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Post by The Sidhe on Jul 11, 2012 18:10:51 GMT -5
Seventeen. Seventeen children missing in a month with only four bodies having drifted home over the waters of the bayou. Annabel Lee knew her mama had told her to stay inside and that her daddy didn’t want her playing down by the water anymore, but that didn’t stop any of the other children so it didn’t stop her either. In Slidell, the water was one of the few sources of entertainment. Maybe if there house wasn’t built on stilts along the walkways they wouldn’t be so worried. She didn’t see the issue though. Currently she and her friends were further back towards the grounded neighborhoods anyway, playing alongside the lake in one of the safer areas. Her mama was still close by. There was a book in her lap but Annabel Lee could see that she wasn’t reading it. She didn’t think all the surveillance was necessary. There was nothing that scary in Lake Ponchartrain apart from the alligators, and even they stayed away if there were enough people around. What really bothered Annabel Lee the most was that nobody seemed to believe her story about Troy. She didn’t mention it anymore after her mama had gotten all upset and teary eyed and told her not to speak of the dead in such a way. She didn’t understand why nobody believed her. She’d really seen him! It had been dark, and the view from her window hadn’t been the best, but he’d been there, he’d spoken to her! Her mama just didn’t want to upset his mama, that was her guess. Tiring of the water, Annabel Lee wandered away from her friends and ran back to her mama where she sat in the grass, “Mama, can we go home now?”“Sure darlin’, o’ course we can.”Annabel Lee walked along holding her mama’s hand. If she fell off the walkways into the water it was a pretty far drop, and there were alligators and snakes to worry about. What annoyed her most were the mosquitoes, though. Now that it was summer it was hot as could be and the nasty little things were all over the place. She considered herself lucky to sleep with a mosquito net around herbed so she wouldn’t get bit. The walk back to the house on stilts wasn’t so long. Her mama went inside and Annabel Lee stayed out on the front porch, looking out at the trees that rose out of the waters of the bayou. Every once in a while she would see something underneath the murkiness move, creating ripples in the current. It was interesting to watch but scary to think about. From inside the house she heard her mama calling for her, “Annabel Lee, you’d best get in here and change! Them kids from that special school are set to get here any minute now.”Oh that’s right. She’d completely forgotten. The eight year old stumbled up the remaining steps and into the house. Yes, it would probably be best if she wasn’t wearing a swimsuit when the students got here. She’d never heard of Shibusen but she’d heard they could help stop her friends from going missing. Annabel Lee hurried in pulling a sundress over her still damp swimsuit and then went to wait out on the porch. From the corner of her eyes, she thought she saw something moving amongst the far off trees. Descending the steps and walking to the edge of the boards build above the water, she squinted. Whatever it as, it was gone now. Pouting, she cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, “Troy! Laurie! Marie! Y’all come home, yer mamas is missin’ ya!”Her mama must have heard her. She heard her scream at her from the window, “Annabel Lee Herveaux, you quit that crazy talkin’ this minute and get back to the porch so’s I can keep an eye on ya!” The girl pouted but marched back to the front steps anyway, sitting with her knees tucked into her chest. Her blue eyes scanned the water and the trees. She didn't know where her friends had gone, but she hoped these people could find them. She was really starting to miss them something awful.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2012 19:32:02 GMT -5
If anything sucked more than dry, arid Nevada it would be humid as hell Louisiana. Xenix had expected this, but regardless it was still a major drag. Despite the weather, Xenix threw on her usual combat boots and baggy trip pants; after all she could handle the humidity without complaining. Her top was mainly sleeveless, and black with a few intricate, subtle decals here and there. Over that was a white, short sleeved leather jacket. It too was adorned with more obvious logos in a blood red fabric. Now the flight itself had been boring as hell. People were sleeping, babies cried, and she just blocked it all out with music. The only positive side was doing a mission after so long with Fritz. They needed something to do and help get closer to their goals, so why not take up a mission that perked her interest? Currently though, Fritz and herself were headed to meet their informant. The whole situation revolved around missing children and not knowing what was behind the attacks. Xenix did have her assumptions on the attacker; however the fact that they were meeting with a child held more importance. Children in the current times tended to be very imaginative and could see so many different things any normal adult wouldn’t believe them. Regardless, Xenix would have to push the facts aside and treat this situation with care. After all missing children that are not because of alligators was not something to treat as a mere story. Speaking of Fritz, she looked over at her partner. “What do you think of this whole mission Fritz? We are going to have a lot of work ahead of us.” Her tone was a bit lighter with him. Despite surviving their first mission, her tone of voice was still pretty cold towards him; very close to when they first met. Xenix had to give her partner some credit though considering they are total opposites. To think they wouldn’t work well seemed to be an understatement, but she still had her doubts. After all one mission doesn’t mean she could fully trust him to have her back. However, despite the doubts, she had a good feeling he wouldn’t let her down. Shoving those thoughts from her mind, she looked out the window as the taxi took them. She hoped the ride would be over with soon. After all, a new mission equaled new challenges and she could tell this wasn’t going to be a fast one.
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Fritz Ingram
Weapon
Demon Key
My soul's a battleground
Posts: 25
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Post by Fritz Ingram on Jul 12, 2012 0:20:59 GMT -5
The weather was perfect! Well it may have been more humid than Fritz was used to but at least it was warm unlike when he had gone to Washington. The flight there wasn’t terribly exciting but it wasn’t that much of a hassle. Now they got to meet up with some people and get ready for their next mission! His feelings on the matter were conflicting but he knew he would have to get over them in order to complete the mission. On the bright side Fritz got to wear his fancy new mission outfit! It was much more practical than swim trunks and a Hawaiian shirt.
What was bothering him was the last mission they went on. It started out well enough but things quickly degraded and he wasn’t ready for it. They did manage to get out alive and that was good but Fritz’s memories of the event were foggy, after the house was on fire things blurred together into a mass of madness and pain. Trying to think about it too much made his head hurt so he avoided that as much as he could. Hopefully this mission would go much better and things would turn out awesome for everyone!
Walking alongside Xenix with his hands behind his head Fritz wasn’t paying too much attention to things. Nothing was going to happen until they met the contact anyway so it would be best to relax now before all the serious mission stuff started going down. Hearing his partner speak he turned to look at her as she asked him what he thought of the mission. ”Well I guess the whole thing is just kinda creepy, kids going missing and stuff. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’re just getting kidnapped and taken away so we can save them!”
Fritz would love to be able to save as many kids as they could. After all the people that they couldn’t save on their last mission it would be awesome to be able to save a bunch of kids on this one. Inside he deeply hoped for this but a part of him assumed all the kids to already be dead and their corpses just had yet to be found yet. No use dwelling on such depressing thoughts though so he managed to maintain a smile at Xenix despite such negative ideas. Even if that dark part of him was right they could stop the kishin today and prevent any further children from being taken by the creature.
Still smiling at his meister Fritz tilted his head and closed his eyes. ”We’ll save all the people here for sure!”
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Post by The Sidhe on Jul 12, 2012 0:49:33 GMT -5
It occurred to Annabel Lee that the students may not know exactly where the entryway to the bayou was. Sure, there was a little path that lead way from the main sidewalks and plenty of signs, but she just wanted to be super double sure they fond their way alright. Walking to the door, she popped her head in and yelled,
“Mama! I’m gonna go wait for ‘em out by the street, ‘kay?”
“Stay on the walkways and dun talk to any strangers!”
The eight year old girl smiled and nodded even though her mama couldn’t see her. Turning on her heel, she ran out and leapt off the front porch, landing on her knees before trotting up the walkway. The neighborhood she called home was a maze of houses raised up on stilts and boards levitated over the water. Underneath, little boats would glide by along the water when the older folks would go out fishing for crawdads. She’d seen a few people come back with some smaller alligators. They weren’t the tastiest thing ever, but they were alright. Annabel Lee liked frog legs better anyway, especially when her mama would deep fry them.
About halfway through the maze of walkways, she saw something out of the corner of her eye again. Slowly coming to a stop, Annabel Lee turned. Her eyes searched the darkening tree line but she couldn’t find what she’d seen again. Taking a few hesitant steps forward, she stood at the very edge of the old wooden boards that kept her from falling into the murky waters below. Looking out, she started thinking her mama may be right. Maybe she dreamed seeing Troy. Gazing down she could see eyes reflecting against the shadows. Alligators. It wasn’t dark yet but it would be very soon. The mosquitoes had grown more numerous, hence why Annabel Lee was thankful her mama had all but lathered her in bug spray earlier in the afternoon. She hated the smell but it kept her from getting covered in itchy bug bites at least.
Remembering her initial task, she skipped along humming to herself towards the main street. It didn’t take too long to reach it. Once she was there, she looked up and down the sidewalk. She didn’t see anybody she didn’t recognize, at least not yet. Leaning her back against the rickety sign that pointed to her neighborhood among the marshes, Annabel Lee traced patterns in the loose dirt with the tips of her toes. She hadn’t bothered with shoes, most people in the bayou didn’t. Probably why her daddy always told her never to go dangling her feet in the water. She’d probably loose them to a snake or an alligator. Stray from the water, that was another phrase that she’d been raised on. Lately she’d heard it said with more urgency. Stray from the water, children. That’s what all the adults said now whenever the kids went out to play at dusk.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2012 0:47:40 GMT -5
Putting her hands in her pockets, Xenix scanned the eerie surrounding. The taxi had stopped a while ago. The driver said he could go no further into the muddy bayou and wished them luck, therefore now they could only travel by foot. Fritz's answer was one Xenix expected from her weapon. Always optimistic and holding this firm belief on the positive outlook. Truthfully Xenix liked it, but she wouldn't let him know that just yet. "That is the goal in mind. Hopefully we can reach it."
Still keeping her eyes on the path in front of them, Xenix hoped to see their contact soon. It was getting dark and mosquitoes were appearing more numerous. She was thankful she had prepared with some bug spray on her persona. The only other concern was how it was getting closer to night. Grazing the sky a brief moment, she determined they had at least an hour left of evening light.
It was when she looked back towards the path, she noticed a little girl standing at a sign post. Looking at Fritz, Xenix lightly nudged him. "You think that is the kid we are supposed to meet? She looks like she has been waiting a while." It was true, the kid looked like she was playing or just standing around waiting for a good amount of time. Come to think of it, she even pondered how long they had been walking. It didn't seem like that long ago from when both her and her partner got dropped off at the entrance. Regardless, Xenix kept herself calm, continuing to walk towards their waiting host.
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Fritz Ingram
Weapon
Demon Key
My soul's a battleground
Posts: 25
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Post by Fritz Ingram on Aug 14, 2012 1:22:47 GMT -5
Fritz nodded at his partner. Yes he had to think of goals since this was a mission after all. They had to find all the missing people and figure out what was causing the people to go missing in the first place. Actually searching for either the people or the cause may be more difficult with the sun setting but they could still manage it. Hopefully after meeting with whoever they were supposed to they would have an idea about what they were looking for. All they had to do was find the contact and they could start getting closer to figuring this out.
Getting distracted by all the mosquitos flying around Fritz wasn’t paying much attention to where they were going. Lightly swatting away the insects that flew close to him he had his hands full. Prodded by Xenix he stopped focusing on the bugs and looked at the path ahead of them. Looking for a figure he eventually spotted the girl that his meister was referring to. ”It looks like she might be.” There was no real way to know if it was who they were supposed to meet or not without asking the girl herself. The girl was still rather far away so he wasn’t even sure if she had seen them.
As they walked closer the girl came into view and Fritz decided to get her attention. Smiling at her even if she couldn’t see it he raised his arm above his head and waved at her. ”Hey! Are you the one we’re supposed to be meeting?” He hoped she could hear him and was indeed the contact they were looking for. If not she might be able to help them find who they were looking for at least so talking to her would probably help them either way.
If they were lucky the girl would be the one they were looking for and they could get to helping everyone. If not it was only a small detour from what they were doing. Maybe the girl was one of the missing people and they had already helped the mission? That would have been awesome but far too easy, not that he would have minded the mission being easy. For some reason Fritz didn’t expect it to be that easy though. Especially if the missing people were just out on the path the whole time.
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Post by The Sidhe on Aug 14, 2012 17:13:44 GMT -5
As Annabel Lee awaited the arrival of the students, she noticed a small puddle that contained several tadpoles. Instantly captivated by the small, squirming dots, the eight year old knelt beside the pool of water and watched them for a bit. She realized that unless it rained again the puddle would dry up and the poor things would probably die. That wouldn’t do, no way was Annabel Lee going to let a bunch of tadpoles die in the Louisiana sun. Glancing over her shoulder, the water wasn’t too far. Careful not to crush the poor things, she scooped them up in her hands and carried them to the waters of the swamp. It took three trips, but it was worth it knowing she’d saved at least a dozen tiny lives, even if her hands were somewhat muddy now. She wiped them on the front of her dress and called it good.
Returning to her chosen place of waiting, she heard something move behind her and immediately spun around. The water rippled briefly before falling still. Something big had just moved, but she couldn’t see what. Not wanting to become an alligator’s dinner, Annabel Lee backed up a bit more and kept her eyes on the murky water before turning around again. As she did, she saw two teenagers heading her way. They had to be the ones from that special school since they certainly didn’t look like anybody she’d ever seen before. The boy waved to her and asked if she was the one they were supposed to meet and Annabel Lee knew her assumptions had been correct. Smiling, she waved back and ran up to the two,
“I sure am, mister! My name’s Annabel Lee Herveaux, pleasure to meetcha!”
The eight year old spun around and then bowed for emphasis. It wasn’t often the bayou got visitors so this was very exciting for her. The fact that these two were supposed to find her missing friends was even better. If none of the adults believed that the children were still out in the swamps somewhere, then maybe these two would believe her. After all, she’d have to eventually help them get out among the water and cypress trees if they were to find the missing children. Her mama was of course adamant that she stay on the walkway, but what her mama didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her. Besides, the big kids would keep her from harm, she was sure of it. Gazing up at the two with curious eyes, Annabel Lee tilted her head,
“Are y’all gonna help me find Troy and Laurie and Marie and all them other youngins that went missin’? I know they’re out there, I’ve seen ‘em but they always skedaddle whenever I run to get a grown up.”
Annabel Lee couldn’t help but wonder why that was, as well. These were her friends, why would they run from her? Didn’t they know how much everyone missed them? Troy’s mama hadn’t stopped crying since he’d gone missing. Laurie’s parents fought about who should’ve been watching her. Marie’s daddy hadn’t said a word since his little girl had wandered into the swamps and disappeared. Really, they should know better and Annabel Lee was really starting to get fed up with their silly little games of hide and seek.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2012 10:22:10 GMT -5
As if the heat and mosquitoes were not driving her insane enough, having a kid that was just as cheerful as Fritz was the topping on the cake. Seeing as how Fritz brought attention to them, Xenix just kept her normal composure while the kid introduced herself. Annabel Lee...interesting name for a kid. [/i] Xenix had to give the little girl some props though for being so polite to the pair, especially in this dire situation. Watching the girl twirl around in her excitement, she heard Annabel ask if they were going to help her find all of her friends and the missing children. The look she held on her face was complete curiosity and it kind of melted the cold composure Xenix usually held on missions. Walking up to the kid, she put her hand on her shoulder and met her gaze. "Yes Annabel, we will help you find all the missing children and your friends. It's what we are here for."Taking a moment Xenix looked back at her partner and motioned with her eyes to move a bit closer to their informant. Even though she was just an excited kid, Annabel made Xenix feel a sense she didn't feel in a long time. Well that wasn't true. On their last mission she felt a need to help the people around who were being infected by that crazy son of a gun, but now it was even stronger. They had to protect a little innocent girl and find her playmates. After all Fritz and her didn't get much of a chance to save the children who were already infected or dead back then. Truthfully this bugged Xenix down to her soul. Feelings she suppressed from back when she lost her other close partner were all slowly coming back. She didn't understand why or how, all she knew was they were coming back. For better or for worse Xenix just had to go with it. Looking back at Annabel, Xenix quietly said in her normal tone. "Is there a place you want to take us to? Like maybe your house where your mom is?" She wasn't sure where the kid would lead them. Any place that could help the duo gather more information or clues would be a good start. Plus, Xenix was started to get tired of being in the midst of a mosquito swarm.[/blockquote]
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Fritz Ingram
Weapon
Demon Key
My soul's a battleground
Posts: 25
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Post by Fritz Ingram on Sept 9, 2012 13:59:46 GMT -5
Seeing the little girl so happy added to Fritz’s smile. She didn’t seem to be too bothered by what was going on around her. As she introduced herself Fritz stood and listened to the girl speak but didn’t pick up on anything that would be terribly helpful to them in dealing with the monster or whatever that was causing the problems in the first place. While not especially helpful the fact that the girl said that she had seen the missing people gave him some hope that they could save them but left him with a bothersome feeling. If Shibusen had to get involved he didn’t think that the missing people would just be walking around.
Fritz would have said something but his meister beat him to it. This pleased him and he followed her silent instructions to move closer to Annabel, though he planned on doing that anyway. Stepping closer to their informant he crouched down so he could look at her on an even level and smiled. She seemed like a nice enough girl with everything that was going on so they had to help her get everything right. If they couldn’t save her friends they would at least stop the kishin.
”Hi Annabel! My name’s Fritz and this is my partner Xenix. We’ll make sure to get you’re your friends back in no time!” A bit of an embellishment maybe but he didn’t want to bog the kid down with despair that her friends might not be coming back despite them coming all the way here to help them. Keeping his usual smile he hoped he managed to comfort the girl enough so she wouldn’t be worried about the mission that was at hand. All she had to do was help them figure things out and stay innocent and carefree.
Hearing Xenix speak Fritz agreed. ”Yeah Annabel, can you take us to where you live so we can find out what we have to do to help the others?” Hopefully they could get out of the buggy swamp and inside some kind of bug free zone to figure stuff out. More importantly he hoped it wasn’t too hard to figure out what they needed to do. Fritz wanted to fix what was wrong quickly so Annabel didn’t get dragged into what was going around her and everything could go back to how things were before the kishin appeared.
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Post by The Sidhe on Sept 9, 2012 15:25:59 GMT -5
Annabel blinked at the girl as she spoke to her. She seemed so serious. That seemed to be a pattern whenever the missing children were brought up., The eight year old knew that her friends vanishing into the bayou was no laughing matter, but she was so sure that they would return safely in her naïve child’s mind that she didn’t see how dire the situation really was. Still, the hand on her shoulder was quite reassuring and so she smiled up at the girl. Her blonde friend told Annabel Lee their names and she made sure to put them to memory. If she somehow forgot them she would just revert to calling them sir and mademoiselle like her mama always told her to. Apparently that was polite. As both Fritz and Xenix assured her that her friends would be found and brought home soon, her smile brightened and she clapped her hands,
“Oh thank you so much! I sure miss ‘em after all. There ain’t many of us youngins runnin’ around since the others started goin’ missin’. It’s just me and Sammy and Tara nowadays, so it’ll be nice to have erryone back together again!”
Annabel Lee knew that there were far more children missing than just the majority of her little group of friends, but she was really only concerned with those she knew personally. Those were the kids she’d grown up with so far and therefore the ones she was worried most about. She was hopeful that they were alright, but in the back of her mind she knew all too well that the alligators in the swamps may have gotten to them already.
Fritz and Xenix were right, it would probably be better for her to talk with them about the things she’d seen back at the house even though her mama still might tell her to hush even with guests present. She didn’t see why her mama didn’t believe her, she must’ve heard something after all. Nodding her head Annabel Lee turned slightly and waved a hand,
“I can take y’all back to my house! My mama’s home and she probably knows some things I don’t. Follow me!”
She started walking but then stopped for a moment upon reaching the boards that signaled the start of the walkways, peering over her shoulder at the two teenagers and appearing slightly nervous,
“And um…stay on the walkways. There’s gators in the water underneath the walkways. They’re faster than they look, and there’ll be more of ‘em out now since it’s gettin’ to be dark.”
Annabel Lee figured that Fritz and Xenix wouldn’t dream of wanting to walk through murky water that could be anywhere from three to ten feet deep depending on where they stepped but she thought it only fair to warn them anyway. Despite this, the eight year old seemed completely oblivious to the danger she’d just told them about and skipped her way along the old, creaking boards. Every now and again she’d pause and look to make sure they were still following her, but she’d also sneak glances out amongst the cypress trees to see if she could spot anything. She thought that maybe since Fritz and Xenix weren’t quite grown ups that maybe, just maybe, her friends would come out of the bayou like they had before. This didn’t seem to be the case though, as all she saw was the occasional frog and several sets of gleaming reptilian eyes.
Speaking of frogs, their croaking was getting rather loud as the sun got lower and lower in the sky. Annabel Lee didn’t mind it though. It was sort of calming since she figured if there was anything super dangerous about that the frogs would be the first things to go. It didn’t take long for her to guide the two teenagers to her home. It looked just like all the others, small and elevated up on stilts. Hopping up the front steps, she held the door open for the two and shouted inside,
“Mama! The students are here!”
The woman who emerged from the side room of the house was very clearly Annabel Lee’s mother as the two possessed the same dark hair and deep blue eyes. She offered the two teenagers a smile before patting her daughter on the head and waving them inside,
“Thank y’all so much fer comin’ out here to help. My name’s Adrienne Herveaux, I’m this lil’ rapscallion’s mama. Please, come on in.”
Annabel Lee made a face. There was no need for name calling, in her mind she was the picture perfect daughter. She ate her vegetables and everything.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2012 0:50:13 GMT -5
Upon the invite to come in, Xenix quietly entered. She picked up on Annabel's face but it wasn't really anything worth commenting. She quickly scanned the home and found it wasn't too fancy. It had all the basics that everyone required to live their lives, but beside that the place was simple in decor. Being polite after her quick glance, Xenix met the girl's mother in the eyes. "Nice to meet you and thanks for letting us in."
Out of caution, and partial habit, Xenix glanced at her partner. Fritz was also safely inside the small living space. That made her relax a bit more. AT least she didn't have to worry about him being lost. After all, who knows what he could get into with that ever optimistic persona of his. Taking up her normal stance against the wall, she looked back at the child's mother. "Can you tell us anything about the strange events? I know little Annabel is our main intel, but maybe you have some other information to add before she tells us what's been going on around the area."
Xenix had a feeling Annabel's mom would say it was all just some crazy story, but you never know. Sometimes that was information in itself. Considering the situation again, only made Xenix wonder. Why were only kids attacked and taken? Why not the adults? Just a mass of unanswered questions played through her mind. However, she couldn't analyze them deep enough. Not at least till Annabel told them what she experienced.
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Fritz Ingram
Weapon
Demon Key
My soul's a battleground
Posts: 25
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Post by Fritz Ingram on Nov 1, 2012 9:50:02 GMT -5
Alright they were making progress! Annabel would lead them out of these bugs and then the mission could continue. He hoped between her and her mother they could get enough information to figure out what was going on here. More important was that they were prepared for whatever it was and could take it out without anyone else being in any danger. It would be terrible if others ended up in the same predicament as those that had been taken. Fritz mainly hoped that they could find those that were already missing alive and bring them back to this town safely.
On the way to the house Annabel gave a somewhat menacing warning to them. So there were alligators around them? That was kind of important to know about. The last thing they wanted was any additional trouble from the alligators when already worrying about the kishin and missing individuals. Annabel didn’t seem too worried about that though so Fritz assumed it was safe enough so long as they followed her. He did also note that she tended to look around every so often almost like she was waiting for something. He considered asking her about it but thought better of it.
Following Annabel and Xenix inside Fritz smiled back at who he assumed was her mother. Everything seemed well enough considering what had transpired around them. Figuring everything could be handled by his partner he followed and stood next to her. Like he thought she had the question asking down so he didn’t have to worry about that. Not that he would have minded it but there was no need for him to repeat her if she had it under control. He could wait where he was and wait for the explanation to fill him and Xenix in on what exactly had been going on.
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Post by The Sidhe on Nov 1, 2012 13:06:52 GMT -5
Adrienne seemed to pause, pursing her lips. Her daughter looked up at her and tugged on the apron her mama wore,
“Mama?”
The dark haired woman looked down at Annabel Lee and smiled at her. Noticing the mud smeared along the front of her dress, she moved to the side and pointed down the hall,
“Been playin’ with them tadpoles again I see. Go on and change and wash yer hands, you can tell yer story after that.”
Annabel Lee made a face but wandered down the hall anyway. Her mother waited to hear her daughter’s door close before turning back to the students. Adrienne suddenly looked far more worried than just a moment earlier. Her eyes looked over the two teens with caution, like she was trying to decide whether they were really cut out for the task assigned tot hem. Shoving her hands into her apron pockets, she finally spoke,
“I know she thinks I dun believe her. She’s wrong. I know my lil’ girl’s seein’ somethin’ out there in the dark. I was hopin’ maybe if I could convince her it ain’t real that maybe it’d let her be but…”
Adrienne trailed off, her gaze drifting to the floor. It had been a stupid idea. For one Annabel Lee was stubborn as good be, and to assume that whatever was taking the children of the bayou would leave them alone simply based on some childlike belief in its existence was foolish of her. Hunching her shoulders and glancing down the hall to make sure her daughter was still absent, Adrienne continued speaking,
“You know already that somethin’s been takin’ our lil’ ones. The superstitious folks say it’s a witch. Other folks say it’s them ‘gators draggin’ ‘em into the water, sayin’ we can’t find ‘em ‘cause there ain’t nothin’ left.”
The dark haired woman looked at Xenix,
“There’s a lot o’ superstition ‘round these parts o’ the bayou, but that ain’t what’s happenin’ here, I can feel it in my bones. I know more than Annabel Lee does. Her father works fer the coroner, and we’ve been tryin’ to keep the details from her so she won’t be scared.”
Again she paused. Her voice lowered to a whisper, taking her hands from her pockets and crossing her arms over her chest. She was shaking,
“My niece, Annabel Lee’s cousin, washed up against the docks two weeks ago. My sister was hysterical, couldn’t make the ID, and her daddy was still tryin’ to make his way back to town to help look fer her so I went in to make sure it was her and I…”
Adrienne brought a hand over her mouth as her voice broke. She wouldn’t cry in front of strangers. Taking a few deep breaths, the dark haired woman removed her hand but kept it pressed against her chest in an attempt to calm herself, looking at the students with a fearful gaze,
“I’ve seen ‘gator deaths. I know what that looks like. I don’t know what killed my niece but she looked…wrong. There weren't no wounds on her, but somethin' just wasn't right. She was so thin, like wherever she’d been she hadn’t eaten the entire time she’d been missin’. I don’t know if I was imaginin’ things or what, but it looked like parts o’ her weren’t e’en real no more. E’en after they pulled her out o’ the water, her hair was too clean; her eyes looked doll-like. She didn’t look like she’d been in the water at all.”
The creak of a door was heard and Annabel Lee came skipping down the hallway in a clean dress, her hands washed clean of whatever mud had been clinging to them after saving the tadpoles. She hugged her mother and looked up at her, donning a confused expression when she saw her face,
“Mama what’s wrong?”
Adrienne tussled her daughter’s hair,
“Nothin’, sugar. Now why don’t you tell these two what’s been troublin’ you?”
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2013 4:26:41 GMT -5
Xenix quietly watched as the mother and daughter exchanged some brief conversation. She raised an eyebrow, mainly out of curiosity, as Annabel was told to go clean up. It was after Adrienne spoke for a few minutes that she understood the previous comments to Annabel. A genuine parent's concern for their child.
However, it seemed the woman wasn't done after that. There was much more to tell in her daughter's absence. All Xenix could do was listen. There were different points of view on what was going on. As Adrienne stated, this wasn't a gator attack, it was more than that. Just by seeing the body language of Annabel's mother, the silver irises of Xen could tell her instincts of the danger were on the right path. Only students from Shibusen could do this task. She couldn't confirm this just by word though, they would not only need Annabel's side of the event, but also main direction of where to start. She started to ponder a plan of action once they had finished gathering the stories. This is going to be a long mission ahead of us. Longer than I previously expected. I hope Fritz realizes this as well and is prepared, because we may be here for a while.
The subtle creak of a door opening let the raven haired meister know that their young friend had finished cleaning up. Xenix hadn't moved an inch since they got inside, but it wasn't hard to notice that Adrienne had regained some composure as her daughter reappeared. That had to be given props to a level in her eyes; however, most parents were normally like that in front of their children. Regardless, she moved her silver sapphire gaze upon Annabel as her mother told her to share her tale.
"Yes please do share what's been going on Annabel. The more we know the better we can assess the situation and where to begin. Bringing back your friends is very important to us like it is to you." Her voice was soft and calm like a breeze. She didn't want to scare the little girl either and they needed her to be the closest to her true nature as possible. Besides that intention, Xen was getting a little eager to start her search. She didn't show it though as she patiently waited for the little girl's explanation.
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Fritz Ingram
Weapon
Demon Key
My soul's a battleground
Posts: 25
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Post by Fritz Ingram on Feb 20, 2013 20:13:28 GMT -5
Content to be inside Fritz didn’t have any problems with staying here as long as they could. The environment was one deterrent but the whole premise of the mission wasn’t exactly his idea of a good time. He wouldn’t back down now that they were already out but he wasn’t looking forward to finding the kishin. He had faith that Xenix could handle herself when the actual fighting came around but he wasn’t so sure in himself. Suppressing those negative thoughts Fritz snapped back to reality to hear what was going on, regardless of how felt about fighting he still wanted to help people.
Seeing the worry appear on Adrienne’s face Fritz started to grow more worried himself. His face remained impassive as to not show his worry or be off-putting with an out of place smile. Listening to the story Fritz tried to imagine what they would be up against. The last kishin they encountered hadn’t left a very lasting memory; he remembered the fear from the mission but not the actual look of the kishin. At the mention of a witch Fritz momentarily tensed up and shivered. There was no way they could take on a witch! Oh, if that was just superstition things weren’t as bad.
With the description of the found body Fritz tried to remain passive. It was certainly a kishin they were hunting which was good for them and bad for everyone else. At least they could take out the thing and the area would be free of any unnatural creatures wreaking havoc. Now it was just a matter of finding the thing and dealing with it. They still didn’t have a very clear idea about what they were dealing with but they would be able to manage! They just had to so they could help all these people out!
With the return of Annabel Fritz gave her a small smile as she walked in. Xenix did a fine job getting out what he had been thinking. All they needed was Annabel’s Intel before they could start looking for the monster that was lurking about. Squatting down so he was closer to Annabel in height Fritz gave her a big grin to help reassure her.
”Yep yep! Like Xen said, after you tell us what you know about what’s going on we can get your friends back in no time!”
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