2023-06-28: Runaway Bird
- Log: 23 06 28 - Runaway Bird
- Cast: Chienne Argent, Seolla Schweizer, Kallen Kozuki
- Where: Tuatha de Danaan
- OOC - IC Date: July 1, 0097
- Summary: Chienne and Kallen hunt down Kaname, escaped from the bridge of the Tuatha de Danaan, and run across a different little bird entirely... one who brings out the worst in Chienne and the best in Kallen.
- Note: This takes place on the same day as, but before, Jack in the Box - Bridge Side. This log will be edited with the proper link once it is uploaded.
<Pose Tracker> Chienne Argent has posed.
EARLIER, ON THE TUATHA DE DANAAN
Chienne and Kallen, having been released by Gauron and his 'associates', had been brought back into the Amalgam fold. Having two agents they didn't need to smuggle on board, only arm, they were going to be of use securing the place.
Since then, Gauron killed at least one pilot on the way to the bridge (Gail McAllen) and took Kaname Chidori to use as hostage. But a distraction the bridge orchestrated by Tessa meant that Kaname got free, and she fled the bridge.
Two teams of two were sent out to retrieve Kaname: Nguyen and Danigan, the two people Gauron brought when he released Kallen and Chienne, and - of course - Kallen and Chienne. Chienne only grumbled for a minute (she hadn't lost Kallen) and not to Gauron.
NOW
Chienne (who had been a really awful prisoner with Kallen - she liked to scream and swear at any MITHRIL who came in to check on them, even though she'd surrendered) is feeling pretty good about herself. She has a machine pistol and a knife - her knife, the one she almost refused to give up when she was taken in. That knife is important to her.
She has put herself in charge of the team of two, which doesn't really mean a lot given the other person in question is Kallen, and Kallen mostly has the ability to do what she wants; it's not an official pecking order, Chienne just apparently considers herself the boss.
But it does mean that she feels all right with giving the talk. "We just need to find this girl. We're supposed to bring her back alive if we can, so we can use her as a hostage again, but... eh." Chienne shrugs. "If we can't, Gauron doesn't think it's a big deal. Just as long as we stop her from staying loose."
There's not supposed to be anybody in this part of the ship except, in fact, Amalgam (and Kaname, now); Gauron pulled something and most of the actual fighters should be in the hangar. Which is not here. So Chienne is pretty confident that she's not going to get anyone else's attention when she intentionally bangs against the metal wall of the ship. "Come out, little bird!" she calls, loud enough to carry, before she stops still to listen for a moment.
She would be easier to find if she ran, after all.
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
-The bad feeling in Seolla's gut about all of this had started right when Chienne was taken captive.
She'd hoped, maybe, that some part of Chienne was tired of what she's doing. That some impulse whim of fate made her willing to talk. But the moment she's secured in a spare room, she's noisy and disruptive and hostile and difficult, which you wouldn't expect of someone who surrendered.
-Seolla's not the expert, though, so she didn't speak up. Surely, her superiors know better, even if she knows Chienne.
...that impulse comes back to bite her oh so quick.
In a turn of play that happens both in the blink of an eye, and seemingly over the course of agonizing eons, Gauron and his associates hijacked the ship, held Captain Tessa hostage, and did something bizarre in the hangar to make everyone disoriented and dizzy. Seolla only narrowly escaped this fate from her unnaturally high augmented constitution, a strong resistance to having her condition compromised thanks to...well, a decade of constantly having that tested. The smell hits her at most - the unusual behavior just makes her wary and unwell, and she makes her escape while she still has the capability for higher motor functions, breathless and isolated in the now perilous halls of the Tuatha de Danaan.
Chienne's voice echoes through the narrow metallic corridors. Seolla's breath is shaky, her grip on her little long-barrel SMG tight. Any movement on her part probably gives her well away to a fellow 'graduate' of the School, even the lightest footfalls echoing enough to give her away. ...but Chienne's loudness means Seolla can tell a little better how far away the prisoners are. And she has just a bit more time than expected.
...clearing her throat, Seolla calls back out a most pure and innocent little question. "...Why are you doing all of this?!"
<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.
Kallen has, much the opposite of Chienne, been a model prisoner even after they took away her visor and weapons. Keeping a cool head and being... one might argue almost respectful. She hadn't given them any information of course... but she at most, had hummed a few bars of music while sitting around in the cell. She'd figured someone might have questions for her sooner or later. And if they didn't, well... getting in here was all part of the plan. Chienne's grumbling is met with a thin smile. Kallen mainly surrendered due to convenience and planning after all, since they both also did. And she had been the one actually outnumbered. But she doesn't voice those thoughts.
Once freed and set to a task, she calmly checks the pistol she's been provided with. Ensuring it will be functional enough for her needs. And straps the knife into a comfortable, accessible position. Easy to draw and use if needed. It's a little obvious she favors knives herself, though the one she's claimed doesn't have any special sentiment to it.
She doesn't really even mind letting Chienne talk like she's in charge. After all, that position also means responsibility and blame are greater for her. If there was a screwup, it'd be her ass on the line. Not that Gauron seems the type to care. He'd probably just have them fight to the death, and whoever lost was the one responsible for the mistake. He seems the type to have an... understanding, about violence.
However, what she does take issue with... well, okay, she takes issue with several things. For one, Kaname is her friend... Even if she probably won't want to be after all this is over. So she'd really like to not kill or maim her, thanks. But the one thing she gives voice to, is that shouting and banging on things means she knows WHERE THEY ARE. "It'd just make more sense, to play it silent, and grab her when she rounds a corner right into us, or thinks she's hidden better than she really is."
And then there's a voice calling back. A voice that Kallen recognizes. Both from when she was hosting a shooting range in Tsutsujidai and very not doing well, and from just before prom, when they met up at Jindai. Seolla may not recognize her from those occasions though. That first time especially, she had clearly been very unwell. Hmm. So one of Sousuke's allies is still free? That could offer some opportunities. Especially if it's more than just her. She'll have to play this by ear. See how
<Pose Tracker> Chienne Argent has posed.
Chienne actually did say while imprisoned she'd talk to one person - Seolla - but the opportunity hadn't come. She'd surrendered all right - but in her mind, she'd surrendered to Seolla, not MITHRIL. It makes a difference, especially with the way she was treated; she thought she had no particular duty to treat MITHRIL back with any respect.
"You gotta flush her out," Chienne says to Kallen. "If she's cowering, frighten her enough and she'll make some noise. Footsteps echo in here and there's nobody in this section. If she runs, we'll hear her. If she's creeping along, we'll beat her speed. And if she hides, we'll dig her out."
"But if you wanna hide and have me chase her into you, be my guest. If I don't need you, though, I'm going to tell the others you were just useless." Chienne grins, but when Chienne grins it's more cruel than amused or friendly. "I'm sure Gauron'd love to hear that."
Kallen's experience with Chienne - even only a combat together, afew hours of shared captivity, and seeing her on the bridge - suggest that she's not very stable. Right now she's acting pretty cheerful, but it's unclear if it's because she's now free or because she gets to hunt someone down, and her behavior is... unpredictable. Sometimes manic, sometimes not.
But then she hears someone else, and Chienne's rather toothy grin broadens.
"See? Even if it didn't flush out our little bird, it flushed out a little bird who's not where she's supposed to be. Come out, come out, wherever you are! We can have a nice talk." Chienne has her knife in her hand, but she's not holding it especially aggressively, a loose and almost lazy grip... except, of course, it is a drawn knife, which has its own threat attached. "I got to do some thinking already."
She turns, unerringly, toward the direction she heard Seolla. Despite her previous statement that footsteps echo, Chienne can be surprisingly quiet on the metal flooring, as long as she doesn't go too quickly.
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
There's a few little advantages Seolla can take advantage of. She knows this submarine innately by now - and because it's a completely custom design, unlike any other layout in the world (even if there's only so many ways a submarine can be - this one's just bigger than most), she can think of where the prisoners would have gone in relation to everyone else, what ways to approach.
...the other one is the simple trick of using a little mirror to see just around corners before she crosses, just enough to notice if there's any figures present.
-two of them. That'd be Chienne and Kallen, even if it's hard to see them exactly. A little click of Seolla's tongue, a patter of sweat falling from her forehead down to the floor.
-She knows where they are. She doesn't know what she's going to do about that. And when uncertainty clouds her mind-
"...kkhhh. Kh! Do you all really think you're getting away with this? You're - you have no IDEA what the Captain and the rest of our team have up their sleeves!" --of course, Seolla, as well, has no idea. "I was serious about wanting to make things better for you, for everyone! They're not about to treat you unfairly here! We could've worked som - WE CAN STILL work something out!"
A broad grimace crosses her cheeks, spine gently hunched forward. It's not just sweat starting to drip down, if the one soft sniffle is anything to go by.
<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.
There's no roll of her eyes, or any other such gesture of sarcasm. She keeps that all internally, with Chienne's little threat. "I'll follow your plan. Flush her out, then we snare her since there's two of us. Not going to hide and be some useless load." It's nothing about wanting respect, or self-preservation of course. Chienne's dangerous, but she's not really worried about that. She just has to keep some options in place. Well... okay no. Somewhere deep in the back of her brain, is that little pinch of actually not wanting to be useless. But that is a miniscule portion of her thought process today. No matter how competitive she might be in a casual setting.
Besides that, there are different ways of unbalancing a person who isn't particularly stable. Some might be useful in the right situation. Some... are likely to just backfire on her.
Still, there's another angle to deal with now. Seolla... is she bluffing? No, probably not. She's just... disoriented? Nervous? ...There's something shaky about her voice. Unsure. Maybe she can help things along somewhat. "And what would we work out? What can we work out, exactly?" All told, this is a good situation. It means Kaname has more time to hide. To escape. And really, that's something Kallen would prefer. That they just never find her at all.
<Pose Tracker> Chienne Argent has posed.
Chienne is a distinctive figure - she's in half a MITHRIL SMT uniform that must have been stolen, but she's ditched the uniform shirt in favour of her usual purple-and-red arrangement, sans shoulder guards. That, plus dark skin and white hair, cut short - there's nobody else it's likely to be, even viewed through a blurry mirror at a bad angle around a corner.
"Little bird, little bird, I can hear you chirping," Chienne sing-songs. She's turning toward Seolla's voice, though she's still a turn away. Flipping the knife around in her hand, it ends up in a more combative grip than her original lazy handling. Her tongue presses against her lips, once, in anticipation.
"And you want to make it better, huh? You want to work something out with me?" Chienne's voice changes in an instant from sweet to shouting, increasingly edging toward raw-throated screaming: "What do we have to work out? You're a failure! You want to get me free instead of your partner? Did you forget about him? I know what Setme did to you, so maybe you really did! But it doesn't matter - you can't even get YOURSELF free without help! I'd do a better job than you, you little piece of SHIT! At least I DID something when I left instead of just TALKING about it!"
Chienne takes a ragged breath. Two. Three - the last she lets out through her nose, only slightly wild-eyed by now. "Your Captain's plans are shit too," she says, sounding calmer (if not precisely calm). "I don't think she has any. You and those precious babies you wanted me to come see to 'help me' are all the same. You're cowards - you don't really know how to ACT - and if you figured out what you needed to do, you wouldn't have the guts to follow through!"
Chienne's free hand comes up and goes through some hand signals directed at Kallen... which there's no way she can possibly understand, and Chienne scowls when she realizes this. "You like that plan? Let's do it. Sneak around," she murmurs, quietly. "Get behind her and run her this way. I'll deal with Bronzo - with Seolla. She's mine, you hear? Then we can get back to looking for the runaway."
Orders given, Chienne stalks forward, knife at the ready. She doesn't go far - yet - perhaps because she expects Kallen to get into position - though given she looks back a couple times too like she's trying to watch both the direction she knows Seolla is in and Kallen, perhaps she's a little on edge herself.
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
Every time. Every single time Chienne talks like this, it's gotten a cold, freezing feeling running down the back of Seolla's spine. It cuts deeper, because she can't deny it. Because it's uncannily what she's already thinking, turned as a weapon on herself - when she's always had to turn her own thoughts externally to avoid harm. Even processing these words are painful.
"...you think I don't know that I can't do anything without help? You think I don't worry if I'm not capable of anything in my hands every day? It hurts. It hurts, you know!? It hurts all the time to be in the position I am! To not be able to leap as high as you on your own power, to need a hand to catch me when I inevitably fall...!"
Seolla's face goes utterly slick with tears-
Before she wipes them with a sleeve, and boldly steps forward, firing a single shot down at Chienne's feet. She does aim to hit - it's not just a warning shot there.
"...but you know, it gets a lot easier when you call my friends cowards."
Stock tight against her shoulder, Seolla fires again. And again. Not at the upper body at all, but definitely the periodic warding gunfire to keep Chienne back. Brow furrowed, breath ragged.
"Do you think they're cowards when over and over we're merciful to our enemies? Wouldn't it be more cowardly just to kill them and get them out of our hair? Do you think they're cowards for reaching out into the unknown to help people who might betray them - when we've BEEN betrayed before? Do you think they're cowards for trying to use healing and care to change the world, when it's so much easier to just force people at gunpoint to do what you want?"
One last shot.
"...Chienne, you're right. I know I'm a huge coward."
"That's why I'm banking everything on the hopes that if I hurt you, you'll give up."
There's a fuming tunnel vision in Seolla's gaze - the world pinched down to a single point. This person, who's so much stronger than her. This person, who she pities. You must've been so scared, is the undeniable resonance that billows from Seolla's every thought.
"...Kallen. You...don't want this any more than either of us do. You're strong, right? I remember you being strong. Between you and me, you're the only one who might be able to save her, because if I have to fight both of you right now, I don't know what I'm going to do to avoid killing you two."
<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.
A little on edge? Oh no, this one seems like she's teetering on the side of a cliff during an earthquake. But that's fine. If Chienne is like this, it can only mean she's primed to make a mistake at any time. To blow up in ways that are, frankly, not good for anyone, least of all herself. Maybe somebody will be able to take advantage of that.
For now, she watches the signals... and while she doesn't know them, she at least gets the gist. Especially after the words to follow up. If this is a personal vendetta... She's going to have to pick a side soon. For now, she gets moving. Going to the position she's been directed. To start circling around. To start 'flushing Seolla out'.
Once they're all in motion, she can give it more thought. It's not like she disagrees with certain things Chienne is saying. That direct, decisive action is a plus. That if somebody wants to, say, free Japan from occupation, they need to be willing to kill. But the PROBLEM is that from what she's seen so far, the limits each person here has are... wildly different. Chienne, if given a weapon like Guren, probably wouldn't think twice about microwaving anyone between her and her goal. And in particular, might not care who they're aligned with, or if they have civilians and hostages. Or if the person IS a civilian.
For her part, Kallen has the entire uniform on overtop of her piloting suit. Still, her bloody red hair and her bright blue eyes can't be mistaken for anyone else. She is incredibly distinctive. And Seolla's words settle things in her mind. Even before she calls to Kallen specifically, the point about favoring saving people and convincing them to join in... That speaks to her. So while she doesn't speak up yet on WHAT she's going to do... She decides she'll help Seolla. And by extension, try to save Chienne from herself and the people she works for. This still works within the plan... And the potential of working at a Deal with Mithril.
<Pose Tracker> Chienne Argent has posed.
Chienne gives Kallen a nod. Good. She can loop around and prevent Seolla's escape. That just leaves dealing with Seolla directly.
"I think you're afraid to actually try," Chienne snarls. "You talk to me about 'making things better', but talk is cheap, Bronzo 27! You want me to have a tea party with your little friends and talk things out? The way they were talking, they would have thrown me overboard before. And now?"
Chienne's half-grin, half-snarl shows teeth. "Now they'd shoot me first. Because I had them by the balls, and they know it, and they hate it. That's the difference, right there. You don't go for it. You don't have the fire, or the guts."
When Seolla actually steps around so she can shoot the gun, Chienne has taken cover, more or less; she is about half inside a doorway, leaving only half of her body exposed. The shot at her feet is off, but only because of the cover and because Chienne opens the hatch-like door the rest of the way open, using it as a shield. Bullets hit the door loudly, spraying sparks.
She laughs. It's definitely not entirely a sane sound - Kallen read her right, Chienne is right on the edge. "Yeah, they're cowards! And dumb as bricks! Talk doesn't change the world. Talk doesn't change anything! The only thing that changes the world is some POWER and the will to use it! Whatever it takes, whoever it hurts."
"Even me," Chienne says, almost conversationally; the manic edge in her voice has died down. "When I tried to kill Adler, do you think it didn't hurt? I've still got the scar! But here's the important part: so does he. Look at his FACE! And if I get another shot at it, he'll have more than that! How's your WORDS and HEALING ever hurt him? What's it changed?"
"WHAT HAS IT CHANGED?!" Chienne roars again, stepping halfway out from behind her shield and firing her pistol, one-two-three, one after another. Like Seolla, she is not aiming to miss.
<Pose Tracker> Seolla Schweizer has posed.
It all quickly becomes a darting in and out of what cover Seolla and Chienne can. Two people oh so familiar with how the other was trained, with how they think, with what they've been through. What they're willing to do to survive - what they're unable to do when alone. Potshots fired through the hall over and over, possibly given Kallen not much space to maneuver.
"...What has it changed? It changed everything for me. It changed things at Axis. You're right that words alone don't solve every problem unilaterally - why do you think we have weapons at all here on this ship, with all our alliances? We're here because thousands of years ago, the strongest and most capable people in the world dreamed that maybe, JUST MAYBE, there was a better way than might makes right!"
"...I tell you what's NOT gonna change it. And that's becoming just like them."
-Probably the worst thing Seolla could have said, to Chienne in a moment like this.
"...the...the one thing I can do. There's...there's only one way out of this, and I'm gonna prove it to you. Right now."
Seolla moves like she's about to start firing, to get Chienne to back down. But instead - she holds her fire, and stares Kallen right in the eyes.
"...Kallen. Let's save Kaname together, okay!?!"
<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.
It feels like Kallen is learning a lot of secrets right now! Things about the past of these two, that maybe she isn't really meant to know? And names. All things that could really be useful later. Still, Seolla's making a very good point. Even if Chienne's resolution about tearing this Adler person limb from limb does sound like... something that really ought to be done. ...Becoming the monsters you're opposing, doesn't save people. If the Black Knights became an imperialist power, stamping out the rights of countries, they'd be close enough to Britannia Again. Protecting the powerless, and fighting against oppression, that's what she wants to do. Freeing Japan is only the first step in that goal.
Even as Seolla further unbalances Chienne, entirely by accident, Kallen stares back into her eyes. From the initial look of her movement, it seems like she's doing what Chienne suggested. Herding Seolla in to pincer her. It's not true though. She's resolved to see through protecting her friends on this ship. It's obvious just looking in her eyes. She's agreeing with Seolla's request.
Besides, didn't Chienne say not to fight Seolla? 'Leave her to me, she's mine'. And she's doing just that, in the way she thinks fits best.
<Pose Tracker> Chienne Argent has posed.
Chienne is exquisitly trained for violence. Her whole world is violence. It's clear by the way she moves that she considers Seolla a threat, but also that she considers that Seolla is a threat she can beat. She takes risks, and one of those risks almost gets her shot in the head, missing by centimeters; she's a little more careful after that.
"Axis? Axis didn't change SHIT! Aznable failed! The world's still at war no matter what he wanted out of it! But let's say that talking helped. If it takes that much to get you moving, a goddamned asteroid falling on your heads - if all you can do is react to someone who actually has the BALLS to make the first move - then you're as useless as I thought!"
The miracle of Axis did not touch Chienne. She acknowledges that it existed - but she doesn't think of it as a miracle.
"And thousands of years ago? Give me a break. Thousands of years ago humans had sticks and stones. And you know what they did with those sticks and stones? They fought! They fought each other, they fought the world! People are going to fight and all your pretty words aren't going to stop them, once people decide they want to do something. Or they just want your stuff! With power, I can do what I want, and so can they!"
But then Seolla says It.
'I can tell you what's NOT going to change it. And that's becoming just like them.'
It hits Chienne like a bullet. Her eyes widen, and with her small irises and contracted pupil it gives her a wild-eyed expression, almost crazed. Her breath catches, and this time she doesn't hold it back.
"I'M NOT LIKE THEM! I'M BETTER!"
Chienne's voice is closer to a howl than a scream as she fires. One, two, three. "GRAB HER!" she roars at Kallen, over the sounds of gunfire.
But Seolla makes Kallen an offer... and Kallen does not attack Seolla, instead just meeting her gaze.
"You - YOU - !" Chienne's words devolve into a growling snarl. She almost doesn't get any words out but eventually manages, "You piece of SHIT! You were in league with her? This failure of a project? You want to play with Bronzo 27, go ahead, but ask her where Bronzo 26 is! Maybe you'll be next! At least I watch out for my brothers!"
She fires again, this time splitting her fire between Kallen and Seolla. Four, five, six, s - click
Chienne's pistol has just run out of ammunition. She doesn't have much more - she didn't come equipped for a firefight, there wasn't supposed to be anyone in this area and getting into a shootout with Seolla was definitely not what was expected. She does have some, though, and she dumps the clip, slamming in a new one.
But for an instant, there's no gunfire. There's a chance to just bail - and Seolla knows the ship much better than Chienne does.
<Pose Tracker> Kallen Kozuki has posed.
The problem with Chienne, in Kallen's mind, is that she misses the little things. Axis didn't magically fix the world, about that she's right. In fact it hurt people, and that miracle inspired some people to find ways to weaponize miracles and phenomena. But there are people who had their eyes opened to peace and possibility. Or to communication and cooperation. And if she's blind to what good is in the world... how will she ever improve it? All she can do, the way she is, is destroy. Hurt people, just like Them. "You told me not to touch her before, that she's Your Fight."
Oh, she's sure Seolla's made mistakes. But she'll partner up with somebody who makes mistakes and tries to make up for them any day, before somebody who can't do anything except perpetuate violence and cruelty. ...It's not lost on her that she very well could have been that same kind of person. "I wasn't teamed up with her. But from over there, my hand won't reach you." Working with Amalgam, possibly killing Seolla and then everyone else? She'd never be able to lift anyone out from their hate that way. So yes, now she's on Seolla's side. On Mithril's side.
She's able to evade the shots sent her way, due more to dumb luck than anything. Luck, and maybe how tilted Chienne has become. Then there's a click. "Now." She's nudging Seolla to run. It's likely someone else heard the gunshots, and if the Other Team find the two of them before they deal with this one, it's over. Best they regroup and possibly find allies. Hopefully. Find allies. Otherwise this isn't looking good.