[BATT] Down the Chimney (Sinter & Byakko)

[melona-pan]

A meticulously planned heist goes haywire.

 

[melona-pan]

Byakko found herself once more at the edge of Chittentown. As with each time she visited the desert, she was tempted to check on the abandoned rebel headquarters out of morbid curiosity. Fighting off the urge proved to be relatively easy, given that she needed to stay focused on her mission. It was supposed to be a simple break and enter, on a low-risk target. Or that's what her intel suggested, anyway. She generally knew better than to assume such. Flipping open a small pocket sized notebook, Akko thumbed through a few pages, lingering on a fuzzy photograph taken by Aprife during the most recent Bloodfest.

Sinter Heilig.

He was one of the trolls working intel for the Queen during the military's ambush on the desert base, and moirail to one of the Queen's officers. It seemed likely that his hive contained leftover information concerning the tracking efforts of the military, all of which could lead back to the Outpost. Akko wasn't foolish enough to think that anything she potentially found about the swamp would be the sole copy; but it could give her insight on how much the military knew. It was still worthy of investigation even if she wasn't looking for anything specific. She was working off Rasali's word; and Byakko could only draw the conclusion that Rasali in turn was working off the word of the helmeted troll who delivered the TPS systems to the Initiative. Byakko had decided not to press too hard for information on the trolls identity; Rasali and her judgment were both to be trusted, and it was understandable that not everyone wanted to be so closely wound to the rebellion. Byakko was grateful for what they were willing to contribute, at any rate.

On the first of her scouting sessions, Byakko made a point to locate Sinter's lusus, ever wary of them. It wasn't until the third time she snooped on his hive that Lophie shifted slightly in the moonlight, and Akko clued in that the branches outside his otherwise kempt hive were part of his guardian. Byakko decided she'd be much better off avoiding an encounter with it. She'd attempted this burglary twice before, but each time left after spotting... whatever that was. Tonight, however, the lusus seemed absent. This made visit number six, in total. She was painstakingly thorough, even for a task that should have been in and out with no military involvement. After confirming the shack off to the side of the main hive was indeed empty, the cloaked Byakko scaled the side of Sinter's cabin.

As she had expected, but was unable to confirm, the chimney was as meticulously kept as the rest of the property. Tugging her balaclava over her mouth and nose, down Byakko went. It was a tight fit, but one she could make; thank you, years of cave-dwelling. After scaling down the inside of the chimney, Akko silently slid the fireplace screen off to the side and rose, blank grey robes lightly dusted with soot. She stood perfectly still, ears pricked, listening for any signs of movement. There was only the ticking of clocks. The smell of gingerbread flooded her nostrils, even through the fabric of her disguise. Sinter was, according to his usual routine, not home or expected to be for several hours. She had time.

Byakko took a moment to turn in a slow circle, examining her surroundings. If I was a spare government document, where would I be...? She paced down a hallway and back, peering into and dismissing the usual, bodily-function related blocks. She then turned to look up the staircase. Byakko nodded to herself.

After letting herself into Sinter's attic, Byakko pulled out a flashlight and began to paw through various boxes and shelves. It seemed to be storage- on the right track?- but there was more up here than she had expected. Thankfully, Sinter seemed to be all about organization. An unassuming box that was marked only with the emblem of the Queen caught her attention. Byakko flipped open the lid.

"Aha," she whispered softly under her breath. Akko only needed to flip through a few of the papers inside a folder labeled with the sweep of the attack. Maps, a few charts, clearly of the forest of Four Fronds and north past that- Byakko didn't bother looking at them too hard. It was good enough for her. Discarding the folder into her pack, Byakko returned to shifting through the contents of the box, looking for anything else potentially relevant.

*seekingCylem

how 2 short intro i am so sorry

 

[seekingCylem]

HP: 20/20
Trinket: 1/1 Agility Style B: Attack twice with +1 accuracy to both strikes.

Sinter's hive was never a single doily out of order. It was his pride and joy--made to order as one of his first independent acts as a living, breathing troll. Despite the homey nature of the decor, the clues the space was actively occupied were few and far between. The scalding hustle beverage heating and containment unit was still partially full. The dishrag on the rack was a little damp. The details were present, but deliberate. It made it easy for Sinter to tell someone had been in his hive.

Sinter's keys jangled in time with his outfit as he unlocked the front door. His modest bag of groceries balanced against his hip as he removed his shoes. No amount of sweeping would ever remove the sand from the entryway of his home. Not that Sinter was ever deterred from trying. He put his groceries away, hung his jacket over the back of a dining chair, and returned to the foyer with a broom.

Sinter hummed quietly as he worked, piling up the sand he'd brought in that night and working outward to collect the dust that had accumulated elsewhere in the hive. He almost hadn't noticed the smudge on the rug against its ornate pattern. He retraced his steps when he noticed his white socks had turned an unexpected shade of gray.

Sinter frowned. He was always so careful when lighting the fireplace. He puzzled over how he could have managed to track soot clear over...

There was a hitch in Sinter's thought pattern. The scenario was odd enough, but to combine the seemingly random piece of trivia resonating with Sinter rendered the whole event dreamlike in its strangeness. These were geta prints.

Obviously Tamiya was the first to come to Sinter's mind. Why would Tamiya be fiddling around with Sinter's unlit fireplace? Especially so recently for Sinter to have not noticed the mess until this point. Said mess was small, but the two of them were utterly a**l-retentive. Sinter's teeth dug into his lip as he stood from the footprint. His instincts were rattling his thinkpan something fierce. They calmed an imperceptible amount as he gently lifted the saber from the fireplace's mantle. He knew where the prints had come from, but where were they going?

Sinter's hive wasn't big. He'd never been bothered by the fact, but this night he was grateful. The tension of skulking around his own home was already wearing on his nerves. He gazed balefully up the stairs to his attic. If someone was in his hive, this was the last remaining block. He almost wished he'd missed the intruder entirely. Somehow Sinter knew he wasn't so lucky. Silently in his stocking-clad feet, he ascended the stairs. The door at the top of the landing was only the slightest inch ajar.

Sinter kicked the door open, sword brandished. "Who are you and what are you doing in my hive."

Now Sinter hoped he had stumbled upon a break-in, or he was going to feel very ridiculous.

Sinter does 5 damage!

melona-pan

 

[melona-pan]

Quote:

Akko dealt 0 damage.

If there was one thing Byakko was fully confident in, it was her senses. They were paramount in her survival for this this long, after all. So when Sinter- with his padded footsteps and masterful skill of avoiding the creaky parts of his wooden floor- suddenly burst through the door, she nearly jumped high enough to smack her head into the ceiling. The box she had been rummaging through hit the ground with an unceremonious thump, scattering papers across the floor.

"A-aah..." They both stood there for a moment, staring at one another, silent. Byakko's mind raced, pumpbiscuit throbbing in her throat. He wasn't supposed to be here. Her predicted schedule had been utterly wrong. There was simply no good explanation for her presence- not one that could buy her time, anyway. Not where and what she was doing, how she was dressed.

Akko's eyes darted from Sinter to a pile of belongings resting on a table between them. Survival gear, more boxes, and a small wooden trunk. She looked backed to the redblood. In one sudden, fluid motion she snatched the trunk and a high-end looking first aid kit, then kicked the table as hard as she could possibly muster in Sinter's direction.

More papers and went wafting into the air. Byakko retreated backwards into the attic, walls of white dotted with brightly coloured sticky notes bursting forth as she violently tossed files in Sinter's direction. Kanabo brandished in one arm now, retrieved from under her robes, Byakko continued toppling Sinter's meticulously kept shelves and possessions; simultaneously trying to distract and confuse him long enough to open up an escape, and hopefully even out the home field advantage by creating a gog awful mess.

Quote:

HP: 15/20
Military Weapon +1
Adept Artifact: 2/2
(Defensive Style B: nullify the damage from the last hit)

seekingCylem

gog bless this bless

 

[seekingCylem]

HP: 20/20
Trinkets: 1/1 Agility Style B: Attack twice with 4d6. Add +1 to both accuracy rolls.

Sinter nearly startled at the commotion himself. There in his hive before him was, indeed, a cloaked troll rifling through his belongings. Outrage quickly overwhelmed fear and Sinter repositioned his grip on his sword.

Unfortunately Sinter couldn't parry a table. A swift kick kept the furniture from sweeping both of his legs out from under him. Miscellaneous junk continued its trajectory into Sinter's torso and across the room. What groaning didn't stem from a box to the gut came from the sound of his belongings clattering all the way down the stairs behind him.

Sinter shoved the table to the side. He prepared to charge his adversary only to receive a face-full of paperwork. Files were emptied like confetti cannons. Somehow the non-lethality of the maneuver offended Sinter even more than if he'd been straight up attacked. He'd been in this fight for mere seconds and already this troll had preemptively wasted hours of his life.

Thoroughly annoyed, Sinter ran at Byakko, sword swinging--mostly to knock aside his own projected belongings.

Sinter does 5 damage!

melona-pan

 

[melona-pan]

Quote:

Akko dealt 3 damage.
Akko used her artifact and nullified 5 damage.

Sinter's blade whipped through the air, neatly slicing a burst of papers in half. Akko jerked back just in time to avoid a slash across her collarbone- under her hood, she grimaced. Trunk and kit still tightly clutched under one arm, she ducked away and continued to retreat, rocketing more boxes toward Sinter until her peripherals caught the back wall.

The window. The glass looked sort of thick- but breakable. The hive stood only two stories high, with sand below. The only thing keeping her from crashing through it was the thought of leaping straight into the eager maw of Sinter's lusus. No thank you. Fighting through another troll to the front door seemed like a much more favorable choice.

Instead, Byakko rammed her kanabo between the back wall and a sizeable grandfather clock that rested a few inches away. With a painful wooden creak, the clock's back feet parted off the ground. One final heave with her make-shift lever was all it took for the wooden pillar to tip and come toppling down between them in a fireworks display of splintering wood and dust. The attic floor shook with the impact. Akko wasted no time in hopping around the debris, attempting to circle Sinter amidst the mayhem and cloud of debris, weapon raised.

Quote:

HP: 15/20
Military Weapon +1
Adept Artifact: 1/2
(Defensive Style B: nullify the damage from the last hit)

seekingCylem

 

[seekingCylem]

HP: 17/20
Trinkets: 1/1 Agility Style B: Attack twice with 4d6. Add +1 to both accuracy rolls.

Sinter internally wept as he ruined his own clerical work with a goddamn sword. The flurry was making things difficult to see through, but he knew the layout of his own hive. It wasn't a large space. He'd have this stranger cornered in no ti-

Sinter saw the precariously angled clock. It was a truly fine piece of furniture that he didn't have the room for on the main floor, but also couldn't bear to part with. Clearly his mind was about to change on the matter. He scrambled to stop. His feet skid across the layer of loose paper covering the floor. The clock crashed before it could flatten Sinter, but not before he tripped over it in his haste to stop.

His assailant was already taking advantage of the engineered misfortune. Sinter struggled to unpin himself from between the downed clock and the wall where he'd fallen.

Sinter does 0 damage!

melona-pan

 

[melona-pan]

Quote:

Akko dealt 5 damage.

The window of opportunity to circle Sinter opened; Byakko dove through it. Crossing to the other side of the room, she darted in a wide arc around him, eager to put as much distance as possible between them. Her weapon remained raised, although when she threw a glance over her shoulder to check on her opponent, she slowed.

Akko wished no mortal harm on Heilig. She had intended for this to be simple in-and-out, hopefully undetected reconnaissance mission. So she considered herself rather magnanimous when instead of advancing on the pinned Sinter with her kanabo, she dropped her weapon and the pilfered goods, picked up one of the strewn tables, and threw it with all the force she could muster on top of him.

Scrambling atop the slippery field of paper to recollect her weapon and Sinter's chosen belongings, Byakko once again made for the staircase.

Quote:

HP: 15/20
Military Weapon +1
Adept Artifact: 1/2
(Defensive Style B: nullify the damage from the last hit)

seekingCylem

 

[seekingCylem]

HP: 12/20
Trinkets: 1/1 Agility Style B: Attack twice with 4d6. Add +1 to both accuracy rolls.

Sinter peeled himself up off the floor where his body had molded to the shape of the downed clock. He turned to rise and pursue Byakko. A look of what could have been considered a combination of horror and disappointment bloomed on Sinter's face. It was quickly obscured by the airborne table. The mess of splintering table legs kept the furniture from squashing Sinter completely, but did reacquaint his spine with the grandfather clock beneath him. His high-pitched wheeze was drowned out by the equally pathetic gonging of the brutalized timepiece.

This was not working out, Sinter deduced with surprising clarity given his inability to catch his breath. Trying to maintain the order of his hive was clearly a lost cause. He wasn't about to lose the assailant too. Groaning at the pressure it put on his ribs, Sinter raised his legs and heaved. With a decisive kick, the remains of the table dislodged and sailed in the direction of the stairs across from Sinter. Hitting Byakko from the floor may not of been an option, but she wasn't the only one who could be a huge annoyance.

Sinter does 0 damage!

melona-pan

 

[melona-pan]

Quote:

Akko dealt 0 damage.

She was almost at the stairs. Byakko was sprinting nearly full force towards her escape route, hopping around upturned furniture and strewn boxes with relatively ease. Spending a good portion of your wrigglerhood stuck in a cave system had some perks. Her speed, however, would be her downfall.

The table Sinter projectile-kicked flew through the air. It spun precariously, catching an unsuspecting Akko in the back of the knees with the tabletop's edge. She let out a sharp yelp of alarm, stuck her arms out in front of herself in a feeble attempt to regain balance, then tumbled forward out of Sinter's line of sight.

A sequence of pained grunts and bangs followed from the staircase as Akko tumbled at full velocity, mostly face first, down to the first story. Her club flung off into one of Sinter's walls, stolen goods tossed into the air only to rain back back down on Akko's crumpled form. Another, longer, notably more dizzied groan wafted up from downstairs.

Akko could feel a warm wetness spreading over her mouth and lower face. She reached up to prod at her throbbing nose. It was bleeding. Her balaclava absorbed most of the flow, hue all but masked against the black fabric. Silently berating herself, she tugged it more securely over the bridge of her nose and scrambled to collect the pilfered goods and her weapon, moving with a slight hobble.

Quote:

HP: 15/20
Military Weapon +1
Adept Artifact: 1/2
(Defensive Style B: nullify the damage from the last hit)

seekingCylem

 

[seekingCylem]

HP: 12/20
Trinkets: 0/1 Agility Style B: Attack twice with 4d6. Add +1 to both accuracy rolls.

Sinter was still righting himself by the time he heard the results of the thrown table. The percussive rhythm of a troll going horn over frond down the stairs was so spot-on, Sinter might have thought he'd accidentally left the TV on. He spared Byakko, and his poor walls, a wince upon the final THUD.

Sinter knew better than to hope Byakko had been fully downed by gravity. As soon as he was on his feet, he was rushing to apprehend her before she could scuttle off and upend more of his furniture.

In retrospect, Sinter felt he should have realized a fall like that would result in Byakko spilling all of her--HIS, he corrected angrily--pilfered files. He did realize it, eventually, when his foot hit the papers coating the staircase between the two.

The paper slipped out from under Sinter and Sinter went with it. For the second time in as many seconds, the staircase was played like a xylophone as Sinter fell down its length. His "final thud" at the bottom was a lot less bombastic, muffled as it was by the body of one Byakko Mawiya

Sinter does 6 damage!

melona-pan