BZPRPG: Ga-Wahi

IC:

"Good morning, Vilda Mako."

IC: Verulas - Ga-Koro (Client's House)

Taking a seat on a nearby couch as he was escorted into the living room, the Bo-Toa slouched backwards as the Lesterin prepared to sit herself down directly across from him.

"I suppose this is the part where you start filling me in on what exactly you want done and if you have any preferences about how the job gets accomplished," he began. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have wanted to meet with us beforehand."

Looking down at her feet, she inhaled sharply before proceeding to speak.

"As you have probably already noticed, it's been quite some time since the guards have patrolled down here; whether they've decided that this section of the village just wasn't worth protecting anymore or if they're simply being paid off to ignore us, I honestly don't know. Either way, crime has risen dramatically in this section of the city over the past couple of years, and now thugs have been recently showing up on the doorsteps of local businesses, demanding money in exchange for "protection." A couple months ago, my father's shop was visited by one such group, and a few days after he told them to leave, it burned to the ground while he was still inside."

A moment of silence passed, allowing her to wipe away her tears before continuing.

"I didn't know what he was doing at the time, but after the guards ruled the fire as accidental, my brother approached one of their ranks in the street and attempted to join up with them in order to get justice for our dad. The only reason I even know what he did is because he left a folder on my doorstep one morning with a note attached, explaining that he was taking the information to the Marines and instructing me on what to do with it in case he was discovered first. Two weeks later, a sailor ended up fishing his body out of the ocean, and not long after that, I made contact with your employer."

"So why didn't you just bring this information to the Marines, then? Why the need to go out of your way and hire a bunch of mercenaries to do the job instead?"

"After I identified his... corpse, his death was labled a suicide, and despite my attempts to convince them otherwise, no further investigation was ever conducted. I knew my brother well, and I saw the wounds; he was always cautious and wasn't the type to simply kill himself when things got bad, but even if he was, I seriously doubt that he'd rent a boat and row himself out to sea before slicing his own neck and throwing himself to the mercy of the Takea. I tried to read through what was in the folder, just to find some sort of closure, but after a few pages, I just couldn't bring myself to finish it. What I did see, however, seemed to suggest that some of the guard members were dirty, and I didn't want to run the risk of being intercepted once I arrived, which is why you're here."

"And I presume you intend on handing these documents over to me before I leave?"

"Of course. As for your payment, I was informed to present you with half of it upfront, and I should have the other half waiting for you after the task is complete."

"Anything else I should know?"

Returning to her feet for a moment, the Ga-Lesterin eventually returned with both the folder in question and two photographs she had taken the time to carefully place on top of it before handing them off to him. One depicted an older-looking Le-Lesterin working diligently to repair a fishing net; the other, a smiling Ga-Toa relaxing on the beach. Seeing as he could already tell who the subjects were without any further indication, he elected not to pry into what he already considered to be a sensitive matter.

"As for whoever's responsible for... this," she said, staring him straight in the eye. "I want these to be the last things they see before you kill them."

IC (Akimoto)

 

"I really appreciate it," she said, then glanced over her shoulder. The sun was nearly set.

 

"I do have to go now," she said, already moving down the docks towards the Ryuu. "Thank you again!"

IC:

The dying sunlight glinted off of Akimoto's crystal armour, the waves of the sea, the body of the enormous sea vessel which looked nothing like anything that Tyrus had ever seen before.

He didn't even turn to Darien when he said:

"She was one of those foreign envoys I heard about, wasn't she?"

IC:

Smoke inhalation ... hunger ... Vildas....

If not for the treasure that is Sinshot, this morning would be looking pretty bleak.

-Void

IC: 

"Aye, they come from another island entirely, first foreigners I've ever met that remembered who they were, or where they came from." 

IC:

"Wow...you even have old people like we do." Whitehot gave a cheerful wave to the not-Turaga and then aimed her face directly at Daijuno. It twisted into a friendly, if somewhat stern, narrow-eyed pout.

"You shouldn't be smoking on an empty stomach, Dai. We have a lot of food to get through and only ninety minutes before it goes full price."

-Tyler

IC:

"Don't worry, Sarge," I said with a grin. "Not a thing between here and Kentoku can keep me from getting food or a bargain."

IC:

"Very well. Then my next question is: how the ###### did I miss that fact?"

-Void

IC:

...

"It's just water between here and Kentoku, ain't it, doll?" the Marine asked quizzically.

-Tyler

IC: 

"That...I cannot answer for you friend, perhaps you missed the memo?" 

IC: Thankfully, my casual choice of clothing didn't seem out of place with the group assembled. Another victory for the versatility of a simple black shirt, tan shorts, and flip-flops combo, as it were.

"I'd hope. Wouldn't it be weird if they'd passed another civilization up on accident?"

OOC   t i m e s k i p 

IC (Akimoto)

The day dawned bright and clear over Gak-Oro. Though there were no pressing matters to attend to, Aki found herself up early just so she could get out of the Ryuu and enjoy the sunrise. Even after spending a day on Mata Nui, it was amazing to see land again instead of empty water.

As she stood on the deck of the sub, the Dasaka found herself idly twirling her homemade knife through her fingers. The metal gleamed and flashed in the sun, almost as though, for a brief millisecond here and there, it was made of light. She couldn't help but marvel again at how common metal was here; it was common enough that a local smith had allowed her to use some scrap (as though there were such a thing as scrap metal!) to forge this simple dagger. No smith on Kentoku worth their salt would allow an apprentice to even breathe too loudly next to a half-finished iron weapon.

This really was a crazy place, and Aki couldn't wait to see more.

OOC open for interaction + stuff

IC:

Whitehot took a second to think about the ramifications of the Ryuu stopping before Mata Nui.

"...Shaddup, Tarkus." Then she blinked and her face drew into a wider grin, waving even more cheerfully at the Rau-wearing everyman. "Oh, hey, Tarkus!"

-Tyler

IC: I raised an eyebrow, finding it within me to brush that one aside. Leave it to her to make you feel like you'd been part of the group for years, in ways for better or for worse. Nonetheless, I nodded and smiled in kind, responding with a raise of my own hand as I approached the group proper. A good night's sleep seemingly did wonders for the disposition. I should make a note to myself here to get them more often.

"Morning to you too, Ma'am. Hey there, everyone. Hope I haven't kept you waiting too long, the school needed to be a detour."

IC:

"Nope, you're good! I'd say the gang's about all here." Whitehot chewed on the edge of her lip and then smiled again. "Well, most of us. But that ain't a big deal. Goldie and I are unable apart for longer than sixteen hours before we get pulled together. Like magnets, y'know! He'll probably show up while we're getting our food."

-Tyler

IC: Hey, knowing this crew, that gives me an extra hour to screw around.

From somewhere nearby, the Warrant Officer discreetly made tracks for his favorite butcher, smirking as the young everyman gave her one of his trademark "I see."s where he really only kind of saw.

How much did livers go for, again?

IC:

"Good morning, Tarkus. I hope your sister is well." The Umbraline Menti commented from over her armful of loot, quietly pondering whether she could slip away long enough to put it on the sub before anyone noticed. She greeted the Ba-Toa with a faint smile and a nod, before her eyes shifted subtly back to Dai, then the sub. "You're not late at all."

.:Think I could make it, Dai?:.

IC:

"Goldie? Wherefore art thouuuuu, hand-soooooooome?"

Maybe the come hither tone would send her partner buzzing by. If not, she could always try the tone she'd used while scraping him off the floor of the Black Spot.

-Tyler

IC: I coughed politely, before occupying my attention with Miss Sinshi. It would be easier on me to not spend my time questioning the Sergeant's methods.

"Morning. Oh, she'll be fine. Trust me, I doubt either of us could cram more elementary school level math into our heads if we tried."

I wasn't kidding.

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

IC: He felt his skin crawl, champing at the bit to tell him to heed the siren's call, even at this distance. However, she had trained him well.

Perhaps too well. Through mental fortitude alone, he cast the urges aside in favor of the grisly happenings in front of him.

"So this is what a liver looks like." he muttered, dropping the organ onto the counter with a barely muffled 'eugh' as the others in the store looked on in shock and disgust. As for the butcher in question, he looked on in half-lidded, glassy eyed disdain as a thin line of blood ran down his face, defiantly staring down the Toa of Iron with resolve beyond his physical capabilities, the mind willing to drive a damaged body far beyond what it should undertake.

...

...

...

"You good?" Goldie asked.

"You are terrible for my blood pressure, kid. 8 widgets, you already manhandled it." the matoran groused in response, wiping the blood leaking out of his nostril even as he scowled at the handsome young marine.

"So, I can use this to prank my boss, right?"

"Don't care what you do with it, but you're payin' for it after getting your hands all over it."

"What is this thing, a hooker?"

"Eight. Widgets."

"You got it." came the cheeky grin, as the coinage clattered onto the countertop in a neat stack. "And take a break! You've been working yourself to death if you get an aneurysm from ###### I pull that's this tame."

"You are three centuries too young to try and tell me what to do." came the grumbled reply, as the stack was snatched and counted. Stingy old man...

"Yeah, yeah, just take it as a suggestion. Hasta!" he called, sauntering out the door with organ in hand.

Now then, I've got a party to crash.

_{with no survivors}
 

IC:

a

hem

"Mister Gooooold-en-peeeeecks? S'not nice to keep a lady waiting, Goldie."

She couldn't wait to see the look on Tarkus' face when it worked.

Dai and Sinshi were looking a little peaky, though. The other girls were looking at her like they were about ready for breakfast, Goldie or no Goldie. 

...

At least, they were looking at her the way she looked at breakfast.

-Tyler

IC:

"Miss Whitehot, I don't think he can hear you."

IC:

"Sure he can, babe. It's a siren song principle."

-Tyler

IC:

"That doesn't extend the range of your voice."

IC:

Whitehot's eyes narrowed, and she bit her lip as a challenging grin slanted up one side of her face.

"Alright, let's bet on it. What if it works?"

-Tyler

IC:

"Then Dantas will arrive. I don't know what either of us could wager."

IC:

"I'll bet..."

The teeth on Whitehot's lip brushed back thoughtfully.

"...my jacket."

-Tyler

IC:

The Menti was quiet, pondering the matter for a moment.

"I brought an Umbraline scarf with me. I'll bet you that."

IC: I frowned pensively, which in my eyes impressively concealed just how much I wished I could melt into the asphalt right then and be done with it. Ma'am, all you're doing is making a scene where you look like someone with mental issues! Please, please don't! I can't handle the embarrassment by proxy, I'm a man of weak social constitution!

Warrant Officer, please appear and save me from this karzhani of abnormality by association!

"How many scarves is the worth of a Matoran's life?" somebody drawled, smoky and dark, from behind me. Having grown accustomed to feeling beaming smiles upon the back of my skull, I turned--

And blanched, presented with a Fe-Toa's psychotic grin and outstretched hand holding... something.

Something moist. Something meaty. Something dripping red.

"I come bearing gifts!" said he, striding forward and leaving a trail of dripping viscera juice on the ground in his wake

"Wugh..."

I'd be fine with going back to the Sergeant being noisy again now.

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

IC: "Special deeeee-livery for one Whitehot Munequita!" The glistening organ was thrust forward, with the weight of a megawatt smile behind it.

He heard the kid making more "sick" noises from behind him, and laughed.

IC:

There were certain types of voices that always made Whitehot weak in the knees. One was best served at two in the morning, slightly husky with a Kentoku accent. The other had totally gone out of his way to ignore her siren summons long enough to set up that liver pun.

And she loved him for it.

"Yooooooou wise-######," she growled, putting on a mock snarl and wrapping Dantas' neck in the crook of her left elbow. She stood up on her tiptoes and pressed her best grimace in a kiss against his face. She took the liver and held it out at arm's reach with two fingertips. "I was drunk and lonely last night, dipwad! And you weren't around! What, was schmoozing some waitress more important than your girl?"

Speaking of your girl, she turned back to Sinshi...and, after a second's thought, held the liver out a little further away from anyone.

"I was just kidding about the bet. Don't sweat it."

-Tyler

IC:

While meditations on a jacket-less Whitehot filled my head, I piped up and said, "I like raw liver as much as the next girl, but maybe we can get going now? Please and thank you?"

IC:

"Darien, do you find it too late in the evening for tea?"

-Void

IC: Neya

She turned to the Vortixx, crossing her arms.

"Yes, and less are so quick to assure others they're fine. Or say anything in response, usually." She squinted slightly.

IC:

"Sounds great. Goldie, this is gross. Am I supposed to just walk around with this cupped in my hand until I find a basin?"

giggity

"Fine. Onwards, gang!"

-Tyler

IC:

"Too late? Bah! It's never too late for tea my friend." Darien replied, dismissing the very notion with a hand wave. "I'm fairly certain it's always tea time, especially in the evening." The very idea that there was a such a time that could be deemed inappropriate for tea was just ridiculous in Darien's mind.

"Out of curiousity why do you ask?"

IC:

"Hmm. Looks like I lost that one."

IC:

"Don't wooooooorryyyyy. You weren't properly warned about the capability of a Goldie summoning. Keep your scarf, babe."

-Tyler

IC:

"I just missed the fact that we were talking with an alien," Tyrus said, a perceptible slump growing in his stance. "I need a drink."

-Void

IC:

"A bet is a bet."

IC:

"Grrrrrr-rrrrrrrr-rrrrrrrrrrr, fiiiiine. But you'll have to coil that scarf around my neck yourself, missy. I refuse to take it from you with my own two hands."

-Tyler

IC:

"An excellent showing of peaceful protest."

IC:

"U m b r a l i n e  S i n s h i ! Are you teasing me?"

-Tyler

IC:

"For the love of 'Taka, tell me you're not going to be like this all morning."

-Void

IC:

"Whaaaaaat if we are?" Whitehot raised both her arms and crossed her wrists in an X, releasing a yawn followed by the same soft, gasping sound that had accompanied her morning exercise routine. While her hands were over her head, the Toa of Earth flicked her right hand in a casual overhand toss, letting the liver land in the water for the gulls. She turned back to the Dashi with a cheeky grin and spun on her feet, the sound of her boots scuffing against the wood of the docks. "C'mon, Dai, don't be grouchy, feel that breeze! Let paradise do what it does best and steal your heart!"

She stretched a little further, reaching for the sun as if to prove a point (and going so far as to stand on the toes of her boots) before dropping down with a whoosh of breath and grinning.

"No sweat, though! You'll be right as rain once we get some waffles in ya. No fear babe."

-Tyler