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Post by Jackie Clovis on Oct 25, 2016 0:57:15 GMT -6
April 15
Jackie moved hastily across the courtyard, her usually furtive movements abandoned in favor of alacrity in the extreme. Hunted was the best word to describe her as she darted from shrub to autumn worn shrub, head down and shoulders hunched, with her bag clutched as tight as a life preserver in her thin arms. An awkward girl, by all accounts, her long and narrow limbs were not well disposed to such hasty movements, nor were her demure clothes. Classes had been out for nearly an hour, placing her hasty navigation of the quadrangle's shrubs in that golden period when less attentive students had already gone home and the more dedicated were still practicing. It was the ideal time to walk the grounds, the ideal time to go unnoticed, and Jackie knew it well. Yet today she'd found the gardens which separated her dorm from the library were not nearly so deserted as she'd come to expect. Worse still, she had actually recognized the few faces she had spotted among the rows. Worst of all, those she had recognized had evidently been looking for someone, and Jackie could make an educated guess of whom that unlucky person might be.
"Hey Clovis!" And if she hadn't been certain before, hearing her name and the tone in which it was called out only confirmed Jackie's worst fears. She knew that tone, which was somewhere between fury and exultation, because it was one she heard with unfortunate frequency. More unfortunate was the fact that she recognized the voice too, which meant she knew exactly what had seeded her to be called out in such a course way. Flinging her head up, Jackie hurriedly looked around. Not for the one who'd called out to her, for she didn't doubt that one to be in hot pursuit, but at the other faces she'd noted as she'd crossed the grounds. Sure enough, there were three other figures moving through the gardens in her approximate direction. Jackie could have cursed. She should have known it wasn't a coincidence that she'd see every one of them on her way back to her dorm. The sound of heavy footsteps on the gravel path came up to her from behind, and Jackie wasted no time. She immediately burst into a sprint without so much as looking back.
"Shit! Stop her!"
Jackie skidded across the gravel path, acutely aware of pursuers not only behind her, but on both sides as. She saw flashes of movement in her peripheral vision, heard their hammering footsteps and urgent breathing, and it was just about all she could do to not collapse into a ball right where she stood. As things stood, it was simply easily for her panicked body to continue moving forward.
"Go around the side!"
"She's gonna cut through the fountain..."
"... Before she reaches the dorms!"
Jackie cried out as a pair of hands snatched at her from around one of the emaciated shrubs that ornamented the scenic perimeter of the gardens. Fingers snaked into her hair and she was nearly wretched from her feet, saved only by her superior momentum and the overall tensile weakness of her hair. Stumbling back into motion, she ducked another pair of arms that grabbed for her shoulders, only to turn a corner and run into someone else running full speed in the opposite direction. A loud crash and scuffle followed and, before Jackie quite knew it, she was face first on the gritty path with at least two hundred pounds pressing down between her shoulder blades. A wordless, pleading sound escaped her mouth only to be cut off by a sharp yank at her shoulder.
"None a' that." Said an out of breath voice, though nowhere near so out of breath as Jackie was herself, before the wrenching pain crackled through her shoulder again. As another pained whimper tore its way out of her mouth, Jackie realized both arms had been twisted behind her back. She tensed and squirmed, but before she could look back at how she was held, something hard and heavy drove itself into her side and stole all the strength from her. Sobbing helplessly, Jackie could only fall limp and cringe. Everything sort of swam together after that. Next thing Jackie knew, her head had been pulled back and a of weathered grey eye were peering at her with disapproving malice. It was an expression she recognized.
"Nadine, I..." Jackie began, but whatever else she was going to say was cut off by the sudden impact on the side of her cheek. She hadn't even seen the slap, for how quickly it had come.
"Careful..." The voice atop her hissed with sudden alarm.
"If she moves, snap her arms." Nadine hissed back, "What's she gonna do with two broke arms?"
Jackie cringed as, again, her hair was tugged and her face was lifted from the dirt. This time she didn't look at Nadine, but instead at her surroundings. They were in the hedgerows, just a few yards from the main path, but they might as well have been in the heart of the garden for all that helped her. Through teary eyes, she took in the triumphant glare of Nadine Kelly, scowling down on her from out of a swarthy, aquiline face. Just a few feet back, making sure the coast remained clear, Jackie spotted the blue streaked hair of Jodie Byrne. From the voice, she was guessing it was Stella Hart kneeling on her back and holding her arms. That just left the question of whether or not Dani was with them. Jackie couldn't remember seeing Nadine's little sister during her sprint, but then she'd not been paying attention to very much while trying to escape. Any further consideration Jackie might have given the subject came to an abrupt halt when, without warning, Nadine's open palm rang across her cheek again.
"Not thinking of pulling anything funny, are you?" She asked in a venomous hiss, her eyes wide and dangerous. Jackie cringed helplessly back, and gave a reflexive shake of her head.
"That's right." Nadine said, lightly tapping Jackie's cheek which was already beginning to swell. "Cause you're oh-so-clever, aintcha?"
Cringing as the hand left her face, Jackie watched Nadine reach down past the dented breastplate she wore and draw out the wicked bearded hand axe that was her weapon.
"Oh... Don't look like that. I ain't gonna use it unless you make me. You ain't gonna make me, are you? No? Good." Nadine almost cooed, satisfaction dripping off of every word. "Now sit still so we can have a nice, civilized little chat."
Jackie sucked in a breath, grit her teeth and closed her eyes just in time for the next slap.
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Post by Mizumi Tai on Oct 25, 2016 1:43:33 GMT -6
In, and out. In, and out. One, two, three. One, two three. Mizumi sat cross legged in the garden a good distance off the main path. Blowback was placed in hammer form across her lap, and she was breathing deeply and had her eyes closed. Her ocean blue aura pulsed around her, seeming to glow with a rhythm that she was changing. She had been meditating to calm her mind recently, as well as hone her semblance and control over her aura. She had tried to do this in the dorm, but it was too crowded. That and she couldn't think straight and focus with Dusty around. Then she tried the training hall, but the energy there was even more hectic and distracting than in her dorm. Eventually she found a small, seemingly unattended garden near the library. Sure it was almost dead when she got there, but caring for it before doing her now daily meditation worked wonders on her focus. Today had started as one of those days, perfectly normal and uninteresting. Or at least, as normal as things could be nowadays. Mizumi kept herself occupied with her garden though, distracted from the terrors of the world.
Said garden had finally started to bloom, flowers creeping back up from their wilting state and stretching towards the sun. Mizumi's face, while blank now, had born a smile when she started, one of pride and happiness at the beauty she had helped tend for. A distant shout caused the tall woman to tilt her head, her aura flickering to a solid color before gently fading. "Cirsi, did you hear that?" Mizumi stood as she spoke seemingly to the air, looking around and listening intently for anything out of the ordinary. Cirsi remained silent though, the silence coming through her earpiece not surprising her in the slightest. "Right, if I heard it, you did too." She muttered under her breath, and started moving towards the voice she had heard. Her speed increased when somebody cried out, grabbing Blowback and twirling it into its rifle form to place upon her belt. She heard what sounded like a scuffle, and muted voices from just ahead, through a wall of hedges.
Mizumi, luckily, was able to see over the hedge before her at the unfolding scene. With a glance at the situation Mizumi was able to read and understand just enough to know who was in the wrong. The fact that they were holding a girl down to beat and attack her made Mizumi's purple eyes narrow in anger. "Hey!" She shoved through the hedge and sprinted at the one holding the seemingly terrified girl. In one motion she swung an arm down and grabbed her, carefully yet firmly removing her grip on Jackie. Mizumi's other arm did the same, and after relieving Jackie of the hold being placed on her yanked her attacker up, holding both her hands in one massive fist. Mizumi glowered at the rest of them, using her immense size in an attempt to intimidate them and looking quite angry. "Who do you think you are? Teaming up on a single girl like that, it's disgraceful." She threw the girl she was holding forward, beside the one drawing her weapon.
Looking down at the girl who was being attacked, her entire face changed. All the anger drained away and was replaced by a kind and warm smile. Mizumi knelt down and offered a hand to help her up, her voice calm and sweet as she spoke. "I'm Mizumi, are you alright?" Turning back to the one who had already drawn a weapon, all the anger returned to her face and voice. "You put away that thing right now. It's not nice to draw weapons on someone outside of a sanctioned fight." Mizumi didn't quite realize how unintimidating her words sounded, still accompanied by an innately soft and kind voice along with her unaggressive way of talking. While there was clearly anger in it, it sounded a lot like a young girl trying her best to express her anger. It was quite a contrast from her massive size and muscly build, and her own weapon was clearly displayed upon her hip. That alone she hoped was enough to intimidate them, but she didn't know. Even more so, she hoped she wouldn't have to fight, fighting people wasn't something she particularly enjoyed.
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Post by Jackie Clovis on Oct 26, 2016 2:23:40 GMT -6
Everything happened much too quickly for Jackie, half blinded by tears and rendered nearly immobile as she had been, to keep track of. In a matter of seconds, the horrible weight on her back and threatening tension around either of her wrists had vanished. In the same moment, the hand holding her hair and brusquely disentangled itself and let her fall, face first, back to the ground. A venomous curse, uttered in Nadine's voice, turned the air blue and a quiet scuffle came from right above the spot where Jackie lay. A flash of steel, the scrape of shoe leather on gravel, and the sound of heavy breathing seemed to suggest the worst, and the dark haired girl did her best to curl into an even tighter ball before the hammer fell.
Things were only slightly more comprehensible for Nadine, who one moment had been meting out some well deserved punishment, and the next found herself face to face with a girl that dwarfed even Stella's impressive physique. Stella, meanwhile, found herself rather firmly held by that same girl, and was just barely holding her balance in the awkward hold she'd been captured in.
"Who do you think you are? Teaming up on a single girl like that, it's disgraceful." The tall girl, a stranger to all the other players in this unusual narrative, said reproachfully, finally drawing Jodie's attention as well.
"Oh shi... I knew someone would see." The blue haired girl hissed, cantering up behind Nadine who had put a respectful distance between herself and Mizumi.
"That's why you were supposed to be keeping watch." Nadine hissed back, as she flipped her hatched nervously in her hand. A sneering, almost accusing expression marked the apparent ringleader's face as she stared back at Mizumi, with furious indignation evident in her eyes. What was equally evident, however, was the indecision. This new development had plainly taken her by surprise, and it was taking her some time to readjust to the situation as it now stood. Stella, meanwhile, seemed to be taking everything with remarkable calm.
"I'm Mizumi, are you alright?"
Being that she was still lying with her face in the dirt and her arms drawn in protectively against her sides, it took Jackie a moment to recognize it was she who was being spoken to. She tried to find the words to answer, but it felt like her tongue had gone completely numb and the best she could manage was a shuddering-sobbing sound that didn't even come close to resembling human speech. Fortunately, Mizumi's attention promptly abandoned her to her pathetic invalidism.
"You put away that thing right now. It's not nice to draw weapons on someone outside of a sanctioned fight."
Nadine bristled at that, and shot her hatchet a quick glance before letting her sneer blossom into a fully realized glower.
"Oh-ho-ho, Look at you. Little Miss White Knight." She snarled viciously, twirling her hatchet again and fingering the transformation catch on its side, as if to remind herself that it was there. "You ain't got the first clue what's going... You fucking move, Clovis, and I'll chop your ear off before you can say run!" this sudden and alarming outburst was accompanied by the equally sudden up raising of Nadine's hand, the one which held her hatchet. Immediately Jackie, who'd been trying to at least get herself off the ground, dropped back prone and hastily covered her head with her arms. At the same time Jodie, standing just a little ways behind Nadine, retrieved a pair of pocket pistols from a holster on the small of her back. One she aimed at Mizumi and the other at Jackie.
"That's right, you little bitch. Stay down while the big girls talk." Nadine seethed, lowering her axe, before she pointed its haft at Mizumi. "Whatever you think's going on here, you ain't got so much as half the story." She said sharply, "But that's beside the point. In case you haven't noticed, we got you three to one."
"... And we have the draw on you." Jodie added quickly, hefting her pistols nervously,
"Yeah... So why don't you just let Stella go so we can wrap things up with Clovis?"
Jackie, for her part, let everyone know exactly how she felt about that suggestion when she let out a quiet, quavering sob. She didn't dare move, however, as she had no reason to doubt Nadine's threat.
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Post by Mizumi Tai on Oct 30, 2016 6:58:00 GMT -6
Mizumi frowned at the leader's words, scowling when she threatened the girl on the ground, Clovis. Looking around at her situation she almost faltered, it was true they had her outnumbered. But she steeled herself, planting her feet firmly and glaring at the girl whose axe was focused on her. "I'm not going anywhere. I may not have the whole situation, but I know that you have no right to threaten this poor girl like that. I can't stand by and let you keep doing who knows what to her." Mizumi took a deep breath and let her blue aura shimmered around her, pulsing like a drum. Turning her gaze fully to the woman with the axe she spoke slowly and confidently "I don't want to fight. Let's just all go our separate ways, and leave this behind us." She smiled widely, hoping beyond hope that this would work. In all honesty, she didn't want to fight, didn't want to have to hurt these girls. But Mizumi couldn't just stand by and watch idly while they attack a defenseless girl, it wasn't right. It wouldn't be what Dusty would do.
Noise came from her earpiece, Cirsi speaking to her with a status report. "If you throw the one you're holding at the girl pointing pistols, you should be able to draw your weapon before she has a chance to fire. It will at least equalize the odds." Mizumi turned her head slightly away and muttered under her breath, low enough to not be overheard but still noticeably. "It won't come to that." A low scoffing came through the earpiece, followed by the bemused voice of her AI companion. "You know as well as I that it will. Reading the situation dictates the outcome quite clearly. You will have to defend yourself. But, you'll handle them nicely." Mizumi nodded and looked up, back at the girls, and spoke up so they could hear once more. "So what do you say, we all walk away? Or will I have to carry you to the infirmary. In fact, it's not that far from here, it wouldn't be that much of a hassle." She shrugged, placing her free hand on her hip and continuing to hold Stella by the hands as she waited for an answer.
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Post by Jackie Clovis on Oct 30, 2016 18:49:36 GMT -6
All three of the aggressors watched silently as Mizumi carried on her sotto voce conversation, with expressions that ran the spectrum between concern and outright contempt.
"Greaaaat..." Nadine said softly, her words directed to the blue haired girl standing at her shoulder. "She's a nutter too."
Jodie, evidently having reached the same conclusion, glanced worriedly between intimidating preparedness of Mizumi and the huddled, terrified prostration of Jackie.
"Reckon that's as strong as she gets?" Jodie asked, with just as much deferential hush in her faintly shaking voice as had arisen in Nadine's. Nadine, for her part, lost some of the challenging defiance which had so characterized her attitude thus far. Her eyes, now looking strangely nervous, regarded Mizumi anew with an especially scrutinizing quality.
"Ohm preserve me, y'don't think she gets bigger, do ya?"
Pausing in their incongruous conversation, both girls, almost in unison, took a single deliberate step back and away from Mizumi. At once, the mood had shifted from that of a forestalled barroom brawl to that of a trio of hunters staring down a sleeping Ursa. Uncertainty was evident in the faces of both girls who stood across from Mizumi, and it was clear that each was asking herself if it was better the run or strike first. Jodie adjusted her grip on one pistol and slipped partially behind Nadine, who noted this less than chivalrous imposition with a sneer that didn't quite chase the worry from her swarthy features.
Jackie, having noticed the shifting atmosphere, shakily lifted her head and peered up at Nadine and Jodie from beneath the shield of her upraised arms, but she didn't dare do anything more than that. While it was clear that Nadine had affixed the majority of her attention to Mizumi, Jackie had little doubt that she'd notice if any attempts for escape were made. And she knew just how hard Nadine could hurl that axe of hers. With uncommon boldness, she risked a glance back at her savior, the first real look she'd gotten at Mizumi, and immediately felt her blood run cold. Mizumi's imposing height and impressive physique were enough to inspire concession in even the boldest huntresses. Jackie was, by no means, a bold huntress, and the simple fact that Mizumi was evidently helping her wasn't quite enough to soothe her frayed nerves. Especially given that, while she might not have 'recognized' Mizumi, exactly, she knew someone who did.
Stella was probably the only person who did not seem either concerned or so tightly wound as to be close to bursting. She actually appeared quite comfortable with her strong hands wrapped around Mizumi's thick wrist, or at least she didn't seem bothered by it. That was mainly because she knew they had already lost. With Mizumi's arrival, their only advantage, the only reason the three of them had even thought they could pull off this retribution, had been lost. That things hadn't already turned irreparably sideways actually somewhat surprised her. Opening her narrow eyes a little wider, she inclined her head to look at Jackie where she lay. Watching the girl's furtive but increasingly bold movements, it was evident that she'd realized Nadine's attention had shifted.
"I give up." She said suddenly, but calmly, as she delivered three soft taps to Mizumi's wrist. "Let me go, Girl. I do not want to fight you."
No one was more surprised by this sudden surrender than Nadine, who wore her shock plainly on her face.
"Stella..." She gasped, but before she could get another word out, the barrel chested woman cut her off.
"Look around, Cuz. Do you really want this to become a fight?"
For a moment, Stella received no answer. Then Jodie, deciding that discretion was, in fact, the better part of valor, raised both pistols to the sky, took her fingers from the triggers, and then made a show of slipping each back into its holster. Nadine, able to note the movement from just over her shoulder, visibly trembled.
"What about Dani?" She asked her confederates, not sharply, but pleadingly.
"Ain't worth it." Jodie answered shortly as she grabbed Nadine's shoulder and tried to pull her away. Nadine shook the smaller girl's hand free and, drawing a shaking breath, she turned seething eyes upon Mizumi, Jackie and Stella. Her trembling grew worse, as fury and misery warred on her reddened face, till it seemed all but certain that she was going to attack one or all three girls with her heavy bladed hatchet.
"Don'tchu think this is over, Clovis!" She snarled suddenly, and Jackie hurriedly covered her head again as a pitiable cry escaped her mouth, "I'll get you. Just you wait!" Then, in a motion so sudden that the air rang, Nadine brought her axe up and pointed it accusingly at Mizumi.
"And you," She spat savagely, practically frothing in her impotent anger, "I ain't gonna forget this, no ma'am..." And with that, she finally let Jodie's entreating hand pull her away. The pair got a couple of steps away before Nadine finally slipped her axe back into its clip, at which point she shoved Jodie's hand off of her arm, stared at the blue haired girl with utter betrayal on her face, then stormed off through the gardens. Jodie watched for a moment, glanced back at Stella and Mizumi, then furtively loped in the other direction. Stella, meanwhile, gently but firmly disentangled herself from Mizumi's grasp.
"Your heart's in the right place," She told the taller huntress shortly, "but I think you are going to regret this." there was something coldly finite about her words, as if she had the utmost confidence in their accuracy. Then she looked at Jackie and showed, for the first time, something through her stoic facade. Something like contempt and disgust. Then she made for the direction in which Nadine had gone, without so much as another word.
Jackie, meanwhile, remained right where she was, face down in the dirt. Her stomach was roiling and her head swimming, as the dreadful certainty that a fight would erupt continued to play across her nerves. Only when Stella's heavy footsteps were no more than the distant crunching of gravel, did she let out a quiet and withering sob, filled with both relief and misery. She still didn't try to get up, though, she didn't even try to move. She just remained there, face down, and sobbed.
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Post by Mizumi Tai on Nov 5, 2016 19:32:03 GMT -6
Mizumi was quite shocked by the reaction she got, expecting a much more aggressive response. Instead the girl in her hands surrendered, and the words caused Mizumi's face to quickly shift into confusion, then a small smile. She didn't yet release her grip, but it did loosen slightly and her hands brought the girl more stably onto the ground. However when the two others put away their weapons and began stalking away, she fully released her grip. The warning given didn't fall on deaf ears, inciting a hollow laugh from the giantess as she nodded at the girl. "Heh, I might. But even then, it'll have been worth it." Mizumi gave a half-hearted wave as the girl left, and finally turned to regard the girl she'd saved with her full attention. She wasn't small per se, though she wasn't nearly as tall as Mizumi herself. Even still, the girl seemed scraggly, frail even, and the sight etched a combination of worry and pity onto her features. Crouching down onto a knee she replaced them with a smile and held out her hand to the cowering girl, her voice filled with compassion. "Hey it's alright. They're gone, you're safe now." Her purple eyes gleamed with happiness and general friendliness, and her still pulsating blue aura gently faded away. "Did they hurt you any?" Mizumi tried her best to make her words sound unintrusive, to come off as a caring friend then the overbearing stranger she actually was. Whether or not it worked was anybody's guess, but she could only hope she didn't seem too intimidating to the girl.
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Post by Jackie Clovis on Nov 6, 2016 2:53:55 GMT -6
No matter how hard she tried, Jackie simply couldn't make the trembling stop. Her whole body was gripped by spasmodic shivering and, even as it grew more and more certain that she'd managed to escape the terrible situation which had overcome her, she simply couldn't get herself to stop. Jackie wasn't surprised though; It was hardly the first time her body had betrayed her. Even the kind, unfamiliar voice speaking down to her couldn't quite banish the panic and fear, not when Jackie knew the full story of that night's encounter, the story which Nadine and her posse had only hinted at. That little nugget of information was just another nugget of anxiety, tossed into the roiling cauldron that was Jackie's stomach, to twist herself around. She tried to keep her thoughts away from that particular injustice, just as she tried to convince herself that Nadine and her friends weren't about to suddenly reappear, in the hopes that she might abate her mounting need for escape. There was no telling what might happen if she decided to retreat right then.
"I'm fine..." Jackie sobbed softly and, all things considered, convincingly as she pulled herself unsteadily out of prostration. Nadine had known better than to hurt her too badly. "Just slapped me around a little..." Her face showed that fact well enough; Her lip had been split and each cheek was red bordering on purple from the repeated blows. Jackie resisted the urge to finger the bruises, and focused instead on rising to her feet. Everything hurt, though not quite so bad that she couldn't bear it; Nadine had made sure of that.
"They j-just wanted to scare me..." She explained for no reason in particular, without quite looking directly at Mizumi. Instead, she made an effort to look as though she were straightening her clothes. She wasn't; She didn't care how her clothes looked. Yet she also knew that faking a task could make failure to make eye contact seem a little less odd. The last thing she wanted was to come across as any more odd than she already did, or to make her unexpected savior anymore curious about the events which had lead to their meeting. It would be better for them both, though mostly for Jackie, if the two simply went their separate ways as immediately as possible, and the fewer questions asked, the better. She knew all of this quite well, had lived through some close approximation of these exact events enough times to know the general way in which they progressed, and wanted nothing more than to skip past the more unpleasant steps. Yet she found it hard to make the necessary escape. It wasn't simply the fact that she was hurt. For her injuries, while painful, were only superficial. It wasn't even that she feared Nadine might try to reconvene before she could make it to her dorm. No, Jackie was simply arrested by the same form of indolence and meekness which characterized so much of her checkered existence. The fact was that being near someone strong enough to put a stop of Nadine's antics made her feel safe, and that her injuries made her rather dread the distance still separating her from the security of her bed. Jackie took a testing step and winced as she put weight on her knee and hip, both of which had been bruised when she'd been thrown to the ground. This wince made a few other assorted hurts echo their displeasure, and Jackie knew it would be a slow walk back to her dorm.
"Thanks..." She said quietly, without looking back at Mizumi, before she took another delicate and fragile step. "For the help..." her voice was small and raw, but the shakiness had gone out of it. She stumbled after the next step, and that misstep took her to one knee before she could so much as gasp. Trembling, Jackie honestly entertained the thought of just slipping into one of the hedges and hiding till morning. It was only the idea of spending all night outside which kept her from doing just that. The real pathetic thing was that she hadn't even been that badly hurt. She'd been banged up, sure, and Nadine had done a number on her face with more than a few rather solid slaps, but her legs were no worse than sprained. Despite this fact, however, she couldn't seem to support herself upon them.
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