Remnants of the Earth
EDANITH => The Frontier => Topic started by: Vixus on May 20, 2014, 11:33:06 am
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Veronica, a young elf with a green thumb, has been looking for a friend to love her for her talents, instead of shunning her.
She sits in her bed room in a tree-house that she built with her brother Mike. The tree is the only one in the area, surrounded by shrubs and flowering plants. The house is beautiful and pleasing to the eye... like Veronica.
Anyway, veronica is tired of being alone and secluded, so she decides to venture out into the country. The following story is about who she meets.
Veronica leaves her house in the secluded part of the country side, and decides to explore the frontier a little. She begins to slowly leave the house one step at a time- slowly taking her time and getting used to the environment. She tries to absorb the sights, sounds and smells of the tamed world.
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Damion had heard that the Frontier was a good place to make something out of nothing, but now that he was here he was beginning to reconsider. It was a rather rundown area with not much to write home about. There also seemed to be a considerable amount of crime and illegal activities along with an unsurprising lack of law enforcement officials. This seemed to be hardly the place for new beginnings. As he walked he saw a small elf girl. What was a girl like her doing wandering around alone in a place like this? Damion approached the girl.
"Hey there," he said in greeting. "Are you lost? A girl like you should not be wandering around a place like this alone."
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Veronica saw a gruff looking man approaching her. She shrunk away a little bit at this first encounter, but she convinced herself that she needed to give him a chance.
He looked quite scary, but he had a gentle look on his face. He looked friendly, and when he spoke, he was gentle.
With a voice like rain, she answers. "I... I don't know." She brushes a lock of hair behind her ear. "I've lived here most of my life, but... never really left. So, I... kinda am lost. Do you know the colony better?"
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"Um....no," Damion replied scratching the back of his head. "I actually just got here not too long ago. What's your name? Do you live near here?"
This surely was strange. Here was a girl who had lived here all her life, but didn't know her way around. She was also very small, barely reaching Damion's chest. How did someone so small and fragile looking last so long in a place like this?
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"I'm... Veronica." She hesitates only a moment, and points a small finger in the direction of the sandy baron region, and a a couple kilometers away is the tree-house. It isn't suspended within the tree, but instead it embraces the trunk of the tree, and a set of five steps lead to the front door- which doesn't look much like a door.
"my home is this way." She hesitates, but is quickly becoming comfortable with this stranger. He reminds her of her brother, a little bit. She is still afraid that he might turn her in for not having contained magic.
"What is your name?" She asks as she begins to lead Damion toward the house.
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"Damion," he replied assuming that he was to follow her.
It seemed kind of odd to just lead a stranger to your home so readily, but at least it was him and not a more dangerous individual. Maybe it was a good thing that he got to her first. The second thing that he became concerned with was whether he would even fit in her house. She was quite small, so her house probably would be also. How would he even get inside?
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At the top of the steps to the house- which was spacious to an Elf, was tall enough for Damion- Veronica waived a hand slowly in front of the wood, and the branches parted for her. The doorway is large enough for Damion to step through if he stoops.
"Watch your head." She says as she giggles a little bit. She may not know this man, and simply going home with a total stranger is socially abnormal, but she hasn't experienced many social encounters, so she didn't know much better.
There is meager furniture- mostly to accommodate only herself, but she quickly fixes that, growing a chair for Damion out of the wood of the floor. The entire house resembles a contained green house.
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Damion ducked through the doorway and took a look around. It wasn't anything spectacular, but it wasn't half bad either. It was one of those 'simple but cozy' type deals. He attention was immediately pulled to Veronica growing a chair out of the floor. The wooden floor. She was a mage. That made this even more interesting.
To keep from being rude Damion sat down on the chair that was grown for him.
"Looks cozy," he commented.
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Veronica was becoming comfortable with Damion, and didn't feel the least bit threatened by him- in fact, he was inviting to her. His scars didn't disturb her, because she hadn't been around enough to associate scars with crime and danger.
She smiles in thanks to Damion's comment, and remembers something that he said.
"You said that... you just got here, where did you come from? How did you get here? how was it?"
As she begins asking more questions, she begins to speak faster and faster, clearly excited and probably a little mentally stimulated by her first (or at most third) encounter with someone else besides her brother. She becomes a little dizzy, and sits down on her chair.
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If Damion were to look around, he would see:
- at the center of the house, the trunk of the tree and the heart of the hut.
- There are flowers all over the trunk.Some are coming from the tree itself (which it would be impossible for such an enumeration to occur naturally) and some growing from vines snaking their way up.
- The sealing/roof of the house is a parasol developed within the branches of the tree.
- the tree is small because of it's lack of natural soil and the over-pure environment of terraformation. It is "large" but not the kind of godly oak that it could have been on earth.
- The floor and sealing are solid pieces of wood, grown strait from the base of the tree.
- the walls are branches of the tree, and the furniture is as well.
- the house is in two sections: her bedroom and the living space.
- her bedroom has a side table and a dresser, as well as a bed.
- The furniture is woven, but is actually separate from the floor. It would seem that it was naturally separated a well.
- the bed was covered with linen: a gift from her brother during a trip home from Libra
- there is a coffee table, a couch and (now) 2 chairs.
- there is a counter with a sink.
- a fire pit is found outside.
There are two windows: one in the bedroom and one above the sink.
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"I came from Cancer," he told her. "It's a space station. I got here by hitching a ride on some random ship. How was what? Cancer or the trip to here?"
Veronica had become really excited all of a sudden. It was all Damion could do to keep up with how fast she was talking. She not only knew almost nothing of her own home, but she didn't seem to know anything about the outside either. The next thing he would probably have to explain was what exactly Cancer was besides a space station among other things. This was going to be an interesting conversation.
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She relaxed a little bit, drained slightly because of her little bit of excitement.
"Ive heard of Cancer. My brother lives on Libra. I mean all of it, the world. I don't know much more than my brother tells me. Would you like to explore the colony with me?"
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Damion had not expected her to ask him to explore the colony with her. At first he was going to decline because there was still places for him to travel to and explore, but the more he looked at her the more difficulty he had in saying no. He couldn't just leave her to wander around alone in a place like this. There would be no way that he would be able to live with himself if something happened to this innocent little girl.
"Sure," he replied. "I guess I could do some exploring."
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"Yaay" she exclaimed as she jumped out of her chair, and went over to the dresser in the room and pulled out a map (that her brother wouldn't approved of) of the colony, which seems to have been hand-drawn by someone else. She opened it up and spread it out on the coffee table.
"so where to?"
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"What do you need a map for," Damion asked folding it back up and handing it back to her. "If you already know where you're going then there's no need to explore. Let's just start walking."
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"Um... okay. Where do we go?" she asks when she is handed the map. She had practically memorized the entire thing while fantasizing about the outside, wondering what it would really look like.
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"We go forward," Damion said simply.
As he made his way to the door, he forgot how low the door was and hit his head off of the door frame. After letting out the first profanity that popped into his head, he ducked out of the door rubbing his head.
"I forgot how low that door was."
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She giggles a bit behind her hand. "I can see that." Se follows Damion outside, brushing the sticks that are the open door, which closes at her touch.
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True to his word, Damion just started walking. He wasn't sure where he going, but that was the beauty of exploring wasn't it? Occasionally he would glance back over his shoulder to make sure that Veronica was still in tow. He made sure to keep his on the residents as well as the scenery. There was no telling if they would get jumped by someone.
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(OOC: Wild card time)
Light-hours away, something bothered Michael, he didn't know what it was. There was something in the air... no, not literally, but his mood was off. He was terribly coordinated today, and had bumped into almost three other officers, and tripped twice. He even ran into a wall. Something was wrong and he knew it! It must have been his sister. Something was happening on her end of the psychic link between them. It was the sort of link found when studding twins, it wasn't direct, but one knew the ideas of the other. "She must be in trouble." he says to himself as he walks past the well lit hanger of small and large fighter craft waiting in the bey. on the other side of the hall was a door, and on the door was a sign that said deployment on it. He went in and explained the situation, and in only 15 minutes, he was strapped into the cockpit of his light fighter. "Thank goodness for good commanders." he thinks as he is cleared automatically for launch from The Libra.
Meanwhile on the colony, Veronica is following Damian close behind, and taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of the countryside, which are becoming less and less familiar to her the farther they go. She goes into a short trance where she sees her brother launching. The vision lasts only a fraction of a second- too short for her to visualize what she saw, but she knows what it means. Pushing this to the back of her mind, she decides not to say anything about it to Damian.
"So, what do you do? I mean, you must have some way you made the money to get here. Right?"
Edit: fixed light-speed to something more practical
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"Don't tell anyone, but I cook," he said quietly. "I cook for the crew and they take me where I want to go in exchange. It works out pretty well, even though I don't look much like the cooking type."
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"That's nice, but why don't you want people knowing?"Veronica asks.
They are nearing the more civilized area of the uncivilized frontier. the buildings are becoming taller, and closer together, and the duo is receiving more and more sideways looks from passers-by. A couple pods of rough looking men standing in corners follow the group with their eyes- speaking in hushed tones. one is over heard.
"leave 'er alone... clearly that guy's already got dibs. an' he looks like I wo' 'una tangle with him."
a couple billion miles away, the sound of this comment reaches mike's ears on his end of the subtle connection between the brother/sister pair. The connection has never been this direct, something must be wrong. He pushes the craft as fast as he can get it, ready to intervene on whatever my be happening to his sister.
(OOC: Be prepared to be thoroughly thanked for your service... not now, but toward the end of the story)
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"Cooking isn't necessarily a very manly thing to do," he explained. "Ted used to tell me that women liked a man who could cook, but I think he was just saying that."
While the mention of Ted used to bring him sadness, it didn't anymore. He had figured out that remebering how Ted lived rather than how he died made him feel better. Ted might be dead, but he would always be alive to Damion.
Damion continued to keep his eye on all of the ruffians. They were talking about him and Veronice. By the sound of it, one of them thought that the two of them were a couple and that he didn't want to fight him. Well, at least he looked intimidating. If them thinking that he and Veronica were a couple kept them away, they he would let them think that. Damion wasn't looking for trouble, but he could easily deal with it if they did find trouble.
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Although it appears to the ruffians that Damian may be a bounty hunter who claimed a good prize, Veronica could pick up a lot of the conversations because of he sensitive pointy ears. they began to scare her, and she tugs on his arm, getting close to him her wide eyes showing definite fear.
"I think cooking is a good skill for a man, my brother taught me how to cook. He says he wishes he could cook when he is on duty. He told me that when he's working, they have a cook that works for the fleet. He says that they have to eat the fleet food."
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Damion moved Veronica in front of himself so that he could keep an eye on her better in response to her tugging on his arm.
"That's why it's so easy for me to hitch rides," Damion told her. "I cook real food, not fleet food."
Damion kept his eye on the ruffians as they continued to walk. His criminal instincts were telling him that this wasn't the best idea, but he ignored them. What could happen?
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In his embrace, Veronica felt more comfortable, she continued along, and became a bit hungry. She remembered a small restaurant in the area. "Speaking of food, there's a small diner around here. I have a little bit of credit my brother gives me for when he can't come home"
A group of burly men are slinking behind, sticking close to buildings and hanging back a measurable distance. It was lead by a tall thin man with a metal arm that has sharp-looking digits on it. They didn't look like they were looking for trouble, but around here you simply never know. The were closing in at a considerable pace.
(OOC: got ur knives ready? ((and no, it's not them)))
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(OOC My knives are always ready.)
Damion followed behind Veronica as she led him to the diner she had mentioned. Getting the feeling that he was being watched, Damion looked over his shoulder and noticed a small group of unfriendly looking individuals trailing them. Damion decided not to tell Veronica about them so as to not worry her, but he would definitely keep his eyes on them.
"Lead the way," he told her.
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She stopped for a moment and put her finger to her chin in thought. "it's... up ahead and then a turn right."
The group of thugs continue past them, eyes fixed on another target. Once the two reach the place where they turn, A group of horses come charging out of nowhere- one has a plasma pistol and lands a shot the misses Veronica's leg by only an inch. Another of the trio of riders has a sword, and rides past Damian, aiming for his shoulder. They were clearly looking for trouble. In a society where magic is banned, an elf will have a hard time explaining why she doesn't have some sort of chip, and they found her. The third was a wizard, probably on orders from a Mordecai. The trio began to circle back for the two, what in the world would happen?
(OOC, man with sword = Mordecai)
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Damion immediately shielded Veronica with himself and ducked under the sword. What the hell was going on? Turning around to face their assailants, Damion saw them preparting to make another pass. With a simple flick of his wrists, knives shot out of his sleeves and into his hands. Damion wasted no time in flinging at the horse-riding trio when they began charging again.
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One knife hit the wizard in the shoulder, causing him to slump over on his horse. The second knife was dodged by the leading rider with the pistol. Veronica searched the aria for a tree or something to use. There were merely some weeds, and she used her magic to grow them into a snare. The front rider had the unlucky fortune of finding the snare, and his horse got caught by it's front hoof, causing to to crumple forward. She tried to use her power to make some sort of barrier to defend them from the horses as they went past the second time, but she couldn't do anything.
She pulls on Damian's arm signalling him to come. She runs down the street that came at a 90 degree angle, the one that the diner is on. There is an abandoned building on the left side, it's boarded up, but can still be entered if they act quickly.
(Oh joy... how am I going to get us out of this sticky situation I created? Sometimes I'm too creative for my own good. If you want to do some narration, or if you get a bit tired of it, just let me know.)
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Though it was not in his nature to run away, Damion reluctantly followed behind Veronica. The moment he saw the abandoned building, he knew what she had in mind. Drawing another one of his many knives, he pried off the lowest board that was blocking the door.
"Get in," Damion urged. "Quickly."
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Veronica dives into the building, and crawls forward so that Damian can get through. She is breathing quickly, she had no idea that Damian had knives. She saw what he could do with them and it startled her, but looking back, she is glad that he had them. She was beginning to wonder what she got herself into by wandering out a little bit.
(I'm leaving on the weekend, but I might be at the library to continue... maybe. Anyway, I think it would be cool to play hot potato with narration- that means it's your turn. Have you ever narrated an RP?)
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(OOC Not really.)
Damion dove into the building, rolled, and was immediately back on his feet and facing the door. He flipped his knife into a backwards grip and waited. After a few seconds of silence, he stood up straight again.
"I think we're safe for now," he said.
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"I think so too." She said, she was huddled in the corner of the room, trying to keep as far from the entrance as she can. "Who are those people?" she asks, she clearly hasn't been far from the house, even with her brother at her side.
(ooc: I can teach you, it's pretty simple-ish)
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"I'm not sure," Damion told her. "But they are definitely not friendly."
Damion twirled the knife between his fingertips and then put it back in its place. He wasn't sure what was going on, but something was definitely fishy here. Why would three random guys on horses attack them? They had guns and Damion only had knives. Not the best odds, but so far he was winning considering he hit one of them.
"We'll just stay put a few minutes longer to make sure that they're gone."
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"Okay" she answers as she stands up. She calmed down a bit but wasn't ready to venture out any time soon anyway.
Just then, shadows began to crawl across the walls from outside. Something is out there... whatever it is- is trained to be silent. There are more shadows crawling through the cracks. Veronica freezes in horror. If the two are discovered, they may not have a way out.
(ooc: don't put that knife away.)
(ooc: PS: I feel like a damned liability.)
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(OOC You are :) )
When Veronica froze in terror yet again, Damion's knife was instantly in his hand again. Then he saw the shadows. Something was out there. Damion crept over to the window and tried to peer between the boards to see what was out there, but saw nothing. He moved to the center of the room and motioned for Veronica to join him.
"The worst place to be in a room when someone is after you is the corner," he explained. "You can't get trapped if your standing in the middle."
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Veronica crept over to where Damian was standing, and joined him there in the center. His voice alerted the shadows outside. Suddenly, the shadows became loud with men yelling and hollering. The door and boarded window were kicked in, and a group of five men dressed head to toe in moderate tech armor barge in cutting off both exits. All but one are carrying rifles and all wear tactical armor. (OOC: similar to that worn today by US and other military) The fifth- without a rifle- carried a pistol and a knife.
Only miles away now, Mikey is requesting permission to land. He doesn't receive it, so decides to skip diplomacy all together... since he is a half-citizen anyway. He drops out of hyper-space and enters the atmosphere, locking onto the coordinates of his house.
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Well, this was just wonderful. Damion put himself between Veronica and soldiers, tightening his grip on his knife.
"What do you want," Damion asked with authority.
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Veronica tried to ensnare the intruders with a vine trap, but of course there was a Mordecai in the lot so it didn't work. The man in front, the leader (who happens to be a Mordecai) pointed behind Damian and answered his question with a filtered voice. "'Er, She has unreee-stricted magic. She is a danger to the state."
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Now even closer to the site, Michael has landed in a flat area of desert near the hut. He barges into the hut as quickly as he can (without breaking anything) and see's a second chair. Something is up, and he doesn't like it. He finds a trail in the dust, it's fading- but it's there. Once the trail is easy to follow, he begins charging along the path. His voice is rasping in the face guard that replaces the standard regulation helmet (that doesn't support his elven ears).
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"He's here" Veronica realizes. Although Damian doesn't know it, the cavalry is coming.
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Damion looked back at Veronica with a confused look on his face and then turned back to the Mordecai.
"She hardly seems dangerous," Damion replied. "If you take even one step toward her you'll find out who the dangerous one really is."
Damion drew a second knife and twirled the blades around between his fingertips to show them that he knew very well how to use them. Sure they had guns, but he had knives. He had won gun fights with knives before, just not against so many opponents. This would be interesting if it got nasty.
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Mike is running along the trail now, and he suddenly stops- right where the horse and rider was toppled. He briefly inspects the vines- they were thin and brittle compared to her normal creations. the culprit he identifies immediately. He sees the group of soldiers running, lead by a Mordecai- distinguished by a marking on his vest.
Mikey hears something near-by:
"She hardly seems dangerous," Damion replied. "If you take even one step toward her you'll find out who the dangerous one really is."
He hangs back, and follows the group to an abandoned building. He stands outside the shattered board of the window and calls out "If you don't want to die, it's in all of your best interests... to step the hell away from my sister!" He brushes his hand, waiving the soldiers and Damian aside. "Yes you, knife boy... everyone back away now.
The five soldiers turn around to see Mike, and immediately follow his orders- This may not be a military affair, but the colonies military is poorly trained and unequipped to take on a well armored soldier of the top Libran Force.
He winks at Damian to tell him that he was on his side and to convey his respect to him.
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Damion didn't know who this newcomer was, nor did he know how to take the wink. Was he a good guy? Damion looked over his shoulder at Veronica. She didn't seem to have a problem with this guy, so he stepped away towards the soldiers so that he was still between them and her. He kept his knives in his hands, just in case.
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Mike winks a second time to Damion a second time, and unleashes like a snake. He grabs a chain from the sidewalk and hurls it around the Mordecai's neck. He slams his boot into his neck, stun-choking the ma to deactivate his power. "Now... down to business" he says, rubbing his palms together- a demonstration of anticipation, and to rub the rust off of his hands.
The other soldiers let loose on Mikey, firing a rapid burst from all four. Mike dodges the fire by dropping to the ground. He now has his magic capabilities back without the Mord there. He pin-weals around, releasing a burst of fire at their ankles.
(your turn)
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Damion immediately sprang into action, flinging one of his knives so that it became embedded in one of the soldier's necks. As one of the other soldiers turned to find out what just happened, Damion was already upon him. Pushing his gun aside so that he missed the shot he took at him, Damion quickly slashed the man's neck and then jammed his knife into the inside of the soldier's thigh. The man collapsed, bleeding to death in seconds as both his carotid and femoral arteries were cut. The perks of being a former professional knife fighter. You knew where they bled the most when you cut them. The newcomer should have no problem dispatching the other two, so Damion checked on Veronica to make sure she was unharmed.
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The heat of combat... it can be a real nasty thing, it can. When Damion redirected the gun, it just so happened to be in the least favorable position. The shot fired- hit it's mark in Veronica's arm. she fell to her knees, griping her right shoulder. She was experiencing blinding pain considering that she hadn't experienced combat before.
Mikey finished off the last two quickly- he grabbed the closer one and shot the other with the gun still in the mans hand. He then kicked the man in the chest, knocking him out of the window. He ran over to Veronica who wasn't crying, but was still clearly hurt by the shot. He dropped his weapon and unhooked his face mask. He dropped lightly to her side, taking her free hand in both of his. "Are you okay? Speak to me Var." She began to sob a bit.
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Damion retrieved his knife from the soldier's throat and went to see what the fuss was about. His eyes widened in shock when he found out that Veronica had been hit. But how? Replaying the events that had just unfolded he came to the terrifying conclusion. It had been his fault. When he pushed that soldier's gun aside he must have inadvertently aimed it at Veronica.
Struck with extreme guilt, Damion quickly began tearing through the soldiers' supplies. Soldiers usually had medical supplies of some kind. There had to be some somewhere.
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"Relax, she's fine." Mike calls over to Damion when he notices him rifling through the dead bodies. "I have a med pack on me anyway. She needs emotional help more than medical help... and it's not your fault, he pulled the trigger."
Michael brushes a lock of hair from his sisters face, and gently lifts her hand from her arm. "Just as I suspected... a little scratch, you'll be fine Var. You... (He addresses Damion since he doesn't know his name) The med pack is in the pocket on the back of my belt. I'd get it myself, but I can't reach it."
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Damion walked over and found the med pack exactly where he said it would be. He immediately opened it up and started treating the wound, knowing exactly what he was doing. Having been in plenty of knife fights, he learned pretty quick how to patch up scratches. When he was done he sat back on his heels.
"I'm so sorry, Veronica," he said. "I didn't mean for you to get shot."
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Veronica wipes a tear from her eye, "I'm fine, it startled me more than it hurts. It really stings though."
"I don't think we were properly introduced, I'm Mikey- Veronica's brother. I go by Coia when on duty though... it means life. What's your name?" he stands up and walks over to the different cadavers and knocked-out soldiers. Three dead, two out cold. "We need to do something about these dead people." Just then the Mord woke up and started shouting orders to his men... who weren't there. Mikey silenced him with a kick to the neck.
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Considering that he had most likely just saved their lives, Damion decided not to point out that make said that he was Veronica's sister even though he was obviously a brother.
"I'm Damion," he replied. "Veronica's impromptu escort for the evening. She wanted to take a look around and I couldn't let her wander around a place like this all alone."
Damion looked down at the soldiers. Only three of the five were dead. The two that Damion went after were certainly dead. He had made sure of that. Damion wondered where the horsemen had gone to. They were likely still alive wherever they were. The one that he did hit was only hit in the shoulder, so he was likely still alive as well.
"Three guys on horses had attacked us as well," Damion told Mikey. "I wounded one of them, but I don't know where they are now."
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Considering that he had most likely just saved their lives, Damion decided not to point out that make said that he was Veronica's sister even though he was obviously a brother.
(OOC: Fixed that)
"Thank you for that, She's been wanting to go out for quite a while now, but as both a pilot and a ground troupe I don't get much time off. I saw the place with the horses, there was a Mordecai there. I found a dead horse- with no rider, so the rider probably piggybacked with another one. They probably sent these guys." Mikey dragged two of the three dead men over to the third, piling them up. "I suppose we could make it look like one of them went rogue and killed the others?"
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"Assuming that they would use a knife and know exactly where to cut, then maybe," Damion replied. "What exactly is going on here? Why are these guys even attacking us in the first place?"
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Mike takes a gun from the fallen Mordecai. He stands the soldiers up supported by their armor, and shoots them in the same spots as the knife wounds.
"coroners report, they were shot. inspection ends there. Oh and the reason- we are elves, magic is a natural ability of ours. People here hate magic people- especially the government. We make healthy targets when we use our abilities, and we aren't chipped or registered. We really don't have to since our magic isn't that extreme, but people can be paranoid."
"There we go" he says as he leaves the two knifed soldiers slumped over. "now, we make it look legit." He shoots the man across the way, directly in the back of his neck. "Mord shoots these two, one guy fires back but misses the Mord, killing that one. That guy runs, he shoots him, and runs to a near-by shed... and kills himself since he has no life now- Problem solved."
He returns to Damion and Veronica and inspects Damion's handiwork with bandages. "pretty good work there. Did you use the disinfectant? I'm sorry you had to see this Var, I didn't want to do it either. I had to, otherwise they won't leave us alone."
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"I think so," Damion replied when Mike inquired about his use of disinfectant. "I've had a lot of practice in patching up cuts."
Especially since he always had to do it himself. There was no dedicated medic in his old gang, so if you got hurt it was on you to patch yourself up. It was a stupid rule really. What happened if your arm got blown off? You wouldn't be able to handle that alone. They were an awfully stupid bunch of kids.
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"I'll be right back" Mikey said as he dragged the Mordecai out. "I have some personal business."
He carried the Mord over a couple buildings down, put the gun in the Mord's hand, brought the gun to it's head and gripped his wrist- causing the man to pull the trigger. The Mord's had is locked around the gun in rigor-mortus. He killed himself.
When he returned to the house, he was deeply sickened by what he had to do to protect himself and his sister. "Let's get the hell out of here. Anybody hungry? There's a friendly, family-owned joint one street over."
(OOC: if you look back, you will find that Veronica said it was on this street... Mikey knows the city better... obviously)
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"Hard to believe that there's something friendly anywhere around here," Damion replied jokingly. "I could go for some food, I guess."
Unlike Mikey, Damion had no problem with killing, especially in self-defense. He had taken part in quite a few lethal engagements in his time, so this was nothing new. His only regret was that one of the horseman had left with one of his knives in his shoulder. He was going to miss that knife.
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Mikey helped Veronica to her feet, and led the way to the diner. "there are... a few friendly people here. It's a rough place, and most of the time you can't afford to be friendly- and then you get used by the unfriendly people. Frankly the chance of you finding Var instead of some criminal... is none to slim, not even slim to none." He began to lead the way out of the broken and abandoned (and soon to be abandoned a second time) building looking both left and right for other people before stepping out.
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"I have quite a bit of experience with unfriendly people," Damion commented.
Those unfriendly people that killed Ted, but that was in the past. There was no point in being sad about it. It couldn't be changed. Besides, they didn't get away clean. Damion had made sure of that. The comment about Veronica running into him instead of some criminal made him chuckle on the inside. Damion was a criminal. Well, ex-criminal, but still criminal. Of course him finding her was probably better than someone else that wasn't so friendly finding her. This Mikey fellow seemed awfully protective of his sister. It must have been nice knowing that someone was looking out for you. Damion never had that luxury being an orphan and an only child.
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Mike takes note of the facial scars. "I can see that." he said, as he continued along, they came to the intersection where the dead horse was, and it is now missing. He pulls out the tactical knife from a pocket in his leg armor. they round the corner, walk another block, and turn right once more. This street is a bit nicer and not as run-down, and about half-way down the boulevard there is a building with wide welcoming windows common among diners. "let's eat!" he exclaims as he pushes the doors open. "Barbra, what's the lunch special?"
(OOC: play up until we get to the diner... I have something special.)
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Damion was surprised that the horse was gone. How did an entire horse just disappear? Why would they even take the time to come back and get it? Damion followed Mikey and Veronica into the restaurant. It was far from 5-star, but it had a certain charm to it. Hopefully the food was good.
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When the three sat down, a grey haired lady came out with a tray, with three bowls of soup already on it. She handed each of them a bowl. Under Mikey's bowl, she had stuck a slip of paper using some gum. She put her hand on his arm when he went to open it. once she left he unfolded it slowly. What have you gotten yourself into this time Michael?
He passed it over to Damion from across the table, hiding it behind their bowls. "Don't stand up to greet them now, but I think we have... other patrons." He straps and buckles his face mask, and whispers under his breath- "Veronica, get under the table."
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Damion read what was on the slip of paper and Michael informed him of 'other patrons'. Damion resisted the urge to look around to see if he could find them because that would sure give them away. A knife slowly slid out of his sleeve and into his hands. Yeah he kept two knives in each sleeve. So what? Damion began wondering if playing guardian to a little girl had gotten him into something that was way over his head. Regardless, there was no backing out now, especially since he still felt bad for getting her shot. He knew how that felt. Eating no longer seemed important, but he starting eating anyway in order to keep from looking suspicious. It was probably a pointless gesture though. A scarred face with a fake eye was pretty recognizable and easy to remember. He was probably more of a danger to have around than anything. Maybe it would be possible for him to lure the baddies away so that Mike could get Veronica to safety.
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"Don't swallow" Mike said through gritted teeth "It's poisoned." His tactical knife was on the table, and he felt his right hip for the GI pistol he carries. Mike listens around the room for a moment. "No one's here... Snipers."
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Poisoned?! Damion spit the soup out and started coughing as if he had choked. Soldiers? Poison? Snipers? What had he gotten himself into?
"What are we going to do," Damion asked quietly. "I only got knives. I don't carry a gun. I've never even used one."
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"Well, we do what we have done... It's a sniper, he can't shoot both of us. I'm probably the prime target since I'm trained. And frankly, the snipers here suck. They can only shoot form short distance."
Just then a sphere about 1/2" in diameter (the size of a shooter in marbles) popped through the window and rolled across the table. It didn't shatter the window, the shot simply cut clean through.
"Oh... that's their tactic" Mikey said with a bored and perhaps disappointed look on his face. "It's a smoke bomb. I hope it's something worth the trouble and turns out to be something legit... like mustard gas."
The sphere made a clicking sound and started spewing a pale grey smoke.
"Nope... just smoke. I'll go see how Barb is."
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Mustard gas? Why would he want that? Damion was a criminal and cook, not a soldier. This was way beyond him. When Mike left he didn't know what to do. He didn't feel like he should just keep sitting there next to the broken window, so he got up and sat down on the floor behind the seat so that he was hidden.
"How you doing, Veronica," he asked.
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"I'm doing okay. It happens every time we go out... I wish they would just leave us alone."
A few shots are heard coming from the back of the kitchen, and Mikey returns holding a man by his shirt collar.
"Now, I have told you guys this a hundred times. *sigh* We are registered here, and I don't know haw many governments Have recognized us as a non-threat. Get out, tell your boss that he's making an enemy out of a friend, and that if we are attacked one more time... I WILL HIRE MIRCS! Your military is prehistoric and is practically unarmed against me. Stop trying to kill me and I WON"T KEEP KILLING YOU!"
He continues to haul the poor conscript to the door while giving a lecture, and when he's done, He boot's the young man out the door with a final huff.
"I think they'll leave us alone for now. Let's eat!" He walks over to the table and pinches the smoke bomb between his fingers- deactivating it. "The government here drives me nuts. They never know when they simply can't win."
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Damion sighed and sat back down on his seat.
"Shouldn't we get some food that's not poisoned first," he asked.
This whole thing sounded pretty complicated. Why did those guys even have a problem with mages anyway? Damion had met plenty of mages in his lifetime and none of them were that bad, usually. Sure there was one or two that were evil, but isn't there always? Why would they think that a little girl is any kind of threat anyway? The only threat was them trying to attack Veronica. They are the ones that should be arrested if anything.
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The same grey-haired lady hobbles back to the table with a tray, and a couple menus. She took the bowls on the tray and placed a menu at each place. "Enjoy, Michael. I always wonder ho you make it through these things. You have been quite resilient your self young man..." She says wagging a 2 inch finger nail at Damion.
When Barbra leaves for the kitchen, mike relaxes just a little bit. "I'm sure they're done bothering us... What'da want? Her husband Miles makes anything taste amazing."
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"Big deal," Damion muttered. "So could I."
That wasn't intended to be heard by anyone, but it could have been. Then again, cooking was better than getting shot at, but he kind of just wanted to relax at the moment. He picked up the menu and started reading what was on it, hoping that no one had heard him, especially Veronica. She would undoubtedly make a scene.
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Veronica who was laying her head on the table, heard the comment and giggled a bit. "So that's where you learned to use those knives?"
Mike didn't hear the comment because his ears were ringing from shooting without ear protection (he thinks it's for fools, and he's used to the subtle noise), but when Veronica said it, he automatically put two and two together to make three. "Oh, you can cook eh? Looking for a job?"
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"Not exactly," Damion replied taking out one of his knives and examining it. "I learned on the streets, out of necessity."
When Mikey asked him if he was looking for a job, he lowered his menu and looked at him.
"Well, money is always good. Where?"
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"The couple here is always looking for an extra hand. They can get busy during certain hours.. we came in on an off hour."
If you look around, there are about fifteen seats and tables and a dinner bar with 7 stools, there are about 5 patrons found in the diner not including us.
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"It certainly is an off hour," Damion agreed looking around the small restaurant. "I don't know how long I'll be staying here though. There are still plenty of places I haven't been to yet."
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Just then, Barbra returns to take orders with a tray of drinks. "If you ever change your mind, we will be here. Now, what would you like?"
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Damion set down his menu and decided to try something.
"You wouldn't allow me to go back there and make it myself would you," Damion. "Free of charge, of course. And I would still pay full price for it. I just want to keep my hand in."
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(ooc: say what????)
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(OOC He is asking if he can go back and do some cooking himself to assure himself that he still can.)
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(OOC: ahhhh. I see.)
"Most certainly." Barbra responds, and takes mike and Veronica's orders. Mikey chooses sliders and some salad, while veronica has a sub and some soup.
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Damion got up and rubbed his hands together.
"Alright. Let's see if I still know how to do this," he said. "Veronica doesn't want to watch does she? I'm sure she's dying to see me actually cook something."
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Veronica squeals a bit and claps a quick dainty clap. "Oh definitely Damion!"
"I'll... stay here." mike says, still slouching in his seat. "I'm kinda drained, from the flight here and all this action immediately after."
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Damion walked back into the kitchen and took a look around. There wasn't too much to work with, but it should be enough. He grabbed the two closest knives and started juggling them.
"So, Veronica," he began. "What should I make?"
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"I don't know... What's your specialty? What do you make... and make the best?" she asks, staying quite so that he doesn't cut himself with the knives.
"Hey Dee..." Mike calls from the dining room. "We've got company."
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Before Damion could answer, he heard Mike calling him from the dining room. At least that's who he assumed he was calling because his name began with a D. Putting down the knives, he stuck his out of the door into the dining room.
"Again," he asked.
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"Yes, but they don't bring guns. They bring friendship. They'll be here for a while, so when you're done cooking, they would love to chat."
A group of four people stand there, a lady- who dwarfs Mikey since she's a human, and naturally taller than him, and a group of three boys who dwarf her. The boys are dressed in outfitting that matches Mike's. The boys are rowdy and are being rough, without care to their surroundings.
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When Damion saw how rowdy the boys were, he really didn't feel like talking to them. They reminded him too much of his old gang back on Cancer. He really hated them. He knew full well that these guys were not those gang members, but the similarities were a bit much for him. Damion disappeared back into the kitchen and began going through what he had to work with.
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the boys took their seats in the booth behind where Mike is sitting. They all sat down one by one, in a uniform manor. The youngest boy sat down directly behind mike, and the next sat down just as the first slid over. The third bowed while directing the lady to sit down before him, and then he followed her into the booth. He was the oldest. The boys were being more behaved now, speaking with inside voices. The middle child thumb wrestled with Mikey from the other side of the back-to-back booth. the youngest pulled out a paper triangle and the oldest played table football with him.
Lunch hour was beginning, and people began to fill the diner.
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After examining what he had to work with, Damion just decided to just start throwing ingredients together and see what happened. It didn't take him long to figure out where everything in the kitchen was located. He hoped that no one would ask what he was doing because he wasn't entirely sure.
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On the 4-burner stove, Damion was given one of the sections, and the other three were used for customers. "What you got there son?" asked Miles (Barbra's cooking husband) "It looks like stew."
He takes out a wooden spoon and scoops a small bit. "It's pretty good..." He clucks his tongue for a moment. "It needs a bit of green pepper."
He takes a pepper from the counter, and tosses it behind his back with his left hand, and catches it with his right in front of him. "Here, try this."
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"This here is food," Damion replied. "I can't really tell you much beyond that."
Damion took green pepper and sprinkled some into whatever it was he was throwing together. He had never thought to actually taste test it, but now he did. It did taste pretty good. That was always a good sign.
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"Well judging by what Miles said, that food is pretty good- because if it wasn't, he would say so." Veronica tells Damion. Mikey's sliders are done cooking, and Veronica's sub is close. The new boys are having their orders taken, and they order a big pizza.
Miles looks over to the group. "Finally, we have an oven, just for them. Nobody else orders pizza. That lady there is my niece. the other three are somehow related to her... I don't know how.
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"Nobody orders pizza," Damion asked in shock. "How does no one order pizza? No wonder all the people in this city are so grumpy all the time."
Damion tossed the knife he was holding over his shoulder and it stuck perfect straight up and down in the cutting board behind him. Skills, Damion thought to himself.
"Ever hear of an 'everything pizza'?"
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"Um... I think?" Veronica answers, almost flinching when Damion threw the knife behind him. "People do order pizza..." Miles finishes her sentence as he tosses the dough.- "but not as much here... we aren't really a pizzeria."
(ooc: I'm creating profiles for the boys... just trying to find some creativity.)
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"Well I have made plenty of pizzas," Damion said immediately getting to work. "I'm going to blow their minds."
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(o9oc: I an so very sorry, I have been locked away from my computer for a long time, although I can't post now, I will soon.)
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"I'm not quite sure about that. Thees guys hunt for pizza across the galaxy, but it's worth a try. Especially after that food you just cooked."
veronica leaves to sit down or her sub. while one of the boys laughs out loud at a joke that another made.
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"Well I'll show them," Damion said.
He then immediately got to work on what he was to be his 'greatest creation'. At least until his next greatest creation.
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Miles finishes Veronica's sub, and readies it for presentation.
"the oldest, sitting next to my niece is Sigma. the other two are Jeremy and Ryan."
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"What's their story," Damion asked as he continued working on what he was determined to make his masterpiece.
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Miles returns from giving Veronica her sub, and continues filling orders... especially now that lunch hour seems to have started.
"Sigma is the one I know the best, since he's Erica's boyfriend. He is the oldest of them, and a powerful leader, he tends to be almost ruthlessly aggressive with his tactics though. As a group, they are a couple of underdogs, but they are rising fast. RJ and Mike are both the light-fighters of the group which is the typical standard fighter, while Jeremy is the heavy weapons of the group."
Miles leaves briefly to take some orders from the rack and returns to the conversation.
"They joke and call themselves the pigs, saying that when the battle gets so bad, it takes a miracle and flying pigs in order to win... they've got the pigs, they just need the miracle."
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"I don't believe in miracles," Damion said simply. "I never did. It was always just me and a blade against the world. It was a lousy way to live."
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Miles looks at a note slip and pulls out some ingredients to prepare the next order."Well, neither of them really exist... unless you consider the boys' mascot. His name is Bacon, and usually rides side-seat with one of them."
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"Bacon doesn't sound like a very reassuring name for a pig," Damion commented. "They sound like a very interesting bunch."
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Miles begins to make something that looks like 'Garbage', which is a mix containing eggs, bacon, lunch meats of various sorts, green peppers, onions, etc.
"They are one heck of a odd-ball group, but they are pretty good. Bacon seems a little bit appropriate, because of what happens if they fail... they all become bacon."
Miles takes a deep breath in as if he were smelling something. "how's the pizza?"