”Sources claim target seven resides within quill emporium second floor. Information matches with information and habits of the subject, mission is surveillance and reconnaissance. Priority to confirm intel and research target.” _____Faint words etching the air, sinking amiss in the mixed voices of the crowds as the figure who had spoken was lost in the sea of the faceless masses she cared nothing for outside the cover the could provide for her in her advance towards the targeted location. She herself kept her sounds limited, her motions mainly to avoid touching or grazing those around her, the faintest clicking of metal emitting from her sleeves as they slightly shifted along with her body. _____Nyx did not wish for this pointless test to continue, her and the others had been tasked to kill each other, not blend into the world yet they sought refuge in the facade world this game produced. The idea they would seek to make their teachers wait so long for results arising one emotion the girl was all too familiar with, rage. Her doll like expression shifting to discomfort, actions to attempt to remove the sigh of her emotion, they served nothing but a distraction. However unfortunate for the adult who slammed into Nyx sending the girl tumbling down and drawing more rage from within the small assassin. _____Her temper getting the best of her as she slashed her arm outward, several small needles, no longer than a bee stinger and as thin as could be sailing across the air into the man’s neck. His hand and frame slightly jumping as he reached to his neck before resuming his pace. Nyx rising and dusting her skirt off slowly before a thud broke the voices and people flocked towards the fallen man, the cause silently moving away, not wanting to remain when she chose to spare them with simple sleeping pins.
Celestine wandered the streets of Stokbon for the first time since… well ever. All around her, tall buildings spread their beautifully crafted silhouettes up to the sky. Sure, it was nowhere near what the buildings in real life cities could get to: like New York or Dubai, with their multiple thousand foot behemoths. However, in this world, where your typical building was the size of your average house, these structures felt like true towers. It instilled a sense of wonder to her, as a first time visitor. That being said, as she was focusing on looking up, the crowds of the streets were more focused on going forward. Her mind was violently knocked out of the clouds as a random stranger collided with her and sent the both of them tumbling to the ground. “Oh, I am of the sorries,” Celestine apologized, but the stranger barely paid her any mind and just continued on his way. It wasn’t a proper day in Stokbon without colliding with at least one other person. Celestine pushed onward, looking around at all the potential shops to explore. Stores for mounts, stores for weapons, stores for magical instruments, stores for musical instruments. There was quite a variety to choose from; something she’d have a lot of fun with… when she actually had money to spend. She pushed her way out of the crowd and found an unoccupied bench to sit on. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a few gold coins and sighed, beginning to count the meager number. Right around ‘14,’ a bizarrely quiet and drone-like voice from the crowd caused the fluffy ears on her head to twitch. Was she just imagining that? It sounded like some sort of business note. Looking up from her coinage, Celestine’s eyes immediately noticed a small little Felis from the crowd. It was a good thing she noticed her immediately in fact because another second later she’d already vanished into the crowd. The tail behind Celly began to swish back and forth as if it was nagging her to go and give the adorable little Felis a good pet. She couldn’t very well deny such a powerful urge. Pocketing the coins she’d been counting, Celestine rejoined the crowd, following the general flow of it. Little Felis… little Felis… where was she? Left, right, forward, there was no sight of her. Well, of course there wasn’t: she was way shorter than everyone around her. Darn. Just when Celly was about to give up and continue on her way, there was a disturbance and a clearing in the crowd just ahead. Bursting into the scene, she noticed a man, lying there, unconscious, in the middle of the street. “This is not a place of good napping,” she observed quietly to herself until she noticed the needles piercing his skin. “Oh,” she realized in shock, clearly disturbed at the idea of random murders in the street and not noticing his continued breathing. Out of the corner of her eye, the little Felis casually walked away while everyone else seemed to be doing the opposite. Wait a minute… Any previous urges Celestine had felt to pet her head were suppressed by a crippling fear of the little Felis, but she was precisely the kind of person she was interested in. The kind that stood out from the crowd… well… metaphorically. Exactly what she aspired to be... if a little less murder-y. Ignoring the plight of the fallen man, Celly took a deep breath to try and relieve the feeling that this was a terrible idea and rushed off after her. She tried her best to blend in as she tailed the mysterious girl to see what she would do next.
Pain.. The simple thought entered Kanashimi's mind as her victim let out a scream.. Unheard to the population of the mass located in the streets above. Kana's ice blue nails trailed across the face of the woman she was doing the deeds to. "Hurt me.. Like I am hurting you..~~" It seemed as though Kana scared the woman as yet another blood curling scream echoed through the sealed off, dimly lit room Kana had managed to lead the woman into. The events that were unfolding before Kana was the very reason why she had tried to stay away from Stokbon up to this point in time. She knew she would never have been able to resist the temptations that lurked in the crime filled streets of Stokbon. The people that walked the streets seemed to scream out to Kana... As if they wanted her to do things that were to surely send anybody to hell. The point in which Kana had decided to head for Stokbon was surprising enough as it was. She had had enough.. With the Google Neuron Network in place, every non player character seemed real enough.. Of course, Kana knew they would never hold the same satisfaction as the players would, yet none of it mattered to Kana. When it came to her prey, she was only picky to a point. The very prey she had picked out took her merely five minutes to find. She seemed to be begging for Kana. The uninterested gleam in her eyes as she walked the crowded streets of Stokbon.. Ignoring everyone and everything, heading for whichever destination she had been heading to. Stokbon was a rather easy place for Kana to hunt in. With people going missing every day, it would only add to the numbers. There were plenty people to go around.. Not that Kana was the sharing type. The thoughts that were swirling in the sadistic mind of Kanashimi were brought to an abrupt halt as a leg flashed out, kicking Kana in the gut. A small grunt of electric enthusiasm erupted from the frosted lips. The chains that held the woman's wrists in the air sounded as Kana uncuffed one. Watching as the woman tried to claw at Kana. The feeble attempts to grasp out, failing. With a smirk now taking over the expression on her face, Kana's eyes gleamed their natural psychotic hue. She took two steps closer to the prey. The woman growing limp as the fear evidently shown in her eyes with each step that Kana took. The small scoff of disappointment then sounded right before words left Kana's mouth. "You bore me." Playtime was over as Kanashimi realized that the victim she had picked failed to entertain her. Kana's hand lifted and shaped itself around the throat of the woman. It took not long before the murmur of words entered into the air followed by crackling of electricity as Kana performed a lethal attack on the woman. The body that thus been fighting and screaming grew silent and limp. The disappointment was clear in Kana's eyes as she turned away. The large sigh was what caused the spur of movement in Kana. Her feet taking her to the stairs. Exiting the small underground hidden cove she had borrowed for her passions. As Kanashimi leaned on the idea of actually having fun for the rest of the day, she listened and watched for anything that would prove entertaining for her. Her hands reached down and straightened her outfit, smoothing her hair and taking a moment to compose her expressions to the usual false cover of a collected and calm smile. Her eyes left the masochistic emptiness they had envisioned and began to be filled by the opposite feelings to how she really felt. Her hands now rested at her sides as she walked towards the more crowded sections of Stokbon, only to find a short red haired cat girl heading in her general direction.. Moving against the crowds as a commotion sounded behind her. With more observation, Kanashimi also noticed the dark teal figure following in pursuit, with a bad attempt at concealing herself.
_____Nyx felt little, nor did she sense anyone seeming to follow her for a few moments until someone became noticeable in pursuit of her. At first the small girl simply clicked her tongue, hands moving to carefully pull her knife out as she glanced at the reflection image to try and see her pursuit, a slight flash of light showing her intent before the weapon was quickly withdrawn into her large sleeves. Her pace picking up slightly before she started to rush into another crowd as best she could. While her height and fame allowed her to hid in the group, her rushed state of mind caused Nyx to overlook some details, or maybe just appear to do such. _____Nyx moved to push people along her way, guide, or exposing her escape route before quickly moving into an alleyway and trying to slip into the shadows. ’she was not one of the nine… maybe one hired by subject three? No she would have tried to pick me off from afar, three never hires sloppy close combat killers…’ Nyx’s gears clicked as she ducked behind some boxes and reached into her sleeves to get ready. Hands running along metal and glass as she considered what to do. ’In the off chance she does work for subject three I could get information on him and his location, but why would he go after me so early into things? Unlike the others i never showed late game threats, rather weaker in the dragged out fights… to seek me out while the decks are still modestly in my favor…’ _____Nyx’s mind kept going over the possibilities as she sat in wait to see the girl’s next move. There was to little Nyx knew about the situation, but at the same time she did not wish to fall back when there was a chance to remove another player from the board. ’Maybe three seeks to remove seven as I do… by using a close combat hire maybe he seeks to frame one and disrupt the small team into internal strife… But that seems outside his deck… maybe he also keeps his aces hidden?’
Celestine gracefully weaved in and out, between the many bodies seeking to travel from one place in Stokbon to another. Acrobatics was definitely a nice skill to have, though in this case, it was mostly just her desire to snuggle the tiny Faerin that kept her pushing forward. Add to that the curiosity that came with how crazy suspicious she was and Cel was convinced: this was someone that couldn’t be passed up. She just had to keep sight of her… but at this point, it was obvious the girl was now trying to lose her. Even more suspicious… Finally, she broke out of the crowd like a diver breaking the surface tension of the water. She had just a split second to notice a quick motion, as something darted into a nearby alley. Oh gosh… nothing good ever came from mysterious alleyways. “I should really be doing the walking away now...” Cel muttered to herself, trying to talk herself out of it. She knew herself too well though: cuteness and suspicious behavior were like her two greatest magnets. She’d never pass it up. Peeking half her head into the alleyway, the one, curious eye failed to notice anything out of place. Some cans filled with trash, a few storage crates stacked in the corner, and a bunch of discarded litter. It looked like your typical back alley no one cared about. So was she hiding away somewhere, or did she just run for it? Better assume that latter. Dropping any kind of stealth, Celestine entered the alley full speed and bolted for the back, not able to see whether or not it was a dead-end from this position. Just as she was about to pass the crates, an unfortunately placed lid of a trash can caught her foot in a moment of clumsiness and just toppled flat onto the ground right beside the Faerin. From the low position, she could easily make out the blade the girl was fingering. Yep, this was not good. “Wait wait wait,” she shouted, lying completely still in the awkward, flat position! “I was just doing the wondering if you were the one who did the killings of that man back there?” She realized the moment she’d finished speaking that she’d probably just used the worst excuse for following an assassin imaginable. Yep, she was so dead.
_____Nyx’s expression towards the girl was blank, simply looking at her as she moved her knives back within her sleeves deeper parts and clicked her tongue. Even if the girl was acting Nyx could not tell, nor was she in the mood to interrogate someone when she was still at the back of her class for such things. Surveillance, assassination, and stealth had been her focus of her studies and free time. Moving to double check if anyone else had managed to follow her or planned to do such before glaring at the girl, while not having the stature or build her eyes clearly showed some levels of intent to kill behind them. ”I did not kill the man, unless he was allergic to deadly nightshade, but I only dipped two centimeters into the vile so it should only force him into sleep, if he dies he clearly was a waste of space and should not have done what he had to place him in that situation.” _____Moving to the edge of the alley and checking the area again before Nyx started to walk away from the girl. She had no reason to stay near the girl and if she was still followed she would give the same fate of the man to the girl. She had no use of her and if she was followed it would likely raise more suspension about her and set seven off to run away like the coward rat he is. Growling lightly at the idea he might have been nearby when the man fell down and was already trying to flee the area was not good. Her pace picking up out of annoyance.
Cel shut her eyes tight for a moment expecting some uncomfortable or - more likely - painful feeling to suddenly burst into her brain from a stabbed body part. After a few seconds of that NOT happening, she slowly opened her eyes. The girl said nothing at first. She practically ignored her! Not only that, but she also didn’t seem to be paying her any mind either. Cel tilted her head in confusion. Should she be upset? Offended? Insulted? ...relieved? When the girl finally did speak, Celly tensed up for a split second in surprise. The voice was so… monotonous. It reminded her of her math teacher back in the real world, except it was coming from an adorable little half-sized girl with a deadly glare. One that she desperately wanted to wrap her arms around and squeeze. “Oh,” Cel sighed as the girl explained how it wasn’t deadly. Actually, she sounded disappointed for some reason. As the mysterious, small girl made her way to the end of the alleyway, Celly picked herself up and brushed a piece of trash off of her hooded jacket: a banana peel from the looks of it. Avoiding the stereotypical slipping on it, she slowly approached the girl again from behind, though she couldn’t shake the odd feeling that she was still being watched carefully. Unable to contain the temptation, Celly quickly flung her arms around the Faerin girl and hugged her tight. It was an incredibly awkward thing to do under any circumstances, but the fact that she’d done it after her hug target had explained the way nightshade worked was even more bizarre. “Who are you doing the sneakings from? Did someone do you a threatening?” It wasn’t clear whether Celly was really dense or just finding an excuse to be hugging her.
_____The moment Nyx was caught in a hug she froze up, her expression the only changing feature as she turned red and shut her eyes. ”Let me go…” Her words almost silent as she started trembling, she was not one for touching and it was not something she was trained to deal with yet causing her to be lost on what to do, least how to react to hugs. A grabble, choke hold, close combat she could handle but this was not part of her classes yet. ”Please… let go…” _____While this time speaking up her ‘please’ seemed more like the girl was about to kill Nyx if she kept holding onto her. That was mostly because ‘please’ only crossed Nyx when she was about to kill someone and she tried to mimic such since it seemed what someone would say in such a case, her body shaking still while flustered and closed eyes. @Celestine | @Kanashimi
Celestine softly pet the tiny girl’s head with a blissful smile. So much cuteness, it was overwhelming. This world was great: filled with all sorts of adorable little people… some even with fluffy, pettable cat ears. For a cuddle connoisseur like herself, it was like heaven. But a strange vibrating sensation caught her attention. Was it coming from the girl? Huh… She’d have to be blind AND deaf not to notice how upset this girl was. She didn’t understand it in the slightest, but it was really starting to freak her out. Was the girl about to explode? Worried for the safety of the both of them, Celestine finally detached herself and stepped back a ways, letting the girl have some room to breathe again. “Sorry, I always find it hard not to do a cuddling of the cute and small,” she excused herself, delivering it more as a statement than a compliment. “Really though, if you are in the danger, should you not do a confronting of it?” She tilted her head as she asked the question. “I can do a help, if you are needing me,” Celestine offered confidently, though it was obvious from her beginner’s gear that she wasn’t the strongest of allies. @Nyx
Silently observing the contact that the two short females seemed to be rather annoying up to the point that the one with the kitten ears had hugged the shorter red haired girl. The figure of the red head grew flustered as the body shook. That was what had interested Kana.. Along with the fact that the way she stood had shouted out that despite the young appearance.. That the girl was a killer.. A hunter, like herself. The idea that the kitty thought that the pixie was in danger was definitely a strange concept. Kanashimi began to take small notes in the back of her mind, noting how oblivious the kitty was... The idea that the pixie was perceptive crossed Kana's mind and she tucked it aside.. Time will tell.. The silent movements of her body as she began to walk towards the two set a small aura of eeriness. This time, Kana would be doing a different kind of hunting.. Her hand lifted, before setting it on the kitty's head. Her iced fingernails lacing themselves in the dark teal hair of the girl's. Her body positioned behind her as her voice sounded. "I doubt she is being threatened by anyone.. or thing... Just take another look at her.." Restricting her words were easy enough in itself as she did not speak of her own observations, watching the two's behavior and taking notes of everything she saw. Deducting and chipping away to their personality.. Observing and slowly making lists of weaknesses. For the pixie girl, Kana definitely saw hugs and emotions of consolation and love to be a weakness.
“EEP!” Celestine almost launched into the air as a cold hand suddenly found its way to her head. Then again, with the hand where it was, leaping in the air was pretty much impossible, so the frightened energy of surprise found a different way of being released: namely in a violent shiver. She turned her head back to catch a view of who the hand belonged to. The lady might’ve been enchantingly beautiful if there wasn’t something… off about her. Maybe the blue lips? Yeah, that must be it. Celestine flipped back around to look at the short one as she suggested it. What was she supposed to be seeing here? “Umm...” Celly hummed, looking for some sort of hint. Eventually, she threw a random guess out there, hoping the lady behind her would correct her. “She is afraid of the cat parts of mine?” Testing out her theory, she wiggled her ears a bit and gently swished the teal tail behind her. It brushed against the ice-blue lady behind her a few times, since she was a little too close for comfort. “That is not a thing of which you need to do a fear,” she assured, putting on a big smile to show she was friendly. “Unlike the cats that are not of people, I do not do the scratchings or the bitings. Or… at least, not of the people. I do like doing the biting of the cupcakes.” If anything, Celly seemed to be constantly streaming out a friendly bit of blather to lighten the mood and try to distract herself from the fact that she was in a dark alley, surrounded by dubious people.
_____The arrival of the new girl both annoyed and relieved Nyx, or so for a moment anyways. She was hoping to leave the area until once more the focus was stuck back on her causing her to grumble lightly. Her hands resting on her needles carefully moving them under her sleeve without rustling them as best she could to dip them in some chemicals. If these two kept delaying her mission she would simply need to deal with them and so far one woman clearly seemed easier to deal with, however it also would make dealing with the other harder if she went for the easy pray first. ”I have things to get done, If you are done delaying me I will leave now. If you keep stalling and wasting my time i will be forced to act.” _____Nyx’s tone returned to lifeless words, her hands gripping the needles carefully at the ready to throw them should she need to do such. If the two allowed her to start walking away without pursuit Nyx would have no reason to add their details for later removal having seen her and for some time to likely give an accurate report to guards later. While her teachers would say to remove them, some lessons taught her that killing anyone you spoke with rose flags she did not need. _____Turning away from the two and proceeding to walk towards her target location before the sound of an explosion caught her ears before it caught her eyes. Roughly four blocks away where she was planning to go caught fire, debris sent flying from the second floor as Nyx covered her ears to try and stop the loud sound from ringing, her needles exposed into view of those around her however most focused seemed to be the burning building ahead. Nyx looking up and growling lightly. @Kanashimi | @Celestine
The rippling sound of the explosion brought a ring to Kanashimi's ears. The only catch of this explosion seemed to be the fact that it was where the little pixie had been headed. Without a single cause to the explosion, it set Kana's interest in the small pixie to be at the level of curiosity. One being who is being hunted down? Kanashimi, herself, was used to be the one doing the hunting.. Which made her think of who the hunter or huntress of the pixie was. Are they some sort of bomb expert? Pyromaniac? Only an idiot would take down their opponent on the slight chance that they would step near the explosion. Without knowing the reason behind the explosion, Kana's hand lifted off of the kitten's head. Her interest in her dwindling to a mere drop. Now, focusing in on the pixie. Her mind repaying what she had spoke out loud to the two of them. I will be forced to act... The pixie also spoke as if she knew how to put one to sleep, compared to killing them. A small smirk replaced Kana's rather confused lips as her mind pieced everything together. Her glowing eyes taking on a rather dangerous and scare-induced hue. The narrowed slits, watching the pixie with a new-found peak of interest. A bred assassin, being hunted down... It would be the only conclusion to come to. The facts added up to be the very simple answer. She knew how to kill and put asleep. The small girl was not afraid to act, but would not unless they were who she was hunting. The fact that she seemed as if she had never been hugged before, unsure how to react to it. Kana's right hand touched her face as her creamy skin shone in the light passing through the mushroom cloud that had been caused by the explosion. The very thoughts of thrill and pleasure caught in Kana's mind, realizing that it would be interesting if she stuck close to the pixie. Taking a small step forward, her voice not sounding. The ringing in her ears had stopped, only to be replaced by the screams of the crowd as they realized what had happened. The sickly smirk that was intricately woven upon Kana's face was unique and inticing as she moved closer to the pixie (Nyx).. One step at a time, waiting for the pixie to speak.
_____Nyx did not like what was happening in the slightest, her focus moving around quickly to the higher grounds, if her guess was correct and the deepest parts of her hoping such was false then the one who did attack would not leave while the show was still playing out. Sure enough sitting calmly on a roof three over was a woman with a male toying with some fire. ’To think four and one would attack their teammate… or is this simply a facade to make us think seven is out of the running?’ Nyx’s train of thought took most her focus, hand rising to bite her thumb nail as she watched the people begin recovering from the shock and start acting to contain the fire. ”Four and his actions, One would not approve less there was more thought into the plan… but what else could they gain…” _____Nyx’s words cut off as she noticed the likely plan from the two, why One, who refused to make a show of her work would work alongside Four who loved fear and terror. If the guards knew conflict was around they would bulk up guard, leaving it harder for anyone in the group to get at each other buying time into the later stages leaving others trapped for easy picking or exposed. Nyx was backed into a corner, she would have to fall into the shadows, or rush out and try to end the game before it stacked out of her favor. ”The team up was simply a plan… Get seven who never wins to work with those with the best chances to drop his guard and use his defeat to trap the others in their late game… Dammit!” _____Nyx moved to turn only to see the girl who had showed up not long ago. Growling she got hold of her needles again ready to strike if the girl did not let her pass while walking away from the area. She needed to get out of the area before One and Four stopped watching the show, or if three was nearby to cause another scene. This game was moving to a path Nyx wanted to avoid, and now she had no choice but to follow the forced change of plans until things dialed down. They bought more time, but enraged Nyx in the process, One and Four now took priority.
Celestine just stood there, grinning awkwardly. What had she just walked into anyway? She wasn’t entirely sure that the little person had just threatened her life, but… it kinda felt like she had? Not that it really mattered. After all, the worst that could happen to her is a respawn… unless this girl intended to scar her with some sort of disturbing experience, and it really just sounded like she wanted Cel out of the way. It was then that the distant explosion caused Celly to leap backwards, pressing her ears down to her head. GEEZ that was LOUD! She peeked out of the alleyway, catching sight of the burning building in the distance from which the sound presumably had come from. “Oh no,” Cel exclaimed! “I was really doing a liking of that place of noodles…” she whined, referring more to the - now panicked - restaurant nearby the destroyed building. There was a good chance they’d risk staying open anyway, if only for the mass of potential customers that would come to check out the wreckage. Still, if the fire spread like it looked it would, they might end up closed for quite some time. Bummer. And, of course, now all of a sudden she was hungry for noodles. Turning back to the two weirdos nearby, Celly paused there for a moment to observe, shuffling about awkwardly. The one with the bunch of blue on her looked kinda like she was appraising the two of them, particularly the shorter girl. She was just standing there, staring… silently. It was so creepy. Celestine then turned to the adorable little person, hearing her before she saw her. The girl was just muttering a bunch of… uhh… what was it? It kind of sounded like a bunch of gibberish and math mixed together? At the very least, there were a whole lot of numbers involved. That was clear. What the numbers actually meant? Less clear. There was one big thing Celestine was reasonably sure of at this point though: this girl was definitely related to that explosion! Maybe the both of them were, in fact. But the small one had something - besides an adorably small stature - that interested her: she had quirks that Cel could begin to guess at. That would work just fine. All of a sudden, as the small girl passed her by, Celestine’s face grew totally lifeless and void of emotion. Her whole stance looked far more serious and intense as she looked down to the ground. Without a moment of hesitation, Cel followed directly behind the small girl, muttering things in a very similar fashion to the other girl… “Five is nearIng one’s location, but his allies are rounding the bend now. If I am not careful, he will make the move to intercept seven’s correspondent before the plan can be completed. But if three’s set a trap somewhere in the east…” Cel continued mumbling a stream of nonsense, which did a reasonably good job of mimicking the small girl she was following, even if none of it made any sense when put together.
