— 01 / open / past us is distant

[morns]

🧙 WHO: Kate & Anyone who wants to run into her
⚔️️ WHAT: In which our sullen heroine cleans up the city (After The Storm quest), fights with some bridge trolls (...Bridge... Trolls quest) and remains unsettled by her familiar.
🕒 WHEN: Throughout the month.
🗺️ WHERE: All over the place, really.
⚠️ WARNINGS: IDK I'll add to this as necessary.


— do you wanna get some more.

( the city isn't in ruins, but close enough. the storm battered everything it could, snapping branches from trees and sending anything not completely fixed in place several (hundred) feet away from where it started.

but this sort of damage can be fixed. buildings can be repaired, trees... well, she can't just sellotape the branches back on, she doesn't think, but those which are still standing should be fine. it's the ones which aren't standing that are the problem. such as the one Kate finds herself staring at, having already hefted the shattered branches and debris surrounding it into a canvas bag at her side. she exhales a breath and reaches a hand to her hair, just to find it remains neatly in the same tight pink braid it's been in all day.

this isn't happening by herself. so where...

ah! )

Oi!

( you, rando. ) You seen a saw?

— we just lost sight.

( there are people who'd disagree, whose eyes would widen in pity and shock to hear it said, but sometimes there are things which can only be solved with violence. and it seemingly doesn't matter what world you find yourself in, because these things do not seem open to negotiation.

violence for violence is the rule of the beasts, but beasts these things seem to be. and so, Kate ends up ensconced behind a (standing) tree, crouched and staring at the group of trolls as they lounge in the surroundings of several pilfered products.

(none of which are hers, thank you very much. she's not a total idiot... mostly.) )

Think you can get round the back?

( well, howdy, partner. we're trying a pincer formation here. any objections? )

— do you wanna go somewhere.

( she just. stares.

stares and stares, following Kate around the city with an unblinking gaze and a dress as white as moonlight. not that Kate even remembers calling for this ridiculous woman — familiar. whatever. somehow she ended up with the eeriest fucker in the lake instead of literally anyone, anything else.

(okay, so maybe she wouldn't exactly want a waste monster, but they wouldn't just stare at her all the damn time.)

in the middle of the city it all breaks down, and those who pass by will certainly hear the irritated tones of half an argument as the familiar answers each question in a monotone as unperturbed as her stare is unblinking. )

D'you have to follow me?

You... called me.

The hell I did. What're you supposed to be anyway?

I'm the washer woman.

... What.

( no one would blame you if you just moved on, but maybe you're a particularly kind soul who wants to stop someone fighting with their own familiar? or maybe you just want to poke the bear a little more?

i'm not your boss. )

— we only try to avoid it.

( wildcard option! write your own starter, or contact me at isanghae / isanghae#8071 and we can hash something out. )

Comments

[morns]

( working with strangers is a necessary evil for getting these things done more quickly. she'd rather Ainsworth were here, but there's no point in dwelling on impossibilities when there's work to be done. Kate follows the woman's gaze to where the troll sits, picking his nose? — honestly, he could just be sitting with his finger up his nose for no other reason for all she knows — and sighs.

from travelling the country trying to stop unknown waste monsters to... this. it's a job, true, but damn this looks like a downgrade. )

Reet. ( this woman shouldn't have trouble with that. she's pretty sure an elephant wouldn't have trouble with that, looking at this rabble. ) We'll go as soon as you're in position.

( why draw this out any longer than it has to be? )

[tsukky]

[ By contrast, dealing with any kind of actual monster is a new one for Tsukuyo. But to be honest, the behaviour of these giant oafs doesn't seem all that different from some of the guys she's used to policing back home - nose picking and bellies included. ]

Right. I'll be quick.

[ And she is, using trees and long grass as cover with ease - even if it's not her usual rooftop type terrain- she makes her way around and behind and- Honestly, these trolls do not have a single appealing angle. That much is apparent. ]

[morns]

( it's a sad state of affairs sometimes, truly. Ainsworth was never too bad, and nor is her brother, but most other people beyond that? oh boy, the stories she could tell of the rest of her former unit.

there's no need to verbally confirm that statement, a quick nod of the head works just as well in this scenario, and Kate watches the woman dart through to the other side. well. attempts to. she really only catches flashes of a shadow darting from one piece of cover to the next.

the trolls don't even seem to care. maybe employing any sort of strategy was a bridge too far. or perhaps they're simply that confident in their ability to defend this place. she supposes that answer will only come once they jump these guys, and her fingers tighten around the knife she found at one of the weapons shops in the city. it's new and unfamiliar, and she's pretty sure it's not exactly the best thing, but it should work until she can find something better.

she always preferred guns anyway.

her eyes drift from the lounging, snorting trolls to the spot she expects this stranger to arrive at, and her muscles coil tense, ready to spring. )