Krayzikk

IC:

For a few moments the Menti's eyes were unfocused, almost sightless, but by the second click they were focusing and by the third they were tracking. If perhaps a little dazed still. She propped herself up on elbow and rubbed at her jaw. For a split second anger sparked from her wounded pride, touched unerringly on the raw resentment of her youth. But the moment passed swiftly replaced instead by mirth. The laughter began slowly, but bubbled out of her in increasing volume.

"Good hook," She managed, still chuckling. She held her hand out. "Very good. Give me a hand?"

@Johnny Blocksville

19 hours ago, Goose said:

IC: Mangaia

The sensation of his master’s voice, at once both all around him and whispering intimately into his ear, made the withered Lesterin shudder, and his grin grew wider yet.

“Why, one might almost mistake that for a compliment. Naturally, I know better.”

The Crooked Man took a step further into the darkness, savouring the experience of being quite literally inside the shadows of the Makuta. He pictured himself as a parasite, a long white worm which writhed inside the bowels of its host; nourished by Its gifts, growing as he feasted upon Its successes.

“I can do more. I need only know where my talents should be turned next.”

OOC: @Krayzikk

IC:

"You are nothing so discriminating as a scalpel," The sound was no longer a whisper, but a hiss. The pressure redoubled in an instant, forcing the corrupted creature to his fours as gravity itself bore down upon him. "You are not a guided instrument, you are a disease. I have not the patience to give you direction or the inclination to praise you for might-have-beens. You may join with my Followers or you may work alone. But do not presume to come before me without something important to say."

"You wish for a compliment? Bring me a Maru as a trophy. Kill the Matoran that escaped me upon the Archipelago, or kill the Toa that slew that fool Echelon." The pressure relented as suddenly as it came and the creature could breathe again. "Until then leave my presence. Do what you are meant to do until you die."

2 hours ago, Johnny Blocksville said:

IC: Ela Latos 

She narrowed all of her internal conflicts into one crystallized thought, a lighthouse in the sea of uncertainty:

 

Could she still move?

 

Her eyes glowed as the elbow hit her, as the Menti would expect, but the Lesterin was, as Kiyaku had correctly assessed, much faster than her, and her body rolled around the blow to the left, minimizing the wind taken out of her just enough for her to retaliate; a large hand balled up into a fist shot wide, but strong, at Kiyaku's cheek.

OOC: @Krayzikk

IC:

There was no elegant way to respond.

Then, a fist to the face hardly invited an elegant response. The Lesterin was faster, the Lesterin was stronger, and Kiyaku's balance was forward from her strike. The fist struck her cheek and carried on, sending the Menti sprawling bonelessly on the ground.

22 hours ago, Goose said:

IC: Kini-Nui

A shiver ran up the Crooked Man’s spine, a thrill even that twisted Lesterin could recognise as deviant. The darkness was like a lover’s caress, light upon the skin, a knife that trailed tantalisingly along his nape. His rotten smile, smothered by the shadows, was one of perverse bliss.

“I come bearing some truly tragic news regarding Leah, of the Toa Maru.” Even the Lesterin’s master, uncompromising as he was, could not misinterpret the sarcasm that seeped from his words. “It seems she’s taken ill; they had to drag her unconscious body from the bay. Why, she nearly drowned. It may be some time before she’s at herself again, and I suspect she may find herself… scarred by the experience. The good people of Ga-Koro seemed in something of a tizzy as I left - awful business, really, just awful.”

OOC: @Krayzikk

IC:

Silence fell again in the temple, this time... Impatient. Leaves rustled softly without wind breaking the silence with a rough susurration. The shadows grew heavier, weighty with the mood of their master. A creature less rotten in the brain might have sensed the danger but with this creature who could tell. But the leaves stilled and the pressure abated. Somewhat.

"Then that nearly qualifies as a down payment on the gift you were given," The air whispered, rough with an undercurrent of warning. A riptide felt much the same before the unwary became trapped. "But at least it proves you might not be a waste."

15 hours ago, Johnny Blocksville said:

IC: Ela Latos - Fighting the feeling

This time, the Lesterin did not have the willpower to distrust the pain - in fact, in the moment, she had no chance to even consider it. Her body reacted involuntarily, her eyes opening and her lungs gasping, as she hopped back, a free hand immediately pressing a finger to her brow. She'd made the wrong call, hadn't she? How stupid could she be, to toss aside her own instinct? She felt blood trickle down her finger, drip from her chin...

The opening had been earned by Kiyaku, if only for a moment, as Ela's hesitation stalled reaction.

OOC: @Krayzikk

IC:

Immediacy sold the illusion better than she could have hoped but the Menti herself was still trying to recover her balance. The hit hadn't quite rung her bell but it came close. Even with the recovery her feint had bought her she was perilously low on time to exploit this opportunity. She was too unbalanced to strike without— maybe— causing harm she didn't intend. So she went quick and she went dirty, the illusion lapsing without the clear concentration to maintain it.

A step in let her drive her elbow into the Lesterin's middle, bringing the flat of her blade into position for what would— in a real fight— be a position to land a potentially mortal blow.

On 5/19/2022 at 9:01 AM, ARROW404 said:

IC: Ushadra

"Echelon's ambitions led him to rise above the shadows where our strength lies," she agreed. Her image stepped off the ground and proceeded to hover alongside Eisen, her true footfalls muted with her power. A playful use of her power, but also one that kept her alert and practiced her skills, power warmed up and prepared for trouble.

"Ahh, 'scout', how I love the word," she sang softly, her smile ever etched onto the image she showed, slightly widening at the prospect. "A task so uniquely suited to my skills. Do elaborate, partner of mine; I am at your behest."

IC:

"Most of Echelon's old lieutenants are scattered." The Toa said, not slowly but with a measured cadence that spoke of ongoing consideration. "Rorg, Karnak, Kohra, and Agrona. I haven't seen the first three since Ko-Koro fell. Agrona on the other hand has gone to the jungle to meditate on the nature of her prize. Ideally we will collect her first, but three are more noticeable than two. So perhaps we will collect her afterwards."

His tone became more thoughtful.

"We will scout a Koro. Maybe more than one. If you had to choose one of the other five that was primed for a reminder of our Master's influence, which would it be, Ushradra?"

On 8/14/2022 at 9:38 PM, Goose said:

IC:

When dawn broke upon Kini-Nui, it would find the lush greenery of the clearing marred, a trail of brown, desiccated grass torn from the shade of the trees all the way to the steps of the Suva Nui. By then, the withered man who walked that way expected to be long gone.

Such a path had followed him most of the way from Ga-Koro, a dotted line of death and decay where each drop of diseased blood had fallen. At the very least, he’d taken care to avoid lingering when possible, sticking to the roads that had already been killed and paved for him. Ga-Koro had, perhaps, not been the wisest choice of destination – Ta-Koro, Po-Koro, Ko-Koro, and of course Onu-Koro; all had the sense to live on barren ground, and to kill that which was not barren already. Ga-Koro floated on flimsy foundations, a boardwalk city always but a misstep from capsizing. The perfect target, until he had to make his blood-spattered getaway.

Perhaps he’d visit Le-Koro next. The Entropy Beetles had done great work, to be sure, but they were too disorganised. They lacked his singular focus. He could spread his disease to the very foundations of their house of cards, bring the whole Koro crashing down. But first…

First, he would report his success to his patron.

OOC: @Krayzikk

IC:

Dawn had not come yet and the shadows of Kini-Nui were long and drawn, hungry with anticipation. The jungle did not stir. What the walking pestilence had not killed along his path had drawn back, far away both from the being that felt so wrong and the corruption that had again found its home in Le-Wahi's borders. Not everywhere, not like it had been, but in radiating points of infection. Like any festering contagion beneath the skin signs still showed upon the surface and it was at the Kini-Nui the fever could be felt.

The shadows grew deeper still when the plague set foot within the temple, heavy with an unseen presence as inevitable as gravity. The force he fought was present. Patient, for now, but clearly waiting for the plague's purpose in disturbing that same darkness.

On 10/20/2022 at 7:42 AM, Johnny Blocksville said:

IC: Ela Latos - Going with her gut

Even as Ela closed her eyes as her blade connected with Kiyaku's own and was deflected, the illusion was not merely visual, she felt - and heard the cutting of air as her enemy's falcata made its approach up. The only thing Ela could do was assume the the Fursic's move was to be a feint - and act before she could fool her.

Instead of reacting - which felt absurdly unnatural, going against every instinct in her body and mind - she opened her eyes, trying to focus on only herself and dimming the loud stimuli bouncing around her, and instead, swinging again as Kiyaku's supposed move performed, sending the flat of her blade in a homerun swing towards where she thought the warrior's face might be - were she to do what Ela would. 

She wasn't sure if it would hit - but she knew it would likely startle her, even if Ela wasn't sure yet how she would follow herself up.

OOC: @Krayzikk

IC:

Startle it did.

The Dasaka knew Ela would adapt, but she hadn't expected it so quickly. Or so boldly. Cutting off one's own sight was a risky move even if it had paid off in this instance. She wasn't fast enough to block it. It was too unexpected. She turned her cheek to take it more effectively, rolled with the hit to decrease its power, but it still hurt something fierce. Still, she could use that; the Lesterin's eyes were closed. She didn't see that the strike had been a feint, an illusion, so when the blunt blow struck her own cheek she focused on the feeling; she used it, tweaked though it was, to grant the ring of truth to her own illusion.

Ela felt a sharp, cutting edge run from chin to brow in a single fluid motion interrupted at the end by her own strike.

IC:

"... Yes, sir." Tarnok said slowly, favoring Leli with a look much too angry to direct at a superior officer. For a second rank didn't matter; it was just the dirty look of someone to their best friend when they'd been thrown under the cart. Or stopped from doing the same, in this case. She knew what he was doing, and why. And he knew what she was doing. And why. "At once."

But the Akiri had undercut them both, and mixed with his relief was an irrational irritation. He braced to attention and stepped out of the room, followed probably in short order by Leli and Kellin, and let a sigh escape when the door shut behind them.

"You know that wasn't strictly true. Leli."

@sunflower@Geardirector

IC:

The skills were rusty from disuse but they came back quickly. Application cleared away the grit with growing momentum as he listened attentively, eyes fixed on the near distance over the Maru's shoulder and slightly unfocused. He wasn't using them. Many investigators would have been focused on the face, posture, the minute tension and release of the muscles that might speak to stress. All had their place, and he had used them before. But those same tells could be found in the voice, in subtle inflections and intonations that laid bare the truth of one's thoughts.

The content of course was just as important and he stayed quiet while he considered. The concept of nonexistence, of banishment from this realm, was difficult to grasp. It was too alien. It was a step beyond death, an erasure of everything that had been. But it wasn't as hard to conceive of as it would have been before. A year ago he hadn't hung between life and death. Hadn't felt how easy it would be to lapse into that void and cease. What had been done to Makuta was still bigger, but it wasn't totally alien. And with his head firmly wrapped around at least the abstract of what had happened the questions began to form.

"I can see where that would have seemed like the same thing." Krayn said slowly, tapping a finger slowly. "I'm obviously not familiar with how it was done. But clearly the process was reversible somehow. Of the six of you, did whoever banished him know it could be undone? Let me rephrase. Wherever Makuta was sent, could he take things from the same place?"

The who was important, too. And he would get around to asking that. But that was a hard question to answer. No matter how justified it would be betraying a trust. Asked too soon the subject might refuse. No, that wasn't quite fair; not the subject. This wasn't an interrogation. At the most formal it was an interview, but more simply it was just... A conference between old colleagues. The rapport was there. The trust, as far as it went, was too. So he bit the bullet and took a guess.

"Did Stannis know?"

@Vezok's Friend

IC:

"If they don't they'll let me know." Sinshi said easily, shrugging her shoulders a little. "Lead the way, please. Let's see who we can find."

@Haman Karn: A Magical Girl@otter

IC:

Whether Ela realized it or not there had been an additional dimension to her demonstration. The Lesterin was faster than here. She was probably better than her, too, but speed was the greater issue. Even if their talents had been equal her speed would have tipped that scale. Instead it secured her supremacy. But she didn't know that. More importantly she did not know if it was true, even if she perceived it.

With a single demonstration she created doubt. And that was her equalizer, despite the contest of their skills. For the devotion Ela Latos had shown to training her body Fursic Kiyaku had done the same for her mind. That was her domain, her battlefield, and she excelled. Not that such tactics did anything to stop the blade headed her way. Her falcata darted out, piteously slow in comparison but still fast enough to use the momentum of its shape to slap the blade down and away from her.

Now it was time for a little misdirection. To Ela's eyes a short, crystalline dagger seemed to appear in her off hand; gripped in reverse she took a quick swipe at Ela's face, from her right cheek up towards her left temple. In truth she did nothing of the sort; she brought her falcata back to readiness and waited to exploit the opening she hoped to have created.

@Johnny Blocksville

OOC: Other posts in here coming soon, I promise.

20 hours ago, ARROW404 said:

Guys, I think I'm gonna quit the BZPRPG. There just aren't enough people around to keep things interesting for me.

Sorry to hear it. Do whatever you need for yourself, but you will always be welcome back.

I know things are slow, and I know in some places that's on me; this semester of school is particularly important and that hasn't left a ton of time up until now. All of that being said we'll still be here, and we'll always be happy to see you back.

On 9/20/2022 at 5:16 PM, Vezok's Friend said:

IC: [Leah - Cael’s house]

And there it is. 

She had expected the question would come, just not quite so soon or delivered in that tone.

“I don’t have a good answer.” she replied plainly. And truthfully.

Leah pulled up one leg, resting her arms and chin on her knee. But, her eyes met Krayn’s unwaveringly. 

“How? I don’t know how it happened - not in detail. Not yet. Some dark magic, mechanism or trick method…I was about to look into that before…” - she gestured at herself and the cot she was sitting on - “...all this.”

She smiled, but in that uncomfortable, tight-lipped way that made it clear there really wasn’t anything to smile about. 

“But that’s not the how you are interested in. You want to know how it is possible he even had a chance to claw his way back from nonexistence in the first place after the prophesied heroes sent him there.”

She recalled the similar conversation she'd had with Talli and Kimala just that morning. She hadn't beaten around the bush with them. She wasn't about to start now.

“If you’re looking for a one word root cause that allowed for his return…I suppose carelessness works. Or negligence. Depending on how charitable your reading of the situation is.”

OOC: 

@otter @Lady Takanuva @Eyru @Krayzikk @sunflower @Click @Snelly

IC:

"I don't think charity comes into it." The De-Toa said mildly, taking his hand away from the dial on the device over his hear. Its dampening turned down he could— and did— listen to every change in the Maru's inflection. Not to detect a lie, though in the most cynical part of his mind he considered that as well. It was instinct, more than anything. The way she said something would mean almost as much as what she said and that information was valuable. In the same steady, patient tone he continued; "And there will be enough recriminations to come, I think. Fair or not."

"We shouldn't have expected his absence to be permanent. Not in hindsight. But on the basis of the information we had..." Krayn didn't finish the sentence, but that didn't hinder its message; it had been here in Ga-Koro he had heard Leah say that the Makuta was gone himself. Not a lie, perhaps, but an omission. An omission in the right place, with the right circumstances, to lead the island to a conclusion they had never corrected. "We're out of time to prepare."

"You don't know the how. But you know why it was possible." He tilted his head, and asked tonelessly; "What really happened in Mangaia?"

IC:

"That might be a place to start."

His agreement couldn't have been more polite, even affable, but condemnation's very absence was a criticism all its own. Krayn was seated, for all the world looking as though he were sleeping until his eyes opened. He had known the Maru woke up before she spoke, but he had waited until she did to say anything. Whatever he had to say, whatever questions he had to ask, she had been through a trial. It hadn't been all that long since his own. He could— and would— give her the same patience he had been given. Not that it was easy.

The Toa hadn't known her well at all, their chosen divisions of service didn't overlap. But they had both been a part of the Gukko Force at the same time, as a tamer and a detective respectively, and he knew her reputation. That reputation made it more glaring that she had gone along with what he couldn't think of as anything but a deception. A parcel he hadn't had before, collected sometime during her rest, lay across his lap and a single finger tapped on it restlessly.

"I might have some questions about what you fought. Before that, however," He continued in that same patient, affably ******ing tone. "I'd like to know how Makuta is back."

@Vezok's Friend

IC:

For the first time in a long while Brukin was reminded why, prior to joining up with the Fowadi, he hadn't had much to do with water. For that matter he hadn't had all that much to do with water since; calling the Fowadi a 'ship' didn't seem precisely right. It was more like a floating landmass to the Toa's mind. Steadier than Po-Wahi's sands, held true by inertia above all else.

The skiff most certainly was not. This violent weather did much to buffet it about despite the mass it contained, and how to help wasn't precisely clear to him. Fortunately their Matoran helmswoman had plenty of experience ordering about the less informed, and his hands found the appropriate lines little slower than Rynekk's own. It seemed all too small a change to their circumstance, though, especially with the smallest of them trying to handle the rudder. Well he could certainly do something about that.

One hand left the line, but without any real difference in his grip; the immense Toa wore a Pakari. He could have held both if he had enough reach. Reach was the issue now, as well, but for that he had a solution. He extended his other forearm and the the armor on it shot off as though fired out of a cannon. It cleared Ember by inches, not that there had ever been any risk of it striking her. He had too much practice for that. The metal gauntlet wrapped around the handle adjacent to her own hands and slowly, inexorably began to pull in the same direction she did to ease the strain.

@Perp@Void Emissary

IC:

"Got a decent one."

Pad compressed gently underfoot as Krayn walked towards the hut. He thought the emergency would be over by the time he arrived and he was right; Leah's breathing was not the shallow, rapid sound of fevered desperation but the calm induced by exhaustion. She'd make it. The scars on her cheeks, though... Something suddenly ached deep in his left shoulder.

"It was a Lesterin, or maybe a Toa." The De-Toa grimaced at his own choice of words and adjusted the again-wrapped bundle slung over his shoulder. It was rude, but the thing had looked like nothing so much as a corpse reanimated by Tryna. Such a thing could never have overwhelmed a Maru, however, nor would it have bled. Not the way this had. He held up the stoppered vial of blood. "Too big for a Matoran or Turaga. Too small for anything else. I saw evidence of a Kanohi's use, too. I think. Not any Kanohi I know. But there's been a lot of that going around lately."

Krayn's frown deepened.

"It looked half dead. Didn't move like it, didn't bleed like it, but that's how it looked. It was heading for Le-Wahi. If I had to guess..." In his mind's eye he wasn't in Ga-Wahi anymore. He was in a Ko-Koronan alley, standing over a Toa he had wounded, and listening to the information he had offered. Out of the corner of his eye he looked at Skyra. "Echelon made the Marks. Strong and fast and feeding on emotion. Echelon leads an assault on Ko-Koro and we start hearing about strange powers. An... informant. Said the late Akiri Ambages was killed with an overdose of antidermis. But it gave him powers before he died."

"I'd say we're looking at something similar."

@Vezok's Friend@Snelly@Lady Takanuva@Eyru@otter@sunflower

IC:

The Toa of Iron looked at the skiff dubiously. But he stepped aboard, the craft sinking a little lower in the water when he did.

@Perp@Void Emissary

IC:

"I did," The Dasaka admitted from behind Ela as the mortally wounded doppelganger seemed simply to melt away. "I find the best education can be found practically. Nothing would make you understand what I do quite so much as falling prey to it. I hope you'll understand the cheat."

"Illusions are the power," She continued as she removed the blade from the back of Ela's neck and circled around in front of her. The Dasaka didn't look quite right, however; her Kanohi had changed, various aspects of her body just slightly wrong. In her hand was a crystalline falcata and not the blade she had clutched desperately in specter. "But deception is the art. You saw what you expected to see. I lead you here. It was easy to step aside, veiled, and allow you to continue following my illusion. There was no need to continue hiding myself once I was behind you. Only show you something to keep your attention."

Kiyaku bowed.

"In truth it was not the first deception. My name is not Dastana Yumiwa, it is Fursic Kiyaku. Allow me to invite you to begin again, properly, at your leisure. I am prepared."

@Johnny Blocksville

IC:

Kiyaku nodded her assent, her own weapon readied. Ela struck, quick as can be, and for her preparation the Dasaka seemed to misread it entirely; her eyes widened, ready to defend the wrong side and too slow to correct her mistake. The Lesterin's blade struck home, embedded nearly to her spine, as the Dasaka stared numbly at herself in shocked silence. Her eyes widened, breathing shallow and quick, unable to understand how she had been wounded. Shaking hands reached for the wound at her side, blade still embedded, before her strength gave out entirely and she slumped to her knees-

And cool crystal, broad and flat, rested itself lightly on the back of Ela's neck.

@Johnny Blocksville

IC:

"... very busy, sir. As I'm sure you can see the arrival of the Dasakan refugees has required a lot of time on the Akiri's part."

"I understand that. I don't need to speak with the Akiri personally." Like all good secretaries, the Matoran in front of him clearly intended to perform one of her most critical functions; filter unnecessary visitors before they ever take up time. That usually ran at cross purposes to the intentions of those visitors, but in this case it worked out fine. As long as he got the message across she could consider him filtered. Krayn leaned in a little and carefully made sure his voice would go no further than the two of them. "Leah Maru has been injured. She's been taken to Cael's. The perpetrator ran for Le-Wahi."

"..." The Matoran blinked, clearly processing, then nodded. "I will make sure the Akiri is informed."

"Thank you."

The Matoran nodded politely, clearly around moving on to moving priorities about her in her head, and Krayn took his cue to leave. The Akiri's people had been informed and anything from there was out of his hands. There was, now, one problem; he'd never been to Cael's in his life. The last time he'd been in Ga-Koro someone else had been handling any medical requirements. He hadn't been too focused on where Destiny went, either. Fortunately he spotted the living cannonball that was, presumably, the Fowadi's captain and could orient from there.

Just would take him a little longer to get there.

IC:

"Yeah," Krayn acknowledged through gritted teeth, closing his eyes to ignore the pain still radiating from where the rifle pushed against his shoulder. The thing— he wasn't totally sure it was a Lesterin— was long gone to Le-Wahi. He'd laid out a Maru and made good his escape, but he'd taken that hit in the leg; the red he saw through the scope wasn't entirely from his shoulder. The thing bled. That was good. But that meant it wouldn't be back soon, either. He could take a minute before he went to the authorities. "I'll get right on that."

The breath he'd been holding eased out slowly, and he set his rifle down carefully and deliberately so it didn't slide away. Unwinding the line he had secured himself with one-handed was a little tricky, but it gave him a moment to take a couple of deep breaths and readjust the new dials by his ear. He'd wanted to talk to the Maru— though Leah hadn't really been his first choice— but this wasn't the opportunity he'd had in mind. But before he went to speak with anyone he had something he needed to do. He noted the position he'd last seen the assailant, fixed the direction in his mind, and dropped off of the roof. It had been a long while since he was in Ga-Koro but agriculture was one of its biggest exports; and with plants came medicine, and with medicine apothecaries. They weren't quite one a lily-pad but they were close.

The poor herbalist was still hiding under the counter when he stepped inside, hands raised and voice soothing, to collect a stoppered glass jar. Tracing the assailant's retreat towards where his diskette had connected didn't take long, and thankfully a fight like that had everyone wisely staying sheltered. For a few moments longer, at least. Leah said she'd been poisoned and the thing that did it didn't look healthy.

Which meant the blood here on the ground could both be important, and hazardous to leave where it was.

He cut carefully around the spatter with his knife until he could remove the section of lily-pad from its surroundings. Vibrating it just right to coax it all into the jar was a little trickier, but not time consuming. Krayn didn't relax until it was safely stoppered.

It's always something new.

IC:

"Brukin," The monolith said to Rynekk, inclining his head to indicate Ember's role in supplying his name. His voice came out deep and slightly reverberating the way it bounced around his metal enclosure before it emerged. "I came aboard at the same time as Four. Just before you all left for Ko-Koro. There hasn't been much chance to speak since, has there?"

Though his face was unseen, his tone seemed to indicate a wry smile.

"I thought I would come with you. No offense, ma'am," He nodded to Ember again. "But I can lift a good bit more in the way of supplies than you or you, sir. I haven't been off the Fowadi since refits began. I might as well be of some help."

@Void Emissary@Perp

IC:

"Praggos!"

Krayn jabbed a finger in the direction of the Maru's position in the water a moment before she surfaced, albeit face down, having located the foreign entity in the water with a quick application of his element. He'd been prepared to go after her rather than whoever did this but Praggos could find her well enough now. That gave him a window, albeit small, to take a shot at the culprit. They had a head start, but Krayn had been running down suspects in a stranger village than this for a long time.

A jump took him off of the reinforced pad, touching down for the barest of moments on the water's surface before he pushed off again and fired the hook off of his right wrist. There was no purchase quite so convenient as a mast, but he had an advantage; yanking his wrist aside at the last moment introduced enough of an arc to wrap it around the support of the tallest hut ahead. Up and away it pulled, onto his chosen perch but here he ran into a problem. Disentangling the line to free up his hand would take too long. The suspect, the only one fleeing at such a rapid pace, would get away before he had time to get a look. As it was he still would get away, but-

He raised his left arm, ignoring the spike of pain through his shoulder, and yanked the package off of his back. His right pulled away the cloth covering, casting it aside with haste, while his left found the grip and his eye the scope. He had moments. He could see the suspect, and that was critical; every detail he committed to memory, through long practice. But he wasn't idle. His right hand was stuck near the hut's edge, but he had enough play to reach his belt. A press with his thumb, an audible click, sent a diskette into the air. At just the right angle, with a tilt of his wrist, to drop into the receiver and fall into place.

Pulling the trigger hurt when the rifle kicked. But not as much as the razor-edged diskette heading for the back of the fleeing Lesterin's knee would when it hit, a few seconds later.

@otter@Vezok's Friend@Goose

IC:

"Drat. I was hoping to spend my afternoon picking heavy things up with it, pain being such a novel feeling and all." The joke started with an intent that trailed away, Krayn's gaze pulled off the road on which he stood and towards a... Commotion of some kind. He clicked off the sound suppression around his ears, listening carefully to the sounds reaching his ears. There was some kind of business around the sub, of course, but there was something else. Not just people, a... "I should have a delivery from Po-Koro, it was supposed to..."

He trailed off fully, eyes narrowing slightly. The tides. Something about the tides were very, very wrong. What the...?

"Little diversion, I think, Praggos. Does the water seem right to you?"

@otter@Vezok's Friend@Goose

IC:

"Miss Ember?" The deck rumbled rhythmically, a shape eclipsing even Rynekk in Ember's gaze. "Rynekk."

@Perp @Void Emissary

More than theoretically, I know the post for it is getting written. Albeit, perhaps, under the threat that I know where the author lives.

IC:

"With, but if it's all the same let's avoid shedding blood, yes?" The Dasaka laughed softly, drawing the blade from her side without settling into any particular stance. "I like mine where it is, if it's all the same to you."

@Johnny Blocksville

IC:

That was unnecessary, 'great Toa'.

Now there are feathers and blood everywhere. Do you know how hard it is to clean a blood stain when you can't see it? No, of course not. You can see. And show off. Like a proper moron. I'm going to have to find any stains by touch, and even when I do find them it's going to be impossible to know when they're clean. I was just given this outfit before I left, you inconsiderate-

I would flip you a different kind of bird, Toa, if only I could tell in which direction you stood.

@Haman Karn: A Magical Girl

IC:

"You see? I learn more with every word." About you as well as the land, Kiyaku added to herself beneath her genial smile. The Menti gestured broadly about herself, indicating the clear if rough area set about the base of the lighthouse. Likely from its construction though the ground had long been reclaimed by time. "Would this be a suitable arena for our bout for you, Ms. Latos?"

@Johnny Blocksville

IC:

"Our master's servants have ever been more fickle than our foe's." Eisen acknowledged the compliment with a nod, polite but slightly absent; his mind had turned to the matters at hand. The number and names of the assets left available, their whereabouts, and how to gather the further manpower that would be required. "Such is their right, even if it isn't wise. Echelon is dead. His mismanagement drove out the Brotherhood. The Piraka are nowhere to be found, and their alliance was one of convenience anyway. Of the seven that had been Echelon's inner circle only Agrona and I remain. The other three are scattered."

"Seizing Ko-Koro was a bold stroke but we should never have tried to hold it for long. It was too costly." The first traces of a frown crossed his face. "More will emerge. It is always so. But for the moment we should scout a target, and see what assistance we might flush out of hiding at the same time."

@ARROW404

On 4/30/2022 at 10:36 PM, otter said:

IC:

"Oh dear," I whispered, seeing the reply that came Skyra's way. And then Krayn's willingness to leave the two to the care of Dehkaz. Certainly, Dehkaz could handle Skyra losing her mind, but I don't know how well he could manage to wrest it out of this refugee's grasp, whether she decided to claim it intentionally or not.

"Well, depending on how this goes, I might at least have someone who I can have bully Skyra into taking care of herself."

IC:

Sato's embarassed expression remained as she intentionally made sure not to let one of relief take its place. "Not at all," she said without much thought to the matter. "I don't know how much it might inconvenience you having me so near your grandmother, though. I doubt she remembers me at all, but her opinions and both of our skill sets..."

OOC: @Krayzikk@Snelly@Lady Takanuva

IC:

"I wouldn't be too confident. But maybe." Krayn shrugged, then grimaced. He massaged his shoulder slightly, focusing ultrasonic vibrations into the underlying tissue. "Do you happen to remember how to find Ga-Koro's courier office from here?"

IC:

"I'm sure it'll be fine. I'm only worried about her meeting a native."

IC:

"The Toa?" The Dasaka drummed a finger on her leg thoughtfully. "Precious little, I admit. I've observed them a little since I arrived. Before then all I knew were rumors from the first expedition. They seem much like you or I physically. Kanohi of course, again. Their powers however strike me as simply unbelievable."

@Johnny Blocksville

IC:

The Sentinel irregular (would that be the way to put it, perhaps?) nodded, without any need to reinforce the point. He just gestured for Skyra to lead the way wherever she intended to go but his former Commander never got the chance. One of the very aliens she wished to speak with appeared before them and from there... From there things went downhill. Not through any fault of the alien's— this Karoru— but because Krayn had seen that look on Skyra's face before. And more ******ing heard that note in her voice. It wasn't impossible to mistake the sound for something else, not to most. But for his sins he was a Toa of Sonics and the sound, the exact nature of her inflection, was unmistakable.

Immediately his mind was somewhere else, on a small piece of Ga-Koro territory off the coast of Le-Wahi making a decision that enough was enough.

Maaata Nui preserve them.

"My eyes, your eyes, all the eyes in the world won't stop her from hitting her brain off the inside of her head." He muttered to Praggos out of the corner of his mouth, too quietly to overhear, before he added a little louder; "I don't think anything bad can happen between you and Dehkaz, Skyra, why don't you escort Miss Karoru that way? Praggos can keep an eye on me and vice versa."

IC:

"I see."

The Umbraline Menti bit her lip softly, trying not to show her mixed feelings. Just a little relief that some of her family, at least, had evacuated. Despite herself she felt a little uncomfortable about which members had for certain made it. Undoubtedly her mother had if her grandmother had, but...

"Would it inconvenience you to help me look for them, Sato?"

@otter@Snelly@Lady Takanuva