( semi-open) catch-all for event happenings;

[fakers]

Who: archer (fakers) & various others
What: fall-out from being falsely accused of terrorism
When: october 1 and shortly thereafter
Where: all around olympia
Warning(s): violence, most likely

( catch-all post for event threads. feel free to hit me up here if you'd like to plot anything! )

Comments

[sparsity]

[ It's today that Olympia has proven to him that things aren't very different no matter where you go. For months, it's been peaceful. A new place where nobody knows his face, where there stands even ground and equal footing, in most respects. Then came the familiar explosions rocking the city. The broadcast. The names. Whatever it was that Shino actually had a hand in, killing for money or delivering weapons, the end result is the same.

But Mikazuki has no intentions of letting it end the same, not here. He's been on edge since the announcement broke moreso than the detonation and effect of the weapon. They've hidden Shino away, and he's been on the prowl ever since. There are others he feels a vague tug of concern for, but he can't leave to look.

So maybe it is fate that brings one to him, the slow stagger of footsteps catching him before the voice does. What keeps him is he sight when he pivots too quickly to look, the blood streaked down a face just familiar enough to give the pit of his stomach a kick, like a gravity-drop. ]

...I don't believe in things like that.

[ When he moved, his hand had instinctively drawn his gun, though he doesn't raise it. Shots are limited. ]

Are there any more after you?

[fakers]

[ though he can't be sure, archer simply gives a slight nod. it's been some time until he last ran into a group of guards - the royal guard weren't as much an issue here as the other refugees who had decided the price on his head was too good to turn down. he'd miscalculated; though he's always recognized that the others could become his foes one day, he hadn't expected it to come so soon. ]

No... not at the moment. But that won't last. They're still looking for me.

[ he grimaces a bit, slumping against a wall to the side. though his injuries aren't entirely obvious, the blood hidden slightly by his red cloak, there are definitely at least one or two bullet holes.

his pursuers really haven't held back; they don't really seem to care whether they take the fugitives in dead or alive. ]

I hate to admit it, but I haven't handled this situation very well.

[sparsity]

[ While it hadn't compared to seeing Shino's name, seeing Archer's hadn't exactly helped, either. Expression setting, he frowns, but it's not very calm. ]

Maybe there isn't another way to settle it.

[ For him, it hadn't been worth considering any other option but fighting. He's never understood negotiating, or surrendering. All those working pieces never interested him. Mikazuki's shoulders stay hitched with tension, anticipatory. There's a pretty impressive trail of blood, drops and splatters, some smeared into heelmarks against the ground. In a flash of blue, his gaze finally leaves Archer's face to travel off behind him into the shadows he'd dragged himself out of.

Without even basic field medical training, there's nothing to be done for his current wounds. But if he can stop new ones... ]

Who was it?

[fakers]

There's always another way. But whether that's the correct way or not is another question entirely.

[ despite saying as much, archer's never been the type to do anything other than fight either: perhaps when he was younger the thought of trying to talk things out appealed to him more, but any youthful idealism is long gone by now. strength is at least understood and respected by all, even if it isn't an elegant solution. ]

These injuries? [ a pause. ] No, that isn't important. The ones after me are merely pawns at this point, chasing after smoke and mirrors.

The ones behind this are far more nefarious. I can't even be certain Olympia isn't part of this plot.

[sparsity]

It doesn't matter if there is, when there's only one direction you can walk.

[ Evading or defying, it's all the same. And it's restrictive and sharp, single-minded out of necessity that long made idealism useless to him. Mikazuki either can't or doesn't bother with possibilities when any path in front of him needed a fight to navigate. This will be the last battle were words that had come too soon, but he can do things differently this time, even without the hand that stays or sparks him. ]

Things like that... they're hard for me to understand.

[ Intrigue and such. But deflection of blame... ]

They're just attacking who's convenient.

[fakers]

When it comes down to it, that's correct.

[ what makes it even more laughable is that they'd simply take the words of a terrorist for the truth... but no one cares about that, so much as they do about how they can profit from this situation.

with a grimace, archer falls to on knee, finally unable to steady himself any longer. ]

I'm a bit disappointed... I thought I'd fare a bit better than this.

[ though really, fighting three or four other refugees, not to mention numerous run-ins with guards. it's essentially a miracle he hasn't already been caught. ]

[sparsity]

[ It was easy to bury the truth under concepts that had a prettier veneer. Mikazuki had seen it any number of times. Planted weapons, massacred innocents justified by the pretense of peacekeeping. It'd boiled his blood in a subversive way to stay put during those times. Because fighting in those instances had become a choice that wasn't his to make, but rather something routed through convoluted words and self-serving alliances.

But this time... this time, it's different. He doesn't have permission, but if they'd had a chance to do everything over, Mikazuki made more than one promise that he'd do things his way. Approaching Archer, he kneels to match, fishing his gun out of his coat. It's distant, but he can hear a clamor moving in the alleyways. ]

That's what happens when no one has your back.

[ Ejecting the cartridge, he looks at the six shots he has left. ]

I'll use these for you.

[fakers]

That's not...

[ necessary? the word hangs in his throat. part of him wants to tell this boy not to fight; that fighting for his sake is unnecessary. but there's a determination in his eyes that makes him falter. it's a look he knows well, even if it isn't one he can whole heartedly approve of. if nothing else, there's no hesitation in mikazuki expression, which is more than he can say for himself. ]

Just don't do anything too foolish. It helps no one if you end up wanted as well.

[ archer begins to move away, before pausing and glancing back. the sounds in the distance are growing louder, and voices can be made out yelling at one another. ]

...and thanks.

[ it's obviously difficult to know who to trust at the moment, but he can take some comfort in that he wasn't wrong to believe in mika. ]

[sparsity]

I'll be fine. [ That comes without hesitation or preamble too. ] It won't be any worse than where we are now.

[ If he's successful with throwing Archer's pursuers off his trail, anyway. A fugitive is a fugitive — pursuers will come up with whatever reason they like. Jamming the cartridge back into the gun and pulling the slide back, he climbs to his feet again as if he doesn't plan on failing. Whatever he really thinks of the potential outcome, he doesn't look as though he doubts his own ability or intentions, magic or no. If they don't get Archer, they'll go for Shino next. Or Leanne. It's not a position he wants to leave open. ]

Get somewhere else. [ He hears it in his mind again, sharp and resonate: "To where?" "Somewhere not here." ] Contact me when you do.

[ So he at least knows that his decision to not lose anyone in the same way as before was worth anything at all. ]

[fakers]

[ archer has already begun to move away, though he spares mikazuki one last look back. ]

I'll likely flee the city before long. Once I know I've found a secure place, I'll find a way to contact you.

[ he doesn't really want to use his device any more than necessary... but once he's gotten enough distance it should be fine.

or so he hopes. ]