Lonewolf685

The Devil Hunter Agency

Rufus

The park was a radical shift from it's night-time splendor, it's many branches overhead no longer carrying the grim dread that both comforted and terrified the dregs of society as they cowered in shadows. Not that Rufus cowered, but for the sake of the human experience he had skulked her seeking a quiet hovel between roots to sleep upon undisturbed before digging out his junkyard sanctuary. "Mmm, places like this make me think I might have studied druidcraft. Though I think my presence would do more harm then good to Nature on just about every level..."

Chuckling wistfully to himself, Rufus quirked neck back as the voice of the Youkai in the form of an uncanny young boy had opted to follow him to the park. Obviously he held nothing of Limen's physical appearance against him, as even eldritch horrors can understand Hypocrisy without setting a tentacle upon the mortal realms, and his sounds of amusement deepened at the question offered to him.

"You know, I don't think it went all that well for those Dogs, so just call me Rufus. It's...a far better name then what I'd initially thought would fit this world. Guh, a millenia and a half ago, though, and I'd have made history books as the coolest wizard ever, but that ain't happening here." The portal youkai answered, only to lazily lead onwards into the brush and bushes with a bounce in his step, body swaying to keep his ragged cloak away from clasping branches as the buzzing of monstrous insects intensified with the distance closing between them and the singing rocks.

As expected there were Hunters here. Four by his count, with two of them being the recent guests of Humen Eaters Anonymous and the other being far more bloody minded hunters. Sidling up behind a tree he eyed the one sided slaughter of bugs by the more violent Devil Hunters, eying them for what they were and considering whether he should add fuel to this fire and slow them down or race to sneak ahead of them. Motioning for Limen to join them, he quietly asked, "You got anything to slow them down with? I'm thinking I either start portalling those bugs into their backs and try to get some cheap shots on them, or we just keep moving and hope they don't catch up in time."

Silver Gate Academy [Accepting New Players]

Lorelai De Windt

Solemn repetition. That was what defined her stint beneath the instructor's gaze, and Lorelai couldn't have been more at ease. If there was some expectation that the weight and length of the spear would wear her out, they clearly didn't know how much time she put into practicing with a real spear with actual steel to weigh it down. To be fair, the added length pushed her to re-evaluate her arcs and grasp upon it, so it wasn't like she was there showing off to any of the more experienced students.

But she kept her word, as brash as it was, feeling her confidence soar as she worked the yata through fancy footwork and feints against imagined foes. Imagined foes in animal masks, reeking of spilled blood and carrying the chill of departed souls.

"I can do more then this....but for now, this is plenty of progress. Kyah!" Lorelai cheered, executing a vicious downward thrust that would have marred the floormats had the training weapon held a true edge. "I can't wait to practice this with a real weighted weapon!"

Tower of Fable

Kanbaru Otoko

She'd blame her carelessness upon the JSTR's influence, her parasitic partner instilling such a single minded focus she has lost all sense of situational awareness. Easier to blame the nun then admit she had been entirely caught flat footed by the marksmen trying to steal her prize. While her spectral companion deflected the projectiles meant for her, she hadn't acted to spare Riku the same barrage and Kanbaru had to flinch back as the icy prison shattered, freeing Riku from her hold.

That Riku wasn't perforated like some exceptional chunk of swiss cheese spoke to some unseen ability of the distant sharpshooter, as even Kanbaru in her magical girl days couldn't claim to have that degree of control over her ice bullets. Then again, she hadn't even seen the need, but who prepares to to shoot someone with live ammo and still only have the force of a paint ball?

"Wow, she really is like a Light Girl. Chickening out and running the second they're under pressure. Great thing we've got experience hunting cowards like that, aye, Ami~?" Kanbaru swiped her hand downwards, palming and absorbing the Corpse Collector card to conjure forth her flowing coat and the arsenal it held. Taking the sharpshooter's presence as a provocation to be answered, a revolver appeared in her dominant hand while the other hovered over the hammer. Squaring her shoulders she unloaded upon the marksmen, eager to see her rafter hiding place blasted to splinters and send her tumbling down for Ami to flambe.

Silver Gate Academy [Accepting New Players]

Lorelai De Windt

The hardest part was sitting still for an hour while all the regulars got to demonstrate their arts. Even without an interest in swordsmanship she could be impressed by the display and ache to practice it, but she wasn't raised to be rude when this was done for the Silver Gate student's benefit. They had limited time and there was much that could be learned, so cramming everything short of CPR into an hour was hardly tedious.

When the demonstrations concluded she didn't hesitate to proclaim her interest into the yari spear. It would not be long till she had one of her own and she wouldn't embarrass Muramasa-san by fumbling it just because she couldn't account for the difference in weight and length. She could tell already this would be significantly longer then her more westernized spear, but hey, that just meant she had an edge in pole vaulting, right? That, and stabbing, but the obvious need not be stated.

"I shall be proficient in using the Yari before I leave Kyoto, or I shall train with a weighted staff for the next year, I swear it!" The blonde declared passionately to the instructor, eyes almost seeming to be aflame as she pumped her fist before the older sensei.

Tower of Fable

Kanbaru Otoko

Kanbaru was not deaf to Riku's pleas, but she was indifferent to them. If anything hearing the fear and familiarity in her tone had excited the killer edge in her, knuckles taut upon the tail of her whale plushie as she took in the spectacle of Riku's fall. It would have been even better to see her soaked to the bone and battered from her water echo, but blunting the force of her attack still ensured she was a sopping mess when she came ungainly down upon the ground.

Before she could consider how to really make this girl who excited her partner so intensely squirm before them, Ami stepped in like a proper Detention Club member should with a helping hand. That said hand was wreathed in flame and slammed into the back of Riku's head was exactly the sort of help she'd come to appreciate from such a trust worthy acquaintance.

Moving with viscious intent her free hand shot forward, snatching the airborne Riku by the throat to arrest all the momentum of Ami's punch with a sudden stop against a hand that burned like dry ice. The spray of water across her skin and clothes flash froze in a wave emanating from the fingers clenched like iron upon her delicate airway. "I can't say I recall you off the top of my head, but I have a hunch a little interrogation will jog those memories, and the truth of your crimes as well. Unless, that is, you feel like confessing to the thefts before the mistress of the castle. You seem to fear her a lot less~"

Kanbaru looked back over her shoulder, her smile broad and joyous as she favored Victoire and Akiko with her captive Princess dangling like the catch of the day. She carried the sincere hope Riku would continue to deny her crimes, all the better for Kanbaru to force the truth from her lips with a more personal touch.

Silver Gate Academy [Accepting New Players]

Lorelai De Windt

Time flows on, and Lorelai's ire had dulled to a determination to see herself pushed even harder to improve herself, lest she repeat the poor performance that saw her all but useless against the assailant. By all accounts they'd not see her or Seirin again, the heiress' importance crystal clear even to the oblivious blonde, but that was no excuse not to better herself. A grueling physical regime would normally be her chosen recourse, but seeing as they were in Kyoto, she had other resources to call upon.

With her knew spear still in the works, it seemed only appropriate to learn a new art to pair alongside it. Her own styles, while effective, were more...utilitarian, then measures of skill. They brought brute force to bare and let her exert the fullness of her strength, but they didn't leverage much beyond that. That had seen her learning the arts of a man long past, one whose teaching would normally demand a cooler head, but the Dutch-Japanese could be doggedly single minded in her pursuit of a physical achievement.

Inner peace? Not by a long shot. But putting her body and mind into a single action wasn't that far off from her usual single minded approach.

Hmm, why do I feel like Munemori-San is rolling in his grave... The blonde thought, the groans of ancestral spirits ringing ominously over head as she took a moment to quirk her head mid-kata, only to resume when the dojo's sensei cast her a recriminating look. Eh, can't be more important this.

The Devil Hunter Agency

Rufus

Christmas must have come early because it was nothing short of a miracle that Da-Xia managed to come in, chat around the room, and leave both none the wise and without a single nibble taken from her. It would have made more sense if the Demon leaving to ride her back astride the hunter's motorcycle was playing some long con to really savor devouring Da-Xia, but somehow, Rufus didn't get the impression such machinations were in the cards.

Oh well, not his problem yet.

"Yeah, collecting rocks sounds like fun, but if the little cherubs go exploding every time I touch them, I'm going to have to ask them to be put in time out. If you don't lay down boundaries early, children just start walking all over you for the rest of their lives, and it's even worse with youkai kids. I swear, the second you realize reality is mutable to your will, you become such a brat about it." Rufus spoke with overflowing fondness, setting aside the immaculate glass he'd polished the entire time for effect and coming out from behind the bar. A pair of finger guns snapped off, tearing open two portals beside him that showed a crisp view of lake and a torii gate respectively.

"Since we have our destinations in order, I'm not breaking any rules by cutting out the travel time for us. Hey, what group of shadowy youkai doesn't have a means of fast travel, am I right~?" Adjusting his ragged cloak, the hood pulled up while the first gusts of frosty air spilled into the bar from the open gateways, Rufus hopped through the lakeside trail portal and turned to give the others a cheeky wave. "I do a lot of loafing around here, so I'll see about enjoying a moonlit walk in the park. Who else wants in? Bet we can find a young couple of star struck lovers and make a meal of 'em if anyone's still hungry. Assuming the DHA doesn't come and deliver take out, of course~"

Silver Gate Academy [Accepting New Players]

Lorelai De Windt

Having now been in two life or death scenarios, Lorelai could, in a detached fashion, notice that her prior encounter with the vampire was far less visceral, yet had a far more flashy and high stakes affair. It was the lives of countless souls being sucked away by an aristocratic child feasting for some small gains, yet even in the height of that battle, where she believed herself to be pouring her all into crushing his ambitions, it was here in a skirmish that hardly lasted a minute that saw the Dutch-Japanese's blood sing with righteous fury.

Incandescent was the heat that filled her lungs, heaving bellows that loosed her rage in pitifully ineffective roars. Her muscles and bones ached from the sloppy, amateur attempts to use spear fighting with her bare fists, over-extending herself for no gains. She'd been more bruised in ego then by the assassin, the dirt leaving greater stains then her impeccably sharp blade had. Just about everyone else bore injury to it save her, the one who invited such wounds so nobler souls needn't suffer!

For all the emotions roiling inside her, it was shame that kept her from raising a peep when rescue arrived. When the assassin fled and Seirin's real protectors gave chase, leaving them with the ever unflappable professor of Exorcism, carrying himself as a man of law and order instead of their educator. The lack of pity in his clipped, detached words had her rising, a fistful of dirt being crushed in her palm as an outlet for desires run rampant. When she spoke, the words were hoarse and scratchy, pitched low yet dripping with an incurable enmity for the culprit.

"If we had need to hunt for injustice, the world would be a place safe enough girls like Seirin would never require such security. I only ask to know why such an attack would occur? We spoke with her, we laughed and walked with her among the shrines! Seirin was harmless...why would that animal not kidnap her ransom, but rush to murder her on holy land?"

The Devil Hunter Agency

Rufus

"Oh I wouldn't say she's my first human-eating human. I donate my excess food to the homeless and desperate, and they've never had a word of complaint about the other-white-meat-on-rye sandwich." Rufus opined with an airy whistle, idly portalling glasses onto shelves and cabinets as he moved on to next in a long procession of infinite mug cleaning. You weren't a bartender if you weren't dispensing life advice, polishing glasses, or serving beer at all times, after all.

"Saying that, I should mention I've totally fallen off the wagon. I, well, lasted a week before
giving in to my urges about...eh, ten minutes ago? Someone had the brilliant idea of leaving out singing landmines and, whelp, my hand just had to poke the singing rock at the wrong time. Hey, Envoy, you know anything about that? Cause I think the human-eating human is the only one not called here by some familiar tunage."

Tower of Fable

Kanbaru Otoko

Just a few steps closer and her partner's desires crystallized, focusing not on the vampire but the red hood beside her. The nun's words were intoxicating and she drank deep from that well, her whale plushie straightening, it's surface taught with the pressure of violently whirling water that released a low keening 'Weeeee' sound the closer she stalked. Eyes electric in their intensity honed in on Riku. It was with reluctance she acknowledged her companions, her partner's rationale tempering it's lust for conquest.

"Ami, doesn't this cloaked girl give you a serious Light Magical Girl vibe? I want to punch a frown on her face just looking at it. Give me a hand, for old times sake, will ya'?" She called back, nostalgia coloring her tone with the gleeful savagery of their past days dominating Miso City. True, they hadn't been terribly close compared to herself and Touka, but the love of bullying ignorant Light Girls was universal in its appeal. "And hey, she even matches the description of one of thieves. It's practically a public service!"

The last word was a beastly roar, a dash having Kanbaru appear behind both Victoire and Riku, her whale whirling down and up in a launcher that heralded an arc of water to rise up and drill the thief princess into the ceiling.