(Untitled)
Who: electroniccrane, oblique_wisdom
When: Tonight
Where: Carnival
What: They're killing time. Sheik's proving his worth. Bad stuff will probably happen.
( It's the most unorthodox date ever. (Except it's not a date. Seriously.) )
When: Tonight
Where: Carnival
What: They're killing time. Sheik's proving his worth. Bad stuff will probably happen.
( It's the most unorthodox date ever. (Except it's not a date. Seriously.) )
She took in the man who used Zelda's comm with one flick of her eyes. He was taller than she was, but that was hardly unusual. "Mr. Sheik." Using the English honorific might have sounded silly if delivered with anything less than Kusanagi's usual detachment.
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"Sheik is fine," he replied.
Uncrossing his arms, he made a series of gestures that really had no meaning at all, "Major Kusanagi, is that correct?" It seemed like a ridiculous inquiry, but it never hurt to be on the cautious side, especially as Sheik didn't trust anyone aboard save for perhaps two people.
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Kusanagi herself was a tank shaped like an attractive Japanese woman. Carnival, at least as it usually presented itself, was no threat to her, but she had a solid grasp of just how fragile natural humans (or elves) were, from all the times she'd killed them. She didn't think Sheik had any idea what he was getting into. Oh, well. She'd haul him out if he got his spine ripped out by a bear.
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And by that, he meant Zelda's impression of her. The princess liked the Major a lot, and Sheik hadn't been able to understand why just yet. "I'll do my best not to be a burden on you. If she can survive this, then I don't see any reason why I can't."
As though to emphasize his point, he tugged upon the bandaging on his right wrist.
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"You won't be a burden." Because the second he rose from the level of inconvenience to that of a burden, he was getting knocked unconscious and carried out over her shoulder. The degree of consideration came from the fact she wasn't sure if he was actually Zelda or not.
Kusanagi swiped her keycard and started down the ramp into Carnival, amidst the familiar smell of ozone and the screams of the tortured carousel horses. She wished Redd would switch things up once in a while. The bears-to-bats trick was only amusing the first few times.
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He stepped behind her, light on his feet as he typically moved. His form crouched and he eyed the ramp, not that he could see it very well. In fact, the odor hit him before anything else did. Zelda hadn't said anything about a distinct smell of death. It made him think of the House of the Dead beneath Kakariko's cemetery. This place was a regular torture device. And she had come here.
"Why would Captain Redd have a place like this aboard a vessel?" he asked quietly, never taking a moment to stop and "smell the roses."
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Batou would have known what she did instantly over their team link. Sheik, on the other hand, needed to be told. Aloud. It was slow and frustrating. "Movement. In the trees." As she spoke, she automatically conveyed the same message in a series of crisp military hand signals...that would mean nothing to Sheik.
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The moment the Major paused, he stiffened. If he could have, he might have coiled himself around her, not as a means of defense, but rather to see whatever it was she was looking at. All Sheik knew was that something was up. Then she spoke.
"Right. Various inhabitants of this literal afterlife," he managed to comment. He watched her gestures and glanced past her in the direction she'd stared before, "We pursue?"
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"You first," she said, gesturing toward the trees. Anything that came from behind would have to go through her first, and she was just about the hardest target on the ship.
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He eyed his right hand warily. If he needed to, he'd have to break from his norm of using brute force. If he could avoid it, however... Well, that was his intent.
"Onward then, posthaste."
A single gesture to the trees and Sheik reached the bottom of the ramp, the scent of decay having taken a backseat in his mind. He moved swiftly with practiced movements, as though it wasn't his first time in a situation of the sort. He thought about casting a glance over his shoulder, but he knew very well he'd hear it if she didn't follow after.
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Besides, she had a job to do.
She crouched down before one withered, twisted tree and began to brush at the bare dirt between its roots.
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The possibilities flipped through her mind in an automatic tactical evaluation, meaningless probabilities with enormous error bars automatically assigned to each option by her on-board software. Regardless, they would find out in a few seconds, practically an eternity to her e-brain. She occupied her time by watching Sheik and putting together a movement profile of him to compare to Zelda's later.
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The movement had been in the trees. Well, the forest to be more precise. It didn't look like any forest he'd ever seen. The temple beyond the Sacred Meadow had been more aesthetically pleasing. This convoluted mess of twisting trees was nothing more than an eyesore. Yet at the very same trees, his pace slowed and grew cautious.
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A few moments later, a low, scratchy voice began to hum in a tuneless, meandering fashion.
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If the Counselor nailed her, it would ruin her day, and the adrenaline analogs went cascading through her. Kusanagi smiled. The only thing wrong with this scenario was that Batou wasn't here.
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