Quest for Loot (Vice)

[Reika Hanae]

There were very few things that would bring Reika outside the city.  Despite it basically being a den of shadows, she found the place terrifying.  The light was dim, it was pretty foggy, the entire place was in ruins, and it was infested with borderline mindless beings.  The entire place was just really eerie even if the other shadows were unlikely to attack her.  She much preferred civilization; the inner circle.

That said, there was one thing that would bring her to this place fairly consistently: loot.  Loot could be many things, shiny things, weird things, old things...really there were lots of things that were just really interesting!  Today, she was exploring an old residential district, though she preferred not to think about what happened to the people that lived there.  On the bright side, they left a lot of loot behind.  Like a lot a lot.  Right now she was just focusing on any jewelry left behind because if she tried to focus on anything else she'd have more loot than she could carry.  Of course, if something interesting caught her eye she might grab it too, but she tried not to make too many exceptions.  After all, her bag wasn't that big.

Reika opted to explore the outside in her shadow form as she always did.  It would be bad if someone discovered her human form after all.  She didn't see herself as that much stronger than a lot of the shadows around here anyway, so it should be fine right?  Well, probably.  Besides, it was pretty liberating to be able to walk around as herself for awhile, even if it was strange that she was significantly more agile as an overgrown plant of sort.  Of course, that was just due to the magic of her Red Capote ability that she always used immediately upon transforming.

So far, her treasure hunt was going smoothly.  There were a lot of old jewels here, and they were very small so she could carry a lot of them.  Reika was pretty sure that this would give her enough cash to live the whole year easily, and her bag wasn't even a quarter of the way full yet.  With a satisfied smile on her face, she leaped from the window of the house she had just finished looting and into the window to the next house where she quickly located another jewelry box.  Without wasting a second, she lifted a few necklaces up near her face to inspect for imperfections and fake metal or stones, as well as to appraise their value.

[Vice Ysal]

The grip was good, enough traction on the floor to make sure he didn't slip. Gloves were still in good condition and the chalk on his hands was still plenty. No loose clothing that could get snagged in any of the jumps, and even his hair had been tied back to make sure it didn't get in his face whenever there was a huge jump to cross. A roll of his shoulders, eyes zoning towards the most appropriate path to make sure he didn't do something stupid like aiming for the bushes. The outskirts were a place of shadows, that much Vice already understood. However, the different and almost unforeseen conditions of the place helped train his senses and judgment better for decisions to make sure he got away with whatever he was going to do…and free running was a damn well scary thing if you didn't have awesome ninja skills to help you out with.

Vice didn't have that either but hey, nothing lost, nothing gained and all that. His knees began to bend and body leaned forward. A hop, then a burst of speed, and he was dashing on the flat surface of the rooftop he was on before leaping off the ledge, his feet kickstarting him into an impressive leap. Aiming for the pipe, hands gripping unto it before letting them slide to have his feet go through the open window first, Vice smoothly rolled to a stop and hung onto the staircase's railing to avoid falling down the stairs. Jumping through buildings and walls? Totally fine. Slipping down the stairs because of aesthetics? Not so much. Patting the dust off of his shoulders and standing up as he did so, the young man took a small gander around the place to make sure he hadn't alerted any shadows to his presence. For the most part, there weren't any small shadow bunks that usually congregated in dark places like these…but that was overshadowed by the fact that the young man could faintly feel a presence not unlike a Stratum Boss. It wasn't as strong as the ones he'd fought in some of the areas but it was still quite noticeable that taking it on as he was right and expecting to win wasn't a smart idea.

Which meant some reconnaissance was in order. Gathering information to give to the others shouldn't hurt…too much. This was still a Stratum Level shadow after all, Vice reminded himself. Pulling out his revolver, the weapon clicking into place and falling back into a stance meant for close quarters, the biker slowly made his way around the place. Some clattering could be heard from what he assumed to be the master's bedroom and softly, Vice leaned against the back of the wall and listened. There was probably some distance left between him and the source of the noise, which meant he could probably aim for something before decking the hell out of dodge. Counting one to three, the young man silently got out of his cover and aimed for what could be a vital spot and stayed like that for the moment.

What…the hell is that?

[Reika Hanae]

There were a couple of things here with fake gems and cheap metal, but that was the minority.  One by one she picked up each piece of jewelry to carefully inspect the metals and gems, so she was pretty sure she was right.  Of course, it would take awhile to go through all of it and then place it in her bag in such away that it wouldn't get tangled with the rest of the jewelry there.  After pilfering a few different pieces she felt a presence.  It was a fairly strong presence, and one that she was completely unfamiliar with.  Reika paused for a moment.  It was approaching this building, but not in a conventional manner.  It was probably just someone fooling around, so not her problem.  With a shrug, she continued her appraisal.  

The presence didn't fade though.  It just kept getting closer and closer.  It was moving much more slowly now.  Did it hurt itself?   How strange.  She was tempted to investigate it herself because she was very curious about what it could possibly be, but if it was getting closer it would find her eventually right?  That seemed logical enough for her, so she continued digging through the jewelry box.  As she was lifting up a golden necklace adorned with many sapphires she felt the presence right on the other side of the wall.  As she was starting to carefully look at the metal and each gem she saw movement in the corner of her eyes.  The presence was in the doorway.  It appeared to be human.  So this is what a human felt like?

More importantly though, he was pointing a gun right between her eyes.  Reika froze and her eyes widened a bit.  For a moment, she didn't move at all, much like the human.  But he didn't shoot.  Even with her just standing there, he didn't shoot.  She glanced down at the necklace she was holding and then back at him.

"...Is this yours?"

Her voice was deep and ethereal sounding.  Each word echoed as if she were shouting into a canyon even though she was just speaking, and wasn't even speaking loudly.  It sounded completely inhuman.  Even if her flower-like body made it obvious that she wasn't human the voice just made it more obvious.

[Vice Ysal]

There was a breath of hesitation. The biker, someone who didn't think twice about shooting down any of these monsters that roamed the streets of his once whole city, couldn't pull the trigger despite the minuscule amount of pressure required to just do it. Whatever was holding him back from putting a bullet through the thing's head had succeeded well enough that the enemy had been given enough time to properly observe him to the point of conversation. The smart thing to do now was to bolt, having been discovered and faced against something as pressure-inducing as this. Instead, the young man, through some unexplainable means, lowered down his weapon into a less antagonising pose. His guard wasn't down per say, just not as wound up as it had been a moment ago.

And suddenly he was asked a question, something or another about him being the owner of whatever trinket she was holding up in her hands. It came not so much as a shock to him but it did leave him surprised enough that Vice vocalised his answer. A resounding "No." as compared to the other's encompassing voice. Finally having curiosity gain the better of him, the young man decided to vocalise more of his thoughts without getting too close to the thing. Even in this moment of pseudo-cease firing, Vice was paranoid enough to think that this was some kind of trap to make him double think about doing what had to be done. Hell, he didn't even know how to treat this situation properly…because shooting the girl just got thrown out the window.

"What…are you doing here exactly?"

[Reika Hanae]

It took him a moment to respond.  The whole situation was incredibly tense.  Reika couldn't really blame the guy for being hostile to shadows given what she was pretty sure the little ones would do given half a chance, but if anything that just made her more uncomfortable.  She was pretty sure those ones couldn't talk though so maybe it'll all be okay.  When the human lowered his weapon she relaxed a little bit, but not much.  She still looked more like a deer in headlights than she did a terrifying abomination from who knows where.

"Okay, that's good," was all she could say in response to his no.

Reika glanced around the room for a moment, both to look for a way out if it became necessary and in a vain attempt to focus enough on the necklace to properly determine its value.  She wasn't quite sure how to respond to his question at first.  Would he be more satisfied with the truth or a story?  Did she even feel like coming up with a story right now?  If he had only encountered the stupid little shadows before would he even believe the truth?  Well, given how dumb they were it was possible that he would.  It's not like she had any better ideas right now.

"There's shinies here.  I like to collect them," she paused for a moment and held back an awkward laugh.  "...And you?"

[Vice Ysal]

This was proving to be more and more surreal with each passing moment that he spent in the presence of this shadow. And with how surreal it was, Vice was slowly loosening his paranoia on things and inch by inch decided to just go with the flow. Who knew, maybe he was lowering the enemy's guard as well and he could take advantage of it for when the need arose. Mentally throwing that plan to the back of his head, not completely sure if he had to skills to pull something like that off without a hitch, the young man carefully moved to the side to get a better look at whatever it was that the woman was looking at.

"Is that so…?" Shinies? As in things that glittered or sparkled like those overly expensive accessories that proved little to no value outside of impressing other people? Well, that wasn't exactly Vice's thing but he did agree that some of them did look pretty well. Something to keep for the sake of having it. When the shadow decided to return the question, Vice was little by little finally coming into terms with the possibilities of shadows having some form of sentience to them. Just how fully developed that sentience was was still something he had to see though.

"Just…exploring the place. I like looking at things." A small embarrassed cough escaped the otherwise tough biker. "Have you found…anything good?"

[Reika Hanae]

Reika just slowly nodded at his first question, still only taking her eyes off of him for just a moment to look for ways to get away if it became necessary.  He was relaxing a bit, so it was starting to look like it wouldn't be, but she still didn't really want to fight.  This human probably wasn't stronger than her, and that method of attack had a chance of being thrown back into his face so she might be able to take him, but she still didn't even enjoy fighting.  It was scary, painful and killing people was just a waste.  A very disgusting waste that made her stomach lurch, but that was another matter entirely.  Regardless, it was unlikely that  he could beat her to the window she came through in the first place, so she at least felt a little better about that.

"I'm surprised..." she paused for a moment.  "I thought this place was pretty boring.  Like, it's all dust and broken things with more dirt and dust.  You have strange tastes." she tilted her head slightly and looked almost amused.  "I found lots of good things.  People left things behind when the shadows came, good things.  It'd be a shame to let it all go to waste right?"

[Vice Ysal]

The male just found himself giving an embarrassed smile and a tilt of his eyes to the side to observe empty space at the assumption that his tastes were out of the norm. "You never know what you can find, even old dusty places like these could hold something interesting." Was his unrequired response, a bit defensive on it for once. Other than that, the biker decided to move around a bit rather than gluing himself to that area. He did make sure that he was still in easy access of all available exits in order to escape should things go south but with how civil this thing was being, even if it was some kind of trap in the end, Vice was beginning to doubt the chances of a fight happening.

"Agreed. A lot of useful stuff just lying around here."

To emphasise, Vice even picked up some random leather trinket that had been precariously hanging on a nail that had been halfway hammered to the wall. It wasn't exactly a shiny object like the other shadow was looking for, but the design reminded him of those small time shops he used to frequent as a kid. Useless junk always did have a way of making one remember the past. That said, Vice didn't exactly know how to make conversation with what's supposed to be their enemy. Not like he ever thought about it either given that he just killed them on sight unless he was investigating something.

And so, the silence grew.

[Reika Hanae]

It was hard to argue with what he said.  Reika could have responded easily, but unlike the human who seemed to be relaxing, she was still incredibly tense.  After all, he did point a gun at her face.  She let the room stay in silence for a moment while her eyes quickly moved between the necklace she was trying to appraise and the human to make sure he didn't make any strange movements.  It actually looked like he found an interesting thing of his own.  It wasn't shiny though, so she wasn't interested.  Eventually, her voice echoed throughout the room again.

"Oh yes, you can find lots of things, lots of shinies too.  You just made it sound like you were enjoying the scenery."

Her voice was starting to sound a little more comfortable even if her body didn't match it.  She continued looking between the human and the necklace and after awhile, she determined that the necklace was as real as she thought it was and was therefore worth holding onto.  With a nod, she carefully slipped it into her bag while still glancing between it and the human.  Reika started to pick up another piece of jewelry from the old jewelry box, but hesitated for a moment.  Not because she was nervous about looking at more shiny things, but because she was curious about something and wasn't sure if she should ask.  In the end, she just couldn't help herself.

"What are you looking for?"

[Vice Ysal]

"Some buildings still look nice."

The biker blurted out, half remembering some other building in the vicinity that looked pretty damn good despite the damage dealt to it. It was good to know that man could build a few things that wouldn't be destroyed so easily by something otherworldly. Pocketing the leather trinket into his back pocket, meaning to clean it later unless he found something more interesting, Vice took a moment to observe whatever it was that this shadow was doing.

Honestly, it was the best chance he'd gotten to observing a sentient shadow, of all things, behave outside of a battle. It could even give a civil and nonviolent response to external stimuli but he supposed that firing off a bullet at it would most likely cause the thing to retaliate with lethal force. Otherwise, it was just as normal as talking to other people except with the extended deal of danger. Danger, however, was something Vice was long accustomed to. Even before his shadow hunting days.

"Me?" Vice's lips almost curled slightly up to form a smile. "Things. Useful things, or a special type of shiny things."

[Reika Hanae]

"Oh, so you do just have strange tastes," she nodded to herself as if she finally understood.

His other statement was more interesting though.  Much more interesting.  So much more interesting that she actually stopped fiddling with the jewelry box for a moment even though she hadn't picked up a new shiny thing.  Reika tilted her head and took a single stop closer.  She momentarily considered moving closer, but opted not to, stopping mid-step.  She leaned forward a little and put her thorny, branch-like arms behind her back.

"A special type of shiny?  What kind of shiny is that?  Do you normally find it around here?"

[Vice Ysal]

"Maybe."

The biker let out a small exhale through his nose. This was just too weird. Throwing out his bias with the shadows, Vice was actually seeing this as more entertaining than nerve-wracking. Then again, the two usually went hand in hand so it was pretty difficult to differentiate nowadays.

"Unfortunately, No. I mean, I don't usually just find them lying around but it'd be great if I could. They're these little base ball sized marbles that glow. It's hard not to like looking at them." Not to mention that they had the ability to augment normal everyday objects into something that much more dangerous but Vice wasn't going to say that out loud against a still potential enemy. Just cause he was having fun now didn't mean he wouldn't be fighting her down the road.

But might as well enjoy what he can at the moment. Stress and all that.

"If you find any of them, I'll trade you with any shinies that I may have found. Deal?"

[Reika Hanae]

Reika continued staring at him for a moment before straightening back up.  She folded her 'arms' and looked to the side for a moment before quickly looking back towards him.  She hadn't seen anything like that in her adventures out here, not that she came out here very often or ever went very far when she did come out here.  She made a mental note of it: super interesting special shiny.

"You collect giant marbles?" she sounded confused again.  "If you don't find them laying around where do you find them?  I can't go treasure hunting if I don't know where to look," she rocked her head back and forth as she considered his offer.  "As long as they're good shinies," she finally said nodding almost sagely.  "After all, you said they were special."

Reika wondered what made them so special.   She couldn't think of anything that would make a giant marble special. Would it be obvious once she found one?  She was curious about it now, so she absolutely needed to find one.  Fortunately, there was little this master treasure hunter couldn't find.

"I saw some normal-sized marbles in a house a few houses down," she motioned towards the right with her head.  "If you collect more than just the giant kind."

[Vice Ysal]

"Special Giant Marbles. Normal marbles aren't that amazing, unless they're really tough marbles then I've got some use for those. And I'd tell you where to find them but they're so scattered that I can't just pinpoint them." It was true. Aside from the strange blonde lady that gave him stuff in exchange for junk, Vice only managed to find them after mutilating a few of the shadow's kind…and saying that may not exactly be the smartest idea. Even if the thing didn't look that attached to others of her kind, and seemed a bit ditzy with the single minded focus of finding shiny things, Vice doubted that she at least didn't have any kind of link to them.

"Huh. Might check it out later, who knows it might be useful for a change." Shaking his head and leaning against the wall this time, the biker crossed his arms and gave the place another look. "Come to think of it, why do you look for shiny things? I don't think I caught the reason."

[Reika Hanae]

"Ohhhhh, yes," she rubbed her chin contemplatively.  "What makes them special?  How will I tell if it's a special giant marble or just a normal giant marble?"

Their locations being random would make them much more difficult to find.  If they were rare on top of that even she may have some problems coming across them.  At least she had the advantage in that she was a shadow as well, so the stupid ones were less likely to attack her.  It still happened sometimes and it was annoying, but she got the feeling this human had to deal with it a lot more.  After all, human minds were delicious.

"I collect shinies because they're shiny and when there's light they go sparkle sparkle and it's pretty."

Well, really she just sold them as Reika Hanae most of the time, but he didn't need to know that.  Considering how dumb the shadows around here were she was pretty sure he would buy a story like that, especially given her earlier behavior.  This batch of jewelry was going to get her a shiny new laptop.  A real 'shiny.'