Hunting in Obscurity

  • Thread starter Laggy Lagiacrus
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"Have at ye!"
Despite his apparent display of bravado, the attacks were having little effect on Andrew's adversary. The main reason being, that although the cuts stung, they were not nearly deep enough to cause much of a problem - and Andrew had no way of getting near it without taking a heavy blow himself. This was discovered the hard way, when he attempted to close the gap between him and the beast, but received a solid fist to his chest for his efforts. Having put up a haphazard block at the last minute, the blow only winded him - however, the force of it still flung him backwards, the enemy tossing him like a rag doll, a mere annoyance swatted away indiscriminately. He ended up rolling uncontrollably backwards on the ground, past Irene, eventually colliding with the wall adjacent to her. Scraped, grazed and lightly bruised, Andrew had begun to see that he was growing overconfident - and that his skills had rusted quite considerably. "Jesus, he's got a strong pair of arms... That is going to leave one hell of a mark later... Ow... Hey, do you have something in your eye, or is it just me?"
 
Her hands pressed hard against her lips, effectively keeping another scream from coming out. Her eyes widened in surprise and terror, seeing how easily the demon hurled Andrew away and towards her. It wasn't something smart to do, open her eyes, especially when a demon hurled a hunter her way; but she couldn't help it. She also couldn't help getting some sort of dirt in them. It itched horribly, and Irene bent over, scratching her eyes almost hysterically. Her contact lenses were making everything more difficult, so she took them off before they caused any real damage to her eyes.

She straightened up, blinking, and looked back at Andrew, who was- for her surprise- still alive and almost showing no damage from that blow.

''Nothing, nothing to worry about,'' she answered quickly, avoiding to look at him in the eyes directly. She knew what her irises looked like, and they resembled something one might find in a cat, or an owl- not a normal person, which made Irene start feeling nervous. But she didn't have enough time to think about how her eyes looked like, or what did the people around see in her, as she felt the demon was getting closer again.

Looking back, Irene found herself staring at the approaching creature in the eye. There was a short moment of panic, but soon it turned into anger. She wasn't going to let that thing hurl her away, she was sure about that. She looked at the ground and saw a squashed beer can; without thinking it twice, she picked it up, and hurled it at the beast.

''HEY! YOU!'' she yelled, as she started to run.
 
Snarling, the beast turned to Irene, its eyes full of a hatred typical of a feral beast. Teeth bared and face contorted with instinctive rage, it bounded towards her, the can having focussed its attention solely on her. Being a good distance away, and with such a body weight as it possessed, moving at high speeds required it to take a run-up - though it had the appearance of one, one must understand that it was not like the big cat of the savannah detailed so often. This gave Andrew ample time to right himself, and get a grip on the situation - or, rather, it would have, but the blow had disorientated him. Stumbling, he rushed forwards regardless, knowing that he had a job to do - protect those who cannot fight for themselves. But he had no hope of stopping a demon of such a level, without gathering himself first. Thus, he was left with one option that did not end in him dying early.
"Irene! Dodge to your side!"
He specifically mentioned her side, for the reason that his target would not be able to defend its back - being a quadruped without any back defences at all would have such an effect. While he had noticed that Irene had taken off her contacts, the eyes underneath were not paid attention to, the more pressing matter being the lump of fur-coated muscle barrelling towards the pair, at an alarming pace.
 
Irene ran, constantly turning her head to look back- the demon was getting closer and closer, and she started to think she had just done the most stupid thing in her entire life. Probably the last stupid thing, as she feared the demon might end her life anytime soon. She ran over the asphalt, close to the curb, against the traffic; she had a clear path there, and she didn't need to dodge people as she ran.

Not that she ran for too long either. It was all a matter of seconds until she heard Andrew.

''Me what?!'' she asked, hoping she heard him right. Instantly she moved to the side, jumping over the curb and never stopping.
 
The dodge was well-timed, in the sense that the beast flew just inches away from Irene, its rancid breath of rotting carcasses able to be smelt as its failed pounce was in motion. However, despite how close it was, the attack was still a failure, and as such, left the thing utilising such a move momentarily vulnerable. Having now regained his stance, this was all the hunter needed, in order to finish off his adversary - or, at the very least, put it on a level playing field with him. as it attempted to stick the landing, Andrew leapt, plunging his sword into the neck of his foe. Or, at least, he tried - though it was primarily a demon that mobilised itself on all fours, it could handle itself on its hind legs with surprising skill. Thus, it used this ability to block the blow delivered unto it, by having its arm take the hit. Roaring in agony, it attempted to shake its aggressor off, but Andrew had gotten a hold on its mane - it was now simply a matter of stabbing downwards.
"I'd advise the squeamish or the easily offended to look away... Now."
In one swift, fluid motion, the blade penetrated the neck of its target - and, with barely a whimper, the beast fell. "Ah... Exhilarating. Haven't had a good hunt in ages. Granted, I am a touch battered, but no biggie. You doing okay over there, Irene?"
 
''Yes, yes, I'm fine- I'M FINE!,'' Irene yelled, annoyed, not at Andrew, but at some random passerby.
She managed to get away from the beast, but in her panic she did bump against some lady that walked by, and then she smashed herself against a shop window, fortunately not breaking the glass, but attracting the attention of more than one person nearby.

''I'm sorry!, I'm sorry!'' she apologized, to the shop assistant, who was looking at her through the window, not exactly with a friendly face. Irene emphasized her apology gesturing, stretching her arms with her hands open, as if trying to stop someone from beating her up. Which would have been a possibility, since, to the eyes everybody except Andrew, she was just some crazy girl who hurled cans and yelled random stuff before running away and into the traffic.

Her body was shaking; she was panting, too. Turning around, she saw Andrew, and the black, blurry lump which was probably the corpse of the demon. She walked back where he was, and stood beside them, resting her hands on her hips. She looked down, at the dead beast. The beast was dead; Irene was alive, instead. She let out a laugh in relief, and looked back at him, completely forgetting about her eyes.

''Heh! I guess... I guess you were right,'' she said, still recovering her breath. ''That... that was fun...''
 
Smiling, Andrew turned to Irene, acting as casually as if the whole thing was an everyday occurrence. Bar the fact he now had someone acquainted with him that was actually able to tolerate him, this was essentially true.
"See? What did I tell you, it's a nice change from the banal everyday life the citizens of this place invariably lead. It's dangerous, and if your soul gets eaten, I'm not entirely sure what happens to you... But nevertheless, the thrill of the fight is pretty much the only thing we hunters CAN live for. Anyway, you've seen the world for what it really is... But if you can't do anything but act as a decoy, I'd advise you kept to your job in the coffee shop."
Andrew's face turned stony at the last sentence, his somewhat breezy manner abandoned, a more serious matter now being touched upon. "I know what happens to people who aren't prepared. I've seen it happen, with my own eyes. On the other hand, how does learning how to throw knives, shurikens and all that sound? Don't follow me if you don't think you're ready!"
Before he turned, however, one more question was posed - a slightly more personal one, at that. "Is there something I should know about your eyes?"
 
Her panting ceased. Her smile gave place to a blank stare, jawdropping slightly; and then, into something that could be interpreted as an offended look.

''Decoy?'' she said, as he talked. She found that insulting almost. ''My- my eyes? WHAT DO YOU CARE ABOUT MY EYES! I JUST SAVED YOUR SORRY ASS AND YOU-'' Irene turned her head around, and smiled nervously at the people that walked past. She instantly looked back at Andrew, and continued talking, now with a much lower voice tone. ''...And you talk to me like I'm a good for nothing?!'' She stepped forwards, and placed her index finger on his chest. She was clearly annoyed. '' And when did you say I was to quit my job, huh? Let's face it: You desperately need a partner in this!'' she said, and started walking away, her arms folded across her chest.

She pictured herself, in her mind, throwing knives and shurikens at all sorts of demons. She imagined herself quitting that job, throwing her dirty apron on her boss' face. Why not? She was good at throwing knives and darts, at least for recreational purposes. She enjoyed doing some excersice, too. She had not made more than four steps when she turned around, still annoyed of course.

'' Fine. How do you guys get paid for this?''
 
Andrew could have argued back. He could have made a point on how she couldn't defend herself at all, and how she actually did little other than be a decoy. However, he had learnt from experience that a woman cannot be beaten in an argument, even if she is clearly in the wrong. Pertaining to this age-old observation, he answered her question, in as inoffensive a tone as he could possibly muster.
"We don't get paid - as we can't be seen by a large majority of the world, there's little point in having money. Instead, in return for our services, our guild provides for us. They feed us, give us accommodation, provide training facilities, and basically get us everything we can't ourselves. But, I hear that commodities harvested from some demons can be traded with various collectors. They'll provide you with some semiprecious stones in return, or so I hear. I can't say I see the appeal in collecting fangs and claws."
Shrugging, he continued forwards, and patted Irene firmly on the shoulder, in what was a friendly gesture, and not much else. "You've got spirit in you. We need more people like you, I'll reveal that much."
 
It was a wise thing to do, not arguing with her. Even though he was right, Irene was not someone to try to reason with. One just couldn't win an argument with her. Some people call that stubbornness. She preferred to say she had a temper. But, since Andrew was not arguing, she calmed down a little and listened.

''Sounds fair enough'' she said, looking at his hand on her shoulder, then back at him again. '' Although, I'm not entirely sure how would I cope with becoming invisible. Can, can I try this? I mean, what if I am not really made for this thing....''

She sighed, and shrugged.
''Meh. Too bad. I'm into this. And if I'm not good enough- well I wonder if the guild needs some cafeteria personal'', she added, smiling meekly. Then she remembered her eyes, and bit her lip. '' Eh, yah. I was born like that. Doctors said it's some strange colonoma thing or something like that. I... Some people freaks out about them. I use contact lenses to hide them... It doesn't matter. What now?'' she asked, quicky changing the subject.
 
"Now? Well, my shift's over now, so I suppose I can take you back to the guild for an application. We're fairly lenient, so I think it's simply a matter of writing your name on a register. Admin'll take care of the rest. We can even grab something to eat there... I'm sure I can worm something out of the staff for a non-official member."
Andrew chuckled t his own little joke, but cleared his throat slightly afterwards. He knew not whether his humour would amuse people, having had very little experience in actually being funny - or, indeed, witty - but he made no bones about it. He simply continued walking forwards, chatting idly to Irene, unaware of whether she was following or listening, and not really caring either way. But that was how he lived life - he faced his life, and he dealt with whatever came in as breezy a manner as he could. He hadn't expected to have been seen by Irene, nor did he expect to have been fighting a lion-like beast. But he took those moments, because he felt he had to, and it was this that kept him in the guild. "By the wy, we're based somewhere that may or may not appear at first... Though, if you can see me, you can see everything else. If you remember that huge building site that nothing is ever built on, then the pieces should fall into place."
 
Irene pulled a grimacing smile at his joke. She rolled her eyes.
''Well... actually eating sounds like a good idea. You...seriously, you don't eat this sort of stuff I mean, you do eat normally, right?'' she asked, unsure about his joke. She had a mental image of herself holding a cup of coffee and a dish full of demon maggots.

''No, actually, I don't remember any building site like that'' she answered. And she was right; if she had been there, chances were she had seen the building just like any other, unable to tell its supernatural properties. She kept walking beside him, now keeping up with his pace much more easily.

''Why is that I can see you, then, and nobody else does?'' she asked, after a while. ''I've seen ghosts, and apparently I've seen demons too, now... but I have to make an effort for that to happen. You are different. Why do I get to see you? I can't even tell you are different from the others'', she said, and, glancing at his sword, she added, ''...well, almost''.
 
Pausing in thought for a moment, yet still walking nonchalantly towards his destination, Andrew attempted to recall exactly why hunters were practically invisible to the world. After the momentary halt in his thoughts, he came to a conclusion.
"That, my dear, is a topic that involves so much science, that the average person's brains would flow out of their ears, like their head was full of grey custard. So, in its stead, allow me to provide you, with the abridged version. See, in order to be able to see the bests that plague us so, we must be exposed for a certain amount of time to a metal called Ardox. It's liquid at room temperature, and isn't even that reactive. Or harmful. Anyway, exposure to this metal causes regular humans to be able to see demons. Though, I don't think you actually need it... You say if you concentrate, you can see them, yes? Maybe we just need to give you some mental exercises."
however, one thing had been omitted - the severe reduction of life in those exposed to it. He had said it was not harmful, but that was only immediately. Those exposed long enough to see demons would only live to the age of fifty, on average - around one in five died before they reached the age of thirty-five. But suspecting that it really didn't matter anyway, and that he would probably die earlier from facing a stronger adversary and losing, plus the fact that Irene seemed not to need exposure to it, made him keep quiet about that side-effect.
 
The yellow-eyed girl stared forwards as she walked, nodding, trying to make sense out of his abridged version of things. It was probably a good thing Andrew did not dwell into a more detailed explanation, or her brains might have suffered some permanent damage. Not that she was dumb; simply it was too much information at once to process. A whole new reality had just been revealed to her, and more was about to come.

It was completely dark already by the time the guild's building was evidently in front of them.

''So... If I am in no need to take this..., thing, then, does that mean I won't be invisible?'' she asked, after a while.
 
"Not at all. You'll not be visible to people when in the building, anyway. Speaking of which, this is our stop."
Turning to face the building, Andrew revelled once again in how unrealistically bland it was. Looking like just an ordinary bock of flats, even one could see it, there would be little to see. However, the interior of the building was a different kettle of fish entirely. The ground floor had a large, maroon rug spread flatly across the stone tiles, with an assortment of ceiling lights casting soft light evenly around the room. The mahogany counter at the front was placed in front of a swivel chair, occupied by the rather normal-looking secretary. Though she looked to have a menial job, she was actually in charge of administration - she decided who was assigned to which areas, documented which teams were officially formed, and generally kept a sense of much-needed organisation in the haphazard guild. Mousy brown hair tied into a bun, her emotionless grey eyes matched her tone of voice perfectly, as she addressed Andrew without even looking at him.
"Good evening Mr. Johnson. Your shift ended ten minutes ago, is there any particular reason you took so long?"
As if her thorny attitude meant nothing at all, Andrew spoke, disregarding the fact that he looked as if he had been dragged through a bush backwards.
"Ah, yes, we ran into a lion."
"And I assume the other part of this 'we' is the person beside you?"
"Yep. And she'll be needing a room, and-"
"Mr. Johnson, don't tell me how to do my job."
Handing the key to Andrew, still not even glancing at him, the secretary passed him the key to room "3-A."
"Third floor, first room?"
"Yes, I believe so. Now then, Mr. Johnson here will show you the features of this building you will need to see, Miss..."
Obviously, the woman meant for Irene to speak her name - and, knowing her, Irene only. To speak out at that point would have meant toilet-cleaning duties for Andrew. Thus, with little else to do, he positioned himself by the lift door.
 
''...Waters. Irene Waters'', she replied. She had just watched the whole conversation quietly, moving only her eyes from Andrew to the secretary, and from the secretary back to him, just as if it were a ping-pong match.

Although she was trying her best to sound casual and confident as Andrew, a slight nervousness was evident in Irene's voice. She was, after all, a bit excited and a bit scared of the place and all the demon hunting thing. But she was determined to carry on and see where things led her to. So, after giving her full name, and seeing nothing more was required from her, she walked to where Andrew was.

''Sweet lady,'' she said, in a low voice tone, as she raised her brow.

The lift door opened.

''Shall we, Mr. Johnson?'' she asked, in the most emotionless way she could, mimicking the secretary.
 
"Don't talk like that, Irene, it suits you about as well as laying eggs would a cow."
Andrew's voice trailed off as he spoke these words, evidently serious about it. It was odd what he treated nonchalantly, breezily, and seriously - it was as if his sense of reality was slightly warped. Not enough to merit insanity, but still enough to make his mannerisms seem "off." Nevertheless, he retained most of his sanity, his odd moments consisting largely of being pumped up or reserved about a fight that would have people screaming. But, as it stood, he was to get some rest, after showing Irene what she would need to see. Walking into the lift, and lightly pushing the appropriate buttons, he awaited Irene's entrance - this in itself was unusual, given his previous habit of running off without notice. The simple truth, was that he just didn't have the energy. "I'm on the top floor, so you're going to have to find your room yourself. I'm going to wash my scrapes and whatnot, and maybe get a change of clothes. Given that I'm probably turning in after I show you where to eat, there isn't much point though..."
 
Irene got in the lift, rolling her eyes, and leaned against a wall.

''Fine, fine. I won't talk like that,'' she replied, closing her eyes as the lift started to move. She was tired as well, although she had not been hunting demons all day. Serving coffe can be exhausting, too.

''I guess I can find that room on my own, too'' she added, placing her open palm to get the key from him. ''So what's for dinner? ''
 
((Argh, totally forgot to reply. So sorry!))

"Whatever's on the menu, I suppose."
Placing the keys in her palm, Andrew's reply was nonchalant, his breezy manner fading like a drop of ink under assault by a steady stream of droplets. It wasn't known that well, but the Ardox had had another side-effect on him. Excessive exposure to demons wore him down - being in such close proximity to such a powerful beast had worn him down to a stump. Added to the fact that he was alredy fatigued, and the hunter was walking dead on his feet. His eyes drooping, and yawns stifled only barely, he jolted to attention upon the lift doors opening to reveal the floor Irene was to be staying on. "All right, your stop. I'll meet you on the first floor when you're ready."
Unbeknownst to him, however, there was to be a complication approaching - his harmless look was just a façade.
 
''Seriously? You look like you should just skip dinner, and go to bed,'' she answered, as she left the lift. ''Meet you there, then,'' she said, just before the doors closed back again.

Irene stared at the end of the hallway. It was well kept and clean, or at least it looked far better than the cockroach-infested place she was used to. Then she looked at the key she had in her hand, and sighed.

Alright, let's find this room.
F...., H...., J.... this is A, right? It should be at the end.... on the other side...

Turning around, Irene walked with a decisive pace to the end of the hallway. She did find the room quite easily. Slipping the key in the lock, she opened the door. Just like the hallway, the room was looking good- a table, some chairs, a bed, a couch and a coffee table; a small fridge; another low table with a small TV over it. Irene closed the door behind, and kept exploring. There was a door that was actually a wardrobe inside; there were some bath gowns and towels in there. Then it was the small- but neat- toilet. Irene saw the shower and she just couldn't help it.

It was only after she was out that she realized she had to wear the same clothes she had been wearing until then. She was not going to go out in a bathgown and nothing else. I'll have to bring my stuff back from home tomorrow, if I stay here, she said to herself. So she sighed, took the key, and left.

The lift doors opened on the first floor. Irene walked out, and was amazed at the restaurant that was there. They was even a pianist playing somewhere in the room! She started to look at the tables, hoping to find Andrew there already.
 
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