Date: 4/17/2002 12:52 AM Central Daylight Time
From: Sarah The Stick
A solitary figure skulked down dark streets, sheer black absorbing the moonlight. Only the occasional gleam of light off pale flesh and the click of rubber against concrete betrayed her movements, though stealth held nary a fraction of her concern. It was fortunate she kept a nocturnal cadre of friends and acquaintances which owed her not a few favors. The present called
for classy work, evidence she could reasonably deny despite circumstances which instantly fingered her for any ill luck that might befall Jinnaiya, or his "true love".
One hand, trembling with excitement, obsessively touched her right front pocket to keep careful track of the small glass vials within. The other gripped the strap of a midnight-colored satchel slung over her shoulder, carried with the utmost caution. Passing a shop beneath a dim street light, Stick glanced into the walking reflection. Strong legs, well-shaped arms, firm belly, a fighter's body- and madness in her expression.
She reveled in it all.
Rubber met wood, battling the creaking door for dominance. A fight the girl would rather not witness, back where her prey slept. She bent carefully, protecting the vials while loosening and removing her boots. Sock-feet crept slowly up the wooden stairs, satchel silently opening in hands of forced calm, producing a small, metal box. It was placed to rest against the wall next to Jinn and Liet's door, one glass side facing out. A twin
appeared from the carry bag; it touched the balcony, mirroring the first. In place was signaled with a click and a quiet whirr of force rising from floor to ceiling. Four more were placed in succession, two across from the first pair, the others lined next to those against the balcony railing, using the door to form an unbreakable box of barely-visible force.
Stick crept to the first floor, especially cautious of noise, forgetting only she could hear the pounding of her heart. One vial was removed from her pocket as waiting boots slipped over her feet. It sparked with magic arcs between miniscule vapors anticipating release. Slinking back into the alley, taking a rock of ample size and a roll of tape from the opposite pocket, the seeker of vengeance created her own magical bomb. With an aim, a
throw, and a patter of loud, running footsteps around the corner and to the door of the Red Dragon, she left behind a room with shattered glass and fire crackling to life.
Beginnings of Revenge
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Re: Beginnings of Revenge
Date: 4/17/2002 10:17 PM Central Daylight Time
From: Liet Duran
It would be so tidy, so very Rhydinian, to say that Liet's sleep that night was wracked with dreams, nightmares in which madness stalked her down cobbled streets; to say that she tossed, twitched and turned in her restless sleep ... but it wouldn't be true.
The fact of the matter is that the strongest feeling in both her conscious and subconscious mind was one of relief: that she'd made it back to the Outback okay, that Jinnaiya had so quickly forgiven her long absence, and that (so far) his friends didn't seem to hold the pain she'd caused him against her. In fact, if her sleep was at all restless that night, it was probably due to the fact that they'd done so much sleeping in the past couple
of days.
Bailey twitched out of a dog-dream just as someone was going quietly down the stairs outside their door. It wasn't unusual, though, and the big dog just shook his head a couple times, stretched and rolled onto his back on the big dog-bed, feet in the air, and snored.
She wasn't aware of the dog's snore; she wasn't aware of the crystal sound of breaking glass, either. But, suddenly, she was aware of Bailey barking wildly, and she was aware of Jinnaiya pulling her bodily from the bed, fingers digging into her arms until he had her up and in his grasp.
She was definitely awake by the time he yanked open the door to the building's interior balcony and slammed, Liet-first, into ... solid air?
She moved so easily,
all I could think of was sunlight.
[Paul Simon, "I Know What I Know"]
From: Liet Duran
It would be so tidy, so very Rhydinian, to say that Liet's sleep that night was wracked with dreams, nightmares in which madness stalked her down cobbled streets; to say that she tossed, twitched and turned in her restless sleep ... but it wouldn't be true.
The fact of the matter is that the strongest feeling in both her conscious and subconscious mind was one of relief: that she'd made it back to the Outback okay, that Jinnaiya had so quickly forgiven her long absence, and that (so far) his friends didn't seem to hold the pain she'd caused him against her. In fact, if her sleep was at all restless that night, it was probably due to the fact that they'd done so much sleeping in the past couple
of days.
Bailey twitched out of a dog-dream just as someone was going quietly down the stairs outside their door. It wasn't unusual, though, and the big dog just shook his head a couple times, stretched and rolled onto his back on the big dog-bed, feet in the air, and snored.
She wasn't aware of the dog's snore; she wasn't aware of the crystal sound of breaking glass, either. But, suddenly, she was aware of Bailey barking wildly, and she was aware of Jinnaiya pulling her bodily from the bed, fingers digging into her arms until he had her up and in his grasp.
She was definitely awake by the time he yanked open the door to the building's interior balcony and slammed, Liet-first, into ... solid air?
She moved so easily,
all I could think of was sunlight.
[Paul Simon, "I Know What I Know"]
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Re: Beginnings of Revenge
Date: 4/18/2002 10:12 PM Central Daylight Time
From: Jinnaiya
The first series of scratches woke him a tiny bit, he'd been sleeping hard the last few days since Liet got back, so his animal instincts were back up to par. The second series of scratches got Bai's attention, so both of their heads had popped up and looked towards the door. Silence prevailed for a bit after that so the both settled back again, Bailey chuffing, and
Jinnaiya snorting back in agreeance. Noisy patrons, in fact, he suspected a few of those patrons getting 'lucky' and keeping him up most of the night before then.
He'd just made it back to sleep, twitching ever so lightly the way he did before sinking into sweet slumber when the crash had him and Bailey up in an instant. He was too shaken to try and figure out what was going on until Bailey's warning barking flushed him into hot awareness. The room was still blurry to his sleep laden eyes, but he knew exactly where Liet was and pulled her into a sit.
"Let's go babe, c'mon, we have to get out of here. Wake up sweetie.. " He was trying to remain calm, panicking would only result in injuries and mayhem, and living in Jurakis' cabins, he'd dealt with plenty of fires from the sorcerers spells gone awry.
"Bai, the door." Trying to calm the barking down, Liet was coherent enough to realize what was going on so he scooped her up and headed towards the door. Out they went but as Jinnaiya turned his head to try to discern why Bailey was lingering back looking wary, *thud* Liet was discovering that air could be pretty hard.
"What the.. " they both spoke at the same time while Jinn stared hard at the stairs that were now out of reach. Thanks to the wind tunnel effect the fire had crackled worse and the smell was overwhelming. With a sudden idea he was turning to the window and racing across with Liet tucked tightly against his chest. If there was ever a time he thanked Jurakis for creating him with super human strength, it was then.
"Alright, out!" He was nearly just tossing her out the window, he wanted her far and away from the heat and danger, but like a cat fighting to stay out of the cat carrier, she had both feet and hands against the window frame.
"No, Bailey first!" With ever growing panic he set her down gently, opened the window fully and patted the sill.
"C'mon boy, show our girl how it's done." With a slight whine looking from the window to Liet, he finally flopped out and easily dropped to the ground with a minor chuff. Jinnaiya looked from the ground to the tree that he used to climb up and jump over to the window from and back to Liet.
"Alright, I'm going next, " he could see she was still riddled with a bit of sleep and he wanted to be out there to pad her landing, "I'll catch you, but jump as soon as you see me turn alright?" He wanted her out of danger as quick as possible.
Quickly climbing out, he pushed off to grasp a tree limb, wasn't as easy when in human form and he missed, dropping hard and hurting quite a few muscles that were prepared for the limb catching. Wrinkling his nose, he turned to catch his girl, arms extended and waiting impatiently.
"C'mon babe!!!" the waiting was worse when your favorite person was the one in danger.
From: Jinnaiya
The first series of scratches woke him a tiny bit, he'd been sleeping hard the last few days since Liet got back, so his animal instincts were back up to par. The second series of scratches got Bai's attention, so both of their heads had popped up and looked towards the door. Silence prevailed for a bit after that so the both settled back again, Bailey chuffing, and
Jinnaiya snorting back in agreeance. Noisy patrons, in fact, he suspected a few of those patrons getting 'lucky' and keeping him up most of the night before then.
He'd just made it back to sleep, twitching ever so lightly the way he did before sinking into sweet slumber when the crash had him and Bailey up in an instant. He was too shaken to try and figure out what was going on until Bailey's warning barking flushed him into hot awareness. The room was still blurry to his sleep laden eyes, but he knew exactly where Liet was and pulled her into a sit.
"Let's go babe, c'mon, we have to get out of here. Wake up sweetie.. " He was trying to remain calm, panicking would only result in injuries and mayhem, and living in Jurakis' cabins, he'd dealt with plenty of fires from the sorcerers spells gone awry.
"Bai, the door." Trying to calm the barking down, Liet was coherent enough to realize what was going on so he scooped her up and headed towards the door. Out they went but as Jinnaiya turned his head to try to discern why Bailey was lingering back looking wary, *thud* Liet was discovering that air could be pretty hard.
"What the.. " they both spoke at the same time while Jinn stared hard at the stairs that were now out of reach. Thanks to the wind tunnel effect the fire had crackled worse and the smell was overwhelming. With a sudden idea he was turning to the window and racing across with Liet tucked tightly against his chest. If there was ever a time he thanked Jurakis for creating him with super human strength, it was then.
"Alright, out!" He was nearly just tossing her out the window, he wanted her far and away from the heat and danger, but like a cat fighting to stay out of the cat carrier, she had both feet and hands against the window frame.
"No, Bailey first!" With ever growing panic he set her down gently, opened the window fully and patted the sill.
"C'mon boy, show our girl how it's done." With a slight whine looking from the window to Liet, he finally flopped out and easily dropped to the ground with a minor chuff. Jinnaiya looked from the ground to the tree that he used to climb up and jump over to the window from and back to Liet.
"Alright, I'm going next, " he could see she was still riddled with a bit of sleep and he wanted to be out there to pad her landing, "I'll catch you, but jump as soon as you see me turn alright?" He wanted her out of danger as quick as possible.
Quickly climbing out, he pushed off to grasp a tree limb, wasn't as easy when in human form and he missed, dropping hard and hurting quite a few muscles that were prepared for the limb catching. Wrinkling his nose, he turned to catch his girl, arms extended and waiting impatiently.
"C'mon babe!!!" the waiting was worse when your favorite person was the one in danger.
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Re: Beginnings of Revenge
Date: 4/19/2002 7:31 PM Central Daylight Time
From: Liet Duran
After watching Bailey and Jinnaiya land, Liet braced her hands on either side of the window and started to slip a foot over the sill. Below her, Bailey was staring anxiously up at her, twisting himself in circles but only occasionally barking. She looked back for a moment, eyes tearing from both the heat and the force of the wind sucked in by the fire. Her
instinct wasn't to flee, but to run down the hallway, banging on doors and waking up the other residents before the fire could spread—but they'd already discovered that the hallway just wasn't a way out.
Jinnaiya was yelling now, calling for her to jump; but as she turned back to the window, her eyes caught on her smaller pack—the one containing her handheld, her passbook, all the contact information she needed. She couldn't leave that behind! She pulled back in the window and dashed across the room, snatching it just before the fire roared up the nearby wall and engulfed the chair against which the pack had been leaning. The smell of the fire
was pungent, acrid, and it felt as if the heat would singe away the fine hairs on her arm. Coughing, she went back to the window and tossed the pack, yelling, "Catch it!"
Once again, she braced herself and tossed a leg over the sill. The wood was beginning to feel hot, even though the fire hadn't quite made it back to the window through which it had been launched. Jinnaiya stood below, her pack on the ground beside him, and stepped forward with his arms out. "You gotta jump, babe! Don't try to grab anything else, just jump!"
"Back up!" she yelled back. "You can't catch me, 'Naiya, we'll both get hurt!" She hunkered down on the sill, ducking below the raised window and pulling her other leg out. "Get out of the way!" she yelled when he seemed reluctant to move, then launched herself.
Behind her, the window glowed like a portal into hell itself; before her, the ground rushed up in in seeming slow-motion. Mid-air, she tried to rethink her landing and began to tuck herself into a ball—but it was too late for a change of strategy, and she landed crooked and off-square. There was a sickening snap from her ankle and she rolled forward with a strangled yell, flipping over her shoulder and rolling again until she finally came to
rest on her back. She pounded her fists against the ground, trying not to writhe in pain, knowing that would only make it worse, and groaned through clenched teeth.
"Maybe," she managed to say, "I should have let you catch me."
She moved so easily,
all I could think of was sunlight.
[Paul Simon, "I Know What I Know"]
From: Liet Duran
After watching Bailey and Jinnaiya land, Liet braced her hands on either side of the window and started to slip a foot over the sill. Below her, Bailey was staring anxiously up at her, twisting himself in circles but only occasionally barking. She looked back for a moment, eyes tearing from both the heat and the force of the wind sucked in by the fire. Her
instinct wasn't to flee, but to run down the hallway, banging on doors and waking up the other residents before the fire could spread—but they'd already discovered that the hallway just wasn't a way out.
Jinnaiya was yelling now, calling for her to jump; but as she turned back to the window, her eyes caught on her smaller pack—the one containing her handheld, her passbook, all the contact information she needed. She couldn't leave that behind! She pulled back in the window and dashed across the room, snatching it just before the fire roared up the nearby wall and engulfed the chair against which the pack had been leaning. The smell of the fire
was pungent, acrid, and it felt as if the heat would singe away the fine hairs on her arm. Coughing, she went back to the window and tossed the pack, yelling, "Catch it!"
Once again, she braced herself and tossed a leg over the sill. The wood was beginning to feel hot, even though the fire hadn't quite made it back to the window through which it had been launched. Jinnaiya stood below, her pack on the ground beside him, and stepped forward with his arms out. "You gotta jump, babe! Don't try to grab anything else, just jump!"
"Back up!" she yelled back. "You can't catch me, 'Naiya, we'll both get hurt!" She hunkered down on the sill, ducking below the raised window and pulling her other leg out. "Get out of the way!" she yelled when he seemed reluctant to move, then launched herself.
Behind her, the window glowed like a portal into hell itself; before her, the ground rushed up in in seeming slow-motion. Mid-air, she tried to rethink her landing and began to tuck herself into a ball—but it was too late for a change of strategy, and she landed crooked and off-square. There was a sickening snap from her ankle and she rolled forward with a strangled yell, flipping over her shoulder and rolling again until she finally came to
rest on her back. She pounded her fists against the ground, trying not to writhe in pain, knowing that would only make it worse, and groaned through clenched teeth.
"Maybe," she managed to say, "I should have let you catch me."
She moved so easily,
all I could think of was sunlight.
[Paul Simon, "I Know What I Know"]