nysalogs | Quest Collections

He hears the interlopers, their heavy scattered footfalls and idle goading chatter, but he doesn't look up. This woman's creative approach to science is more interesting than some rats from the street.

But they have a job to do.

Setting the jar out of place on its shelf, Takasugi turns from the stock. Such a considerate proposition...

"Yo." He may or may not take it. Takasugi places a hand on a gang member's shoulder, calling the attention of a jittery, agitated teen. "I heard a gang was going to show up here, but.

All I see is a bunch of school kids.

Any idea when the real criminals will arrive?" Smirk smeared across his face, he incites anger in several in the back line, who turn to him with colorful threats.

One would hardly call it considerate if one knew that she only wanted to preserve these so she could study their properties herself. But people would believe what they wished and she wasn't about to stop them from doing so.

Moira smirked as she watched the men start insulting her companion.

"What colorful language. I would expect children to know better than to speak like that to adults."

His partner falls in line with his simple antagonism, and that's enough to call the group leader's attention away from the shop's owner. The one in charge appears slightly older, a scar across his shoulder emphasized by a sleek tattoo.

To emphasize his experience, or something.

With an exasperated sigh, the leader pushes past his ranks, shushing several complaints along the way. "You two got business with us?" He seems more practical, though he's certainly put himself in their space - an attempt at intimidation.

"Don't know. That depends how much you're willing to pay." Bought protection can go both ways.

An intriguing play. Moira decided to see how this would play out. It wasn't like she exactly was on anyone's side really. Though based on the look to that face, she had a feeling they were going to continue to side with the woman who had sought out the help in the first place.

It turned out she wasn't wrong.

The leader took a swing at her companion and Moira let out such a sigh. "Such a pity. I had hoped to preserve the stock of his shop."

Ah well. Some people simply had no elegance at all. She faded out of sight and reappeared behind the entire gang. Since their attention was on Takasugi, she simply lifted her right hand and started to drain the life from them one by one from behind.

Dimly lit, the apothecary offers many shadows to duck into, lines of shelving perfect cover for a hit and run style attack. But the woman disappears entirely, and those who witnessed her evaporation stare in shock.

All as their leader is mid-swing, broad fist aimed for Takasugi's face. He doesn't sidestep - in an instant, his blade is drawn and thrust upwards. The man's hand connects with the floor, rather than his target, a bloodied stump left behind.

Screams erupt from both sides of the group, chaos bursting forth as several try to run (stealing wares on their way) and a few make a break for the counter, no doubt hoping for a hostage. Takasugi vaults a shelf, knocking most of its contents to the ground, and skewers the pair heading for the owner into the wood partition.

Only then does he turn his attention to his partner, "Outside." Might as well make a clean sweep.

"Of course."

Just like that, she faded again. This brought her out of the shop faster and then she was running after the few that were trying to get away. There weren't many left now honestly. Just three based on what she could see. However that was plenty for her as she threw an orb of purple energy after them.

As it caught up to them, it started to drain the life from them. They gasped in shock as they felt their bodies getting weaker, one stumbling in the process. That was the last mistake he made as Moira extended her right hand to drain the last out of him before rushing past him to continue after the other pair still struggling to stay up.

It would be messy in the shop but she knew her partner could take care of the rest there. He'd already proven himself quite capable. Besides, the ones left in the shop were rather at half health now.

The shop's owner is, understandably, harried as she takes in the scene unfolding in front of her. Supplies covered in shattered glass strewn all over the floor, blood seeping into the wood from both sides of the leader's stump, and a pair trembling in shock threaded through with the man's sword. Not exactly a service - they may have done more damage than these hooligans.

Takasugi's hand slides from his hilt, leaving the men to figure out among themselves if they'd like to die on the blade slowly, or bleed out on the ground. He leans forward on the counter, casual but for how close he comes to the proprietress's body.

"We'll finish the clean up, don't worry.

But this service doesn't come free. You can subtract what we broke from the total this time, but we'll check in again." And expect more, implied. He's not even masking this whole ordeal as a favor; the difference between coercion and a kind gesture isn't so easy to bridge.

A groan interrupts the sudden silence, the now one armed man cradling his injury on his knees. Takasugi has left him alone too, even as he turns from the woman to right the shelf he'd toppled.

The pair that tried to get away soon fell as a purple orb chased them and Moira's right arm extended to drain the life from them as well. When she was done, she came slowly walking back to the shop, hands behind her back as she went to look at the man who was sill bleeding out on the floor.

Stepping before him, she knelt down with a smile.

"If you leave here and never return then I will heal your injury. However, if you ever come here again then I will see to it that everyone you ally yourself with dies."

With his partner's coercion as a backdrop, Takasugi sifts through broken glass and spilled sundries. There aren't many containers in tact, but he salvages what he can. A few pristine bottles, and several cracked, are placed back on the shelf with no effort spared for orderliness.

He does the same with another pile of wasted wares, before turning to the owner once more. "Do you have anything to clean bloodstains?" The wood beneath their feet is covered in it, red soaking into the cracks and spreading in vein-like paths from the casualties.

One of which seems to have been spared. The gang's leader nods desperately to Moira's proposition, holding up his trembling arm. "I'll stay away from here. I'll leave the city!" There's hardly any need for that, but... whatever.

Desperate begging makes an idiot of everyone.

That was a little extreme but it would work. Moira nodded before grabbing his injured arm as well as the fallen limb. "Get on your back and then hold very, very still."

She waited until he did as she said before moving to line up the arm again. It would be better in a lab but sometimes field work was necessary. Besides, she was somewhat curious to see how he would manage after she finished. Perhaps she'd have to track him down to check on his progress later.

For now, she used her left hand to start spraying biotic energy onto the wound to start regenerating his cellular structure. It was a slow process that required she recharge at one point but her work appeared to be very good.

And she didn't even seem to care that her hands were now covered in the blood of another, simply looking at her work with a little smile that showed how she enjoyed this twisted moment she was handling.

With immediate obedience, the gang leader prostrates himself on his back. Takasugi spares the display only a cursory glance - the man looks much younger cowering with his severed arm in hand. Everyone does, on death's doorstep.

Though, it looks like this guy has escaped his demise for now.

In awe, the owner of the shop has forgotten Takasugi's question. Which means he'll forget it too - she can clean up the mess herself if she wants to gawk at his companions display of medical prowess. All that's left for Takasugi to do is to reclaim his sword, wrenching it from the guts of the two, now passed out, felons.

He'll toss them onto the street, his final attempt at cleaning up. Then, he waits against the door frame. "Ready?"

The arm wouldn't ever really be the same without better conditions but did Moira care about that? Not at all. That arm would forever be a reminder of what he would have to face if he ever chose to return to this location again. Which really was more than enough for the woman as she finished her work and then ripped off some of his shirt so she could wipe off her hands.

Tossing that onto his face, she waits until he's run past her companion before casually putting her hands behind her back and walking towards her partner.

"I think that will suffice. Messier than I usually prefer but the message was received."

As the scarred man slips past, pale faced and clumsy, Takasugi surveys his arm. This sort of medical technology isn't unheard of back in Edo, but to perform such a thing alone with no equipment is quite the feat. No matter how gnarled, how numb or heavy that limb has become, it's there and that man's life has been saved.

More than can be said for the pair of his companions he stumbles over as he makes his get away. They're corpses, by now.

"You had the chance to show off." As if pacifying her complaint, though she doesn't seem to truly mind, so he won't linger. "We'll need to return regularly.

Are you staying in the area?" If she's Olympia based, Takasugi's about to heft this responsibility completely onto her shoulders. He's a wanderer, and frequently too inebriated to remember what day it is.

"It matters little where I'll go. You and I are going to be coming here regularly. Together."

She looked to him and there was a smile on her lips even as she had a cool look to her eyes. Something that said she was about to make a promise and not a threat.

"You are more useful alive, after all."

Was that a potential compliment and a death promise all at once?

Yes. Yes it was.

And with that, she continued to walk.

All Takasugi offers that bold confidence is a chuckle - high pitched and soft. He turns away, casting a final glance to the shop. From the outside, it doesn't look any different. A few steps further down the road, however, and the path leading up to it is saturated in blood.

If this is what they leave in their wake, Takasugi won't mind working with this woman again.

Maybe next time, she can take some of the stock for her research without being interrupted.

Quest Collections

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

//end!