104 replies to this topic

[Oce]

Oce was already by Howl before Gabriella could finish the command, bending down to scoop him up enough to be able to tuck herself under his arm, bearing as much of his weight as she could while maintaining mobility. Clutching at his wrist that was d*CENSORED*d over her shoulder and his waist, she turned them towards the maintenance door to their left and dragged Howl towards it, immediately trying the handle to quietly open it rather than fling it open.

[Thugren]

the group meets up iin the tunnels as the door seals closed. Emergency lights illuminate their paths until they get deep into the labyrinthine confines of the subway, and soon enough they find an old breakroom that appears to not have been touched since the days of the apocalypse.

 

once in the room, howl collapses, his body revertying into a human form as he falls to his flat onto his face and stomach.

 

He whimpers brokenly for a few moments as his body comes back together again, denying him death as gabriella speaks again.

 

"Good..Howsls back in control....Ive got an evacuation for you all inbound.. ANd cleanse teams coming in.. Can yo uguys move?"

 

She asks, ignoring the youger boys pitiful whimpers.

 

"I see here howls finally back in managaeaqble parameters."

[Armoured Priest]

Barren clambers up the table leg and sets himself up on the flat surface, coiling himself in a comfortable pile before speaking. "Wow, you look like you're at your magic pixel right now." the boy stated the obvious with a gleam in his many eyes. A part of him wanted to take advantage of the boy's wounded state, the scavenger side of being undead and with whatever organism in Howl being a natural enemy of him, but Barren forced himself to stay where he was before looking up to his sis after hearing Ms. Gabriella from Oce's comm. "Well, we are, but Howl.....well not so much. Maybe in like....a minute? Or....ten." he hissed with a shrug to her, letting his older sibling make the call on it.

[Oce]

Though the fact that dust coated the area around them, Oce was distrustful, her eyes flicking about as she stood stoically still, partially expecting some creature to be clinging to the ceiling above them or lingering in the darkness out of sight. As Howl writhed on the floor, she tried not to focus on it, only scrutinizing him as their operator inquired if they were able to move. "We would have to carry him, which would make it difficult to move efficiently. I'd say give him a minute to recover."

[Thugren]

you hear the sound of a mic beng cut, and gabriella sighs.

 

"Negativve oce..YOu arent going to have to do that...We are terminating our presence here and drawing back all operatives to the south of tokyo to deal with a threat of an uprising arbiter.."

 

she sighs as howl passes out and whispers.

 

'Terminate howl and move to the evac point.. Hes too much of an unknown..we risk losing alot if he is discovered... Hq doesnt want to risk it."

[Armoured Priest]

Barren looked at the now knocked out Howl and then back up to oce, a concerned look in all of his eyes, as he asked his question quietly. "Uuuh, sis, what are we going to do? They really want us to do.....that?" He question, not really wanting to speak the words of what they would have to do if they followed orders, despite what his stomach was telling him. Thankfully enough, it seemed like mother was not forcing him to do it yet, at least in that other tone that didn't sound right to him. "I could change into something else and carry him, maybe?" he offered, trying to help his older sibling in the decision making.

[Oce]

Oce sighed as their Operator's orders sunk in. It was already time for Howl to be thrown aside? She wore the grimace on her lips- she could easily be dealt with any time so long as she fulfills her duty as an executioner. To her, there truly was no benefit in killing their charge, and as she gazed down upon his tortured body with pity in her eyes, she tugged the ear piece away. "We'll have to run, brother."

[Thugren]

"oce you.."

 

you hear the operators words say as you toss the earpiece aside, but suddenly you notice something, how was definitely out, but his senses, and the beast within was poised to strike. in his hands you can see the symbiote had been forming blades, coiling them in his hands like a bundle of razors, finally calmed the body goes slack , completely at ease.

 

SOon, the boy wakes and groans, rolling onto his back as his organs reform.

 

"Thank you guys.."

 

he says weakly, grabbing his ribs.

 

"What is the plan.."

[Oce]

"Sorry Gab," Oce muttered without a grimace; their operator was ultimately just another of the Ho Siht puppets, and as such she hoped the woman wouldn't be punished for their choice of defiance. She crushed the earpiece with her heel as they waited for the boy to heal up enough to be moved, meanwhile raking her brain for somewhere they would be able to go.

 

"Ah hell, I left most of my games in the apartment... Sorry, Lynn," she whispered to herself, moving to lean against the wall while she and her brother watched over their charge. When he came to, she ignored his gratitude- "Any suggestions as to where we should go?"

[Armoured Priest]

"Of course, not like I was totally planning on eating you or anything right? Hahah.....ha." Barren said with a obviously nervous laughter after seeing the bundles of razors that were in the symbiote's hands. He might be hungry, but he wasn't that stupid. At least he likes to think that. Then hearing his sister speak about the games and their apartment, the ghoul boy was struck by a realization."......Our stuff!"  Barren exclaimed, thinking mostly about his miniatures. He pointed one of six tiny arms at Howl. "You're helping us pack after we runaway from the cleaner units that are coming.....actually we should be doing that right now shouldn't we?" he asked them as a way of reminding them that there are agents already here to 'clean up' the place.

[Thugren]

howl shakes his head.

 

"Theres a shuttle that will take us hom,e..but if its ho siht they are going to come here to kill us.. They know im weak. If we use the train we can get your shit, i can get some shots, and we can go... My cousin will put us up somewhere to get our feet under us."

howl stands and pokes barren in the center of his head.

 

"you where planning on eating me..DOnt lie."

[Armoured Priest]

Barren just laughed again, the eyes looking in every possible direction, before he climbed down the table headed straight for the door and ignoring what Howl said about some cousin or what not. He would look both ways when he looks outside to be sure the place was clear with his own senses first before he would let sis or Howl out the door and possibly get spotted. He did want his stuff back after all.

[Oce]

Oce hummed quietly at Howl's proposal. "We shouldn't go back to the apartment right now. It's far too obvious and probably will get us killed. Also a chance for them to track us. Sorry Barren, your stuff is going to have to wait." The apologetic smile she offered was just slightly too similar to a grimace as her mind wandered for a moment. While she was a disposable agent of Ho Siht, operators would be just as replaceable. They could have very well gotten Gabriella killed.

 

She smirked as she watched Howl poke her brother. "Really? You wanted to eat this bony guy?" Oce pulled her charge into her side, squeezing him gently around his neck. Part of her felt protective- not because of Barren, but because if Ho Siht hadn't been lacking in IQ points, they would have waited until Howl was locked inside HQ before ordering his death. This kid was still alive.

 

"Cousin? Are you sure that they would be willing to help us?"

[Thugren]

howl hugs into oces side for a moment, before walking away and leading you out of the tunnels.

 

It takes several hours, but soon enough you are back home and Howl leads the group to the apartment and everyone gathers their effects and prepares for a long journey on the run. 

 

Howl looks at pictures of his life, years of work to become a student of law, and his girlfriend, and he turns them facedown, turning his back on the life he had fooled himself into having. Soon there is a knock on the door and everything goes tense as howl goes to answer it, he lets in four figures .

 

The first is a large man, in typical Bancho heavy clothes were reinforced with armor plates. On his face is a respirator that hisses as he comes in, and he offers howl a tender palm.

 

The second is a young girl, barely the age of nine, who wears a long purple lolita dress with overlong sleeves and bunny ears. She smiles at barren with a predatory look as two women , one a classical japanese woman in a kimono and an umbrella and the other, a warrior like the large man, her body covered in chains and hooks.

 

'I am kamui.."

 

the large warrior intones.

 

"YOu are howls friends.... Oce and barren yes?"

 

he bows deeply .

 

"Thank you for protecting him...I will extend you the same kindness."

[Armoured Priest]

Barren was back in his human form, with his clothes back on of course but his metal mouth mask sitting on the table, sitting at Howl's computer like a gargoyle while downloading his games and stuff he could scrapped up and out from online storage before turning his head at the people who just came in with his head turned to an unnatural degree. The boy barely heard what the guy with the noisy gasmask had said, what ghoul instincts that he could figure out trying to make him worried at why the girl in the pretty dress was giving him that look that he'd would usually look at a plate of food. He could even feel his 'mother' try to calm him down. "Uh, no problem." was all he could muster at the moment, not use to someone other than Oce or Howl saying something like that to him. He looked at the screen, then at the girl, screen, then back to the girl. "So.....do you like video games?" he asked her cautiously. He didn't know why he was so worried, especially when there was someone there with nothing but hooks and chains, she seemed nice in comparison. Not like he had a lot of friends anyways.

[Oce]

Oce positioned herself near the front door, leaning against the wall as she focused on her phone, memorizing the underground tunnels for as many nearby areas that she could find. There wasn't much that she would be able to do sitting around at Howl's place and it was somewhat annoying to her. When the knock came, Oce tensed in preparation to tackle the inevitable entrance of an officer of Ho Siht.

 

She was somewhat thrown off when Howl answered the door, inviting four people inside. She finally remembered that this was likely his cousin and relaxed some, though nothing could remove her cold mask. To her amusement, the first male wore a respirator. His appearance likely would have made her wary, but her focus was glued on the little girl that entered after him. Something about her was wrong. While she appeared to just be an ordinary nine year old.. The uneasy feeling Oce had came from her, and the way she stared at her brother and Howl did not help.

 

Oce finally managed to pry her gaze away to glance at Howl, barely resisting taking his shoulder and pulling him closer to her. "Are you sure we can trust them?" Something in her voice made it apparent that all she wanted was a single word from her charge, and she'd drop it. She saw no point in trying to convince Howl that these people were dangerous- especially since any help with their current predicament would make everything easier.

[Thugren]

you are right to be wary of me."

 

the large man says calmly, his respirator releasing a puff of air that makes the air smell like some form of pastry.

 

"I am kamui Cujo..Of the Cujo Yakuza family."

 

Kamui bows as howl smiles warmly and goes over to oce, placing a hand on hers.

 

'Hes safe..Relax... How is your father kamui."

 

The larger warrior leans against a caninet and folds his arms.

 

'Dead.... Finally thank god... but thats not the important thing..YOu guys need a place yes?"

 

howl nods as googy comes closer to barren, sizing him over like one would a fly.

 

"Youre ok....... ima need you to move though."

 

impossibly, and slightly terrifyingly, four tentacles seem to appear in the air behind googy and lift the seat barren is sitting on above the girls head and sets him down.

 

"I gotta get on my league of heroes account or im gonna go down from my platiunum division. YOu can watch...Or grab a keyboard and we can lan...Big brother talks alot and it gets super boring."

 

 

The woman covered in hooks chuckles as the woman in the kimono goes to the kitchen, rolling up her sleeves as she begins to make tea.

 

"Ive got a place for all three of you....Youll have to pull your weight for the family but if it takes you oput of the fire im sure you all wont complain."

 

Howl seems to visibly tense at his cousins words but he nods.

 

"It was inevitable huh..... If barren and oce are willing to come with me i dont see why not."

[Armoured Priest]

"Weeee." was all barren said as he got lifted into the air by the tendrils that just appeared out of thin air around Googy. "Sure, I can play support if you want." Barren offered as he pulled out one of howl's spare keyboards from the cabinet, hooking it up his own little computer. "Yea that's fine Howl, not like we didn't kill and eat people before now for our last job." Barren shrugged his shoulders, just a thing they did like it was taking out the trash or something. "OH, sis! Tell him about the liquid stuff I needs, also you're cryomancy juice thing....I forgot what it was." He reminded her by picking up his mask and waving it at her before returning his attention back to the game, picking Nautilis.

[Oce]

"From the Ho Siht to the Yakuza... What, are we goddamn stray cats now?" Oce muttered to herself, finally tearing her gaze away from Howl and Kamui and taking notice of the woman with hooks. "I've gotta ask; do you enjoy fishing or what?"

 

She sighed as the umbrella lady left to 'make tea', finally considering Kamui's offer and mostly tuning out Googy and Barren. That girl was something else, and Oce wasn't sure how stable her powers were. However, she hadn't slammed her brother through the ceiling, so it was a start. "We can 'pull our own weight' if we're given the proper supplies. Barren needs an Iridium mixture, and I require liquid nitrogen." She kept the fact that it was necessary for her to survive out of the conversation, though she wouldn't be surprised if Kamui was already aware of her condition. 

 

Oce knew very well that she just went from guard dog to guard dog, but in the very least Howl's life wouldn't be forfeit. Though hers and Barrens were debatable, if they didn't live up to expectations... The cryomancer sighed, slumping against the wall in an effort to prevent fidgeting- it would be a sign of weakness, and it would be a waste of energy.

[Thugren]

I invoke the right of Dainisōgyō."

 

Howl says, and the room goes tensely quiet. The woman who made tea sets the teapot down and looks back at them over the shoulder.

 

"oh ho.."

 

googy says, locking in her choice of some fox tailed girl , slapping the pcs tower lightly as it hung and forcing the game to start.

 

it was the woman with the hooks who soke, breaking the silence, coking her head.

 

"Im not exaclty from...Now...What is this ."

 

Kamui places his hands on his rebreather, lifting it away to reveal a face with two scars, one horizontal across his right eye and another diagonal  over his left.

 

"Dainisōgyō is.. Second founding.. It implies that he does not simply want to be brought in as a vassal of the current bujo..He will assist but he will be treated as a whole nother family... Subservient to the house, but of its own.. WHo would be your second Cousin."

 

kamui asks carefully as howl places a hand on oces shoulder.

 

"Oce will be."

 

kamui watches for a long moment and smirks.

 

" Fine.. We need somone to handle  our illicit medicine operation anway...I will get you set up and youll start taking territory...ill set you up in yyour fathers old estate... That being said.."

 

he reaches into his jacket and pulls out a pill , similar to the ones oces rig would drop into her body to force cooling.

 

"YOu need the nitrogen tabs to keep your core below heat... YOull die otherwise . I am similar. If my zero point amasses too much it will begin to break my heart down... This pill will keep your body colder longer until we get home and i can set you up with a steady supply of nitro.. As for irridium.... Its not the first time i dealt with an abberant. Ill have some pulled from stock."

 

the woman in the kitchen begins to hum to herself and begins to mix the tea as kamui puts his hand on his cousins shoulder.

 

"Are you sure you want t odo this..Theres nothing wrong with just living quietly."

 

Howl shakes his head.

 

"My family deserves to be more than attack dogs... so ill do waht i have to."

 

kamui nods as googy lets out a frustrated outburst.

 

'FUCKING NOOB ASS WEEB TRASH CHARACTER UGH."

 

the woman with the hooks chuckles and shakes her head at this and looks at oce.

 

"And to answer you..Yes.. SOme times i have lord kamui tie a string around my throat and toss me into the ocean to catch big fish...it makes me feel alive."