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Post by Althea on Aug 9, 2017 18:53:03 GMT -6
A small part of the difficult researcher's mind jumped up in defiance - oh, researchers can't be good at histrionics, IS THAT A CHALLENGE - before remembering that she didn't actually care and that that would be among the dumbest things she had ever done, even among the long list of bad decisions on her part. A list that seemed to keep on growing these days. Hmm. She'd have to think long and hard about that one... later. For now, more bad ideas!
Sigma's decision was an interesting one. Not a wrong call, but - parts of the reasoning were unexpected. "Interesting. Many would rather spare the animals." The dark mage smiled thinly nonetheless, not disappointed or disagreeing, merely prone to waylaying a conversation with side points that she found intriguing. The thought did spring to mind that it would be far simpler to simply slaughter the mercenaries from ambush - but for better or for worse, it seemed that she and Sigma shared the morality that attacking the mercenaries first would be -wrong - and so they were making things harder on themselves. Not that she had a problem with that, exactly. This situation was entirely her fault after all. But she had made that decision rather than allowing it to make her, and so she would live by it as best she could. That was her ninja way. And also a good way to get killed, the more rational bits of her mind helpfully supplied.
Sigma wasn't wrong, though. "Strategically speaking, a large scale fight would waste a great deal of time - even stopping them from following us would be a trade off in time wasted." The dark mage nodded, her thoughts aligning with Sigma's. "Your plan is solid. It minimizes time wasted on these men while simultaneously limiting their ability to follow us." Despite her usual acerbic commentary, it was a high mark that she did not argue or nitpick his plan; she really did think it was about the best they could manage given the circumstances.
...Granted, she wasn't enthusiastic about having to be the diplomat of the plan, but desperate times called for desperate measures and all that. She'd just have to try not to accidentally murder anyone, or everyone, and hope Sigma didn't get caught along the way. "We ought to move as soon as possible. Hesitation only costs us valuable time."
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Sigma
Thief
Does anybody care about intelligence work anymore?
Posts: 151
Profession: Spy/Information Broker
Affinity: Anima
Profile: Sigma
OoC Alias: Sigma
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Post by Sigma on Nov 14, 2017 14:42:11 GMT -6
Nodding in agreement, Sigma grabbed his leather harness and secured that his equipment was tightly secured onto it as he donned his outfit. He also put his longer blade over his back, there wasn't any point in trying to hide it in his jacket really. "I'll make sure to stay as close as possible without being seen. If things go wrong I'll try to come over as quickly as I can."
Stuffing every thing that was still laying around in Gambit's saddlebags, he attached his reins before handing them to Althea. He felt a bit guilty to force his mount to do so much right now. Not only was he making him transport two person at a time, he also needed him to move fast. Let's just hope he doesn't get fatigued too soon. We're still trying to beat the clock on this. "They shouldn't be too far up the main road according to the two I heard last night so we better split up now. Don't travel too fast if you want me to have time to get ready in case you need help. And don't put Gambit too far away, this will have to be a quick hit & run"
Barely seeing the road they were travelling on yesterday through the woods, Sigma sighed a bit. Turning his head to Althea with a sly grin, he said: "Well, guess I should wish both of us good luck on this."
It didn't take long for him to be making his way up and down the hills and thick roots of the forest parallel to the main road. It wasn't too difficult to traverse with a good speed to keep up with Althea, but let's just say Sigma would've much preferred to be climbing on rooftops than creeping through these mossy woods...
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Post by Althea on Nov 18, 2017 18:02:18 GMT -6
"Hah." Althea sighed with all the delighted exuberance of a dead frog and half the enthusiasm at Sigma's words. "What could go wrong." What, indeed. Aside from, she didn't know, literally everything? That wasn't Sigma's fault of course, she wasn't angry at him for it, but it was hard to push off the sense of fatalistic suicide by stupidity that seemed to be guiding her actions - and harder still to shake off the discomfort at the thought of how much easier it would be to slaughter these mercenaries from range. It was the most efficient solution by far, and yet it made her feel like less of a woman and more of a monster, even knowing that they were 'the enemy.' Funny how easy it was to dehumanize and destroy those opposing you. Faced with her own hypocrisy, she had opted to do what she... believed was right, but the decision had been fraught by uncertainty and inefficiency, ensuring that she wouldn't be happy no matter how they handled it.
But handle it they would, with Sigma already setting up to leave and she in needs of hurry herself. Never a dull moment when she got carried away with this silliness, was there? Wishing Sigma good fortune, she busied herself finishing up her remaining preparations as the thief slid out of sight and, she hoped, in the general direction of where they were supposed to be going. Which left but one lollygagging buffoon who also needed to get moving.
For better or for worse, nothing particularly terrible happened along the way, though the horse still didn't seem entirely comfortable with her along for the ride. Althea... hoped... it was just 'cuz she was a mediocre rider, and not because it could sense Eris or some animal prescience BS, but she didn't talk horse so f**k only knew what the real reason was.
"HOLD!"
The reverberating shout rattled her out of her malaise, the dark mage's head jerking up in surprise as she realized a bit belatedly that she had apparently reached the checkpoint and, er, several crossbows were trained on her. Aaaaalright then. No sudden movements. She could cast pretty quickly when she wanted to, but... not THAT fast. There was a tense moment of uncertainty, then one of the men spoke, again, the voice sounded like the first, raising his hand as he ordered the others to stand down and stepped forward towards her. The mercenary looked to be in his thirties or forties, she thought, aged by time or his work, but he wasn't covered in baby blood or teeth necklaces so that was a good sign. And he looked... quite apologetic, honestly, which was better than quite bloodthirsty.
"Sorry about that, miss, we was on the lookout for someone with white hair on a horse, thought you might be him for a moment." White hair... they meant Sigma, she was quite sure, going by what the thief had said, but his had been more grey hadn't it? Unless they actually WERE looking for her alternate universe male doppelganger or... something. Thankfully her tongue cooperated with her brain for once and rather than blurt out anything particularly incriminating, Althea managed to smile graciously at the man. "Well, I'm glad you didn't fire, then," she rejoined with a... slightly more upbeat tone than she was feeling.
The man laughed, scratching his stubbled chin animatedly. "That makes two of us missy. You oughtta be careful though. Guy we're looking for is one bad mother-" he hesitate, apparently remembering there were ladies present halfway through the word, "-one bad hombre. Thieving scoundrel what killed a family back in Rook, wanted for connections to a break-in and a murder at a mansion as well. Got the boys a little on edge. Me, I just want him brought to justice so he don't hurt nobody else. Guess he pissed off one of his victims enough he hired us to help bring the knaive to justice. If you've heard or seen anything, I'd be much obliged, miss."
Her surprised hesitation was no act as Althea struggled to parse what the man had said. It was certainly... at odds with Sigma's account, to say the least. Murdering innocents - and the tie in with the mansion he had mentioned breaking into for the information. He had openly mentioned their benefactor as well, the villain that Sigma had named, but phrased completely differently.
Uncharacteristically for her, Althea hesitated, her brow furrowed as she struggled to adapt to the new information - or lies, or half-truths, she couldn't easily tell which. The man certainly had the rough mannerisms and his crew the casual combat readiness of mercenaries, not necessarily good men, but she didn't detect any obvious falsehood in his words. He was either an excellent liar, or he honestly believed what he was saying - whether because Sigma was in fact two-timing, murderous trash, or because he had been lied to in order to better control him. How... complicated. And what was she to do in return? Tell them all about Sigma in order to hopefully catch a murderer? Lie to them and believe in Sigma? Althea wasn't a... GREAT liar, but she had enough experience in, ah, minor manipulations of truth to be reasonably convincing when necessary.
"...Yes," she said hesitantly, surprising herself perhaps more than the man, "I did hear quite a bit of him back in Cheston," Althea continued, noticing the glimmer of recognition in the man's eyes as she named the town she and Sigma had come from. "There was a great deal of commotion on the day I left - men searching for a grey haired thief - I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, but... do you think he really did all that?" She couched it innocently, managing to use her honest disbelief to play the part of innocent maiden... ok not PERFECTLY but not the worst job she'd ever done. The merc grimaced and nodded. "I didn't get to see the crime scene, but from what I hear there was plenty o' blood and he did somethin' unholy to them poor kids. Monsters like that deserve everything they got coming to them."
He was telling the truth. She was sure now. Or at least - he believed he was. The murders might very well be real, too. But did she believe Sigma had done them? Althea couldn't answer for certain. But she had spent enough time with him that she didn't think so. She KNEW, however, that trying to argue his case here would be a waste of time - and set her up as an accomplice. And she most assuredly did not need that amount of trouble now.
The man laughed shortly at her consternation, or the situation, she couldn't tell. "Sorry miss. Didn't mean to turn yer stomache or nothin'. Cheston, you said? And you're pretty sure it's the lad we was talking about?" She nodded. He looked torn for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. PACK IT UP YOU CURS," his voice suddenly blasted to a volume that momentarily stunned her, before returning his attention back to her. "Worthless cutpurse like that would try to blend in or hide, not go gallivantin' round the countryside. We'll check it out, see if we can find the fool and serve justice. You be careful now, you hear? These are dark times for Elibe, where a pretty young lady can't even ride safe in a civilized country. And be real careful if you do run into a feller like that who'd as soon open you up as say hello."
Well. That had gone... not anything whatsoever like she had planned? Althea honestly had no idea what to make of all that, nodding faintly as she slowly rode through, the pack of mercenaries falling upon themselves in a frenzy of movement, preparing to move out. She did little to hide her interest in the proceedings, amazed at the ruthless efficiency with which they moved. She was hardly even anywhere near a safe-ish point from which she COULD enact much of the plan when some were already riding out. It... would be an easy shot by now, but the relentless dark mage found that she didn't actually have the heart to do anything by this point... and besides, she reasoned, this way meant no bloodshed now... even if there was the possibility that they would return later.
Regardless, the bend at which she had hoped to meet Sigma was approaching. She found that she wasn't quite as excited for it as she had been before this whole jape began.
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Sigma
Thief
Does anybody care about intelligence work anymore?
Posts: 151
Profession: Spy/Information Broker
Affinity: Anima
Profile: Sigma
OoC Alias: Sigma
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Post by Sigma on Nov 21, 2017 16:34:53 GMT -6
The smell of moss and dead plants was definitely not Sigma's most loved smell in the morning. Neither did he like having to creep his way in between bushes and underneath fallen trees. His boots sinking a bit in the soft and humid soil, he felt the tip of his toes getting wet which was not a pleasant feeling. Ugh, and to think I'm actually missing the tundra right now. As he scared away bugs, he realised he'd have to be extra cautious to not alarm the bandits by making the wildlife restless.
Now being far away enough that he was well hidden but could still keep a direct line of sight to Althea, he kept following her as she rode closer to the mercenary group. His initial shout for her to stop seemed extremely agressive. Sigma was already bringing his hand to his blade as he saw the crossbows being pointed at her. This is bad, I have to be ready to move at any moment... He did not move just yet which turned to be a wise move as the man who seemed to be the leader lowered the tension and explained they were mistaken about her identity. Strangely enough, the man they were pursuing had WHITE hair according to them... Strange... If it's a simple mistake then hey, good thing for me. Though it does seem quite weird. Somebody with white hair would stand out a lot, especially if he's as young as me. How could they mistake my grey hair to be white? Letting that slide for now, the next words that come out of the man's mouth were enough to send shivers down Sigma's spine.
Killed his family?!??! Sigma had done no such thing! He didn't even know where the town of Rook was! He's never killed a family in cold blood like he described, neither did he kill anyone back in the manor where he got the notes! Was he just lying or was the loony researcher the one to create this tale? Perhaps he had heard of this white-haired assassin and told the mercenaries that he and Sigma were one and the same... Oh this is baaaad. He got progressively more and more nervous as the man described what he allegedly had committed... I sound like a ******* monster according to that guy... Why did this have to happen? He didn't need rumors going around about stuff like that! Not only that, but there were chances Althea might even believe him... It's not like him and her know each other that well. For her to completely trust him would be near impossible!
As they all moved out, that was once again more confusion to add to the ever growing bamboozlement that was this whole situation. Deciding to simply go with it for now, he simply headed to the meet up point, hoping she wasn't going to start suspecting him.
[...]
Coming out of the thicket as Althea had reached the place, he waved towards her and said: Well... This was certainly an unexpected turn of events. I don't whether to be happy there was no fighting or anger that they think I'm some kind of child killer." he sighed, "Let's just go already, if they're moving towards the city, we probably won't have any issues until we reach the destination."
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Post by Althea on Dec 6, 2017 8:33:42 GMT -6
For all her attempts at being a cold and emotionless construct, Althea was not ENTIRELY immune to the unfortunate malaise of being human, a fact she was reminded of when Sigma's sudden appearance out of nowhere elicited a small start of surprise from the mage who had been losing herself in her thoughts already at what she had just learned. Well, not just learned. Heard. The mercenaries could be lying to her or have been lied to. She certainly didn't know that Sigma HAD done any of that. But it was a great deal of data to compare and contrast against that which she had believed she had known previously. Because all she really had to go off of was the last day of experience in interacting with the thief, really.
After staring at him impassively for a few moments as he spoke, simultaneously thinking about what she ought to do, Althea arrived at a logical conclusion in the timeframe and nodded slightly to the grey haired thief. While she couldn't KNOW for sure what he had or hadn't done, their objective had not changed for the time being, and there would be time later to investigate in more detail. "...Agreed. For the time being, this chain of events simply aids us in our course." The dark mage moved backwards on the saddle, making room for Sigma to get back to his leading position and take the reigns of, well, his own horse. She would sooner roast the thing than deal with it longer than necessary, she was NOT a horse person. "Though it seems you may have made an enemy fiercer than expected, if he is acting so harshly against you and your name. That kind of fame... or infamy... cannot be ideal for a..." it was possible there was a slight hint of a smile on her lips, though that would be crazy on account of her not having a sense of humor, "information broker, was it?"
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