#artbufun

Loud clashes against metal gates, and the chorus of snarls and growling. Those were the warning noises that roused Goro from his reverie, immediately shifting his mindset into one of full attention. The brunette groaned - for the infected to appear close to his residence was something within his calculations, although he was certainly hoping that it shall not come to pass. Fate had other plans, it would seem.

He braved a small peek from his window. They haven’t invaded the inside of the building just yet, but if he didn’t wish to get holed inside his room, the best course of action would be to clear up a path. If he was planning to achieve victory in this scavenger hunt - and he was - then such a feat was mandatory in his eyes.

Kurusu wasn’t around the area, and he would loathe to waste a Command Spell when alternatives yet exist. Besides, a childish side of him wanted to prove that he could handle his own without a Servant, thank you very much. The young phantom thief would never let it down if he called someone he almost murdered for help over something as trivial as this.

Still, it was unwise to try to take such a group on his own. An attempt was made some days past, and much to the former detective’s shame he had nothing to show for it outside of cuts and bruises. Another Master who could fight on their own might suffice. Fortunately, there was already somebody nearby who qualifies. Thus, with pistol and saber in hand, Goro ventured out a few steps from his own apartment and knocked on his newest neighbor’s door.

We look forward to seeing you again! Yusuke and Gintoki have been dropped for you.

Regardless, in all that he’d considered when thinking of a possible future, Norman had never questioned that he would be a law-abiding citizen. Of course he would be! Maybe a police officer, or a detective -- he’d always been fascinated by mysteries after all -- but even if not, always on the right side of the law.

He had certainly never envisioned himself breaking into an establishment at an absurd hour of the night, as he was currently doing. Or, well, attempting at any rate.

The front entrance of this hole-in-the-wall pizzeria was an old-style single door, chipped green paint in the front of a red brick building, with a tall glass window in the middle of it. It even seemed too narrow compared to the doorways he was used to. There were two locks, one on the handle and a deadbolt above it, and though they appeared much newer than the door itself, they didn’t seem to be much more complicated than the Grace Field House locks. Shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, and he’d be in and out. Hopefully unseen, if only because explaining why he was breaking and entering didn’t strike him as a particularly enjoyable pastime.

So Norman thought, until he happened to glance back to check for any unexpected company (whether it was one of “his own”, so to speak, or one of the infected) and found someone looking his direction. Only sheer force of will to keep calm prevented him from jumping out of his skin. He couldn’t quite make out the figure, let alone their expression to determine their opinion on his current preoccupation. He smiled, friendly, hoping they could see it and would take it at face value. He’d been lucky enough so far, in that regard, but expecting good fortune not to run out eventually would get him killed, he had no doubt.

He stood up from his crouching position, slowly enough to be nonthreatening, and mentally noting every possible escape route. That had become the norm, somehow. He had no intention of dying here.

“Hi. This is not what it looks like.” Well, it was, but not for the reasons that they probably thought. Hopefully, they had an amiable disposition and would accept his explanation. “I noticed a couple of Saint Fragments inside, and it turned out to be locked, and...well, I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not find out what happens if we don’t gather enough to help repair the firewall.” Assuming that was, indeed, the purpose they really served.

♔ – White King — What is the biggest sacrifice you’ve made?

There’s been this goal he had for a while. It was practically his life’s meaning, and he sacrificed everything for it. For it, he sacrificed the happiness of others, and he sacrificed the happiness he kept for himself. Perhaps it’s because he couldn’t imagine what it would be like without that ambition, without that hated brewing inside him. Having one emotion is better than nothing at all.

Maybe it was stupid. To do all of this for years only to sacrifice that goal for one single moment. But it had been worth it.

♙ – White Pawn — Where do you see yourself in five years?

He never even imagined himself in a year, let alone five. But things have changed, and suddenly he has a future he never thought he could ever have. It’s a scary unknown, but it’s something that he welcomes as he tries to navigate through his surroundings. Slowly, but surely.

Come back in a year, maybe two, and if he is lucky enough to last that long then maybe he might have his answer.

♟ – Black Pawn — Have you ever been an underdog?

There was nothing wrong with taking breaks, no, even Ray needed to rest sometimes. A sound body would allow him to have a sound mind. Which was something that he needed constantly if he didn’t to accidentally get hit by some infected citizen. However, given his current location, taking a break would be unwise, seeing how infected citizens were slowly gathering here too. 

But, the more people that Ray met that were older than him, the less and less he was getting around to understanding them. It’s like they were some enigma that he couldn’t wrap his head around just yet. Or maybe the person before him was just eccentric. For within his vicinity would be one individual drawing their life away with little care for his surroundings. Here. Where infected citizens where starting to gather.

Now, Ray wasn’t someone that would just go up and expect that any random person would be so engrossed in their own activities that they wouldn’t notice some clearly hazardous individual coming their way, but with how fervently they were scribbling away into their sketchbook, it could only seem that way.

“You have got to be kidding me.” The 12 year old mumbled to himself. Ray quickly judged the distance between himself, that individual, and the infected citizens. From the looks of it I can get there in time but... Ray wasn’t sure if he was strong enough to go around dragging someone clearly older than him away from danger. 

But you know what?

If there was one thing that he learned from his siblings, it was that saving people wasn’t about rationality. So he was running. Running to save a life. One older than his. One he didn’t even trust. One he didn’t care about. But it was the right thing. And Ray wasn’t someone that wouldn’t do the right thing. He was just someone that chose his battles well. 

@artbufun

Here, there were no eyes. 

Ai no longer had to keep her careful gaze upon that accursed web-- the King of Hell could not see her here, and as such, she was no longer obligated to keep herself composed. Though that did not mean rampaging, she had discovered... fun, new outlets for her compulsions to destroy.

Night had fallen, and not a lot of people seemed to like lingering after visibility got low. The small-statured female had found herself enjoying watching the city from the rooftops, keeping a quiet watch over any potential clients, but lately... the compulsory urges to smash things came at somewhat inappropriate moments. In that given time frame, she found herself staring blankly at a large air unit atop the same building, her small foot poised at its base. Without warning, she smashed into it, uprooting the entire thing and sending it sailing over the edge. Perhaps, she might have smiled, if she had not heard the crash as it hit the sidewalk below and the mad, panicked scuffling of someone trying to avoid it.

As she peered downwards, she watched a lanky teenage boy, not much older than she appeared, scramble backwards on his bottom away from the wreckage that could have very easily landed right on his head. Ai sighed, floating down from her perch, and offered the male a small, pallid hand.

send me ‘speak up!’ for the first three things my muse equates with yours!