[ Well. Okay. Taair is allowed to be freed, because Adolphe takes out a flint stone and pitches it at the target's sword to try and knock it off course. (15) do not stab the healthiest man in the room rn ]
[ he might be down an eye, full of arrows, and still somewhat hallucinating, but hawke's reflexes are still sharp as ever. he immediately yanks richie back with a nat 20, babey ]
Adolphe flings one of the flint stones at the figure, knocking what they can now see is a kitchen knife off course. Then Hawke yanks Richie out of the way, Richie slashes across the figure's chest with his wakizashi, and the figure is totally unable to stop themselves before they take a tumble down the stairs face first, knife and hands pinned under their chest when they hit the ground.
There's a pained gasp and a wet gurgle as they slide down a couple of steps, before coming to a stop. Twitching and gasping, with is a bloody smear left on the stairs in their wake.
Now that they're out of the room, the crew can plainly see that their assailant is a black haired woman dressed in a plain white kimono. Oops.]
well... she had a kitchen knife... but can you even blame them at this point? it makes taair's already hurting heart lurch as he gets his footing, and he watches the body of the woman twitching and gasping -
... there's a moment where it looks like he's going to run down the stairs to her, actually, if she's still moving, but one of the others can stop what is absolutely dumbass behavior if they want to. ]
[ Adolphe looks down at the fallen person, grabs Taair by the arm, and just walks into the room with his katana out and ready. Yes, he's dragging him. Don't do that. ]
Okay you three can hobble on in, Richie will unwind himself from Hawke for the moment.]
Give me a sec.
[And he'll hop on down to check who the fuck this lone woman armed with only a kitchen knife is? As well as if she is alive or dead. Doing so from outside arm's reach.]
[The woman is still moving, yes. Though her movements grow weaker by the second. Perhaps Taair could have saved her if rushed to her side, but it seems like that won't be happening. Richie can check up on her with his zero medical skills, and I guess he's flipping her over with his foot and skittering back.
First thing's first: There is a knife lodged in her chest. Red is rapidly spreading across the front of her previously white kimono. The woman makes no moves to attack him, her brown eyes simply swiveling to the left to stare at him — before she lets out one, last rattling breath and goes limp.
He doesn't recognize this woman. But there is something vaguely familiar about her features. In the contours of her face, perhaps. High cheekbones and gaunt faced. Her brown eyes stare up at him, unseeing, pupils blown wide with the shock of death.
Back in the room, Taair, Adolphe and Hawke's eyes adjust enough for them to take in their surroundings. They find themselves in what appears to be a bedroom with large, glass windows overlooking the sea. Furniture lines the walls, with two rolled up futons in one corner and a random... thing. Next to the rolled up mats, about waist height with Hawke and covered in a white linen sheet. Those last three things are situated in the far left corner of the room.
But before they can investigate, they hear a muffled startled gasp and a whimper from somewhere to their right, its source obscured by the furniture.]
it's fine. wracked with guilt as richie goes rushing down and he's pulled into the room, taair swallows hard - adolphe is valid to have his katana out, but the second he hears the whimper, taair immediately holds out his arm.
if this is a monster, it's fine. it doesn't sound like one, it sounds like a child, and he pushes forward. ]
...Little one? [ he calls out, soft, stepping out from in front of the other two. he looks like a mess, covered in viscera and blood and burns and everything, but his voice is as soft and gentle as it always is, as he starts to move, slowly, towards the sound. ]
It's alright. We mean you no harm...
[ AS IF WE HAVE NOT HURT SO MANY PEOPLE ON ACCIDENT..... maybe this time it will be different... ]
[ well that's not good. so much for his nat 20 doing them a favor???
hawke avoids the Thing like the black plague and simply eyeballs it while taair plays animal (...child....?) whisperer. there better not be another nother body hiding so help him ]
[This face is pulling at him. Never met the woman, he's sure of it, but...something about it. Richie's watched plenty of people die by now but once in a while there's a death that gets you. Seeing that last gasp for breath puts his ragged lungs in a bitter squeeze.
Maybe Sandy was right. He isn't worth shit at all.
His head snaps up at the sound though. Not coming to him as clean as it does the other three, but alarming enough.
He thinks, suddenly, of the skeletons below. Richie wets his lips. Looks back to the dead woman one last time and slowly ascends the steps, feeling a mounting dread.]
[Very funny of Taair to assume it's a child, especially once he catches a glimpse of the person tucked behind a dresser. This is a grown ass woman, sir. Though no one they recognize. Is it so strange for her to whimper after watching three armed men take another woman down right in front of her? Mind you, the gang is still covered in blood and viscera. They are one hell of a terrifying sight.
She scrambles back, holding an arm out protectively over face.]
Please, spare me! I'm just a maid! A maid! I have nothing to do with this!
[ AH WELL LISTEN ONCE HE SAW HER HE WASN'T GONNA THINK IT WAS A BABY but
okay he feels a little relieved that she is not a child, but the moment that she scrambles back, taair draws back a bit, just as startled, and sincerely, immediately apologizes. ]
Oh --! Oh, miss, I am so sorry - I did not mean to give you such a fright! [ he also immediately reels back a little (wobbles because man is he dizzy) and holds up both hands. ] Please, do not fret, we mean you no harm... I know how this looks, but, ah...
... there is, a fire, however! So... it would be best to evacuate quickly.
[ While Taair does that, Adolphe looks around the room. Is there anything that stands out here that could clue him in? This doesn't feel like a room that "belongs to a demon". He wipes blood from his good eye and tries to think despite being severely mentally damaged right now. ]
[ honestly, the chances of hawke just slowly sinking to the floor is raising by the minute despite the fact the bottom floor(s) are now on fire and they're probably on a bit of a time crunch. it's fine.
besides it feels weird to loot the room while the poor lady is already losing it over the four of them? he's got some manners, maybe ]
[Richie ascends the stairs. Takes in the sight, the sound of her pleas. Glances over to the other three and sees Hawke is on very borrowed time. Strolling closer, keeping his voice low for calm.]
We were sent here to take care of a demon. That's all we came for. Can you point us to it? We won't hurt you.
[Unlike your mistress back there.
His gut twists again. Something's off about all this.]
[Looking around, that mysterious Thing in the leftmost corner of the room would stand out to Adolphe. If only, perhaps, because it's impossible to see what lays beneath the white linen sheet.
The woman is not at all soothed by Taair's words.]
A-A fire?! What... How am I supposed to— [She's starting to spiral. But thankfully, Richie then jumps in, cutting her off. She looks at the four men before her, first with confusion.] A demon? I don't...
[Trailing off, realization seems to set in — and something in her expression changes. With a trembling hand, she points at the object Adolphe is already looking at.]
Oh, you must mean that... thing. It's over there. Please, take it and leave me be! I'll never speak of this to anyone, I promise!
[Removing the white linen sheet, the group finds a wooden bassinet.
Inside, there is a sleeping baby swaddled in blue cloth. It stirs awake when Adolphe lifts the sheet, blinking blearily up at the group and revealing a pair of icy blue eyes on otherwise perfectly Japanese features. This particular shade of blue will strike them as familiar, though perhaps more so to Taair and Richie.
But now they have another problem to contend with, and I don't mean the fact that the crackling of the fire sounds way closer than it did before.
With the memories of their AU lives at their disposal, they will understand that this child is a half-breed. Someone who is considered monstrous. Less than human. The existence of such a being is heavily frowned upon by their society. With the child's light colored eyes, empty, it would look like a demon to the everyday citizen. Killing it would be a mercy.
And with this realization, one thing becomes clear:
This child is the demon they were hired to kill. And its mother is likely the same woman they struck down earlier, her cooling corpse laying on the stairs.
And y'all accused me of lying about the MILF. Wow.]
taair makes his way over to look - and the actual second that he realizes there's a baby, forget everything. taair's heart lurches and he's up by adolphe as fast as he can, and is already reaching out for the tiny thing.
and he just - ]
-- No. [ nope! no. absolutely fucking not! it's the way that irians look at vlderians sometimes, the way the papal states look at the sorcerers and sorceresses. demons, devils, possessed, useless for anything but experimentation - it burns someone like taair, and he is going to put himself by this child so fast.
he doesn't even have anything else he can say, at first, emphatic and poisoned and remembering the dead face of the dead person he killed who he won't even be able to tell that he saw who cared for him, and remembering a dear, dear friend with light colored eyes like his own - You are very dear to me. If anything happened to you, I would kill whoever did it without a moment's hesitation, and more than anything at all, he remembers a tiny, terrified little girl with teal ears and giant, wobbly eyes who crawled into his arms and begged him not to leave.
his hands curl tight on the edge of the bassinet. ]
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holyspirits) wrote2025-03-23 03:12 pm
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Adolphe flings one of the flint stones at the figure, knocking what they can now see is a kitchen knife off course. Then Hawke yanks Richie out of the way, Richie slashes across the figure's chest with his wakizashi, and the figure is totally unable to stop themselves before they take a tumble down the stairs face first, knife and hands pinned under their chest when they hit the ground.
There's a pained gasp and a wet gurgle as they slide down a couple of steps, before coming to a stop. Twitching and gasping, with is a bloody smear left on the stairs in their wake.
Now that they're out of the room, the crew can plainly see that their assailant is a black haired woman dressed in a plain white kimono. Oops.]
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well... she had a kitchen knife... but can you even blame them at this point? it makes taair's already hurting heart lurch as he gets his footing, and he watches the body of the woman twitching and gasping -
... there's a moment where it looks like he's going to run down the stairs to her, actually, if she's still moving, but one of the others can stop what is absolutely dumbass behavior if they want to. ]
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he'd have to go through hawke anyway and the chances of that are high but not zero. uses his bulk to simply waddle everyone into the room ]
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Okay you three can hobble on in, Richie will unwind himself from Hawke for the moment.]
Give me a sec.
[And he'll hop on down to check who the fuck this lone woman armed with only a kitchen knife is? As well as if she is alive or dead. Doing so from outside arm's reach.]
Hello, hello?
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First thing's first: There is a knife lodged in her chest. Red is rapidly spreading across the front of her previously white kimono. The woman makes no moves to attack him, her brown eyes simply swiveling to the left to stare at him — before she lets out one, last rattling breath and goes limp.
He doesn't recognize this woman. But there is something vaguely familiar about her features. In the contours of her face, perhaps. High cheekbones and gaunt faced. Her brown eyes stare up at him, unseeing, pupils blown wide with the shock of death.
Back in the room, Taair, Adolphe and Hawke's eyes adjust enough for them to take in their surroundings. They find themselves in what appears to be a bedroom with large, glass windows overlooking the sea. Furniture lines the walls, with two rolled up futons in one corner and a random... thing. Next to the rolled up mats, about waist height with Hawke and covered in a white linen sheet. Those last three things are situated in the far left corner of the room.
But before they can investigate, they hear a muffled startled gasp and a whimper from somewhere to their right, its source obscured by the furniture.]
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it's fine. wracked with guilt as richie goes rushing down and he's pulled into the room, taair swallows hard - adolphe is valid to have his katana out, but the second he hears the whimper, taair immediately holds out his arm.
if this is a monster, it's fine. it doesn't sound like one, it sounds like a child, and he pushes forward. ]
...Little one? [ he calls out, soft, stepping out from in front of the other two. he looks like a mess, covered in viscera and blood and burns and everything, but his voice is as soft and gentle as it always is, as he starts to move, slowly, towards the sound. ]
It's alright. We mean you no harm...
[ AS IF WE HAVE NOT HURT SO MANY PEOPLE ON ACCIDENT..... maybe this time it will be different... ]
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..............
He really doesn't like the implications set in here. ]
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hawke avoids the Thing like the black plague and simply eyeballs it while taair plays animal (...child....?) whisperer. there better not be another nother body hiding so help him ]
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Maybe Sandy was right. He isn't worth shit at all.
His head snaps up at the sound though. Not coming to him as clean as it does the other three, but alarming enough.
He thinks, suddenly, of the skeletons below. Richie wets his lips. Looks back to the dead woman one last time and slowly ascends the steps, feeling a mounting dread.]
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She scrambles back, holding an arm out protectively over face.]
Please, spare me! I'm just a maid! A maid! I have nothing to do with this!
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okay he feels a little relieved that she is not a child, but the moment that she scrambles back, taair draws back a bit, just as startled, and sincerely, immediately apologizes. ]
Oh --! Oh, miss, I am so sorry - I did not mean to give you such a fright! [ he also immediately reels back a little (wobbles because man is he dizzy) and holds up both hands. ] Please, do not fret, we mean you no harm... I know how this looks, but, ah...
... there is, a fire, however! So... it would be best to evacuate quickly.
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besides it feels weird to loot the room while the poor lady is already losing it over the four of them? he's got some manners, maybe ]
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We were sent here to take care of a demon. That's all we came for. Can you point us to it? We won't hurt you.
[Unlike your mistress back there.
His gut twists again. Something's off about all this.]
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The woman is not at all soothed by Taair's words.]
A-A fire?! What... How am I supposed to— [She's starting to spiral. But thankfully, Richie then jumps in, cutting her off. She looks at the four men before her, first with confusion.] A demon? I don't...
[Trailing off, realization seems to set in — and something in her expression changes. With a trembling hand, she points at the object Adolphe is already looking at.]
Oh, you must mean that... thing. It's over there. Please, take it and leave me be! I'll never speak of this to anyone, I promise!
[Well?]
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slowly, he follows her gaze to the Thing... and then nods, starting to ease back up to his feet. ]
... Shall we...?
[ what horrors await us actually ]
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Waits with bated breath.]
cw RACISM......................
Inside, there is a sleeping baby swaddled in blue cloth. It stirs awake when Adolphe lifts the sheet, blinking blearily up at the group and revealing a pair of icy blue eyes on otherwise perfectly Japanese features. This particular shade of blue will strike them as familiar, though perhaps more so to Taair and Richie.
But now they have another problem to contend with, and I don't mean the fact that the crackling of the fire sounds way closer than it did before.
With the memories of their AU lives at their disposal, they will understand that this child is a half-breed. Someone who is considered monstrous. Less than human. The existence of such a being is heavily frowned upon by their society. With the child's light colored eyes, empty, it would look like a demon to the everyday citizen. Killing it would be a mercy.
And with this realization, one thing becomes clear:
This child is the demon they were hired to kill. And its mother is likely the same woman they struck down earlier, her cooling corpse laying on the stairs.
And y'all accused me of lying about the MILF. Wow.]
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taair makes his way over to look - and the actual second that he realizes there's a baby, forget everything. taair's heart lurches and he's up by adolphe as fast as he can, and is already reaching out for the tiny thing.
and he just - ]
-- No. [ nope! no. absolutely fucking not! it's the way that irians look at vlderians sometimes, the way the papal states look at the sorcerers and sorceresses. demons, devils, possessed, useless for anything but experimentation - it burns someone like taair, and he is going to put himself by this child so fast.
he doesn't even have anything else he can say, at first, emphatic and poisoned and remembering the dead face of the dead person he killed who he won't even be able to tell that he saw who cared for him, and remembering a dear, dear friend with light colored eyes like his own - You are very dear to me. If anything happened to you, I would kill whoever did it without a moment's hesitation, and more than anything at all, he remembers a tiny, terrified little girl with teal ears and giant, wobbly eyes who crawled into his arms and begged him not to leave.
his hands curl tight on the edge of the bassinet. ]
I won't allow it.
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