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Call and Answer; [P] Ikenna
Topic Started: Wed Feb 18, 2015 3:09 am (1,307 Views)
Ikenna
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The dream had left Ikenna to a rough awakening, and the thoughts of business to come in the day had filled the arakureb with dread, but seeing Ari smile lifted the anxieties that had so far been plaguing the war mage, filling his soul with a comfortable warmth.

Ike left Larato and Sanaa to their current alternating shifts, letting Sanaa sleep a while longer. It was odd, but the twins had pinpoint internal clocks, letting them wake up from a dead sleep at a moment's notice, yet somehow they constantly lacked punctuality. Still, he doubted that either would shirk in their duties during such a sensitive time.

Without much that he could think to do, Ikenna stood off to the side just in case Ari incidentally jinxed matters and the townsfolk decided that the only appropriate reaction to the current situation was to riot. It seemed doubtful with the soldiers gone, but anything stupid could happen in the light of day with the fires of the night quelled, so it seemed prudent to take a bit of extra precaution.




With so little to do, the twins took turns watching over the prisoners in the dungeon. One would make sure that they stayed exactly where they were, despite their complaints about wanting food and drink since surely that would be taken care of before long, and the other got a chance to explore for a short while. It was how they managed the prisoners at night before taking to the extremely comfortable bed in the room they claimed.

Sanaa took the first shift after they arrived, Larato took the morning after the sun rose, so naturally Sanaa returned for the noon shift. The only time the prisoners weren't being watched was when the sisters took advantage of the calming waters of the bath.

When Sanaa came to relieve Larato of her work, she found her identical twin pacing back and forth frantically counting all the prisoners while they just sat and watched her in silence. She stopped the repetitive movement when she noticed her sibling arrive and rushed to her side, silver eyes as wide as they could go and worry firmly planted on her face.

"Hey, uh, I have a question that may be very important." She spoke carefully, a slight shiver to her voice that made Sanaa uncomfortable.

"Why? What is it?" Sanaa asked cautiously, taking a cursory glance at the prisoners in their cells.

"How many prisoners did we have?" Larato asked, a very scary question.

"Why?" Sanaa drew the word out, narrowing her eyes at her twin.

"I think one is missing." Larato explained.

A moment of silence paused, then Sanaa walked by the cells, twice, counting each of them. Some of the prisoners shrugged when gazed upon, surely too cowardly to anger one of the spellsword sisters with lies, not after what they witnessed the night prior.

"If we lost a prisoner Ike is going to kill us!" Sanaa spat, "But we do not know who they are, what they look like, or where they could be. Damn it all, we have to tell Ikenna and Ari."

"Gods help us both." Larato prayed.




Ikenna recognized the posture leading the oncoming wave of people, that sort of pride couldn't be faked and spoke that there was some skill to back up as of yet unspoken claims. Some part of the war mage's mind had expected to see this person again, but still he managed to find it interesting that this individual was sent. It made sense that the incarnation was sent if what he knew about the situation was accurate, they would need somebody capable of holding the front lines while the Painted Mantis Squad raged forth through enemy forces.

Poor Ari definitely didn't seem pleased by the new arrival, but accepted it as something that simply was. They went in, Ikenna and Haroun were reintroduced to one another, and then the briefing went rather smoothly. There was a moment following where Ari made sure her position in Setunba was unchallenged, but Haroun didn't have the same sort of bad relationship with Ari that she had had with the previous ruling body of the town. Perhaps it was more just so she could have it sink in a bit more, Ikenna wasn't certain, but for some reason it brought a slight smile to his face.

Then, the smile was gone. The twins rushed into the room with barely restrained panic.

"We have a problem." Sanaa said.

"Might be big, might be small-- oh, look, it is the cat guy." Larato chuckled nervously.

"We can either explain it here and now, but we think it can be handled quickly and quietly." Sanaa explained a little.

"You know, better to just say it, it is kind of our fault and kind of not." Larato decided, looking at all gathered, wringing her hands together.

"One of the prisoners is missing!" The twins said in harmonious worry and shame.

"He was celled alone, so it is just him missing, and he did not seem to care about releasing the others." Larato continued.

"We do not know, but if he has escaped he could either be retreating to his forces or be lurking around the corner." Sanaa wondered aloud.

At once the twins dropped to their knees and bowed their heads before the room, "We are not sure what to do. We are so sorry! We do not even know when he escaped! Please forgive us!"

Ikenna was actually speechless.
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Ari
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...


Ari rose to her feet, disturbing the wolf pelt draped around her shoulder and arm. The sudden movement alarmed Haroun, who was equally speechless from the news. He began to speak, but the Painted Mantis raised a finger to silence him. "Bring me to his cell."

"I'll send some soldiers around the perim--"

"--No," Ari interrupted, moving past him with the look of someone passing by a pile of refuse.

For once since his first appearance, the Cloud Tiger looked genuinely annoyed. "For Kings' sake, Ari, let me help you! This is no time to be petty!"

"Do what you want, then," she growled. "That's what you'll do anyway."

Haroun muttered an impolite word under his breath and moved to the front door as Ari, flanked by the twins, descended the stairs of the estate.

The prisoners went ballistic as soon as they saw her. They shouted, taunted, made impertinent comments. Stuck their arms out from the bars, stomped, and even rattled the bars with anything they had available.

She was about to pass one prisoner, a broadly built woman who joined in the chorus of taunts with: "Where'd he go, huh? Where'd he run to?"

Ari had her in her grip in a flash. The prisoner made a sound mixing surprise and pain as her face was slammed into the bars.

"Silence!" the incarnation roared at the top of her lungs.

The whole dungeon went dead quiet. It was rare for Ari to raise her voice.

"Tell me everything you know." She kept the prisoner's face close, expression blank.

"H-he slipped through the bars like he was made of smoke," she said, managing not to stutter after the beginning-, "and disappeared just as easy. A few of us saw it. Asshole didn't even try to let the rest of us out."

"Or couldn't." Ari cast the prisoner down and continued to the cell of the person she was looking for. She paused to let the twins open the door, then entered. While she started combing every surface of the cell, her voice was addressed to her allies. "Find me a trace of that man, and I'll find him. Some hair, a speck of blood, anything like that. We may need to light this cell up more."
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Ikenna
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That was definitely going to be a problem. Ikenna was about to say just that but Ari's quick reaction to the news interrupted whatever process of his mind that was about to run the words through his mouth without further consideration from his mind. Of course all that left him to do while remaining quiet was analyze Ari and Haroun's relationship with their past lives, for to the arakureb at least it seemed that her reactions were more against the tiger than in response to the missing prisoner

Of course Ikenna went with Ari to the cells, surprisingly without a word. He wasn't expecting more trouble than they had found already, and definitely not more than the girls could easily handle on their own, but it was definitely a good thing to remain prudent. Not to mention he didn't have anything to do alone or with the acquaintance, Haroun.

Ike was interested to see a bit of a rare side of Ari as she raised her voice around the prisoners. The war mage had to wonder if it was merely to accentuate the interrogation of the nearest captive, or if being around the Cloud Tiger struck a certain nerve that she found difficult to contain entirely. Either way he continued to say nothing, watching the exchange and taking mental notes.

"Like smoke, that's ridiculous right? Why would a soldier be able to do that?" Sanaa chuckled nervously once the interrogation appeared over. It wasn't the most outlandish thing that she had ever heard of, but she was trying to soften any blow of clear responsibility that she and her sister had in the disappearance of the prisoner.

"So surely that is not like it is anything that we could--" Larato began to follow her sister's lead, but was cut off quickly by a yelp.

Ikenna took each of the twins' heads in his grasp and rather lightly slammed them against the bars, more accurately at the space between the bars. It was a bit of punishment for letting the prisoner escape under their watch and a little bit to show that the woman who said the man escaped like smoke must have been correct. His cousins whined a little at the sudden bit of pain, but it hadn't anything particularly cruel, just the way that any number of other Matandras would have responded to the situation.

"Well, I doubt the prisoner's head could have been much bigger than theirs." He said, gesturing to the twins and to the cave, silently ordering the two to do as Ari had commanded. Maybe at worst the man had needed to relieve himself and that could be used, but hopefully there would be cleaner alternatives for any tracking that needed to be done, "Any knowledge as to the layout of this place would definitely come in handy about now, just in case we can't find anything to track by, especially if there are any windows to the outside. If he could just slip through these bars, I question how difficult it would be for that same kind of person to get past anything else. Haroun's soldiers may definitely help to keep an eye out for the escapee, but if the original plan was to be captured and get loose when our guard was lowered I cannot say I much care for what that suggests of this individual and his skillset. I would assume an enchantment or a spell was responsible for his escape, either could mean more trouble if we do find him."

The twins entered the cell and lit it up with their pure, silvery flames. They didn't complain about it though, it may have been grunt work but considering they were currently the most responsible for the loss of the prisoner. Menial work like this was penance of a sort.

"You. You say you saw him escape." While the sisters tended to that work, the war mage turned his attention to the nearby prisoner. The woman at least had seen this stranger, so she seemed like she would be a good first bet for information about him. After getting what information they could from her, all other prisoners could be threatened as necessity dictated, "Tell us everything you know about him. If we think you're withholding information, I will start melting your flesh from its bones."
Edited by Ikenna, Wed Apr 29, 2015 11:03 am.
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Ari
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While listening to the other prisoner's description of the escapee, Ari scanned the cell for any remote sign left behind by a human. She crouched down low to examine a tiny bloodstain on the stone. Closed her eyes, took a deep breath. Nothing. Whoever spilled that blood was dead now. Three more signs -- a piece of hair, a trace of waste, and a droplet of blood -- all yielded the same result.

"I thought getting a description of the man would let me narrow things down. Turns out my predecessor had a distinct way of dealing with enemies." She took a break for a moment, running her fingers through her hair. A few bold soldiers got their courage back and started to quietly taunt her again, but she held up her hand and tossed a firm look at Ikenna. "No flesh-melting yet. The screams would kill my focus."

That shut them up again. The ones that heard her, at least.

Think, think. He had to have left something. No one is that careful. No one. Ari caught Sanaa and Larato in her field of view, saw the bars behind them. He turned to smoke. He couldn't have left anything there... but it's the only place I haven't checked.

"Excuse me." She gently shoved the twins aside to comb through the bars. Part of her told her that this was a waste of time, that she should've conducted a more thorough search with the Matandras or even the Cloud Tiger's men. Just after thinking those thoughts, she finished sliding her fingers over the inner edge of the bars a second time. A human hair stuck to her hand. The incarnation's body tensed and her eyes shut tight. A vision, blurred at the edges, attacked her mind's eye.

Ari ripped the cell door open and took off in a run. "He's still in Setubanda -- heading north, up the hill, not down to Taumai's camp! He'll disappear into the jungle if we don't catch him now!" The incarnation pounded up the stairs and out the door without skipping a beat. "I can fly in my true form! Larato, go tell the Cloud Tiger about this. Ikenna and Sanaa, hop on a horse and follow on the ground."

With that, Ari dove through a stand of tall shrubs in the courtyard of the mansion. Her robe went flying out -- and then a terrible ripping sound heralded the explosive appearance of the Painted Mantis. The horse-sized insect unfurled its four multicolored wings and took off into the sky with a considerable racket.
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Ikenna
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The woman seemed to be unimpressed by the arakureb's threat, even in spite of the events of the previous night. That was fine if she didn't believe his words, but surely she would start putting faith into his actions. Ikenna summoned forth four fireballs to begin swirling around his hand, dancing in the air as they waited to be directed at a target. Suddenly she was more willing to share what she knew, but sadly she didn't seem to know much as she only caught glimpse of the man as he was making his escape.

Ari spoke shortly after, her own investigation apparently proving fruitless, too many bits and pieces left over from passed away prisoners of the previous tenant that hadn't been properly cleaned away. Of course, using the current occupants of the cells as an idea for how the previous tenants may have acted, it didn't seem too unbelievable that they would have been executed. Ikenna was about to put the little fireballs to use, just some relatively mild burns in nonlethal locations, but Ari's words about the likely screaming interrupting her focus seemed to do wonders for keeping some of the closer inmates quiet. For those who refused to follow suit into silence, Ikenna sent the fireballs to strike the stone of their cells, warning shots that helped quiet the rest of the noisemakers.

The twins didn't manage to find anything, but then again searching for fine details wasn't a typical Matandra trait. They were combatants and destroyers, more interested in things they could see and possibly fight with the naked eye rather than picking apart minute detail. When Ari had the Larato and Sanaa move, they did so without hesitation, knowing that her expertise in this particular area would outshine their own like it had with the previous miniscule findings. Lo and behold, their silent assumptions were correct. Ari took off, spouting information about the escaping prisoner's direction and giving orders to the Matandras.

Larato went to find Cloud Tiger, Sanaa went out to the horses without second thought, but Ikenna lingered a bit in the dungeon to address the rest of the prisoners.

"Keep in mind, we are most likely to torture then kill this escapee. Try to escape, and you will all suffer worse!" Whether his words were to be true or not remained to be seen, but he was hoping that the threat of agony would be enough to keep them in line, even if only for a little while.

"Hurry up!" Sanaa groaned, already on her horse outside and waiting for Ikenna with his horse ready to run.

"You hurry up, I know what direction North is!" Ikenna barked back at her as he climbed up and onto the beast, his orange eyes quickly catching sight of Ari, in her Painted Mantis form, flying. This had been the first time he had seen her in flight, and to behold it was truly interesting and unique.

The two didn't take too much time to admire the flying form of the Painted Mantis, instead taking off to follow the noisy flight of Ari.

Ikenna just hoped that it wouldn't be necessary to burn down a jungle just to deal with a single man.
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Ari
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The moment the escapee would reach the top of the hill and enter the denser part of the jungle, it would be all over. Expending resources to go after one runner would be infeasible at this point. Ari was already second-guessing her decision to pit three Matandras and two incarnations after one escapee. A part of her wondered how important it really was to have all her prisoners secure. But another part had an inkling about this person. For them to escape with this much ease, to dissolve like smoke...

Ari saw movement and came down in a dive. The pounce was so violent that it kicked up dirt and uprooted plants on the edge of the dirt road. A second later the Painted Mantis burst out of the cloud of debris, unsuccessful, and continued her pursuit on the ground.

Someone in the distance laughed. Ari responded; her compound eyes flashed with an inner glow. She gained perfect awareness of every enemy close to her. The runner's form gained an obvious highlight in her perception, illuminated even if he darted into cover behind the shrubs and scruffy trees in the outer Nalaian jungle. She materialized behind him, pounced... and her claws dug into nothing but wisps of smoke.

As soon as the mantis turned her head to look behind her, a huge tiger smashed in from the sky. Wisps of fog trailed its shoulders and haunches. The monster's fur was the shade of a cloudy sky, but its stripes were slate bluish-grey. More than the color separated this creature from a typical Nalaian tiger: its stripes were barely attached to its body. Each one was fused to its top, but near the bottom they draped upon it like ribbons -- a few even trailed behind, constantly billowing in an unseen wind.

The Cloud Tiger sunk its claws into the runner, but smoke bled from its grip. Ari rushed over. Haroun closed his jaws over the person's shoulder. With each additional wound inflicted, the runner became less and less incorporeal.

"Set up a perimeter. His teleportation has a limited radius," Ari ordered the Matandras.

"That won't-- be necessary," the escaped prisoner said. "Catching me is meaningless. I already delivered-- the information."

The Cloud Tiger pinned him down even harder. "Who do you work for?"

"I am a proud servant of the true King of Nalai, Etana. But my mission is over. In this region, at least."

"Not yet," Haroun growled. "You've got plenty of information to give us, then. We'll get it out of you one way or another."

"He's probably bluffing. No spy gives up that information so easily. As soon as we lock him back up somewhere new, he'll find a way to escape and make a break for Nal'a. Just kill him now, and wash our hands of such a problematic person." The Cloud Tiger looked at her almost aghast, as if judging her for such an imprudent decision. Ari made a frustrated scoff and turned her whole body so she could lock eyes with Ikenna. "His counsel I won't take, but if you agree with him, I will honor it. Kill him or interrogate him?"
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Ikenna and Sanaa arrived at the scene only after the escapee had been dealt with. It had proven a bit difficult to keep up with three such spectacular individuals on horseback, but it seemed like their timing was perfect enough for Ikenna to overheard the discussion about what should be done with the recaptured enemy.

"A tiger and a mantis needing the opinion of a scorpion about the smoke." Ikenna laughed, his tail twitching as he dismounted the steed, "Please tell me this will be a story told for years to come."

"Well obviously threatening him with death or imprisonment is not going to work. I feel he is definitely willing to die for his cause, and he has already proven he can escape, and assuming he has relayed any information to his leader then I doubt we have time to do things kindly. Honestly if Sethunya were here, she would have this man telling everything within moments. Sanaa, Larato, did either of you learn something from her that could help?"

"No, sorry." Sanaa shrugged.

"We took more after our father." Larato explained.

"Then there is always the traditional, tried and true Matandra method of interrogation." The arakureb sighed, "We offer death to this him as a sweet release from immense physical pain. If we had Dura here, it would be the offer of permanent death-- as I understand it, it can prove worse than prolonged physical torture as it erodes not only at the mind but at the soul-- but we will have to operate under the assumption that there is no time or real ability to send him back for any professional interrogator to work on."

"Do you think you can scare me with this talk of torture?" The smokey man scoffed.

"This is no idle threat, it is an honest concept." Ikenna responded casually before returning to his thought process, "I believe I may be able to slowly burn him without killing him, unless any of you are more skilled and prolonging the deaths of your enemies. Either way, I would suggest we do it here and now rather than waiting to get him back and risking another escape."

"Uhm. Ooh! We may be able to do that!" Larato exclaimed.

"We never hold back when we spar, but we are always careful not to kill each other!" Sanaa said with a bit of a chuckle.

"Maybe that sort of practice can help? We can keep a couple weapons pinned in his legs to hinder any escape!" Larato offered.

"He will not escape us a second time!" Sanaa assured the leaders of their group excitedly, clenching a fist tight.

"Well, it sounds good to me." Ike said, "Execution of a clearly hostile enemy upon confirmation that his information is true. It will also allow the three of us to secure the perimeter to ensure his (hopefully) short-lived capture and guard against any possible rescue. As I have said, death is not the threat, it is the reward. Barbaric? Probably. Effective? From what I have heard from older members of the family, yes. Plus it should satisfy both the wants to interrogate him and kill him. plus my cousins appear fully ready to redeem themselves for his escape on this matter. Are there any objections?"

Sure enough, the twins both had rather sadistic glints in their eyes, but they weren't about to start getting to work until they had the confirmation from the artwork-like mantis and tiger.

Ikenna felt an urge overtake him, one that led him to approach the downed enemy and lay a hand on his shoulder, making sure that the enemy knew something.

"I feel that before they begin I should correct you on a rather simple matter. You said your mission was over in this region, but actually one way or another your mission is over in this world. At this point it is merely a matter of how long before you get to the next one, and that is entirely up to you." With that, Ike patted him twice on the shoulder and then walked away, "Have fun with the twins."
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