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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"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.

Miho is not only short, but crouched, and the gunfire goes over her head. She takes advantage of the dogs second spate of confusion to lash a neat foot at the side of it's head. The least neccessary amount of force, and the dog is unconscious. Miho likes dogs.

Not so her father's guards, and she has a shuriken out and whirling to his gun arm almost before the dog impacts the ground.

That solitary shot sealed the deal for the hapless guard, poorly aimed as it was. As the shuriken flies, there's a soft whump from the right side of the thicket.

Whatever crippling damage Miho's star inflicts, there is no scream of pain to accompany it. Just a body, now useless, crumpling into the wet earth. Rain mixes with blood, forming a delicate river of pink trickling away from a small hole—center of the forehead, just above the bridge of the nose.

Goldy berates herself for hesitating and lunges for Alanna's arm to ensure that she doesn't shoot as well. Her revolver is unsilenced.

Luckily, Alanna had shifted her entire focus to the dog as soon as he charged, Gift at the ready. Now, however, she's feeling rather useless and scowls at the wet earth squishing beneath her toes as she regains her balance.

Gruffly, "let's go before they are missed."

Miho nods at Alanna.

"We've got about two minutes before he's supposed to call back, I think. Stick to the edges of the bushes, we should be fine."

She looks over her shoulder at Goldy as she begins to walk off. "And shoot first next time, love." Her smile takes any sting out of the words - it's just advice, tailored specifically to this location, these enemies.

She ducks under the low, dripping branches, moving swiftly but neatly, boots almost silent on the damp ground. Behind them, the man is still and the dog almost as still, only the gently rise and fall of it's ribcage testifying to the fact that it lives.

In front of them is a low building, to the side of a wide set of gates. A few men are visible, but the majority are escaping the rain somewhere, less dligent than they would have bveen in good weather. This can only be to the little party's advantage.

Goldy did not need telling. She has no excuse, and she's giving herself a hard time over the inaction already. It's a dark expression that meets Miho's smile.

She follows behind as silently as she is able, keeping to Miho's path and remaining vigilant as they approach the entrance.

Ignoring the byplay between her companions, Alanna follows Miho's lead exactly, expression hardening when she sees the men ahead. She is all business now, aware that things could get very sticky in the next few minutes.

Rain drips down her cheeks like tears, like sweat, like blood. It gets in her eyes, but she dares not wipe it away.

The dagger is back in her hand.

Miho stops, within earshot of the men, if they were to raise their voices and the rain were to let up for a moment. There is a screen of foliage in front of them, thick and green, moving slightly in the gentle wind.

"If we can take them by thurprithe," she says quietly - the letter 's' carries further than any other sound - 'we can avoid having them trigger the alarm. The we can get tranthport and get out of here without any other trouble. I only thee three. . . You?"

She raises an eyebrow, looking sideways at them, keeping the building and it's complement of guards in her peripheral vision.

Still looking dreadfully grim, Goldy shades her eyes with a flat hand, then raises her thumb and first two fingers. She sees three as well.

Wiithout waiting for further instruction, she drops to one knee and takes aim on the closest guard. She isn't going to make the same mistake twice. Her gun sounds its low wmmmp three times in a row.

Two men silently fall.

The third grunts and stumbles, clutching his neck and vanishing from sight behind a crop of tall rose bushes.

They saw three.

There were four.

Luckily, he's on the far side of the building, and hasn't seen the fallen men, nor did he hear anything out of the ordinary.

This is a state of affairs that may not last, however.

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