Intruders [Complete]

[just_a_rurouni]

Character(s): Kenshin and Jintetsu
Content: Paixao's historical fiction buddies continue their mystical grand adventure.
Setting: Elysian Fields and St. Destino Church
Time: Mid-day, the day after the festival
Warnings: There will be fighting, yep.

Comments

[jintetsu]

It felt almost anticlimactic to reach the place without any other trouble, Jintetsu mused as they approached the once far-off building. Although it hadn't diminished the feeling that they were trespassing somewhere they weren't supposed to be. Well, good; with any luck, this was the part where they'd find out why.

It did look pretty thoroughly abandoned, from the outside, at least. The grey stone was clearly weathered, and one of the high-set windows above the door was broken. Still, it couldn't hurt to be careful. There had to be a reason they'd been kept away from it. He kept his own hand lightly over Haganemaru's hilt as well, silently returning Kenshin's glance before falling into step behind him.

[just_a_rurouni]

The rurouni lightly touched the handle, hesitating. He couldn't hear anything, all seemed quiet, nor could he get any sense of anything. It seemed safe enough. Well there was only one way to find out.

Kenshin gave the door a careful push, and cautiously looked into the dimly-lit church. The little light that managed to filter itself through the dirty windows only barely made the interior visable. Rows of pews ran down either side, a couple tipped over long ago.

Almost everything was coated in dust, although there were some signs of someone having been here, which someone had at some point, hadn't they? Other than that, mostly the place looked as abandoned as it appeared. Was there really anything to find here?

Still remaining cautious, Kenshin slowly entered the church.

[jintetsu]

Jintetsu followed him inside, peripherally noting the heavy dustiness of the air, but keeping alert for signs of motion nonetheless. But nothing showed itself the further he walked down the aisle, and after a few tense seconds, he allowed himself to relax a little, and stopped a few pews back from the altar, observing it with mild curiosity.

Haganemaru, on the other hand, wasn't terribly interested in it, and continued glancing around the sanctuary. "What a dump," he commented eventually. "Who'd live in a place like this?"

That was enough to draw Jintetsu's attention, and he turned away from it almost reluctantly. He'd kind of hoped it'd be clearer than this, more immediate. Absently, he picked up a book he'd just noticed resting on the pew in front of him and began flipping through it, not slowly enough to read. They were gonna have to work for it if they wanted answers.

[just_a_rurouni]

Kenshin paused where he was glancing around in the other direction as Jintetsu moved down through the aisles. He glanced back at Jintetsu as he suddenly had spoken up, although Kenshin paused before answering. That was not usually the sort of thing he heard Jintetsu say

[jintetsu]

A place of worship actually made more sense the more pages of the book he glimpsed; mentions of a god jumped out at him every other page. Still, the script was so bizarre that it unnerved him to be able to read it in the first place. Jintetsu clamped the book shut and set it back down where he'd found it, turning back to Kenshin.

He couldn't help thinking that would be giving up too fast. "Maybe not," he said, tilting his head. "But I'd rather find a lot of nothing than miss something." Particularly since this was really the only idea he had. If there turned out not to be anything worth looking at in here, they were right back at square one, so he didn't want to head back until he was sure, at least.

He glanced back at the altar; there didn't appear to be anything too suspicious that way, except for the doors off to either side of it. "I'm gonna keep lookin' around down here," he said, starting toward one of them. Whether Kenshin looked upstairs or anything was totally up to him.

[just_a_rurouni]

Kenshin nodded to Jintetsu. He was right, there was possibly something interesting somewhere in the rest of the church, as there did seem to be some rooms beyond the alter, and possibly an upper area as there were some balconies above, although Kenshin hadn't seen any stairs off hand.

Watching Jintetsu head towards the back, the rurouni glanced around and moved towards the back of the church again. Ah, there! What was that?

Noticing a bit of an alcove, Kenshin went to investigate, and sure enough, there were the stairs! Narrow and a bit steep, they wound their way upstairs, it appeared. Taking a cautious glance around, Kenshin started up, cringing slightly at the creaks.

Coming up onto the landing he looked around carefully, before moving through a doorway. Well, here was the balcony, pews lined up before him, looking down over the main area.

Well, was there anything else up here?

[jintetsu]

The first room turned out to be a dead end, empty of anything but a few bottles of wine and an ornate-looking chalice. The one through the door opposite it was more cluttered and took longer to search, but yielded an equal lack of results. Jintetsu didn't bother to upend the place. Anyway, there was something fundamentally weird about going through a priest's stuff, even if he wasn't coming back.

"You still think there's anything to find here?" Haganemaru commented quietly as Jintetsu opened the door back into the sanctuary. "I mean, I'd hate it as much as you if we came all the way out here for nothing, but ..."

Jintetsu just looked at him briefly, then silently fixed his hat and went on.

By now Kenshin had disappeared from where he'd last seen him, but a glimpse of bright red hair up in the balcony showed him where he'd gone. Rather than yell across the room, Jintetsu made his way back to the narthex, and found the creaky wooden stairs without too much trouble. "Find anything?" he asked as he came through the upper doorway.

[just_a_rurouni]

After a brief exploration, Kenshin came to the realization there really wasn't much more up here, other than a metal staircase winding up into the bell tower high above and a door. What the door was, the rurouni wasn't sure as it was locked although judging from the structure of the building it couldn't be a large room. It could just be a storage closet, in fact. Well there was only one way to find out.

Being locked that didn't mean they couldn't get in, it just would leave a great deal of evidence they'd been here, but if that was the only choice...

Kenshin shifted the sakabatou, grasping the saya and the hilt, preparing to make a battoujutsu at the door, but paused when he sensed Jintetsu getting closer and the tell-tale sound of the creaking stairs. Sure enough, the wanderer appeared a moment later.

The red-head shook his head, "No... there is little up here, but this locked door."

[jintetsu]

Jintetsu took a cursory glance around the balcony as he entered, as if double-checking Kenshin's assessment. A few rows of dusty, unassuming pews, the rusty metal staircase, and the door in question, which he approached. Set in the back wall as it was, and with windows on other side, there wasn't really anything it could be other than a closet. But why lock it? Nothing else in the church had been locked.

Maybe it was random, and the closet would turn up empty. But maybe it wasn't.

He stepped forward and rattled the knob to make sure it really was locked. It was, but as he drew his hand back away, he almost thought he felt something through the crack of the door. A draft? No, he was probably imagining it. "Can we get it open?" he asked.

[just_a_rurouni]

Kenshin watched as Jintetsu shook the lock and frowned. Why would a storage closet be locked? This place seemed abandoned... it was rather strange.

The rurouni hmm'd thoughtfully for a moment then said, "Perhaps the lock can be broken, de gozaru."

Stepping before the door, Kenshin rested his hand on the hilt of the sakabatou as he grasped the saya, standing in a ready position for a moment, waiting for Jintetsu to move out of the way before he suddenly whisked the blade from the saya, slicing in downwards motion at the crack in the door using the reverse side of the sakabatou - inanimate objects being the only things the sharp side would ever be allowed to cut.

It certainly sounded like he'd cut something, as he finished the motion and slid the sakabatou back into the saya. With a glance to Jintetsu to make sure the wanderer looked ready, Kenshin carefully tugged on the door, it now giving way, the sheared off chunk of the bolt dropping from the door frame to the floor.