My Precious [Tytonidae]

[Niklaus]

Every was gone and now it was just Nishaa. Was she going to tome away too? Probably, he thought. Then she happened to just glance up and spotted him as he was chilling there, just watching. He even wiggled his fingers at her as some sort of ‘Hey, wussup?’ gesture and before he knew she had thrown Every’s knife at him. He made no move to avoid, it was just a knife, and the more your foes underestimated you, the better chance you had at surprising them. Her evil deed done, the woman was just gone, off to the ground floor it seemed. His eyes lingering at the blade, stuck in his shoulder before slowly yanking it out and crouched down to strap it to his ankle; another addition to his collection.

Niklaus had watched both women descend that elevator shaft; he could have imitated them and slowly worked his way down but… Nahh. Where was the fun in that? He already knew how he was going to make it down, Niklaus style. He made his way back to the shops, hopping over the trapped tiles as he went to retrieve the bodies of the dead shopkeepers; Bob and headless Bob. They didn’t wear name tags so he was going to call them what he felt like, they looked like Bobs. Dragging both cadavers to the entrance of the elevator shaft with a sick grin upon his face. “Here we go”, he mumbled to himself.

One hand gripped the neck of Bob tightly while the other held upon the shirt of headless Bob, digging his claws into the flesh of the decomposing body for a much better grip before he simply jumped down the elevator shaft. The bodies were going to absorb the shock, right? The Kevlar vest he had one would take some of it too, that made sense. But what he didn’t realize was that it was 300 plus pounds falling down freely on a wrecked elevator, and add to that the weights of the two Bobs, that was DEFINITELY not going to be pretty. It was just like base jumping, minus the parachute. The Killer and his two friends crashed right into the wrecked elevator box, the violent collision causing them to literally break through the steel top and end up inside the elevator. “It…worked!” he thought. Not really, but close. He was bloodied up, bruises and cuts all over his face and arms as he growled and crawled back to his feet. His two friends served their purpose, they did break his fall, after all – even if both Bobs were headless now. Their arms and legs contorted in strange angles, guts spilling out, piece of metal sticking out of them here and there but they were still more or less in one or a few pieces and he still needed his friends, the Bobs.

He used a piece of mirror he found inside the elevator to check himself for other injuries, it was common for him to not feel pain in some extremities and he was right; a piece of metal was lodged deep into the side of his neck. The hell?! Piece of metal that he effectively yanked right out and zombie constituted the wound, luckily his backpack and for some fucked up reason, Bob’s severed forearm made it out of the fall intact, how even?! Electricity crackled as he gripped at either sides of the busted elevator door, letting out some kind of demonic growl (what the ****?! ) while parting the doors open. No big deal, this is why he trained, to open elevator doors and ****, right? “Hello, ground floor. I hear you are trapped as ****”, he hissed, he had been talking to himself and inanimate objects for a while now, dragging what remained of the Bobs along before starting to slide them one after another across the floor to trigger the traps. The plan worked perfectly, the mauled bodies triggering the remaining traps, even leaving a trail of red across the floor. See? He was smart, follow the red trail, Niklaus. Gun in one hand, sword in another he started looking for Every and Nishaa. It was time to cut him some bitches.

[Roderic]

Nishaa had to die. I wouldn't tolerate someone who wanted to keep a radioactive shard in their possession. Especially when they didn't have skills with working or handling something like that. Something like that should be in...my possession. I was pretty sure I was going to destroy the thing, but maybe I should keep it and do controlled experiments. Something on bunnies at first. Genetic based research. I could work alongside with Doc. I will think about what I will do with it more when it's mine and Nishaa is dead.

"Niiiiiissssshaaaa is on the main floor." My raspy little wraith tells me when he slinks back to my side. "Good work, Daegal." I reply with a nod before I head to the elevator and see that it's out of commission. Great. Who was the genius that did that?

I sigh and look around, trying to find something that would be of use to me. Well, why not my own sword? I could jam it in the tree and work my way down. I unsheathe my sword and do just that. Jam the large piece of metal in the trunk and start working my way down. It's tedious, but it's better than breaking bones in my body. I need the best advantage possible. Besides, it sounds like everyone's busy anyways. No one would even suspect I was coming down.

Finally, about fifteen minutes, I'm on the main floor and well, holy ****. Velveteen and Micah were not going to be happy. The place is demolished. And that's putting it nicely. Nishaa really wanted to keep that shard. She was dangerous and unstable. I see Every and Niklaus and only hope that they are trying to stop her from getting away with it. Really, Velveteen and Micah should have something so dangerous, but I know I could keep it safe. Or destroy it safely too. Whichever I decide. I would tell Velveteen later. She would understand my rationale.

I don't care what the other two are doing right now. My focus is on Nishaa. Her distance, her height, the size of her head, and the angle its at. I grab my sword from the bottom of the tree trunk, and then whip it in the direction of Nishaa. It connects in her head and I just stare. That worked out better than I thought. That's what happens when you have my shard.

Roderic Other NPCs/Objects Moderate Endurance related Climb down the tree with sword Succeeded
Roderic Another PC Moderate Physically demanding Nishaa Throw my sword in her head Succeeded

[Niklaus]

Niklaus glanced back when he heard footsteps behind him, it was Roderic. He had found his way down to the party too it seemed, with a sword. Was he a threat? Niklaus kept his eyes locked onto the pair of women in front of him, Nishaa and Every. Two on one wasn’t that bad, now three on one? He might have to resort to dirty tricks but he had faith in his capabilities, especially when it came down to beating the **** out of people and killing them. The former really, coming into the Eyrie when he was invited by Velveteen herself and killing her faction members would have been rude and definitely problematic. But there was nothing wrong with defending himself and hurting some people, right? He got shot in the calf and had a knife thrown right into shoulder already, both by Nishaa.

But someone else had their eyes set on Nishaa – Roderic. He literally threw his sword right at the female’s head! Two on two it was then, Boys vs Girls. Dibs on Every then, Niklaus thought. Holstering his gun back into its sheath as he made eye contact with the woman; yep, it wasn’t going to be a gun fight. Niklaus liked it up close and personal, swinging his sword around before charging at Every before taking a swing at her side and narrowly missing. Then he tried to hit her with the sword’s handguard and she avoided that too! It wasn’t really personal, they were just after the same thing and he knew she was fast and a sword wielder too. Maybe he should throw the damn sword at her head too, like Roderic did to Nishaa but… maybe that was someone only Roderic was good at, yeah. That damn shard, it was still there, glowing and beckoning him to just TAKE IT; he just needed to have it. It was HIS time to get his ******* shard back.

You failed in your endeavour. x2

[Reanna]

You are going to lose.
I will make sure of that.
You cannot win.
I need you, Iskra.
I am the only one for you.
Me.

The voice had grown louder, nearly causing the woman to succumb to the haunting charm. In a matter of seconds, she had lost track of time - and her shard. She felt weightless without it, as if whomever had taken it had also taken a piece of her soul. Curling into her self, the woman pressed her arm to her stomach, the violent rumbling within the only warning before she was doubled over. The dry heaves nearly took all of her strength, and as she pressed the heel of her palm to her head, she frowned. Why the **** would Every do this to her?

She knew the woman had grown to hate her. She had said as much to Micah in one of her many rantings. She had been adopted in - but she hadn't belonged. Every had made sure of that. This was all the proof she needed. She wanted her to die and now she finally had the key in doing so. Mikale. "You cannot have him, you *****. You will not bring me down. I will kill you," her words were growled out as she wiped the back of her mouth with her glove. Niet, that ***** was going down - and she was going down hard. Twisting her hair back into a braid, she kicked her scabbard off the floor and tilted her head as the air in front of her seemed to shimmer.

"You have been out for quite some time, my love. They have all gathered in the basement. Nishaa has Mikale in her possession." Corinth's voice - though distant - was sweet as honey as she gave her report. No sooner had the words left the wraith's mouth before the mystic was moving. The world seemed to twist around her, and as her boots connected silently with the basement floor, she narrowed her eyes in anger.

Roderic.

"That was uncalled for." Though her desire to capture the shard for herself had her pulling weapons on her sister - she felt an uncontrollable rage at the thought of someone else hurting her. With a feral growl, she pulled her gun free and aimed it for his head. Her aim was true, the need to defend her sister pulsing through her veins. With an almost savage grin, she watched as the bullet exploded through the back of his skull, sending black blood into the air. "Do not touch her, you dirty ****." Moving back to her feet, the woman quickly sidestepped his fallen form and turned her attention to her twin. She hated this - she hated to see her hurt so.

... but not as much as she loved Mikale.

First, she had to get to her. It should be easy enough - as long as she didn't step on the traps. Counting them in her head, she tapped her fingers against her lower lip before slowly releasing a breath. One by one, she began to make her way over the traps, each one causing her to shake more than the last. Somehow, though, she managed to succeed in not tripping one and she soon found herself at her twin's side. "I warned you. You would be hurt. You knew better. Bad twin. Bad. You want me dead. You take from me. I should kill. I will. Later. First, need Mikale." She tried to ignore the gaping wound in her head as she curled her fingers around her shoulder and yanked her upright. With another twist, she grasped her wrist and tried to pry her fingers from the shard. With a sound of triumph, the shard rolled into her hand and she stepped back. It was hers now.

Not for long...

Shaking her head, the Russian stepped back and bit into her lip. The Eyrie was destroyed - she was running out of places to hide. Plain sight, baby. Always go for plain sight. Her husband's voice was a godsend - and a curse. Narrowing her eyes, she gave a sharp laugh into the darkness. "You cannot have either. You will die, too. You wait your turn, husband. Mikale is only one I need." With that final parting word, the woman used the last of her reserve to make her way back up to her hut, where she once again barricaded the door and found her way back into her hiding place. No one would think - at least not at first - for her to repeat the same action twice. She was usually more sound than that, more logical - but none of that mattered now. Not when she had Mikale.

Shoot Roderic in head - Succeed.
Avoid traps - Succeed.
Steal shard - Succeed.

[Niklaus]

The gunshot caused Niklaus to spin around, only to catch Nishaa’s twin person holding a gun, blood over the floor and Roderic with a hole in his head. How dare that ***** sneak down here to shoot his ally! There were way too many girls involved in this hunt and obviously chickas stuck with one another, right? And his only ‘teammate’ just got shot in the head now. Where was Reanna now? Just gone! He wasn’t sure if she teleported away or was just hiding in shadows. Either ways, Roderic was down, Nishaa was probably still recovering from getting smacked in the head with that sword and Every was still on this floor too.

He would have shot that other chick back if she was still there but she wasn’t. Then he remembered her words; something about touching Nishaa. So it was payback for having thrown that sword in her face then? Niklaus now knew his next plan of action. He wasn’t going to let Roderic there, the plan was for the boys to neutralize the females, and then they could battle it out for the shard. Sounded fair enough. He hurried to pick up Roderic’s sword – never leave a good weapon just laying around, right? Grasping at the front of the man’s shirt and stared down into his bloodied face. “I’m getting you out of here; just remember that you owe me now. We get rid of them first then we’ll see who gets to keep the shard.” He blood healed him a couple of times and glanced up as he readied himself to teleport the both of them to the upper floor. He had stashed resources up there too, but first… “Payback’s a *****, Nishaa”, he hissed at the woman, lifting his gun and aiming it at her leg before squeezing the trigger twice. Oh yes, he remembered her shooting him in the calf while they were on the third floor and then throwing a knife at him!

Smirking to himself as he glanced around, he hoped Nishaa’s twin was watching – if she was even here. “Wherever you are, I’m coming for you next. Unless you want to find me first, then bring it!” he yelled, most of them have been using the shadows to cloak themselves anyway, including him – she could still have been around. That was his last thought as he teleported himself and his teammate upstairs. He had blood packs, anima orbs and... a few gallons of fuel at his disposition. Something fucked up was going to be happening soon.

shoot Nishaa in the leg - Succeeded

[Every]

She hadn’t inhaled a lot, but it seemed that it was enough to make her feel like ****. It was a dirty trick and the fact her childe had used her issues with toxins against her, regardless, infuriated Every as she coughed for a spell and then wiped her bloodied lips on the inside of her arm, red creating a contrast against healthy looking pale skin and the inky black substance that fell from the wounds that she had received.

Her body ached as Nishaa went for the shard and she bared her fangs in response, adding a soft hiss before she reached towards a low hanging branch to hold it so that she wouldn’t topple over in a nearby set of traps that were behind her. Watching her childe, she couldn’t help to think that she really was a stubborn pain in her ***. Taking her shard, who the hell did she think she was?

Every needed a knife.

Or a sword.

Hearing Nishaa coo, she rolled her eyes. “Mummy has a delusional sense in having her sire’s shard.” She didn’t chase after her childe immediately, still using the tree for a moment as she listened to the booming of traps going off elsewhere. “Who the hell is stupid enough to be walking straight through them?” Every wondered, she could tell by the pattern that they were being set off that was what was happening. She’d done it enough herself during hunts to be able to tell the difference.

Her eyes fell shut as she took in slow breaths, every now and then coughing to spit out blood as she waited, thinking. Nishaa had the shard. Niklaus was somewhere. Reanna was up where she’d last seen her, right? Where was Roderic? Dulce? Trahir? Every’s long hair fell over her shoulders before the smell of human blood caused her eyes to snap open as she heard the explosives. Mortification mixed with disgust as she saw the remaining pieces of the shopkeeps behind the man. As he came at her, Every’s first thought was – what the ****. She was unarmed. ******. She jerked backwards, the blade slicing into her shirt and ripping the hem.

It was another reminder to why she hated wearing clothes she liked while hunting, and as he went to hit her again, she moved forward. She drove her palm down against his wrist in attempt to get him to disarm and as it failed, thought **** it before she twisted to drive her elbow directly into the man’s face with her full strength in attempt to stun him – or hurt him. Whichever worked best. Afterwards, the brunette lifted her foot and sent a kick to his chest, hoping to throw him into a nearby shock cage before she took off in a run for the elevator, sliding to a stop just before she hit a set of traps to pick up a piece of shrapnel.

Balancing the weight in her hand, Every turned sharp on her heel and threw without entirely aiming – she just wanted to hit the ********, really, and then jumped to the far wall of the elevator shaft, catching herself on a ledge piece before she began to climb upwards. She didn’t know where she was going, but she could sense the shard wasn’t below. It was pulling to her, a siren’s song, up. Up, up. Was it Nishaa? She’d been the last one with it that she knew. Her childe was strong, but she wondered where the others were, Reanna, Roderic, Dulce, Trahir, and Blake. It was a curiosity she didn’t care to think of.

She could get the shard.

She would get her shard back.

It was rightly hers, after all.

You failed in your endeavour – disarm Niklaus
You succeeded in your endeavour. – elbow Niklaus in the face
You failed in your endeavour. – kick Niklaus into a shock cage
You failed in your endeavour – Hit Niklaus with shrapnel
You succeeded in your endeavour. – climb the elevator shaft

[Roderic]

Someone shot me. I honestly don't even know who, I just know it wasn't Nishaa. My focus had been solely on her and her alone. Until I was shot and on my ***. I don't heal the wound yet, I need to be smart, so the shadows and brain matter was just going to seep out. Who cared? I was in the Eyrie. No humans that weren't tied to the faction would see me.

A male voice. Niklaus. Had to be. I knew everyone elses. He could say whatever he wanted to say, in the end, I was keeping that shard. Suddenly we're in a new location and I'm on the ground because that's where I was before he teleported us away. I roll to my side to check the surroundings. Still the Eryie. Good. I slowly start to sit up and get up, but suddenly I see Niklaus in the fight with some woman. Nishaa. I think it is her. I can't tell. Everything is a little hazy. Blurred. I think whoever shot me, was a damn good shot and shot an eyeball nerve. My left one to be precise.

"You're not getting that shard, you *****." I say as I lunge at who I think to be Nishaa. My initial attempt is to burn her skin with a mystic power, but I miss her completely and land face first on the ground between Niklaus and the would be Nishaa. They are fighting, I can hear that much, so I do the next best thing and bring my foot up and slam it in the direction of the woman's kneecap. I hit something solid, but it's not a bone. No, instead, it's the damn atm and my foot is throbbing with pain as an alarm goes off from the ******* thing. Brilliant.

Roderic Another PC Very easy Reactionary/ Awareness Every Burn baby, burn! Failed
Roderic Another PC Easy Physically demanding Every Break her kneecap Failed

[Niklaus]

Niklaus headed straight for his stash of anima orbs behind the crafting bench; blood healing Roderic had dropped him down to an unacceptable level of anima and he definitely needed to replenish his reserves. Then he headed to the computer desk to retrieve two of the gallons of fuel that he hid under the desk earlier; placing one of them near the elevator and the other he took with him while dragging Roderic inside one of the shops, paying attention not to trigger the traps he set there, it was the best place to regroup. He didn’t know if the man was a necurat and dropped a few blood packs into his lap along with some anima orbs. “Drink up, they’ll be coming for us soon enough”, he snickered. Crouching down as he opened his bag, retrieving a blood bag for himself as well making sure his guns were all loaded. Sliding a handgun out of his bag and across the floor to the man along with some magazines; they needed to be ready for the girls. Though part of him wondered if Roderic wouldn't end up shooting him in his current condition. Then his eyes laid on that severed forearm again, he wanted to throw it away because… WHY would you carry a severed limb in your freaking backpack? But he was going to find a use for it soon enough. The Bobs’ bodies already proven to be extremely useful in disarming traps, maybe that arm would have a similar use soon too.

“And yeah, you dropped this too. Shouldn’t leave such a pretty sword just lying around”, he commented, running a finger along the blade’s edge before handing it back to the male and stashing the gallon of fuel at the back of the store. He didn’t even know Roderic but right now it was Girls’ power all the way and the Eyrie could use some testosterone, let’s not forget that shard too. Did they think it was just some kind of pretty gem or something?! Girls liked gems, right? Niklaus bit into the blood pack hungrily, he did take quite a knock when jumping down the elevator shaft but he was still sharp and focused, even if he hadn’t had the shard in his possession for a VERY long time. Was that a good thing or not? The shard made people crazy, he knew it but it also felt right to be holding it. It was the kind of power that not many could handle. Great powers come with great responsibility right? He would lock it somewhere safe once he gets it back, find out why it affected vampires so much, and if it affected humans too. So many potential experiments, oh yes! Niklaus loved experiments!

But now was not the time to fantasize about future plans. He wiped his forearm across his face, he had a bloody nose from when Every elbowed him; oh he was going to have to get her back too now. The male withdrew both handguns and waited, eyes focused on the entrance of the elevator shaft. Shoot first, ask questions later.

[Roderic]

[font=]Anima. I needed that. I heal the wound in my head with mystic healing as Niklaus passes me my sword and grab some orbs. I just take what I need for now. I know I used a little, but in case we need reserves. Once the hole in my head is patched up, I look at my sword and give it a small grin. I think of how easy it went through Nishaa's head. My wife is so damn good to me. I will thank her later, when I tell her about the shard and how I heroically saved the city from the mutant shard. That's what I will tell her, as I keep it in my safe spot. The spot she doesn't know about. Until I figure out what to do with it exactly.

"Thanks, man." I tell Niklaus as I look up at him. "Who has that radioactive shard?" I wait for him to tell me who it was, then nod my head. I grab a pack and start stuffing things in it. Rings, bracelets, traps, and anything else that can get shoved in the sack I found behind the counter. As I do this, I get a glimpse of where Reanna is at. A private location. Maybe an apartment, or maybe a hut in the Eyrie. Would she be that stupid to stay here? Only one way to find out. I can't triangulate yet, but I'm a damn good tracker.

"We need to get to the huts. She might be there." I say quietly, stressing the word might, just for Niklaus to hear me. Look, that shard is mine, but it makes sense to have an ally for now. Maybe Reanna and him would take each other out, if I was lucky. I zip the pack up, sheathe my sword and find myself on the floor with the huts with just a thought. I crouch down on the ground and look for evidence of Reanna around the tree tops. Broken branches could be from anything. And there were a lot of them. Pieces of fabric from clothing. What color had she been wearing? I don't remember. But finally, as I walk forward, I see it. A long strand of hair. I grab it and bring it to my nose and smell it. It's hers. I know the smell of a lot of people. The type of shampoo they use. Cigarettes they use. Perfume, cologne, and hair color. Animals are more or less the same for me.

When Niklaus makes his way up, I show him the piece of hair. "She's up here." I say before moving further inside the branches, grabbing a branch every few feet and smelling it. Staying on track with her path until...until we are outside a hut. I just raise a hand to my lips, then point it at the hut, indicating she was in there.[/font]

Roderic Another PC Very easy Intellectual Reanna Track her down Succeeded

[Niklaus]

Niklaus explained how the woman who had the shard looked like to the male and soon found out her name, Reanna. Reanna would be their target then. He also found out that Roderic was a tracker, perfect! The shard was pulling him upstairs too but he didn’t know where exactly, and there were a **** ton of huts too. His eyes lingered on an empty canister as Roderic explained how Reanna might be in a hut; he knew who owned which hut too, even better. He emptied some of the fuel from the gallon into the smaller canister and stuffed the latter into his bag; Niklaus was up to no good again.

Roderic chose to teleport to F3 and Niklaus decided to make the climb instead, aided by a last minute super jump just to conserve anima – those orbs weren’t going to last forever. “That dude is pretty creepy…”, he thought when Roderic found a strand of hair and went to…sniff at it. The weirdest part was that he found out it was indeed Reanna’s. The Killer understood the gesture; the ***** was holed up inside and he had a good idea of how to flush her out instead of barging in. Retrieving the canister from his bag and slowly circling around that particular hut, dousing the wood with fuel before setting the now quarter-full canister down in front of the hut’s entrance. He started stepping back and gestured for Roderic to do the same as he withdrew one of his handguns before firing right at fuel container. BOOM! He didn’t carry a lighter so that HAD to work and it did, the explosion sending some debris at her, mainly bits and pieces of wood, nothing too extreme. The flames lashed at the wooden hut, circling around it and slowly moving to envelope the top of the hut as they stood at the entrance. Fire was such a beautiful thing.. “Get ready, I don’t think she’ll be happy about this!” he cackled, lifting his gun as he took aim at the door.

You succeeded in your endeavour. - Shoot canister