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Post by { o p a l } on May 7, 2013 15:23:14 GMT -6
Regina humphed at the way he pulled the trigger. She didn't appear to be even minorly worried about the bullet heading her way: at it seemed appropriately, as the smoldering bit of metal suddenly froze midair a few inches away from her stomach and fell to the ground with a plink.
"Rule one of handling guns," she began as she poked at the bullet with her foot. "Always double check yourself."
She growled and reached into a pocket, pulling out a pair of black leather gloves and putting them on. Reaching down, she picked up the bullet. "Keep your hands steadier. And it's not as easy at it looks in the movies, so be constantly aware. It's not just point and shoot- know your time limit. You weren't in any hurry, you could've aimed better than that."
Kalyani rumbled. "What she means to say is that she's glad you didn't close your eyes. A lot do that. The next step is to be able to understand movement and how to adjust your aim- you were a little high and to the right, you nearly hit the door."
The Chief sighed. "When you are attacking something, always keep your senses on. Sight is important in a fight- so important, in fact, that we train our Special Ops Field Agents to fight without it."
The ocelot's tail twitched in an irritated manner. "Double check yourself, but be quick about it, at least for now. You'll get faster later."
She held out her hand for the gun. "We'll now be proceeding to a training ground. Kalyani?"
The feline nodded and pressed a button on the desk, and the screen powered down. "You may want to summon your spirit companion if he's interested in this type of thing."
"There are two main types of training grounds, magic and physical weapons. As you saw, modern technology is fairly ineffective against a magic user, and thus swords and bows are more our usual fare." She pulled the door open.
"I got it, Regina." Kalyani picked up something in her mouth. Leaping down from the desk, she carried it over to the Chief, depositing it in her human's hand. "You nearly forgot, didn't you."
"Oh, thanks." She held it out to Vincent. "Your personal communications unit, or com. It should fit into your ear fairly well." It was covered with a layer of velvet that appeared to more or less match his hair color.
"Fairly simple to use. You'll be contacted through it if you're needed somewhere, and you can contact people through it by pressing that button there. Always have it on you."
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Post by Wildsky on May 8, 2013 20:45:42 GMT -6
Vincent kept his face expressionless, for the most part, but he still had to say something. "If you don't expect me to shoot a gun, then why do you care about how good I am at it? I can use a sword and a bow, but you decide to pick on my ability to fire a weapon that is near useless against them?" He grinned, but in a horrible way.
"It's as if I told you your driving skills were abominable -- sure, you need to know how to drive, but if you don't practice, don't try, don't understand the finesse required for some parts of it, then you won't be good at it." He took a breath and look at Kalyani, then back to the Chief Executive. "A weapon is a weapon. But a surprise is a surprise is a surprise. Trial and error is learning, and practice is necessary. Tell the beginners they're wrong, and you'll find they'll never advance. Tell the one's who are practicing they're wrong, and you'll find that they'll do better. If you're the Chief Executive, I would hope you would know this."
He took the com and fit it in into his ear easily. "The officer at registration told me where the training rooms are -- perhaps it'd be better if I can find it on my own and get a feeling of the place?" He smiled and nodded. "Thank you for accepting me into the Silence, Chief Executive." With that, he strode off.
The corridors themselves were easy to navigate. Numbers, letters, directions, and landmarks. They might not have gone for simplicity in mind, but a consequence of their designs happened to be an element of simplicity. Ease of knowing where things are.
He found the training rooms easily and decided to try the physical one first. It was nicely set up, with archery and melee dummies, and he assumed that there was a dueling area off to the side. The weapons themselves were simple -- they were keeping them just the slightest bit dull as it was pointless to try to keep them sharp. Still, he found a nice short sword to try out.
It felt nice, heavier than his spatha, but that was to be expected. It would be nice to practice with a heavier sword. Help him get used to different weapons.
'Angry?' Eyv asked, appearing behind him slightly.
'Angry? Not necessarily. I'm not one to be angry. Even if I seemed angry, all just a play. Still... emotions drive me. I'm human. Spiteful, might be better to describe me. But enough of that -- we can think about that when we don't have work to do.'
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Post by { o p a l } on May 9, 2013 5:48:31 GMT -6
((Regina is such a little stuck-up bitch.))
It had been a few days.
Regina had hardly spared a thought towards Vincent, there had been a Specter issue and she'd been quite preoccupied. And, besides, why should she care about what he was doing at any given time? Or, for that matter, why should she care about him at all?
Now, however, there were reports of a small band of poltergeists roaming through the alleyways of London. The two had judged it might be a good chance for Vincent to get more experience in the field.
"You ready, Kalyani? I've got the location of the gym he's in."
"We're just going to show up?"
"Well... yes."
The cat groaned and stuck her head between her paws. "You really ought to learn some manners."
Regina scoffed. "Well, what would you have me do? Send a message over his com first?"
"Actually, that sounds like a good idea. Here, I'll press the button." Kalyani loved pressing buttons, it was a well-known fact to Regina. The cat switched the channel of the intercom on the desk, and with a nod at her human, pressed down on the button.
Regina leaned over and spoke into the intercom. "Wake up, princess. We're going to be heading over, with a mission you might get. That is, only if your combat skills have improved beyond 'let's point and hope it hits'-"
"Regina!"
"What?"
"Sometimes I think you enjoy being mean."
"Sometimes? Goodness, am I getting that soft? This is why I use my personal intercom all the time. Less dialogue with felines."
"Look. This might need a bit more tact than you're used to, so I'll talk to him."
"If you're so tactful, why is the bloody button still being pushed?"
"Ohshi-"
Kalyani abruptly removed her paw from the button, cutting off the message.
A few moments later, with the sound of Regina's snickers in the background, the ocelot pressed the button again and simply said: "Over."
Regina was still smirking as they made their way through the hallway, Kalyani stalking darkly at her feet with a scowl on her furry feline face.
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Post by Wildsky on May 9, 2013 6:18:28 GMT -6
Vincent grinned as he listened to the two bicker. "My, my, Chief Executive. You don't listen, do you? Maybe you should pick up on the fact that I've been using a sword since I was twelve, and haven't touched a gun in my life. Or you can make a fool out of yourself. Your choice." He shook his head and looked over at Eyvindr. "Now, what do they expect of me?" He kept his own hand on the com, playing with them in a light manner. "Do they want me to grab a sword and flail it around? Nah, I think I'll stick with the spatha I found. Its balance is a lot like the one I have back home, but a bit heavier and longer, so that'll be nice."
Eyv sighed but said nothing. Vincent took his hand off the com and was slightly more serious at that point. "I do need a dagger or knife, though, as well. A simple hunting or combat knife will work well enough. The spatha is long -- longer than I'd like, but it balances better than other swords here. At least, that I've found. I'm sure they keep the nice weapons somewhere. I've had it sharpened and everything -- hell, if I could, I'd adopt it. It's beautiful. Still, I might want to get a better one, if I get the money..." He sighed and shook his head. "I'm rambling, aren't I?"
"Just a bit," Eyvindr said. "I don't mind it though. But the Chief Executive and Kalyani will be here soon, you know. Their office isn't too far from this gym."
"Yeah, I know. I'll meet her outside and we can go fetch my weapons. And, oh! Armor. Do I need it? Ah, I'll ask her. If she gives me an answer without biting my head off."
He sighed and changed clothing, from the sweaty gym clothes to his regular clothing. He had hopped in the shower, but only for a second, and dried himself off. In total, it took maybe five minutes at most.
He walked out of the gym and leaned against the wall, waiting for the classic image of Kalyani and the Chief Executive. Eyvindr was hanging off of a bar next to him, but he wasn't fully there, slightly insubstantial, just as he liked it.
He wasn't smirking, smiling, frowning, and clenching his fists. His eyes were closed, but wasn't blind. Eyvindr was his eyes, his thoughts instantly connected to his. His mind wandered, but never strayed far enough to be surprised. He had learned to wait -- for hours or days. It took a lot of patience to not get anxious, but it was worth it.
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Post by { o p a l } on May 9, 2013 16:50:14 GMT -6
"Using a sword since he was twelve. Hmm, that sounds like your average adolescent," Regina commented as the two strode down a hallway.
"Regina, your view of the 'average adolescent' is slightly warped."
"I'm well aware." She stopped mid-stride, mentally creating a map of the Stonehenge complex, her hands moving as she sketched it out in the air. "He's a few corridors away. You going to take the passages?"
"You know I love them." The ocelot darted up to one of the decorative plotted plants that were maintained by spellcasters of the Flora and Summer patrons for no apparent reason than they had always been there- or so most thought.
Regina stooped next to it and carefully triggered a switch in the patterning of the vase, and it slid aside to reveal a passageway into the floor just barely large enough for a human. Her spirit vanished down it, and the plant slid back into position as if nothing had happened.
Soon enough, the Chief Executive could sense Kalyani in the wall beside her. With a smirk, she strode down the hallway, her spirit animal matching her stride, peeking out from behind a series of one-way windows disguised as mirrors. The ocelot was fully substantial, as it was easiest to sense a spirit animal that way.
"He's right up there. I'll go ahead and see how alert he is."
The exercise was simple: Kalyani would sneak ahead to see how agitated or calm the selected agent was. If either the spirit animal or human showed any signs of the ability to sense her presence, then they had clearly been working on magic prowess to the point where their senses had improved.
"Thirty more seconds, Kalyani."
"Right. He appears to be fully relying on his spirit animal for his senses. Quite a bit of trust."
"Indeed. Though the true test is whether or not he would rely on his spirit animal for his life."
Regina waited impatiently, quietly checking over data on her tablet. There appeared to be no emergency notifications for her. She gritted her teeth; she hated waiting and she hated wasting time.
"Alright, that's about the allotted time." Every time the test was conducted, the subject was allowed a previously established amount of time to see if they displayed any of the signs that they might feel her presence.
The Chief strode forward, shutting off the tablet as she went. As she was not in disguise, her two blades were in easy view, belted on over her tailcoat. Her sunglasses were tucked into a pocket. "Intern Vincent. You're all ready, I assume?"
She stood with her arms crossed and feet planted in an easy, even stance, surveying him. He wore his regular clothes, with an almost entirely emotionless face. "He does remind me of you a little, Regina."
Vincent appeared to have chosen the spatha as his weapon- a bit straight for Regina's personal liking, but a good blade nonetheless. "A spatha, I see." Her gaze swept up and down the length of the sword. "Have you done any research on its background? Tell me, when did it originate and what was its specialty in warfare?"
She turned on the tablet once more, entering the many necessary passwords. "You probably just want the mission data, though."
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Post by Wildsky on May 10, 2013 0:48:04 GMT -6
((I changed your and my posts -- I meant to say the sword was a spatha, but for some reason I typed estoc. My brain was stupid. Anyway.))
Something, something, something. What is it? Nothing, nothing, nothing. The whispers in his head taunted him. He tried to reach out, but they were there, distracting him anyway. What is it?! he thought to himself. Something's here, but what?
He sighed and gave up. It would do no use to get anxious, but he expected something to come along. Something, anything. Maybe a beast, maybe an officer, maybe the Chief Executive, but he expected something.
'Vincent, she's on her way.'
'Noted. Thanks, Eyv.'
They didn't say anymore, but he could feel, in a way, where the Chief Executive was via Eyvindr's eyesight. He wasn't surprised in the least when she said something, but he turned around and opened his eyes. "A spatha is my personal favorite. Longer, broader two-handers are excellent weapons, but they feel a bit too... unwieldy for me."
He took a breath and said, "But the spatha originated in Ancient Roman times. It was replaced after the fall of the Roman Empire by derivatives of it, though some differences make it necessary to classify it as a different weapon. It was used until about the eleventh century, which it then began to split off into a number of different blades for knights."
He grinned, but ever so barely. "It's a nice weapon. It's long, a clear two-handed weapon, but it can be used with one hand as well. This one is an average length for an early spatha, at around the seventy centimeter mark. The one I have back home is pretty small, just fifty-five centimeters."
He sheathed the weapon and looked around. "I would like the mission data, actually. Think it might be helpful if I have to fight or something like that." He said this with a slight grin, as if he was playing.
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Post by { o p a l } on May 10, 2013 5:40:42 GMT -6
((Lawl, alrighty Wild.))
"He showed some signs of distress or frustration once I was near. That's not too shabby for an intern."
"If he actually was sensing you, then yes, that would be a positive result."
"I'm fairly certain it wasn't just nerves, he appeared to be very calm before."
"I'll trust you on this." Regina hmmed and frowned at him. "You do appear to have some natural skill with magic, despite your complete lack of training. Kalyani, you can come out from your hiding spot, by the way."
The ocelot became completely insubstantial, jumping back into the spirit world and phasing out at Regina's feet. "That wasn't a bad bit of sensing you did back there, Vincent. It'll be a good reference point for your natural aptitude."
"Additionally, your knowledge about spathae is correct. Additionally, historians believe the sword itself didn't originate in Rome, and the word appears to have roots in Greek." She continued to fiddle with the tablet. Ridiculous amount of security, I should probably take some of it off. Not now, though, I'll do it eventually.
"Shall I brief them, Regina, or would you want to?"
"Yes." A smirk flickered across Regina's face as the ocelot displayed her fangs. They both knew exactly what she meant.
She looked up from the tablet as she finished setting up security settings to prevent Vincent from looking at any other data on the little machine. "Recent reports in London tell us that there appear to be a small roving band of poltergeists causing issues in the alleyways. You, as a Shadow Zodiac and an agent-in-training, will be sent there to eliminate them while keeping the operation entirely silent."
"While this may seem like a hard task, you are one of the Silence now. You should be able to keep you activities under the radar of both other government agencies and any gangs or people you come across while tracking down the poltergeists," Kalyani continued.
"It's really not as difficult as it seems, nor are you very deep compared to others. Some of our agents don't actually exist in official terms." Regina turned the tablet and held it out to Vincent with the full debriefing and mission file pulled up on it. "I will be keeping tabs on you, and though I'm not about to hold your hand, I will be around in case you need a reference to double check things with."
Her ocelot finished the thought. "I'll also be scouting the area so that we know where all the pieces are placed."
"Depending on the success of this mission, you will be given a professional trainer that will assist you with learning your first 'magical' abilities." She watched his eyes carefully during her speech. Should he reveal anything, she would know how much he craved power. "For a Shadow Zodiac, that would be the ability to summon a giant bat spirit for winged transport, as well as enhanced stealth, eyesight, and control over the shadows."
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Post by Wildsky on May 10, 2013 16:55:41 GMT -6
Vincent pondered this -- that his distress earlier was his ability to notice Kalyani. It felt... strange. But he shrugged it off, simply dismissing it as an ability that needed refining. He listened closely to the task at hand.
It seemed... more of a test. Poltergeists weren't difficult to defeat -- not the mindless slaughtering of gnomes, but not anything like Brownies. She was testing his ability to keep quiet about it. As a shadow in the Silence, he was expected to be able to hide under the blankets of society and do what was necessary.
And that was what he liked.
'Get ready, Eyv. We'll be going out at dusk, hopefully. Night's harder to see in, I know, but we can see better than everyone else. Plus you'll be blending in more easily.'
'All right. I'll get ready -- as ready as I can.'
"Kalyani, may I ask you to take Eyvindr along with you? He can fly above -- give a more general view. And he needs practice of his own, too." He was generally polite and sincere. He knew that he couldn't advance without Eyvindr, and he didn't mind that.
"As to the poltergeists..." he began, but trailed off as he scanned through the tablet. He gathered the location, general information behind them, and any intelligence they had on plans and whatnot. He turned up to Regina and said, "Do you have any dressing rooms? If I'm going to be infiltrating them, I need to blend in with the people."
He loved blending in, but standing out. He loved being able to carefully select what he could do, wear, say and have it all have a different effect of people. His dominance over how people treated him ended when they recognized what he was doing, but he so expertly could skid around that fact that they wouldn't have the slightest idea of what was going on.
"The spatha will be hard to blend in... Perhaps..." He trailed off again, his eyes staring off into space, his mind working at breakneck speeds. "Either set it at a location or find a way to have in blend in. I'll prefer the former -- I have a dagger to keep me safe until I get to it. Plus, I can't have a giant sword while I'm scouting, now can I?"
He relished in this -- all of it. The power, the fear, the worries, the chance of success and failure, the strategy, the planning. It was what he loved.
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Post by { o p a l } on May 10, 2013 18:20:47 GMT -6
On the tablet, Regina had pulled up a neighborhood of London (a rather shady one) which the fae had been spotted in. They appeared to have no motive beyond causing mischief, which was generally all that poltergeists were out to do. It was not an uncommon occurrence- lesser fae often weaseled out of their weak prisons, and the Silence kept sending interns at them for practice. It was the closest to cooperation that the two sides had.
The ocelot nodded, her posture becoming the confident and strong bearing, much like Regina's. "He may come along, yes. Field experience is necessary for both spirit animal and human."
"As for changing rooms, we have standard disguise rooms spaced throughout Stonehenge and our safe houses. They have clothes of all sorts and sizes, as well as makeup and hair dye."
Regina closed her eyes to check her mental map of Stonehenge. "There's one relatively close to here that you can use."
The Chief cast her glance up and down the length of the sword once more. "A long coat might be able to conceal that. However, if I'm going to airlift it in, I will hide it somewhere and give you a riddle or other puzzle you have to solve to find it."
Regina smirked as she remembered a certain type of cipher that most found difficult. The fae loved to throw puzzles in the paths of her agents, and thus solving them proved to be a necessary skill.
"Oooh, a scytale? Fun."
"I know. They've always been one of my favorites."
"You ought to give him a clue, though. Those are ancient."
"True. I suppose it would only be fair, since I was given a clue for mine."
Regina watched him as he stood there. She could almost see the gears turning in his head. It was hard to not get caught up in the spirit of an adventure almost about to happen, the excitement which one could delve into the secrets and the work that they were presented with here at the Silence.
"You have until sunset to prepare. I expect you at the fringes of the neighborhood by nightfall. There is a chance of rain and a good amount of cloud cover, so I may be watching from above as well."
Kalyani nodded. "Eyvindr, I will locate you on site as well. There are certain telltale signs of fae that you'll want to know to look for."
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Post by Wildsky on May 11, 2013 7:12:17 GMT -6
Vincent nodded and gave a brief smile to Kalyani. "Thank you." Eyvindr stretched out his wings, and then turned to Kalyani.
"Where to?" the fox bat asked.
Vincent then turned his attention to Regina and nodded. "I'll go off and prepare. I'll see you at sundown -- or, perhaps not." He grinned, even if only barely, and then briskly walked off, anxious to prepare.
The dressing room was easy enough to find, and he set to work finding something to wear. It was spring, so it would be chilly out -- a coat would be nice. Nothing too formal, he wanted to seem as if he were in university. Nothing too informal, however, either. An air of confidence was necessary if he didn't want people bothering him.
He settled on something simple -- something that was on the dark side, but still could seem natural. He got dressed and grabbed a jacket, fixed his hair, and slid his knife in the inner pocket of his jacket. If he was careful, nobody would notice.
With a grin, he got back to his room. He was settling in nicely, he thought. He grabbed some money (he kept a bit of it in cash in his room for various reasons), and then headed down to the Main Courtyard. In total, he had about £100.
The tramway to London was schedule to leave in just under an hour, so he grabbed a ticket (they were free, but for documentation purposes) and got something to eat from the restaurant. It had pretty nice food, in his opinion. At least, better than what he had expected.
His nerves were beginning to get slightly frayed -- he wasn't worried or upset, but anxious. He wanted to go, now. But, he waited. And eventually, the time came.
Boarding was simple, everything there knew not to ask questions. The trip was quick, no windows to distract himself, but a nice book on poltergeists. Better learn everything he can.
The tram stopped at the safehouse (which was a lot more than a safehouse in his mind -- more like a secondary base) and he got off. It was a quarter till six, which gave him just over two and a half hours to get himself situated.
He took a bus to get to the general neighbourhood. Stepped off and Eyv faded in, on one of the rooftops. 'Scout for me, will you? Vincent asked, heading in the direction of the alleyway where the spatha was.
Eyvindr took off and flew around, half scouting the area, half looking for Kalyani. Still, if she wanted to hide, Eyv knew that she could hide very well. Still, he kept an eye out.
Vincent got to the alleyway and carefully stepped into it. Careful, now. Anything could be here.
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((MY BRAIN IS MUSH I MUST STOP HERE GIVE ME THE SCYTALE OPAL))
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