2008-02-04 14:39:53
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A woman with titanium legs appears through the dust. Her hair is maroon and shaved halfway. She is also wearing an eyepatch over one eye.
Here we are...,
Cheyenne thinks to herself as she pulls out her grappling gun. She aims up at a large wall from a previously standing building. It is toppled over over the rubble. Taking a shot, the hook sinks into the board and she pulls at it hard. She yanks the board over and gathers some shotgun ammo.
Just where I left 'em.
The street is practically empty. Even with no one around, a man in a dirty brown overcoat blends into the background almost invisibly. Hardly is he noticed when he is forgotten. In fact, his passing through this street would have been utterly inconsequentia
l had he not strode up behind the woman with titanium legs and said in a low voice, "Cheyenne."
A chill went up her spine. "Woah!" Cheyenne gasped and whipped around, holding her shotgun up at his face. She took a breath and asked, "You are...?"
The man's eyes widened and he backed away at the shotgun, holding his hands up defensively. "Woah, woah, I'm not gonna hurt you! Easy!" He widened his arms, displaying the inside of his coat, revealing no weapons. "Okay?"
Cheyenne lowered her gun, "Can't take any chances." She stopped and gave him an odd look, "You said my name before...do you know me?"
"Not personally. Not yet, anyway," He added, mostly to himself. He continued, "I've just seen you around town and I happened to overhear it somewhere. That's all." He relaxed, lowering his arms, staring at her avidly.
"Alright...that's kinda strange to just creep up behind someone and whisper their name, don't you think?" Cheyenne came back, still a bit spooked. She put her shotgun on her back, but kept an eye on him, just in case he made a sudden movement. One can't be too careful now a days. "So who are you?"
To the first comment, the man frowned, as if this was somehow a new concept to him, but said nothing. "My name is Jonathan Strange," He said, making a small bow, "And I am at your service."
"Strange huh? Heh...I like that." Cheyenne smirked. The rebellion's popularity must've spread quicker then she had thought it would. Luckily, she was very open-minded and held out a hand to shake his, "Glad to have you aboard, Strange. Do you have any talents that I should know about?"
Strange shook her hand firmly, smiling widely. "I'm invisible. I mean, I blend into crowds. Espionage and reconnaissance, that kind of thing. My specialty," he finished awkwardly. He suddenly noticed that he was still holding Cheyenne's hand and let it go, sliding his hand behind him awkwardly.
Cheyenne grinned, "Heh, I would agree with that. I obviously didn't know you were behind be earlier. I could make use of that talent. As you can see...blending isn't my greatest strength." She knocked on her titanium legs.
A throwing knife sank into the wood Cheyenne had turned over with a subtle "tink" sound. Just to get everyone's attention. "Who's your new friend Chey?" Raven King asked in a relaxed tone as she struck a match to light her freshly rolled cigarette. Another knife could be seen grasped by the last two fingers on the hand holding the match. She was short but built solid, her long black hair streamed down her back and her biker leathers had defiantly seen better days. They seemed almost gray from dust. A dusty black duffel bag was slung over one shoulder, her casting equipment inside. The butt of a pistol shown past a scratched silver belt buckle engraved with a broken chain.
Cheyenne turned and smirked at Raven with her hair covering her green eye. "New recruit." she replied. After grabbing the handle on the knife imbedded into the wood, she gave it a firm tug, ripping it out. "His name is Jonathan Strange." Knowing she would catch it, Cheyenne thew the knife back at Raven.
"A fine thing to know you," Jonathan said, tipping his fingers to his forehead in a salute. He smiled generically, his face unmemorable.
"Have you seen Rose lately?" Cheyenne asked Raven, "I haven't seen her all day."
"I saw her mauling trees when I passed through the city park," Strange piped up, shoving his hands in his pockets and fingering the contents idely. He'd redirected his gaze and was staring at Cheyenne again, memorizing her features.
Cheyenne disregarded his gaze. She was used to people starring at her, "You...know who Rose is?"
Strange blinked. His mind crowded suddenly with a half a dozen witty remarks, all struggling to make it out of his mouth. "Small world, huh?" He concluded lamely, giving half a sheepish smile and hiding under his hat. By god, she was gorgeous.
"Again?" Cheyenne placed her head in her hand. "At least Rose is keeping Roxie off of people for a little while." She looked back at Raven, "Get anything good today?"
Suddenly, rattling of junk can be heard from across the scrap pile. There was a rugged looking man wearing dirtied clothes and digging through the garbage. He was about middle aged and had a slight beard.
Cheyenne turned towards the sound. With an intrigued grin, she said, "Sounds like we have an intruder."
"What, in this town? No," Strange muttered sarcastically to himself, turning to look at the man with a slight air of jealousy.
Raven was just about to open her bag to reveal her casting equiptment when she heard teh noise too and instinctivly fell into a crouch behind what was left of a fire escpe. Being cautious was teh first rule of survival in this part of town.
The scruffy old man didn't seem to notice the group of people only a few yards away. He was probably searching for tools, food, anything useful for survival.
Cheyenne couldn't see him from where she was and walked towards the noise. Bringing out her shotgun, she revealed herself to him, "Hey you!"
He looked up at Cheyenne and was almost thrown back. "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" He waved his hands in front of him.
Watching from a slight distance a woman chuckled. Maria stood barefoot ontop of a flattened piece of wall which undoubtedly fell over. Her exposed leg was slightly tanner than the inside of her arms as was the outer side of her arms, the tank top tucked neatly into the waistband. She shifted the duel holster and made sure her guns were safely fastened. She continued smiling as Cheyenne pointed her shotgun at the old man. Her brown hair was braided and ended with a knot, which held, but was easily undone by those who knew how to tie it, Maria included. She searched quickly for a path to her friends and moved with surprising bursts of speed. She ended up behind everyone, who happened to be turned towards the old man, and she smiled even wider to herself. She kept quiet until someone noticed in which she'd place her finger to her lips, slowly making her way to Cheyenne.
Cheyenne was fixated on the man. She jumped at him and pointed the gun at him. "Who do you follow, scavenger?"
"I- I follow no one." He stood from his crouch and backed away slightly. "I am a mere wanderer." The man placed his hands in his pockets.
Strange, who noticed most things, caught Maria in his peripheral vision, but recognizing her from weeks of stalking Cheyenne, and chose not to raise an alarm about it, returning his gaze to Cheyenne once again.
The man was starting to realize that people were ganging up on him. He grabbed tightly onto the knife in his pocket. When Cheyenne was close enough, he made his move despite the fact that she was aiming at him.
Cheyenne noticed the hands in his pockets and was more alert before he even grabbed the knife. She shot the gun at his head before the knife even came close to her. His head practically exploded all over. Blood and brains flew in ever direction. "Pitiful." she spat. When she turned around, she was caught off guard by the girl in front of her. "What the fuck?!" she pointed the gun at her and almost shot out of reflex.
"CHEY!" Raven shouted coming from her hide behind the old fire escape. She had been lucky enough not to get any blood or brains on her. "It's Maria, calm down."
"Dammit...why the hell is everyone sneaking up on me today?" Cheyenne shouted before hooking the gun around her back once more.
"Maybe you need to oil your legs to cut back on the noise." Raven said emerging closer to her "An elephant could seek up on you."
"Ha..ha..." Cheyenne said sarcastically. "Let me know if you find any." She stopped for a moment, "Oh yea, you were going to show me what you gathered today." Cheyenne went over to the dead man and searched his pockets. Nothing but a toenail clipper, wire, old newspaper clippings and some change. It was useless though, money had no value anymore. They were better off burning the money to keep themselves warm.
Raven opened her bag "My casting equipment. Now I can restock our ammo. I found some led and sheet metal too... Oh and speaking of oil." She tossed Cheyenne a small oil can. "Found that too."
Cheyenne caught it, "Thanks a lot Raven. Some bucket of bolts I turned out to be." She said before examining herself, applying a little oil when needed. It slipped into the cracks and folds of the titanium.
Maria had laughed as Cheyenne jumped. She'd always loved that reaction, but waited until after Raven shown what she found. Reaching around her back, she yanked on the small pouch, unattatching the string which was wrapped around the middle of her holster. "Cheyenne," she called before showing the pouch and then, without missing a beat, tossed it to her. "It took me forever to find it," she said. "It's broken, and is missing a few pieces, but I'm positive it will work again." Inside the pouch she threw to Cheyenne, was a battered, slightly smashed walkie talkie. "I had to sneak around Downtown for a while and knock out a PK to get it." Maria held up her left arm on which was a long, slightly healed cut, very, very shallow and already treated, straight down her lower arm.
Cheyenne took it out of the bag and examined it for a little bit. "I wonder who has the other end to this thing." She turned the knob on the top of it, but it didn't turn on. She turned it over, opened the back and took out the batteries. She placed the tip of each of them on her tongue and winced a bit, "Well, it's not the batteries. They are good yet." She put them back in and closed the battery door, "We need a mechanic. Or at least someone who can tinker with these sort of things. It's not my specialty."
"If it's anything like a CB Radio I can check it out." Raven said sifting around in her bag. she was a mechanic and part of her knowledge extended slightly to rewiering the circuitry of automobiles.
"Here." Cheyenne tossed the radio up at her. "Who knows, we might be able to tab into some private conversations."
"Without a charger it won't last more than a day or two." Raven said taking out a small screwdriver to look inside the radio. "But I think I can bring something to charge it."
"Good deal." Cheyenne remarked. She emptied out the dead shotgun shell from her gun that she had used to kill the wanderer.
Raven pulled a sodering gun from her bag and gave it a second to charge before sitting down on a pile of cinderblocks. She took the gun to a few wires in the radio and sudenly it came to life with static. "Fixed it."
"Damn...you sure know your shit, don't you?" Cheyenne replied.
"I try." Raven said screwing the cover back on and switcing the channels trying to find traffic over the lines.
Having watched Raven fix the walkie-talkie she found and begin to search for the right signals, Maria had moved towards Cheyenne. "So, who is everyone I haven't met?" she asked, conversationally to the woman.
"This new guy..." Cheyenne turned towards his direction, "Jonathon Strange."
Managing to face Jonathan, Maria stretched out her hand towards him. "Maria Cristo," she said, waiting for him to take her hand.
His attention suddenly called upon, Strange stared oddly at Maria for an awkward moment. "Pleasure," He finally said curtly, taking her hand and shaking it briefly, shoving his hands back into his pockets.
Almost as if on a hesitated cue, Maria laughed. "That's the first time I heard that one!" she said between gasps. She calmed down just as fast as she'd excited, but her smile lingered. "So what exactly have you been doing for the past...well, ever?" she asked, emphasizing her question with hand gestures.
Cheyenne's attention went to Strange too, she didn't know much about him either.
A startled and confused smile jumped to Strange's lips, but didn't seem to fit his face quite right. He glanced at Cheyenne, noticing she was looking at him, and his heart jumped in his throat. Taking care to look at Maria, he replied cautiously, "Same as everyone else in this town. Just trying to survive the day, that's all. Nothing special," His mouth jumped into an awkward smirk for an instant but dropped out of it quickly. Being a particularly antisocial soul, this sudden spotlight of attention was highly disorienting for him.
Cheyenne notived his expression, "Dont be nervous..." she walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, "We're family now. Riiight guys?" she glanced up to the two.
Maria was quick to nod and gave a warm, fitting smile towards the both of them. "I was actually hoping to get a bit more information, but if you'd like," she turned slightly so she was more profile than front facing him. "I'm sure we can find somewhere you feel more at home to chat." She tilted her head towards Jonathan and smiled wider. Today was turning out to be quite fun for her: scaring Cheyenne, meeting Jonathan, teasing the guy, it was all just fun for her.
Strange's shoulders relaxed almost instantly at Cheyenne's touch. It sent a thrill through him. He gave Cheyenne a grateful smile. "I'd like that," he replied, suddenly shy and awkward. He chided himself. What was this, high school?
"Alright then! When Rose get's back, we can plan our attack on the Keepers." Cheyenne stated, removing her hand from Strange. She walked to the middle of the three. "Any ideas thus far, sisters?"
Strange spoke up suddenly, his voice low and confident. "I believe I can help with that," He said. "I'm familiar with their movements as of late." Which was mostly true. In the spare moments when he wasn't watching Cheyenne, he was hanging around some of them and picking up information.
Raven wasn't paying attention to the group's chatting. She continued fiddeling with the radio. Each channel delivered a rough static. "Fuck..." She said to herself and sat down on an overturned slab of concrete barrier. The radio was encripted. In order to hear what was going on she'd have to decode it or rig it. Rigging it ws mroe her style.
Looking over towards Raven, Maria tilted her head as she watched the mechanic fiddle with the radio. "Cheyenne," she said, somewhat moderately from her usual voice.
"Yea?" Cheyenne asked, turning to look at her.
"Do you know morse code?" Maria asked, still watching the radio, but her mind were thinking farther ahead than tuning in on the device.
"Can't say that I do." Cheyenne replied, frowning. She looked back at Strange, having realized that she kind of ignored what he said, "You know about them? Heh...we may use you yet." she grinned.
"Amatures." Raven muttered to herself and suddenly the air around her was filled with catter from the radio.
"You got it already?" Cheyenne turned towards the static.
"It was a numerical code." Raven said scanning threw the channels "I breached it by trying that list of badge numbers we came across last month. seems our friend Drago dropped it on a reckon mission around here.'
Valentine floored the vehicle, causing the engine to growl beneath the hood of the car and inch to a much faster pace. The streets, for the most part, were clear enough within the ruined town. She took it as an obstacle course and weaved between the debris with a maddened glee.
Alphonse took in the surroundings with a mix of contemplation and disgust. This part of town had it worse than the others. Whoever lived out here must be rebels. No one else was crazy enough. He snorted while Valentine wooped and shouted, swerving the car with smooth movements. She had a way with machines that her brother would never understand.
"Remember why we are here, Valentine. Keep your eyes sharp..." Alphonse warned.
"Yeah, yeah." Came the reply with another violent jerk of the wheel.
The sound of screeching tires and a vehicle engine could be heard clearly throughout the ruins. Cheyenne turned to it, "Outsiders...heading our way." She looked at the group before shouting, "Stations!" Cheyenne ran over to a brick building that was barely standing, but standing none the less. Taking out her grapple gun, she aimed at one of the higher points and shot. The hook went through and wrapped around a broken window. She hoisted herself up and perched on the ledge, readying herself for when the car drove near.
Having gotten sidetracked by her own thoughts, Maria was brought back into reality with the sounds of a moving vehicle. She caught Cheyenne's shouting and managed to find her way back where she'd walked from, but fast paced. She smiled eagerly as she scaled a brick wall, uneven at the top, but easily held on to with missing bricks at least a foot apart in all directions.
She had sat on top of the wall for a moment, to see about how long the drivers would take to appear, but seeing no driver that moment, she stepped off the wall, summersalting her landing to prevent any major injuries. The dull thud was somewhat drowned out as the approaching screeching noises continually grew louder and more random.
Blessed with his vague looks, Strange stepped to one side, beginning to fiddle in the trash that the other man had dug through, and faded quite effectively into the background.
Hearing chey's order Raven bolted from her position on the cinderblock and headed for the other side of teh street. Since this was rebel territory she was confident that her rifel had not been disturbed from it's hiding place in this particular building. She pulled the bag from it's hiding place and scaled the stairs to the top floor three at a time.
The window was broken. The dirt and grime clinging to it would help camoflage her position. She assembeled the weapon and cleaned the scope of lint. She eased the barrel of her rifel an inch out the window and turned off the still scrambeling radio. She could hear the approachjing vehicle rumbeling over the debris of building long since horozontal.
"There! Arrêt! Arrêt!" Alphonse pointed, shouting for his twin to stop the car. "J'ai vu un homme - I saw a man." True enough, Alphonse caught sight of Jonathan just as the car neared the rebel base and before he was able to disappear amid the trash.
Valentine growled, jerking the wheel sharp and drawing the vehicle up violently. The tires screeched to a stop, tipping for a second on only the left two, then rightened itself with a shudder. She kicked off the engine and opened the door, drawing her Benelli M3 from its sheath at her side. Like her, Alphonse came free from the car with his machete drawn, careful eyes watching closely.
"Je recherche Cheyenne!" Valentine called loudly, her thick French accent carrying over the rubble. She paid no heed to the blood that covered her from earlier. The same covered Alphonse; he bore it with a grim look and kept his eyes to the buildings. They were at a disadvantage, being lower. These so called 'rebels' could very easily be on guard within the upper floors, a perfect vantage-point to kill. Valentine repeated her demand, though this time more forceful, not noticing what language she spoke in.
"We are looking for a woman named Cheyenne." Alphonse remarked, pitching his voice above his sister's. His accent, unlike Valentine's, was crisp and clear - proper and clean.
Cheyenne was up on a building ledge, hidden by the shadows. Her lips puckered as she let out a soft, "Hm?" She didn't know if these two people were rogues or if they were keepers, looking for trouble. "What business do you have with her?" she shouted. Her voice echoed from the barely standing buildings in the square, making it difficult to tell which direction she was in. Her shotgun was of no use at this distance, but she knew that Raven had her back with her excellent sniper skills.
Having shifted to be sitting with her back against the wall, both guns in her hand, Maria peered through the window. Damn... she thought as the front end of the car was all she could see of the trespassers. She didn't want to draw any attention to herself, but that could prove difficult as she sat amist broken nails, shattered glass, and more trashed building pieces inside than out. She listened intently as she heard Cheyenne's voice echo, smiling to herself as she knew discerning where the woman was, or even who she was, would be harder than finding a penny in the debrie in the entire city.
Alphonse, hearing at least some type of reaction, shrugged. He looked over to Valentine who was completely absorbed in racking her sight over the buildings, trying to find where the voice came from. He didn't blame her. He knew she hated surprises - well, surprised that didn't come from her. Alphonse cracked a grin, watching her eyes keep roaming.
"J'ai déjà essayé." He whispered.
"Attente! Je la trouverai." Valentine told him confidently, curling her lip into a grim smile. 'Wait and see,' she had told him. 'I will find her.'
Alphonse shook his head, walking some ways from the car. He turned, gazing at the buildings. He bowed before he spoke, swinging his machete wide, gracefully, in a flourish. he sheathed it upon straightening; his movements smooth and fluid. He heard Valentine pump a mighty shell into her Benelli shotgun and grinned.
"We found an...interesting girl in the Park, you see." He began, pacing the ground, keeping his eyes above. "A girl with a very, lovely mace and...quiet exotic eyes. Mesdemoiselles Rose and Roxie." Beside him Valentine snorted at the description. Alphonse ignored her and continued. "She said we could acquire lodgings in exchange for our...services. She said to speak with Mademoiselle Cheyenne, thus the nature of our...visit."
Cheyenne grinned and rolled her eyes when they spoke of her fellow sister, Rose. She was insane, but not enough to ever send an enemy to there turf. Once again, she acknowledged were Raven was hidden. Cheyenne knew that even though there was no threat issued, she was already scoping in on their heads. With a confident grin, she shot at the building on the other side of the square. The grapple hooked and sunk into the wood of the top a ripped apart building. She jumped from her perch, down at the two. She landed with a loud thud of her metal legs onto the dirt and rubble. "That's me." she said and with the flick of a button on the base of the gun, the grapple unhooked from it's post and snapped quickly and firmly back into the gun in her hand. Both of her eyes were hidden. One had an eye patch over it while the other was covered by her maroon hair.
Raven drew down on the sister with the accent. At this angel, factoring in the wind she aimed at her chest. A headshot at this distance, considering that she only had three rounds at the moment was unwise. A chest shot would definitely put her down long enough to squeeze off a round at the brother. If she was lucky she could wait until they where both in her sights and save a round. Missing altogether was unlikely... very unlikely. She waited with slow long breaths for any sign from Chey. She was glad that Chey knew exactly where to stand to keep Raven's line of fire clear.
"So you want to join the Rebels?" Cheyenne inquired, keeping her stance, "What soft of services do you two possess?" She didn't take her eye off of the two. It was as if she was soaking in how they appeared. The orange suits, hair, face, weaponry and the way they stood.
"Ah, well, for that ma cherie, we shall be happy to show you." Alphonse looked sidelong at Valentine and nodded. With a reluctant sigh, she came to his side and checked her Benelli. Standing together, the uncanny resemblance between them was striking. Both bone features were exquisite, despite Valentine's half-mask, and their bodies would have been built much the same if it weren't for Alphonse's height. He had a striking beauty that was austere and burlesque as the French are wont to have. His short, lime-spiked hair gave off a greenish hue and stood straight on end. Valentine, on the contrary, looked as if she might be angelic if not for her scarred lip and the fierce scowl in her honey-amber eyes. Her hair was dreaded to her lower back in the hue of apricot, knotted up in the front to keep her dreadful locks at bay.
Valentine's eyes checked Cheyenne over, noting the grappling hook and her robotic legs. Her eyelids flickered and she pursed her lips. "Quel suis-je a supposé pour faire? Engagement moi-même à elle?" She asked Alphonse heatedly then, casting a glare to her surroundings.
Alphonse grabbed his sister by the arm, giving her a curt reply in French, and pushed her forward. Valentine rolled her eyes and then and unzipped her jumpsuit, rolling it down to the waist and tying it in a knot. Alphonse, meanwhile, had procured a bag from the vehicle and began rummaging through it. Valentine pulled her Glock 22 from her suit and showed both that and her Benelli M3 to Cheyenne.
"Firearms specialist, chemical engineer." She said then in her thick accent, attempting not to snarl the words out. She quickly replaced her Glock and caught a belt that Alphonse threw at her and buckled it about her waist. Tear gas and grenades graced the sides and pockets for slugs and other ammunition rested on her hips. Valentine quickly snatched two more guns from her twin and holstered them on either side of her thighs; two Beretta 92's. "I like to shoot things up." She motioned to the car; its hood a mess of large bullet holes and the blood smattering the windows. "The bigger the mess, the better the fun." She gave Cheyenne a feral grin lest the woman miss her sadistic meaning.
Alphonse came forward next, his suit already rolled down and tied. A buckler on his back held a deadly recurve crossbow and a machete stuck out of one boot-top. One long sword was sheathed at his side, a vicious saber his other. With a quick tap of his heels, two blades came from his boot soles; sharp and deadly. He scratched his head and grinned, feeling like he didn't need an explanation for his skills. Instead he said; "The more pain, the beter the fun."
"Alphonse skinned a man alive once." Valentine remarked casually. Her wicked grin appeared again. "It was great fun. He plays fantastic games."
"All in all," Alphonse remarked with a glance at his sister, the wild look in his eyes echoing her own. "We need a place to stay. You see...we left the Chemical plant in...quite a melodramatic way." Valentine mimicked shooting the guards with her Berettas, mouthing the gunfire. "They'll be looking for us and we need to hide out for a while. If that means becoming a rebel," He shrugged, his twin along with him. "We accept and give our swords and guns into your service."
Maria had managed to upright herself, now standing securely against the uneven brick wall, able to see the two French standing next to a rather battered vehicle. She watched as the woman mouth words as none of the trio's voices sounded louder than need be. She could barely discern what the two said as she knew Cheyenne asked them what they had to offer. She had left one hand empty as the gun from her hand rested in its holster. She had pulled herself up, still out of veiw, but onto the wall perpendicular to the one she'd previously climbed over, now laying and balancing on the six inch wide brick, praying the grout wouldn't shift as she layed on it, both for a better veiw and for better aiming, for security measures. She guessed it was unlikely that she'd be able to help much as she knew Cheyenne wouldn't appear without assurance that someone had them in their scopes, and she knew exactly who had them. They'd moved together and she couldn't help but smile. Raven's found some sitting ducks, she mused lightly, knowing that from the weapons they showed her leader would turn on them if situations redirected.
Although Cheyenne was very careful as to whom she let join the rebellion, her personality was very open-minded. "I'm interested..." she paused for a moment with her hand clasping at her chin. Finally she smiled and said, "Alright, your in." She raised her hand and twirled it a bit in the air, signaling to her gang that it's clear. "May I have your names, my dear brother and sister." She treated her group as family and only asked to be treated that way in return. It makes the bond more meaningful and strong in her mind. Turn against one of your brothers and the rest of the family will turn on you.
Alphonse grinned at Valentine who promptly rolled her eyes in reply.
"Well then, Mademoiselle. I am Alphonse Lefeurve and this is," He motioned to his sister. Valentine who spit on the ground unladylike.
"Valenteeeeen." She stressed the last symbol and dressed it with a glare.
Staring at the signal, Maria sighed. She stood up on the brick wall and walked across it like a balance beam, her hands busy putting away her only hand gun that had been out. She followed the wall easily, bridging the gaps with a jump. She made her way to slide down a tilted cement wall and slowed the momentum just before the car. She walked around it, looking curiously at the two new recruits. She hadn't heard the guy's name, but heard Valentine say "Valenteeeeen," with a sort of glare. She had come up behind them, not really quietly. She plastered on a wide, welcoming grin before stopping a few feet from Cheyene, facing the twins. "Hi," she said, almost child-like. "I'm Maria Cristo. Pleased to meet you." She simply placed her right index and middle finger to her forehead and twisted her wrist quickly: her version of a hand shake without actually shaking the other's hand.
Seeing the signal allowed Raven to release that half steadying breath she'd been taking shalowly. Not in reliefe but glad to be breathing normaly again. She pulled the barrel of her rifel threw the window slowly. She didn't take the time to disasembeled the weapon. If things turned bad in the next few minuets (which sometimes happened) She'd be ready for it. Instead of hiding it where she'd gotten it she took it with her down the stairs. Her hiding place forsaken she'd have to find a new one. It was alright though. She had two other rifels hidden in the city. Just in case. She'd take this one back to base and give it a good cleaning and cast some more ammo for it.
She walked steadily out of the building. The front ficad of the structure where one of the few still virtical in this part of town. She approached a few steps behind Chey and Maria. The ever watchful backup. She gave the Frenchies a nod and did not offer her name. Chey and Maria knew that only those she fully trusted in the resistance got that. Most everyone else called her King.
Cheyenne saw her appear, "Raven, these are our new brother and sister...Alphonse and Valentine." After introducing her, she looked around the area for a moment, "Hey, where's that Strange-guy?"
"Still here," Strange replied, smiling and stepping away from the dumpster he had been standing next to the entire time. "Lefeurve..hm." He frowned slightly, pondering their name and trying to remember where he knew it from. He shook his head, dismissing it until a later date. "Pleasure," he greeted them briefly, flashing a small smile.
Alphonse made another sweeping bow to them, looking for all the world like some figure out of history. When he straightened he looked over to Valentine who appeared to be highly amused. Alphonse cocked his head somewhat at her.
"Quoi...?" That was all he got out before Valentine laughed, saying something breathless in French and gesturing toward Cheyenne and the others. Apparently it was meant to be witty, only Alphonse's brow darkened and she bit her laughter off.
He turned to the others, holding a finger up. "Pardon."
What followed appeared to be a heated argument, started by Valentine before Alphonse was able to get a word in. She got in his face, using what height she could to yell mercilessly in French, the beautiful language obscuring into a tirade of noise. Alphonse took a step back, yelling in return, but his sister was back in his face again. He pushed her, attempting to gain some distance. When she had caught herself, Valentine flung herself at him, pushing until he stumbled backwards.
Alphonse straightened slowly and gave Cheyenne and the rebels an impeccable grin, holding up another finger. "Pardon."
He caught Valentine by the wrist and wrenched it around, saying something low and deadly. She replied by spitting in his face. Another argument began until Alphonse gave a guttural shout of frustration and pulled one of his throwing daggers from its sheath and held it to her throat. His movements had been like a flash of silver, drawing a blade that quick.
Valentine answered with grin, clicking off the safety of her semi-auto pistol Beretta that was held against his temple. Alphonse's eyes widened in surprise, caught unawares. He let loose a loud bark of laughter, withdrawing his dagger. Valentine lowered her gun, answering her brother's laugh with a peel of her own, lilting and musical. He threw an arm about her shoulders and hugged her tightly then stumbled over to the others. He still held her to him protectively, his face beaming.
"Ma belle will stay!" He assured them, squeezing Valentine for emphasis. "I wasn't sure she would, but she is. Indeed - we shall stay for good now and do what we can, eh?" Even Valentine couldn't keep a malicious-looking grin off her face.
Watching at the intense fight only to find the twins laughing about threatening the lives of the other, Maria stared as she heard Alphonse tell the three that his sister would stay. Strangely, she understood that much of French. She shook her head, covering it by turning to Cheyenne. "Well, that's settled," she told her and then turned back to Alphonse and Valentine. "Do you guys have nicknames I can pronounce?" She wasn't looking for anything in a different language, mostly because she knew she'd murder it worse than anything anyone ever heard. She knew English through and through, not really taking the time to learn a secondary language.
During the twin's argument, Cheyenne had rested her her hands on her hips. She enjoyed watching them go back and forth like that. Cheyenne could only guess as to what Valentine said to her brother after motioning towards her. Shrugging the assumed burn off, Cheyenne's attention went from Alphonse to Valentine. With a kind voice, she spoke, "Glad to have you with us." Despite the fact that she was one of the founder's of the Rebels, she really was an understanding person. The only time where she would have deadly outbursts would when it was only necessary. To her it was a waste of energy to do otherwise.
A manacle laughter is heard through the fog. Rose emerges out with bloodied hands and a cut back. Although she looks hurt, Rose doesn't seem to show it at all. Her eyes catch the group ahead of her. "Hey guys!" She walked past them, but takes a double take at the twins. "Ah so I see you made it...." Rose went on and pulled out a green trunk from under a broken plank of wood.
About time! Roxie says.
Rose hits the lock with her mace and opens the trunk. Her cut is a lot more visible from behind as she searches the case. Finally she pulls out a wedge of cheese and gnaws at it.
Strange slid his hands back into his pockets, acknowledging Rose's presence with a glance before he rested his eyes once again on Cheyenne. The way she remained calm through the twins' little spat made him smile. It was still strange to see his face upturned, but he was adapting to it.
Continuing to gnaw at the cheese, Rose closed and locked the trunk of food back up and pushed back into it's hidden spot. She headed over to the group, her hands still bleeding.
Raven quietely watched the twins tussle unfurl infront of her. And I thought I was fucked in the head. she thought. Turning to find a place to work on the two-way radio from earlier she exited the clutch. Still unsure as to what they would do with it once she figured out which of the 600 channels was the proper one for eavesdropping on the peacekeepers.
Raven was, as usual quiet around new members to their little rag tag band of miscrients. She had not yet made verbal contact with ether twin. But to her they where just another anoynce until they proved that they could be trusted.
She had no isues about their worth now that their little display had left them both with the ability to kill the other.
Hearing Rose/Roxy approach her head snapped to attention. Seeing the blood on her hands was nothing new. If it was someone elses then that meant there was one less person Raven had to worry about. If it was her's another, more maternal member of their group would offer to help. If Rose was fine with bleeding it didn't bother Raven. She set back to work on the radio, listening to the group.
The twins shrugged at Maria's question.
"Nicknames...?" Alphonse ventured, trying to pronounce the word has he heard it. Valentine shrugged herself from under his weight and made a motion with her hands, bringing them together.
"Short names...short names, Alphonse." She said, motioning again.
"Ah!" He grinned.
"I don't like 'Val' as most in the plant would call me." Valentine made a face, scrunching her nose up. "But you can call me...qu'est-ce que c'est...That...that day of Love? What do you call it?" She looked perplexed a minute, seeking her brother.
"Valentine's Day." Alphonse said in an English accent; passing fair, actually. He made a habit of learning it in order to keep men at the plant from harassing them. "Valentine." He repeated.
"Yes! Valentine. I don't much mind that one." She struggled with the English accent; it was crude at best.
"I suppose you could call me 'Al'." He shrugged. "It is not my favorite, but it will do if you cannot pronounce 'Alphonse'." He grinned.
Both twins took a step back at the laughter from Rose; Alphonse had his machete drawn, Valentine her Beretta. The visibly relaxed when they saw it was Rose, letting out a twin pair of sighs.
"She ate the driver." Valentine offered belatedly, motioning toward the vehicle. She shrugged then, her face impassive beneath the half-mask.
"It was great fun." Alphonse said with a wicked smile.
Eyeing both, Maria nodded absently. She wondered what the two would think if she simply called them 'The Twins' but felt is would be something she'd ask them later. Turning to Rose after the initial announcement of her appearance, she raised an eyebrow at her. Moving a bit closer, Maria had a more concerned look as she asked, "What happened to your back, then?" She'd heard Valentine's comment of why her hands were bloodied, and Alphonse' about the amount of fun, but wasn't sure about the gash bleeding from her back.
"Go figure she was eating someone...that sounds more like Roxie than Rose though." Cheyenne assumed, replying to the Valentine. She stepped closer to Rose and wait to hear her answer to what Maria has recently asked. Cheyenne had a pretty sure guess as to what it was from, but kept quiet to hear what she had to say instead. After a moment, she cocked her head back a little and blew the hair out of her eye.
Rose finished eating her cheese wedge and gave the group a dopey grin with a hint of sheepishness. "I met one of those keeper guys. The jerk was disarming my mine in the playground of the park!" She looked down at her hands. The skin was almost completely peeled off, yet the bleeding was stopped. Her brought her hands to her face and licked off the blood like a cat. "We fought and kissed and fought again...but then I got hungry and he ran away so I came back." Her speech was littered with poor grammar and pronunciation. She finished licking off her hands and rested them at her side, "I made him bleed too!" she smirked.
Surprised not only by the fight between Rose or Roxie and a Keeper, Maria became more concerned with the girl's hands. She inched forwards and to the woman's front, facing her full on. "You are going to wrap those, right?" she asked, indicating her hands. "You're not going to sit there with no skin on your fingers while you swing that mace around, right?" She was more or less telling Rose what to do and making sure she heard her. It was only natural for her to feel the mother of the injuries, despite her lesser basic medical knowledge.
"You'd be better off taking care of it yourself rather than convincing her to do it." Raven said still fiddeling with the radio. Her tone was placid but the comment alone was about as concerned as Raven would get. She continued with the radio. Each channel she tried brought forth more static.
Rose smirked at Maria's comment and held her hands out in front of her, inches from her face, "Wanna lick?"
It's gooooood! If not, why don't we kill her?
"Shh...not now."
Your time is almost up, bitch!
"ALMOST...not quite."
The twins, after the initial shock of Rose/Roxie's return, set about taking their stuff out of the vehicle. They jested with each other playfully. Some gave way to bouts of anger and thus heated arguments. Their melodious French voiced rose and lowered and laughed, sounding hard and beautiful all at once.
Valentine was the first to fetch all of her equipment from the car; things that had been confiscated and placed in the back before they had made their hasty and eventful get-away. She still had smatterings of blood and such over her person, but for the most part she looked as if she was in a pleasant mood.
Alphonse's things were brought out in a smaller pack; his belongings weren't near as large. He gave his sister a disgusted look. She replied in kind by puckering her lips and blowing a kiss.
Their bellies almost growled at the same time, causing both of them to look down and then back up, helplessly, at those gathered.
"Lunch?" They said in unison, looking hopeful.
Rose didn't bother to wait for Maria's reply. Her head jerked and turned to the twins, Valentine and Alphonse. "I'll help you darling!" she shouted, directed at Alphonse. She jumped up and opened her trunk again, knocking over the plank that was hiding it. "More cheese, some semi-spoiled yogurt cups, super spicy salsa, taco shells, potatoes, canned pistachios....ummm..." Rose muttered, digging deeper into the trunk. Her upper torso was almost lost inside of the trunk as her skirt barely covered her lower half. Under her skirt, she wore a pair of orange spandex shorts with a pair of white, boy breifs on the top. "We got some more canned stuff....like ravioli and beans? Oh...these are good too." She said, grabbing and holding up a jar of pickles."
Shaking her head as Roes offered a lick of her hands to Maria and was slightly surprised at how much food they still had. Her next thought was why they allowed the girl in such a skimpy skirt, but that, instead of bringing on embarasment, gave her a rather loud laugh. "I'm pretty sure that skirt can be shorter than you've had it," she began. "Why are you being so modest, Rose?" She had moved next to her and pulled out a taco shell from the small stack, breaking it in half and biting off one side's corner before she flipped the plank which Rose knocked over and perched her jean-covered behind on the somewhat flat wood.
Cheyenne shook her head at Rose's behavior. She was quite the odd one. She turned her attention towards Jonathan Strange. Her metallic legs gleamed in the sun as she approached him. "Earlier. You were saying something about the keeper's...actions, was it?" she asked, placing a relaxed hand on her hip.
Strange was amazed; he had followed Cheyenne for weeks, and yet still she took his breath away. He briefly struggled to compose himself, brushing down the front of his trench and clearing his throat before speaking, "Why, yes. You'll have to forgive me if I repeat information you may already know, I am not familiar with the Intelligence in this sector. Are you familiar with a man called TNT?"
Before Cheyenne could answer, Rose perked up and flung up her hand high above her, "Oh oh! Me! Pick me! Over here!" she waved as if she was a student and Strange was the teacher.
Cheyenne ignored Rose's outburt, "Nope, cant say that I have. Think she might though..." she cocked her head in Rose's direction.
Strange's lips turned into a small, vicious-looking smile at Rose's burst of enthusiasm. "Ah, the two loose cannons have met? Very good." He turned to Cheyenne once again, a more formal stance anointing his eyes and shoulders. "TNT is a very talented explosives engineer, and, appropriately for his status as a Keeper, chiefly uses this talent to pursue his own goals. Although he can be altruistic at times, it is a rare thing, and more often than not the act ultimately serves his own purposes," he explained. He paused for a moment, narrowing his eyes uncertainly. "How much do you know of the Keepers?"
"Wow....obviously not as much as you do." Cheyenne remarked, amazed at all the info he just spat out. "You are quite the spy, aren't you?" AFter circling him for a moment, she leaned in and held her hand at her chin, "You weren't by chance a former member of the group, were you?"
Strange gave a small, amused snort. "No, ma'am. Rarely have I associated myself to one group, as I have now. But a great deal can be learned from observation and association around the right sort of people." He kept his head lowered as she circled him, but his eyes followed her.
Cheyenne payed little or no attention to the movements that he made. She figured that he was just as his name....'Strange'. "Ah.." she stopped her circle. Before she could speak, the insane one interrupted.
"The jerk was disarming my mines! Remember? The ones that I placed in the playground?" Rose scuffed, crossing her arms on her torso. Her attention went back to the twins once more, "You hungry or what?"
"Ah, yes," Strange muttered to himself, "the playground. A strategic area of immeasurable military importance." A small smirk tugged at his thin lips as he pulled out a flask, unscrewing the cap before pausing and deciding against it. He rescrewed the cap back on and tucked it back into the depths of his coat.
"Far be it from me to point out the obvious." Raven said still working on the radio. Not adressing any one inparticular, "But if TNT was disarming Roses mines, we found this radio and the twins de' wierd over there are looking for someplace to crash wouldn't it be a good idea to get out of here? I for one would perfer not being a sitting duck while the PK decide they want to get friendly with our neighborhood." THe roadio brought forth a loud squack of noise which prompted her to turn it down again "We should fall back to one of the safe houses and check our traps."
"Very wise idea." Cheyenne said before looking around at the group, "Come on guys, let's get moving again!" With a firm hand on her him, she glared at Rose, "Carry the food." In a way, it really was her that caused all this. She was the one who fought TNT and the one who told the twins where to go.
"Gah...." Rose rolled her eyes. She walked over and grabbed the handle on the big green food trunk. Dragging it on the dirt, she muttered, "Lead the way...oh Queen of Queens..."
Raven stood and put her tools and the radio in one of her bags. Walking away from the group she entered a building about a block away. She was out of sight for a good five minuets before the roar of a v-twin engine roared into the street. Sitting astride what in this day and age would be cinsidered an antique Indian motorcycle Raven ideled up to the group. She kicked the stand down and took off her jacket, revealing two shoulder holsters, one containing a snub nose 357 pistol and a 9mm glock, the other was lined end to end with throwing and butterfly knives. She laid her jacket across the back of the bike inorder to protect the paint which still looked relitivly good considering it's age. From her saddelbags she produced a few tarp straps "I can take the trunk Rose. You guys are on foot and I'm sure their jeep is pretty packed." She nodded her head towards the twins.
Listening to Jonathan and Cheyenne's conversation, Maria had slipped into the background. She had already finished the snack from the trunk of food Rose had been rumaging through. She'd been walking, with no real destination in mind when she could hear Raven's motercycle a bit of distance away. She looked back and realized how much time she had to walk a distance, or realetively, how much time she didn't. It always amazed her how fast she could travel. They're moving to a safe house, she thought. I should probably tell someone that I'm not there... She laughed loudly. "They'll figure it out," she said as she rounded on the spot and began a long trek towards the park, passing the spot they had only recently occupied and had French twins join them. She took quite a bit of time to actually reach the park, sure that the group was already at the safehouse.
The twins had kept quiet for the most part, staying idle. The food had done little to inspire them. Once, Alphonse had made an attempt to it but his sister kept a firm hold onto his belt and gave him a firm shake of her head. They would see what they were about first before eating anything.
They turned silently back to their car, shrugging off Raven's comment. Instead they nodded to Cheyenne when they made eye contact.
"We will follow you. There is room for three more in the back. Though, it might be a bit....bloody." Alphonse grinned. valentine only snorted, yanking open the door and sitting roughly down in the driver's seat.
"Whoo! Road trip!" Rose shouted as she lugged the trunk. She shook her head at Raven's offer to carry it. Rose knew that it was a minor punishment for being so rash.
Why the hell are you still carrying the fucking food? Are you some little bitch?
"Shut up."
Your pathetic....Taking orders from some metal cripple.
"Eh.."
Rose pulled the trunk to the car and tossed it onto the back of the car. She crawled up and sat on what was left of the roof, holding onto the chest on the trunk of the car.
"I'll walk." Cheyenne said blankly. Since her legs weren't human, she didn't really get tired from running. However, her butt was very firm from being able to lift the legs. "I actually know of a place....by the old water fountain. You know the place, right Raven?"
"Gotcha boss." Raven said and opened the throttle on the bike. She expertly sped threw rubble and debris from the once virtical buildings. She kept her speed moderatly low to the twins wouldn't loose her. She took them threw debris covered streets and alley ways. She led the group for about ten minuets before finaly stopping at small square. In the center of the square was what was left of a fountain once dawning the stone figure of a man on a rearing horse. Without stopping she lead them to a building fitted with a large steel garage door. the door opened to allow them access.
Cheyenne was behind Raven. She had been skating and grappling the entire time. Everyone lost sight from her for moments at a time until she finally came down and landed near the opening of the garage. She kicked away some debris that might have stopped the car. Her eyes shifted to the park, or at least the direction that it was in. Starring off, she took this instant and thought for a few moments.
Strange had gingerly set himself down in the back of the truck, trying to avoid getting blood on his coat. Wierdly enough, people were less inclined to tell you things when you're coated in blood.
"Hurry it up Frenchies!" Rose shouted, still sitting on the back of the car, holding onto the trunk that she had placed on it.
Before Rose was able to finish her sentence, Valentine ground the gears into place and roared after Raven. Alphonse, sifting through the bag at his feet in the seat next to her, muttered something in french as the car lurched to life. Valentine grinned, shifting to a higher gear.
"I hope she can stay on, eh?"
"With the way you drive, ma belle, I'm suprised we're still alive."
"You always say that, Alphonse." Valentine mused, a devilish grin donning her features. "I'm beginning to think you don't like it."
Alphonse snorted in disgust and then pulled out an object from the bag he had been looking through. He smiled faintly at the twin half-mask to Valentine's and placed it on his face but shoved it up high on his brow. Valentine laughed brightly.
"I thought you said it made you look like a girl!"
"With the way yours fit I was beginning to get jealous of all teh mysterious attention." It was Valentine's turn to snort in disgust. They continued on, following the black-haired beauty and her wicked cycle down the ruined streets.
Rose's body jerked a bit from the sudden sped. She gripped onto the chest with all her might as it started to slip off. "Damn it.." she grumbled.
Why is it that I keep getting the feeling the your weaker then me? Roxie asked her.
"Oh shut up! Your not the one out here!"
I could be...I could also be the one to slit that Valentine broad's throat
"You need to lighten up..."
Strange gripped the upholstry tightly, trying to mask his discomfort as best he could. (can we just get into the garage now?)
Cheyenne finally caught sight of the vehicle. She waved her arm towards it, leading it into the large garage. The door was open just enough to let them in. Once the vehicle was safe inside, she pulled the door down, shutting it loudly.
The car lurched to a stop and then shuddered off completely. Valentine was the first out, her glock gun at the ready. Alphonse was the second, keeping his weapons sheathed but nonetheless at the ready. He scratched his forhead under the hlaf-mask that was pushed up onto his forehead.
"Homey." He said, looking around.
"Don't worry cutie, it'll get better." Rose said, hopping off the trunk. She grabbed the chest and pulled it off the car. It slammed into the cemeent floor with a loud SMASH.
Nice job
"Shut up...as if you could do better."
Is that a challenge?
"Pshht."
Strange gently lowered himself off the vehicle and dusted off his coat carefully. He glanced at the twins and lowered the brim of his hat, obscuring most of his face from sight. He wasn't a fighting man, and they made him nervous.
Raven pushed her bike into a corner of the garage and entered a code on a keypad on the wall. A holographic image enveloped her ike and made it appear like several crates stacked ontop one another.
"Alright, now is everyone here?" Cheyenne asked in a very annoyed tone. She wanted to get on with the plan making in taking down the keepers. "Ack, whatever....whomever isn't here can suck eggs. Anyways, brothers and sisters...come closer. We have to devise a plot to eliminate the keepers once and for all. I'm sick of all this lolly gagging bullshit." she said sternly.
"I suggest we take this downstairs." Raven said "They might as well know what we're opperating here."
The twins looked at one another, seeming unphased by Cheyenne's perturbed nature. They shruged and followed Raven without a word. The only sound either of them made was Valentine holstering her gun and Alphonse cracking his knuckles.
"Nice butt." Rose said, following Alphonse. She turned her head to the side and examined it.
What about the man in the park? Roxie teased.
"That was more of you then me..."
That's not what I recall
"Hey, I was just giving the guy a complement."
Reentering the Ruins, Maria slowed her pace. She had scraped off the dried mud covering her body, leaving the smeered wetter portions blotching her arms, shirt, pants, and, she knew, inside her hand=held weapons. She simmered only slightly at the fact she'd have to take the guns apart before using them, making her virtually useless in anything Cheyenne had in mind. She found a still dripping pipe of what appeared to be slightly dirtied water, and cupped a bit in her hands. She sniffed the air above the water, and then splashed it on her bare leg. Nothing burned or stung, so she used the water to wash off everything but her face. After what seemed an eternity, she climbed onto the roof of the one story building, laid on her back, and allowed the sun to dry her. She'd closed her eyes and let the light wash over her.
Alphonse grinned wickedly. "You should see it without clothes. Breathtaking, actually." He purred in his heavy accent.
Valentine rolled her eyes and shoved him from behind and into the house.
Rose grinned and followed still, "Guess I'll see you tonight then." she whispered. She finally managed to get the food trunk tucked away near a hidden bookshelf in the garage. She walked back over to the group and sat on a railing that was cemented to the floor.
Cheyenne smirked a bit, finally seeing her whole family together. She looked at Rose and asked, "You said you met a keeper in the park, right? Did you happen to see where the guy was heading? I know they are generally in the Downtown area of the city, but perhaps a more clear location?"
Rose thought for a moment, "Umm...not really, just southwards." she pointed with her thumb casually.
"Well it's kinda hard to form a sneak attack when none of us know where their base is." Cheyenne admitted, rubbing her temples, annoyed. She flipped her hair a bit, "Another option is to have a messenger go to the keepers and let them know that we are ready to fight...whether they like it or not." She looked up, "Any other ideas?" Although people technically considered the leader of the rebels, she acted more like a member then anything.
"I could easily locate the Keeper's base if given the chance," Strange volunteered. "They are always looking for supporters, the fascist pigs," He muttered under his breath.
Cheyenne scratched her chin for a moment, eying him up again, "Well, I doubt they even know your with us. But what if they interrogate you?"
"It may not be required that I introduce myself," Strange replied. "Nevertheless, you may be assured that I would never speak a word that might put you at a disadvantage."
Cheyenne nodded, "You are new to our family and yet you would risk your life like this so early?" she asked, making sure he know what he would be doing.
"With your blessing, Cheyenne, I would level cities," Strange replied humbly, avoiding her gaze as his eyes softened.
What was this guy trying to pull? She just met him a few hours ago! Cheyenne leaned in and looked deeply into his eyes, he wasn't lying. It was odd because he knew her name and many different things about her, but she knew nearly nothing about him...aside from his name. "Are you a stalker or something?" she asked in a serious tone, leaning in yet.
He was hoping she wouldn't ask. "I...that is to say..no, of course not...I..I gather information as I see fit...That's really such a crude way of putting it," He answered, grasping for his words, and laughed nervously, shoving his hands in his pockets. Strange secretly wished very hard that this conversation had gone on at some other, more private, time.
Cheyenne saw through his lies, but dismissed it. She didn't want to make a scene in from of everyone. "Well you're very good at it." she grinned and flipped her hair away from her eye, revealing it.
Strange stared at her blankly, like a wary animal, unsure of how to take that. He closed his jaw, which had been slowly falling, and retreated once again under his hat, suddenly very self-conscious.
Valentine snorted, stepping foreward and squaring her shoulders. Her amber eyes were hard behind her mask.
"So we just go to these Keepers and say, 'Eh! I'll blow your fucking brains out, yeah!' and that's it?" She shook her head, apricot dreads not even moving. When she spoke, her tone was playfull and her eyes glinted oddly.
"No, no, no. We should lure them here - And ambush them!" She punched her fist and ground it into her palm, driving the point home. "They like children, yes? Kidnap one of theirs and keep it hostage here. Send a notice that the child will be killed within 48 hours if they do not come and retreive it. then, use the buildings as arial stations and slaughter them from above!" She gave a triumphant smile that was all-to sadistic. Alphonse beside her mimicked it beautifully.
"A child? I'm not sure if any of the keepers have children or not." Cheyenne pondered, leaning her weight on her arms, posted on her metal knees. "Or what about merely a member of the keepers? Since we both use the city park on and off, perhaps we could pick up a wanderer there? We could send a few out to get them and hold them hostage. I would assume that a member would be of more importance then a mere child."
Raven had remained quiet for a long time, she was sitting at a table with her SK-16 in pieces infront of her. She was cleaning it "Ambushing them on their own turf is not a good idea." She said not looking up from her work "Something goes wrong, we all get slaughtered. Coersing them to come here is even worse. We get surounded, find out their numbers are three times what we think they re and we're fucked. Kidnapping a child or one of their members is even more foolish. They aren't going to let the life of one child or keeper sway them from the Great Designe. Best case cenerio we have one more mouth to feed. I say let the new guy find their base of opperations, infiltrate the core and funnel intel to us. They have to be getting supplies threw the city some how. That's where we hit them."
Cheyenne took into account what Raven said. She had raised very good points. All in all, she agreed that Strange infiltrating the keepers was the best bet. Raven was practically second in command anyways. "Still up for operation: Strange?" she asked him.
"Always," Strange replied, still hiding somewhat underneath his hat. He tried his best to sound cavalier. Whether he succeeded or not, he could only guess.
Valentine looked generally dissapointed as her idea was shot down. She stuck out her bottom lip and sulked a moment. Alphonse tried to hide a quick grin from her. He cleared his throat.
"Meanwhile, what are we to do?"
"Well I would prefer that we fight them in the park, since we are at disadvantage downtown and we need this place to fall back into if something doesn't go as well. I suggest that the best thing we can do now is prep ourselves. Eqip ourselves, eat, relax while we can." Cheyenne explained.
"It would probably do us good to have a secondary fallback position." Raven said shouldering her rifel to check to see if the sights where clear. The scope sat few feet away waiting to be cleaned. "I can scout the surrounding neighborhoods. The sewer systems can be used to move supplies. I've done it before."
Strange tipped his hat and left quietly, off to do his job.
Rose watched him head for the door. "That's a man that doesn't wait around," she said to no one in particular,
"Let's hope he's not so quick to act when he's surounded by Keepers." Raven sid returning to her rifel.
Having spent enough time to dry the even more yellowed clothing, Maria sat up, seeing a strange orange tint to her skin that wasn't there before she muddied herself. She shrugged it off and looked around for her heading. Finding the usual land marker, she quickly found her way to the garage, knowing that Cheyenne would've taken 'The Twins,' as she secretly dubbed them, to the garage. She arrived in time to see Strange leaving, but didn't say a word, watching for a few moments then entering, the line on her back throbbing, as something trickled slowly down her back. She knew the blood hadn't clotted, yet, and kept her back away from Rose. She never did like Roxie, much. "There's currently two, maybe three Keepers in the Park, one with a sword and I'm guessing one with hand guns. The third came as I was leaving," she reported, walking strangely so as not to allow Rose veiw of her bloodied back.
"Hmm..." Cheyenne thought. There were positives and negatives to both ideas in her head. She looked ever to Raven, "What do you think? Stay with the plan, or take advantage of this opportunity?"
Maria managed to sit down, without pressing her back to anything, but keeping it from veiw. She didn't want any attention to the cut on her back. She was sure a thin layer of her muscles were severed as her arms throbbed from simply laying on her lap.
"Raven!" Cheyenne shouted when she didn't answer.
"Perhaps we should let Missure Strange work them from the inside before we do anything too rash." Alphonse offered in a calm voice, leaning up against a wall with his long legs stretched out before him. Valentine was sitting at his side, her legs thrown casually over his. They looked, for all the world, like two basking lions; at once at ease and very, very alert. Valentine kept quiet, noting the way Maria walked and sat, keeping her backside turned away. She sat with her eyes heavy-lidded behind her domino mask.
Cheyenne rolled her eyes and reloaded her shotgun. She placed her extra bullets in all four pockets on her torn pants.
Rose grinned, drooling a little. She swung her mace like a baseball bat into a pillar of the large shed that they were all in, practicing. She didn't even seem to care, or even realize that it was one of the few things holding the roof up.
Raven had plugged a earpeace into the radio to keep from bothering everyone else with the static. She jumed as Cheyenne shouted "What?"
Cheyenne turned up at her and shrugged it off, "Nothing." They were practically like sisters without the arguments.
"Can I go play?" Rose asked no one in particular.
"Seriously." Raven said "What did you say?"
"Maria says there are Keepers in the Park. Do you think we should ignore it and wait for Strange?" Cheyenne repeated.
"Oh oh!" Rose raised her hand, "I'll go! Me! Me!"
Raven thought for a moment. "If we retaliate then that saves Strange's cover. If we don't then maybe they think we just didn't notice them. And what kind of rebel force would we be if we didn't notice them?"
"Not a very good one." Cheyenne smiled with a hand on her chin.
"Me me!" Rose jumped with her hand up, "I'll go!"
"Maybe if we ignore her she'll just sniff us and go on." Raven said
"Aww...come on auntie..." Rose pleaded.
Begging? Pitiful creature...
Shifting in her seat, Maria kept her mind off her back. "She's one of us, even if she's got...questionable habits," she said, crossing her arms. "Besides, I don't think the two in the park are there, still. They were about ready to get out of there when I left." She didn't mention they'd killed an innocent man and were burrying the body when she couldn't see or hear them anymore.
"Maybe we should just leave it be then." Cheyenne "We don't want to risk alerting them to us at all.
Valentine shrugged, her dreads shifting on her shoulders lightly. She looked over to Alphonse.
"Je ne comprends pas." She said in her lilting french and scratched her head absently.
"Ça ne fait rien, ma belle." Alphonse remarked dryly to her, the corner of his mouth twisting into a devilishly, wicked grin. "It seems we are to stay here and relax for a measure, Amor."
Valentine frowned, inspecting the grime under her fingernails. She scraped it out via her thumbnail and flecked it off to the side. She sighed.
"What I would give for a bath." She slurred. Alphonse nodded in sympathy.
"I could use the pipes and check it out." Raven said "It'd take me like 20 min."
"Can I come Auntie Raven? Please? I have unfinished business." Rose pleaded.
You just like the sewers
"Do not..."
Don't worry...I do too.
Quite some time passed as they waited, Cheyenne was growing impatient, "What the hell is taking him so long?"
Rose had slipped outside of the base out of boredom and voyaged to the park, perhaps should could find some squirrel's to smash.
Just then a faint BOOM can be heard. It was silent for a moment before the shock wave hit. The ground shook as buildings were ripped apart. Debris and smoke flew everywhere as a mushroom cloud can be seen in the distance. The walls of their hideout shook rapidly.
"Find shelter!!" Cheyenne ordered.
"Under here!" Raven shouted. A large section of the area they where in had been steel reinforced.
Valentine and Alphonse quickly leapt into action when the shock wave racked over their shelter. Valentine let loose a stream of unlady-like french words and Alphonse grimaced. He was the first to reach the steel-enforced shelter; his twin had gone back for her gun.
When he looked back through the haze and fog of the dust and rubble, he saw Valentine's unconcious body only a yard or two away.
"Valentine!"
After the dust settled, Cheyenne stood up in plain sight, "Damn it..." She used her robotis legs and trampled over the debris pile that she resided on.
Strange came racing into view, his trench trailing desperately behind him, clutching his hat to his head to keep it from flying away. He wormed his way back into the facility and screeched to a halt when he saw Cheyenne. He stood there for a moment, staring at her. "...You're fine," He finally muttered, then felt like an idiot for nearly busting his gut
to arrive late to the scene and have to catch his breath for half an hour. He stepped back into a corner where he could go unnoticed as he hacked out a lung.
Cheyenne's arm was somewhat bleeding, but she ignored it. The mushroom cloud in the distance slowly dissipated into the sky, "People are still attacking...STILL?!"
Alphonse nearly jumped over Cheyenne to get to his sister.
"Ma belle! Valentine! Vous pouvez ici moi?" He knelt down, large hands gingerly testing to make sure Valentine's neck wasn't broken. "Can you here me, Love?" He nearly shouted, smoothing away her dreads from her face.
Valentine's eyes cracked open a bit, then her face contorted as she winced. At that time Alphonse pulled his hand away from the back of her head, his fingers finding blood.
"What are you doing, eh?" Valentine croaked, attempting to grab his hand to push away but missed. Her eyes lolled, clouded and unfocused.
"Hush, hush..." Alphonse soothed, looking to Cheyenne. "It's not bad, but she needs to stay awake. She's been hit on the back of the head with debris or something." He caught sight of Valentine's eyes closing again and he took ahold of his sister's jaw and shook her a bit. "Nyt! Nyt! You must stay awake, Amor!"
Cheyenne looked around, "Alright. We had a med kit but-" She started to dig, "It's gotta be somewhere in here."
"Give me a minuet." Raven said as she decende upon a pile of rubble where the nearest med kid had been stashed . She muttered to herself while she dug "This is why I said We should hide in the tunnels. but no steel reinforced tunnels are too dangerous. What if there's an earthquake? No one listens to me."
Having made it to the steel-reinforced area, Maria had followed Raven out when the shaking stopped. She'd been careful not to let her back be seen, hoping to take care of it herself, but that cut on her back only felt numb. The dusty air litered it, making it look like a black line down her back instead of a bloody cut. She moved next to Alphonse to try to help keep Valentine awake. She may not have much medical experience, but she knew that bleeding from the head was never a good sign. "Mind if I help?" she asked, kneeling across from Alphonse. "We should move her to the open, perhaps, closer to a flat area."
Having caught up to the point of hearing voices, Wynn carefully kept his distance when he saw Strange enter a building. The upper portion of one wall was knocked inwards, towards the person he was meant to follow, and soon, he'd gotten close enough to hear voices. He knew Cheyenne's and Raven's voice, but there were two others, accented voices, similar, but one male and the other female. He seemed confused, then heard a fourth female's. Where is he? he thought. Speak, damn you.
He'd slipped a peak inside to catch Cheyenne standing on a few, freshly fallen pieces, Raven digging, two people he hadn't exactly seen when confronting the rebels before, and another familiar, seemingly unimportant face whose name he couldn't quite remember. The small glance was cut short to keep himself hidden and looked around the area.
With a quick mental note, Wynn found a rather steep, nearly unatainable vantage point, and with as much silence as he could use, climbed up to it. He'd also noticed he could hear them better from there, as well as see without being seen. Quite an advantage, but one thing he neglected: the fact he weighed more than it could bear. Little did he know, the pieces of roofing were barely able to hold themselves up, and were nearly ready to give. (I'll have him crash through later. Please don't say the roof fell in before then!!! It won't take too long, I promise!)
"Found it!" Raven said pulling themetal box from beneath a pile of broken wood which had once resembeled a cabinet. She made her way towards the twins when she stumbeled into Maria. "Sorry." She handed the medical kit to her not noticing that the sleeve of her biker jacket was bloody. "Help them, I'm gonna check out Boss' leg." She tretherously made her way toward Chyenne. Even though Strange had said she was alright she sereiously doubted that he'd bothered toi check her mechanical legs.
Accepting the kit, Maria opened the box, so both Alphonse and herself could see into it easily, without straining. With the male twin keeping her awake, she felt somewhat useless, sitting next to a nearly unconscious woman.
The roof seemed stable enough, so Wynn chanced a look into the room. He was obviously unseen as they went about checking on everyone's health, that man he'd talked to earlier not as great at slipping unnoticed as he would've assumed he was. Wynn knew where the man was, but glanced over to the woman kneeling across the man who was basically slapping the woman, who laid on her back, to keep her awake. He could see the nearly straight line across her back from this high post, and recalled being in the park, with Mercy, when he could hear, and basically tell, that there was someone there, not just that man they killed, which he assumed TNT buried, and hadn't just dug a hole for show. It was her, he thought, absently before he heard a little give, near his torso underneath him, but it didn't fall...yet.
Valentine groaned at Alphonse's antics, even his gentle shakes made her head throb. She felt along her scalp where it burned and found her hair already clotted and even more matted together with sticky blood. She winced when she touched the tender flesh.
"Alphonse..." She said in a daze; voice slurred as if drunk. Her brother snorted and batted her hand away from the wound. "Alphonse where's my gun, eh?"
"Your gun is right where you left it, darling. It's you head I'm worried about. Stop moving, huh?" Alphonse sifted through the medical kit and took out a length of gauze and a saulve of some type that smelt terrible. "Can you sit up?"
"Yes...err..Let me see." Valentine shifted her shoulders and attempted to raise her head.
"Easy now." He coaxed, taking ahold of her hand. "Mademoiselle Maria, could you watch her back in case she falls again?"
Valentine sat up slowly, groaning rather unlady-like in the process. She blinked a moment, trying to dispell the phantasmic dots dancing infront of her eyes. A twinge of unease stirred in her belly momentarily, then gave way to a loud, and rather unpleasent protest at the absense of food.
"Good?"
"Good." She replied with a slight nod.
"Good!" Alphonse repeated like a fool. He quickly shifted placed to take a look at the back of her head. Her normally gold, apricot dreadlocks were clotted and matted togther, now dried with the dark brown stain of blood.
"Do we have some water?" He asked Maria. "I don't want to move her completely yet before cleaning the wound."
Maria had nodded and moved to a slightly uncomfortable kneeling position, to help Valentine stay sitting up. She felt like a brace but that was beside the point. "I wouldn't know if it's clean enough to wash out the blood," she said. "But I know where a pipe is. If you can hold her up, I'll go get it." She repositioned once again so Alphonse could hold up Valentine in case she couldn't do it herself, as he inspected the wound and, with strange quickness, took to running down the tunnels. Less than a minute into it and she stopped abruptly, searching with her hands on the dirt floor and finding exactly what she needed: a pipe, about lower arm's length, with a bottom welded to it. She blew across the top, making a sort of billowing low whistle, and bringing with it dust. She kept her eyes closed as it mixed with the air, then felt along the wall. Sure enough, there was a slowly dripping pipe. She found the small flat metal piece which, if turned corectly, would allow some flow of the water. She let it stream slightly and rinsed out the pipe, filling it on the second time. She turned it off and took a brisk walk back to the garage with little roof and walls left. She quickly returned to Alphonse, a few dark red lines making their way down her back from that line. She didn't notice as the entire cut throbbed and seemingly felt numb. "Here," she said, handing him the pipe, which was slightly wet from the quick rinse. She took up her bracing position once more.
(Oops...I forgot to bold her name...^_^")
Rose walked in with a few cuts on her face and a scarf around her neck that was dabbled in fresh blood. She hopped through the wreckage, towards the group, "Hey bitches!" she smiled, completely oblivious.
"Just where the hell have you been?!" Cheyenne's voice bellowed.
"Yell at her later." Raven advised "You've sprung a leak. If I don't fix this you'll get to learn what it's like to travel in a papoose." Raven produced a small tool kit from her jacket. She decended upon Chyenne's leg with a screwdriver.
"A leak?" Cheyenne turned around, "Awe dammit!"
"Don't move." Raven warned then all of a sudden an arch of bright blue liquid shot out of Chyenne's leg and into Raven's face. "MOTHER FUCKER!" Raven cursed instantly putting her hand to her eye. "WATER! Someone get me some damn water!" The liquid burned instantly. If she didn't wash it out immediatly she could be blinded. "DAMNIT HURRY!"
Alphonse accepted the pipe with a nod from Maria. "Thank you, mon cheri." He patted Valentine's cheek a bit to make sure she was alert. His sister let out an answering growl. It was echoed by Raven's yowl and order for water.
Alphonse hesitated pouring the water on the wound, wetting his lips.
"For Christ's sake, Alphonse!" Valentine snapped at her brother's hesistation. "I am not going to die if it's not cleaned. Give it to her. And hurry. That looks a helluva lot worse than a damned head injury at the moment." Her twin quickly complied and shifted his weight to Maria.
"Hold still, mon petit, and don't move." Alphonse quickly seized Raven's face and washed the blue liquid away from her eye. He clicked his tongue in dissaproval, knowing full well what damage the chemical would have done. After all, he had been one of the top workers in his field at TOTAL Chemicals; he had seen similar things like this from working witht he machinery. Afterward the blue liquid had been cleared away from Raven's eye, he pried it open, blowing somewhat so the eye would tear. Once opened, he poured, bit by bit, of the water and flushed the tender wound. "Blink." He ordered without argue, knowing she could comply.
Once the eye was flushed, Alphonse made a small sound at the back of his throat in approval. He grinned at the other woman. "Don't you know better than to work without goggles, Lovely? Surely a woman with your...wily talents would have a pare of those, eh" He asked in his husky, french drawl.
"Alphonse..." Valentine observed in a tone as acerbic as her glare. "I beleive she'll live and would rather like for you to remove your hands." The corner of her scarred mouth twisted upwards, giving her a devilish grin.
"ACK!" Raven reacted as Alphonse grabbed her face "Gah watchit!" She blinked as ordered while he pored the water into her eye. her eyes where still clinched tightly when she said in her most sencere tone "Fucking let go of my face please." She wasn't happy about being scolded for not wearing goggels when her best interests had been directed toward Chyenne.
"Rae? Rae are you alright?" Cheyenne placed her hands on Raven's shoulders, pushing Alphonse to the side.
"Hi cutie!" Rose said as she glomped onto Alphonse.
"I don't know." Raven said opening her eyes. God the left one still burned "My right eye is fine... the left one... not so sure. I can fix your leg though. If that fluid keeps leaking your screwed."
"No, don't worry about my leg. Open your left eye, Rae." Cheyenne lifted her chin so she could see.
Alphonse chuckled deeply, showing good humor. "I was just joking, yes?" He grinned, picking Rose up effortlessly and swinging her aside.
"Alphonse didn't mean anything by it." Valentine said coldly, wincing again as her fingers probbed her wound. The blood was dry now and her hair thouroughly matted into place. "He can just be an ass sometimes."
"Ah! You see?" Alphonse grinned at Rose, tweaking her cheek. "At least my sister loves me, eh?"
"Do you know how hard it is to get that stuff?" Raven Said trying to open her eye "Gah!" She put her palm to it and jerked away from Cheyenne. "The light... fuck it still burns."
Cheyenne grabbed her head and tilted it down, away from the sun. She crouched a little so she could see. "Just a sec." She placed a thumb on her top lid and her other thumb on the bottom. Slowly, she opened her eye.
Raven's eye poened to reveal a bright blue pupil and a cobalt blue iris. The sclera was a pailer blue, as if a blue inkpen had busted inside the pocket of a white shirt.. It looked as if the liquid had stained her eye. She closed ther right, good eye against the sun. "Everything is blurry... Wait..." as Raven recounted what she saw her vision slowly dimmed "Shit... I'm going blind."
Cheyenne knew exactly what it was like to relize that your eye is dying. "Don't worry...it'll be fine. You still have the other one." She wrapped one arm around her shoulders for support.
"And how am I supposed to cover you guys with one good eye? Raven asked with her palm still helt fast to her burning eye "I can still shoot but my supportave vision is halfed. Not only will I be a sitting suck but y'll will to."
"It's not like it can't be replaced." Valentine remarked, watching the two women while Alphonse was preoccupied.
"And I should hope you'd have at least some faith in others to help with keeping an eye on things. I thought this was a family, but it seems like the only people you two trust is yourselves." She added, testing her neck out with rotating her head. Valentine immediately stopped when she began to feel light-headed.
"What are you new?" Raven asked still holding her eye "Oh that's right, you are. We are a family but we are also a team. Each person has a role. I'm the stereotypical hard ass, knife whelding, mechanic, electrician, recon, sniper bitch. It's what I do. Do you want to be out there on the street surounded by PKs with a half blind chick as your cover support?"
"Ah." Valentine merely blinked behind her liquid black mask. "So what does that make Alphonse and I then, eh? Dead weight? Someone to be pushed around when we try to help? We have attributes that are valued; let us help instead of carrying everything on yourselves and stop treating us like...like.."
"Leppers?" Alphonse added helpfully. Valentine made a face.
"I know a good man in the upper part of the city that specializes in bionic eyes." Valentine concluded with a sigh. She pushed up a tiny corner of her domino mask to scratch at her temple, revealing pink skin; too pink for any natural pigment. She replaced it immediately and made sure the mask was once again in place.
"How's your head, eh?" Alphonse asked, seeing his sister's irritation.
"It fucking hurts like hell!" She hissed, tryng not to move it from either side. "Cela fait mal comme un baiser du train léger par l'intermédiaire de mon crâne!"
"You two aren't dead weight by all means. It's just that we don't know you that well yet. So far, you two are just 'the twins'. But don't worry...I'm sure you will get to help out if we get another attack like that." Cheyenne explained before lifted her head to look at the even more ruined wasteland, "I wonder where Strange is...it's been a while."
Not unlike the movies, the roof fell in. It seemed planned that no one stood underneath that particular section, as Wynn fell, nearly face-first onto the pile of rubble, knocking his right temple on a large broken block of cement as a few pieces of the wall fell on his lower legs and knees. Bruises, at most, but rather dark ones. He was knocked unconscious and had a small cut over the abresion(SP?), where he hit his head. A small crimson line sook out a path towards the earth, rather slowly and through a thin layer of dust.
Sitting behind Valentine, Maria jumped so suddenly that she threatened pushing the woman leaning on her to one side, towards the scene of commotion. Glancing over towards the body which fell in through the ceiling, or rather, what was left of the ceiling. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when she caught that rather fast crumbling short episode. She let out the breath she'd held unknowingly before looking to Cheyenne, Raven, then Alphonse and Roxie. "Can you sit on your own?" she asked Valentine. By now, the cut on her back had begun to create new skin underneath the dirtied blood, creating a rather, strangely straight line across her back.
As soon as the roof creaked loudly and then finally sank through, Valentine had both of her Beretta 92's out in a flash. She blinked, trying to dispell the momentary unease that unwound itself in her belly. Her left hand quivered slightly, but she kept her eye on the heap of rubble.
Alphonse didn't hesitate as well. In one quick motion, he unhooked his recurve bow from the holster on his back and took a steel pin from a bootsheath. It was locked and loaded in seconds and pointed toward the mess as well.
Valetine nodded to Maria. "I'll be fine." She said, gritting her teeth as the other woman jostled her a bit. Alphonse eye's wandered over to Cheyenne, awaiting orders.
"Perhaps we should send someone out to find out where the hell Strange is? He should've been here hours ago." Cheyenne rolled her eyes.
"Right here," Strange stepped forward, having only been a few feet from her. His heart fell. He was invisible, even to her. Maybe especially to her.
"ACK!" Cheyenne jumped a little. Her head whipped around, almost in attack mode. "Ohh...it's you. Do you enjoy doing that to me?" she smirked. Chey headed over to him and set a hand on his shoulder, "Glad to have you back. What happened?"
"I scoped out the territory," Strange reported, straightening. "The Keepers were very....attentive. I did find out a few strategic notes, and I've narrowed down where their headquarters may be to a small part of town. Perhaps we should attend to our eavesdropper?" He suggested. He was many things, but a man of action was not one of them. Reconnaisance and intrigue, that was him. Reconnaisance and intrigue. He didn't even carry anything high caliber.
"Good! So...they weren't suspicious?" Cheyenne asked before interrupting herself, "Eavesdropper?"
Maybe it was she wasn't paying attention to anything, Strange thought, and it made her not realizing his presence a little less painful. He pointed. "The man now partially submerged in that rubble that had been a part of the roof not five minutes ago."
"Trespassor?!" Cheyenne's eyes darted to where he was pointing. She was too distracted by the bomb and her crew's injuries to notice.
With slight hesitation, Maria made her way over to the limp body, which hadn't moved in several minutes. She had taken a chance, at leaving herself unarmed, trusting, for the first time since meetin the twins, that she'd be covered and rolled over the man, after pulling him from underneath the small amount of rubble resting once upon his legs. He was unconcious. When she pryed one eye open, it was dilated and rolled slightly towards the top of his skull. "He's unconscious," she said, loudly, looking from Valentine, to Alphonse, to Strange, before Cheyenne, holding her inquisitive look on her. "Want to at least make sure he survives for questioning, or off him now?" She didn't mind being blunt about it, and preferred the direct route, in this particular situation.
"Let's bind him now and wait until he awakes." Cheyenne announced before her eyes went back to Strange. "I was starting to worry about you and your return."
Raven let go of her eye for a moment s she tried to look threw it. Nothing, not even shapes or light. She turned to Chyenne "You gonna let me work on that leg or am I going to have to cart you around on my bike until we can replace that fluid?"
"I--Really?" Strange said, frowning curiously down at Cheyenne. "Why?" He fingered the paper in his pocket. He had drawn on it without looking at itwith a stub of a pencil while he was in downtown. He hoped he could decifer it later.
DEspite not being answered Raven ideled back towards Chyenne's leg and took the screwdriver to it again. Goggels be damned she continued working.
Doing as she was told, Maria repositioned the man so she could easily tie him up. She had looked around at the rubble-covered ground and couldn't exactly see any viable landmarks other than the tunnel's entrance. She began there, walking out paces of slightly differing lengths before she stopped and took a few steps to one side, beginning to dig. She'd had a large woode crate, a very lucky find on her end, which held some of the odds and ends, like rope, or cord, or even a few indecieferable items that reminded her of robotic toys. She had nearly completely forgotten about the cut on her back, but wasn't reminded of it either, sending it farther into the recesses of her mind. Once she found her prize, the useless crate in pieces but the objects not damaged more than when they were found, and returned to the stranger. With quick hands, and a memory of Boy Scout knots, not that she was a boy scout at any point in time, bound the man's hands behind his back. With luck, that's all they needed to, especially if they were to transport him to a different place, seeing how this one wasn't in the best of conditions. "Are we moving to a new location?" she asked, standing upright, stretching her arms above her head, in such a way as to pull at muscles unused as of now. They returned to her side directly afterwards.
Cheyenne shrugged, "It was taking such a long time and your one of us now. But I understand what you did downtown by going, thanks a lot." Her attention suddenly went to Raeven on her leg, "Rae....are you sure? I don't want'cha to get the other eye hurt.
And lastly, she looked up to Maria, "Yea, finding yet another place is our best bet right now. Before we are attacked once more."
"The pressure is down now." Raven said "It won;t spurt again." She continued working on the leg. "Ok... your gonna limp for a few hours until the pressure builds back up. But it should be fine. See that's all it needed.'
"Thank you, sister." Cheyenne smiled, noticing that her leg was already a lot better then it was before. "Now about your eye...does it still hurt?"
"Fuck yes!"Raven said sitting back to finaly nurse her eye
Cheyenne grabbed the med kit that Maria had and dug through it. "Let's see..." After looking for a bit, she couldn't find what she wanted. Looking up, she shouted, "ROSE! Water NOW!"
Rose jumped from the shout and turned to her boss, "Y-yes!" She dug a hand in her pocket and pulled out a little bottle, only to toss it at Cheyenne.
"We need to rinse the eye out." Cheyenne told Raeven.
"He already did." Raven she said pointing to Alphonse
"I wonder why is still burns?" Chey grabbed a squeeze tube from the kit and put a drop on her finger. She added water to it, "I wonder if this will help."
"It still burns because the liquid is more than likely eating away at her retna, causing damage to her optical nerve." Valentine mused, holstering her Berettas to her sides.
"Such a thing wat not uncommon at the chemical engeneering plant Alphonse and I worked for." Beside her Alphonse nodded in agreement.
"Mechanical fluid is the worst." He said in his crisp accent. "It's thick but thins easily with bodily fluid."
"It would be best to ge to a good supply of fresh water as soon as possible. It needs to be flushed for 20 minutes or more. Until then it will burn."
"We should cover it, to keep you from blinking, yes?" Valentine said helpfully, taking Alhponse's hand and attempting to stand. She wavered on her feet a moment, nearly falling back down. One hand held her head, the other gripped Alphonse feircely.
"Easy, my Amor. Easy." He coaxed his sister. Valentine merely snorted in reply.
"Try it."Raven said "Can't hurt it any more than it already does."
Standing with one foot on a randomly bare spot of floor, the other raised on a piece of the broken ceiling, of which nothing protected them from the sky, Maria merely listened as the group bantered between helping Raven and working at a chemical plant. She glanced over the man whose hands she bound, seeing the dried blood covering a portion of his forehead and matted hair. She began to look over everyone, imagining what they'd be like if there was no war, was no nuclear destruction, and life was normal, now only a fairy tale, meant for dreams. Daydreaming, she didn't realize she'd stopped glancing at everyone, and began staring at the men among the group of women.
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