[ Yes, okay, she looks like your average 19-year-old who models for a living, but she can keep pace very easily. Certain benefits, perhaps, though it's nothing she's going to talk about. Especially when there's not the eerie creaking of something not too far up ahead, hidden for now by the shadows of ancient corridors. ]
Like I said, don’t worry about me. This isn’t my first rodeo.
[And Erik… well, he’s pretty much that you get what you see. He’s lithe, quick, scrappy in a fight. He won’t be bulldozing his way through enemies, but his daggers are nothing to scoff at.]
So what are you supposed to be? A mage seeking curses?
Something like that. I investigate rumors that sound as though they could cause problems for those around them and act to destroy them. Otherwise, they only grow stronger and become even more of a hassle.
[ She casts him a side-glance, angling her trident further away from her but still readily available to be twirled up front if need be. ]
[ Yachiyo has already come to several conclusions, first and foremost being that this is a completely different place from Kamihama. Which means her formality here will just bouncing right off of him. Honorifics won't work. Last names won't work, especially when he only provides her with his first. And so she swallows a sigh, breathes out quietly through her nose, and rolls her shoulders back.
So she's working with a thief. Felicia had been a mercenary who had happily bounded between changing sides depending on the pay. There are worse things. ]
Yachiyo. And my reasons for doing what I do are largely selfish, regardless of how I phrased it. If people will benefit from it, then that's of no concern to me.
[Something she doesn't want to talk about. Fair enough. There are some things that Erik would rather keep close to the chest, too, and they're here on business, besides.]
'Long as you know what you're doing, I won't complain.
[The corridor continues downwards at a slope. Seems like they're heading underground.]
I've been doing this sort of thing for seven years. You don't need to worry about my qualifications.
[ She's a veteran, considering how so many magical girls die young. ]
Though if you need to complain, I'll just ignore it. So feel free.
[ The path is becoming increasingly clogged with cobwebs, and Yachiyo reaches up to brush them aside, unflinching. It means this is the path so few tread. ]
Ha. It is reliable work. It’s only not reliable if you’re not fit to be a thief in the first place.
[Sure, sometimes there was the botched job or two. But those were the exception — even high-risk targets paid off more often than not. Even if he had to sometimes, ah, make a break for it.]
Usually, as long as you’re faster than the competition, or the local guards, you’ve got nothing to worry about.
[But it’s easier to commit to a life of thievery when you’ve only got yourself to worry about, and therefore only yourself to blame and to suffer for it when things go pear-shaped.]
My track record so far is pretty impressive, though. I’m not too worried.
Well, your choices are your own. I didn't come here to lecture you, after all.
[ And she won't, unless he interferes with her own goal. But right now, Yachiyo's attention is more focused on something that lies just ahead, and she holds out her arm to stop him as something... rustles ominously from overhead. ]
[ Yachiyo speaks tersely and incredibly quietly, a murmur meant for Erik's ears alone. ]
Back up very carefully. There's something overhead--
[ And as if waiting to be announced, the rustling abruptly stops-- only for a massive spider to come plummeting down with every intention of crushing them beneath its humongous body. ]
[He has stepped back a pace or two like suggested, but any point of keeping quiet is moot, now. At least Erik certainly thinks so. Because that is one giant spider careening down, and he’s jerking back even further, this time grabbing ahold of Yachiyo’s arm to make sure neither of them end up squished.]
Damn it— can’t this ever be easy?
[The floor shakes. Erik reaches for his dagger with his spare hand.]
[ Yachiyo gets hauled back before she can even properly react, blinking before she whips her head back around to the front where the spider is angrily making stabbing gestures with its front two legs. ]
If we can pin it down, it should be simple enough to finish off. Do you think you can hold its attention for a minute?
[ A bit of green saliva shimmers off the end of one fang, and Yachiyo amends-- ]
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finalflight2019-12-04 02:56 pm
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[ Yes, okay, she looks like your average 19-year-old who models for a living, but she can keep pace very easily. Certain benefits, perhaps, though it's nothing she's going to talk about. Especially when there's not the eerie creaking of something not too far up ahead, hidden for now by the shadows of ancient corridors. ]
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[And Erik… well, he’s pretty much that you get what you see. He’s lithe, quick, scrappy in a fight. He won’t be bulldozing his way through enemies, but his daggers are nothing to scoff at.]
So what are you supposed to be? A mage seeking curses?
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[ She casts him a side-glance, angling her trident further away from her but still readily available to be twirled up front if need be. ]
And you're a thief. Am I missing anything?
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[Not even a moment of hesitation.]
That’s exactly what I am. Well, depending on who you ask. Don’t go telling the local town guard.
[That’s a joke, but also— Really. Don’t.]
Not exactly as honorable as what you apparently do. Name’s Erik, by the way. What’s yours?
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So she's working with a thief. Felicia had been a mercenary who had happily bounded between changing sides depending on the pay. There are worse things. ]
Yachiyo. And my reasons for doing what I do are largely selfish, regardless of how I phrased it. If people will benefit from it, then that's of no concern to me.
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[Another joke, and whether his one is couched in truth or not? No telling. He glances at her sideways, wondering exactly what she could mean.]
How's this strictly beneficial for you?
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With all due respect, I don't have to answer that right now.
[ You have to unlock her backstory, sir. No freebies for you. ]
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All right, all right. I can take a hint.
[Something she doesn't want to talk about. Fair enough. There are some things that Erik would rather keep close to the chest, too, and they're here on business, besides.]
'Long as you know what you're doing, I won't complain.
[The corridor continues downwards at a slope. Seems like they're heading underground.]
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[ She's a veteran, considering how so many magical girls die young. ]
Though if you need to complain, I'll just ignore it. So feel free.
[ The path is becoming increasingly clogged with cobwebs, and Yachiyo reaches up to brush them aside, unflinching. It means this is the path so few tread. ]
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[The air scents stale, like dust that's been sitting for too long. He has the same thought; no one's come this way for a while. Promising.]
Seven years... How old are you exactly?
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[ Yes, please imagine a twelve-year-old throwing herself into dangerous situations. It was a good time. ]
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[Randomly, not that it matters. It seems idle compared to his next statement—]
So you mean you’ve been doing this since twelve? Seems kind of dangerous, doesn’t it? Your parents okay with it?
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[ So, she thinks, a moot point in the end. ]
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[Is he prying? Well, he’s going to do so until he’s told to shut up.]
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[ Well. She doesn't see a reason for giving him every single detail, not when this is someone she's only just encountered. ]
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Because I don’t have anyone left to worry about, or to worry about me.
[A shrug.]
So, here I am. Gotta make a living somehow.
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[ Well, then. Yachiyo shrugs, lightly. ]
Does this really make much of a living? I'd think you might want more reliable work.
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[Sure, sometimes there was the botched job or two. But those were the exception — even high-risk targets paid off more often than not. Even if he had to sometimes, ah, make a break for it.]
Usually, as long as you’re faster than the competition, or the local guards, you’ve got nothing to worry about.
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[ Not that Yachiyo can talk, considering the life expectancy of Magical Girls. ]
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[But it’s easier to commit to a life of thievery when you’ve only got yourself to worry about, and therefore only yourself to blame and to suffer for it when things go pear-shaped.]
My track record so far is pretty impressive, though. I’m not too worried.
[Sometimes you just have to tempt fate.]
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[ And she won't, unless he interferes with her own goal. But right now, Yachiyo's attention is more focused on something that lies just ahead, and she holds out her arm to stop him as something... rustles ominously from overhead. ]
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His casual air falls off of him, replaced with a frown.]
What is it?
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Back up very carefully. There's something overhead--
[ And as if waiting to be announced, the rustling abruptly stops-- only for a massive spider to come plummeting down with every intention of crushing them beneath its humongous body. ]
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What the— what the hell is that?!
[He has stepped back a pace or two like suggested, but any point of keeping quiet is moot, now. At least Erik certainly thinks so. Because that is one giant spider careening down, and he’s jerking back even further, this time grabbing ahold of Yachiyo’s arm to make sure neither of them end up squished.]
Damn it— can’t this ever be easy?
[The floor shakes. Erik reaches for his dagger with his spare hand.]
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If we can pin it down, it should be simple enough to finish off. Do you think you can hold its attention for a minute?
[ A bit of green saliva shimmers off the end of one fang, and Yachiyo amends-- ]
Without getting bitten.
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