Re: Intense Struggle Season 2! (Round 4: Deathball Championship)
12-23-2011, 09:46 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by MalkyTop.
She was in an alley.
Was it bad that her first thought was one of relief?
There’s nobody she felt obligated to protect anymore, no helpless child to dote over. In fact, she would probably have to be protected herself. She was missing an arm. She was missing her weapon. She hadn’t been all that strong in the first place, but now she felt incredibly not strong and the only thing she could think about was how it would be nice to take a break and let someone else protect her.
She should probably stop hanging around in this dark alley.
Peering into the street, Sarika watched the residents pass by. There were humans (there were always humans), but there were also…other things she couldn’t put a name to. That meant non-human residents, which in turn meant that she didn’t have to cover up everything about her. Good.
Withdrawing back into the alley, she started looking around for some clothes. It was a little optimistic of her, sure, but she was pretty certain going out with a bloody shirt would not be that smart.
Suddenly, she tripped and bruised her jaw against the ground. At the same time, she realized she smelled blood. Not her own, but someone else’s. Warily, she felt around and found a dead body.
She quickly forced down the feeling that threatened to well up from her stomach and tried to get a good look at the clothes. The wound was on the unfortunate’s head, and so the blood was mostly spilled on the ground rather than on the clothes. The body was also humanoid, so the clothes should fit her well enough.
She began the process of changing clothes in the dark. Whatever these clothes were, they probably would help her fit in, right? The last thing she did before walking out was to remove her goggles from her eyes. This was Normal Civilian mode. Normal civilians don’t go around wearing goggles all the time, that would be more of a vigilante sort of thing. Besides, she wasn’t much of a good vigilante.
She walked around.
It seemed an average place, really. One wouldn’t have guessed that there was some sort of socially important sport game happening that revolved around kidnapping and killing people, well, if it weren’t for the banners and such touting said event. People were milling around, passing the time. She suspected that there were many already lining up to get seats, or maybe settling in their houses with the TV on. Getting a ticket to the game struck her as the safest thing to do. Surely, people didn’t kidnap players right out of the stands, right?
Sarika finally noticed something. The thronging public, with their silly foam hands and their ridiculous sports souvenirwear, were most definitely thronging away from her. Was it something she was wearing?
She finally looked down at the outfit she picked up. It was a bit grungy from laying around in an alley, though not much because futuristic alleys weren’t all that dirty to begin with. It was rather dark and there seemed to be some sort of stripe-star-ranking thing on the shoulder. And below that was some sort of label with a name…
Oh no. She had no idea what this outfit was for, but she had a sneaking suspicion that she didn’t want to be found in it very soon so maybe it was time to duck into another alleyway and get scarce –
She nearly squealed when an unseen figure in the alley laid a hand on her, but the figure didn’t give her time at all and swung the breath right out of her. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” the figure hissed. “Waltzing right in plain sight!”
Well, she didn’t seem to be getting knocked out and dragged somewhere into a cage or something. Sarika thought very quickly. “I, um, wanted to buy a drink.”
“You can do that on break, out of uniform! Christ, are you dense?” The figure hadn’t let go of her yet. It was dragging her deeper into the alley and the darkness.
“Sorry,” Sarika mumbled, her eyes struggling to adjust. She could only see shadows. But it sounded like the figure was also a woman. She could see her shadow examining her closely.
“Hey, it’s alright. You’re a rookie, aren’t you? Just don’t do it again. You’ll scare away the prey!”
Prey. Oh no. “Um. Maybe I should go back to where I was before, then. I don’t want to bother you.”
Sarika felt a heavy slap on her back and stumbled forward. “Hey, no, it’s okay. Stick around! You could learn a thing or two from me. And then you won’t make any more mess-ups. I’m Turaine.”
“Sarika,” the bird-woman coughed before thinking that maybe she should have given a fake name. It didn’t seem to matter because Turaine didn’t seem to pay any attention.
“Hey, Rookie, don’t look so glum! Being a Deathball recruiter ain’t so hard at all. Especially if you learn from me!”
Yup. Just as she thought. “Thank you,” she replied morosely.
She was in an alley.
Was it bad that her first thought was one of relief?
There’s nobody she felt obligated to protect anymore, no helpless child to dote over. In fact, she would probably have to be protected herself. She was missing an arm. She was missing her weapon. She hadn’t been all that strong in the first place, but now she felt incredibly not strong and the only thing she could think about was how it would be nice to take a break and let someone else protect her.
She should probably stop hanging around in this dark alley.
Peering into the street, Sarika watched the residents pass by. There were humans (there were always humans), but there were also…other things she couldn’t put a name to. That meant non-human residents, which in turn meant that she didn’t have to cover up everything about her. Good.
Withdrawing back into the alley, she started looking around for some clothes. It was a little optimistic of her, sure, but she was pretty certain going out with a bloody shirt would not be that smart.
Suddenly, she tripped and bruised her jaw against the ground. At the same time, she realized she smelled blood. Not her own, but someone else’s. Warily, she felt around and found a dead body.
She quickly forced down the feeling that threatened to well up from her stomach and tried to get a good look at the clothes. The wound was on the unfortunate’s head, and so the blood was mostly spilled on the ground rather than on the clothes. The body was also humanoid, so the clothes should fit her well enough.
She began the process of changing clothes in the dark. Whatever these clothes were, they probably would help her fit in, right? The last thing she did before walking out was to remove her goggles from her eyes. This was Normal Civilian mode. Normal civilians don’t go around wearing goggles all the time, that would be more of a vigilante sort of thing. Besides, she wasn’t much of a good vigilante.
She walked around.
It seemed an average place, really. One wouldn’t have guessed that there was some sort of socially important sport game happening that revolved around kidnapping and killing people, well, if it weren’t for the banners and such touting said event. People were milling around, passing the time. She suspected that there were many already lining up to get seats, or maybe settling in their houses with the TV on. Getting a ticket to the game struck her as the safest thing to do. Surely, people didn’t kidnap players right out of the stands, right?
Sarika finally noticed something. The thronging public, with their silly foam hands and their ridiculous sports souvenirwear, were most definitely thronging away from her. Was it something she was wearing?
She finally looked down at the outfit she picked up. It was a bit grungy from laying around in an alley, though not much because futuristic alleys weren’t all that dirty to begin with. It was rather dark and there seemed to be some sort of stripe-star-ranking thing on the shoulder. And below that was some sort of label with a name…
Oh no. She had no idea what this outfit was for, but she had a sneaking suspicion that she didn’t want to be found in it very soon so maybe it was time to duck into another alleyway and get scarce –
She nearly squealed when an unseen figure in the alley laid a hand on her, but the figure didn’t give her time at all and swung the breath right out of her. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” the figure hissed. “Waltzing right in plain sight!”
Well, she didn’t seem to be getting knocked out and dragged somewhere into a cage or something. Sarika thought very quickly. “I, um, wanted to buy a drink.”
“You can do that on break, out of uniform! Christ, are you dense?” The figure hadn’t let go of her yet. It was dragging her deeper into the alley and the darkness.
“Sorry,” Sarika mumbled, her eyes struggling to adjust. She could only see shadows. But it sounded like the figure was also a woman. She could see her shadow examining her closely.
“Hey, it’s alright. You’re a rookie, aren’t you? Just don’t do it again. You’ll scare away the prey!”
Prey. Oh no. “Um. Maybe I should go back to where I was before, then. I don’t want to bother you.”
Sarika felt a heavy slap on her back and stumbled forward. “Hey, no, it’s okay. Stick around! You could learn a thing or two from me. And then you won’t make any more mess-ups. I’m Turaine.”
“Sarika,” the bird-woman coughed before thinking that maybe she should have given a fake name. It didn’t seem to matter because Turaine didn’t seem to pay any attention.
“Hey, Rookie, don’t look so glum! Being a Deathball recruiter ain’t so hard at all. Especially if you learn from me!”
Yup. Just as she thought. “Thank you,” she replied morosely.