some days i can't even trust myself ( CLOSED )

[dragoness]

Who: elizabeth bathory & robin hood
Where: out and about in the town
When: march 22ndish
What: robin finally finds the leader of the 4* loli pack.
Warnings: a lot, but i'll update with specifics as they arise.

[ the ache for mana is different than an ache for food, though no less powerful. with blood on her fingertips, eliza makes her way through the back alleys of the quaint town; her claws curl. her tongue flicks out into the night air and her tail curls; there's blood in her mouth now. metallic. warm. not her preferred way of using it, but it'll have to do for now. with every precious drop there holds an amount of life force, something she can turn to mana and pour into every corner of her magical body. haaaa... if only masters worthy of her were easier to come by, she thinks to herself. surely there had to be at least one who could serve as her producer and keep her rooted more firmly to this... weird place.

this place is weird, even by eliza's standards. and she's seen some weird things. heck, she's done even more weird things. but this place... something about it just tipped the arrow on her mental scale to the weirdest of the weird.

now she feels... something. a magical pressure skirting through the air. drawing her fingertip though her mouth once more, a soft pop breaks out into the night as she finally cleans her claw of blood. ]

Someone's there, [ she purrs, and her tail curls up behind her. ] Show yourself, and I might be merciful.

Comments

[guerrilla]

Almond shaped like those fangs of yours, right?

[He's not gonna let her drop this that easily. He's an expert when it comes to deflection, so he's got an idea of how to combat it, too.]

[dragoness]

No, those are more conical.

[ the better to puncture flesh. ]

[guerrilla]

[This isn't going anywhere. He might as well get to the point.]

...You know if you try this again, I'm going to kill you, right?

[He says it casually, like he's reminding her to pick up some milk at the store.

He likes Elizabeth, and he had - maybe still has - faith that she can become better than she is.

But first and foremost, he's a defender of the people.]

[dragoness]

[ robin, you will eventually learn the lesson that archimedes suffered through: eliza can't be lead, or predicted. in time, though, she'll find her way.

with a soft huff, eliza places her hands on her hips and takes her lance up with her tail, letting it dissipate into mana. ]

Without a Master, you wouldn't succeed.

[guerrilla]

Doesn't matter. If I have to choose between living people and corpses like us, I'll choose the living people every time, even if it kills me too.

[Besides, Robin doesn't need mana or a Master to mix poisons.]

[dragoness]

.... [ her eyes narrow for a moment, but you know, she shares this next piece of information not to save her own skin, but to make sure that robin knows what else is out there: ]

Then you'll be killing more than just me. [ she waves a hand, now moving to pass robin by so she can reach the main street again. ] She wasn't my prey.

[guerrilla]

[That's somehow both a relief and a shock at once. On one hand, he's glad she didn't kill anyone. On the other hand, it's...really gross to think about eating someone that's just been lying there...]

I didn't think Elizabeth Bathory settled for anyone's leftovers. You didn't have time for a rigorous torture routine to work up an appetite if she was already dead.

[That...may have been more hurtful than he intended, so he does his best to sweep that under the rug by...making things worse.]

...You go tell whoever did kill her that I'll hunt them down too, if I have to.

[dragoness]

[ it might be hurtful, but it's true, so eliza doesn't let it bother her too much. instead, she shrugs her shoulders like she's shrugging off robin's words, letting them roll down her spine and off the tip of her tail. ]

Mmm, I was already hungry. And don't worry, hero. [ she turns around to face him, her eyes dark, a corner of her mouth turned up. ] Unless that guy killed her, she's still alive.

[ no life force to be found in stale blood, after all. ]

[guerrilla]

You were supposed to be the hero.

[He's not sure if this is for show or not, so it's better to err on the side of convincing Elizabeth not to hurt people.

Maybe it makes him an idiot, but the progress she'd been making leaves him believing she might yet make the changes within herself that she wants to.]

[dragoness]

[ ah, that... makes eliza stop walking, and her tail anxiously twitches from one side to another. ]

... I can't be the hero if I'm dead, can I?

[ that's a weak excuse and she knows it. ]

[guerrilla]

..ha.

[Robin's exhausted.]

Don't you know people only care about heroes because of how they died?

[The nature of Servants is enough to prove it. Heroes, anti-heroes, and monsters alike, they all received those titles upon their death.]

[dragoness]

[ eliza's quiet for a long moment before finally turning around to face robin, her lip curled angrily. ]

So what are you suggesting? I just let myself fade away?!

[guerrilla]

Of course not! Just...

[He'd offer himself if he didn't already know it'd be useless to her.]

...Just try to find a Master as quickly as possible. I'll give you some time to sort this out, but I'm not going to turn a blind eye forever.

[dragoness]

[ perhaps not entirely useless — magical blood does have special properties, after all. ]

Yes, sir; right away, sir. [ her voice is dripping with sarcasm, like blood from a fang, and robin gets a sharp sneer from her. ] This place is just crawling with mages, kind of like rats. Finding a master should be easy.

[guerrilla]

Glad to hear it! Don't let the door hit your flat ass on the way out!

[He knows there aren't really any good choices here, but even so, there's an immature, childish part of himself that wants the way that no one gets hurt.

He's just not sure if there is one, in this case.]

1/2

[dragoness]

My ass is not flat!

[dragoness]

It's cute and round and perky, and you should enjoy the sight of it as I walk away from you!

[ she whips around again, her tail flailing up, displaying the underside of her skirt as she moves to storm off.

yeah, her ass is pretty flat, but look, don't let that distract from the way she shoves someone aside with a snarl and a hiss. they were just watching because the two of them were causing a scene but now they need to get out of the way. ]

[guerrilla]

[Smart men would let Elizabeth leave, but unfortunately, Robin's not one of them. He takes a second to make sure the passerby is okay before following her.]

Don't take your shitty mood out on people who aren't involved!

[dragoness]

[ ... she glances back at him and draws up her lance.

wanna see her actually take out her shitty mood on someone?? ]

[guerrilla]

[Robin wordlessly gives the mechanism of his bow a test squeeze, bracing his legs for a jump. If she's actually going to attack him, he'll have to be able to fire quickly since she's better at close-range combat than he could ever hope to be. It's better if she takes this out on him. He doesn't intend to die, of course - he doesn't think Elizabeth would do it, even if she's angry. Ultimately, though, how rough this gets is going to depend on her.]

[dragoness]

[ normally, eliza would leap at the opportunity to rail on and torture someone to make herself feel better, but looking at robin now? she can tell that robin is willing to fight back.

eliza doesn't like fighting on a good day.

on a day when she's feeling her mana bleed out of her like an open faucet, there's no way she's going to engage herself in a battle. even if she has the class advantage. besides, she's wasted too much mana calling and dismissing her lance as often as she has. ]

You just wanna shoot something, don't you? No wonder you and Billy get along so well.

[guerrilla]

[Something, sure. Someone, not so much. He's more relieved than he can say that this didn't come to blows, but there's no point in telling Elizabeth that. Instead, he simply relaxes his grip and asks a question.]

...Is there anyway you can get mana from me until you find a Master? My Independent Action rank is pretty high. I can do without it for longer than you can.

[dragoness]

[ her weight shifts back onto her heels, and she plants the tips of her lance into the concrete again in order to prop herself up. her tail flicks; right, left, right, left; a heavy black snake in the darkness. ]

... Does that even work?

[ she doesn't believe the pirates' word when they say they're fooling around for the 'mana'. ]

[guerrilla]

Hell if I know. I've never been low enough on mana to try anything out.

[Blackmore had been entirely too restrictive, so he couldn't have wasted mana if he wanted to. BB kept him just strong enough for her own purposes, and the Master of Chaldea always managed to keep everyone afloat.]

[dragoness]

[ she's quiet for a moment, mulling that over... ]

... Your neck does look appetizing.