3619/Guns Staves and Knives

Guns Staves and Knives
Date of Scene:	06 January 2016
Location:	Slum Urbania
Synopsis:	Yari Takane sets out to murder gangsters. Yalai the Stave intercepts the Fed ninja!
Cast of Characters:	691, 879

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Yari Takane (691) has posed:
There's never a shortage of gangs in Slum Urbania, ranging from people in tough situations just trying to carve out a safe life, to those with more malicious intent. Recently, a group has been gaining power and notoriety: The Black Razors, a brutal gang known for strange blood rituals and pretensions to demon summoning. Worst still, they've been kidnapping residents of the better parts of Urbania for their deadly rituals.

When a confederate-aligned businessman turned up dead at their hand, Ensign Takane went to work. She's been using local contacts to track down the gang's turf, and working her way up the food chain. There's been four deaths in the gang, and they're scared. Violent rituals have only increased with the serial killings.

Today, Yari's found one of the hideouts of their lieutenants. She snuck in, killed the guards, and then it's time for an interrogation.

The hideout is a small two-story building that looks like it will fall apart in the next year or so, likely a former residence laid to ruin. Yari and the robed, heavily-muscled lieutenant are in what passes for the bedroom, his two personal guards with kunai stuck in the back of their heads. The kimono-clad ninja has the man tied up, her hand on his throat as she forces him to look her in the eyes. Magic abounds as she works illusion on the man, her tail poking at his limbs. He screams every time.

"Tell me where your boss is, and the pain stops."

Yari herself might be stealthy, but this is quickly turning into a loud interrogation.

Yalai the Stave (879) has posed:
High above the smoke and dust and noise of the city, the shadow of broad wings fall over its buildings. Few ever look up in such a place, so no one observes the great dark wings that wheel lazily over slum's maze of alleys and by-ways.

Neither do they see another dark figure, loping easily through its streets. A flash of metallic silver; a snatch of stark white -- contrasts and flickers through the shadows of the alleys. She had not been sent here for a mission, but she had come here out of curiosity, and for having been blown so far off her course.

What she had found disgusted her.

Screams had led her further down dark alleys, easily avoiding the notice of the area's anxious and scared residents, and slipping past the notice of those armed. From there it had been a quick hop and jaunt up the crumbling wall, scaling it as easily as the trunk of any tree.

She stops below the threshold of the window. Listens.

More screams. A voice demanding information.

She hesitates a moment. Counts her knives. Listens harder.

Just those two left. Any others in there are dead or have run for help.

Help arrives. Maybe. It depends on for whom.

A flicker of black cloak and silver thread; no noise. Yari's back is to the window as the Sheikah vaults easily up and over the sill, into the shadows of a corner, settling beneath her cloak, cloaked then by the shadows of the room.

Yalai, the Stave, narrows her eyes and listens; a silent observer, compelled by curiosity. She will wait, then, before taking any action; she is not so naive as to stop this interrogation on general principle, having seen the environs for herself.

So she will do what any Sheikah worth their salt would do. She waits, and she listens very carefully.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yalai won't have to wait long to get some juicy information. The pair go back and forth, demands exchanged, the other figure being spat on several times. Eventually, the man breaks, sobbing and mumbling as he speaks up.

"Nnn...Okay! J...just no more! Please, no more spikes!"

Yari leans in, eyes narrowed. "The location of your leader. Now." She all but whispers.

"The abandoned factory! Big building, just a few blocks north! Can't miss it! Name's Lolo the Crimson! Big guy, red hair, wears red robes!"

There's a pause, and the ninja taps on something. After a quick inspection of a map, she pulls up the area in question on her magitek device.

"It looks like you weren't lying. I'll make it quick."

Another scream, a slicing sound, and then silence after flesh and bedding is cut through. There's the sound of a door opening and a man shouting. A small firearm goes off, followed by a shotgun blast. A body hits the floor. More sounds of intruders running up the stairs.

Even /if/ Yalai had been noticed by the ninja, she'd have no time to sneak out. A shadow flickers to the window and leaps out, Yari's tail trailing behind her as she lands on the nearby wall. A kick off the side, and she hits the edge of the roof of the adjacent building, a single hand hefting her over the edge. She's quick as she keeps to shadows, starting to leap from roof to roof to the north. But there's no indication that she's picked up a tail, and from her vantage point, it'd be easy to spy and keep up with the lizard-ninja once she's been spotted or even do something to try to bring the other stealth-specialist to a stand-still.

Yalai the Stave (879) has posed:
Eyes the colour of blood narrow behind the shadows, as the Sheikah considers this name, flicking through every scrap of information she's had from her allies. Nothing of it is familiar to her. Indeed, it's doubtful that it would be. These are obviously criminals of some stripe, and therefore she is disinclined to offer them much in the way of assistance.

Instinctively, she ducks further into the shadows at the sound of the gunshot, setting her jaw at the roar of the report.

Yari throws herself out the window, and with a hasty glance at the intruders, the Sheikah does the same.

But she does not follow the Au Ra. At least, not yet.

Yalai hurls herself across the gulf between the roof she's on and the next, fingers clawing as she seizes the edge and hauls herself up, lithe form flexing in ways no human ever could.

It's not easy to keep up with the Au Ra, but it's not beyond the Sheikah's abilities.

A single lithe movement brings her quarterstaff down from the holster over her shoulder, and using the solid stave, Yalai vaults herself from one roof to the next one; leaping and pushing herself off from the ground to keep stride.

Yari is not running alone.

Something long and unforgivingly hard lashes out from behind, seeking to tangle one of the Au Ra's leg and tail; a /whoosh/ of displaced air, the snap of a cloak, and the faint scent of cinnamon.

A second blow is aimed, less probing, this time attempting to hook and hurl Yari Takane to the dark and dirty streets below.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari is about to have a bad day.

The shadow that is the Sheikah appears from behind the lizard, the smell of cinnamon, a snap of cloak, and the smallest sound of something being swung her way alerts her at the very last possible minute. That tail tucks between her legs, but those limbs themselves don't get out of the way in time.

An ankle is hit with a loud crack, definitely at least a horrible bruise if not a fracture. There's a hiss of pain, and she tumbles, throwing her single hand forward to stop her neck from snapping thanks to the sudden trip. Flipping over like a lizard-ball, up comes that stave again, a kunai from within her clothes clashing with metal as well as her body as Yalai gets to play croquet with the ninjesse.

Off the rooftop, and down to the dirty streets below. Ignoring the pain in her ankle and head, she uncurls, weapon in hand. She lands a bit hard, rolling backwards and skidding back a few feet before coming to a rest. It's a dead end, her back is to the wall, and the only cover is an old barrel and a dumpster.

The kunai is flicked to her tail as the wide-eyed ninja seeks out her mysterious opponent, desperately waiting for a moment to escape. Her hand lowers, palming both another knife with a tiny cloth ball attached to the end, as well as a smoke bomb beneath the cover of her long sleeves.

Yalai the Stave (879) has posed:
No sooner is the Au Ra struck than she tumbles from the rooftop like a circus performer, but trained reflexes bring her to land hard and be ready to strike, weapons bristling. The Sheikah's blood-red eyes watch every move, even as she swings herself down and uses a handy gutter drain to shimmy down, quarterstaff clutched in one hand, knives bristling from the bandolier over her chest. One gleams between her fingers, ready to be thrown even as she's climbing down.

Several knives are flicked in Yari's direction in rapid succession. Honed steel hisses. Several bury themselves in the crumbling brick wall behind Yari. Hilts quiver like plucked lyre-strings.

No words as the Sheikah lets herself fall the last few feet, landing in a three-point crouch, straightening; all black cloak and silver thread and white hair.

The quarterstaff whirls; dusky wood with bright runes carved into it, planed not-quite-straight. It whistles.

"As I am being reasonably certain that you are being up to no good, it is therefore being reasonably certain that it will be worth my while to be stopping you, yes?" Her head cocks very slightly to one side, bird-like, and the faintest hint of a smile flicks across the corner of her mouth. It's not a warm expression. Tension. A creature coiling, gathering itself, before it leaps. "Who was he being?"

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari's own eyes take in her sudden opponent's. A bandolier thick with knives. Swift, silent, and very good with that staff of hers. Taller than the ninja, better reach with her weapons. Likely older and possibly more experienced. The ninja's attention is firmly on that woman, so ready to strike.

Thankfully, Yari's on the ball now, and as those knives come for her, she flexes low, chin nearly touching the ground. One or two of the knives still scrape along her flesh, tearing out rents in her sides and the sleeves of her kimono. One of the knives clank off of more metal.

The au ra has taken a knee, and quickly checks herself. Pulse normal, eyes work, no deadening of limbs. The knives likely aren't poisoned. That's a relief.

"That depends on what you consider 'no good'. I've just been cleaning up some trash that no one else seems to want to deal with. But if you have objections to my methods, well, do what you think is right, Ma'am." At least this killer is polite.

Up until the point that she chucks first a smokebomb right at Yalai's feet, swiftly followed by a kunai. It's not really aimed for her, but the ground where Yari thinks she might leap to. The ball on the end of it ignites, and fumes spread out into the already thick smoke. It's a poison, when inhailed it attempts to effect the brain with feelings of dizziness and numbing of the limbs. Not lethal in the amount she's using.

She'll need the edge to try to get away, given her hurt ankle. She leaps up to one of the knives embedded in the wall with her non-smacked ankle, trying to leap back up off of the hilt to the rooftops. Nor does Yari forget Yalai this time, weaving a few handseals to prepare a bolt of lightning should she emerge from that smokey alleyway!

Yalai the Stave (879) has posed:
Blood-red eyes flick immediately to the sensation of movement as Yari drops to avoid the knife. This one seems to have no trouble tracking Yari through the shadows, and must see well in darkness or in poor light. At least, she moves as though one confident, and well enough to suggest she has no problems finding her way.

Neither does she seem to miss how the Au Ra takes a knee, checking herself in the span of a breath for poison.

"They are not being poisoned." Yalai shows that grin again, a swift baring of teeth. "If I were wanting you dead, I would not be needing the help of poison, though my people are being experts of such, yes?"

In particular, part of her wishes she had brought some. This one is quick, as quick as she, and may prove dangerous even with an injury. Yalai fingers one of her own knives, not at all shaped like a kunai. They're slim and slender, almost like needles, each forged from a single piece of steel. A single small hole is present in the butt end of each, although they don't seem to have much of a pommel to speak of.

The blade gleams as dim light catches it; Yalai looks thoughtful, narrowing her eyes. Apparently she had not been expecting that answer.

Before she can mull it over any further, she's forced into motion once again. The throwing knive is neatly avoided, but the poison is not; already the fumes are further than she can leap, and Yalai is forced to inhale some of the noxious brew, gagging. She stumbles but finds her balance again, only to stagger sideways into a wall, still clutching quarterstaff and knife in whitened knuckles.

Coughing and rasping, she throws herself into pursuit, ripping the knife from the wall no sooner than the Au Ra's feet spring from it. Yalai then throws herself up the wall, fingers and feet finding the chinks in the crumbling brickwork and ascending straight up. The roofs are her path, as surely as the streets are for any other; and swifter, too.

Not to mention more likely to avoid notice.

By the time the Sheikah hauls herself up to the roof, she's still coughing and bleary-eyed, but she seems to have fought off most of the numbness. Either that, or she's possessed of incredible strength of will and self-control; she casts about for a moment, before reaching up to stick fingers to mouth, shrilling a single high note.

Something screams from the skies; a shadow falls over the alley and the building to either side of it. Great wings beat, stirring up smoke and dust and worse things, and Yalai climbs abord a remarkably large, stork-like bird in charcoal colours. It bears no saddle but a simple harness around its neck, which Yalai grips, and settles her knees around its sides, just before the wings.

The bird surges skyward with another cry, stirring more filth with its wings as it launches from the building. Some stare, but most seem not to care. Perhaps they recognise this strange figure as an Elite, or perhaps they simply don't want to borrow any trouble.

Yalai's Loftwing spears ahead like an arrow fired from a bow, straight and true, gaining on the Au Ra.

"You were not answering my question!" Yalai calls, fighting wind and the lingering effects of the poison. "/Who was he being/?"

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari's eyes narrow, and then she gives the slightest of smirks. "It's your loss if you didn't come prepared. Save your boasting for if you get me on the ground." She fires back, almost in challenge to the other woman.

It's not much, but as the Sheikah stumbles and then climbs her way up, the ninja's gained ground. She's already three rooftops away in a flat run...or at least as much of one as she can manage. She /really/ needs to get some kind of ankle guards.

Unfortunately for Yari, the woman has a bloody bird. And a big one. Fast she might be, there's advantages to an uninjured bird swooping down that an injured, land-bound person just can't replicate.

"Like I said before, scum! If you want to know more, then force it out of me. I don't give up information to staff-wielding women. I'm not any more trustworthy!" At least the ninja can be self-aware. Given the woman's on a bird, though, the ninja decides to do something about it. Leaping one more slightly taller building, she winds her way up a decrepit water tower to land on the top. Turning around, she stops, weaving handseals and seeming to wait bird and rider's approach!

She breathes in, and then /out/, a magical torrent of wind bursting from her mouth as she tries to blow the bird back with cutting winds and hopefully demount her assailant!

Yalai the Stave (879) has posed:
"I am not favouring poison," the Sheikah scoffs, from the harness, shouting to be heard over the wind. "It is being a crutch, for those who are having no faith in their own skills, yes? If I were wanting you dead, I would be relying on my own skills to be doing it! And if I am getting you on the ground, they will be more than sufficient, I am thinking!"

Three rooftops away mean nothing to wings that broad. With two strokes, the Loftwing closes the distance, but does not attempt to overtake. Instead, Yalai holds her steed back, brazenly leaning over one side to hear and be heard. She listens to the defiant retort, sighing and shrugging. "Do not be saying that I was not warning you," she sniffs.

She has time enough to wheel around and note Yari scaling a water tower -- what /is/ that? -- before the wind comes. The bird is blasted back with a squawk, and for a moment it's all Yalai can do to seize the harness in both hands, hurled from the Loftwing's back and forced to dangle a few tense seconds. Although the bird thrashes its wings and tries to gain altitude, eventually it glides further downward, unable to recover from its stall, and lacking the freedom of movement in the city skyline to regain that momentum.

In a calculated movement, Yalai lets go of the harness. The Loftwing manages to correct itself, flapping up and away, but the Sheikah does not have wings. She does manage to aim for a conveniently large roof, though, rolling to absorb some of the shock of landing.

"That can be arranged, I am thinking," she growls under her breath, whipping out a brace of throwing knives. Taking aim, she flicks them with calculated precision at Yari -- one, two, three, steel hissing. Notably, they're not lethal blows, but meant more to slow the other assassin.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
"I could say the same about your bird! Without it, I would have left you behind a long time ago!" Calls back, Yari's blood easily getting up against this taunting Sheikah! Grrr.

"Your boasting is annoying!" When the bird stalls, there's a vindicating bucking of its rider. Things are slightly more even now, and the ninja reaches behind her. Grabbing the hilt of her umbrella, she steps off the water tower only to kick off of its side as she races straight for Yalai in a blurr of motion! At the last second, she'll put some spin to her hips as she draws the hidden blade in one motion, trying to give a hard but shallow strike against Yalai's chest before she lands, offering a follow-up back-kick in a side-flip to try to knock her down to the alleyway below!

Of course, some of the power of all of this is cut out of it. The first knife misses by a narrow margin, the second slicing along her thigh, and then the last one finding home in her bad shoulder. She lets out a hiss of pain, but continues her melee assault upon the other woman!

"Nnnn! I don't have time to deal with you! Go down so I can finish cutting out the cancer in this place!" She's definitely tiring, between the fight and so much magic used to interrogate the ganger lieutenant.

Yalai the Stave (879) has posed:
The Sheikah abruptly wheels, trying to dissipate some of the momentum behind the blow. Instead of knocking her cleanly off the roof, Yari's kick instead manages to shove her towards the edge, where Yalai manages to catch herself by bracing against her and sliding to a halt. That's going to bruise most unpleasantly.

"Your evasiveness is being annoying," Yalai counters, through her teeth. She doesn't offer any further comment, though, instead swinging low with one fist. The quick jab turns into a braced two-handed strike with the quarterstaff, a flurry of blows meant less to kill and more to disable.

She's aiming for distance, but her fall must have cost her. Although she caught herself, it was still a long ways to fall; curiously, a fall that should have killed or seriously wounded an ordinary sort of person. Her motions aren't as quick and fluid as they had been before.

"So sorry to be an inconvenience," Yalai snarls, throwing her weight behind a strike with the quarterstaff. "Tell me who it was, and I will be leaving you to do whatever it is you wish to be doing, yes?"

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari yanks out the knife with her teeth and slips it into her kimono in a gesture of 'mine!'.

Yari doesn't get to retort, though. There's a fist that catches her in the chest with an 'oomph', only for the woman to raise her staff! Her blade catches the first strike, bending the thinner blade and eventually snapping off the tip to send it out of her hand. Yari manages to leap up and kick back at the staff, leg bruising but at least keeping her from outright being knocked to the ground. She has to leap back into a roll.

Yari's not doing much better, both of her legs battered and hurt. Slowed significantly, she slides the rest of the blade into her umbrella and just points the thing at her opponent.

"Fine, you're too persistant to fight without resorting to means I don't want to use. I'm looking for the leader of a street gang. He's been kidnapping people from the other areas of Urbania for use in arcane rituals. I am going to find him and kill them, then destroy his organization. Good enough?" She keeps a finger on the end of that umbrella-hilt, ready to fire just in case.

Yalai the Stave (879) has posed:
When she straightens from the follow-through, Yalai finds herself faced with an umbrella brandished at her. This draws an owlish blink from the Sheikah. She'd been prepared to drop and sweep the Au Ra's ankles out from under her again, with particular care to that wounded ankle, but this stops her in her tracks.

So does hearing the requested information.

She tilts her head; with her sharp features, it becomes a distinctly inhuman expression. "Is that being so? Then I will not be stopping you." Leering, she shows white teeth. "Good fortune to you. I think I will be taking my leave, then; already I have been waiting here too long."

With that, the Sheikah neatly steps off the edge of the roof, seeming to fall...

...until that magnificent bird powers its way above the rooftops again. It casts one great reddish eye at the Au Ra in passing, before winging up higher, into the cloud layer, and vanishing above the smoke and smog.