sigelphoenix (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sigelphoenix) wrote2008-02-29 12:03 pm
sigelphoenix) wrote2008-02-29 12:03 pm
[Warmakers] Through Another's Eyes
Title: Through Another's Eyes
Characters: Sae and a made-up Magdalene nun
Warmakers Adventure: 19
Word Count: ~2100
Summary: A perspective on Sae from someone on the outside.
Notes: In my head, Sister Gabrielle has a similar stat ratio as Sae: high Dex and Wisdom, low Charisma. This may not be interesting to anyone besides me. :P
Sister Gabrielle is new to the Magdalene Order - of course, most of the nuns here are - but she feels more lost than everyone else looks. A year ago, she'd never heard of the Order, never considered using her athletic talents in a violent way. But her physical skills caught the eye of someone important, and she was one of the nuns recruited to the training base in Marseilles.
Several weeks into their training, the Guardians arrive. Everyone else seems excited to see Earth's heroes, but Gabrielle just feels more apprehensive when she sees them in person. They're so small. Well, not the one European boy - he seems like he should be two Guardians - but the rest of them are little children who look younger than most of the Magdalene trainees. Gabrielle doesn't want to even practice fighting against them, let alone send them out to stop the devil invasion.
***
Sae isn't particularly excited about training the new Magdalene recruits at the castle, but it gives her something to do, and she can't think of any other way to contribute to the mission right now. Besides, it keeps her busy. It's also, she admits, quite nice to be able to spend her time teaching in tandem with Gunnar.
Even if he is disguised as an ugly nun.
It's hard, though, to talk to the nuns. They all seem awkward or wary around her, and it doesn't help that she's awkward and wary back. These young women all seem frail and inexperienced, regular humans who don't have a chance against devils. She doesn't say that out loud, of course. But she's not sure if she'll be able to hide that sentiment for long, as she watches them fumble with guns and try to learn how to shoot to kill.
She doesn't have the experience teaching or leading to know what to do. She's grateful that Gunnar is there, because at least he knows how to direct troops, and she lets him take charge of the training.
She sighs in relief when he asks her to go into the woods so the nuns can shoot at her.
***
One of the tiniest girls volunteers to help with their combat instruction - one of the Japanese twins, whom Gabrielle doesn't know if she should call "Sae" or "Miss Yanagisawa." She moves like a prowling panther, stalking around the field and not really looking any of them in the eye. The casual way she holds her swords - two long, curving scimitars - is unnerving.
Still, when the boy Gunnar tells the nuns to shoot at her - even if they are using rubber bullets - it doesn't feel right. Gabrielle hesitates, lifting her gun but not really aiming, until the girl runs into the trees and vanishes from their sight. She catches flashes of her hair or clothing a few seconds later, but at one point it seems as if the girl has literally disappeared.
The girl seems easily capable of outrunning them and their guns, so Gabrielle feels a little better when she fires. The other nuns take shots as well. She doesn't think any of them hit anything besides tree trunks.
The next time she thinks she sees the Japanese girl - a flutter of blue - she tries to discern what direction the movement is headed, and fires again.
Suddenly the girl reappears, standing perfectly still. Her fingers pull at the loose edge of her sleeve - a dark blue color - where there is a ragged tear in the cloth.
She looks up, straight at Gabrielle. "Good work." She does not smile.
Gabrielle doesn't really know what to say. "Thank you," she mumbles uncertainly, clutching her gun. She is relieved when Gunnar takes over and moves them to the next training activity.
***
In the middle of their second night at the castle, Sae snaps out of a light doze when she hears shouting. Lurching out of bed, she reaches for her swords and armored trenchcoat while trying to make out what the voices are saying.
Devils. They should have known that the fiends would find them as soon as they returned to Earth. They would not be able to rest in Marseilles.
Still, there is a touch of exhilaration in Sae's movements as she gears up and runs to meet the others. It's been a long time since she's gotten to fight devils, felt the clean cut of her blades as she does what she is meant to do. Sae is not one of the Guardians meant for leadership or strategy.
This - the blur of motion as troops run to their positions, the discordant sounds of humans and fiends yelling, the singing arc of her scimitars in the moonlight - this is what she is for.
***
Gabrielle runs out with the other Magdalene trainees, ready to face whatever devil forces are attacking the castle. But she, like the other girls, are panicked and disorganized, and it takes the small bald girl, Nariko, yelling at them to remind them of their training.
As they move into formation at the castle wall, bringing their holy guns to bear on the approaching horde, Gabrielle sees a blur of motion and turns in time to see a slight figure running past, long coat trailing behind her. This is no practice - the Yanagisawa girl is moving with all her inhuman speed to the front lines.
But above the heads of the goblin and hobgoblin infantry comes a dark shadow. Gabrielle cannot hold in a gasp of fear as she makes out the shape of a pit fiend - something she has studied, but never seen. Her comrades echo her gasp as they, too, see the terrifying creature swoop over and past them.
Gabrielle is grateful that they have not all be summarily slaughtered, but she cringes in fear at the thought of the where the pit fiend is headed - a few of the Guardians remain behind them, and those few children must face this devil.
The Yanagisawa girl looks back once, as the pit fiend flies over her head and toward the other Guardians. But she never stops running.
***
At the front of the wave are hobgoblins and goblins - cannon-fodder, really. The nuns can handle them. Sae ignores them in favor of the real enemies behind them. Panic makes her heart go cold when she sees the pit fiend emerge and charge at Reika and the rest of her teammates, but she suppresses it ruthlessly. She needs to trust them to do their part, as she does hers.
The devils before her are varied - hellcats, ice devils, and more - but they don't stand a chance. Claws and spears seem to move in slow-motion towards her, never getting close to her flesh, while their wielders are cut to ribbons by her scimitars.
The next wave of devils is small - human-sized, really - a handful of troops just half the height of the ice devil. But Sae recognizes the barbed devils, and a chill runs down her back.
She doesn't want to touch them - remembers the bad things that happen when you hit them - remembers the worse things that happen when they hit you - and yells at the Magdalene nuns to fire on them from range. She hopes the fear isn't audible in her voice.
***
The Yanagisawa girl charges straight into one of the hellcats. Gabrielle half-expects to see the girl shredded the moment she gets into the devil's reach, but she doesn't. At the last second she turns, pivoting on her heel while continuing her movement, an action with all the grace of a dance.
Gabrielle would admire her elegance - the way her hair and coat flare out from her body and spin with her motion - except her twisting form is edged with the reflection of moonlight off her swords. Even that light is warped, engulfed, when a blaze of fire erupts on the blades. The girl becomes a spiral of flame, a morbidly entrancing sight that originates in grace but ends with the burning and hacking of bloody flesh.
Gabrielle pulls her gaze away with effort and aims her gun. The spectacle lasted mere seconds - she is barely behind the other nuns when she takes her first shot against a goblin.
It becomes easier to focus when the Yanagisawa girl vanishes. Her sudden invisibility is unnerving - as is the fact that blood continues to spray from new sword wounds in the devils' bodies - but at least she is not visibly present to catch Gabrielle's eye.
Several seconds later, the Yanagisawa girl reappears, yanking her blades from the body of a dying hellcat. Before it even hits the ground, the girl turns on Gabrielle and the other nuns, a snarl on her face and in her voice as she roars an order: "Concentrate fire on the barbed devils!" Then she whirls on her next opponent and vanishes once more.
Even as Gabrielle moves to obey, she thinks, Is the violence she bears within her turned upon her allies as well as her enemies?
***
The nuns are holding their ground, firing at the barbed devils in front of them; but there are more closing in, only a dozen meters away. There's no chance that the nuns will take them out in time. One of the young women has already gone down, torn open by one of the monstrous hellcats. The rest of them will be easy pickings for the steadily approaching barbed devils - they'll tear the humans apart more easily than the one who caught Sae in the temple those months ago.
Sae sucks in a breath, and gives herself two seconds to be afraid.
One. Two. She exhales. Go!
Her explosion of movement takes the barbed devils by surprise, and when she disappears from their sight they have no chance of catching her. Their spiked armor still digs into her body as she closes with them, but she brings her scimitars together in a scissoring motion, severing the longest ones from their arms - keeps moving, letting the smaller spikes tear themselves free from her flesh - concentrating on the motion, the sword dance, the victory - twisting and circling around her prey until they are dead.
***
Gabrielle's gaze is torn away from the bloody trail left by the Yanagisawa girl by a miracle in the sky.
The moonlight bathing the battlefield suddenly turns blood-red, and as they all - humans and devils both - turn to look at the sky, they see a small girl with wings soaring above the castle. Gabrielle recognizes her as the other Yanagisawa twin, Reika - but even though she knows this, the sight of her looking so much like an angel takes her breath away.
***
Not long after the barbed devils fall, the rest of the devil army is routed, either driven into helpless fear by Reika's magic or chased away by Miya in her mecha.
The Magdalene nuns bear away one of their own, covered in a sheet; Sae feels bad about not stopping the hellcat in time, but at least there was only one casualty. The Guardians are all untouched, though many of them are stained with blood - Sae is the only one stained by her own, and Nariko heals her wounds easily.
As the castle forces regroup, Sae takes a moment to look around, trying to slow the pounding of her adrenaline-fueled heart. Her body feels as if the battle were interrupted, not won, and she draws in a long, deep breath.
Before she can release that breath, she catches sight of Gunnar, not far away. Like Sae, he is taking a moment for himself. He looks down for a thoughtful moment at his bloodstained shirt, then shrugs and peels it off. If she were wondering whether any of the blood was his, she finds out then. There is no blood underneath his shirt. Just skin.
Sae is glad the devil army is gone, because for a few crucial seconds, she sees absolutely nothing else.
"I'm going hunting," Nariko announces happily, suddenly appearing beside her.
Sae's breath comes out with a whoosh. "Yes. Hunting. Let's go."
***
Gabrielle hears the Yanagisawa girl talk about hunting, and looks over to see a downright wolfish expression on the small girl's face. She can't help but shiver.
She is grateful for the Guardians - as all of them are - but she also knows she'll feel relief when they leave Marseilles.
Characters: Sae and a made-up Magdalene nun
Warmakers Adventure: 19
Word Count: ~2100
Summary: A perspective on Sae from someone on the outside.
Notes: In my head, Sister Gabrielle has a similar stat ratio as Sae: high Dex and Wisdom, low Charisma. This may not be interesting to anyone besides me. :P
Sister Gabrielle is new to the Magdalene Order - of course, most of the nuns here are - but she feels more lost than everyone else looks. A year ago, she'd never heard of the Order, never considered using her athletic talents in a violent way. But her physical skills caught the eye of someone important, and she was one of the nuns recruited to the training base in Marseilles.
Several weeks into their training, the Guardians arrive. Everyone else seems excited to see Earth's heroes, but Gabrielle just feels more apprehensive when she sees them in person. They're so small. Well, not the one European boy - he seems like he should be two Guardians - but the rest of them are little children who look younger than most of the Magdalene trainees. Gabrielle doesn't want to even practice fighting against them, let alone send them out to stop the devil invasion.
***
Sae isn't particularly excited about training the new Magdalene recruits at the castle, but it gives her something to do, and she can't think of any other way to contribute to the mission right now. Besides, it keeps her busy. It's also, she admits, quite nice to be able to spend her time teaching in tandem with Gunnar.
Even if he is disguised as an ugly nun.
It's hard, though, to talk to the nuns. They all seem awkward or wary around her, and it doesn't help that she's awkward and wary back. These young women all seem frail and inexperienced, regular humans who don't have a chance against devils. She doesn't say that out loud, of course. But she's not sure if she'll be able to hide that sentiment for long, as she watches them fumble with guns and try to learn how to shoot to kill.
She doesn't have the experience teaching or leading to know what to do. She's grateful that Gunnar is there, because at least he knows how to direct troops, and she lets him take charge of the training.
She sighs in relief when he asks her to go into the woods so the nuns can shoot at her.
***
One of the tiniest girls volunteers to help with their combat instruction - one of the Japanese twins, whom Gabrielle doesn't know if she should call "Sae" or "Miss Yanagisawa." She moves like a prowling panther, stalking around the field and not really looking any of them in the eye. The casual way she holds her swords - two long, curving scimitars - is unnerving.
Still, when the boy Gunnar tells the nuns to shoot at her - even if they are using rubber bullets - it doesn't feel right. Gabrielle hesitates, lifting her gun but not really aiming, until the girl runs into the trees and vanishes from their sight. She catches flashes of her hair or clothing a few seconds later, but at one point it seems as if the girl has literally disappeared.
The girl seems easily capable of outrunning them and their guns, so Gabrielle feels a little better when she fires. The other nuns take shots as well. She doesn't think any of them hit anything besides tree trunks.
The next time she thinks she sees the Japanese girl - a flutter of blue - she tries to discern what direction the movement is headed, and fires again.
Suddenly the girl reappears, standing perfectly still. Her fingers pull at the loose edge of her sleeve - a dark blue color - where there is a ragged tear in the cloth.
She looks up, straight at Gabrielle. "Good work." She does not smile.
Gabrielle doesn't really know what to say. "Thank you," she mumbles uncertainly, clutching her gun. She is relieved when Gunnar takes over and moves them to the next training activity.
***
In the middle of their second night at the castle, Sae snaps out of a light doze when she hears shouting. Lurching out of bed, she reaches for her swords and armored trenchcoat while trying to make out what the voices are saying.
Devils. They should have known that the fiends would find them as soon as they returned to Earth. They would not be able to rest in Marseilles.
Still, there is a touch of exhilaration in Sae's movements as she gears up and runs to meet the others. It's been a long time since she's gotten to fight devils, felt the clean cut of her blades as she does what she is meant to do. Sae is not one of the Guardians meant for leadership or strategy.
This - the blur of motion as troops run to their positions, the discordant sounds of humans and fiends yelling, the singing arc of her scimitars in the moonlight - this is what she is for.
***
Gabrielle runs out with the other Magdalene trainees, ready to face whatever devil forces are attacking the castle. But she, like the other girls, are panicked and disorganized, and it takes the small bald girl, Nariko, yelling at them to remind them of their training.
As they move into formation at the castle wall, bringing their holy guns to bear on the approaching horde, Gabrielle sees a blur of motion and turns in time to see a slight figure running past, long coat trailing behind her. This is no practice - the Yanagisawa girl is moving with all her inhuman speed to the front lines.
But above the heads of the goblin and hobgoblin infantry comes a dark shadow. Gabrielle cannot hold in a gasp of fear as she makes out the shape of a pit fiend - something she has studied, but never seen. Her comrades echo her gasp as they, too, see the terrifying creature swoop over and past them.
Gabrielle is grateful that they have not all be summarily slaughtered, but she cringes in fear at the thought of the where the pit fiend is headed - a few of the Guardians remain behind them, and those few children must face this devil.
The Yanagisawa girl looks back once, as the pit fiend flies over her head and toward the other Guardians. But she never stops running.
***
At the front of the wave are hobgoblins and goblins - cannon-fodder, really. The nuns can handle them. Sae ignores them in favor of the real enemies behind them. Panic makes her heart go cold when she sees the pit fiend emerge and charge at Reika and the rest of her teammates, but she suppresses it ruthlessly. She needs to trust them to do their part, as she does hers.
The devils before her are varied - hellcats, ice devils, and more - but they don't stand a chance. Claws and spears seem to move in slow-motion towards her, never getting close to her flesh, while their wielders are cut to ribbons by her scimitars.
The next wave of devils is small - human-sized, really - a handful of troops just half the height of the ice devil. But Sae recognizes the barbed devils, and a chill runs down her back.
She doesn't want to touch them - remembers the bad things that happen when you hit them - remembers the worse things that happen when they hit you - and yells at the Magdalene nuns to fire on them from range. She hopes the fear isn't audible in her voice.
***
The Yanagisawa girl charges straight into one of the hellcats. Gabrielle half-expects to see the girl shredded the moment she gets into the devil's reach, but she doesn't. At the last second she turns, pivoting on her heel while continuing her movement, an action with all the grace of a dance.
Gabrielle would admire her elegance - the way her hair and coat flare out from her body and spin with her motion - except her twisting form is edged with the reflection of moonlight off her swords. Even that light is warped, engulfed, when a blaze of fire erupts on the blades. The girl becomes a spiral of flame, a morbidly entrancing sight that originates in grace but ends with the burning and hacking of bloody flesh.
Gabrielle pulls her gaze away with effort and aims her gun. The spectacle lasted mere seconds - she is barely behind the other nuns when she takes her first shot against a goblin.
It becomes easier to focus when the Yanagisawa girl vanishes. Her sudden invisibility is unnerving - as is the fact that blood continues to spray from new sword wounds in the devils' bodies - but at least she is not visibly present to catch Gabrielle's eye.
Several seconds later, the Yanagisawa girl reappears, yanking her blades from the body of a dying hellcat. Before it even hits the ground, the girl turns on Gabrielle and the other nuns, a snarl on her face and in her voice as she roars an order: "Concentrate fire on the barbed devils!" Then she whirls on her next opponent and vanishes once more.
Even as Gabrielle moves to obey, she thinks, Is the violence she bears within her turned upon her allies as well as her enemies?
***
The nuns are holding their ground, firing at the barbed devils in front of them; but there are more closing in, only a dozen meters away. There's no chance that the nuns will take them out in time. One of the young women has already gone down, torn open by one of the monstrous hellcats. The rest of them will be easy pickings for the steadily approaching barbed devils - they'll tear the humans apart more easily than the one who caught Sae in the temple those months ago.
Sae sucks in a breath, and gives herself two seconds to be afraid.
One. Two. She exhales. Go!
Her explosion of movement takes the barbed devils by surprise, and when she disappears from their sight they have no chance of catching her. Their spiked armor still digs into her body as she closes with them, but she brings her scimitars together in a scissoring motion, severing the longest ones from their arms - keeps moving, letting the smaller spikes tear themselves free from her flesh - concentrating on the motion, the sword dance, the victory - twisting and circling around her prey until they are dead.
***
Gabrielle's gaze is torn away from the bloody trail left by the Yanagisawa girl by a miracle in the sky.
The moonlight bathing the battlefield suddenly turns blood-red, and as they all - humans and devils both - turn to look at the sky, they see a small girl with wings soaring above the castle. Gabrielle recognizes her as the other Yanagisawa twin, Reika - but even though she knows this, the sight of her looking so much like an angel takes her breath away.
***
Not long after the barbed devils fall, the rest of the devil army is routed, either driven into helpless fear by Reika's magic or chased away by Miya in her mecha.
The Magdalene nuns bear away one of their own, covered in a sheet; Sae feels bad about not stopping the hellcat in time, but at least there was only one casualty. The Guardians are all untouched, though many of them are stained with blood - Sae is the only one stained by her own, and Nariko heals her wounds easily.
As the castle forces regroup, Sae takes a moment to look around, trying to slow the pounding of her adrenaline-fueled heart. Her body feels as if the battle were interrupted, not won, and she draws in a long, deep breath.
Before she can release that breath, she catches sight of Gunnar, not far away. Like Sae, he is taking a moment for himself. He looks down for a thoughtful moment at his bloodstained shirt, then shrugs and peels it off. If she were wondering whether any of the blood was his, she finds out then. There is no blood underneath his shirt. Just skin.
Sae is glad the devil army is gone, because for a few crucial seconds, she sees absolutely nothing else.
"I'm going hunting," Nariko announces happily, suddenly appearing beside her.
Sae's breath comes out with a whoosh. "Yes. Hunting. Let's go."
***
Gabrielle hears the Yanagisawa girl talk about hunting, and looks over to see a downright wolfish expression on the small girl's face. She can't help but shiver.
She is grateful for the Guardians - as all of them are - but she also knows she'll feel relief when they leave Marseilles.
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See? Reika isn't the only one who thinks her sister is a scary socio/psychopath ♥
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