trans_9 | Tightrope

Entry tags:

Tightrope

It had been a few days since the Outsider's gathering, where Hit Girl had finally been able to utilize her strength and talent to help others. All in all, it went pretty well: choices were made, friendships were had, blah blah and kumbaya. What SHE had wanted to show was that she was the type of girl who got the job done, and if anyone needed to be reminded, she would show that to them. Grabbing the flag had just been the start: now she wanted to make sure that whatever happened next, she would be ready, she would show people the type of person her daddy trained.

Which led to today's excursion in the Sensorium: she was doing tightrope walking, one of her weaker points, in order to maintain balance and poise. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop had demanded both, and while she had mastered that, she had not yet made her foray to really careful jumping in tight spots. To give her some energy, she had this playing in the background, and she jumped from rope to rope, her eyes concentrating, her tongue sticking out slightly in concentration.

Each step took courage, and the slightest imperfection would result in her falling, although of course it wouldn't be that big of a deal when you were in the Sensorium anyway. Despite this, Hit Girl demanded nothing less than imperfection: once she had this mastered, going to Negi and learning the delayed spells would be next, not to mention training Sasami.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Why would Stacy want to rescue someone from a fair? Well, she did stranger things anyway, like bringing that racist on board. If anything, that was proof Stacy rarely knew what the fuck she was doing, and probably only cared about bringing in supers.

"I'm a hero, that's why the costume," Hit Girl said. "Well, I was in a way, back on earth. No one really knew about me, because they weren't supposed to. We were one of those kind of heroes that existed because we have to, not for fame or any shitty reason like that. It's the reason most heroes war a costume too: the criminals see who you actually are, they kinda want revenge."

"Noble causes, then?" Like a Paladin or Priest, he assumed. The ones that actually spent time fighting instead of spending all day and night at the Cathedral, looking pretty and chastising Death Knights.

"I suppose so, though none of the heroes I knew wore costumes. Just performers. But, really, if their misdeeds were so terrible that they're going to go back to try and attack you after you defeated them the first time...why not just kill them?" After all, he'd seen people killed for silly things with no real proof of misdeed beyond belonging to an organization.

"Well." Might as well not lie. "Some of it was for hero purposes, but there was definitely a revenge angle too. Bad guys took my mom from me, and made dad's life some hell before he was finally released from prison."

She laughed. Wow, somebody actually got it. "Oh I killed them, don't get me wrong. But in my world bad guys have ways of finding out who you are, and once they know that they can send a whole bunch more thugs your way. You never let your real self get known. I just decided to keep that persona on this ship too."

Who was this guy anyway? Somehow he reminded her of Ronnae a bit. "What brings you here?"

Ah...that tactic, the one that was usually employed by the rogues, brigands and other shady types. It made sense, he thought, if you were mainly dealing with those guys. "The smarter ones usually just send an assassin after you. More low key, but then again the bad guys in my home tend to want to take over, control or destroy the world," he shrugged as if it were of no consequence.

"So one hero killing a bunch of their minions off usually keeps you below their notice, anyways. But I do like your persona," he added. "Purple is my favorite color."

Nokosi pointed a thumb back the way he had come, "I was here because I was eating, though. Quillboar bacon and Naga fillet with a side of Silithid eggs," the elf said casually. "I don't really spend much time in this place training or..." What was that word, again? The thing everyone seemed to do in this place? "Reminiscing," he finally said.

She nodded. "Luckily for us, we tended to keep a low profile mostly. They got the drop on us once, but that's a lesson I learned the hard way that won't happen again. In any case, they were too dumb to know it was us, or even who I was, so we were able to take them out in the end."

She grinnned. "Thanks. Purple is kinda a favorite of mine too."

She shrugged. "It's not a reminiscing day for me, its a training one. Gotta make sure I keep my balance. The Overlord ups the ante everytime we train with him, and I wanna make sure I keep on top of things. That means I don't slack off or ignore problems that make me less of a fighter."

Overlord, Overlord..."Zetta?" he questioned with a smile. "I did not know he actually trained anyone, what with him continually going on about how he enjoys being lonely and...demon this, demon that." He almost laughed; compared to the demons he'd run into, Zetta was a pretty decent guy.

"But really," he said nodding, his large ears wobbling as he did. "Always look forward, do not hesitate too much to wait for your branch...rope...or whatever it is you're walking on, to stop bobbing, keep your balance with your hips and..." he patted his stomach, "tighten your stomach up when you walk."

Nokosi idly ran a thumb across a row of trinkets, baubles and hoops in his ears an smiled appreciatively at the sound. "It is fairly easy once you find that perfect spot," he paused. "And if you are not wary of heights."

She laughed. "Trust me, its one thing to be alone, but its another to be training people to become an Overlord. That's what he's doing with me and the viking Ruffnut. Don't mistake him for going easy on us though: he runs us through the mill, and will randomly have us compete against enemies."

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm starting to get the hang of it, I think. But I'll take your word for it." She took his advice, using her hips to make sure that she didn't fall over and tightening her stomach.

"I'm not," she said. "What's with all the stuff in your ears, anyway?"

He frowned suddenly. "Wow, rude. He wouldn't train me to be an Overlord even though I have plenty of experience killing demons!" He rubbed an ashen hand over his chin, seemingly in thought. "But I guess from what I've seen and heard, I suppose I would need to be a hundred years younger and of the female gender. Oh well," he lamented.

Nokosi scratched the scruffy, purple stubble on his chin, his expression impassive despite his previous annoyance. "I only say because walking on that is a lot like being on a thin tree branch. I have spent a lot of time in trees and an unpleasant amount of time in my youth falling out of them. But these?" the elf said, tugging on one of his long ears, causing it to chime loudly.

"Trophies, mementos, gifts, exciting-looking things. Mostly exciting-looking things," he admitted. "That and they make the most delightful sounds," Nokosi said with a pleased smile. "I like that. A lot."

"

"Huh." That was the first she heard of this. She would hate to think that the reason for being picked to be an Overlord in training was her gender being a reason. Then again, despite the Overlord's occasional lapses into perversion, when else had being a girl mattered? The Overlord had usually seemed to prefer girl's because they kicked ass more on the ship, she heard him say that before. Still, she would definitely ask him why this guy wasn't training right alongside them.

"In trees? So what, you were an active child or something? That's one reason for chilling out in trees all the time, right? Or were you working on your balance then too?"

She looked a little at a loss for words. "So you like shiny things that have a story to them? Well, tell me about it. It isn't like I couldn't afford the break for a little bit."

"I wasn't exactly an active child. I was the opposite, really. Sickly, fragile body., terrible sight. By certain circumstances I found myself living in the forest. I found a mentor there eventually," he said with a fond smile. "Taught me how to be self-sufficient and strengthen my body through training and the blessing/lessons from nature's creatures. I did have to learn a lot of that, though...balance. In the trees. Climbing them, having to go from tree to tree. So many fractures from falling during those years," he laughed. "I slept in them quite frequently before my world went all explode-y," Nokosi casually added.

"Which brings me to this," he said with excitement, lifting up an earring that seemed to be a thin, twisted vine with two red and yellow leaves attached to it. "My mentor gave this to me when I learned my first Aspect. I didn't get it, then, but in all this time they haven't wilted or dried out."

"Which makes me wonder," he started, abruptly changing the subject for no reason at all. "Why did you choose that for your 'hero' uniform?"

"Actually, my story is kinda similar, kinda different. It was my dad that trained me, after he realized that local law enforcement was pretty much in the pocket of your big time gangster. So he needed an sidekick, someone he could trust. That person was me. Spent years getting shot at, getting agile, making myself skilled with the weapons we had at our disposal. I've still got a few scars from that kind of training, but more from actual fights. Not many, because I got that good, but still, a few."

The emotional scars were really the worse, but Nokosi didn't have to know what caused that. She eyed the earring with interest though: she had never heard of an earring made in this way that didn't wilt. Most likely it was enchanted.

She shrugged. "I needed something that was going to be bulletproof, that disguised me well, and let people know who I was. That, and I also wanted something that wasn't going to show me off like some kind of cheap hooker-y hero girl: there's a few too many of those drawn in my earth comics."

"Oh, you know," he started, tapping a fist in the palm of his other hand. "I can understand that. In the Kingdom of Humans a lot of things are run by the noble houses. They have their hands in everything, it seems. The guards, all the businesses, the King. Well, not so much the King anymore after his advisor was discovered to be an evil dragon," the elf rambled on, shaking his head in amusement.

"Bulletproof...?" He peered at her, examining the different textures of materials she was clad in. He wanted to feel them; the materials did look interesting enough. "Unless you're swift enough to dodge projectiles, I do not see what the appeal of wearing very little protection offers, bar being of the type that spends much time running through the forests."

Now that he thought about it, some of the hookers in Goldshire and Stormwind did moonlight as fighters, mages, priests and the like. "I think the clergy complained the most of the Paladins walking around like that. Those 'Light-forsaken trollops make a mockery of the Light'." It was clear that he was repeating something he'd heard before. "Defeating the purpose of wearing platemail by leaving their most vulnerable points open. Silly."

Wow. That sounded like something out of Lord of the rings or Worlds of warcraft, something of that persuasion anyway. She figured that he had to have had some involvement with Ronnae then: she talked a little bit about that geek stuff too, with the dragons and the houses and things.

She nodded. "Well yeah. Where I'm from, people have guns, and being shot with one is pretty much a death sentence. One of the first things I had to learn from dad was how to avoid a bullet. And yeah, where I'm from there aren't really forests, its all city and skyscrapers and bright lights."

She laughed. "Yeah, I figured that the girls who went around fighting crime like that had to either be strong enough to do it or else entirely existing for showing tits and ass. It wouldn't be the first time. Luckily for me, I'm way too young to be a reckless teeange girl obsessed with my body. I care more about living long enough to get there."

"You said 'earth', right? Billy has told me of it a bit and Beast Boy has shown me his 'West Coast city', once. It was all very dazzling. Still, we have guns, too but I'm willing to bet that your own are extremely advanced in comparison." Of course there were always the magic guns and Goblin laser weapons to speak of. "I prefer a bow, though. It makes a much more pleasant sound and is far more discreet."

Younger than a teenager? Well, she did look the part...from her stature and the shape of her face at least. Strange, considering her language; not that it seemed to bother him at all.

"I see. Maybe for the sake of morale? But perhaps I'm giving the 'women of questionable virtue' and 'strumpets' far too much credit," Nokosi said with a toothy grin. "In any case, you sound very experienced for your age. Though children arming themselves to fight is certainly not unheard of, they rarely have the skills and strength to be useful as much more than pickpockets and distractions."

"Yeah, that's Earth all right, but the West Coat is actually the opposite of where I'm from. Its pretty grand, but where I'm from there's more of a business in the air, like people are always busy doing something. But as far as guns go, I kinda have to rely on the guns, because that's what people use in my world, but if I could just use weapons like a bow and arrow, I would."

She shrugged. "I don't know much about strumpets and women like that, although the ones I met in my world attract scumbags and are pretty nasty themselves, so I don't really show them mercy. As for kids, well, I had a vendetta too. There was something in it for me. I'm not gonna lie and say I was in it purely for the good. That criminal fuck owed me."

"It is not very difficult, especially for those of us who rely on deftness. Though I could see where the attraction of a smaller gun would come in handy in tight places. Then again, that is what traps and Fontaine are for."

Nokosi laughed at her words, and nodded in agreement. "Nothing wrong with that. Having an additional motive for something like that just means you are going to try harder to accomplish your goal. And it benefits everyone anyways."

"You have to be quick, and that's why guns are preferred. You just need to speed to reload and you need to have one of the quickest hands out there. The most important thing is hitting your mark, but that would be something that a crossbow and a gun would have in common."

She nodded. "Oh believe me, we really didn't have anything to do but concentrate on that goal. Sure, we took out some useless shits he hired, but it was destroying him and his whole operation that we were really after. And it would benefit the people who's lives he didn't get to ruin."

"Ah, I see," Nokosi started, nodding his head in understanding. "Though I can be fairly accurate, I am not a marksman and so hitting a vital is not of too much importance for me. That is where poisons and explosives come into play."

"But from how it sounds, you were successful? You will certainly have to tell me the story one day!" He exclaimed, eyes full of childlike hope as if they had just been promised their favorite ice cream if they behaved really well.

"Yeah, that would be pretty handy," Hit Girl said. "Not that we usually did stuff like that. Most of the criminals tend to just torture the hell out of people, just for fun. I just cut their limbs off though."

She sighed a little. "Well, it is a pretty awesome story, although I kinda wish that dad had been able to stay alive to see the end of. Unfortunately the bad guys were able to get the drop on us, and that led to losing a bit."

She tried to sound casual about it but there was no mistaking a bit of sadness behind it.

Most negative aspects of death hardly seemed negative to him; it was always a bit hard relating to those who had lost someone. So though he frowned suddenly, it wasn't long before a smile rose to his pallid lips.

"Well you did finish what you both set out on, so you have the 'avenged' angle covered, too. Your father sounds so cool, though and once I know of his exploits," he pressed a finger against his forehead, "I surely will not forget them."

"He was," Hit Girl said. "It sucks that he bit it, but that's the risk that you take when you go around as a hero. And I'm still here: the last thing he did was advise me taking out these whole bunch of guys. Right before he went he told me he loved me and I told him that I'd get revenge for him."

She grinned. "I don't know what he'd think about me becoming an Overlord, but its not like there's a place to be a hero for now, and we took out the guy that we had to anyway. It's not like there's anyone else to tell me what to do with my life but me."

"Oh, might as well. It seems like a lot of responsibility but so many chances for adventure! And fighting against other Overlords all the time; always busy and in the middle of action. I-" he paused for a second, eyebrow furrowed in confusion.

"Zetta does realize that he is essentially training an Overlord that will one day surely challenge his rule? You know, because that is what demons do and all. Hrm. Nice guy," he commented with a shrug.

"Yeah, exactly!" Hit Girl said, her eyes blazing a little. "And its not like I'm alone, there's Ruffnut right alongside me, getting into trouble. I mean, yeah, she'll be my rival someday, but its not like I had a friend to do all this stuff with. He took down a freaking video game dragon together, for Christ's sake! It was awesome!"

She laughed. "Yeah, he knows that, and I think he wants the challenge! That's just the kind of guy he is. At least he knows that Ruffnut and I are not gonna go and fall in love with hi like his last pupil."

Video game dragon....? He'd never heard of that species of dragon before. Maybe it was some type of dragonkin? "Was this 'video' dragon ferocious? I am uncertain what flight it belongs to but fighting any type of dragon is usually an exhilarating experience," he said, nodding sagely.

"Oh?" Well that was something he hadn't heard. He could only assume it was back when he was actively being a 'badass' in his Netherworld. Oh well, just more information about his 'Overlord buddy'! "Though it would seem a bit odd to fall in love with a book, despite his 'real' form, I suppose I have seen stranger."

"Well, he's more like this fat but super tough dragon turtle hybrid that breathes fire, talks and has all these minions," Hit Girl said, sounding stupid. This would make much more sense if Nokosi had played video games. Now she just sounded like a crazy person.

She laughed. "No, that happened before he turned into a book. The person who was his disciple fell for him or whatever, and nothing was gonna happen because, you know, demon equals douche bag who can't love. So all they can do is have hot, crazy sex, but he can't return her feelings or whatever."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject