Tsuiraku-town, part 3

[Hours]

I retract my statement. It was rude of me and I apologise.

[Jack Rothwell]

OOC Alright man cool, I know we haven't exactly seen eye to eye since we've been writing this thing. More's the pity because I do respect your ability as a writer. I appreciate you've got your own ambitions and directions you wanna go with your guys, which is cool.

Me, I'm big on consultation about direction of plots and stuff. Mainly because a few years back I was involved in one of these and the whole thing went to shit because everyone was trying to pull the story to their own conclusion which led to what could've been something great simply being torn apart. If we all put our heads together (not over every little thing of course) I think this thing could become really entertaining for writers and readers alike.

So, in reference to what Grey was saying earlier, clean slate, water under the bridge and all that. /OOC

[Hours]

I floated you a PM to try and give a few answers as to what's going on with all this stuff. Hope it clears most of it up.

[ComradeHavok]

Mouse casually shoulders her rifle before rummaging through her pack. She eventually digs out what looks like a somewhat stale apple pastry, which she proceeds to munch on. She waves to Jade as she walks out after Gault.

[Jack Rothwell]

OOC Thanks for the PM Hours. This is a really throwaway detail, but does anyone know what people use for writing in the Poe-verse? Parchment/paper/pens/quills? Probably not pens, right?/OOC

Jade kept her firearm trained on the band that had invaded her forge until they exited, then walked over to the door and closed it. She made her way to a seat on rubbery legs and sat down with her head in her hands.

Leo arrived back at the blacksmiths some fifteen minutes later. He rapped on the door.

"Honey! I'm ho- oh.. shit... what's wrong?"

Jade got to her feet, ran over to the merc and threw her arms around him.

"Jade? You're shaking."

"Just shut up and hold me a minute."

Leo, wisely, did as he was told.

A short while later, the blacksmith had composed herself, and was pacing with a lit ciggarette in her hand. Leo leaned against a wall free of sharp objects with a surprised look on his face at what he just heard.

"So you think they were going to kill you?"

"They wanted info, but it definately sounded like an option. That gal of his could've blown my back out through my stomach if she'd had a mind to." She shuddered, and started muttering, half to herself. "I bloody knew that guy was trouble."

"So what now? Kill them?"

"With that crew of his? It'd be almost as bad as walking through that gate again." She shook her head. "We need to get word to Layla and the rest, let them know something really 'cloak and dagger' is going on with those guys. I need you to go to the vineyard."

"I'm not leaving you alone after what just happened."

"No choice, hero. I'm not taking my eyes off this tech until we've got a safe place to store it and before that I'd damn well better finish the job in front of me." She started rooting through the tools Leo had brought her. "If I get this done things'll be looking better than they are now."

[Graybeard]

"I'm a little lost..."

Lost? Joe thought suspiciously. To be sure, the house wasn't exactly a one-room shack in the low-rent district, but it wasn't really the kind of place you could get lost in either. Muttering "Be right back," he threw a coat over the crystal ball and went to the door.

"I was just talking to one of our financial backers," he said. (That was certainly true.) "He's concerned about the damage to the store. It's our main outlet until we diversify. Now where are you trying to go?" He didn't say And why?, but the thought was out there in clear enough terms.

---------

Heads turned as Captain Kitaura walked into the entrance building to the Homeland Security compound, and addressed Faye with a directness few of the observers had ever seen. "I understand you have important information for me. Come, let us discuss." He turned, but of course, held the door for his visitor; the circumstances may have been unusual, but he was still Tsuirakuan, after all.

----------

Galina looked agitated as she put tea cups (bearing herbal tea, of course; it wouldn't do for the two nursing mothers to feed the real stuff to their babies second-hand) in front of herself and Layla.

"After you mentioned the Illusion spell to me at lunch, I went into that meeting with the arch-mage with some detection magic up," she said. "I didn't keep it long enough for anyone to notice, just to see what was going on. And you know what? In his real form, Archmage Dohi and Reverend Orpiment look so much alike, they could be twins."

So she sees it too, Layla thought, trying to keep a straight face ... and failing.

[Sareth]

"I'm a little lost..."

Lost? Joe thought suspiciously. To be sure, the house wasn't exactly a one-room shack in the low-rent district, but it wasn't really the kind of place you could get lost in either. Muttering "Be right back," he threw a coat over the crystal ball and went to the door.

"I was just talking to one of our financial backers," he said. (That was certainly true.) "He's concerned about the damage to the store. It's our main outlet until we diversify. Now where are you trying to go?" He didn't say And why?, but the thought was out there in clear enough terms.

"Somewhere I can get some answers," Jasmine replied. She gestured with the rifle which she politely did not point at Joe. "First, just who are you people that find my daughter so interesting that you'll hand her over to the Eisenfaust, but find me quite expendable?" She flicked the safety off of the rifle. "And who's on the other end of the line?" She nodded toward the covered crystal ball. At Joe's expression she tapped the wall with the hand not holding the rifle. "These are mighty thin."

[Jack Rothwell]

Leo left the forge and began walking back to the vineyard, wishing he still had a horse every step of the way, wishing even harder he didn't have a lengthly amount of information to tell and wishing hardest of all that he didn't have to leave his shaken-up girlfriend behind.

"It is what it is." He muttered. "No point complaining now, right?"

Leo walked faster.

.........

Jade had gotten back to work almost as soon as Leo had departed. She was currently measuring the length of the rifle barrels she'd dismantled.

"Ok... two feet and change... matched up with the network... recycle the insulation..."

A listener would've probably thought she was losing her marbles.

[ComradeHavok]

Leo would get the distinct feeling someone was watching him. Though every time he looked, he would only see the odd person moving along the street, minding their own business..

Mouse kept her rifle in its case as she shadowed the man. Gault had been very clear that she wasn't allowed to shoot or otherwise harm the man.. just keep an eye on him and report back. Mouse hated it when Gault gave her these missions, even if she was really good at them. Spending a whole day stalking someone.. and then not being allowed to kill them at the end of it? Whole lot of build up for disappointment, in Mouse's mind..

Still, she kept up with her appointed task. It was getting late in the day, crowds were starting to thin out, and shadows were growing long, so Mouse had plenty of places to hide without drawing attention to herself.

[Jack Rothwell]

Leo glanced over his shoulder again as he hurried through the deserting streets and saw the same thing he'd seen last time. No-one was following him; the only people still around at this time were businessmen closing shop and stragglers making their way home from work.

'Relax.' He thought. 'You're just being paranoid, that's all.'

'Really?' The more cautious part of him warned. 'After the forge being invaded, the liquor store being firebombed, you nearly getting throw in jail and a 'magic mob of doom' waiting on the other side of the gate next to a vineyard you're now walking towards. Do you really think there's no chance at all that someone's got an eye on you?'

'Can't see anyone.' His laid-back side countered.

'Some mages can turn invisible, dumbass.'

The last thought put some ice in his spine. Leo glanced around again, still no-one there, but the 'invisible assassin' idea was now impossible to shake off. He made a decision, turned and cut down the narrowest alley he could find. He broke into a run and vaulted over a nearby fence.