Scene #4154: The Torpedo Girl's Soul

Owner	Pose
Wo	It is practically darkness, by the time Shigure would have reached an unassuming atoll, on the outskirts of the other islands. Completely uninhabited, the only sounds are that of the sea, waves gently lapping away at the shores of this isolated semicircle of sediment and ancient coral 'bedrock'. The radar signature she doubtlessly followed here, after that strangely familiar girl she had seen, had melded into the profile of the island. There is little doubt that she is here, as no sonar contacts have been established to indicate a submarine escape. Yet, at least for several quiet minutes, there is nothing but the natural currents and breeze to keep her company, as the distant sunset finally winks out the last moments of sunlight. It will have to be the thin sliver of a moon that provides visuals, now. Perhaps having waited those several moments to see if her pursuer would give up and leave, the motionless island finally surrenders its secret. A cloud of sediment stirs in the shallow lagoon, froth bubbling as a dark shape rises. The head is what would strike the eye first; looking so very much like Harusame, at least by way of family resemblance, but with the starkly white flesh of an Abyssal, and light-emitting eyes. The horned helmet atop her head further calls to mind that more familiar girl, though shaped of tarnished metal and menacing with horns. Even the uniform top has some proper semblance. However, as she rises completely up, a difference would quite readily be seen: Instead of legs, she seems to end right above the knee, relying on the support of that extra, Abyssal rigging to keep her up. She still manages eye level, thanks to being above the water's surface. And those eyes cast a small amount of annoyance, despite her deadened expression. With a voice seemingly deeper than any girl their apparent age should be able to manage, at least believably, she wonders -- no, demands. "Why did you follow me here? This shouldn't have been in your orders." Did she have some kind of knowledge of what the fleet daughters had been planning with their transport and interception sortie? Regardless, she drifts forward with an atmosphere of menace, the long side-ponytail trailing behind her with the movement. "Rejoin them, and forget you ever saw me -- you have one minute." And that would be the sound of fresh shells and torpedoes being loaded.
Shigure	If anything, Shigure is a patient girl. Since it's clear her quarry hasn't left, she hangs around, patiently waiting in the lee of a nearby sandbar. And so, the other girl emerges as the sun finally goes down fully, the eyes being the first thing to be seen, before refocussing brings the rest of the dimly lit girl into view. "They will be fine without me." comes Shigure's warm, deep voiced reply. The tone soft, like the breeze wafting through the islands, but carrying much further than it should be able to at that volume. "I am not here to fight you." A truth, both because she is not equipped to take on an obviously much more formidable foe than a wayward I-class, and because she genuinely dislikes fighting in general. Only doing so because she must in order to earn peace for the sea. To prove her point, she reaches back, causing the rigging on her back to pivot 90 degrees, release a loud CLANK, before being pulled entirely from her back, then dropped onto the sandbar, leaving her with no weapons as she kicks off to approach a bit closer. "You look like my little sister, Harusame... but I know you aren't her... So, I wanted to get to know you." she says, coming to a stop a respectful distance away.
Wo	"Get to know me?" Her speech isn't stilted like many lower level Abyssals able to talk, nor does it have quite the same monotone delivery. The expression that leaks into that question is full of doubt about the actual intent. Her own loadout remains as it is, as the luminous eyes focus on Shigure's every action. She eventually responds, "If you are not here to fight me, then you have even less reason to remain. You now have forty seconds before I open fire." Even if Shigure had her full equipment, one-on-one, it wouldn't seem to be a fair fight. This feeling of pressure around this strange princess-class entity is like that many of their leaders have. Yet, she doesn't seem to be cut from the same cloth as those like Samar or Darwin. It is almost like someone built her up using a template of what their ideal Destroyer was...it just so happened to be a fellow Shiratsuyu family member. Despite the cold warnings and ultimatum, something still manages to filter through her tension. Even buried beneath the conditioning and reinforcement she had been given, some fragment of what once was still remains. Twisted and confused by the process, but her eyes suddenly narrow, as she fully processes what the moon light allows her to see. In a corner of her mind, a flash of a girl like Shigure, from ages past. "...you." Her previously even mouth curls into a deep frown, "I know you." She isn't certain of the particulars, yet, but there is no doubt. It is not a happy feeling, either. Had she been wronged by this girl before, in another life? Her black gloved hands clench and unclench -- no, she will give the fully alotted amount of time. For all her bluster, she didn't want to raise undue attention to herself, either. That she had been seen at all was problematic enough. "--thirty seconds," she adds, regaining her full focus. The mouths that serve as the pylons for her torpedo launchers on her rigging begin to emit a ghostly glow from inside their throats, and the luminescent segments of her equipment glow accordingly, casting light on what parts of her pale figure her eyes' glow doesn't reach.
Shigure	Shigure remains where she is. "You won't attack me... what do you have to gain from sinking a lone destroyer when the gunfire will likely attract the rest of my fleet here?" she asks, tilting her head to one side. "You know me?" she adds, leaning forward a bit. "Maybe you are one of my little sisters... We were all close." She smiles softly, then begins to sing. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68xu7uxsAgY ). It's a lullaby she used to sing to her sisters if they couldn't sleep... including the older Ichiban herself. She had to be the Big Sister for everyone because she was the one they all relied on. She even closes her eyes, letting herself waft on the light lyrics.
Wo	Even though it was foolish to come here on her own, by the Destroyer Princess' estimation, by saying that much, it's proven to her that Shigure took on the risk willingly. Was this some kind of trap, after all, as her first impressions were? Nonetheless, "Don't be so confident. I could deal with you, then escape before they can catch up." Her mouth quirks again oddly, perhaps with a tough of malevolence to it, though her expression remains deadened as she turns in her hover, to face the direction Shigure had come from. "Besides that -- if our intelligence is correct, your comrades will have their hands full, by that time." Then she pivots again, to face the other girl, hovering somewhat more closely, though still maintaining that distance. Her weapons are hot, but she still hasn't fired yet. That same doubt enters her voice at Shigure's theory. "I find that hard to believe. Even if that were true, nothing from that time remains, except unwelcome pain when I think of it. If you were counting on reaching that, you will be sorely disappointed." She levels her left arm, which in addition to the normal glove and dense bracer that the other has, has a large buckler-like rigging attached, in addition to her primary twin gun. "You are almost out of time." In response, there was only a smile, and...singing? The Princess' eyebrows furrow. "--is this some kind of joke," she demands, her mouth twitching into a grimace? Her voice raises from its deep tone, in response, "Stop that, at once! Ten, nine..." Despite the gun pointed directly at Shigure, there is a light shaking to it, as though there is still the slightest tinge of hesitation.
Shigure	There it is, she can hear her sister's voice, faint and far away, but it's there. Shigure keeps singing, and pushes a bit closer. Her eyes open, and she smiles warmly to the other girl, straightening up and opening her arms wide, as if going for an embrace.
Wo	The tension was already raised. The smile is not returned in kind, but instead by a momentary dumbfounded look, as Shigure not only continues what she's doing, but actually approaches even closer. A deep throb of pain wells from inside of her, actually visible briefly as violet-blue courses of light, shaped like nerve branches, pulse across her outer frame. On reflex, she skips the rest of the count she had been making by several seconds, and fires the gun. Both the turret and her body recoil away, aiming to resecure the distance. The smoke from the blast momentarily obscures what had resulted, to her. It would be fine if she'd simply blown her up, wouldn't it? She wouldn't have to worry...she could just leave. So why is there a part of her that hopes that Shigure is still standing there when the smoke clears? Regardless, as it dissipates, she shouts after, "Stay away from me!" As she regains her nerve, she drops her torpedoes into the water, as well, as her ears stop ringing from the blast. Torpedoes... A slightly clearer picture emerges from that time. It was night, just as it is now. They were carrying something? Something important and precious. Then suddenly, countless torpedoes. She had noticed early, as did that other girl...but only that other girl had gotten away. It comes in skips and fits, and with every glimpse her head aches, as her breath becomes shallow. "I don't want to remember." She fights again to regain her cooler composure, "I am Destroyer Princess, one of Midway's greatest creations. I won't give that up, just to live in pain again! Shigure!"
Shigure	Point blank range. Shigure should have been sunk right there, blasted clean through by the cannonfire. But luck, it seems, is on her side. The wavering aim sent the shell just wide enough that instead of a direct hit, it skimmed along her port flank, tearing her uniform and leaving a nasty gash in her side, scorched and sore looking. She doesn't stop singing, but the words catch in her throat for a moment at the hit... and then the torpedoes. They leap out of the water, champing teeth seeking to sink into their target before they detonate... but they instead find themselves grabbed and tossed aside, exploding harmlessly around the brown-haired girl. Eyes hold pain from her wound, but also compassion, as she keeps approaching, slowly but continuously. "This life isn't all pain and suffering... That night... I'm so sorry I left you behind... I only saw the attack just before it hit, and I was lucky enough that the one to strike me did not detonate." She looks down at the water, lifting her hands. "I remember it, just like I remember every other battle I survived when I shouldn't have... but." She looks back up again, smiling that same warm smile. "I also remember all the good things that came, before and after those battles... the smiles of my friends, of my family, my sisters... you, Kawakaze. My little River Wind, always strong, always fierce."
Wo	The strange mix of relief and revulsion, as the shape of Shigure emerges from the smoke and gunpowder. The fan of torpedoes was...not optimal, not unlike the wavering of the guns before them. While the Destroyer Princess has taken no damage, nor could she have with Shigure having removed what little of her rigging could have supported such a notion, some fissures and cracks begin to show themselves along her outer surface. It's the kind of damage that suddenly fighting with your own feelings and convictions can inflict. Abyssals are creatures of emotion, for both their good or detriment. Panicked, she thinks to ready another salvo, to at last bring some kind of closure to this chapter. But instead she draws her arms back to clutch at her chest, as the painful memories fall into place. That fateful night, and the torpedo ambush, probably explains the need for the strange hover-platform kind of apparatus, as well. It wouldn't have been difficult for Shigure, along with what she felt, to put the rest into place. "Augh--!!" Her growl of agony and frustration breaks what is left of her trying to remain cold and detached. So that she would never have to feel that kind of abandonment again. As Shigure continues to close in, she snaps completely, lunging at her with those braceleted and buckled fists, in kind, but with weakening force. "How dare you call me by that name, after...what happened!" Luminescent tears bead up then streak from the corners of her glowing eyes, her fanged teeth clenched. "We all..." She suddenly slips forward. If she had knees, she would have probably dropped to them, by the way the motion appears. "--we trusted, you..." The cracks deepen and widen, almost as though an outer shell is splintering off. It's not quite how one expects an Abyssal to turn into another form. But as of late, they've had all kinds of surprises.
Shigure	Shigure lets those blows land, her uniform shredding under the blows, blackened marks blossoming as her 'armour' takes the beating... and then, as the blows weaken and the Princess keels forwards, those arms embrace her crumbling shell and she coos softly. "Come back to me..." she says, as she holds the other. "This time... this time I will make it right... I'll earn back your trust. I promise." she says, then begins to sing once more. This time a different song, from a different world. "My broken heart. Runs back and forth time and again. I'm sorry that, I could not be any help to you. I wish I could, but more I wish that I understood, that even now, my heart won't let me share your pain." She gently rocks, supporting the Princess as her emotions rip and tear at her form. "I lived on, leaving all the fear far behind me. I stayed upon the track, and did not even look back, even though I should. Please know, that I have searched for you, not matter what we went through, breaking the darkness the world would offer, because you shine, no matter if the future looks bleak." We aim beyond our boundry, and even though it scares me. Nothing will shatter my soul, because I know my way, and it is always your way... please know we are always blessed."
Wo	The proud Destroyer Princess, reduced to a quivering shape which is now crumbling away. All because of some deeply buried memories of a self she had thought forgotten and left behind. She hasn't quite forgiven everything in those last moments, that are now fast forwarding through her mind, but Shigure does speak the truth. There were others concealed even more deeply still, that fill her with a strange, warm feeling. As she is held, she trembles lightly. The pain is a numb ache, now, but it still lingers, as the last of her projected false being succumbs, while Shigure finishes her song. Then, finally, it is over. The last of the husk shatters into dust, like one might expect someone breaking out of a full body plaster cast might look like. The last few fragments splash into the water before dissolving completely. What remains is a completely exhausted and emotionally spent, red-haired girl that has her arms latched around Shigure's torso, from where she is riding low in the water. She seems to be resting peacefully, but in her mind, those dreams will still take some time to sort themselves out. Her place in the world. What she should really believe. Instead, she simply drools a little bit from the corner of her mouth, a rare moment of whimsy, and mumbles, "I'll hold ya to it...sis."
Shigure	Shigure smiles and winces a little bit at the hug as it presses against the wound inflicted earlier... but she doesn't pull away. Instead she just squeezes a bit tighter, then starts transmitting on radio, calling for pick-up. It takes a few tries, before she gets through, but just as she's transmitting the coordinates, her radio mast emits a crackling sound, then starts to smoke. "Nnn... I hope that got through, or we will be limping home using each other for support." she says, stroking Kawakaze's hair gently. "But I will not let you go again. No this time."