Blue Skies Turn Black [Open]

[redweb]

Who: Character Name (redweb) & Open!
What: Mission stuff
When: Late September
Warning(s): None yet, will add if needed. Combat, probably.

I. Shades Lighter

[It's not that Natasha has any particular fondness for the Red Light District, her conversation with James aside. It's that Koralle and Shades Darker is exactly the sort of place that she wants an in with. She wants connections with someone with that much of an ear to the ground, a knowledge of the vices of the city's population. So when it's suggested that there are some more complicated deliveries, Natasha is more than willing to assist.

She doesn't ask about the contents, and she's given a time and a place for the pickup, and informed that for security there will be someone else assisting. She doesn't ask about their identity. These sort of things usually work best as a double-blind, and even if the idea of working with someone she doesn't know makes her a little uncomfortable... well. She'd dealt with worse. She shows up early, her gear hidden under street clothes, because the art of smuggling has always been about blending in.]


II. Lullaby for the Dragon

[Mostly, she takes the mission because she wants to see the dragons up close, and because she wants an excuse to explore Wyver a little. Not because she's awed and has some macho idea of fighting dragons, but they seem important to Wyver, and Natasha is still trying to take the place in.

This time, she's in her gear, because heading into the deep dark parts of the Undergrowth and the mention of dangerous creatures makes her want the added protection over the value of anonymity. Not that she thinks it will last long anyway; it never really does. So she shows up in the black catsuit, silver bracers, functional boots, and a small bag tossed over one shoulder with a few extra supplies- just in case.]

You been to the Undergrowth before?

[She hasn't. She'd like someone with terrain knowledge, but she's good enough to make do.]


III. Rise of the Riders

[Really, of all the tasks she's found herself doing for some silver and for the connections that come with it, this is the first one she's really felt comfortable with. Find and capture what remains of Rasyc's forces, with an enticement to clean up any criminal activity they might encounter. It's almost like something she could have done for SHIELD back home; cleaning out the remnants of a terrorist.

The Knightriders certainly seemed understaffed and in need of the help. And well, if she could help out, make some pocket change, and get a better feel for the place? More the better. She's just tucking knife into one of her boots when she looks up at her companion. She has no intention of signing on with any of these groups, but the money hasn't been bad. And it lets her explore while keeping her options open. There are worse arrangements.]

You have a name?

[She flashes a smile, but it's sharp, less charm and more practicality.]


IV. Protect Your Interests

[ooc: This one takes sign ups, but I'm really interested so ping me on plurk natalia_vdova or PM and I'll set these up as prompts in the comments.]

Comments

II

[earthy]

[Terra glances up from where he's sitting cross-legged at the base of a tree, a leather-bound journal in his lap and a piece of charcoal in his hand. He quickly tucks the charcoal into a little pouch and the pouch between the pages of scribbled notes, and then he's up onto his feet. This must be his partner for the mission.]

Yeah. I spend a lot of time out there. There's good hunting for him. [He tilts his head back and looks pointedly up at the small silhouette of a wyvern circling far overhead.] And good training for me.

[Wyver's fighting rings have sharpened up his hand-to-hand combat skills nicely, no doubt about that, but he finds the deep jungle offers a more thorough training experience. The whole 'trying not to get eaten alive by the local fauna (and sometimes flora)' thing really keeps one on one's toes.]

You have any experience fighting monsters? Or wild animals?

[She certainly looks prepared and like she can handle her own, but best to know if she's ever tangled with anything like what she'll likely be tangling with here shortly.]

[redweb]

[Natasha takes him in. Young is what strikes her first and foremost and it puts a slight frown on her lips for a moment, but it's there and gone. It's not like the superhero community didn't attract a lot of people that skewed younger, but she's never been a fan of working with children. But, she doesn't tell him that.

Instead, she just looks up at the wyvern he indicates with an arch of an eyebrow.]

That's interesting. I thought that dragons around here were having problems after what happened?

[A casual question, as the wyvern circled above them, but well. The fact that the local dragon populations weren't exactly behaving was the whole reason they were on this mission, so it shouldn't be a particularly surprising question. But at the question he asks her, she shrugs her shoulders even as she nods.]

Well, it wont be my first time.

[Which is just vague enough while still implying experience with the task at hand. She rolls her shoulders a little, looking out toward the trees.]

Ready when you are.

~iii.

[america]

[ It's been some time since Steve had gone into Wyver. Most of his new life was deeply rooted in the happenings of Olympia, and save for the handful of friends he had in the next city over, there wasn't much of a need to take the transportation over - especially when tensions between cities were still present.

But it's one day when Natasha called him up and told him in that familiar way of hers that he was going to help her with a mission, that he finds himself with his shield strapped to his back, cowl on, and meeting her in the city of Wyver. Nah, at this point, he didn't really question it. ]

You been to this city yet? [ he asks her curiously, in case she might need a brief primer. ]

<3

[redweb]

[Natasha was still getting her bearings, and this was a pretty good license to go exploring, poking her nose into places, and getting paid for it. So it seemed like a good deal all around. That said, it was also the sort of thing that she figured might be up Steve's alley, and she wasn't wrong.

Bonding the Avengers way, or perhaps more properly, giving them both the chance to get used to each other. Trial by fire, or something like that. Maybe they'd run into trouble while they went nosing around, maybe they wouldn't, but either way, it was a fairly low stakes way to figure out the differences in how they moved, how they fought together.

Although, if she knew anything about Steve Rogers, it was that he had a face that was a magnet for trouble.]

Not really. I'll admit part of my interest in taking this was an excuse to explore. But if you want to play tourguide, I wont object.

[He couldn't do it worse than James, anyhow, who had taken her on a lovely stroll through the Red Light District.]

[america]

I'm not sure I'm the best man for the job, I'll admit.

[ Visiting Wyver on the rare occasion hadn't been a big deal. And it was here that he and Peggy took their first real ... journey together, nearly a year ago, to the temple on Namarak Mountain to complete the Volkkran Pact.

... it was also where he'd been attacked by angry shaman out of their own control, but that's another story for another day. ]

I spend most of my time in Olympia. [ His expression is wry. ] The jungle doesn't exactly agree with me. But you won't have to worry about getting lost. I know my way around well enough.

[redweb]

I'm sure you'll do in a pinch.

[Her tone a little bit teasing, a quirk of her mouth as she looks over at him. She hasn't really been to Wyver before, but if she's honest, she's not worried. Not like it would be the first time she and Rogers had been dropped in the middle of nowhere.

Once it had actually been another world. Not this Steve. And she knew that versions could be wildly different, but that wasn't the sense that she got from him. Not with those heavy shoulders and the weight to how he carried the shield, like it mattered. Like it was a responsibility. And she considered herself a decent judge of character.]

Yeah, I've settled in Olympia myself more or less. And of the things I'd be worried about with you around, getting lost is actually fairly low on the list.

[There's a curve of her lips there, a little amused.] Well, lead on.

[america]

I'll try not to disappoint. [ Steve's response is an echo of Natasha's teasing, light and easy, with just an edge of deadpan sarcasm - just the way they like it.

And, yeah. They've been through similar situations before. Sometimes worse. Sometimes a lot worse. He might not have strictly been on many missions with Natasha, but he's been on enough to know the way she thinks, and the way the two of them work as partners. They make a pretty good team, and this Natasha helps to set him a little at ease with the familiarity.

Anyway.

Getting down to business: ]

We can start with some of Rasyc's old haunts; there's bound to be some stragglers around.

[redweb]

[It's nice, honestly. The fact that despite being from different worlds, this is still easy. The conversation, the edge of teasing that makes her lips curl into a ghost of a smile for a moment. As if he ever does.

She adjusts her bracers, and looks up at him with a nod as the suggestion.]

Sounds like a good place to start. Should at least get us some information.

[Her look is fairly neutral, but there's a definite edge of someone she can threaten into telling them what they need to know to it. She doesn't say it, but she's actually a little glad for the assignment. It feels familiar, like the things she used to do. Knocking over old haunts and seeing what pieces fell out.

The thing she didn't tell Steve was that part of it was because she wanted to see how he worked. He wasn't her Steve, and with things like disasters involving dragons here, she wanted to know she could rely on him before it came to something like that.]

[america]

[ Well, Steve's no stranger to suspicion and having to pass something of a test to prove his worth. This ain't his first rodeo, and it likely won't be his last. Between different versions of his own friends from home to different versions of the people he knows from other universes parallel to his own, Steve ... definitely has to keep an open mind.

And he does.

He's fairly good at rolling with the punches, so to speak. ]

Agreed. [ He gestures towards the main hub of Wyver city where some of the denser structures are laid together. It's different from Olympia, that's for sure. It lacks the refinery, pomp and circumstance of the place he's now starting to call home. But a city centre is a city centre, and this one at least has the familiarity of one. ] I'm not sure whether I want these guys to fit the 'seedy sleazy criminal' profile to a T or whether I want them to break the mold, give us a little bit of a challenge.

What do you think?

I

[thedarkbond]

[Natasha's assistant in this exploit wafts in not quite late, but cutting it as close to the delivery time as he can get away with. Ren is a curious sort, and he's in a little more need of money than usual while he's trying to set himself up in Wyver, so while he's been perfectly happy to transport Koralle's more legal supplies...well, why turn down the opportunity to transport something more interesting instead?

If nothing else, he's reasonably toned-down - no visible weapon, and civilian clothes that are only abnormal in terms of mildly odd fashion sense. He's also definitely acting like this is a chance meeting, because his reaction to the sight of Natasha is to blink slightly in surprise before he waves, a picturesque expression of innocent greeting on his face.]

Oh, I was starting to think I might've gotten lost, but if there's other people here then I must be fine, right?

iii here i am at last

[gravemistake]

[Cleaning up the streets, while certainly in his skill set, is not exactly something that Gabriel has spent the last few years doing. He's got no real interest in actually joining whatever this country calls its police force, but he needs something to do and he needs to get Jack to stop breathing down his neck. This seems just upstanding enough for his purposes.

Besides, it's in his best interests to keep his abilities sharp, even if this is less espionage and more sanctioned vigilantism.

He's done worse, and he's not in the business of hiding his name while he's here. It means very little to anyone, which in some ways is refreshing.]

Reyes.

[He raises an eyebrow in her direction expectantly, making it clear he expects her to introduce herself in turn.]

yes excellent

[redweb]

[To be fair, cleaning up the streets isn't exactly one of her trades, either. She knew people for whom it was- people like Spider-Man and Luke Cage- but her sights were generally a bit higher than that. She worked better in the shadows.

He looks like someone that's capable, can hold their own, and she can appreciate that. Working with strangers can always be a bit of a hot-or-miss proposition, but she thinks that in this particular instance it could have been worse. She nods as he gives his name.

Her name used to mean something, used to come with titles like Red Death and Slavic Shadow and, of course- Black Widow. Here it doesn't. And for someone like her that's a good thing. There's a freedom in anonymity.]

Natasha.

[It's easy, casual, a twitch of a smile.]

So, you know of any hotbeds around here, or should we just do some recon and see what we can find?

[gravemistake]

[Well, at least she’s polite enough to offer a name in return, even if it might not be her real one. This is the kind of work that might attract do-gooder types and mercenaries alike, and Gabriel would be lying if he said he wasn’t interested in just what kind of people might take a job like this. For now, the two of them are working towards the same goal, so it only makes sense for him to play nice.

He is, however, acutely aware of how that might change. She seems to know what she’s doing, which placates him for now.]

Every good gig starts with a little recon.

[He says that with something of a wry smile. Gabriel is always down for a little sneaking around.]

Everywhere's a hotbed. The better question is where do you want to start?