Mercenary Spear

“Unfortunately no, to either of those things.” Removing his hand, he pulled his map out of his pocket. He considered for a moment that he was completely unsure of what to even call this place. “Ah, Miss? If I could bother you with another question?”

“What would you call your business? I am making a map of the city, and I find you do not fit into my predetermined legend.” Running a thumb over the map, he considered the location as well.

“Do your services include anything other than killing monsters and people? Are you a sort of jack-of-all-trades type?” 

                   ❝ Thats what I thought. ❞ She’d say with a slight amused chuckle while shrugging it off. Not a customer, but oh well wasn’t like she was going to complain. Wasn’t as if something wouldn’t come up later, there was always something that would come up once a day at least. She’d rather there be more business, but she wouldn’t be too picky considering where her location was.

         ❝ Shoot. ❞ She’d nod, but she figured that would be pointless. ❝ Uh...go for it, I mean. ❞ Then she’d just wave what she said before off pretending she didn’t say it at all. ❝ Huh ?...well I wouldn’t say a jack of all trades. I guess close enough though considering there’s not much to do here for money. ❞ Mercenary work turning into charity work, she felt like Wedge and Biggs would laugh at her.

@highdragoon liked for a short starter

Calloused fingers swept along the sign to no avail, but he could hear them breathing next to him. Waiting to get in, perhaps?

“My apologies - I was trying to figure out what kind of store this was.”

                   Her gloved hand would be holding onto her chin, looking at this man in slight amusement. ❝ Dooon’t sweat it. Take all the time you need, I ain’t in no rush. ❞ She’d speak, casually looking at her own very interesting sign she had created for herself. This would be a first time she would have a customer who couldn’t see things though. Then again,she would highly doubt he would be a customer.

        “Well, shucks, what a sweet-talker you are.” A feast, huh? It’s been a while since he partook to this degree — not of gunfights and bloodshed, that is. The hero was confident in his abilities as a marksman, but if possible, he’d like to avoid as much violence as he can. He shrugs, sighing: “Fine by me. This wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had a target on my back, so I know the drill — less belly-achin’, more belly-takin’, if ya know what I mean. I’ll ask about the details later.”

       If there even is a later, he suddenly wonders.

       “Huh. That so.” With how she carries herself, it was honestly a little surprising to hear. Maybe he didn’t pick such a great tour guide after all. “Guess we both got a few things ta learn, then. —” But then again, anything was better than nothing, and she did seem quite capable. It couldn’t hurt to stick with her. As if to affirm his decision with himself, he nods quietly, continuing his previous verbage with a toothy grin. “I ain’t too worried, though.”

       He smirks: “Then it’s a deal. ‘Til we figure out what’s goin’ on, we’ll watch each other’s backs, y’hear? Let’s shake on it.” Solo code be damned, he extended his hand out to her, knowing full well he needed someone who knew a little more than him about the situation and landscape, even if it meant bending his own rules a bit. Not that he’d really trust her to watch his back, though — but she didn’t have to know that much.

       “Call me Billy, or, if ya prefer you can keep callin’ me partner. Sounds mighty fine comin’ from you.” Yeah, not even he can keep that facade up. He shakes his head, rubbing his nose before pulling back. “Naw, I kid. A pleasure, Aranea Highwind.”

       “Now, how’s ‘bout we find a place to hole upfor a bit? Less, o’course, ya feel like gettin’ in a scrap already.”

                   She could only give him a wink and a small chuckle. ❝ I try my best, most men wouldn’t call it sweet talking though. ❞ Maybe because it usually ended up with her emptying their pockets with her greed or a fight broke out. Either way, it was a hella good time for her even if it wasn’t exactly sweet talking. At least she could sweet talk her way out of things still. ❝ Ah good, I’d hate to be stuck with a green leaf you know? It gets bored after a while showing the ropes to newbies. Glad to see that you don’t need any guidance at all. ❞ She could definitely drink to that, if she had one in her hand.

         ❝ Sounds good enough to me, ❞ she’d speak while going in to shake his hand almost right away. It’s good to have some company anyway, this whole situation was about to drive her nuts. Perhaps having someone work with her would help ease that frustration boiling deep within her about this place. ❝ Just be sure to keep up with me alright? I don’t go slow. ❞ A hint of playfulness would come into her tone of voice while she smirked while she spoke.

         ❝ Well now doesn’t that just sound dirty. ❞ She’d almost erupt in a a roar of laughter from that. It was clear though he was quick to end that silly joke and make things return to normal. Dare she say that was almost cute? ❝ It’s a pleasure to meet you as well Billy. Or should I just keep saying partner? ❞ Jokingly of course she’d say that.

Momo observe the other coming in. She certainly seem like a strong woman that could take care of herself, with a bit of an aloof attitude, but a very strong personality. That wasn’t always too bad, and so she close the door behind them before leaning herself against a wall, as if thinking of her own way out through all of this. There isn’t much she could do. She was lucky thought to find a decent size pipe to use if she did need to bash something away.

“Take all the time you need. You’re in no rush to find yourself out.” It was her own way of letting the other know that she was allow to stay as long as she needed to. Though her attention was brought by the other’s question. Momo would love to say that she would rather find herself stuck in this situation with her close friends, or at least classmates from school that were brought here. However, it seem that only whatever force that controlled them being in this city is also responsible for keeping them all apart.

Letting out a small sigh, the young hero proceed with her answer. “As much as I would like to be with my friends, I couldn’t get in touch with them. Nor know their location to see if they needed help. I don’t fear the worst, I know they can handle any situation on their own.” Though when it came to her and other strangers… “I’m not exactly good with making many friends. So I find myself having to defend myself.” Which isn’t too bad, after all, she has been doing so well on her own.

“What about yourself? I can see you helping others with your own strength.”

                   ❝ Thank you for that, I really need it. Honestly. ❞ Even if she was a high regarded mercenary that could do many things, she could still get pretty tired. Wasn’t as if she was a fighting machine or something like that, though the empire seemed to think different. At least they made her wallet feel fat from the short time she worked with them. ❝ Don’t be surprised if I somehow fall asleep just from resting here. ❞ She’d speak with a little light humor.

         ❝ I see. That does make it a little hard doesn’t it? ❞ Well at least she was wasn’t too worried about them, if she put it that way, sounded like they were pretty good fighters. Which was a good thing, a lot of people were going to need help right now. ❝ Well if you need an extra hand, don’t be afraid to shout. I might just come running. For free of course, can’t exactly make money during a situation like this. ❞ A downer, but she’d live. Wasn’t as if she wasn’t going to make money again later.

Would no one come to the aid of someone as worthless as him? Would no one have tried to “save” him if they knew how terrible he was? It is impossible for him to believe the answer is yes, even without this woman’s intervention. It may be rare, but there are those who are willing to help even the worst of the worst for nothing but the sake of their own ideas of righteousness and morality. Perhaps this woman is among them: the hopeful few whose ideals could shape the world.

Desperate for some scrap of hope to cling to in this urban hellscape, Komaeda accepts the ideal, if not the concrete “truth” of it. It is only a possibility, but it is one he aims to follow through to its end, for better or for worse. To that end, he makes himself agreeable to her whims, despite what he suspects may happen.

To tell the truth, he hasn’t a clue whether or not he could climb if need be; he’s never tried, nor had any reason to do so. “I’m not sure,” he answers honestly, “but I don’t know if I’d recommend climbing anything difficult if we can avoid it.” Lest he fall to his death, cursed as always by his luck. “Then again, anything that’s easy for us to climb will be easy for them to climb, too…” In the back of his mind, he wonders: would it be worse to die a meaningless death by falling, or at the hands of the hopeless masses? Neither is anything close to ideal.

There is still the possibility of survival, however faint it may seem at times. “Hm… what do you think? Maybe we should try going low instead of high? But we might run into something awful in the sewers, too…”

                   She’d rub her chin in thought, that would be true wouldn’t it? ❝ Yeah...we should probably look for something slightly difficult so we actually have a chance of throwing them off. ❞ Dealing with wild monsters and beasts were more easier than dealing with crazed humans. Whatever you could do, the human could do. Unless you had God like abilities then perhaps that was another story. ❝ Gah -- this is so annoying! ❞ She’d scowl a little at the ideas that she could come up with but also feel like they wouldn’t work.

         ❝ Low? ❞ The most she thought about being low is just looking for a building, claiming said building, and probably fight off people. He was definitely on a way better track honestly. ❝ A good suggestion, sewers wouldn’t be too bad. ❞ Just a matter of finding an entrance to the said sewers, and also consider what might be under there. A monster? Well she could handle that, if she had a weapon in hand. Though that would be easily obtainable if they could go back to where the stalls were and snipe a weapon or two. Never go unprepared or it could be just the death of you.

          ❝ An electronic? What? Ugh, this is a pain in the neck, ❞ she mutters, lips curling downward in a frustrated frown at how the other attempts to explain it in terms she has no knowledge of. especially at the claim of how easily it is to maintain and use. ❝ All I’m getting out of this is it’s useless and a waste of time. You’re doing a crap job at explaining how to use it, too. I’ve never seen things like this before, got it? ❞

Well, one thing’s for sure, he was definitely out of practice. Initially, he wasn’t really trying to specifically target her. He just didn’t know where to look, what to do, what to eat — he’d been to a few parties in his lifetime, oh there was no question there, but in a place as strange and urbanized as this? The Kid was only trying to get his bearings, see what was good around here — but damn did she have a sharp eye, and a sharp tongue to boot.

He rather liked people like that.

“Well, y’know, I wasn’t sure what was good around here, being new to town an’ all. Mind tellin’ me a few things about this place? Maybe about yourself, while you’re at it?“

"I’m no stranger to chaos, y’know. I may not look it, but I can do mighty fine on very little. I ain’t lookin’ for hand-outs. Just a little information would be nice. A partnership even better — you look like you can hold yer own well too. But, I won’t push it either.”

                   ❝ Well sure doll face, I’d love to just tell you everything. As soon as we’re not being hunted. ❞ She’d speak all the while being amused by his words. ❝ A pretty wild time to be chucked into this city though, considering they decided to throw this grand fantastic event. Just for us you know, where everyone is just trying to kill each other, and everyone is either hiding or just dead. Sounds like a grand feast. ❞

         These guys certainly knew how to time things well didn’t they? She could only assume he wasn’t the only one either. Probably a bunch of other unfortunate sorry sags in the same situation as this kid. This was definitely quite the welcoming for them. ❝ Though I haven’t really been here that long myself. In fact, they apparently like to toss us into these sort of situations for everyone in the city. First time experiencing it, can’t say I’m too thrilled about it. ❞ She wasn’t getting paid for anything and she was having to do work. Talk about lame.

This really was a troubling situation. Not being given anything to defend herself, but also not being able to create anything for defense was very problematic. Something Momo would have to consider her thoughts on what to do in the future. She was lucky enough to find a place to rest for the time being, to come up with a strategy. In hopes of not encountering anyone that would wish to do harm to someone currently defenseless.

It wasn’t until she heard the door open that her guard rose, standing up and preparing to defend herself. However… that didn’t seem like the case before the door slam shut. 

“…” The young hero stared at the door, unsure of what to make of what happen. Not to mention the other woman’s voice on the other side made her words and tone unmatchable. 

Approaching the door, the hero opens the door carefully, staring at the other for a moment before making up her mind. “If you like to take a rest here, be my guest. I don’t plan to harm or attack anyone.” Unless they made the first move of course.

                   There was a period of silence, and she was assuming that was the okay of not being attacked, maybe. When the door opened she wasn’t too sure if she should be on defense or not, but there was no sudden movement to attack. For now this would be alright, hopefully.

         ❝ About time there’s a place to take a break in, sheesh. ❞ Her armored hand would rub the back of her neck as she would be walking in then from that invitation. The mercenary would just plop herself down on the ground leaning against a wall while heaving out a heavy tired sigh. ❝ A five minute break sounds about nice, before having to jump right back into searching for our point and dodging madmen everywhere. ❞ It was a never ending day.

         ❝ Shouldn’t someone like you be in a group of people? ❞ A sudden question as she would be staring at the young girl with a little confusion. ❝ You know, teaming up and all that friendly bullcrap people spit out. ❞ She was honestly surprised not to see her with someone else. Afterall everyone had been teaming up to get out of here. Herself though, she just liked going at it alone she guessed. Much more easier that way anyway, didn’t have to look out for another person, just only herself.

     Having her personal space invaded wasn’t new, even if she wished it was, so Hakuno didn’t flinch at the contact– simply frowned slightly at the newfound, and unwanted, touch. This woman seemed pretty relaxed despite the situation at hand, and calling her friend? It was pretty clear that she just wanted to use the Master as a means to an end. But that was understandable, people needed to get through this one way or another. ❝Uh, hello. ❞

     Didn’t mean she had to be comfortable with it. 

     ❝ Borrow something? ❞ she repeated what she had been told, confused for a moment before connecting the dots. She needed something, something that she’d ‘borrow’, and they were in a thriving market-space– albeit currently on an extended close due to the owners being driven to insanity. A decent reason to close up shop anyway.  ❝ You want to take something from the stores? How exactly could I help you with that? ❞

     Maybe this woman hadn’t noticed, but Hakuno was pretty much just a high school student, well, with a little bit of magic at hand. Did the uniform not give away her status? The only thing she could do was hide out any attacks and run pretty fast. 

                   ❝ Yep. Borrow something, pretty simple and easy task honestly. ❞ Well in her mind it was, in reality there was probably a few things that would go wrong. If she wasn’t careful anyway, and she’d just have to pay extra care to those details. It wasn’t as if she was going to let anyone die over something so tedious. She especially wasn’t going to die over something so damn stupid as well. ❝ Well see, when you say it like that you make it sound like a criminal activity. Borrowing sounds way more better, ❞ aside from the fact every citizen wanted them dead. That was more criminal activity then taking something, wasn’t it?

                   ❝ Well, in reality, you will be taking it for me. ❞

         She’d beckon at the girl to follow her silently as she would peer out from the ally they two of them were in as her armored hand would point at one of the market stalls. ❝ That one, has something everyone here is probably dying to get. A weapon. ❞ If someone had a weapon, that meant being able to defend yourself more easily and fend off people more easily. Everyone would be wanting one of those, be it the hard way or easy way of obtaining one. She wasn’t picky.

Surviving his own carefully crafted death must have been good luck because it’s hard to imagine the mobs of bloodthirsty urban warriors as anything positive at all. This is either misfortune following fortune or an additional bout of bad luck before something unpredictably lucky happens. There’s no way of knowing until something more happens, but even when his life is spared ( yet again, he can’t help but lament ), he doesn’t think that’s it.

The woman who interjected is unfamiliar, as they all are. She is no one he knows or has even heard of, and that confuses him. Even as she drags him away from the immediate danger, Komaeda contemplates her purpose. There is nothing to gain from saving him, after all, nor from dragging him along as she goes about her business. There is no way she can benefit from this, and yet…

Rather than allowing himself to be dragged, Komaeda follows her willingly. “I have a couple ideas, but there’s no need to drag me along if I’m going to get in your way. I don’t mind finding somewhere else to rest if I’m going to be a hassle.” As he says it, he realizes he does want her to remain safe, even if she leaves him behind - and who could blame her? “Somewhere high up might be safer,” he points out, “but I’ve also heard that churches can be sanctuaries even when the world outside is going to hell. What do you think?” 

                   A couple of ideas, that’s better than nothing and she was willing to take it. ❝ If I thought you were gonna be in the way, I wouldn’t have helped you. Now would I? ❞ Great, she didn’t really want to deal with this type of person. Many times would she help someone back home with this sort of situation, and they’d pretty much tell her the same thing. The only thing she could do was roll her eyes and maybe tell them to shut up as she helped them. Especially since it wasn’t everyday she helped someone for free.

         ❝ Okaaay...somewhere high sounds good....church idea though, I think I’ll pass. ❞ There wasn’t going to be much protection in a church and she wasn’t going to risk her life for that idea. You could barricade some walls, but that would only get you so far until they broke it down eventually. That, or found some other way to barge their way right in. ❝ Hmm... ❞ There was a wall over there, wall of rocks anyway, they could climb up and be somewhere safe for a little while. Probably was in the general location to go anyway. Especially because since when were you able to go to places you needed to go the easy way?

         “ You know, if you want food, all you gotta do is ask. Instead of staring from a distance. “ She’d speak up to the lone ranger clear across from her. It would seem he would be as well trying to hide away. Unsure of what was safe or unsafe, who was friend who was foe, she couldn’t blame him honestly. “ I don’t bite. Much. “ A wink would be given toward his direction as she was obviously joking.

         “ Can’t say I got anything fascinating. I was in a rush, you know, with the crowd. It was so busy at the market today. With all the yelling and wanting to kill me and stuff. “ Though much of it was already barren, she could only assume others who were stuck here had taken what they could grab for supplies as well. Well if it meant surviving this freak show, she’d say theft was allowed. Especially if they were trying to kill you.

         ❝ Might wanna beat cheeks soon, he aint gonna stay down on the ground forever. ❞ She’d speak while looking at the body trying to regain movement after the blow she gave. Though she could already hear more yells and crazy people on the move. Just one thing after another she supposed. ❝ Oh hell, there’s no hope for these morons. Lets just leave. Now. ❞

         She would already be grabbing him by the rest and dragging the poor guy away. They just needed to get to somewhere where there wasn’t anything trying to kill them. This was going to be annoying, and hard. ❝ If you see a safe spot, speak up, alright? ❞

         Opening one door, slowly, she’d slowly poke her head in. Only to see another already residing in the room. Quickly she’d close the door then dusting her hands off of that. ❝ Shit -- Ahem! I mean, sorry didn’t know someone was in there. ❞

         ❝ Please don’t attack poor innocent lil me, ❞ if only her voice wasn’t so monotone as she spoke the sentence. ❝ I’m so defenseless. ❞ Defenseless as in no weapon to fight with, doesn’t mean she wouldn’t kick your ass with her fists and feet though. Dammit, she just wanted to sit down for a little while and take a break.

         Going back into the shadows of the ally way, the foot steps that seemed to be in a rush would reach her ears as the mercenary would turn her head to see the other. Of course she was quick to judge to see if threat or friend, but hell, this was already easy enough to tell this woman was hardly any of the lunatics out there. ❝ Well, well, I’m excited to see now I have a friend. ❞

         Already the gears in her mind would be working out to form up a plan. Now that there was two instead of one, this just got a looot better for her. ❝ Hey friend, ❞ she’d speak while invading their personal space while placing an arm around her shoulders. ❝ Wanna help me out in “ borrowing “ something? I’d be more than happy to help you out if you help me out. ❞

she just wanted to have a good time and now look at this...anyway! Aranea will be stuck in district Kappa/Vario for this event!

She’s a god dang mercenary she can take care of herself and knows key things for survival She can help you survive and not die ( for a total of 50 bucks ) Even if she doesn’t have her spear she’ll slap the shit out of things for you??? Nah she’s pretty good at fighting I kid, she’ll definitely be a good ally to have Especially since she’ll probably find one way or another to get a weapon in her hand