Assignment: Attend briefing - Interacting with @King Tai
Willard beamed with some of the greatest exuberance he could produce - finally, a mission that he could partake in, and not only that - the way everyone was talking, it was like HE was the main character! Granted, R0se said that she was going to go with him, but that was fine with the boy. The anticipation practically seeped out of the small child's skin as he bounced about in his chair, ready to take on whatever it was he was getting into!
As Blaque clicked through the pictures projected in the air, Willard tried his best to keep up with all of the info he was being fed. The layout of the mansion was pretty simple, he thought, and it shouldn't be too difficult to get around, especially if most of the upstairs of the building was just sleeping quarters. Willard heard Blaque say something about a basement, or something like that, beneath the orphanage, and that one could only get in through the lab area, which is where they kept all the special children. Willard's mind flew around at this - maybe there really were other kids like him, he just hadn't met them yet!
Next up were the pictures of the other staff in the orphanage - not a single one of them looked particularly nice - in fact, they looked like the kind of people Willard tried his best to avoid when he was out on delivery or pickup for his master. If only Willard could see their colors through their pictures, then he could start planning ahead on how to deal with them. For now, however, he had to take Blaque's word for it that they were not to be trifled with.
The plan sounded just fine to Willard - he and R0se would be taken to the orphanage by Mr. Darric, and they would mingle with the other kids until it was time for them to get everyone outside. Tamashi and Mr. Darric would watch over them, making sure that no harm would come to them, and hopefully R0se's disguise wouldn't be seen through. Priest would no doubt be watching the whole event, like he says he does, though Willard couldn't imagine how if he wasn't there himself.
"Willard, do you understand what you'll be doing?" The large man leaned over to the boy and stared at him through his glasses, right into Willard's brilliant green eyes. Willard smiled and nodded with ferocity, not wanting to disappoint his master, and hoping to do his best to prove himself to everyone in the group.
I'll show everyone what help I can really be!... But first I gotta pee! Recognizing the meeting was just about over for him, Willard slid down from his chair and rushed to the toilet at the front of the bar, all the while feeling especially proud of himself.
@IceHeart I got that part, and I wasn't sure when the two parties were going to meet up with each other. I'll leave Geoffrey's reaction for when he sees the Onyx Empire in the next post!
After being escorted into the valley by the green knight, Geoffrey scanned the surrounding area, impressed at its eloquence despite how cut-off and sheltered it was from the rest of the world far, far below. The rolling grass fields swayed in the wind with vibrant floral patchwork spotting the sea of green, with immense, looming evergreens accentuating the serenity. To an extent, Geoffrey almost felt at home in the valley - and then the glint of glass caught his eye. As he peered up at the massive mirror, he couldn't help but feel small, even inferior - with each glimpse of the Grimm's constructions, each building of stone and metal, each ingenuity upon the otherwise natural landscape, the hair on the back of his neck would stand up, and he felt like he had to be especially cautious with what he would say or do.
He looked behind him as his comrades followed, taking note of their weariness from the long travel, and how desperately they wished to rest for a moment - the brief stop at the gate only subtly appeasing the strain on their muscles. Geoffrey himself felt a bit winded - having spent the past few months in a military office had done quite a bit of a toll on his body, and he wished that those R&R sessions he had from time to time were better spent on his physical condition instead of sleeping and chatting up the local women who would gawk at his military garb. But, no matter - he was here now, and the determination of the moment was plenty of incentive to push the young tactician forward, toward Castle Grimm.
@GingerBoi123 I'll be posting within the next day or two, so you can go before me if you'd wish. I seem to be having difficulty brainstorming this intro piece for some reason :P
Hey there, my monochrome maker. You know, i'm always more down than digger to spell out some meetings greetings. Tongue tie our characters in some cinematic situations and all that. Right now, we got. motherfucking. a series of guys who all could of worked across each other.
Just gonna put back on the hat here my distance descended denizens @Crumbs@Acid Hippie
We got:
The Criminal
The Hunter
The Sniper
The Engineer
The Smith
The Archaeologist
That's 3 for 3. Maybe we can, like. go fish and uno with this pairing. Perhaps all of our brothers were hired at point by one of the the guys to do a job that switched bullets. Any personal stuff we should prepare the shovels for. I'm always down for some deeds and bloody photos though on the heart scene with anyone.
*intensely struggles and stammers through comrade's verbiage* yyyyeah! Haha we can definitely figure out background info and such, though I'm still debating how well Nightshade knows everyone else in the mission, but I'm thinking that she would have at least heard of everyone. She's more prominently been spending her time in the western part of the south-west - but now that I think about it, she's definitely heard of Wild Cherry (best step off mah girl's turf!) and Mask (in fact, she may have seen Mask as a bounty she was meaning to grab). She's probably heard of Findley Weapons and Arms, but not Gaius in particular, has heard of the Stenfield family and has picked up a couple of Rigel's publishings to look at in her free time, and has only heard rumors of Bot and his bots.
I also didn't get this from before, and I apologize if I missed it, but I'm assuming Mask will always have the Mask over his face?
If you gals are gonna have a sniping contest, Gaius might want to be in on this. He has a reputation to live up to after all
Lol I'm definitely down for that! I was thinking Gaius and Nightshade would make for a pretty good sniper team when needed, and I'm sure we could make plans for such events.
@Crumbs, and everyone, for that matter - edited Nightshade's end of her bio a bit, not a whole lot, just referencing that she recieved word from the Duke. That being said, Nightshade has very little knowledge of the northern city, having never been there before, but hearing plenty about it.
(formerly) Brother West Urchins - A large group of orphaned children that ran through the streets of the western Cardinal City, taking to pickpocketing and minor theft attempts to survive. Nightshade ran alongside these kids since she was only four, until age sixteen, when she was old enough to adventure on her own outside of the city.
(formerly) Yrdra's Head-Hunters - A relatively prominent group of bounty hunters, snipers, and assassins that occupy a small south-western region of Rainend in a small town known as Droplet. They act as the "law" in the region, keeping the peace and reporting kills back to the western or southern Cardinal City. Nightshade joined up with them eight years ago, making useful contacts and allies to aid her throughout most of the southwest corner of Rainend.
Appearance:
About 5'5", slim build, 120lbs
Personality: Nightshade herself is quite loving and sincere - but there's a particular air about her... Almost a cynicism in the way she talks, but understandably so - the way she had been treated throughout her youth gives her a feeling of estrangement. Yet Nightshade consistently tries to form valuable relationships with the people she interacts with, to ensure their aid in situations she needs them for.
Often, throughout conversations with people, Nightshade can seem distant with how she talks, almost mystic in her phrasing. Looking at it out of context would suggest she's on a different level from other people, or simply that her head is in the clouds most of the time. It leaves people wondering how she's going to respond to them, regardless of the simplicity of the question.
Occupation:
Head-Hunter (casteless)
Equipment:
Spitshot: Yrdra's very own, given to Nightshade before she passed away - an Amethyst mineral weapon, designed as a sniper rifle. She often wears the weapon across her back, like Yrdra used to.
The 3rd gun shown.
The rifle's origins are unknown, even by Nightshade, but she knows her mentor Yrdra recieved the weapon many decades ago. The rifle's personality is brash, and occasionally hotheaded - and the bullets themselves are incredibly the same. They take no solid form, cutting through an opponent with ease, but leaving momentous damage inside the flesh. If, for some reason, the target is able to escape with a single shot in them, they won't last long - the material the bullets are made of leave a residue behind in the wound, which continues heating up - to the point that the flesh of the target begins melting. So, death from this rifle is either swift and sudden, or a slow, horribly painful experience.
6-shot revolover: Just in case her kill ever gets too close, or something unexpected happens, Nightshade will generally have this 6-shot at hand, holstered on her right hip. It has a chrome finish and etchings of a floral design all across the surface.
Basic bowie: This knife has saved Nightshade's ass more than enough times - when shit goes awry, she can always reach for her left boot and pull this baby out. A black coating stretched across the 9" blade, save for the silver line across the piercing edge.
Neo-wild-western garb: Black jeans, knee-high studded boots, and a pitch-black short poncho often cover Nightshades body, with deep purple fingerless gloves gripping Spitshot.
Abilities:
Bull's Bullet (Occupation): Nightshade has become quite gifted with long-distance shots, and spends a good deal of her free-time aiming for far targets - such as a glass bottle, five thousands yards away. Spending so much time on this talent has really made her into an excellent shot, and is almost always reliable in hunting attempts. The Weak and Weary (Racial/Personal): Having spent her youth living poorly, Nightshade is prolific when communicating with others who are typically down on their luck or are long-time strugglers. However, she lacks the correct presence when amongst those who are typically better suited off. Regular Pick-pocket (Personal): A childhood of thieving just to get by was essential to Nightshade, and her keen eye and swift fingers continue to ensure she gets what she needs - especially if the item in question is particularly shiny. Nightshade is fairly good at pickpocketing, so long as the person she's taking her goods from doesn't notice a little nudge when walking through a crowd. Foggy Air (Occupation/Personal): The very air around her seems to shift - Nightshade's scent, intoxicating. Her words are always placed so... Peculiarly, yet with such eloquence. But she has a tendency to disappear when least expected, and stay hidden. When out hunting, Nightshade can find great hiding spots, vantage points, and the like, and stay away from leering eyes for a great time. She also has a way with getting what she needs when bartering or asking around for information.
Biography: Dirt and dust caked the girl's skin, the only protection from the constant heat above the West Cardinal City. Young Rinoa ran through the browned streets beside the other children, hooping and hollering in their games. The occasional glint or shine would catch the eye, and in a quick brush, the shimmer vanished - now in the small hands of the child. For thirteen long, hungry years, this is how she lived, taking the coin she needed, nabbing at foods in the market when nobody was looking. Her parents died before she could even remember them, and her care was left to the City. All she had left of her past life was her name. But now, she forgets that at times, too.
Until she was sixteen, Rinoa knew no home, often sleeping in crevices with her brothers and sisters who were orphaned by the City. Here, they looked out for each other, keeping out of the grasp of authorities, knowing to love the shadows and using their innoncence to their advantage. She always stayed a bit distant, though - not because she didn't want to talk to the children, nor because she didn't need them - but her mind didn't belong. It was somewhere else, always looking over the horizon at the sunset each night, staring up at the dim stars far above whatever nook she had nuzzled herself into for safety.
Finally, her sixteenth year cast her into the wasteland, too old to run with her comrades any longer, and she wandered. Scavenging could only get her so far - and it got her into trouble, of all things. A few days' travel south left her hot, dehydrated, and on the cusp of death - until she saw the large metal barn - more of a shed, really - which she rummaged through merrily, quenching her thirst and resting there for the night. The next morning brought with it a harsh reality, as she was thrown from her shaded bed of dried grass into the already beating sun by two thick, rough hands. A party of four large figures looked down at the young girl, discovering they had been stolen from and ready to take repayment. Just as one of the men lunged at the cowering teen, a piercing wind stung the air, along with a strong *thunk*, and the man was down on the ground, the blood from between his eyes already soaking into the cracked earth. The three remaining attackers began darting about, frantically searching for cover. Another shot rang out into the still desert air, and a second man was down, then another - the final hulking figure smart enough to grab Rinoa as his shield.
Quickly recognizing her situation, Rinoa ducked down and kicked, hard - straight into the man's lower gut, doubling him over. She darted to the shed for cover, and a final burst echoed across the motionless air. After only a few minutes in hiding, the distant tapping of boots against the dirt came closer to her location. She stumbled at first, then found a good vantage point as her next threat entered - an older woman in a long desert duster, a rifle slung across her back.
"I mean you no harm, girl. I had hoped after what I'd done for you, you'd be more inclined!" The aged voice cracked, but still sounded genuine and full of heart. Rinoa swept down from above the woman, planning to surprise her from behind, but as she placed her feet and looked up, the wrinkled face was already staring back at her.
The woman was named Yrdra. She took Rinoa back to the small town of Droplet, just a little over a hundred people in the total village limits, including the guns-for-hire. For the next eight years of her life, Rinoa trained under Yrdra, honing her talent with a gun, and took the name Nightshade for her official mercenary title. Eight years of hunting, killing, and collecting coin kept Nightshade on her toes, and she quickly became quite renowned in the area for her marksmanship. After Yrdra passed away, Nightshade began wandering again, still relying upon her aim to bring in the money she needed, but once again without a home.
No one knew where to find her, but some of the bounty hunters from back in Droplet were able to get a hold of her - The Duke brought an important statement, summoning the sniper to the north Cardinal City. She had nowhere else to go, and nothing else to do - and surely, this had to be a relatively important matter - the Duke himself was involved. She gathered her few items and made way for the underground city.
@Crumbs I finished my CS, didn't know if you wanted me to post it again or not so I put it in the spot I had reserved on page 3. Check it out when you get the chance!
A consistent looming force that dominated my life, and still does for New Year's. All-in-all, they've been actually pretty good - hangin' with the siblings and getting a bunch of new music for Christmas. So I suppose it's been fairly bountiful! Any exciting gifts, yourself?
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