Re: [Episode] Thawing Time

Sun Oct 20, 2019 2:40 pm

[ seize life with your own hands ]

Back on the deck of the slaver’s ship two figures could be seen exchanging attacks, the taller of the two angrily rubbing a spot on his head where a small welt was forming as he fired off pistol shots [Sinclair’s MT] and kicks [Sinclair’s LT]. The shorter of the two, a young tomboyish woman was dodging the shots but could be seen taking a few kicks instead. Though what couldn’t be missed was her merciless assault on Sinclair’s abdomen, each strike landed felt as if he was being punched by iron rods. [Tenderized Ribs]

Miku on the other hand had begun swinging recklessly trying to put the bastard down, allowing holes in her defenses to focus on getting every punch in possible. [Reckless Abandon] This also manifested in the Rascal focusing her Haki into hardening her fists and arms, enhancing the force of her punches. This bastard didn’t deserve an ounce of her mercy and she planned to punish him for everything he had ever done to the people of her island. [Busoshoku Haki]

“You damn, br-eegh!” Sinclair yelled as he was suddenly punched in the face by Miku’s Dirty Straight. “You lost the right to talk!” Miku roared before dodging another kick [Sinclair’s LT] and following up with another punch. [Miku’s UT] The Rascal was finally hit with a weak punch that mostly shoved her back and away from Sinclair. [Sinclair’s UT]

As the two separated, the three boys from earlier had made their way onto the ship and stayed near the railing of the ship. Miku saw them from the corner of her vision but ignored them for the moment. Sinclair was holding his abdomen with his free hand, as he struggled to catch his breath. Blood was coughed up by the slaver as he wretched, feeling the internal damage done by the damned Rascal before him. “You little BITCH!!!” Sinclair yelled as he coughed up more blood and quickly wiped it away. “I’m going to personally keep you as a whipping girl now.” He began to rant while shakily reloading his pistol. His hair had become disheveled, his well kept outfit showing blood stains, cuts, and rips, and his left eye was quickly darkening from that dirty shot from earlier.

The Rascal simply smashed her fists together, causing a loud ringing noise to emanate from her Knuckles. The three kids from earlier were now shouting insults at Sinclair while cheering for Miku. “Show em what appen’s!!” “Get da bastard!” “Get it Big Sis!!” The three young teens were cheering such things while Miku’s frown lessened slightly. It was different to hear people yelling for her instead of at her for once. It was nice. The Rascal shot the kids a look that momentarily silenced them before she smirked and gave them a quick thumbs up. This caused them to start cheering with more fervor than before. The young woman then turned back to Sinclair who had finished reloading his gun.

@Frenzy

COMBAT TRACKERS:

MIKU'S STATS:

MIKU'S RATIOS:

USED 3 TECHNIQUES | 1 TOGGLES | 1 HAKI:

2 TECHNIQUES ACTIVE | 0 TOGGLES | 0 HAKI ACTIVE:

2 TECHNIQUES COOLING DOWN | 0 HAKI COOLING DOWN:

BOSS STATS:

BOSS RATIOS:

BOSS TECHNIQUES USED:

Sun Oct 20, 2019 9:19 pm

1A --> Fran uses AoE [Lightning Shower] on Derek.
1B --> Fran uses UT on Derek.

2A --> Derek uses LT on Fran.
2B --> Derek uses LT on Fran.
2C --> Derek uses UT on Fran.

Sun Oct 20, 2019 9:19 pm

The member 'Frenzy' has done the following action : Dice Roll

#1 'Reflex Check' : 9, 2

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 6, 13, 18

Tue Nov 12, 2019 3:34 am

❝

...HOW FOOLISH.

NOT EVEN WORTH MY TIME.

PAPILLON D. FRAN

As the youth flew out of the cloud of red powder, he lurched forward with the point of his blade aimed for Fran’s face. She jerked her chair backwards, but his hand shot out and gripped her arm, stopping her attempted retreat short. Gritting her teeth, Fran swung her face to the side and the blade’s edge sliced against her cheek, the intended stab only narrowing missing its mark.

Shoving him away, Fran’s breath became ragged as blood trickled from her fresh wound and a lock from her thick curls fell over her forehead, concealing the gradual formation of the second set of rings surrounding her pupils. She sucked in an unsteady breath, but already the uncontrollable frenzy and hysteria was bubbling to the surface like a dark, angry monster rising from the depths of the abyss.

The youth was taunting again, flipping and twirling the knife in the air, his lips moving but the sound of blood pumping rose in her ears, until she could no longer discern the words he spoke. The knife whizzed through the air and sank into Fran’s shoulder. [LT] However, despite the spurt of blood erupting from the wound, there was only a minimal response from the chair-bound huntress. With her lowered head still casting an impenetrable veil over her features and her unnerving and eerie silence, the young delinquent tilted his head curiously to one side.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?” asked the youth, pursing his thin lips irritably.

He stepped forward, slowly at first, but when Fran still remained unmoving, he sauntered forward with renewed confidence. He stopped directly in front of the woman, a smirk playing on his lips as he reached for his knife still embedded in the huntress’s shoulder.

His fingertips brushed the base of his weapon when her hand shot up, snatching up his wrist in a bone-crushing grip. Crying out aloud, he flinched and pulled back, but despite the impairment of her legs, the young woman’s hold was powerful and he couldn’t prevent himself from letting slip a weak moan of pain.

“Let go,” he growled, kicking viciously at her ankles. [UT]

Unflinchingly, Fran slowly lifted her face before twisting the youth’s arm until he let out an agonised wail and abruptly releasing his arm. She shoved him away again and lifted the barrel of her rifle to the ceiling of the cavern.

[Lightning Shower] Her expression blank and empty of feeling, she squeezed the trigger and a bullet sizzling with yellow energy shot from her rifle and exploding on the cavern’s roof. In addition to the resounding shock, the pulse shooting from her weapon cast a tremendous racket, the walls of the cavern shaking and trembling, gradually growing louder and louder, until it became a perpetual rumble.

Lightning crackled as though the huntress had summoned a storm, tendrils of electricity racing up and down the web of streams tracing the cavern walls and dripping from the numerous stalactites. Gently and with the care of a poised empress, Fran delicately laid her rifle length-wise in her lap.

She might have easily passed as cool, calm and collected, if not for the feverish and wild nature of her eyes. There was something almost primal and bestial about her glare; the way her eyes appeared narrower, darker and seemed to have sunk further into her face. The dark rings from her insomniac nights were further pronounced, seeming to make her face appear more gaunt and lifeless.

As the storm whirled around her, she seemed to be at the centre of it all, the contained electricity whipping the long strands of her hair around her body. The youth took a shaky step back and though her electrifying attack hadn’t harmed him directly, his face was pale and almost blue with unspoken terror.

BY RIMY :hearts: OF BTN

COMBAT TRACKERS:

PLAYER STATS:

PLAYER RATIOS:

USED 2 TECHNIQUES | 0 TOGGLES | 0 HAKI:

1 TECHNIQUES ACTIVE | 0 TOGGLES | 0 HAKI ACTIVE:

3 TECHNIQUES COOLING DOWN | 0 HAKI COOLING DOWN:

CREW COMPANION STATS:

CREW COMPANION RATIOS:

CREW COMPANION TECHNIQUES USED:

OPPONENT STATS:

OPPONENT RATIOS:

OPPONENT TECHNIQUES USED:

Wed Nov 13, 2019 11:25 pm

Miku uses HT [Solar Plexus Punch] on Sinclair. Roll 1A.
Miku uses LT [Slugger] on Sinclair. Roll 1B.
Miku uses UT [Punch] on Sinclair. Roll 1C.

Sinclair uses HT on Miku. Roll 2A.
Sinclair uses UT on Miku. Roll 2B.

Wed Nov 13, 2019 11:25 pm

The member 'Miku E. Sato' has done the following action : Dice Roll

#1 'Reflex Check' : 18, 14, 1

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 15, 20

Thu Nov 14, 2019 12:07 am

[ seize life with your own hands ]

The cheering of the children and the ‘cool’ attitude of the tiny young woman had Sinclair practically foaming at the mouth in rage. “How DARE you!? Don’t you know who I am!?” The slaver began to frantically search in one of his numerous coat pockets as he began muttering under his breath about all the horrible things he was planning on doing to this particular batch of kids. Sinclair had a few rounds of extremely volatile ammunition that would blast holes in the side of ships, so he could only fantasize about what it would do to the damned midget in front of him.

With higher spirits, the Rascal turned back to see Sinclair searching his pockets while trying to kill her with his glare. She simply smirked and began to run at him again, to which he grit his teeth and finally pulled out whatever he was looking for with a malicious look in his eye while loading it. Miku had a bad feeling about it and when he raised the pistol to aim at her she quickly got into his personal space to increase the difficulty of the shot. As the man cursed her and attempted to smack her with his pistol, managing to hit her pretty well with the butt of his pistol. [Sinclair’s UT]. However she took the hit to get her own hit in and drove her fist right into a nerve cluster she knew keeled over even the biggest of men. [HT Solar Plexus Punch]

Sinclair’s mouth opened in a silent gasp as he felt all the air in his lungs get forced out by the punch. He looked down at the form of the damned Rascal and lined up his pistol and took a shot, shooting a hole right over her shoulder and blasting a whole into the deck itself. Miku grinned despite the pain in her head and landed two more punches into his abdomen, the first a quick jab [Miku’s UT] and the second a more powerful punch that actually sent Sinclair stumbling back a few feet. [LT Slugger]

The slaver was gasping for air as he held his side where Miku had punched him. “You little…” More gasps and shallow breaths interrupted his ranting as Miku simply wiped away the some of the blood that had begun slowly trickling down her forehead from where he struck her on the head. “Little Rascal? I get that a lot, why don’t you come up with something more original?” The Rascal taunted while winding up her arm to continue the beatings until her morale as well as the kids cheering in the background improved.

@Frenzy

COMBAT TRACKERS:

MIKU'S STATS:

MIKU'S RATIOS:

USED 0 TECHNIQUES | 0 TOGGLES | 0 HAKI:

1 TECHNIQUES ACTIVE | 1 TOGGLES | 1 HAKI ACTIVE:

3 TECHNIQUES COOLING DOWN | 0 HAKI COOLING DOWN:

BOSS STATS:

BOSS RATIOS:

BOSS TECHNIQUES USED:

Sun Nov 17, 2019 9:32 pm

1A --> Fran uses LT [A Bullet's Love] against Derek.
1B --> Fran uses LT [Dethrone the King] against Derek.
1C --> Fran uses UT against Derek.

2A --> Derek uses LT against Fran.
2B --> Derek uses LT against Fran.
2C --> Derek uses UT against Fran.

Sun Nov 17, 2019 9:32 pm

The member 'Frenzy' has done the following action : Dice Roll

#1 'Reflex Check' : 1, 4, 14

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 8, 16, 7

Tue Nov 26, 2019 5:06 am

❝

...HOW FOOLISH.

NOT EVEN WORTH MY TIME.

PAPILLON D. FRAN

As electricity spun sizzling tracks along the network of streams running up and down the cavern walls, the youth’s expression hardened.

“What is this?” he snarled. “I’m disappointed in you, Fran.”

As the black circles faded from her pupils, the disabled sniper sat slumped in her chair. Despite her eyes twitching in annoyance at the over-familiarity in the youth’s tone, she was too exhausted to summon the energy to retort. Her breathing had become ragged and disturbed, allowing the silver-haired boy to leap forward and swing his fists at her, his pale-blue knuckles ramming into the side of her head. [UT]

Fran’s body swung to the side and she let out a grunt as her chair fell to the side. Toppling to the ground, she landed with a loud thud and her earlier injuries caused a lightning spasm of pain to race through her temples. Groaning, her eyes were squeezed shut as her body stiffened.

As Fran struggled to prop herself up by her elbows, the youth’s boot suddenly came crashing up, connecting squarely with her stomach. [LT] Letting out a choked gasp, Fran was flung across the cavern and smashed into a nearby boulder.

Another stream of blood trickled down from the crown of her head and her breath seemed to come out in mists. She raised a trembling hand clutching a revolver she’d drawn from her sleeve and fired three shots, each of which were fluidly dodged by her agile opponent.

“I’ve dreamed of exacting revenge on you for ten years,” said the youth as he stepped across a puddle towards the fallen huntress.

“I don’t know who you are,” replied Fran through ragged breaths.

Her words only seemed to cast an even darker shadow over the youth’s pale features. Fran lifted her revolver again and fired until the bullets in the chambers were spent. Each shot had pierced his body [UT] and his limbs jerked with every hit, but he didn’t stop advancing upon her.

With the hammer clicking against empty chambers, Fran tossed her revolved aside and raised her fists, as though ready to engage in close combat with him. However, her disadvantage was clear and her disability proved to quickly aid in her inevitable suppression.

The youth’s fingers wrapped firmly around her throat, his thumbs digging under her jaw. [LT] As Fran’s eyes bulged, her consciousness faded…

***

Flashback…

“Ahh!”

An excruciating cry filled the room and orange flames from a lantern perched on the centre of a wooden desk threw the shapes of three thin silhouettes against the dark wallpaper. The owner of the largest silhouette was a tall man with a thick beard, his fists raised before slamming into a young boy with rosy cheeks and unruly auburn hair.

“Stop it! Stop it!” cried a voice from the third individual.

She was a small girl with short black hair that seemed to shine indigo under a different light; it was a smaller and much younger Fran. She was huddling in the corner of the dark room, the red-haired boy standing with his arms outstretched in a feeble attempt to protect her against the rabid adult assaulting him.

“You can’t harvest Fran!” cried the boy, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Father, please! She’s my friend!”

“Get out of the way, boy!” thundered the man. “Children, especially girls, are worth nearly half their weight in berries! I don’t care who she is to you, she’s worth more to me than she is to you!”

The man tossed the boy aside and reached for Fran, who let out a terrified whimper as she cowered smaller and smaller into her corner. Her terrified shrieks filled the room as she struggled against the Harvester, who knotted her wrists together before flinging her onto his shoulder.

“Father, no!” wailed the boy.

Fran let out another high-pitched scream as the father kicked the boy roughly. Yet, even as blood streamed down his nose and his left eye was sealed shut from the bruises already swelling around his eyes, the boy still bravely latched onto his father’s leg, as though to shackle him and prevent him from taking Fran away.

“Stop! Stop!” cried Fran, tears and snot streaming down her face. “Derek, stop!”

“I won’t let you take Fran,” growled Derek, his eyes darkening with determination.

“Derek!” screamed Fran, drawing his attention to her. Suddenly, she broke out into a toothy grin. “It’s okay, Derek! I’m strong and I won’t let the Harvest kill me. So, please stop!”

Derek froze, as though depleting of all energy and his face slumped in defeat, tears streaming down and dripping onto the filthy wooden floors. As his father carted Fran away, the young boy buried his face into his arms and let out a desolate and anguished howl.

BY RIMY :hearts: OF BTN

COMBAT TRACKERS:

PLAYER STATS:

PLAYER RATIOS:

USED 2 TECHNIQUES | 0 TOGGLES | 0 HAKI:

0 TECHNIQUES ACTIVE | 0 TOGGLES | 0 HAKI ACTIVE:

3 TECHNIQUES COOLING DOWN | 0 HAKI COOLING DOWN:

CREW COMPANION STATS:

CREW COMPANION RATIOS:

CREW COMPANION TECHNIQUES USED:

OPPONENT STATS:

OPPONENT RATIOS:

OPPONENT TECHNIQUES USED:

Tue Nov 26, 2019 7:20 pm

Miku uses HT [Rascal Cannon] on Sinclair Croft. Roll 1A.
Miku uses LT [Dirty Straight] on Sinclair Croft. Roll 1B.
Miku uses UT on Sinclair Croft. Roll 1C.

Sinclair Croft uses MT on Miku. Roll 2A.
Sinclair Croft uses LT on Miku. Roll 2B.
Sinclair Croft uses LT on Miku. Roll 2C.
Sinclair Croft uses UT on Miku. Roll 2D.

Tue Nov 26, 2019 7:20 pm

The member 'Miku E. Sato' has done the following action : Dice Roll

#1 'Reflex Check' : 6, 5, 11

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 1, 15, 7, 10

Tue Nov 26, 2019 8:45 pm

[ seize life with your own hands ]

The group of young escapees burst onto the cove from the caverns entrance only to stop and stare in shock at what lay before them. This allowed Jude, along with Olivia, Lincoln and Ursula, to catch up to them as they had fallen behind the more energetic kids. As the group finally walked up to where the other kids were standing the bright light forced them to slowly adjust their eyes to what was before them. As their vision slowly focused and cleared, there were several gasps of shock.

All across the sandy cove bodies were strewn about, some lying in heaps, others sticking out of the sand in strange angles, others passed out as if they had attempted to crawl away before succumbing to their wounds. Blood stained the sands as some of the bodies had their own bones piercing their skin, some of the men on the cove couldn’t possibly survive the wounds that the young children were all staring upon. Jude recovered first and tried to usher the kids away from the bodies as best he could, “We need to keep moving everyone, just ignore them and let’s consider ourselves lucky.” He said with a soothing tone that he hoped helped. The group began to move away from the sight when Ursula pointed with her hand towards the docked ship just off the cove, “Look!”

As if to punctuate the young girls own words a loud gunshot rang out from the deck of the ship, causing anyone who hadn’t turned at Ursula’s prompting to quickly rectify that. Everyone saw what looked to be a small person fighting against the man who had beaten and promised even more horrible things were in store for all of them. “I… I want to see…” The young girl whispered shyly as the fighting seemed to intensify. Jude looked unsure and knew he had to keep these children safe, Fran had left him with this task. After a few moments of thought he made his decision. “Alright, but all of you need to stay behind me. If anything happens you’re all to run.” He said with a stern tone that he wasn’t used to ever using on anyone. With that said they all began to slowly advance towards the ship.

Slaver’s Deck

The Rascal’s blue eyes narrowed as she took a few seconds to observe Sinclair. The man was obviously still winded and it seemed he was finally slowing down from all the hits she had managed to land on him. ‘This could be my chance to end this once and for all’ The woman thought to herself before raising her fists back up and rushing at the man.

‘I can’t believe this, I refuse to beli-aah!!’ Sinclair’s thoughts were interrupted as he tried to catch his breath was interrupted by the approaching brat who was suddenly in his face. ‘Is she getting faster?!’ Were his thoughts as she slammed a fist into his gut suddenly. [LT Dirty Straight] This caused him to spit out a mixture of blood and spittle which Miku weaved under moving around him to kick him causing the man to stagger away from her. The Rascal saw that he was about to lift his pistol to aim and rushed into his guard making it difficult for him to aim. Sinclair cursed and looked down while rearing back his pistol to whip her on top of the head with it’s handle again only to freeze when he saw the look on her face. The woman had a toothy grin as she looked straight into his eyes, she had set her legs into a wide stance and had a single arm reared back.

“It’s over.” “No-” This exchange was interrupted by the Rascal’s fist burying itself deep into Sinclair’s gut causing him to literally bend over her arm before the momentum behind the punch sent him careening back towards the rail of the ship. [HT Rascal Cannon] The man smashed into the railing and ended up falling over the edge of the ship and into the shallow waters of the cove. Miku shook her hand out as she walked towards the edge of the deck to see where Sinclair had gone. As she looked over the edge she saw his body floating face down in the shallow water, unmoving.

“You disgusting pig, you won’t be laying a hand on anyone ever again…” Miku whispered to herself as she simply looked at the floating body. If he wasn’t dead from her spine shattering punch then he would simply drown in the shallows of the very waters he called his own. The Rascal looked up from the body to spot a ragtag group of children being led by a young man with light blue hair. They seemed nervous and stood amongst the bodies of the crew she had decimated. Miku saw their footprints in the sand trailing off to the side of the cove towards what appeared to be a cave she hadn’t seen when she rushed towards the ship.

The group stayed back but the young man continued walking towards her, his eyes darting up to her and then to the floating body of Sinclair. “Did… is he… Who are…” Jude wasn’t what to ask first as he moved up to the body of Sinclair, his feet submerged in the shallow water. The young man slowly reached down and turned over the body. Sinclair’s face was a contortion of pain and surprise, his eyes glazed and unliving. “You… you did it…” Jude said shakily as he actually sank to his knees, eyes watering as emotions began to overwhelm him.

Miku simply watched the exchange with mild interest, she wasn’t exactly sure what to do here. She looked back at the two other children who were on deck with her and they were much closer than before, to her surprise. The looks in their eyes were full of admiration and she quickly realized that she had no idea what she was doing. This whole thing started with her being pissed off and charging at these bastards to find Fra-FRAN! Miku’s eyes shot open as she realized she still hadn’t actually found her friend.

The Rascal turned back to the railing, grabbing a hold of it, and shouted at the group of presumed escapees. “Have any of you seen a woman in a wheelchair? Long black hair, crimson eyes, you can’t miss her!” At this outburst multiple children started to shout and point back towards the cave they came from. Miku couldn’t really make out what they were saying but it was obvious enough, she had to get to Fran. Who knew what they had done to her.

Miku jumped off the railing and landing on the sand running, ignoring Sinclair’s corpse and allowing the kids to deal with whatever closure they needed.

@Frenzy

COMBAT TRACKERS:

MIKU'S STATS:

MIKU'S RATIOS:

USED 3 TECHNIQUES | 0 TOGGLES | 0 HAKI:

2 TECHNIQUES ACTIVE | 1 TOGGLES | 0 HAKI ACTIVE:

2 TECHNIQUES COOLING DOWN | 1 HAKI COOLING DOWN:

BOSS STATS:

BOSS RATIOS:

BOSS TECHNIQUES USED:

Tue Nov 26, 2019 9:07 pm

Roll 1A --> Fran uses UT against Derek.

Roll 2A --> Derek uses HT against Fran.
Roll 2B --> Derek uses UT against Fran.

Tue Nov 26, 2019 9:07 pm

The member 'Frenzy' has done the following action : Dice Roll

#1 'Reflex Check' : 7

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 4, 15

Thu Nov 28, 2019 1:03 am

❝

...HOW FOOLISH.

NOT EVEN WORTH MY TIME.

PAPILLON D. FRAN

Outside the dark room, a violent snowstorm was in full flurry, whipping up torrents of snapping frost at the two individuals. Sinclair Croft, Derek’s father, trudged like an abominable beast through the thick blanket of dirty snow. Dusty particles of snow clung to his beard and eyebrows, transforming his face into something reminiscent to the bloodlusting bear-apes residing among the high alps of Centaurea’s coldest mountains.

The streets were emptied entirely of life, the usual homeless either seeking feeble shelter elsewhere or buried beneath a white grave. Young Fran’s sobs were muted by the howling wind, her face pressed against her captor’s shoulder.

“Fran! Fran!”

The young detainee raised her face, frost clinging to where her tears had smeared across her cheeks. Her crimson eyes narrowed as they peered through the air filled with mist, snow and biting wind. Her eyes widened as she briefly caught sight of a head of blue.

“Miku!” she wailed, fresh tears streaming down her face. “Help me!”

However, Sinclair grunted heartlessly and he continued his dogged trek through the storm. The image of her friend disappeared and Fran never saw her again. Only the sound of her own name echoing in the tragic night continued to haunt her.

“FRAN!!!”

***

Thrown into a cold cellar, Fran huddled in a grey gown with her bare feet shackled. Her prison was freezing and her toes were already blue and black from frostbite. Shivering, the young girl’s tears were all but spent and her eyes were glazed over in hopeless and desolate defeat.

In an ineffective attempt to retain her rapidly dropping body heat, Fran pulled her knees closer to her chest, but her shoulders trembled violently in the freezing environment. There was no light in her prison, with the exception of a pale yellow glow faintly filtering through the tiny keyhole from the door.

Through the stone walls, Fran could pick up the muted sobs from other children similar to her in neighbouring cells. Fear gripped her entire body and her heart clenched with every sudden sound echoing from outside.

“Eek!”

A key clicked into her cell door and several seconds later, it swung open. The abrupt surge of light, as meagre as it was from a dying candle, blinded Fran momentarily and she cowered away from it in terror. She heard the sound of a thud and the clanking of chains, but didn’t raise her head until the door slammed shut again.

Wrapping her arms around her knees again, Fran buried her face into them. She knew there was now another chained child sharing her cell. This was nothing out of the ordinary; many others had come and gone, and she herself had been shifted from cell to cell since she’d been Harvested.

Fran’s concept of time had quickly been warped since her capture. Had hours passed? Days? Years? Was this all a dream? Had no time passed at all? Was she passed out from cold and hunger on the snowy, unforgiving streets of Centaurea? Time could have been frozen for all the young Fran knew. When would it thaw?

***

Silence dragged on and her cellmate made no attempt to talk to her and she made no attempt to talk to him. Occasionally, she would hear the sound of despairing sobs, but the reservoir in her heart was already too numb to shed new tears.

The door opened again.

This time, Fran was taken and her eyes remained trained unseeingly to the ground. Her blistered feet felt sharp stings of white pain with every step she took, but she obediently followed the Harvester’s lead, knowing that if she ever faltered, she would be punished with even greater physical pain.

The chains around her ankles and wrists were heavy and her form slumped forward as she walked, feeling as though the soles of her feet were walking on steaming coal. Her frozen limbs seemed to creak like a strained weeping willow and her breath came out with a bluish hue.

She was led through a tunnel of eternity, until they came out to another world of snowy wonder. Fran raised her head tiredly as fresh frost sank its fangs into her veins. Closing her eyes briefly with her face turned as though to revel in the cool touch, a single tear slipped from the corner of her eye.

However, as it rolled down her cheek, when she opened her eyes again, there was a change in her countenance. A black ring formed around her irises, barely noticeable in its wavering form. Clenching her teeth, Fran lowered her face again, but her eyes were now narrowed into vengeful slits.

Pressing her blue-stained lips into a thin line, Fran followed the tug of her shackles onto the back of a wooden carriage drawn by two furry oxen. As she climbed in, she glanced around to note the rows of children seated with their heads sunken along the edges of the carriage.

Her face completely obscured in the backdrop of the night, her crimson eyes seemed to glow and the ring around her irises was now fully formed. A second was appearing. A third…

As the back of the carriage slammed shut, the wind blew through the wide opening and tossed mounds of snow over the Harvests frozen in place. The last to be loaded onto the carriage, Fran took her place on the very edge of the carriage and her eyes peered listlessly out of the opening at the back of the carriage.

The Harvester disappeared out of sight and moments later, she heard the crack of a whip. The oxen groaned wearily, but the carriage was forced into a steady start down the muddy road.

Unlike the shivering bodies curled beside her, Fran’s body was unnaturally poised, as though she could no longer feel the cold. Her face was pulled gaunt and she felt strangely aware of every jolt running through her body and every sound whistling in her ears.

“Fran?” a feeble voice snaked out and her body jerked at the unfamiliar sound of her name.

She turned abruptly, her frenzy-filled eyes whirling in the dark. A ginger-haired boy sat across from her and recoiled at the sight, but he soon reached out a shaky hand to take hers in his own.

“I snuck on board too,” he whispered, his voice as soft and serene as the first signs of snow. “Father said he’d consider adopting you if I can find you. I can save you, Fran.”

Fran stared wordlessly at Derek’s hopeful face, her bulging eyes unreadable.

“Fran...are you okay?” he asked hesitantly.

“I--” she started, but her words sounded cleaved and chopped up, melting away under the harsh sound of the storm outside the carriage.

“I can’t hear you,” he said despondently.

“I will never be a slave,” her voice rose up and cracked like the sound of the whip forcing the tired oxen to pull the carriage. “I would rather die.”

With that, she turned and propped her hands against the opening of the carriage. In an almost inhumanly and supernatural manner, she vaulted gracefully over the edge and disappeared into the storm. She heard Derek’s feeble cry of her name, but the carriage didn’t stop, his voice carried away by the unforgiving weather.

Shivering, Fran lay on her side, unmoving in the snow as the storm carried on in it’s turbulent madness around her. She could feel its entire being like a fierce and relentless fist beating down on her worn and tired body.

I’m sorry, Derek. I’m sorry, Miku. Weak thoughts echoed through her mind as the rings in her eyes faded from her irises. Frozen tears hung suspended from her lashes as her vision blurred. I’m sorry I couldn’t be stronger…

***

The sound of a gunshot exploded and shattered the dream. [UT] The silver-haired youth’s grip around Fran’s throat faltered before falling away completely. The woman dropped and she scurried away, her bleeding and cracked nails digging into the rocky ground as she crawled unceremoniously away from her attacker.

She heaved in painful gasps of priceless air into her starved lunges, before retching. [UT] In her hand was the revolver she had previously discarded and a pile of unused bullets spilled from her pocket. Scrambling clumsily for the bullets, Fran’s quivering hands dropped several before she could raise the firearm again, training it unsteadily on the youth bleeding profusely from his stomach.

“Fran…” he gasped, falling to his knees as he clutched his wound.

“Derek,” she croaked out. “You’re Derek, aren’t you?”

“You abandoned me, Fran,” he whispered, his eyes filling with tears. “My father...he punished me horribly when he found out I let you get away. How...how could you do that to me?”

“Derek, I’m so sorry,” she said, her expression twisting into one filled with pain and anguish. “I--I thought I was going to die.”

“You said the Harvest wouldn’t kill you!” he declared unforgivingly, tears now streaming down his face. “You said you were strong. You lied!”

The revolver fell from Fran’s fingers and her face fell morosely into her hands.

“Shit, Derek!” she groaned as her nails dug painfully into her skin.

“I wish you had died ten years ago,” he snarled.

She lifted her face to meet his eyes and recoiled at the sight of his uncontained hatred. It was enough to make her avert her eyes.

But then the image of Olivia creeping forward to take her in her arms rose to the surface of her mind. As she stared across to her former friend, she remembered the way Patch had drawn her into a gentle embrace when she’d woken jarringly from a nightmare.

As though possessed, Fran slowly and tentatively shuffled towards Derek. The youth growled like a stray dog and she halted almost fearfully. She was unused to expressing affection, but she now realised how plentiful she had been on the receiving end of it.

Pushing aside her anxieties, she approached Derek again and stopped directly in front of him. He met her eyes and she was taken with nostalgia at the gentle gold of his irises. Gently, she pressed her hands against his cheeks before pulling his face down to rest on her shoulders.

“I’m so sorry, Derek,” she murmured, her voice filled with regret and grief. “I shouldn’t have abandoned you. I was too weak and I let you down. I won’t let you be alone ever again.”

“You liar,” he sobbed. “When I heard about you being alive...I was so angry. I was furious. I wanted to kill you with my own hands.”

“I know, but it’s over, Derek,” she said, smoothing out his silver hair. “I know you can’t forgive me, but I’ll protect you from now on. I forgot about my friends from before I was Harvested and that was wrong of me. Please let me make it up to you.”

I have to apologise to Miku too.

Derek let out a hopeless sob, but before long, his arms circled around his friend and clutched desperately at her, as though fearful of losing her again.

[Derek Croft: Knockout]

BY RIMY :hearts: OF BTN

COMBAT TRACKERS:

PLAYER STATS:

PLAYER RATIOS:

USED 1 TECHNIQUES | 0 TOGGLES | 0 HAKI:

0 TECHNIQUES ACTIVE | 0 TOGGLES | 0 HAKI ACTIVE:

6 TECHNIQUES COOLING DOWN | 0 HAKI COOLING DOWN:

CREW COMPANION STATS:

CREW COMPANION RATIOS:

CREW COMPANION TECHNIQUES USED:

OPPONENT STATS:

OPPONENT RATIOS:

OPPONENT TECHNIQUES USED:

Sun Dec 01, 2019 1:25 pm

[ seize life with your own hands ]

The Rascal quickly entered the cave’s entrance, only slowing to allow her eyes to adjust to the sudden dimness of the cave. As she quickly advanced through the cave she took quick stock of any injuries she had, a few grazes, a knock to her head, and a few bruises were all Sinclair managed to inflict on her. It seemed like he was really all talk after all.

As the bluenette continued trekking further into the cave she heard muffled speech and what sounded like someone sobbing. With a curse under her breath she began to run towards the sound. As she rounded a corner her eyes widened in surprise at what lay before her. Fran was on the floor, her chair a few feet away on its side, however, the real surprise was the battered state of both herself and the man she was holding close to her. The silver haired man was unconscious in her arms, while Fran held him in a comforting embrace. The cavern showed signs of combat from burn marks, bullets scattering the ground, blood splatters, and the wounds both of them had.

The Rascal stood there unsure of what to say as she seemed to be intruding on a surprisingly intimate moment. The woman took a few moments to simply allow the silence to go unbroken before leaning on a wall nearby and allowing the tension to leave her shoulders. It seemed like she didn’t have to worry about Fran after all.

“I should have known you’d figure out a way to save yourself and all the kids here.” Miku said with a grin on her face while tipping her hat over her eyes to hide them. After all, she didn’t want Fran seeing the unshed tears of relief that she could feel beginning to well up. The young woman rolled down her sleeves and began to unclasp her Pirate Knuckles, allowing a moment for Fran to compose herself if she chose to. Afterwards Miku quickly wiped her eyes with her sleeve trying to disguise it as her simply wiping the blood and sweat off of her forehead.

“So, I’m guessing you and your boyfriend there are done with whatever spat you two had?” Miku teased looking back up with her eyes dry and a smile on her face despite all the two just went through. “You want me to carry him for ya? I don’t mind lending ya a hand.” Miku offered while slowly walking towards the two with her hands on her hips.

Back on the Beach

One of the younger kids had approached Jude from behind and tapped the older boy on the shoulder. “Is he… really…” The youth asked shakily before Jude turned around and dragged the kid into a hug. “That’s right, it’s finally over. No more Harvests.” Jude said with tears in his eyes as he hadn’t been this relieved since being freed from his original owner by his two brothers.

The two youths on the ship jumped onto the railing and began to shout and rave about how awesome their hero was. They immediately began regaling the tail of how the woman had simply jumped off the cliff and took down all the bad guys by herself before challenging Sinclair. They then began retelling the entire showdown between the two with plenty of embellishments and plenty of commentary. All the kids were enraptured as they stood on the beach it all happened on. Jude could tell the boys were embellishing a bit, if not a lot, but felt no need to interject. The scene they had happened upon spoke well enough of the woman’s hand in ending the Harvest for them all.

“I think you should all head back inland together, take some time to rest before heading back wherever you call home. Okay?” Jude told the children who all seemed reluctant to leave at first. After a few minutes of realizing they were all truly free they began to make their way off the beach, leaving Jude alone on the beach.

Once the last of the children were gone from view Jude rummaged through the stolen belongings that were piled on the beach until he found his knife. He then adopted a cold look in his eyes as he looked at the unconscious forms of the slavers on the beach. They weren’t all dead and that meant they could be a problem for the children if they managed to recover and escape. With a weary sigh Jude began to do the dirty job of ensuring the safety of the children, his knife firmly in his hand.

@Frenzy

Fri Mar 20, 2020 2:49 pm

GRADING

COMMENTS

Papillon D. Fran

+ Fantastic introduction post. The "show" as opposed to "tell" of the cold environment set the tone for the thread well. Although, there is the rare redundant narration which you could have done without. For example, "The only difference was his left eye, which had always been failing, but she noticed a silver film had recently started to invade the iris. It was a sure sign of his ageing, but she chose not to dwell too deeply on it. Thinking about a day when her old mentor and adoptive guardian would no longer be with her was a cause of great fear for the young huntress." The last bit was unnecessary. Her choosing not to dwell deeply on it already hinted at her fears. But, cases like this are rare and don't hurt the quality of your posts.
+ "I have been unable to leave this forsaken island. My current condition makes the reason obvious, but it's a little more complicated." I thought Fran had been off the island and then came back? I'm guessing you decided on this after you'd already written this dialogue.
+ It was jarring how quickly Fran became accustomed to Miku and how talkative she was when they'd only just met, going as far as offering to show her around town. Even with the slight familiarity she felt, this seemed like a complete 180 from her personality.
+ It's a bit confusing that Derek knew Fran was a bounty hunter, but, I'm assuming that they kept tabs on her even after she escaped?
+ Haha, I liked how Derek used Fran's own words against her though.
+ I liked how brutal Sinclair was in Fran's flashback. That's the sort of savagery I wanted to see in Miku's present fight (hence the hostage comment I made for Miku).
+ "Time could have been frozen for all the young Fran knew. When would it thaw?" Cue title card. Nice~
+ The imagery used to describe what Fran was experiencing in those flashbacks was beautiful.
+ Fran had powerful feelings towards Miku in the flashbacks, but, it's never really explained why. I'm guessing it was going to be expanded upon later.

Miku E. Sato

+ "Vertically challenged woman" - Love that. Lmao.
+ References to events (i.e. when Miku left Centaurea with Nathaniel) in dialogue is one thing, but if you're going to reference them in narration, then remember to expand upon it later on. Otherwise, if the grader (me) is left confused.
+ Not sure if you two planned out the idea of Miku sitting at the table with a single chair by the door. If you did, nice! If you didn't, well done Fran for taking advantage of it.
+ I liked the pacing at which you narrated the status quo of Centaurea. It felt natural and not shoved in my face.
+ It's never really clear why Miku disliked Patch so much. Was it because he's a marine, or was it because he was a man? Or was it both? Some narration or dialogue hinting at the reason would've helped.
+ "I don't rob friends." That was a cool-ass line. Bravo!
+ I was hoping that Miku would get punished for charging straight at Sinclair while he had a hostage. I think the main villain fell a bit flat. If he had decided to shoot the hostage because Miku didn't back down, the resulting tension would've been a lot more thrilling. Instead, Sinclair came off as a villain to a children's novel. In some ways, I suppose you could say it's fitting considering the theme of children in the thread, but, based on how gruesome the rest of the thread was, he just didn't fit. The quality of your post when you introduced Sinclair, in general, wasn't up to par with your previous posts.
+ Loved Jude at the end there where he stayed behind to do what needed to be done.

REWARDS

Papillon D. Fran
Difficulty Bonus: +25% (+1)
Quality Bonus: +100% (S)

EXP: 113 [50 + (25%*50) + (100%*50)]
Berries: 6,187,500 [250k*11 + 25%(250k*11) + 100%(250k*11)]

Old balance: 23,250,000
Updated balance: 29,437,500

Miku E. Sato
Difficulty Bonus: +25% (+1)
Quality Bonus: +50% (A)

EXP: 88 [50 + (50%*50) + (25%*50)]
Berries: 22,312,500 [250k*51 + 25%(250k*51) + 75%(250k*51)]
Bounty: 0 | {Gonna skip any bounty bumps for this one since all the baddies are dead and they were criminals anyway.}

Old balance: 66,000,000
Updated balance: 88,312,500

Comments