A Missing Thorn

[OOC: I wrote this to justify an ingame event that is happening tonight, and also to move forward an ingame storyline involving Szengence and The Thorns of The Rose. The ingame event will be a duel between Szengence and Crono8 tonight, Monday 2/24 at midnight GMT in the Tir Arena (7pm Eastern). There was a thread about the challenge on this forum, but it most have been removed by a moderator.

A story written by Dealir on this same storyline can be found on the Unity of the Rose roleplay forums at: http://pub39.ezboard.com/funityofthe...opicID=7.topic]

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Cherelle "Szengence" Musco sits motionless on the floor of her apartment, allowing her gaze to trace lazily over the regular, predictable pattern of grooves in her apartment wall. It was quiet. Far too quiet. She never thought that she would miss the Old Athen Subway where she grew up as a child. She didn't miss it, really. But she would never get used to the silence and solitude of her clan apartment. The silence would keep her up at night. Some nights, she would sleep in The Cup, leaning her back against the wall in a shadowy corner, letting the chatter of its patrons lull her to sleep. She could always count on Coco. Coco never knew when to shut up.

The buzzing of her com link brought her instantly to the present. "Hello?" "I'm outside".

Szengence raised herself to her feet, gazing down the corridor towards the front door of her apartment. She commands the door to open by pressing a button on her comlink. Adamant enters the apartment, shambling forward, nervously shifting her gaze.

"Tell me what he said." Szengence intended to get straight to the point.

Adamant was gone just one hour. It doesn't take long to find a fiend like Scardin when you know where to look. Szengence took a few steps back, letting her enter the main chamber of the apartment. Under the light of the apartment, her looked into Adamant's eyes, checking for traces of Bioluxen-3. Adamant has been a user. Perhaps she was a user. Szengence wasn't sure. But what she did know is that Adamant has been running the stuff, along with Sooon. Evilinn had been involved too, somehow. "Damn idle hands", Szengence thought to herself.

Szengence thought back to her own early days of experimentation in the subway. She had done far worse things than Bioluxen-3, or "Blue" as its known on the street. Its users are easily identifiable by a faint blue aura that surrounds their body when they are under its influence. Even after the aura has dissipated, its still possible to see hints of the blue shade in the eyes of the user. Once Szentasha and the Roses rescued Szengence and the others from the subway, she swore off illegal stims. She knew Szentasha was watching her. Szentasha made her leader of "The Thorns", and trusted her to keep them out of trouble. "Trust", Szengence thought. That's a strange word for it. Tasha was so convinced that The Thorns would misuse any extra money that they were kept only marginally funded. They had only enough credits to feed themselves and purchase basic equipment.

Szengence stared at Adamant. Adamant replied in a hushed tone. "He says he wants eight million for her return. To cover future profits, he said."

Szengence grimaced. She had no idea where she was going to get that money. She couldn't believe the mess the girls had gotten themselves into. They had the same history as her, growing up in the subway. She understood them far too well, and should have expected something like this. Still, Szengence knew that she couldn't be too restrictive. If she asked them to change their colors and live the lives of nuns, it would never work. She would lose them to the streets, or it would be a game with them sneaking around behind her back. And so when she discovered they were doing a little Blue at parties, she overlooked it. What she didn't know was that they started running the stuff for Scardin to cover the cost of their habit. Once they got over their head, the gambled with him to get it back, and lost. Szengence was sure the game was fixed. The outcome was that they took possession of Evilinn. She worked for them now, unwillfully of course. Szengence didn't even want to think about the hell Evilinn might be living in.

"We don't have it."

"But the Roses have it. Ask Szentasha .. she'll help."

Without thinking, Szengence struck Adamant hard against the face with the back of her hand. She immediately regretted the action, thinking back to what Tasha said the day she was made leader. "You were chosen because of the strength of your will. I know you possess the will to discipline yourself, and to impose strict discipline on the rest of the Thorns. Where they act out of impulse, I expect you to act deliberately and with forethought." Szengence grimaced at the thought of Szentasha's high-pitched, authoritative voice. Always trying to make a point about strength of character, duty to truth, obligation to the Thorns. Szengence couldn't stand Szentasha's holier-than-thou attitude. And she couldn't stand owing her for a chance at a better life outside the subway. Szengence had never owed anyone anything before.

Adamant looked back. She was startled by the unexpected outburst, but not moved or phased by the blow itself.

"Szentasha can't know about this. Do you want to be back on the street again? She trusted me to handle you. I'll find a way out of this mess you caused. Where is Sooon, anyway?"

Adamant shrugs. "I've heard there is someone at the Tir arena offering 10 million if someone can beat him in a duel. That would more than cover it."

Szengence looked back at Adamant. This might be her only opportunity to solve the situation, without involving the Roses. And it had to be her. It was her responsibility to keep the Thorns safe. She blamed herself. "His name?"

"Crono8", Adamant replied.

Szengence called up the name on her comlink. "Are you offering 10 million for duel?" "Uh, huh." "I'll face you. That's right." "Got it."

Szengence closes the call and looks at Adamant. "Its done. I face him at midnight."

"You'd better be careful. I heard he uses an artifact from the temple .. a scythe with a blade of ice. Never seen one, but I'm sure it won't be pretty."

Szengence ignored her, walking steadily for the door of the apartment, checking the energy readings on her battered Freedom Arms pistols. She had never been in a duel before. She knew she would have to prepare.

Szengence grumbles under her breath, "I don't know who this Crono guy is, but he's standing between me, my money, and one of my girls. And that means he's going to suffer."

((Damn good read...and, good luck! :) ))

Hehe.. give him hell! I'd come cheer but Tir is not friendly country.

Kick his arse!

Over in West Athen, Jynne sits on the porch outside her apartment, holding a cup of coffee in two hands as she tries to wake up. This weekend had seen her up late three nights in a row, and the loss of sleep was taking its toll on her this morning.

Sipping her coffee, she watches the sky and thinks. She thinks about making herself a promise not to stay awake to answer calls for help anymore, but didn't bother to. Jynne knew, from long experience, that she'd never keep that promise anyway. She thinks, then, about to the message on her comm last night.

Szengence: We need to meet. I want to fight a duel, and I need to prepare. You've got a lot of combat experience... I want your help with getting ready.

Jynne, very broadly, disapproved of duelling. It proved very little except who was richer, or who was luckier. She hadn't known why the one-time medical trainee that Szentasha had elevated was going to fight a duel; she knew better than to ask. It was probably just a wager, anyway. Jynne had wondered briefly if she should help or not, but understood that Szengence would fight with or without her advice.

And so she'd met the young woman in a corner of the Cup, and began teaching.

She could tell Szengence was able to feel her distaste as Jynne outlined strategies - the merits of various nanoprograms, the need to stay calm, take advantage of her strengths, and fight on her terms. But Szengence was smart enough to pretend she didn't notice Jynne's disapproval, and asked relevent questions about the why's of the tactics Jynne detailed. The meeting had been short and businesslike.

Finishing her coffee, Jynne stands and goes inside, and begins to buckle on the armor and equipment that she relies on to keep herself alive another day. She would be in the crowd at the Arena later, hoping her student manages to at least put up a challenge.

So? What was the final score?

I bet someone got ganked ;p