paixaorpg | There aren't even boggarts at fault [active]

Entry tags:

There aren't even boggarts at fault [active]

Character(s): Naja Salaheem, anyone willing to help a mithra out, or mock her
Content: This is the worst place ever for Naja to end up.
Setting: Halloween Town! ...and then back in Paixao... in.... water...
Time: Late afternoon, week 19
Warnings: Oh, probably Naja, one way or another.

Her shriek of terror could likely be heard farther than the graveyard. How did she get back? She needed to get back very, very badly. This place was terrible! The worst! Why did she ever think leaving those lovely tropics was a good idea?

Where was that damn door back?!

Naja Salaheem wasn't the president of a company for no reason. She was a strong leader, able to put up with the toughest of situations, people, creatures.

But there was one thing that she hated more than anything, that caused her toughness to drop several levels: ghosts, and everything involved with them. And so stepping through the door from Destiny Islands to the Hinterlands, she began to lose her cool Creepy trees? Okay, she was alright with those. But once she made her way into the graveyard? Oh no. No, no, no, no!

She stands in the center of the graveyard, a second ghost-type Heartless appearing out of nowhere and circling close to her. She hugs her morningstar close, shaking like a leaf, and then lets loose another loud, ear-piercing scream.

Threaded | Flat

While Death had the ability to recognize sound, higher pitches did not cause him pain. In addition, he simply could not feel fear. In this situation, it meant that he interpreted the screams in the graveyard as a cry for help. He was close, and it did not take him long to come across the woman - Naja, said the name above her head - and bring his scythe down in a swift arc, quickly dispatching the Heartless menacing her. I DON'T THINK THEY ARE INTIMIDATED BY SCREAMS, he commented lightly.

The thought that his appearance might make the situation worse had never crossed his mind.

Death's presence did not help matters one bit. He may have dispatched the Heartless, but he was still a skeleton with a scythe, and she was in a graveyard. She thinks the worst - that he is here to kill everything in sight, including her.

After a moment of flailing she unwinds, slamming Morgenstern into his head. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

Sadly, screams are all too common in Reno's line of work, although in his case they tend to come more in the 'ow you shot me you bastard' variety then the 'terrified out of my mind' variety. Either way, they were something well worth the effort of checking out, and without a second thought, he turned and headed in the direction they'd come from.

He couldn't say he'd expected find his maybe-boss facing down a skeleton man with a scythe, but hey. Life was full of strange things like that.

"Y'know, I don't think that's gonna hurt him much."

If anything, Naja's reaction should have tipped him off to an impending attack. By the time Death had recognized that particular warning sign, the weapon had already connected with the side of his skull, knocking it clean off his neck. It fell to the side, hanging in his hood in a rather disconcerting manner.

This certainly wasn't helping things.

Dismissing his scythe to the inside of his cloak, he picked up his skull and replaced it on his neck, settling it in with a crack that would have been right at home with Granny Weatherwax's chiropracty. I'M OFF DUTY, he said by way of simple explanation, addressing both Naja and the man who had arrived on the scene - Reno. With any luck, that would calm things down a bit.

She gives Reno a dull glance at his arrival, but when Death revives himself, she jumps at the redhead, arms wrapped around his body firmly and unmovable. 'I'm off duty' was hardly making her feel any better, because he was still a skeleton, scythe or not.

"Kill it!" she demands Reno, still not letting go, and perhaps tightening her grip more. She moves enough so she's pointing a finger Death's way. "Kill it NOW!"

Interestingly, it's not the fact that he's been asked to kill something that hasn't actually attacked that bothers Reno so much as the fact that it's going to be awfully hard to kill anything with someone else hanging on to him so tightly. Besides, if he(?) could recover from a clean headshot what else could he recover from?

"Gonna be hard to kill anything with you hangin' on like that."

If Death had eyebrows to raise, they both would have gone up at the scene unfolding before him. While reactions to his appearance in Paixao had varied, Naja's was without a doubt both the loudest and most violent.

YOU WILL FIND ME VERY DIFFICULT TO KILL, he informed Reno calmly, then paused to consider the possibility of such a statement. IF I CAN BE KILLED AT ALL. There was a way to just about anything, he was certain; then again, he was also fairly certain Reno did not possess the tools to kill him, whatever those may have been.

I SUGGEST YOU TAKE HER OUT OF THE GRAVEYARD, he continued, nodding at Naja. SHE SEEMS A BIT HYSTERICAL.

Nonsense! He should just show her his talent by fighting with an extra weight!

She glares at Death. "HYSTERICAL?! I am not hysterical!" Yes she was. She gives Reno a bit of a rough shake because she can't flail without letting him go. She very much wants to leave the graveyard, but what if that was some sort of nasty plan to get her somewhere even worse? She couldn't have that...

That would work a lot better if his fighting style didn't involve a whole lot of being both fast and flexible.

There's a pause before he answers, one of the rare times he can be found actually thinking before opening his mouth. Normally he wouldn't bother, but this isn't quite anything like he'd call a normal situation.

"How about you an' me go elsewhere an' if he follows I can take care 'f things then?"

YOU ARE SPEAKING LOUDER THAN I, Death pointed out mildly. If that was not hysteria or something akin to it, then he had no idea what it could be.

He waited and listened approvingly to the plan. While he had rather been hoping to find someone to explore this world with, going it alone was generally a better plan than causing potential companions to have fits of panic. In any case, there was likely another group he could join up with. For now, it was best to leave these two alone. I WILL NOT FOLLOW YOU.

She squints over Reno's shoulder, still eying Death with more suspicion than he really deserved. Well if that bag of bones followed, then surely her Sentinel-not-Sentinel would be able to magically dispatch of him. Naja occasionally could have faith in people.

Occasionally.

"Fine," she snaps in agreement to the plan.

If Death followed - and Reno was going to assume that he was going to be true to his word - then he'd find some way to get rid of him. It might not actually be killing him, but there were enough other ways to deal with someone in the short term.

Most of them hadn't been tried on animate skeletons, but hey. First time for everything.

"Come on then," he commented, with a faint smile. "Time' a-wastin'."

She still gives Death a wary glare, but relents to allowing Reno to lead her away - at least he likely has a better hold on the environment, having managed to brave it more than she was able.

So, after drawing out a huff, and only uncoils away from Reno enough so that he can properly lead the way. "I hate this place," she says under her breath.

To be fair, it's not particularly hard to deal with better then 'near hysterical panic'. But since someone has to be the comparatively sane man in the equation and he's moderately certain it would best to not push too hard. So he'll just keep that little detail to himself for the time being. What she doesn't know can't hurt her, after all.

"I'm guessin' a return trip ain't on the menu, then?"

Her reaction was fierce, accented by her gripping his arm more tightly than she was a moment ago. "There will be a mass exterrrmination of this place. Nothing to surrvive. Wipe it all out!" She flails one arm away from the grip to wave her Morgenstern at the general area, but a shiver follows because the gesture made her look at the surrounding area again.

She hates this place. So much.

"Back down to the bare castle, eh?"

He wasn't at all sure it could be done, but he kept a light tone to his voice all the same. As long as it got them safely out of the place he could manage. And then he'd find a moment to come back and check it out on his own. If it was going to get summarily destroyed he might as well take a moment to get a good long look at it while he still could.

"Bare castle and the islands," she says sharply. She'll make her Sentinels do the work for her. Only... She doesn't know where Sara is. Perhaps Balthier and Fran? Damn! This business of hers was going nowhere in this useless city! Money on trees! What kind of economy is that?! How is she supposed to get any work done?! Manufacture her own gil?

"You know," her own voice finally manages a similar light tone, despite her internal rage, "you rrreally should sign under the Sentinels officially, Reno... Think of the membership benefits."

There are no membership benefits.

He should, perhaps and the idea's crossed his mind more than once, now that Rufus isn't around to call him to heel. It would be something to do, and he's moderately sure that a return trip isn't on Rufus' schedule. Of course, moderately certain is also partly uncertain, and who knows what he might think if he returned and found Reno otherwise employed.

"I ain't really an official kind 'f guy, yo."

She figured that would be his answer, but she had to try. She wasn't about to push Reno into service, not with how fragile her company was right now. She wasn't going to lose him completely. Still, she adds, "Not even for an exception like Paixao~?" Her voice is light, but her posture and movement of her tail shows that she hasn't gotten over her fear of this area.

"Guess I can keep it mind," he answered after a slight pause. He wasn't entirely sold on the idea, but he wasn't going to dismiss the idea entirely out of hand just yet. Why would he, when it was one of the few chances he currently of picking up some manner of employment?

It was just that it needed to be considered very carefully, so as to not piss off any potential bosses that arrived.

((I'm 95% certain that Naja had a conversation with Rufus over Reno before. But ugh! I can't find it ;;))

She does remember Rufus. She does know that Reno had other alliances. She was sure she could still weasel Reno out from Rufus' grip if the time came but... "If your superrrior returns we can drrop a contract as though it never existed..." She grins, stepping in front of him. "No one would ever have to know~"

But she would still fight to keep a hold to her more 'useful' Sentinels. She couldn't afford to lose any right now.

Naja nearly smirks, but she keeps it hidden. She was making progress. She loved progress! She loved wrapping poor, useful souls closer to her will. She had goals, after all, much like anyone had goals. She did need to get home, yes, but if she could just find something to make her pockets fat with gold... this place would be worth it.

But nothing would come to fruition if she didn't get out of Halloween Town.

And, to her surprise, she notices the edge of a card amongst the moonlight. "Ehhh?"

Progress, yes. But Reno could be damnably persistent when he wanted to be. Oh, he might eventually decide it was worth it, but he was determined to see how long he could stretch the project out. It was the most fun he'd had in a while, which was saying something about the place, if you asked him.

"Somethin' the matter?"

Persistent was okay. She likes persistent. Means someone won't break so easily that she has to find someone new, and that's hard here. She doesn't have lines of people waiting to become her next great mercenary.

She sniffs and nudges her foot at it. "That looks outta place," she murmurs and still not completely letting go of Reno (holding on by the sleeve, really), she plucks it up and looks it over. "It's a card," is all she gets to say before something on it changes, and the pair are in for a rude shock when they find themselves transported back to Paixao.

Q5. In the water. She can see land in the distance if she focuses, but she's currently stuck flailing and yelling, and likely using Reno as a buoy.

He's made a lifetime's habit out of being hard to break, really. It's going to take far more than this place can through at him, when he's dealt with the assorted shit of his own world. Still, he turns as she picks up the card - it's not something you'd generally find just lying around ans that makes it at the very least something possibly interesting.

Sadly, 'interesting' turns out to be far more than Reno'd expected, as it dumps him out into the water with an undignified yelp.

Fortunately, he knows how to swim (Rufus insisted and really, it's a very good thing he did) and instinct manages to kick in with rather impressive speed. It's just that he's not using to having to manage both his own weight and someone else's and between the sputtering that comes from having just been dropped in the water he manages to get out a couple of decent swears.

Reno actually manages to make a very good boat, but it probably helps that Naja is all height and not weight. She balances over him to not make his work more difficult than it already is, but she doesn't exactly help either. Despite living so close to water back home, Naja relies on ships, and of course, mercenaries.

Her tail continues to glide through the water, and the rest of her is royally soaked, but she's calmed considerably. Water is by far better than Ghost Land.

She gives little pointers on direction towards land, but then she settles for pondering aloud amongst his swearing. "That place is enough floor to this castle, eh? So have something like that carrrd there and poof... folk get dumped back to Paixao's floor..."

Really, he's not surprised. She hasn't exactly struck him as the sort to, when there's another option around. Sadly, that other option is him and if he were any less decent he'd just let her fend for herself and damn the consequences. But such is the life of being a sort-of-decent person.

Fortunately, the land isn't all that far away, although he's bound and determined to grumble and swear his way through as much of it as he can. The introduction of a conversational gambit, however, puts something of an end to that.

"Decent way t' keep people from gettin' somewhere," he answered. "'F they can't stay up there all that long it keeps 'em from exploring wht else is out there." Not to mention it made a decent deterrent from repeat trips, but he wouldn't mention that part.

She's lucky. Reno could be such a prized mercenary to her, if he'd just finally sign. She's really lucky, but he's not getting any 'thank yous' from her. If her ever-loyal assistant, Abquhbah, was around, he might be able to force one out of her.

"Yeah. Makes the rrrace to the top more difficult, if there's any truth to that." She scoffs. She doesn't know what to believe these days.

That might, in fact, be one of the reasons he hasn't yet. True, he doesn't know what her usual standards are, but he knows that he's good at what he does. The fact that he's never exactly been a mercenary doesn't even begin to come into it. Not like he hasn't done new things before.

"Makes about 's much sense as anything else," he offered. "Can't see what's so important up there, though."

After all, if you were trying to get out of a castle, wouldn't you have gone down to do it?

She nods thoughtfully, not that he can see. "There was that rrrumor that there's a way out up there, eh? Wonder how far those pirrates of mine have gotten..." Not that she's been in contact with them lately. She should really remedy that at some point. Collect all her potentials together and make some effort.

"Keep it up!" she cheers. Hey, land is getting closer, after all.

He has half a mind to ask about her 'pirates' but decides it's not really worth the trouble when he still has a fair amount of water to cross. If she wants to deal with pirates she's well within her rights do so and he hasn't ever made much of a living doing things that are strictly legal. So really he hasn't got much of a leg to stand on.

"'Swhat they said," he answered. He wasn't entirely sure he believed it, but it was an interesting bit of a rumor all the same. Besides, the way up was undoubtedly more interesting than hanging around the same old places would be and he couldn't deny it was about time for a change. "Think they're tellin' th' truth?"

"There's likely a trap involved, even if it is the trrruth. Why give us that kind of information unless they're playin' at something?" She hums softly in thought.

"But trrap or not, it's something that needs to be looked into. We've been in this city a long time, you and I. An' you've been here longer, if I rrremember correctly." She taps a finger against her chin. "Nothing of this much substance has come up before. Something's changed. Their game plan, I don't know. Definitely something."

"Maybe they ain't really gonna let us out. Build up hope 'n then take it away again. Or hell, maybe they just got bored 'f keepin' us here."

They were nothing more than guesses, really, nut short of actually asking them, the answers could only ever be guesses and Reno wasn't in the least bit inclined to go ask. He'd leave that to the more suicidally-minded types. As far as he was concerned the less he had to actually deal with the Organization, the better.

Threaded | Flat

There aren't even boggarts at fault [active]

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Oh gad notification fail ;;;

I share your pain.

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