sirenspull_logs | (no subject)

Who: Aoko (

reversing)
When: A dark and non-stormy night in April
Where: City streets. In the Darkness.
Summary: Aoko uses her magical girl powers for questionable purposes and encounters another magical girl.
Warnings: Creepy darkness things. Homura.

The fact of the matter was, she needed the money.

With Kaito still struggling to find work, with the need to help him build up his own base of supplies -- magic effects, practical effects, silicone, makeup -- into even a fraction of what he had at home, the brunt of the money worries fell to Aoko. Without all of that, there was no Kaitou Kid, and without Kid . . .

She was partnerless. Alone with a set of powers she only had just begun to understand.

The irony of that whole situation still had the effect of icy fingers plunged deep into her chest. Dove had, after all, been created in counterpoint to Kid; the idea of relying on such a being, even with Kaito behind the mask, prickled the feathers on her arms, drove a wave of anger she couldn't quite repress through her frame.

But in the end she settled, reminded herself of Kaito's face, and pushed on.

She'd been out before this, out in the Darkness, gathering specimens for SERO -- small ones. Quelks, yanked off the sides of buildings. Holy Slugs. Fuzz Puffs. Sharp-Sighted Frogs. The craving from SERO was always for more, for bigger and the less common. She added a Digger. A rather large Crystal Spider.

Still they wanted more.

She couldn't stand the sound of the bait SERO provided her -- mice, mainly, either scooped from the sewers or bred in captivity, squeaking helplessly in their box in the trap. Mostly she tried to close her ears to them, tried to tell herself it was necessary.

But when they brought her a bird tonight, the rat-like man who handed it to her grinning with a sneer, Aoko broke. For a moment, rid of him, she listened to it beat its wings furiously inside the cardboard -- and on an impulse, wrenched open the cardboard and set it free. Probably it would be eaten before morning, but at least she felt better, knowing it had a chance.

Without bait, she was sentenced to be her own.

Huddled near the cage -- a decently large one this time -- Aoko crouched in full Dove costume, trying to remind herself that this all was necessary. Trying to control the quivering of her own limbs, she waited, eyes and ears intent as possible for what the Darkness might bring.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Living in Siren's Port was much like survival of the fittest -- you do what you can to survive, even if you didn't like it. This was especially true for Homura this evening. It was one thing to hunt Witches, but to hunt Witches and Darkness in one evening... it was exhausting. Still, she had to make money somehow. You could say she hunted to survive prior to this, so it wasn't foreign territory, not in the least. Still, using your abilities so much... Thankfully, the city was rife with Witches, and obtaining a few more Grief Seeds wouldn't be stressful. It helped, too, that she had it all planned out. A few catches here, then a quick delivery. Get paid, get a Grief Seed, go home. Maybe she would stop and buy something sweet for herself and Kyouko on the way back.

It truly was difficult, however. She could cover it up and lie to herself as much as she dared, but that didn't change the facts. It wasn't multitasking so much as taking on everything at once, and who knew something that sounded so simple (Bring some specimens in for study!) could cause so much stress? The saying, "Easier said than done", came to mind. This was normal for Homura. To take on the world and bulldoze her way through it.

She was prepared, of course, completely ready to do what she had to do, as she always had been. Even to this day, the only thing that was helping her do this was her determination; it kept her eyes sharp and her ears peeled. The slightest movement caught her eye and not even the softest whistle of the wind could escape her hearing.

So, it was unsurprising she would hear Aoko, isn't it?

The surprisingly human sound reminded her of a cat with a bell around its neck, begging to be found and inspected. So, she did. She approached the sound, quickly but cautiously, each step sounding louder than the next. Tap, tap, tap on the ground, went her shoes. Of course, curiosity killed the cat. That was what they said, but it didn't keep her from searching. More than curiosity, she was hoping to see just that: a black cat, and perhaps even a girl with ribbons in her hair.

She hoped, and she knew she should not have. When she rounded the corner, and found the source of the noise, her body went cold. Like curiosity, nostalgia was a killer of sorts, too. Still, this wasn't an unlucky find. Neither monster nor cat, this was a girl. A girl like Homura, perhaps just a few years older, judging by her frame. She was small, but was that fear? She was alone, after all, and Sirens would begin. Homura didn't want a casuality to occur, so she briefly pondered quickly leading her to safety. The thought was dismissed as soon as it had surfaced, though, as she begin to look over the other girl.

Something about this girl was different, despite the fact she could not sense it the instant her purple eyes' line of vision came to rest on her. Homura paused, not quite sure how to handle a girl with a cage, dressed as she was. Homura herself must have been a strange sight: Already transformed, a Beretta 92FS in her small hands, the shield on her arm glinting ominously. Her gun remained by her side, and not a single nerve in her body twitched.

A cage? An empty cage. She'd been offered a cage, too, but refused it. Unnecessary, she'd called it. The outfit. The strange, unique outfit, something only this person was wearing. In her world, this would only mean one thing. A Puella Magi. However, she hesitated, body locked into position. This was Siren's Port, not Mitakihara, so she couldn't make such an assumption just yet.

So then, who was this mysterious stranger?

She blinked once, and said nothing.

For a few moments, they stayed like that -- the grimly silent Homura and the huddled, waiting Dove.

And then suddenly, as though she'd sensed the other's eyes on her, Dove's eyes flicked up sharply, startled, meeting Homura's in full.

In comparison to Homura, Dove was a bit of magical girl fluff, the white and silver of her costume almost gleaming in the darkness. The headpiece was elaborate -- a masquerade mask of white and silvery curliques, long, white feathers draping back and mingling into dark hair. The costume itself was almost reminiscent of a ballerina's, with a wide, fluffy skirt and bodice fitting closely to the body, its decoration echoing the mask. The eyes behind the mask were night-dark, not at all like Aoko's own.

The one thing out of place were the feathers that seemed to be rooted into her arms -- just a few, but glossy black, and rising away slightly from the skin at their owner's sudden surprise.

In comparison, Homura could well have been a schoolgirl -- someone unfortunately caught out when she shouldn't have been. With a breath, immediately Dove was on her feet, fingers braced against the cage between them.

"You shouldn't be here!" She wished her voice felt as strong as her words. Wished they didn't betray some of her own fear. "Go away -- go home!"

She hadn't yet absorbed the sight of shield . . . or gun.

A girl's voice, and a simple warning. Homura's eyes narrowed in thought.

'You shouldn't be here' -- a sentence like that can imply so much, but generally, it meant that danger was coming. After all, you don't warn someone that they shouldn't be 'here' (which would be tucked away with looming darkness and someone in costume, at the moment) unless you know something bad is about to happen. It's not something you need to learn through various loops, but common sense. It's enough information for her to quickly begin question this person further.

Homura quickly gave her one more once-over, observing the costume. It wasn't in the style of a Puella Magi, so she saw no need to make an assumption. There were strange things in Port, after all, and with an outfit like that, it was even arguable she was just a bird fanatic. But... that particular piece did not fit in this puzzle. The cage, too, was too odd; she hadn't seen one of its size at that time, but it wasn't unlikely, not was it uncommon.

Besides, what would a bird fanatic be doing out here, with no weapons that Homura could see? Subconsciously, her grip on her pistol tightened. No, just because she couldn't see her weapon didn't mean she wasn't armed. In fact, it was idiotic to assume as such, when Homura herself had that shield strapped tightly to her arm.

Her voice was firm and strong when she spoke: "Why are you here?"

It did not waver as you would expect a young girl's to, in a situation like this. Her posture was perfect, she stood tall and straight, and she was in command of her movements. Even blinking seemed to be carefully calculated in sizing this person up. She had business to do, so she didn't want to waste her time. Rent doesn't pay itself.