|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 10:03 pm
Another day, another slog through fulfilling a quota for a place he didn't want to be anymore. Sure, he appreciated the place to live and all, but it was starting to feel oppressive. Like he was being watched all the time. Everyone waiting for him to make a mistake and then have his starseed snatched, leaving him lifeless. Right now, all he could do was keep up appearances while he tried to figure something out. He needed to secure an apartment or something, somehow. He wasn't sure how any of this would work. But he needed to worry less about that right now, and more about taking this starseed. He stared at it in his palm, transfixed by the sight. Even though he wanted to focus, he couldn't, his thoughts chasing each other around in an endless circle. His wisp bobbed around him, flashing a bit in concern, but not distracting him from the thoughts.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 10:21 pm
Repeated encounters seemed to be the rhyme and echo of Houshi's life. She'd run into the mad Captain who wanted her weapon again. Run into Kiyokinu over and over, enough times that she was beginning to think the youma might just be sincere about the whole "not wanting to do her harm" thing.
Which was a very odd thought, honestly. Kiyokinu was a strange creature, and Houshi was pretty sure that she would never quite figure the beast out.
Ah well.
She turned a corner, and there was another rhyme, another echo--the Lieutenant she'd fought not too long before. But this time, he wasn't moping.
He was holding a starseed.
A rush of panic filled her, and she remembered Tinaksite eating one, destroying the soul forever--
Thoughtlessly, she ran forward, and aimed to punch him in the gut so she could steal the starseed back.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 10:25 pm
Well. He certainly hadn't been expecting that. Though if he hadn't been stuck inside his own head, he could have at least felt her coming. He was thrown to the side by her punch, air knocked out of him and the seed he'd been holding so carelessly flew down the alley. He lay, crumpled and dazed, for only a moment. "No!" he shouted, panicking and scrambling on all fours to chase after it. He couldn't get himself in trouble. He couldn't. He was so, so afraid of what could (or would) happen if he didn't fill quota again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 10:37 pm
Houshi watched where the starseed flew, and ran for it as quickly as she could, heart racing. She wouldn't lose it, and she wouldn't let him recover it--this poor civilian was not going to die tonight. Not if she could help it.
"Get away," she hissed, angrily, "or I'll do worse to you than I did last time, I swear it--I won't let you have this." She wasn't going to stand by and just let someone die. Ever.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 10:50 pm
The panic was clouding his thoughts as he continued to scramble forwards, breathing hard. He wasn't really thinking at all so much as acting on pure, unadulterated fear. Just as Houshi couldn't let him have the starseed, he couldn't let her take it from him. "Good luck with that!" he said with a hysterical laugh as he finally got his scrambled brains together enough to stand up and make a leaping sprint towards the starseed glinting in the gutter.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 11:17 pm
Fine. She couldn't bank on recovering it--she'd have to fight him first, and then, once she'd put him down again, she could recover the starseed and take it back to its rightful owner.
So she came to a halt, spun, and dove at him, with the aim of tackling him out of the way. If she could get him on the ground, she could wail on him from there; the size difference wouldn't matter nearly so much when she could jsut punch. Him. In. The. Face. Repeatedly. That, she figured, would be an effective way to get him to stop trying to kill someone.
If he didn't walk away from this...Houshi was kind of okay with that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 11:23 pm
Thorite nearly choked on his own tongue as she tackled him to the ground, his head whacking against the pavement. The sound echoed in the alleyway as his head bounced up and then back down again from the force of it. His ears rang and vision blurred. Oh, crap, he was seeing double. Triple? He wasn't sure. The edges of his vision were greyed out, like tiny stormclouds circled around his pupils. Couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't see—what could he do? Some reflexive part of him lifted his legs and aimed a kick at the woman attacking him, somewhere in the middle of the multiple of the same woman that danced in his vision.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 11:37 pm
Houshi couldn't help but grin a little when he actually ended up knocked down on the ground, and she moved quickly to take advantage. The kick made her wince, but she stayed in place, over him, and aimed her fist for his temple.
With any luck, this would knock him out, and give her plenty of time to recover that starseed. Better, she would do it with time to give it back to its owner. She glanced over at where it was in the dirt, and was glad to see that it still glowed. There was still light--still life.
"Please stay down," she said, voice firm despite her phrasing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 11:43 pm
Thorite couldn't even really move his head to dodge her fist. It came too fast for him to try and focus on it, what with his vision deciding to be a kaleidoscope. She hit him square in the temple and he groaned pitifully, vision going entirely black now. Everything felt fuzzy and weird and as much as he wanted to leap up and protect himself, his body didn't listen to him at all. Unwillfully, he listened to her request and stayed down, passing out and slumping fully against the ground. The wisp nestled inbetween his neck and shoulder, flashing rapidly in sadness and concern, cuddling close to its passed out master.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2021 11:53 pm
Good. He was still. Houshi let out a breath and stood up, dusting herself off. Twice now she'd beaten him, though this one felt much more satisfying than the last attempt. This time, she hadn'tr just prodded him into a fight; she'd stopped him from taking a life.
She walked over to the starseed, scooping up the bright, precious thing and cradling it close to her chest. A quick dust-off to make sure it wasn't too dirty, and then she went to find the civilian it belonged to. By the time the Lieutenant got up, she and the civilian would be long gone.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
