Prey: A Character Driven RP [FINISHED]

[Sporky111]

Hearing Rin's speech was deeply troubling for Takeda. He didn't think it was nearly as dangerous as she made it sound, he thought it was just because of him misbehaving that people seemed to chase him. It made him really nervous, especially when she started to look around suspiciously.

"I had no idea things were so dangerous . . . " he mumbled, wringing his hands together. The young kitsune had to quick-step every few seconds to keep up with the swift pace of the woman and her long strides.

"You've heard about us?" he asked, suddenly intrigued. What have people been saying about me? he wondered.

"Yes, you two have gotten quite a bit of attention lately. There are already whispers of a young boy sprouting a tail in another part of town, not to mention all the people that saw Maya disappear on TV."

Takeda looked behind him quickly to make sure his tail was still hidden, then sighed when he saw that it was indeed out of sight. "I hope we haven't caused too much trouble."

 

[JoJo]

Rin lent over to Takeda and whispered in his ear, leaving the almost unconscious Maya firmly out of earshot.

"Under more pleasant circumstances such occurrences would not be nearly as concerning. However these days something is hunting us, often paired with dangerous endings. Our community is scared, more so than usual. And paranoia leads to fear."

She straightened up again as they reached a small inconspicuous block of flats and while balancing her passenger in one arm used her other to punch in a 4-digit code into a pad by the door. Up four stories of stairs they climbed before finally reaching Rin's tiny but immaculately clean home. A combined lounge and kitchen led on into a neat bedroom with an adjacent bathroom. She looked calmer now she was back in the safety of her own home.

"I'll need a few minutes to clean this little one up, and ring a doctor. You can make some lunch for yourself if you want, just please don't touch the oven. Or the grill." She moved as if to go into the bedroom but then turned back to Takeda "Oh, and if you find any weapons I've left lying around, leave them where they are!"

 

[SamuelT]

Snip

And

Snip

A wild plotpoint appears!

And even more so; not all explained in one post! =O


As soon as Zetta ends her sentence a cab stops a few meters away. It flashes with its headlights twice.

 

[SeanTheSheep]

Lily eyed the cab warily, any form of transport she wasn't in control of unnerved her, but as always, she threw off the feeling and opened the cab door, waiting for Zetta to step inside. Ducking her head to avoid the door, Lily climbed in second, and took a look at the driver. As usual with Castle Cars, there was no glass separating the passengers from the drivers, one of the benefits of the service, as it helped the car look more like every other car on the road, with no additional markings or defining features, making them an excellent chice for getaways that are going smoothly, and the one rule of "Don't get anything illegal on the back seats" made many illicit activities much easier, such as splitting up money from a job, and in one case Lily had heard of, strangling a man. No questions were asked, they just drove.
"Where's Boris? The usual guy?" Lily asked, leaning forward in her seat to ask, leaning on her arm as it was propped against the front passenger seat's shoulder.
"Boris not here today." Replied the driver "Is only Ivan."
"Ah, OK." Lily threw back half-heartedly, settling back into her seat. "Anyway Rach," she said, turning to Zetta. "If you open the case and we can take a look at what we've got." she continued, her tone not changing at all as she quickly motioned the rough size of a large metal briefcase to Zetta, and mouthed "Syringe"

When a case of roughly the dimensions Lily had described shimmered into view on the floor at Zetta's feet, the lid flipped up as Lily bent over the contents and she spoke in a hushed tone "Don't worry, he won't notice. The human mind fills in the blanks where it thinks its memory was wrong, no matter how well trained the person might be. Make the syringe hover above his heart Remember the most important thing. You aren't special, you're just a normal human. This guy isn't from the company. " She said, sitting back up. The small syringe in the case, held in place by a the foam lining slowly began to rise up to about chest height, and then darted to the front seat, pausing directly above the driver's chest. At the same time this was happening, Lily pulled her knife from the holster she kept it in around her ankle, and held it at the driver's neck. " she said, No-one who works for this company is called Boris" She said, the malice in her voice thick and revealed that she wouldn't hesitate to kill this man and keep his body driving the car via telekinesis. "So I suggest you start talking. Now."

 

[SamuelT]

The driver jerked the wheel at the cold touch of metal against his neck. The cab swerved, and a car honked.

"Take easy, okay?! Okay?"

He continued to drive.

"I am Ivan, really. Don't work for company, no. Work for other company. Driver. Hired me to bring you to them."

Sweat started beading on his forhead.

 

[Sporky111]

"Okay, thank you." Takeda said as Rin left to tend to Maya. The boy looked around the dwelling curiously, taking note of the very simple decoration. It seemed like a cozy place, and as he approached a window he couldn't help but look out over the street. Being up in a tall building never seemed to get old for Takeda, it was such a nice change from seeing peoples' legs all the time.

Then his stomach gurgled and he put his hands on his belly. With a giggle, he went back into the kitchen and did as Rin suggested and made lunch. He probably wouldn't have made anything in the oven or grill anyway, so she had nothing to worry about there.

There was a short fridge on the edge of her counter, and he opened it and looked inside. It seemed to have quite a lot in there, but all in small amounts. It was like everything in the house was designed to be small and efficient, and if Takeda had thought on it enough he might have realized that it made it easy to pack up and leave at short notice if such an action was required.

After a minute or so of shuffling around the contents of his host's fridge, Takeda found a container with a trio of rice balls inside. He pulled it out and smiled, then started looking through the drawers for chopsticks. He had to stand up on his toes to see into them, and he was a little shocked to find a thin bladed knife in the first drawer.

Curiously, he pulled out the knife and held it carefully in his hands. It was a hunting knife, for throwing. And it looked very nice to him, a black and silver handle and perfectly reflective blade.

He heard footsteps and quickly put the knife back down and pushed the drawer shut, muttering a short curse under his breath. Rin walked back out and gave him a glance.

"Did you find everything you need?"

"I-I can't find chopsticks." he said, taking the container and holding it. Rin smiled and opened a drawer on the other side of the kitchen and handed him a pair of the wooden utensils.

"I'll get a hold of someone to help Maya, then we can chat."

"Okay, thanks." Takeda crawled up onto a chair and set himself in front of the table. He decided that it was safe enough here, so he pulled down his hood and let his vulpine ears perk up. As he let himself relax, his bushy tail also revealed itself behind him. The orange appendage flicked and waved lazily behind him as he started to eat the rice.

Spoiler

I guess that's all I've got. If Rin is to ask Takeda some questions, then I guess the ball is in your court now Sam.

 

[JoJo]

Maya drifted in and out of consciousness; one moment she was being carried up a flight of stairs, the next she was being undressed by strong hands and then being held up in a tepid bath while having a flannel rubbed vigorously across her grubby skin. She shivered slightly as cool water ran down her body. Rin's voice floated across to her like it was coming from the other side of a dark void; it sounded more like reassuring background noise than words. After a time she was lifted onto a hard tiled floor and stopped trembling as a warm towel was wrapped around her thin frame. The small girl barely had time to feel its woolly texture before she was clothed in a silky material which despite probably being many sizes too large felt very snug. The hands finally laid her down onto a comfy bed and nestling her head into the pillow sleep immediately embraced her.

An indeterminable amount of time passed before Maya awoke to hear voices around her. She felt somewhat vulnerable and so kept her eyes closed and pretended to still be asleep. One of the voices was recognisably Rin's, the other was much deeper, that of a man. He spoke quickly in a harsh voice and first pulled back the bedcovers to inspect his patient before gripping her injured arm tightly with a cold hand. He moved away and spoke to Rin again before placing a spoonful for foul-tasting liquid into her mouth and making sure she swallowed it. With that they left the room and quietness returned. Maya turned over relieved and within seconds was dreaming again.

 

[DktrAgonizer]

Rezetta was getting tired. It had been a long, somewhat dangerous day, and everything was dragging on her mind. Everything she'd been through so far, from the shock of hearing her former friends might have been captured by the police, to the fear she'd felt from the weird group of hunters trying to kill her, to the illusions she'd constantly been weaving throughout the day was giving her a headache. It was a little hard to concentrate now, stuck in the back of a taxi cab going who-knew-where. She'd thrown up another quick illusion to hide her teeth when said cab arrived in the first place.

Speaking of cabs, she had a vague thought that the real cab Lily had called for earlier wouldn't be happy to see the people he was supposed to be picking up were gone. But that wasn't important now. She forced herself to focus back onto what Lily and the driver were saying, trying to ignore the headache building up inside her skull.

"Who hired you? What do they want with us?" she demanded, her eyes on the knife Lily held at Ivan's neck. While she didn't doubt that Lily could use her powers to keep the car moving safely were Ivan to be killed, she'd rather not have to witness it. After everything else she'd witnessed today, Zetta didn't think she'd be able to hold it together to smell more blood, more death, in the air. Then again, you gotta do what you gotta do, she thought with a grimace.

"Don't know, not really," Ivan said, trying to look back at them but forced to focus on the road when Lily's knife pressed against his neck with slightly more force. "Only know the name of Peirson. He paid me to drive."

 

[SeanTheSheep]

"What do you want with us?" Zetta asked the impostor.
'Dammit Zetta, I told you to act normal. They don't want you. They don't know about you. They can't know about you.' Lily fumed internally.
"Don't know, not really. Only know name of Peirson. He paid me to drive" Came the reply to Zetta's question.
"Alright, so you don't know shit. You're just a hired driver" she said, removing the knife from the impostor's neck, leaving a long scratch that would develop a mark, but ultimately fade. "So fucking drive!" Lily finished, shoving him forward as she stowed the knife back in its strap.

 

[SamuelT]

The driver rubbed his neck, but didn't seem to be in such a discomfort. He continued driving into one of the more shady areas of town; the 'docks' as they were dubbed. Although it didn't possess a proper dock, only one that hadn't seen use for decades, it was still located at sea.

The car suddenly stopped, and Ivan opened the window. Both Zetta and Lily tensed, but Ivan only held up a card at some kind of scanner. The chain-link fence slid sideways, and Ivan drove past them. They stopped at the far end of a courtyard, where several floodlights pointed inward. They illuminated a circle in which over a dozen people stood. They were clothed normally, although some held objects eerily similar to the 'holy objects' the chanting individuals held not hours ago.

Meanwhile, at Rin's place.

Rin payed the 'doctor' the standard fee, plus a little extra to keep his mouth shut. She was sure he'd caught a glimpse of the Kitsune tearing through her rice inside, because he shook his head while he took her money. She gave him her usual buisnesslike smile and closed the door. When she entered Takeda was still busy eating. He only noticed her when she sat down on the loudly creaking leather coutch. He gave her a tentative smile.

"So, Takeda. Your friend Maya's being looked after now. The doctor assured me it was a minor infection, and he was able to take care of it."

He looked relieved. Rin let him eat for a small while before continuing.

"Would you mind if I asked you a few questions? It's not often I have a real live Kitsune in my house." She asked with a quick wink.

 

[Sporky111]

Takeda's ears perked up as she asked for some questions. The way she said "real live kitsune" made him feel important and special, so he smiled and winked back at her. There was only a little bit of rice left so he tipped up the edge of the container and scooped it into his mouth, then hopped down off the stool and put the dirty dishes in the sink.

"What did you want to ask me?" he inquired, taking a seat on the couch beside her. His tail wrapped around his waist and curled into his lap, and he held it in his hands securely.

 

[SamuelT]

Rin thought for a minute.

"Weellll.." She started slowly, "I know you can do stuff, you took out that car pretty good. What I want to know is what kind of stuff you can do."

She tapped one of the frail tomes lying on the low table with her feet.

"You get mentioned quite alot in some folklore, you know that?"

 

[SeanTheSheep]

"Well, this is us." Lily said, opening the door and stepping out, she performed a small spin and held it for Zetta to climb out after her. Closing the door, she began to walk towards the illuminated area. "If I say run, Zetta, run. Don't look back, get away from here however you can, and call this number" She said, her eyes focused directly ahead, gazing into the small conglomeration of bodies in the circle as she slipped a small piece of paper to Zetta. "If they want to send someone, tell them where, if not, tell them nothing. Now, let's go meet our hosts." Lily finished, shooting a cheeky grin to Rezetta and speeding up a little "Evening all!" She called, hoping against hope that these people wouldn't want to kill her. She had some lovely new boots at home she wanted to wear a few more times, and dying would be a big inconvenience for that.

She hated having lied to Zetta about the people on the other end of the phone number she had given her. Instead of the mysterious criminal underworld Zetta's mind would have constructed, she would instead reach a kebab shop in Norfield. The person on the other end of the phone wasn't important however, but the confidence that the idea of a safety net would give Rezetta would hopefully be enough to get her to safety, and out of earshot in case anything happened. Because Lily had noticed that Zetta had a knack for taking things in her stride, a knack that could be used. Hopefully the mob would find her and she could put herself to good use. Either way, she was walking towards either a welcoming party or a a firing squad, and either one required preparation.

 

[SamuelT]

Ivan got out of the car as well, moving past the two passagers and taking place next to one of the people in the illuminated circle. The man, with an almost comical goatee and moustache, grabbed Ivan by the chin and jerked his head up, left and right. He clicked with his toungue and released his chin.

"Evening." The one in the middle said, beckoning them both into the light.

 

[Sporky111]

Takeda looked at the very old-looking book and tilted his head curiously. He couldn't understand how someone could write a book about him, he'd been hiding and running for most of his life.

"They talk about me?" he asked quietly, then remembered she had asked him a question first. "Oh yeah, I can do some stuff."

"The car thing was an illusion. Sometimes I can just make things happen, but usually I just have to make-believe that something's happening and it just does it. Aaaaaand, I can turn invisible. And I can turn into a fox."

The kitsune bounced a bit in his seat and smiled broadly at Rin. It was nice for someone to take an interest in him, and he enjoyed sharing things about himself.

 

[JoJo]

As Rin and Takeda conversed, Maya slept oblivious of her surroundings. She was dreaming of her old home, back to an incident still burned into her mind after all that had happened since:


Jinan City: 2 years ago

In a small dimly lit room a five year old Maya sat crossed legged in front of an old television set. Behind her stood a grey sagging sofa and a tall book shelf piled up with odd papers and cheap magazines, surrounded on all sides by four pale yellow walls. Despite the slightly ragged appearance of the room's furniture, it was generally free from dust and dirt. The small girl was not that unlike she would look in a couple of years time, only a head shorter and a bit chubbier, except her hair was tied with white ribbon into pig-tails. She was singing along with the program in a low voice when the door into the room opened.

"Child, I'm back from work."

"Mummy!" Maya cried and ran over to hug her mother. She was a short but moderately built woman with a somewhat pinched face and dark hair tied back into a bun. Her long unrevealing skirt and well-pressed shirt was typical of the working woman.

"Did you have a good day?"

Maya nodded enthusiastically "I did all the work you set me, and I had lots of time to play with my toys and watch TV too!" She paused and then put on a more serious expression. "There's something I've wanted to ask you. The show today was talking about families and they said everyone has a mummy and a daddy. Why don't I have a daddy?"

Her mother stood still for a moment and then shook her head sadly. "You just don't. I've made and raised you all by myself. Like my own little loaf of bread!" She laughed but then her expression turned to one bordering on anger. "Why do you ask? Am I not enough? Can I not provide for you, as I have done for these last five years?"

She looked down in embarrassment and held her hands together nervously, getting her mother upset was never a good idea. "You're right, I don't need a daddy..."

"Of-course you don't. Why, it must have been that animated Japanese rubbish they dub and put on our TV for cheap content, wasn't it? Typical Japs trying to turn my own daughter against me by making up lies about you needing a father. Do you remember why we should never trust those island devils?"

Maya shook her head in confusion; she hated, not to mention felt frightened, whenever her mother was like this.

"I'll give you a clue, it's something to do with Granny, heaven bless her spirit."

She thought for a moment, then unsurely put up a hand "I remember now, they shot her daddy and brother in the war a long time ago for no reason!"

"That's right, and they did a lot more terrible things too that you're too young to hear about, but long story short however peaceful they pretend they are now they're evil and you should never trust one. Ever."

Maya just nodded and tried to avoid eye contact by stared at the bookcase, afraid that her mother might hit out at any moment if she looked like she was disagreeing. The woman calmed a little and began to look awkward.

"I'm sorry for scaring you, my child, I need to get you some more of those second hand American videos from the store, they're much better and they'll help you with your English."

She looked up at her mother again with a smile on her face, she was very relieved that the short-lived rage had passed without incident. "But why do I have to learn English, it's sounds silly and no-one speaks it!"

Her mother smiled "It may seem silly to you now, but one day that'll be your ticket to a good college and a better job. I don't want you to end up like me, trapped in an unrewarding job I don't like forever. Now should we go make some dinner together?"


Present Day

Maya mumbled an unintelligible remark in her sleep, then turned over and was silent again. Around her the empty stillness of the room hung like an invisible drape only to be disturbed by the occaisonal murmur of voices outside.

 

[SamuelT]

<spoiler=Oh man>That flashback was neat Jojo. Nice. =D"Oh really? A fox?" Rin said. Takeda bobbed his head.

"That's pretty impressive. I have never met someone who could actually change shapes."

Her face took on a more serious tone.

"Do you remember where you came from? And what have you been doing since you were...well, born?"

 

[DktrAgonizer]

Rezetta's palms were sweating as she took the paper Lily slipped her and tucked it away in the pocket of her jeans, her fingers barely moving. She wanted to protest the plan Lily whispered, but there was no good way to go about doing that without any of the mysterious people ahead of them hearing. If these people, whoever they were, proved to be dangerous, could she really just run and leave Lily alone? Sure, the other woman could definitely handle herself, but Zetta placed high stock in her own powers.

That little thought sparked another idea in her head. If the time came when Lily told Zetta to run, she could just craft an illusion of her fleeing so that in reality she could stick around to help out. Then again, that could just lead to disaster, what with the headache she had already. It was getting a little difficult to think straight, and any more illusions--whether to hide her own retreat or hide her continued presence and instead distract the group of people--would only make it worse.

The number she'd been given would have to suffice then, if the moment to run came. Though she admittedly didn't know as much about Lily as she would have liked, it seemed the other woman had connections. Surely calling them and informing them of the situation would lead to people better suited for the task of taking out these people and save Zetta from one hell of a headache--literally.

Zetta lost her train of thought as she and Lily both stepped into the light to stand in front of the crowd. Zetta, one hand nervously running through her hair, eyed the holy objects some of the people held out of the corner of her eye, trying her best not to directly look at them. She'd had a few encounters with crosses in the past and didn't fancy trying to handle any other church objects; there were still a couple of burns on her hands that needed to fade, not that she ever let those remain visible.

 

[Sporky111]

Spoiler: OOC

Ooh, raised to hate Japanese? This will be interesting.

Takeda's mood seemed to grow somber as Rin mentioned his past. He was a spirit that preferred to live in the present, and his past was filled with plenty of painful memories.

"Well, yes. I was born on a farm, in Japan." he started, "I stayed around there for a long time, learning from my mother and then watching over my family later. I ended up following my great nephew to war to protect him, and . . . he ended up dying in the Pearl Harbor battle."

The kitsune sighed and paused for a moment, looking at the floor between his feet. He slowly ran his fingers through the fur of his tail, remembering the day he'd fought and begged with his charge. How he'd been unable to get him to reconsider the kamikaze mission and eventually compromised upon guiding the plane to it's target. He was silent for more than a minute before he looked up again.

"I've been lost for a long time. I don't know the name of my family's home, and I haven't been able to find my way to Japan again."

 

[SamuelT]

"Oh, I'm sorry." Rin said after she noticed his content expression falter. "I didn't mean to drag up old ghosts."

She was silent for a minute, absently observing the room. Suddenly she lightly tapped one of his ears.

"Tell you what, how about you go and check up on Maya and I get something from the car. I think I've forgotten something in there."