have the honor of carving your starseed out of your chest by hand. So, sorry to say, I will be the only one going home happy tonight."
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Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2017 11:44 am
"That's kinda ******** up, you know," Anakeion commented offhandedly, sizing Sarabauite up and keeping even on her feet; it would bruise, it had already bruised and scraped, and if the jitte had been a complete blade she'd be bleeding right now. As it was, she'd just need some bandaids and maybe some cotton pads depending on how it looked in a tank top, but shoulder wounds were easy to disguise at this intensity - or play off - pretend they were accidental. That was what she needed, anyways.
"If you just wanted to stare at my tits you could tell me, actually? The murder attempt isn't really working out for you, so how about a rephrasing or two. Or three. Or you leaving."
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Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2017 1:30 pm
The captain felt a pang in her stomach, a deep roiling, and she saw double of the squire for just a moment before biting the side of her cheek. The small sting of pain returned her to her senses, but Sarabauite knew it wouldn't last.
s**t, crap, not now, she thought. Just hold yourself together, you'll have yourself a starseed soon.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Sarabauite said, her voice a little thick. Was it her hunger, or something else? "But I'm sorry, no can do. You have something I desperately need, and I know I won't get it without a fight."
The captain rushed forward, jitte held out like an arrow aimed for the squire's chest.
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Posted: Mon May 01, 2017 8:43 am
"I know I'm hot s**t," Anakeion shot back, jumping to the side before the jitte could impact; again it scraped her, caught her necklace (with its' two burned-black pearls, that sent roils through her stomach when she remembered they were there) and tore it away from her neck, but there was no blood on Sarabauite's weapon yet. Just torn undershirt, silky; and a broken pearl necklace. "But this isn't the way to get me to give you my number, darlin'!" She rolled the syllables on 'darling', drawing each of them out like taffy, like string. "Wine and dine me first!"
Holy s**t, she thought briefly, I'm going to get ******** murdered because I cant control my smart mouth.
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Posted: Thu May 04, 2017 12:54 am
It was a little unsatisfying her weapon's edge only caught the squire's uniform, though the exposed skin was a sight for her very, very sore eyes. She pried the silken bit and threads from her jitte and tossed them with a flick of her wrist, allowing herself but a moment of a laugh at her expense.
Never before had she been amused to fight a member of Order; most of her battles were usually a fiercely silent instigation that ended with her opponent on their backs or up against a wall screaming erratically until their starseeds were plucked.
This may be a starseed she would save for later.
"I'm sorry, but you're just not my type!" Sarabauite exclaimed, switching her weapon out for her hand as it made a dive toward Anakeion's chest. The quicker she'd could get at that pretty little starseed, the better.
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2017 7:06 am
"What is it with --" if Sarabauite had still had her jitte out (and for a second, Anakeion thought she did), that second spent talking instead of fully dodging would have been a quick trip to a hospital or a grave. Instead, for a second, she thought there was someone else in front of her with seafoam hair and her own back was to a wall, someone's hand on her own throat --
but that wasn't it. It was just her, and Sarabauite, and Sarabauite's hand reaching into her chest with no Castor to save her. She bit her lip, making it bleed, but refused to give the Captain the satisfaction of seeing her cry. "You can drain me," she said, strangled. "Scheduled. But I have to go home." There was no last-ditch attempt at freeing her starseed -- any attempt to disrupt the other's grip could result in her starseed being ripped from her chest by what amounted to physics.
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Posted: Thu May 11, 2017 11:36 pm
Sarabauite's hand would've sunk into that soft expanse of skin with ease, to gently grasp the starseed within her hand and rip it slowly from the squire's chest. Something within her felt so inclined to do so, and the bestial gleam couldn't have been happier.
It wanted the squire's starseed so badly. So desperately, that her own body almost shook at the premise.
But then she stopped, and listened, and her hand lingered on the squire. Suddenly, Sarabauite's compulsion was dashed away with a realization: Her quota. It made her feel sick, killing the roaring hunger within.
With furrowed brows and a frown, the captain released her; if only to the safety of a hand not on her chest. "Fine," she said, perturbed. "But I'm going to get the most out of you. Good luck getting home."
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Posted: Fri May 12, 2017 6:23 pm
"That's fine." Anakeion's grin was ill-at-ease; she flicked one finger across her signet ring absentmindedly, not to call for help or to do anything at all, but to feel it and know it was real and she was real.
(She'd dropped her staff. When had she dropped her staff? It had all happened so quickly. It was out of reach on the ground, the glass glittering clear; her breath came in quick pants she couldn't tame, couldn't calm.)
The words to her Wonder beat like a mantra in her head. She'd be safe there. She'd stored energy bars, juice, blankets in the quiet, frosty halls there. She just needed to let Sarabauite drain her and leave. "Worrying about me getting home? Doesn't that ruin your reputation as Evil Employee number five hundred seventy two?"
For all her attempted guile and japery, Anakeion was afraid, and it showed in her eyes. But she stood there, deer in headlights, and expected no response and expected no sanctity.
When Sarabauite started draining her, she flinched, but she did not run.
When Sarabauite finished draining her, she stumbled, half-limp against the wall, and then she picked up her staff, slowly limped around the corner, and - disappeared. (I pledge my life and loyalty to Castor, and to Anakeion. I humbly request your aid, so that in return I may give you mine. She said it under her breath, over and over, willing her shaking limbs and numb fingers to calm; she said it as a mantra until it worked, and until the skies took her away from here.)un0hime edited for a late fin circa jan 2022!
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