Closed [Warehouses] Shade seeker

[Fallon]

By now Fallon had taken a second crouch, the gloves having been ripped off with the finger tips tracing over the worn wood surfaces. Probing, searching, feeling through the nooks and crannies. There was no doubt the faint stale residue of sweat upon the fabric, but otherwise it was masked in something else. Hands gently probed, feeling underneath the bed before she simply got down on her knees and looked beneath it properly. There was space beneath and she reckoned a body could easily slip underneath there out of sight if need be - a good hiding spot as long as one did not need to escape so soon. In the background Zandelia was speaking, and it was only then Fallon looked at her, "You would kill eh? I'll make sure to never get in between you and a bed then."

Matthew of course was absent, why not believe what he had said? She believed him not to be the sort to beat about on what he was going to be doing - so why doubt his words. Regardless, she still continued her prowling around the room and her intent looking to what was around her. Fingers pulled upon the draw handle, a peer in as she looked at the revealed contents before she simply dipped the hand in. Her head however turned back to the woman as she received the look and finally had digested Fallon's earlier words. It was only her brow however that creased in response, "You still are angry. And acceptably so. But do not allow yourself to become blinded by it and forget what you already know and where your focus should lie. We know what Matthew is like, so enough of him and the dallying there of. You do not know however, like myself, what this... mystery group is like," Fingers grasped around something, snagging and curling round, "You have a target, direct your arrow to it, pull back the bow sting and fire."

Standing, she pulled free what was kept within the draw and turned to present it to the woman. It was a length of silk rope, obviously used for those who had certain fetishes. Sniffing she rubbed the smooth surface between her thumb and forefinger, her lips twisting as she ticked the plan over within her mind, "We may need this for binding... No. Not that sort of binding. Torture binding. Not pleasurable binding."

The rope was draped loosely around her neck at that point like some strange scarf, as her fingers wriggled across the air as she felt it. Her brow eased off then, and she sighed, "Be careful what you say. The walls are very thin and full of ears. Do not speak more than necessary if you can help it on certain things. Though... you are right. I could rip their throats out - but that would be too quick, it would be much worth to milk the cow instead of outright killing it, so to speak." Stepping round, Fallon took in the room as she contemplated the next move, "Behind the door would be best, easier to step out from, quicker and easier to perform a lock down on. That and they would be distracted by the target before them to think about covering the rear."

Fallon shook her head, "I know not where he kept his belongings. Though if it is him, I imagine he would not leave things behind and rid himself of what he does not need. We will have to stay put this time round and wait." Even that made Fallon feel slightly restless. The longer they waited, the less time they would have to do other things - and what if they were discovered to have entered the Brothel? No doubt the whole group would swarm around them like bees to honey in an instant. Her lip gave a twitch, her fingers once more tracing the surfaces as she considered using the Lykata for a moment, and then she promptly shook her head, "You remember the cup from all that time ago? It would be the same principle but on a much larger scale. The... Lykata here would without a doubt pick up the more suggestive side of things. Sex, passion, pleasure, pain... the sounds of groans and the memories of long, hot nights..." She coughed and cleared her throat at that point and then tugged her gloves on once more, "We do not need the obvious stated to us. I do not think it will help us here."

Taking a seat upon the foot of the bed, Fallon stared intently at the closed door. Fingers laced together, her lids breaking into a narrow as she focused. There was a faint grind of steel as she drew the tulwar, turned it in her grip and tapped the ground with the point. From there both hands rested on top of the pommel, the right hand complaining slightly as she felt the round disk within her palm.

"Legs, from the knee down. You will have to be fast, for I will not be able to get up and move," She told the woman firmly, "As soon as an entrance is made, close the door quickly and clobber. With your tonfa, aim to stun if you can. Once they are stunned it will be easier to deal with them for answers." Focusing her djed, Fallon sucked in the air. Feet planted themselves firmly on the floor, her shoulders hunching in as she thought about the weave of the astral, and begun the unweaving of it from her legs. Pulling, teasing, unstitching almost as she felt the numbness begin to work its way down. Lifting her chin she stared at the door as a playful knocked wrapped upon it and an equally playful voice of one of Brega's harlots purred out from behind it, "I'll be coming to play with you soon, Lad."

Footsteps hurried away after that. There was a flicker as Fallon turned her gaze to Zandelia and gave a nod. That was their cue. Pulling out the astral, she felt the weightlessness of her legs as they shifted and moved - it was unusual to use them instead of her arms, but in this case it made more sense. She thought about the shape, her mind turning over how they could be of better use instead of their more physical matching. Tentacles came to the front of her mind, and it was the low, thudding steps belonging to another echoed from the corridor that she realised how near everything was. The pulse quickened, the gaze flickering one last time before she stared upon the door. The handle begun to turn, and the latch clicked open.

It was show time.

[Zandelia]

“No, I don’t. Not yet. But then today was the first time that they became known to me. We will see what can be gleaned,” she stated succinctly, she had not been told and so Fallon’s words were true enough, “very well, and it was a figure of speech. I didn’t mean to actually kill them” she stated.

She had lowered the volume of her voice in response to the comment about thin walls, she had been careless but then she was trying to play catch up in a game that had already started before this day and with people she both knew and didn’t know. Not to mention the fact that she possibly had nothing left of her belongings, her life was in danger and Fallon was being hunted. She was keeping a relatively cool head under the circumstances but of course she was still angry. Whether it was acceptable or not she was livid, anyone would be. Confusion, paranoia and a dash of self-criticism were bubbling away in the mix also and it was simmering, ever so close to boiling. Only the fact that she had to function to help the other woman was preventing her from finding something to tear to pieces and let it all out.

“I understand, I think. Too overpowering and then…then you would feel it and probably knock you on your arse for a bit and thus…too risky even if there were pieces of information to be had. Well, there’s nothing here but whatever was deemed useless and…” she trailed off with a long, deep look at the rope comment, “yes…well at least that is useful for now. If you like it you can take it back and reuse it” she managed to find a small semblance of humor to latch on to.

She had already taken up her position and now it was but a matter of time. She knew her role as did Fallon, sitting ever so elegantly upon the bed. She resisted making a comment about how she seemed so in place, it would not have been worth the backlash although it amused her slightly. She had always had an issue with intimacy and yet here she was, at the heart of a brothel and sitting upon a bed which for quite some time had been used simply to petch on - most of the time. She wondered why she was so averse to such places as brothels, she had never asked although she knew it well enough. The clenching of the jaw and the bunching of the fists, the hard gaze. They grated against her for some reason. It was not as if the whores were thronging around her and rubbing themselves against her in attempts at temptation. They were simply doing their jobs, earning their wages.

Perhaps it is the freeness with which they are able to do what they do? That she finds it difficult and so it’s like…throwing it back into her face? I wonder… she mused to herself as the words of the man came from behind the door and forewarned them of what was about to happen.

“How nice of them to visit” she muttered under her breath once the footsteps had died away.

They would return soon enough. She slipped her tonfa across her chest and the fingers of her free hand came to her lips to blow a small kiss. A little flair for the dramatic never went amiss and besides, she had already treated the other poorly and a nice gesture was a nice gesture - they couldn’t be seen. She considered using her Auristics to let her know when they were approaching, it could see through thin walls when pushed to, yet she discounted it in the end. It was too dangerous and novice a skill to risk in high stakes games. And this was a game, despite what Fallon had stated. Life was a game, death even more so. It was a game of chance where you sought out ways to stack the odds in your favor so that you never lost until old age came to drag you away.

The handle turned, she held her breath and readied her weaponry. Club, not kill, was the word of the moment. The door shifted open and her vision of the room was all but destroyed now as it blocked her off from the scene. She could imagine that wolfish smile though and she counted mentally to herself, listening as the footsteps creaked and groaned upon the boards. Two sets and moving slowly, slower than she’d have liked. It seemed an age until they were in front of her and, she thought, clear of the door’s closing.

“What have we here then eh? A little lad got the rope round his neck for us. Nice of him right?”

“Yeah, now you come nice and peaceful like. Wouldn’t want to have to hurt ya”

“No blood and blade today now. Just wants to has a little chat with the boss”

Zandelia raised her foot and pushed the door, swinging it shut and stepping out to see there were indeed two men. She had to move fast and she stepped forwards to aim her - as she had been instructed - at the knee and below with a kick to the back of the joint of the one on her right. It was his right knee and for the left she dipped herself slightly so that she could deliver a solid blow to the outside of his left knee with her tonfa for good measure. She was already closer to the ground now and ducked down further, pivoting to bring her leg sweeping behind the second. The already weakened knee joint was swept away with the circular motion and her momentum. He ended up flat on his back.

[Fallon]

It was the longest moment of silence as the handle begun its slow, grinding turn as metal and wood groaned against each other. There was little regard to the mumbled words of her partner, though there was the flicker the rising brow to the blown kiss. It was hard to keep the curled lip down after that, but as the scene begun to slowly unfold before her did the door to what was to come reveal itself.

Swinging open she caught the look of the two men, the momentary flicker of bored expressions changing into that of delight. Her hands however remained upon the tulwar, unmoving as they looked upon each other with a broad grin and promptly begun to enter. Zandelia was blocked from sight, silent and hidden for the moment as the men came in. Weight clunked against the floor, their forms swaggering as she looked back only with the wolfish grin and eyes that filled with the wildness that existed beneath the skin. A slither of white broke out, the feeling of those ethereal tendrils feeling and stroking against the air. Her mind managed to count the two, a contemplation for a moment as to whether or not she could split them and then chose against it as the 'guests' begun their closing in.

The tulwar was lifted slightly from the ground, her hands moving it so she pointed it towards them. She closed an eye, looking right down the tip as she weighed them up for what they were worth, simple grunts no doubt sent to do a job of roughing up a harlot; not a mercenary and a spy who were nicely armed with a variety of implements. Still, the wolfish look still rested there, poised behind the rounded hilt of the tulwar. Her chin lifted up, a mocking tilt of the head to one side.

"Gentlemen," she spoke, a husky growl resting in the back of her voice, "How nice of you drop in. We've been expecting you." It was almost as if on cue that Zandelia came out after that. The door swung shut, clicking with a low thud trembling out behind. The smile did not lift as the woman struck, the crack of joints and crunch of flesh as metal made contact. The one on Fallon's left that toppled first, stumbling to the floor in surprise. It was that one which the left tendril went for - fast, snagging and whip like, it coiled its way tightly around the throat of the man and dragged him to the ground. His fingers were left clawing at the invisible rope around his neck, and his voice little more than a rasp as he writhed.

Her attention snapped round to the other at that point, watching his free hand grasp at his dagger and go to draw it. There was a flicker for a moment as to which to deal with first, the original target or the new attacker. He barely made half a step towards Fallon before he was slamming against the floor and sending the brothel almost trembling with the sudden loudness. She could almost imagine the scowl upon Brega's face, and the eyes glaring at the ceiling in discontent before continuing with her business. The right tendril shot at him this time, slapping flat against him and wrapping tightly around the torso as he struggled to get up with the invisible force weighing him down. For a moment there was stillness, a long silence as she wrestled for control over the two men. The first she kept the hold tight, yet loose enough to let in a slither of air, the other her astral constricted around, her eyes narrowing as she focused on attempting to make that tendril more narrow. It was only then Fallon's eyes flickered to the door, "Lock it."

And then there was laughter, a deep, rolling howl of it. Teeth gave a flash, the eyes igniting into fire as she leaned down to their squirming forms. She watched the man go to shout, but she simply reached out from her seated spot and hovered the tip of the tulwar beneath his chin, "Oh no you don't. Remember who's holding the blade and who just got bested by two women. One of which did not even stand up." Leaning over, she dragged him closer to her, willing her ethereal to scrape the heavy body across the floor. It was then she simply rested the tulwar across the empty bed space next to her, "Now... you're going to be a good boy now. If you're not. Well, you're little companion here is going to go pop. Little bit messy that, don't you think?"

"I'm not going to tell you anythin-" She watched his eyes flicker then to the other man. It was gently she begun to squeeze tighter, the cheeks and skin of the man slowly turning a definite shade of purple. Fallon looked back, cocked an eyebrow and smiled, "You sure about that? You can save him you know. His blood doesn't have to be on your hands. All you have to do is be good." It was her finger and thumb that tightly pinched his chin then, the eyes narrowing down into a line. It was the other hand that fished the rope from around her neck and presented it to Zandelia with a point to the strangled man, "Tie him up. And feel free to have a play if you want to. I have a feeling you're itching to do so."

With her attention turning back round, she focused solely on the victim she had picked - only diverting her attention away to release the strangled man once the rope had been securely fastened. Eyes looked back, she could see the eyes of the man growing larger as he struggled for a while against whatever had bound him in place. And it was his expression that burned with fury. He gave a spit, "Filthy mage! Should burn the lot of you alive! Never trus-"
The tulwar was taken up once more and given a small poke at the throat, "Would you like to repeat that?"
"Burn in Hai mage."

[Zandelia]

Well this was a side that she hadn’t quite seen before, not extensively per se and certainly not as controlled and coolly purring as she was being at present. Fallon did possess a darker side she knew, deep down and railing against the chains imposed upon it. Yet when she had seen it it had been fully formed and primal, feral perhaps yet now this was controlled and to the point. She wondered whether this was the darker nature or simply the woman beneath the niceness and the geniality. Whether she was always like this or simply like this to those as crossed her. No, she couldn’t think like that she realized, after all she was the same in some ways. Yet the comparison flickering in her mind was that of Wrenmae and it was…discomforting.

A sister indeed, let’s hope she knows more control than he did she told herself as she watched them writhe around, one choking from what she knew would be the projected energies and the other still able to breathe yet at the tip of the viciously curved tulwar.

As for herself she slipped her weapons away to her hip for now, with them both under control she did not require them. Not that she thought she would anyway, they both seemed to go down with relative ease and little fight and as such were likely not overly skilled. Fists and daggers would be enough - the spring blade if required though she knew that shedding blood would certainly get them further down the list of names Brega liked and accepted. No, the noise so far had been brief if loud and she would not add death to the list of things counted against them. She turned at the instruction and made sure the door was firmly shut, twisting the key in the lock and the soft click seemed all too menacing now they held their prey.

“Oh I’d not anger her lad, give her what she wants. Much easier that way. Less suffering” she smiled grimly at the man who raved, he had shouted a dangerous secret and she doubted that it would have gone unheard of.

It fouled her mood further, put paid to any point of secrecy about it here yet she still mentioned nothing more of it. It was best not to compound matters. Instead she set about taking the proffered rope from Fallon and binding her subject. She would have much rather tied him to a chair but the floor was just as fitting for what she had in mind. The legs were first, flailing as they were and difficult to wrestle into submission. She leant upon one as she wrapped the rope around the other tightly - far too tightly to be comfortable - and then joined the second one beside it. She looped the rope around and between the ankles so it could lead up and behind him. There she wrestled the wrists to the small of the back as she turned him over and the binding was complete. He was upon his face now and she rammed her knee into his back as she leant down to whisper into his ear.

“You heard her, you and me are going to have a little play. A conversation. You have been very nasty to myself and my partner, very nasty. You picked the wrong targets. Now you pay. But if you tell me what I want to know then there will be less pain. Deal?” she growled at him.

“P-petch…y…you” he managed to get out between splutters. She grabbed his hair with her fist and pulled his head up before ramming it into the floor a couple of times just to set the message.

“Good, you can stilll speak. Now, would you like to reconsider. I am not an unfair woman”

“I’m not te-”

She pulled her fist into an axe-like shape, only the first knuckles curled and ready to offer pain to her victim and slammed it into his kidneys, leaving a pause of a few seconds in between strikes to emphasize each blow, and waited. She allowed him a small breather before doing it again. Thrice she lashed out brutally at the known weak points - painful points when done well but not mortal. He would suffer the throbbing sensation, the knowledge that his organs were slowly being battered. She pulled a dagger out then and placed its tip upon his temple, just protruding enough that his misted peripheral vision would catch its glint.

“Do you know what happens when you lose an eye? The way it feels, the pain is quite memorable I assure you. I should know. It’s almost as if someone had lit a fire behind the socket. If you’re lucky well it just gets cut but you lose your sight true enough. If you’re unlucky….well…it’s just a ball of water right. So it…pops” she purred, using the words Fallon has used before.

“As my colleague stated, quite messy. But that’s just the start you see. can’t work without both eyes at first. Things that seem far are actually close, close and are far. Depth perception I think it’s called. Yes…depth perception. Now what do you think will happen if I leave you alive but unable to fight, unable to walk or even see properly?” she asked viciously.

She slammed her fist into his kidneys once more and watched him slump though the grunts were beginning to give way to groans and half-screams now.

“Now kidneys, oh they are much more subtle things. Damage them and you could piss blood for a while. Not very attractive I grant you but not fatal. Oh but f you damage them enough…I’ve heard terrible stories” she stated.

She sat upon his back then to keep him upon the floor and stable as she cut his cheek with the dagger, ever so slowly feeling the tug at the flesh as it caught and tore it open.

“Who do you work for?” she asked softly.

[Fallon]

Zandelia was doing as she was told, for the moment at least. Then again, nothing had exactly risen up to prove troublesome just yet, and thus with the firm clicking of the lock. She felt the man she had squirm on the spot then, the rising panic growing within the room. Within she could feel her own energies turning and swirling, darker shades and the resting of letting loose that feral nature. The anger and rage had to be directed for now, brought under control for the moment and given a point to funnel towards. It was perhaps then that she was grateful the legs were being projected and she had to focus her willpower to maintain them - if it was not the case she probably would have ripped their throats out by now. A mental chain to hold back.

Anger however continued to grow and reverberate within her throat with every word that escaped her lips. The free tendril moved, slipping and wiggling through the air as she focused her attention upon him. She could see the thin beads of sweat escaping from his temple, those eyes gradually growing wide as they burned upon her. Clicking her neck she drew a circle in the air before his gaze. Lips peeled back, as it became a battle of willpower over the pair. In the background she heard the vicious words of Zandelia as she hogtied her man. Brow rose, the head tilting to one side as she considered where the woman had managed to learn such a thing - and secondly if the rope was truly going to be used again.

Her gaze snapped back to the man, and the tulwar point withdrew to be sheathed once more. Although she liked the idea of having some pointed implement waving about nearby it was no longer working in doing its piece as an incentive to talk. The ethereal tightened its hold, the other one coming round to roughly grab and pull him up right so they were face to face. He was seething, she could see it in the way his jaw set and his eyes stared back in anger. The wolfish gaze looked back, unflinching and unmoving as he tried to lean in closer to head butt her, only to once more be forced back by the limbs once more. Fallon's silence continued and lasted, there was no need to speak when an obviously live demonstration was going on right next to them - if not muffled by the sounds of whores and harlots at work either side of them.

"Wrong targets indeed. Tell me," Fallon spoke, the rumblings of the growl noticeable now, "Do you know how I received the name 'Red Wolf'?"
"Shut up, I don-"
"Well, you see... there are lots of reasons. Firstly there is the lovely pet I own, a wolf. Not some mutt as your assosciates seem to bel-"
"Shut up, ma-" The tendril came in then and clamped firmly around his jaw, squeezing tightly around his skull.
Fallon gave him that hungry, wolfish smile, "Seem to believe. Then... there is the fabled tale of the Bear and the Wolf, where the wolf rescues a damsel before devouring her whole," Teeth flashed, the canines clicking as she bared her fangs, "That wolf was so... so hungry. Walked for days, killing, slaughtering, until its once pure fur was tinted red with blood."

She watched the man's eyes bulge, her head tilting to one side as she watched him begin to thrash once more. Just a while longer to milk him, just a few more moments until he broke and answered. Paint him an image to fear, and by the fear he would exist. Whatever Zandelia was saying fell behind muted ears, the all consuming gaze fixed now solely upon him. She watched the breath quicken, the heart grow and begin to race within his form. Her throat constricted, pure desire to simply know what was going on within. She wanted to know what secrets he carried within. Guttural, she felt the energy swirl within her core once more, forming and defining as she stared upon him.

"It would be an awful shame to have to prove the name though... wouldn't it?" she asked rhetorically, and used her projection to forcefully make him nod his head before releasing it, "So, here's the deal.." She could almost feel her voice darken, growing slick as emotions and willpower slid behind her eyes. Thoughts on lacing, commanding, and ensnaring into her control, to wriggle her way under his skin, "You answer my questions... and I will let you go. Sound fair? Makes it easier for both of us..." She inhaled deeply, pouring all her focus in now, "Who. Do. You. Work. For? Answer me."
"I don't answer to any ma-"
"I said," the world paused, a deep inhale as the feelings and rage swum up into her mind. The gaze locked, nostrils flared, the senses overwhelming urge to have what she wanted more than ever, to manipulate him within her very palm. Her head pulled back, her fangs became bared and the temper snapped, "ANSWER ME!"

Her projection slipped a little when she shouted, a moment of loosening almost in recoil. The man she held stared, stunned almost by her sudden outburst. Teeth grinded together as she watched the scales of his mind gradually begin to tip to one side. But that was not the only thing on her mind right now. Something ached, enough so that it caused her to reach up and pinch her brow. It was probably just the heat mixed with the day's stress, she told herself.

"The Amber Wave! We work for the Amber Wave," Fallon cocked an eyebrow, the turned her head sharply to Zandelia. It was the one was hogtied who had squealed first, and it was only the exhale whistled out between her teeth, the projection of her left leg returning as the chilling realisation that she had truly shouted reached her. Bit by bit she focused on returning to weave to one of them, whilst she worked through the growing fog that was within her mind once more. It did not sound like a gang of sorts, and it was a name that left her well and truly stumped. Enough so that it left an uneasy feeling within her gut. With the brow still pinched she inclined her head to her own captive, "Keep an eye on him for a moment, will you?"

[Zandelia]

She had been aware of the interrogation happening behind her, it was difficult not to be aware of the fact that Fallon was proving herself to be far more menacing than even she had suspected. Whether it was the situation, the stress of it or the possible loss of Orvin she was not sure but there was definitely a growing level of a growl in her tone as the chimes ticked away and she wasn’t given what she desired. That was just an added annoyance, something that added to it she supposed, she never liked not getting what she wanted. Patient she was but not when it came to that which was importantly bloody. It Hadn’t helped that he had shouted mage either, her own hackles were up over that fact and she knew that there would be trouble over it.

Damn it all! This is taking too long, we need something…anything!

“Who do you work for?” she asked and it was almost in unison with the shout from Fallon.

Her head whipped around and saw the pinching of the bridge of the nose, the strained muscles and the grinding jaw. This was getting dangerous, if she lost it in this room she wasn’t sure she could contain her. She was using projection at that and there was literally no way in which she could defend against that magic. Even if she used her own to be able to see it she would be too slow. At least it seemed to break the man she had been working upon, his squealed response was a name that she was not familiar with but she would be, very soon indeed if she had her way about it. She tapped the side of his cheek with the flat of her blade and patted his arse.

“There, that wasn’t so terrible was it. Rest now, no more pain for you…from me at least. I didn’t promise for the other” she pursed her lips and frowned as she walked past Fallon who, from her body language, seemed to be struggling.

She grinned at the man whom had annoyed her and squatted down, dagger blade between them and faintly coated with blood along one edge. She nodded at the instruction and looked him over. He was a burly man, confident in his own strength though he seemed to be hiding a great amount of fear behind his mask of rage and consternation. She leant forwards ever so slightly, dagger edging forwards and watched as he tried to lean back and recoil from it. She snorted, a mask indeed. She tilted her head to one side and jerked a thumb over her shoulder to point at Fallon vaguely.

“She has a temper you know, oh sorry of course you do. It means that sometimes she loses it and people die. That story, every bit of it true you know. I was there,” she smiled fondly at the memory, the description had been a lovely one if poetic in nature, and it filled her with some warmth that was not anger for once in the past Bell or so, “but now you’ve annoyed her and that means…” she stated as she flipped the dagger and rammed it into his left upper thigh and tore the scream from his mouth. She punched him in the throat to numb the vocal chords with her other hand.

“That you have to deal with me. Now me, surprisingly I don’t like doing this. Even if you deserve it. No, prefer to fight properly-”

“I’ll give you a fight you bitch!” she spat and she puleld the dagger free and slapped the flat across his face, still catching his jaw with a jagged cut all the same.

“No…you won’t. Even if you were freed you would not prove to be a match for me. I assure you. I have lived long because I am good. Better than you. Now, we can go on like this if you like”

“Bloody mages!” and she sighed and punched his injured leg hard enough for him to hiss in pain and be unable to speak, at least briefly.

“I can continue to cut you, stab you, punch you. I could, if I were so inclined, open up your innards and show them to you I suppose. Messy though and we’d rather not annoy the Madame overly much so…who are the Amber Wave?” she asked and the dagger cut out at his shirt to leave his abdomen exposed.

“Fuc-” she pressed the dagger into the side of his stomach and pressed it down, a small trial of blood began to trickle.

“I can drag this you know. Sure you don’t want to talk? Really? Suuure?” she asked, digging it deeper and deeper and piercing perhaps a half-inch into his flesh now.

“Slavers!” he snapped, “and nothing more you’ll get. They’ll do worse to me than you two little hussies!”

“Yes…but they aren’t here are they? Thank you for your cooperation she stated before standing and stamping on his injured thigh.

“Well, some old friends I presume?” she asked the question, the meaning would be clear.

[Fallon]

Fallon's fist clenched, unclenched, then clenched again as she tried to find some level of control. She could already feel it trembling, the last few threads looking to snap as the focus of the now single projected limb begun to struggle to hold on. The mind seemed to almost blink, speeding up and slowing down at different rates. When once part flickered into life, the other died away, twisting and turning within the darkness. Her throat constricted, a rattle growl escaping between the teeth, as she peered past her hand with a quickly turning feral gaze. It took willpower to hold it back, fangs ready to bear and dig into to flesh.

There was a dark look to Zandelia, those few flickers of warmth barely peeking out from behind those orbs. She saw the frown of course, that moment of concern to her own struggling. Teeth eased off from their pinching, the dulled throb of a headache still making its presence known as she took the back seat in this case. She felt the projection loosen, barely as she wrestled with it, willing it not to give just yet. She needed only a few more chimes, a few more chimes in which to work it. Eyes bored at the back of Zandelia's head, the toes of her left twitching as feeling returned and the astral weave of that leg tied up nicely.

A deep inhale, she laced her fingers together as she looked for control and Zandelia gave her piece on the situation. Or more correctly took over from where Fallon herself had stumbled. Strength, a mask or not, she could barely think straight now. The dagger gave a dance, the suggestive hiss of the woman as she milked her chosen target for information. The hogged tied was squirming slightly, still panicked as if waiting for another onslaught of pain - more so as the man let out the start of a scream only to be silenced by an aimed fist. Broken, crippled, and gasping, Fallon let the projected limb slip away from its hold and begin the slow and steady return.

It shook and trembled as she tried to focus through the clouded mind on its reattachment. The weave shook, slow and steady as she laced the ethereal cords that held it in place together, the faint sense of feeling returning to her leg. She gave a firm stamp against the floor with her right, the sound silently alerting that she had control of both physical limbs once more - even if they were still in the process of returning a sense of feeling. Both hands were used to press her up off the bed, a rock upon her heels as she felt the mental chains once more tremble at her core.

Her body cried for blood, to let loose that wild self and tear mercilessly through them. Her eyes looked down to the tied man, and then back to the other as he hissed through his teeth for control. The jaw was set into a line, the breathing no doubt growing louder and rougher as she stared at nothing but everything. Eyes burned at the mention of slavers, the growl escaping from her throat. There was a point to both of the men, and then to the door as she made her way towards it - forceful steps as she willed speed and feeling to return, "Outside. Now." The door was unlocked and opened, her feet sounding over to the injured before rather firmly she grabbed him by the collar. She had promised Brega she would take out the trash, and that was exactly what she was doing.

The burly one gave a whimper, his form snagging as Fallon hauled him forwards. There was only a look at Zandelia now, and then back to the tied up one. An incline of the head, she peered through the corridor as she gave her man a firm backhand across the face as he stared at her. She was near breaking, it would take only one little misstep now before she exploded and would attempt to bring a large portion of the brothel inhabitants with her in the process.

"Presume. Know not where," She managed to form the words, her brow creasing as she tried to flick through her memories as to where the name had been heard before - only for it to fall into silence. She shook her head, "I have a lot of unknowns. You... find?" The last turned into a snarl, the feral edge smothering it. It was with careful steps that she began her leading once more, dragging the man as he resisted to the staff entrance. There was raise of the brow as she looked down the stairs and fished about for the key once more in her pocket and brought it out into the open. Soon, the pulsing blood told her. Soon, spoke the drumming beat masked in anger. Soon.

There was a push of the man down the wood stairs, a cry and a thud as he landed at the bottom whimpering. There was a kick at him as a greater level of feeling returned to her right leg, before she simply place a foot on him to stop his squirming. Looking back up at the woman, she opened up the back door and begun the shooing of the man out. No longer a brute, he had turned little more into a trembling cowards - and his once hogtied friend did not look so different. She was certain she could smell urine on both of them. She felt the feral state begin to unwind, calling, crawling as it sunk its claws in.

That metallic taste rested in her mouth, rich and coppery as breathing quickened. Nostrils flared, that inner beast rising up and bubbling away. Louder, violent, deadly. They were not exactly in the brothel anymore were they? It meant it was not a mess inside. The threads begun to snap, a shedding of those last few ties on the level of sanity she normally held. Angry, scared, enraged. There was a stride to the woman now, breathing quicker, short and snappy as the hand splayed out. It planted itself on the shoulder, then gave a firm shove back into the open doorway. A final slither, the teeth clenched as she used that last moment of control snapped, and the door was firmly jerked shut. The eyes screaming a deep pain dipped and dulled behind that wild, animalist look. Her prey of these two men had been selected, and the drawing of her steel fangs that filled their silent quivering confirmed it.

After that, there was only the howling cry of a Red Wolf.

[Zandelia]

There was little point in staying now she knew, they had sprung their trap and caught what they needed quite neatly in her opinion. Of course there could have been more to get out of them, further information, but now the time was wearing thin. They had stayed too long as it was and with Fallon losing her control by the passing ticks she doubted there was much left in the way of operative time. They had a name and a profession, that should be enough to find a trail to their hunters and she doubted - foot men as they were - the unfortunate duo would know much more at any rate. No, the look had said it all - it was time to make their escape into the streets and begin planning the counterstrike. The stamping of the feet and the creaking of the boards told her Fallon was ready and with that they were off.

So priorities - shelter and food. Fire we can live without for now. Are our possessions still there, can we get to them? We’ll need to break in somewhere…or head back to that loft we came from perhaps. For one night she went through the lists in her head, shifting them around until she had formed what she thought was a decent set of things to do and acquire.

Silence now but for the blubbing beginning to emanate from the captives. They were a thorny problem, she disliked ending lives of prisoners yet they knew too much. She would have to kill them, or Fallon would. She knew her partner had morals though, better then hers in some ways and so perhaps it would be best for her to do it. She did her best to shove that thought aside as she set about unbinding the man she had tied. It took longer than she hoped but she finished eventually, looping the rope around her and tying it in place akin to a bandolier - it was a useful item and with nothing but the clothing on their backs and their weapons it could come in handy she knew. She pulled the man up roughly and pushed him towards the door with clenched teeth. How had it come to this?

“Out, go on,” she told him leadenly before turning to Fallon briefly, “yes. I will find them. They will not get away with what they have done you have my word” she stated as kindly as she could muster, no other words were needed.

The walk was a long but thankfully uneventful one, shoving her man occasionally to chivvy him along. He probably sensed his impending fate and as such went as slowly as possible. A few more jabs of her fingers to his already bruised kidneys did the job though and eventually the door loomed. It was a portion of Brega’s she had not seen, she presumed it to be an employee entrance by the look of it. Functional and Spartan rather than plush and luxurious where the work of desire took place. She shoved the man towards the door and he stumbled a little. They were all ahead of her now and she breathed deeply as she approached the threshold. Fallon came to her then, a gleam in her eye she couldn’t read quickly enough and before she knew it she was being shoved back through.

“What in the…” was all she was able to mumble in surprise before the door slammed a hair’s breadth from her nose and she recoiled from it in reflex.

She went to open it, pressed herself against it as her fingers gripped the handle but she paused at the rising tide of noise from outside. Screams and brutally gruesome wet sounds that appeared inside her imagination all too vividly. She had chosen to be the executioner herself and for that she pitied the men. She didn’t want to know what was happening, didn’t want to see it. She knew what her partner was capable of - to a certain extent - but she didn’t want to think of her like that. She pulled away from the door and her fists clenched, jaw grinding and she pressed her eye shut against the waves of sound. It could have been chimes but she doubted it, probably more a few seconds. She still didn’t open the door, listening instead to the echoing silence where sound had been a moment before. She was not so much angry now as dulled. It had had to be done, but in this way? To shove her out of harm’s reach just so that she could kill? She knew the reasoning but that didn’t mean it sat well with her.

The real question is, is she still in its throes? she asked, knowing there was nothing for it. If she were then for all Zandelia knew she had run off into the night to continue the bloody streak. It wasn’t the time.

She pushed open the door gently, readying herself for the chance of combat.

“Bitzer?” she asked softly as she stepped through, seeking her out and trying to gage her state.

[Fallon]

So she was to be their executioner, that was the final wish she had instilled before the rage consumed. Protect from harm where possible, for once the chains fell there was no holding back. There was a scream as one of the men scrabbled away, the tulwars racing out of their sheaths as Fallon closed in on him. A dagger was attempted to block between, the firm and steady advance as she closed in on them - no holding back as the predator took over. There was a clatter of iron, a shriek as he begged for mercy from what was to come. Lips twitched, the snarl escaped from bared fangs before the blades came arching round. First cut, second cut - there was a scream as it continued to slice. He gave a flailing kick at her, knocking her back for a moment as he got up to his feet to run away like a coward. Not that he got far.

She rose up onto her toes, springing forward with all that feral energy that possessed her. There was a thrust forward into his back, both blades shooting into the exposed flesh. Blood flowed, slick and red, the gurgle before she pulled it back, feeling the droplets flicker. Her eyes then snapped around to the other, watching him crawl away as his leg refused to support him. The left tulwar was slid away, the gloved hand sweeping back the fringe as she stared - streaking it with shades of red. Pupils were large, the red drops upon pale skin as she advanced.

There was no rush, there was no need to hurry. A good hunter knew patience and how to track an injured prey. The back alley of Brega's was silent and absent besides them - no one would stop her. Not now. Not whilst she was still within the throes. Red mist rose, blinding in all its simplicity. She hovered above him now, her left hand upon the tulwar hilt as she hovered it above him. There was no warmth, there was no mercy - they would only bring more pain in the long run. The blade tip plunged down, twisted and left only silence.

Pulling away she dragged the blade free, the feral rage beginning its swift descent down. Her head still throbbed, the skin slick with sweat as it pulsed in the heat. Everything was running high, beat, breathing, pulse, mind - and it would not stop any time soon either. There was a clatter as the blooded tulwar hilt slipped from her grip, the stench of death beginning to make itself settle. Throat cracked, knees buckled beneath her as she let them kiss the ground. Her hand rested to fall limp at her side. Fallon did not hear Zandelia when she spoke, nor did she properly take in the faint groaning of the opening door.

Her head turned slowly, eyes wide as she took the woman in after a few ticks of silence. She was still feral, but less vicious, subdued almost in the appeal and the way the eyes stared glazed at her. A slow blink, lips peeled back for a moment as she stood and took up the tulwar. For a moment the expression looked as if she was deciding what to do - friend or foe? Pack or enemy? It was with a swaying hand that it juddered back into the sheath - missing the first few times before finally settling. The feet gave a lurch after that, staggering forward the first few steps before they turned into a nervous prowl. The mind fired and flickered, images darting before her eyes.

Fallon sniffed, head bobbing as she stepped right up into the personal space and paused. The gloved had gave a tremble, a tentative touch upon the face and leaving a faint smear as it was dragged down. Eyes looked deeply, narrowing, deciding still in their glamour, before the hand slipped down to the woman's. Her head gave a lean in, a gentle bump of foreheads, and the fleeting brush of lips. Nothing more could be obtained by staying here, the mind flickered that snippet of knowledge. In an instant there was a pull away, fingers tugging and the single word command escaping. They were done.

"Come."

[Caela Dorin]

Grade Awarded Fallon Experience Skill XP Earned Acrobatics 2 Flirting 1 Intelligence 2 Interrogation 1 Intimidation 2 Persuasion 2 Planning 3 Projection 1 Rhetoric 1 Seduction 1 Teaching 2 Lores • Lore Earned • Zandelia: A word runner • Stumble Alley: The benefits of taking it over • How to take over Stumble Alley • Being a target • Choosing a target for intelligence gathering • Using Projection in Interrogation • The Amber Wave: Want me dead • The Amber Wave are slavers • Losing control Consequences : Thin walls in Brega's have been to Fallon's disadvantage once more. Thanks to the loose and loud tongue of the man she tried to interrogate, the fact that there were mages in Matthew's room will become well known in the establishment. How many will put that piece of info and the conversation with Brega together is unknown. Is there a possibility that someone will connect Bitzer with the use of magic? Zandelia Experience Skill XP Earned Acrobatics 2 Intelligence 2 Interrogation 2 Intimidation 2 Observation 5 Persuasion 1 Planning 2 Rhetoric 1 Socialisation 2 Torture 1 Lores • Lore Earned • Fallon: Weakened by heat • Fallon’s Past: Avanthal (basic) • Mounting a beam • Fallon: Master of the subject change • Layers of the Soul • Projection Theory: The Astral Body • Theory of the Initiation Process into Projection • Consequences of Projection Overuse • Djed: Name of the Power Within • Nader-Canoch: Djed means backbone • Fallon was attacked at Brega’s • Matthew: A potential traitor • Choosing a target for intelligence gathering • Interrogation: Deal out pain first then ask questions • The Amber Wave: Want Fallon dead • The Amber Wave are slavers Items Aquired/Consequences : +1 Silk rope -Bruises on stomach and ribs which will fade within 5 days -Thanks to the thin walls of Brega's, the accusation of 'mage' that slipped off the tongue of the man Fallon was interrogating could have been heard by many. How many people will work out who was in Matthew's room and link Zandelia to magic usage? And how far will that information spread? Additional Comments That was intense. I mean seriously intense. I wasn't expecting Fallon to go totally nuts at the end but I have to say I liked it. I'm very worried about Orvin. I don't want anything bad to have happened to that cuddly little guy. I took your skill and lore requests into consideration but I didn't give the "you can never have enough" lore to Zandy because I couldn't see where you were coming from exactly. If you feel that there's a good reason that I should have given it then don't hesitate to put it to me and I'll see if I can add it. Sorry for the wait by the way! Please edit or delete your grade request and PM me if you have any questions or concerns about your grade. x