Description: In the course of her duties to the Hajinmon sect, Ayane is duped into taking a contract kill that turns out to have hidden motivations. Though she won't abandon her duty, and stands fast against the consequences of her unwary actions, dishonesty - and dishonour - demand a toll be paid. But which way do the scales fall, and what say does the strange, dimunitive 'Vanna' have in what ensues?
Camopi, French Guiana.
There's not much here that resembles more than a rickety shack, the buildings makeshift, hardy only to the relentless humidity of the rainforest. Squatting shamelessly between two rivers, the communal seat plays host to visitors to and from nearby Brazil, and is therefore - after a relative fashion - one of the more affluent villages in the region. Like much of this dark and dying world, it attracts its share of the more shady element, too.
As a member of the deadly and highly-secretive Hajinmon ninja sect, Ayane is more a mercenary than a crusader; to hire for the highest bidder whose principles are at least ambiguous enough to pass muster. So it is that the purple-haired kunoichi finds herself in a squat, dingy warehouse at the edge of the river Oyapock, staring down three large, dark-skinned men in tank tops and fatigue pants. Two of them are armed - the other doesn't need to be, because he's flanked by the others. A pair of AK47 assault rifles tend to suffice for any threat these individuals have faced, thus far.
Ayane is packing too, the harnesses upon her otherwise bared thighs carrying her own tandem weapons; the Fuma Kodachi, ornate golden hilts belying their fierce utility. Telltale bulges in the tops of olive green boots and the sides of her matching half-catsuit hint at further armament. But she's injured, too, an open slash upon her cheek crusted over with dried blood and the dark, jagged streaks of bullet wounds visible upon her legs and arms. It does nothing to dull the intensity of her red, nigh-demonic gaze as it levels upon her erstwhile employer - the man in the middle, whose black complexion only accentuates his broad grin. He's not the type she'd normally deal with, and she makes no secret of her disdain.
"There is problem, lady? We agree to terms, you carry out job. We pay you soon."
Between them all lie a collection of crates and chests, stacked neatly but covered in grime. It's upon one of these that Ayane sets her forefinger now, stepping around it until she has her flank presented to the levelled rifle barrels, the other hand hovering near one of her blades.
"You'll pay me," she speaks hard, and dry, the emotion of her stare far from present in her tone. "But you'll pay in full, and you'll deliver an explanation as well. The job was to infiltrate and eliminate. When you leave out details, monsieur," the French sounds awkward in her eastern accent, but it's quietly scathing all the same, "You con the Hajinmon. When you con the Hajinmon..."
Her hand closes upon the hilt of her weapon, and there's a twitch from the man on the left. A big. musclebound specimen much like the other, he's sweating profusely, and the barrel wavers slightly. Their leader raises his hands, grin not disappearing as he mimes placatingly.
"No con! No lie! We pay you, but first there is more to be done. What we took..."
Ayane arches an eyebrow as he gestures toward the crate she's touching. With a sneer, she reaches to crack it open, glancing furtively inside - careful not to remove her attention from anyone present - and then grasping for what lies on top. It's a bit awkward to remove, and she breathes a curse before pulling free a warbow of polished ebony. Adorned with vines and feathers, it's a work of art by tribal standards, and it practically hums with latent energy. The kunoichi's lips purse, her eyes narrowing as a furrow marks her smooth-skinned brow.
"Someone will come for this. You idiots."
Angry, she takes a step toward them, but only two of the men are looking at her; both of them backstep and look sideways, at the third man. He moves erratically, the muzzle of his rifle darting about the western side of the warehouse. Something flashes past the dusty windows.
"Someone's already here," mutters Ayane, drawing her blade with a near-silent hiss in the same motion that sees the bow set down with due care and reverence upon its open crate. With the freed hand she forms a seal at her breast, scarlet gaze distant but determined as she focuses.
"Stay out of my way. You fire, and you hit me, you die."
The men all nod mutely, fixated upon the only entrance to the warehouse. Nobody is grinning any more.
Well... that's not quite true now, is it?
One person is grinning. In fact, one person is all grins. Teeth like needles glimmer in the dim light as Vanna fades into being. To the eyes of normal people, it is like she is summoned into being... to the keen eyes of the Hajinmon prodigy? Well, perhaps less so, but the short little thing is still all smiles as she steps into the light.
Clad in rusted metal erratically hammered into the right kind of shape, with her fingers flexing beneath long, curved claws, the men would be fools to have done business in Brazil without knowing who Vanna is. Sharp, disturbingly blue eyes sparkle as she cocks her head to the side, looking at the four gathered souls.
"Purple Hair do good, steal Bow of Encantado."
Vanna's voice is high-pitched and grating, her english is broken - but she insists on speaking it anyway. The tribal dialect of the Sangue is far from modern Brazilian, and it makes her feel good to use her words - she had to pry each one loose from an unfamiliar tongue. They are one more weapon she's fashioned from strange and foreign lands. How odd it is that she'd be back on home soil, looking to take a weapon of her own people from the hands of strangers.
"You hurt now though. Bang bang, yes?" The grin becomes even larger. "Taste blood on air. Strong blood. Others?" One claw is waved dismissively to the men with guns, "They no help. That why need you. Know this, yes, Purple Hair? Strong no need weak to bring down kill. Give to Vanna. Vanna share spoils."
Those bright blue eyes drift back to Ayane's red, demonic orbs. For a moment, the pygmy's tongue slithers out across pointed teeth. "Kill liars if want?~" She might be hard to listen to, but if one can get past that broken grammar... well, there's a keen understanding of human nature there. Poor injured Ayane is clearly upset. Vanna is happy to prey on that if it will get her what she wants.
When Vanna appears as if from nowhere, she finds one set of eyes already upon her. The accusation is levelled, along with a jarring compliment, and the kunoichi lifts her chin in a curt flick, a daring gesture that invites little in the way of sympathy or understanding. She meets confrontation upon its own terms; face-on, whether she stand in the light or shade.
"So what if I did?" Her lips curl into a cold smirk, defiance plain as she brings the gleaming steel of her kodachi around, catching the dim light within the warehouse. It is clean to the eye, and positively shines, though the pgymy may scent still the blood upon it. Hours old, at most.
"Let the Encantado claim it for themselves. It's no more yours than it is mine."
Confronted by strange folklore, she speaks as easily as she greets the strange apparition of Vanna. Ayane of the Mugen Tenshin is no mere thug; she's an educated girl, her interest in the supernatural both keen and backed by years of hard schooling. Despite her youth, she has experience in the field beyond many proclaimed masters, and might claim to be one herself. In the realm of the shinobi, in the realms of hungry shadow and ancient magick, she is an exceptional talent. Eyes red as freshly-shed blood regard the strange little creature before them with a level judgement that betrays nothing beneath - no allegiance, no particular opinion.
Where possible, the Hajinmon prodigy prefers to speak with actions.
Her sealing hand tightens, fingers flexing until they turn white. There's a surge of spiritual force, a deft sweep of unseen winds, and with no more than a pronounced shifting of her bandanna the shinobi vanishes. A beat later she drops to the ground behind Vanna, the tip of her blade extended an inch from striking distance. Her sealing hand glows faintly, an ethereal shimmer of chi-energy harnessed and held, for whatever purpose she might place it to use.
The way to the three cowering men and their guns is clear; as is the way to the bow.
"I have a contract with those liars," the girl speaks low now, her voice failing to echo off the drab wooden walls, for Vanna's ears only, "Until that's resolved, their fates belong to me. Make your move, but be prepared for the consequences. The only thing we'll *share*," her eyes flash, expression tightening. The blade doesn't budge an inch. "Is pain."
Vanna's eyes widen in surprise as Ayane simply ceases to exist in one place, and reappears behind her. The shaman's lips purse, and then twist up to the right, sneering. The ninja is fast; even wounded, she's impressive. Vanna can feel the energy twisting in the air, too. This sets the hairs on the back of her neck trembling. She might not be able to see Ayane, but she doesn't need to. She can feel the ninja from the power radiating in her grip.
"Words words words." Vanna says, loosely gesturing with her claw in a lazy, slow motion - still facing away from Ayane. "Liars tie Purple Hair up with words. Okay. Vanna free Purple Hair. No liars, no words, no bonds."
The little woman raises her metal-shod foot up into the air. That's all the warning that Ayane gets before she brings it back down with a terrible SCREAM. There's no gathering of power, no warning that Vanna is preparing to make an attack at all, instead, there's a bellowed threat which seems to echo from every direction at once.
"VANNA SUMMON SKY-WATER! LISTEN GOOD STUPID SPIRIT, DROWN ENEMIES OR VANNA COME UP THERE AND SLASH-SLASH!"
Her foot comes down into the ground, and in that moment, it is as though the heavens have opened within the warehouse. From invisible clouds comes a torrent of rain, water droplets pattering over the ground faster than any machinegun the startled thugs might have hoped to bring to bear. Where it soaks, it forces its way in; elemental water just as sure to drown as the real thing when it settles in one's lungs.
"HARDER, FASTER, SPIRITS WANT VANNA COME BITE FACE OFF?!"
Her other foot is brought down just as hard, and the rain whips up briefly in a swirling gale, wind cutting through it to help make the sudden deluge even harder to escape. The true targets, of course, are the foolish men; but Vanna isn't stupid. She knows Ayane will be strong enough to survive. She just hopes she's also weak enough to be distracted from making good on her threat whilst Vanna 'frees' her of her obligations.
COMBATSYS: Vanna has started a fight here.
COMBATSYS: Ayane has joined the fight here.
COMBATSYS: Ayane slows Rain Dance from Vanna with Falling Orchid.
Glancing Hit
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Ayane 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Vanna
Words. Ayane's not the greatest fan herself, and she can't help but exude a wryly-amused snort as the pygmy counters her honourable rebuttal. At the same time, she's defensive, tensed and shimmering digits drenched in a very different flood to the one Vanna is preparing to summon. The shinobi can feel it coming a mile away, even without the exuberant howling of her supposed foe. Her extended weapon is cutting through the air in the same instant that the heavens unleash themselves, the girl's crouch becoming a spinning sweep of the blade...
...that falls well short of Vanna. Rather, it intercepts the oncoming swathe of water, the out-turned edge of the kodachi slicing through supernaturally-charged molecules, diverting the wave for long enough that she can tense and spring, launched into an acrobatic vertical leap that becomes a slower, almost lazy flip. Only almost; to regular eyes, it's still barely possible to track, and Ayane releases her harnessed chi at the apex, forming a blazing corona of force.
It's this that causes her to enter a second violent rotation, and as desperate machine-gun fire scatters toward her from the men already being consumed by the flood, the kunoichi's free hand moves in a frantic blur, plucking kunai blades from her person and throwing each with pinpoint precision toward the deluge. Iris petals imbued with her very spirit slice at the crashing waters, keeping them at bay as Ayane turns and drops, now in the centre of her own bladed pentagram. Below her is the raging pygmy, and one last blade is intended for her. Ayane draws it back...
...and is then struck in the flank by the obedient water spirits. Biting off a sharp cry, she controls her flight away with a deft flexion of her supple frame, spinning her legs in twin arcs before clamping them down upon a cross-beam within the warehouse's rafters.
Below, two of the men are already unconscious and likely drowning. The remaining, the grinning leader, has moored himself to a wayward crate. He is sobbing, and in greedy desperation reaching for the abandoned bow - which floats inches away in the muddied waters.
Ayane looks not at him, but at Vanna. Strong enough to survive? You bet your ass.
"Not too shabby," she calls down, only the faintest gasp to her tone betraying any lack of calm control, "Perhaps you do have the blessing of the Encantado. Funny." Once more she smirks, the expression cold, drawing simultaneously the second of her blades. She takes a stance upon the beam, upside-down and apparently glued to the beam above (below?), for all the world like she were in the most comfortable possible position to fight from. "I thought you'd be taller."
Beat.
"So what're you, some kind of were-porpoise?"
Alright, sometimes words can be pretty fun.
Vanna scurries along the ground, metal-shod feet kicking up remnants of the pooling rainwater as the spirits fade away. She is almost bounding as she comes down, and places one foot heavily on the back of the boss. Vanna is short, yes, but you know, most people are shorter than her when they are on their knees, and as she grinds her heel into the man's spine, she underscores that point in full.
She'd lost track of the ninja during the assault, though, and when Ayane speaks, her head snaps upwards. Vanna's jaw clenches, and her eyes narrow mistrustfully. The young girl is still far too confident, given her injuries and the display that Vanna had just put on. Vanna has been around the world long enough to know that there's people she needs to give her respect.
This seems to be one of them.
"Not blessing. Better. Encantado curse Vanna name, but /need/ Vanna. Need bow. Hate Vanna."
Her second foot joins the first as she stands on the boss, folding her arms across her chest so that her claws extend to either side. She has to crane her neck up to speak to Ayane, but that's hardly an unusual situation for her. With the stance she's taken, she looks just as comfortable.
"Vanna no Were-Porpoise!" She exclaims, huffing, and apparently missing the fact that Ayane is making fun of her. "Vanna shaman! You ..." She struggles with this word - it isn't one she's had much cause to use. Japan attracts rather a lot of attention. "Neen-ha, yes? Shadow Fighter. For money? Same."
She doesn't seem to be in any hurry to continue the fight, though; even as the man beneath her squirms and groans, trying to reach the bow that remains perpetually out of reach. The pygmy is smiling again instead. "How much liar pay? Bet not good as Encantado. Blessed by Mother of Gold. /Many/ shinies."
COMBATSYS: Vanna takes no action.
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Ayane 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Vanna
Were Ayane not yet convinced of the power within this strange, dimunitive being, she's treated to a harshly-pained yell by her questionable employer. That descending foot drives into delicate vertebrae, the cringeworthy crunch of bone-on-bone audible even beneath his displeasure. There are precious few in the world who can summon such spiritual potency without also being capable of using their bodies - but at the least, Vanna proves she is not among them.
"You're not?" Comes the sarcasm-laden response to the pygmy's assertion that's not a were-porpoise, either. An arched purple brow punctuates it, as does the relaxed crossing of Ayane's arms. With her kodachi held in a down-grip, the blades end up flanking her hips. She's savvy enough to be sure of such an action-- clearly, no attack is immediately forthcoming. Or perhaps she's quick enough that it wouldn't matter. Regardless, there she stands. Or hangs.
"Neen-ha, yes. Shadow Fighter. You wouldn't believe my whole story if I told you, but rest assured, 'Vanna' is not the only incredibly dangerous person in this room." Drawing breath and then releasing a brusque sigh, Ayane abruptly drops from the cross-beam into a sharply-angled flip. Her olive boots strike the waterlogged ground simultaneously, landing with just the faintest splash as she rights herself, the blades still hugging either side of her lithe form.
"He's not paid me at all, yet," she continues with a flick of her head toward the struggling, squirming man, all but emotionless as she steps with fluid grace through the puddles toward the discarded bow. She stops out of reach, forming a triangle with it and Vanna. "And he won't get the chance. I don't care about 'shinies' and I've traded enough words. Release him or don't--"
There's a searing flash of vibrant, violet chi, and Ayane is spinning out from her 'relaxed' stance, blades forming a shimmering barrier. "Either way," her voice echoes from within, even as she's flashing through the warehouse toward Vanna and her subdued prey. Left and right she jolts, like the strike of lightning - not just hard to follow, but impossible to predict. When she closes an instant later, she's more -on top- of Vanna than anything, appearing in her personal space as a a whirling dervish of cruelly-cutting blades and boiling chi. Whatever reaction the pygmy makes, she'll be forced away; there's too much force behind Ayane's assault, too much momentum.
She comes out of it with her twin swords held before her like the blades of a gigantic pair of scissors, held at opposite angles until she turns and snaps her arms inward. Through the man's neck she shears, the last vestiges of energy sparking against severed flesh, the shed blood sizzling as it hits the waterlogged ground. His head rolls away in a series of dull, wet thumps. Ayane continues beyond the finale of her assault, stepping through, wheeling the Fuma Kodachi about until she once more faces Vanna in a ready stance. Red eyes burn cold fury.
"The contract is void."
COMBATSYS: Ayane successfully hits Vanna with Cyclone Destroyer.
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Ayane 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Vanna
Vanna had never thought otherwise. That Ayane is fighting with the wounds she has at all is... impressive, but the kunoichi's movements have been quick enough that the little shaman has had difficulty keeping up. When the purple-haired woman makes her move, Vanna's instinct is to flee. It would have been a good one, too, if it had worked.
Unfortunately, it doesn't.
The pygmy tries to roll beneath the slashing blades, but is caught up in the maelstrom instead. Sparks fly as metal shears against metal, and the shaman snarls in frustration, finding herself flung away. She spears the ground with one claw, the other raking across a crate to arrest her motion. The head of the unfortunate employer comes rolling past her...
... and Vanna's irritation boils over.
"YIYIYIYIIIIIIIIII!"
Screaming as she bounds right towards the ninja, the pygmy takes full advantage of her lesser size. She stays low to the ground, darting this way and that, then, at the last moment, she springs up into the air, and twists.
Splaying her limbs out to all sides, she aims to wrap herself about Ayane's face, and twist around until she can stab in deep to the girl's shoulders with her claws. She'll need a pretty good grip to really sink her teeth into the girl's neck, but that's the idea - stab and then start gnawing away at the girl's throat with those needle-sharp teeth.
Vanna isn't really certain any longer whether Ayane intends to keep the bow for herself, or whether she wanted a deal - but after being cut up and hurled around, she feels compelled to answer in kind!
COMBATSYS: Ayane attempts to counter Bat Bite from Vanna with Mugen Zephyr.
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Ayane 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Vanna
It's a strain, sometimes, to keep going against the odds. Ayane's role is never any different, however; injured or not, she does not take on tasks that are beneath her. A lesser shinobi would be sent to deal with an easier situation - for the Hajinmon sect to send the Demon Child, she must be required. She's not just a valuable commodity, but one who is loathe to abandon her own goals to fulfill a mere contract. Liberating the bow and the other, lesser artifacts contained within the scattered crates has taken a toll upon her, and now she fights against that fact.
This is a battle she must finish quickly, if she is to finish it at all.
Prepared by virtue of her final, spinning motion, Ayane watches the incoming pygmy with a sharply-analytical stare that seems outwardly dismissive. In truth, it is anything but. She was fortunate to avoid the opening deluge, and extremely skilled and powerful to land such a violent counter blow. Now, she must combine the two virtues. Talent and luck. She tracks the oncoming Vanna with swift movements of her eyes, the right hand curling more deeply about the hilt of the kodachi held high above her purple-haired head. Inwardly, she counts down rhythmically...
"...huh!"
A sharp outbreathed grunt is elicited by the motion that ensues, Ayane's right leg sweeping inward and then out, forming the second foundation following a thrust from her now-rear limb. Pushing beyond Vanna's arms and legs, she allows the grapple to occur around her arm instead, forcing the pygmy back - and more, pushing the blade toward her widened maw. It's a struggle that's likely to require too much main strength, if she louses up the quick draw. That's a contest she'll lose; with all that armour, her opponent is heavy as well as strong. Ayane is no brute.
If she can keep the distance for that crucial moment, however, she'll push the blade in and draw it out in a smoothly-whipping motion, hoping to slice across the mouth and then turn sharply upon her heels, driving through three hundred and sixty degrees to bring the other blade around in a punishing slash through the armoured plates on Vanna's torso, cutting deep into delicate organs. It's with this second blow that the nasty part comes-- not just the edge of shining steel, but the spark of that violet chi, jolting and searing along the striking surface.
She fights a foe who command spirits, after all. Her own must rise to the challenge.
COMBATSYS: Vanna reverses Mugen Zephyr from Ayane with Possom Play.
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Ayane 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Vanna
Vanna is... quick. It is probably how she's managed to stay alive despite winding up in situations like this on a fairly regular basis. She realizes almost immediately that the ninja is going to stab her in the mouth, and the reaction is instant. As quickly as she'd gone for the grab, she releases it. She drops to the ground like a stone, arcing herself back, and Ayane's blade cuts through the space where she had been moments before.
The sword also slashes through the space where Vanna's precious organs would have been. With how HARD Vanna hits the floor, Ayane might just be tricked into thinking - at least for a split second - that she'd succeeded in slashing through the pygmy woman.
If it wasn't for the fact that in the next instant, Vanna is diving back up. Both claws slash out to carve into Ayane's side's. The cut isn't too deep as Vanna just stabs in and then rolls backwards, but as she gets back to her feet it is with a hateful hiss.
"Stupid Purple Hair! Why hit Vanna THEN kill liar? Vanna EAT Purple Hair's pretty eyes!!"
It is fair to say that she's getting more worked up now. She feels like she's missing part of the puzzle, and that's... infuriating!
It may not be deep, but the pain is intense - layered atop her existing wounds, it's all Ayane can do not to respond on instinct. Vanna is back to her feet by the time the kunoichi finds hers, clinging to her blades as she gasps for breath, and self-control. It's clear from her stance - if not her expression - that she has no desire to continue the fight, her feet planted firmly and weapons raised in a defensive formation. Both blades are angled outward, grip firm and forearms relatively thick with stabilising muscle. She's not pushing forward, at least.
Those 'pretty' crimson eyes alight upon the pygmy, a brief silence reigning that's broken only by the pitter-patter of bloody droplets from the shinobi's injured flank. The threats are ignored, as she considers the question within their midst. Why DID she press the attack?
"Because," she speaks clearly, tone cutting but businesslike, "Now I don't have to kill you."
Only now does she move, sliding into a backstep and tentatively lowering her twinned kodachi. She remains wary as she enters a slow backward pace, keeping her gaze upon the pygmy woman.
"The bow is yours. It was never mine to take." Briefly her gaze flickers to the feather-strewn weapon, then back to Vanna. Her expression hardens, no lapse in fierceness evident even as she hints toward a retreat. "Neither were those mens' lives *yours* to take, though if you seek any retribution for the other lives lost..." Pausing halfway to the door, that cold smirk alights upon her rather dry lips. "Come at me. We'll go until one of us walks away, or neither of us does."
Ayane sheathes her blades as if the answer has already been given.
"You're skilled. You have my respect. But I'm hunting someone else."
COMBATSYS: Ayane takes no action.
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Ayane 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Vanna
Vanna's impatience boils in her heart like oil, threatening to erupt into flames and burn everything in an instant. But, though it is severely tempting to keep attacking the purple-haired ninja, she... can see no reason to do so. Stepping towards the bow laid between then, she glances down at it, then back at Ayane.
She bends down, not taking her eyes off the ninja for a moment, and then snares the bow. There's a moment of tension in her, as though the artifact itself were unpleasant to touch, and then she flings it onto her back, where the string can pull irreverently against one of her metal spikes.
"Vanna no care about them." She says, "Not paid for vengeance." Straightening up again, she lifts her head as high as she can so she can inspect Ayane. The words about respect are nice; she doesn't hear them often from people who aren't begging for their lives... but the girl is so young! Why, she probably hasn't had more than two or three children! It is disturbing to think that the outcome of their clash would be in doubt for even a moment.
"Never kill for free, yes?" She says, lips pulling once more into an amused grin. "You good, Purple Hair! Very good. You tell neen-ha friends they need help, Vanna keep deal. No lies. Vanna /good/ hunter."
Despite how much she is tempted to keep up the test, despite the lingering violence hanging in the air in the spoiled warehouse, Vanna's stance is open as she walks towards the girl, and then... sticks out one claw-clad hand, for shaking. That's what people do, right? Shake hands?
"Want come see Encantado when NOT trying take skull? Purple Hair be Vanna's guest! Good meat! They catch jaguar before Vanna leave!"
Because what growing girl can turn down a meal of delicious jaguar, right?
COMBATSYS: Vanna takes no action.
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Ayane 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Vanna
That hard stare remains level upon Vanna as the odd little woman goes about her business; and her business it unquestionably is, their clash just a side effect of professional pride and uncertain allegiances. Perhaps, thinks Ayane, just a bit of curiosity too. Despite her earlier tease, the shinobi is at heart not a prejudiced person - if asked, she'd admit openly to having a problem with stupid people, liars, and a selection of other reprehensible personality types. But she's the least likely to judge based on size, race or apparent cultural differences.
That doesn't mean she's not interested. Vanna is... unusual, even in a world of freaks.
It's even more fascinating that they seem to uphold the same standards. Though not one to stand around gawking, Ayane lingers longer than she normally would, the smirk even softening to resemble an honest smile as the pygmy grins at her. It still holds a cynical, bitter sort of edge, but it's all the more meaningful for that - in the same way that Vanna's uncomfortable gesture is for her. The extended hand is regarded mutely, and then taken with a firm nod. Ayane's grip is strong, despite the softness of her skin and the slenderness of her frame. First impressions, right?
"The cycle of life and death is not a game," murmurs Ayane as she returns the grasp without further hesitation - and certainly no fear. "Never kill for free. For honour, though..." Her gaze lids momentarily, flicking to the ground and back up to Vanna. She smirks, genuinely amused by the invitation. "Or for food. Yeah." Her head bobs in a nod, and she retracts her hand, gesturing over her shoulder toward the door. "Lead the way, Vanna. I'm Ayane, of the Mugen Tenshin clan, and I might just need a good hunter. My prey's a bit tougher than a jaguar..."
Red eyes shift again, glinting dangerously, Ayane's mouth turning downward now. More in determination than displeasure, the emotion leaks through to her tone, the chill now positively icy - a cold wind of retribution, as fierce as burning flame.
"...but she'll die the same way, once I find her."
And then presumably Ayane will eat her. She doesn't seem to object to the idea of a hot meal.
COMBATSYS: Ayane has left the fight here.
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Vanna 0/-------/-----==|
Log created on 06:07:59 04/26/2015 by Ayane, and last modified on 10:42:54 04/26/2015.