"Seigunfrei, handle these two, I'll talk to her." I tell my friend after watching Liada's hissing for a second. In a single bound, I land right in front of Inerish, my feet settled in quite nicely on the top of the seats in front of her. For a moment, I look at her tights-snugged legs and then I meet the smirking face. I blink when she kisses the air.
"If you're going to leap for me, at least make sure it's when I am in bed and properly dressed." she whines with the slight turn of her head, a finger going to her mouth while the chest pumps up. She gently kicks the space between my legs and I get down from my perch. Ignoring the hassle of trying to avoid her behaviour, I simply sit next to her and prepare to handle Liada in the back of my head. The expected happens and Inerish snuggles up next to me in a way that reminds me of Rose.
Oh, gods, I might end up having to deal with two of them in the future.
"I gave you an order and you've gone here instead. I do not appreciate insubordination, Dark Crow." Inerish tells me with what seems to be a tight grip. I can't tell if it's because I am a whole lot of shell or just stronger. Perhaps it is both.
"I don't work for you." I remind her and she laughs manically, her hand crawling about with smooth drumming.
"You're a member of a public witch guild, not a private one, such a shame. Well, not for me, I have as much authority over you as I do the freshest recruit in my Cityguard." she informs me, tapping the end of my beak before she starts jabbing at other parts across my chest.
"Force the matter and see where it gets you?" I suggest, carefully watching the way she seems to welcome the challenge. Her lips curl and eyes narrow, some kind of device hooked up to her hip is gestured around and she stands up. It comes close to her lips and its purpose becomes clear.
"I sure hope you don't plan on having my finger slip onto the button and having the order to have you arrested to be put out..." she mopes innocently, her hands coming together with uncomfortable tightness. Not so much for her as it is for me, if what she says is true, all she needs to do is squeeze her thighs a little. The fingerprint will be the least of my worries.
"How long have you had that...?" I ask, glaring from behind my mask.
"Since before you got involved with Smiling Jhurack, actually. You may have been under the protection of Suhurlodst but every day was just one more excuse to push this button. In a way, you're lucky I am not Jhermonikra, Dark Crow." she taunts before climbing up on top of me, the device back on her belt. She grasps my face and tilts it up, her lipstick clogs up one of my lenses and she starts to tug at the bandages I am bound in.
"Mmmm." is all I really have to say while she fiddles through her things to present the tablet I should've received. I set it down on the arm of the chair as best as I can and she shuffles about until she can direct that claw down a bit. What's a good grip for her is merely a place for my hand. Can't say I am complaining, though, I've held a fair few girls by their bottoms.
Squish and a quick smirk.
"So, what am I being held up for? These jobs I have you coming along for are quite serious, you know." she asks right as Seigunfrei sends Liada spinning in the air from some blow to her chin. She just barely manages to avoid landing on it as well and we're met with a loud bang of metal, a slight puff of dirt with it.
"It won't just be me and you going on this job, Inerish. We're getting some help." I say in all seriousness but that might have just made it easier for her to cackle.
"Help? Remind me, who was the one who looked so ravishing in all that gore?" she asks, a burst of shivers delighting her more than the prospect she's named. I ease up on my grip a little, hovering just barely away.
"I don't find blood to be particularly beautiful or handsome." I answer, giving it depth as I am not sure who she is specifically talking about. She was the one having the time of her life cutting down and borderline torturing those she had the capital allowance on. If I am who she is on about, then I have some vomit to throw up. Not because of the blood, just the idea of attraction being involved with it.
"Well, I do. I love how dominating it makes someone out to be. Covered in all that spilt life, so very much soaked with it. It makes my knees weak and my heart tremble. The mixture of fear and admiration, you could almost fall in love with it." she explains and for this -very only- once in my life, a certain joke comes to mind.
"I bet you must've fallen head over heels for Smiling Jhurack, then." I snort and she growls, this sadistic pleasure seeker making way for something entirely livid.
"You will say nothing like this again." she threatens, just short of pulling out a blade of any kind to put along my throat.
"We will be going on this next job as a group of four or five." I state, moving my mind away from the topic of Smiling Jhurack for both of our sakes.
"As a pair, we made short work of the last problem, that doesn't mean the jobs are easy. This is no school trip like the neutered jobs in this Academy are. It is real, rogue soldiers, black sites, foreign incursions and witches of all glows and shades hired on criminal coin." she lists off and all I can do is shrug. I don't entirely have faith in them, I admit this much to myself, but, they can handle themselves. Liada has the bloody experience, detached from it as she is now and they've both been in the chaos of the tournament known as Inter-House.
Liada was even there when Vapooliar tried to kill me and she survived that rampage.
"I will look after them." I assure Inerish and she shakes her head, pushing against me until she is back on her feet with that strict soldier's posture.
"And when you are looking after them, what do you think will happen to those we're supposed to be dealing with? Oh, that's right, they'll escape with contraband, finish what they need to be doing and in general cause trouble for this country. A country that you are letting down by the second you delay our departure with this nonsense." she builds up to scoffing at. I shake my head and cross my arms, her attempt to guilt trip me could've been so much better.
"Frankly, I don't give a damn about this country. It's like you said, Inerish, if it weren't for you being from some other land without osibindah, you'd have happily pressed that button. I've spent so long with -gun barrels- against my head that it's become normal. A long time ago, guns made me uncomfortable like they should, now they're props for people who're only looking for an excuse to have me killed." I tell her, my chitters aggressively picking up with each step closer I take. Our eyes narrow at the other pair simultaneously despite my face coverings.
I really need to wipe this other lense clean...
She shrugs with a scoff and then looks at me with a slight nod, "Fine if that is how you want it, I will see what they're capable of and then we will leave, just us two, and we'll go on many other jobs afterwards. All the tabletwork can wait, I am going to wring you dry of every bit of energy inside that shelled body of yours."
"HEADS UP YOU THREE!" I snap as loudly as I can to get their attention and Inerish leaps into the arena with them. The contrast between her landing and their training is like slugs compared to an acrobat who has only seen gold. I skip down a few seat lanes and take up a new spot on the edge between combatant and spectator.
"The Dark Crow here seems to think you three should be allowed to come along with me on official government business. Now, I have the full right to take along whomever I want and deem necessary for the work, so long as I am involved. I don't like to lead from the back, even back in the days when I managed defensive siege lines. I love the sound of bombardment, the rain of pebble and ash. There is a fine, Waionr-blessed pleasure to be found in battle. However, be it either the God of War or the Friend at your Final Rest. I can only see you lot meeting them. Prove me wrong."
She finishes up with her monologue and the entire arena is set ablaze, its edges no longer reachable because of her amethyst fire. Dark patches closer to black turn almost white and the arena's artificial light is eaten up, giving the impression of a pitch-black cave or cloudy night. My friends do their best to provide light for themselves with only Liada's really holding up in the face of this dark-fire witch. Inerish's sword lights up and a pair of snaking trails blaze into existence across her
With each step she takes, a small little patch of flame is left behind and her heels click like a pair of sirens. There is danger ahead and those three need to understand that. Blackness. Focusing on the noise of Inerish's sprint, I make out a rough warp in the dark but the three do not.
Metal bangs and a man grunts with a spiral of magic protecting the one who can handle himself. Though closer to her, Seigunfrei's magic seems to hold up better close to the dark witch. He keeps up the pressure, following the figure at the end of his shadow-oppressed vision and noises follow. Blade of steel versus blades of wind.
Brief sparks of brightness erupt across the arena and a distinctly male voice cries out when that purple light ends up in a wide swing. Inerish turns on the other two as they recover and they do their best to light up the area. Liada's power domes off a chunk of land and Inerish starts to pry. Her blade is dragged along the shield and with each step, she seems to hum out idle thoughts.
How she can experiment her way past this, what she can do. I spot an ember too late and what Inerish has inside the dome erupts into a grand and vicious spire. Her spiteful cackles are expressed through the downright evil smile forming in the flames and Liada's plan goes out the window. The two break apart and Baltanthan tries to bombard her with what he can, his attention on what seems to be her sword.
The thing is, though, Inerish more than anyone knows how the dark can play with someone's mind. Her unlit sword knocks the poor boy out from behind. Inerish picks up on the intensity of the darkness, narrowing Liada onto a walkway with only one escape. She must go forward, towards the prepared slash.
I frown at all this excessive power and pay attention to the pair of clear patches. Seigunfrei's sliced-open chest and Baltanthan's bruised skull, the fire is coming closer. Taking this as somewhat of a hint, I rise to my full height and nod at Liada though she cannot see me. I have faith in her, her power will hold up for the single moment I need to put an end to this.
"You're not confident that I can keep them safe and handle the job? I hope we both have money on this, all our savings." I say, smirking at the challenge as I put my feet on the wall and crouch into the motion. Leaping for one of the pair, I snatch him up and rush onto the other, blowing out Inerish's magic with each step. I roughly drop the duo into a nice comfy chair each and land back in the inferno.
Kicking up some molten dirt, I start to find traction on the melting walls. A fine line forms increasingly so with each lap I pull off and I start to wrestle some control away from her. Inerish seems to find this amusing and she puts off handling Liada so she can focus on me. I dodge the casual blows she throws my way and build the speed back up each time.
"Is this really the best you mean to show me, Dark Crow? The only one that has impressed me is that Exceptional Student and even then, I know full well it is only because of his involvement with you and that Worm Rider!" Inerish barks cockily and I leap into the air, the illusion of my sprint carrying on without me.
I never got past it ever, not until he started taking it easy on me, but, Smiling Jhurack was the best teacher I could ever have. Nothing was out of bounds, no action was impossible. Misdirection and slugging it out, he had it all. Inerish dismisses her magic at just the right time.
The only shadow in all of the arena is the one my wide-spread cloak and body is making. I throw one of my arms back and reel myself in!
"HOW IN THE-!?" she panics in complete contradiction to her prior behaviour. I crash down onto her, putting all the force I can into the movement to crater the nominally tough arena and strain her body. I release her fresh, tender wounds and rise.
"This is how I will do it, I will not only look after these lot, but you now as well." I tell her, rolling my shoulders back and hopping out of the crater without so much as a burn. Dirt moves and I turn to find her already climbing up after me.
She smiles, her eyes half-open, "Very well, my powerful little pet."