twiststheblade | Angels: Act One.

Angels: Act One.

The door opens onto a room, not small, not large. Bare, pale walls that could be made of paper, but aren't. There is a window, shuttered against the sun, pale light struggling weakly in to lie in stripes across the wooden floor.

The bed(futon) hasn't been made, white sheets tangled and draped half off onto the floor.

The only splash of colour in the room comes from a vase containing a single spray of yellow flowers, which sits atop a simple lacquered chest. Also atop the chest is a single, dog-eared book, titled 'Koshoku ichidai onna', and two small brown glass bottles, safety capped, labelled in japanese.

Miho steps noiselessly through the door, one finger to her lips, although of course she doesn't have to remind the others of the need for caution. She's all in her habitual black - soft jeans, well broken-in boots, tightly laced, the usual short-sleeved shirt and a loose kimono jacket over it all. There's a knife at each hip, and one at the small of her back. She has her forearm sheaths, as usual, and the bandolier of shuriken. There is a knife in each boot. No swords. Not. . . yet.

I can do this. It's not different than any other place. And I'm not alone. I don't have to be alone.

She raises her eyebrows to Goldy, and tilts her head to the door, a deceptively heavy affair, locked from outside.

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A noise, but it's just a branch in the slight wind. There's no one due to cross this part of the garden for a good few minutes yet. Of course, once they reach the high wall, it will be a different matter, but for now, there's just them, and the rain, and the small of damp greenery.

Goldy had tensed as well, training the rain-slicked barrel of her gun towards the source of the sound. Noting Miho's advance, she drops it back to her hip and continues on, eyes flicking warily back and forth.

A bit further along the meandering walkway she spies a security camera positioned at the corner of the building. But their little leader seems to have them moving at a perfect lag behind its sweep. Goldy trusts this is the case anyway.

Blissfully unaware of security cameras and the like, Alanna focuses on the high, almost white wall looming in front of them. The dagger is quickly sheathed again as her eyes travel the length of the wall as far as she can see.

It's tall, but it's not insurmountable.

Smiling like the proverbial cat that caught the canary, she pauses just before they reach the wall, stooping to run gravel and dirt over her wet hands.

"We've got. . ." Miho pauses, glances over her shoulder and looks at the camera, and the empty grounds. "About two minutes. Someone boost me? I think I'm the lightest."

Goldy re-holsters her pistol and wipes her hands on her pants.

"I am most definitely not," she admits, suddenly feeling a bit porky.

She reflexively sucks her stomach in while knitting her fingers together, and stoops to allow Miho to put her foot in the makeshift stirrup.

"Thanks, love." Goldy is rewarded by a swift press of the lips.

A slight scuff of her boot against the grass to get any dirt off, and a light push off Goldy's hands, and Miho has a grip on the top of the wall. A twist, and she's lying flat on her stomach, feet hooked on either side,under the tiled top.

She makes a long arm, reaching for Alanna, as the second lightest.

"It's only because you are the tallest," Alanna reassures Goldy as she takes the proffered hand. She tries to scale the wall without putting too much pressure on Miho, and once she's at the top, she mimics the other girl's position. After a brief moment to wipe the raindrops from her eyelashes, she reaches down.

Goldy dries her hands once more, then stretches up to take both of the other girls' hands.

Almost clear. Walk in the park.

She tries to climb as well, rather than let herself be lifted. But her slightly less sensible boots don't get much purchase on the stonework, and they end up scrabbling around for most of the ascent. It is quite certain that her team mates know exactly how much she weighs by the time they heave her to the point where she can grab the top edge and fend for herself.

She looks a bit sheepish. "Sorry. It's slippery."

It's also entirely certain that the last foot of her ascent is made easier by Miho grabbing the waistband of her pants and hauling. Once Goldy is on top of the wall, Miho shifts to a light crouch, facing out. She looks both ways.

"The guard building is that way," she murmurs, pointing. "And this is where we can't avoid them. But if we're quiet and you follow me - and I mean exactly, feet where my feet go - we should manage to miss most of them."

"I'll be right behind you," Goldy mutters sourly as she readjusts her underwear. "Looking for an opening to give you a revenge wedgie."

Taking the warning about being quiet to heart, Alanna lets a nod be her only response. She bites her lip and slowly, carefully eases her legs over the wall, ready to jump.

Goldy gets a disparaging glance. However, Alanna's curiosity gets the better of her.

Softly, "what's a wedgie?"

Goldy shifts around into a sitting position, legs dangling down the outer face of the wall. She smirks to herself and reaches behind Alanna. Cold, wet fingers work adroitly, finding their target and pulling upwards.

She doesn't yank hard however. It's not enough to overbalance the knight or cause any real discomfort.

"Multiply the force of that by ten, and you've got yourself a wedgie," she declares informatively.

Miho shakes her head, laughing slightly, and boosts herself off the top of the wall. She lands lightly, about four feet away, and steps into the shade of a tree, waiting for the others.

Her eyes never stop moving though, watching for movement. She knows it'll come, she's just not too sure when. She doesn't know the patterns of the outer guards.

At first, Alanna simply scowls into the rain, resisting the urge to undo the damage done. Goldy may not have yanked hard, but it's still uncomfortable.

"You'd best be thankful I wore undergarments today."

Smirking, she gently shoves Goldy off the wall and drops down immediately after.

"Actually, I'm rather sad that you we—"

Goldy wasn't actually expecting to be pushed. She was waiting to get in position to land exactly where Miho had. She manages to bite back the squawk and land on her feet, albeit very heavily. It takes her a couple of steps to recapture her balance.

She turns on her heel and glares at Alanna when she hits the ground.

Unfortunately for the girls, although the alarm system triggered by pressure on certain parts of the ground just next to the wall is rudimentary, it is surprisingly efficient. A bell sounds in the guard building, a light flashes, and a guard and a dog are despatched to check it out.

Probably nothing.

Just kids.

Alanna's eyes go wide as soon as she hits the ground, belatedly remembering (temper, temper) Miho's warning. She mouths an apology to Goldy and gestures frantically towards the tree, serious now, stepping along their friend's path as closely as possible.

Pity it's too late to gain bonus points by following instructions to the 't.'

At the warning bell, she curses under her breath.

Miho sighs, melting back into the shadows. It was inevitable, at least they'd probably only get a few guards. And. . . Shit, dogs. What are the commands? Hope they haven't changed the training routines.

"Okay," sotto voce, "we've got half a minute maybe. There're dogs, so go for the guards, let me deal with the animals."

Regardless of the fact that their current plight is all really Goldy's fault, she flashes a smile of forgiveness at the knight when she's finally able to catch her eye.

She then gestures at a loose thicket of rhodedendron a few yards away, and hisses, "cover!" Her Beretta has already been whipped out from the small of her back again and the safety thumbed off.

"I'll take the right flank. Alanna, left. Sweetness," she gives Miho a wink, "...just do your thing."

Ducking behind the bushes, Alanna drops into a crouch and rests her dagger in her lap. She draws her own gun and gives it a resigned look as Goldy's words process.

"Right," she hisses. "Left... flank."

Her first assumption is that she is to shoot someone in the left buttock.

And for a while, nothing happens. Then, there is a sharp bark, and a snapped command. Silence. Then, a man comes into view, suited, armed with a sub-machine gun, dog at his heels. the dog is not leashed, and after a few moments, if gives another sharp bark, and dashes towards the bushes concealing the girls.

The man does not follow the dog, but trains his gun on the bushes.

Miho snaps out an equally sharp command, and the dog stops in confusion, lookng from the bushes to the guard and back again. The guard's bead on the bushes wavers for a moment as he attempts to regain control of his animal.

While the guard's gun seeks a target, Goldy's Beretta does not. For it is sighted directly at the man's forehead.

Her aim is settled and unwavering. She's in her element. An unblinking statue in the shadows of the foliage. Unmindful of the tears of rain coursing down her face. Unflinching at the cold droplets that somehow find a way through the maze of gold and touch the back of her neck. Drenched almost to the skin, but still wearing a deadly cloak of poise and focus.

( breathe in, steady hand, exhale )

She's always been a shoot first-ask questions later kind of girl. That's how it has to be in her line of work.

( breathe in, steady hand, exhale )

There is an unrelenting spat-spat-spat of water hitting a leaf just inches from her steely gaze. She hears it and thinks it sounds almost like the ticking of a big clock. Nothing changes. There are no doubts, and there will be no remorse.

( breathe in, steady hand, exhale... and squeeze )

The drip holds, missing a beat. Then it falls, larger and different of tone.

—tock—

Miho's word...

...And the shot is postponed.

Both girls very obviously know what they're doing. Alanna isn't overly concerned just yet. It's a man and his dog, and all three of them have handled much worse. Goldy has him in her sights, so Alanna shifts her attention to the dog, prepared to throw a magical wall between the animal and his target.

In the meantime, she takes careful aim at the man's ass.

The dogs confusion is momentary, and another sharp command sends it into the bushes, heading for the three concealed women with a bark and a snarl. Thoroughly trained and large though the alsatian is, the main aim of these particular dogs has always been intimidation. Scare the opponents, throw them off guard. No silent, stealthy incapacitation.

At the frantic barking the guard lets off a burst of gunfire into the bush.

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