━━ brittle bones. ━━━━

[gap]

ＡＬＩＳＴＡＩＲ ＬＥＩＧＨＴＯＮ
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
━━━ the buzzing of lights dimmed to a hum as the bouncers filtered in, removing the unkempt bodies of tonight's patrons unable to leave themselves. confetti was strewn across the floor in addition to a variety of choice items, many of which were articles of clothing from both the performers and audience. forgotten drinks littered the tables, half full, knocked over, and forgotten, the excitement of the night leaving them isolated from the life beating throughout the venue. with a fell swoop, alistair took up three of these beverages in his hand and swiftly delivered them down his esophagus, providing an unwanted treat for his already suffering liver, but how was he to refuse a ritual? the common end to his night everyday for the past few years without the guild. he was empty inside, performing in a gaudy club for the woes of woman, all vying for his attention as they delivered dollar bills to his waistline.

━━━ the back stage area was no better than the entrance, the sweaty and barely clothed bodies of his cast members drenched in sweat like himself. jabs delivered to his shoulder interrupted his smooth transition to his dressing room, whoops and hollering sounding from the barbaric men proud to be doing what they did, but not he. the thrill of performing was a mere whisper compared to the highs of the hunt, and he was left to remember the good times while enduring the bad. nearly two am, his daily curtain call, not unlike the nights of the past, except that the monsters to be slain his own rather than those of paris. alas he made his way to his dressing room, an unforeseen sanctuary but a cause of peace nonetheless. three walls and a curtain boxed him in, providing little privacy and space for himself. besides the mandatory three hooks and a vanity required to be in all rooms, the only trace of an occupant was a small radio, an antenna projected from its top while classical music came out of round, cloth-covered speakers.

━━━ edvard grieg's morning mood echoed throughout the small room as he undressed (or rather, redressed) before the blaring sound of an amber alert interrupted his small calm. the rushed voice of a french correspondent blurred past in a matter of seconds, warning the occupants of france to beware of roaming monsters, followed by a variety of translations. he scoffed at the message, "maybe there wouldn't be monsters terrorizing the people if they hadn't disbanded the hunters." the statement was nothing but a passing thought, anything more than that being cause for arrest in this current state of discontent. yet truth still clung to the notion, sticking with him as he walked home, his heart aching with every step as the need to help weighed him down.

━━━ by the time al reached his apartment, his body yearned for the exhilaration of a hunt. scoping out his apartment to verify the absence of his roommate, he retreated to the bathroom, locking the door behind him. the blinds were slid to a close as he made his way to the small toilet, reaching into the tank for his blades. held in a plastic zip-loc bag, he released them from their confinement, coming to life at his touch. surrounded by a soft blue haze, alistair expertly fastened his attachments to his body, hidden in obscure yet accessible locations, out of reach from enemies but attainable by himself. with no trace of the moment of discernment left behind, a small click of his door sounded, signaling his exit.

━━━ the subway tunnels, an all too familiar location from his past as a street performer, was an oblivion of blackness, soundless save for whisper of breaths from the defunct hunter. he walked in a stance of attack, his dagger held near eye-level, ready to attack whatever to come his way, while a cigarette dangled from his lips, the faint light of both providing enough for the moment. with one of his senses dulled, the others were heightened. the taste was that of an expired pickle, sour and malleable, crumbling with a gentle compression. the smell was absolutely horrid, the putrid odor similar to its unpalatable counterpart. the feeling, on the other hand, clung to him in an air that was both cold and humid, vapor sticking to him as he trudged forward.

━━━ in an instant, the atmosphere changed. the rugged sounds breathing entered his hearing range, presumably that of a monster. in a single movement, the cigarette was out of his mouth and beneath his foot as he moved toward the noise, clinging to the wall as a means of tracking his position. eleven steps further, the sound quieted. five steps back, the noise is at its peak. with nicotine coursing through his bloodstream, he jabbed towards the source, stopping short as he saw the face of his roommate, but not before he was his by a blunt force delivered by the man.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[ health. 100 ] ─ [ location. the subway tunnels ] ─ [ tagged. cas ]

[eclectic,]

ＰＡＳＣＡＬ ＬＡＧＨＡＲＩ ➳
location ➳ the subway tags ➳ open
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"ＤＯ ＴＨＥ ＲＩＧＨＴ ＴＨＩＮＧ， ＤＯ ＴＨＥ ＲＩＧＨＴ ＴＨＩＮＧ． ＤＯ ＩＴ ＡＬＬ ＴＨＥ ＴＩＭＥ ＤＯ ＩＴ ＡＬＬ ＴＨＥ ＴＩＭＥ"
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────

a beam of light struck off the dampened sides of the subway tunnel, flashing uselessly into the darkness ahead.
it revealed little but shining tiles, muddied with age, the tiny sound of little rat paws, and several dozen cigarette butts scattered on the ground, left behind by maintenance workers long gone. for a brief moment the owner of the light paused, listening hard for anything unusual. the sound of heavy feet, or the sound of dragging or breath tat was not his own. but there was nothing. for now the tunnel was silent once more. whatever small life had been their in the form of rodents or roaches ad been startled off by his flashlight. nothing but the thrumming of his own heartbeat, and his own controlled breathing could be heard. the silence almost worried pascal more than the noise. should he have heard something else? water dripping, or or something.

pascal was not in the habit of leaving his house before six in the morning. but here he was, at 2 am, in an old subway track. he wasn't in fact, in the habit of being in the metro at all. he was more of a taxi bloke, or maybe walking. being medically tried meant that you were always on the look out for you health whether you wanted to or not, and that included the personal recommendation to walk more often. it was something to do with a doctor/patient mentality, although most of pascals patients nowadays were dead.

it was freezing in paris at the best of times, but today seemed especially frigid. he had escaped the piercing wind that had reigned in the human dimension, but it was no better down here in rat land. he snorted at himself for this wild thought. that's what working with dead people did to you. pondering, he should get out more.
if you looked on him from afar, or really any distance more than 1 meter, you might mistake him for a slightly strange monster (which no normal person would do of course, they'd just think him a rather fat man with a beard) his usually slim frame was deck out with several coats, two pairs of scarves (one being a cowl) and dark green hat, which embarrassingly enough was crested by a massive pom-pom. dangling at is side is large black canvas satchel, and slung across his back is a sword. a katana to be exact. what you can see from a distance of 1 meter, is that he also has a thin long dagger tucked into his boot.

a quiet rustle and a soft clinking of glass could be heard as he moved on, the aforementioned black bag not only contains a handgun, but a whole stash of purloined medical equipment. a box of test tubes, a dozen or so syringes (needled and un-needled) and a few scalpels. all muffled to the best of his abilities with some old and linty cotton stretch bandage.
the inconvenience of these supplies was, notable. and the necessity of a handgun was, unlikely, but pascal didn't like the idea of defend himself against another human (most of which were nowadays equipped with firearms) with a sword. so maybe the gun was unnecessary, but the supplies were not. he intended to do the hunter thing, and then extract some samples, blood, tissue, fluid if he could find any. he would then take these back to the morgue, where he'd use the lab (which was very infrequently used, and then only by him) to test a few theory's. all of these theory's were regarding coms, the monsters he was currently hunting, or more specifically, the product of coms, souillé's. he was working on a cure, or at least was going to start working on one. a this point is was nothing but theory and hoping, but pascal was hoping tonight's events would take it past that.

a light ahead drew pascal from his thinking, a soft yellowing light, flickering in the faint draft of the tunnel. that was a flame.
he froze, clicking off his flashlight, and slowly drawing the sword from his back. bending his knee slightly to absorb shock, he proceeded forward. laying a free hard on his bag to muffle any sounds from it put forth. it was easy. easier then he would have liked to fall back into this old rhythm. he was never an excellent fighter, but he learned stealth from a young age. it was one of the few things he was good at.
slowly, excruciatingly slowly, had made his way so he was only a few meters behind the light. he paused, cocked his head, and crept forward a tad more. a face, a human face, was glowing behind the flame, one he recognized. against his better judgment, he swore. and straightened up. the flashlight came back on, he moved forward. with the aid of his own light, he could now see that the owner of the flame was a small woman, she also looked familiar, and a name bounced on he tip of his tongue.

"what in the hell are you doing here?"

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"ＭＡＫＥ ＹＯＵＲＳＥＬＦ ＲＩＧＨＴ ＮＥＶＥＲ ＭＩＮＤ ＴＨＥＭ， ＤＯＮ＇Ｔ ＹＯＵ ＫＮＯＷ ＹＯＵ＇ＲＥ ＮＯＴ ＴＨＥ ＯＮＬＹ ＯＮＥ ＳＵＦＦＥＲＩＮＧ？"
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[reasonable.]

＂'ＡＵＧＵＳＴＵＳ ＬＥＣＯＭＢ！'＂

location: the subway complexxotagged: carolinexofeeling: petrified, with a hint of inquisitivity
xoxaugustus slammed his fists against the side of the dimly lit flashlight that flickered within his fingertips, it's hue fluttering gently before returning to it's original state. the noise echoed within the walls of the subway platform that the man stood upon, his heart thrumming just as rapidly as the light had just seconds before, all calm thoughts of his evaporating into the musty and dry air. he allowed a puff of air to escape from his lips, his eyebrows furrowed in a taxed manner. the man had been sent on a mission, and knew that one slip-up could cost him the things that were most important to him- his life, and his career. the silence once again settled over, but august knew that he couldn't stay in the same position for long. he lifted his head slightly, his golden locks falling gently over his eyelids, long lashes veiling the piercing blue gaze that reflected the very definition of dread, before standing from his crouched position against the tiled walls, lifting the beacon of light in his hands onward.

xoxsquinting his gaze, augustus shook his head slightly, before gathering the courage to move forth once again. the sudden thought of losing all light had pervaded his system, distressing the wits completely out of him. without light, he would be absolutely vulnerable, becoming one with the darkness that continuously surrounded him. swallowing the negativity away, he pushed forth, his feet light against the cobwebbed floors. augustus was agile, his strongest asset, allowing him to move quickly without making too much noise, blending in with the gentle breeze that swept against him. chills crawled against his spine, sending waves of goosebumps trickling down his limbs.

xoxin one hand, he held the glowing flashlight, the yellow hue lighting a sphere around him, his shadow billowing behind his body. in the other, his katana remained steady and dull, in it's lifeless state. his gaze rested upon it, knuckles flushed red, the symbols engraved within it resembling bravery and strength- two things that augustus lacked in the current situation. another tremulous sigh escaped from augustus' lips, his nerves astray. he had been worrying excessively, the imagery of death blooming inside of him. if he continued to do so, the man knew he would end up a corpse, left to rot upon the railroad tracks.

xoxas he continuously walked alongside the path, august allowed his flashlight to roam the walls of the station, glaring at an assortment of posters and flyers, trying to settle down his frayed state of being. all sorts of words were written, some scratched out or painted over, rebellion echoing within their words. before he could stop himself, he found his fingertips brushing against the glass surface of the windows, feeling the grime accumulate to the moisture of his body. rubbing it gently against his thumb and forefinger. for the first time that night, augustus caught sight of himself within the glass, his reflection sending a jolt of anger throughout his veins. he looked small, stricken and timid, like a mouse, an easy target for a comme or any monster of sorts. he clenched his fists together, before turning sharply, his jaws pressed tightly together as he swiftly turned on his heel, allowing a stoic expression to cloud his fear. he knew he could not allow this terror-stricken scene to control him, and reminded himself of who he was truly going through with this for.

xoxwithout hesitation, the man leapt forth, crawling against the tracks as he maintained a quick pace, his heartrate still fluctuating sharply. he could not, should not, would not show any signs of fear to anything that may lurk alongside him, even though it had shaken him to his very core. pausing momentarily, august lifted his gaze towards the sight of an officer walking above him, his gaze emotionless and dull, most likely carrying out a daily routine. instinctively, he turned off his flashlight, watching as the light died quickly, the darkness swallowing him immediately. he remained motionless, a statue of pure angst, before his sights were clear. he dipped his head with relief, before gripping the sides of the track, hoisting his legs up towards the platform once again, and standing quickly.

xoxbefore he knew it, augustus had once again begun to dread the tasks at stake, his wrists trembling as he turned his flashlight on once again, checking all around him, before continuing his path. his heartbeat rung within his very spirit, and august wondered if the coms could sense the petrification that seemed to radiate off of his skin. he swallowed the saliva that had been pent up inside of his throat, desperately needing any sort of liquid that could cool the sweat that endlessly poured off of him.

xoxhis hands trembled north, gripping at his forehead, an immense wave of pain flashing through him suddenly, and before he knew it, his legs gave way, his body slamming against the ground, flashlight clambering forth before shattering against the ground, the light diminishing along with it. "for christs' sake..." august whispered under his breath, standing and wiping off his pants, his head still throbbing slightly. before he could reach for the object, augustus immediately felt something cool pressing against the back of his neck, his body thrown forth once again, pinned to the ground by a rather strong foot.

xoxat first, august had thought that it had been a male that had attacked him with such force- or even worse, a comme. however, a female voice rang throuhgout the tunnels, their tone calm and collected, something that haunted the male. "you have about three seconds to try and convince me not to kill you," they had said, and august swallowed once again, his cheeks pressed against the grubby floor. he immediately felt nauseous, the urge to vomit overcoming him, but he pushed that aside, clearing his throat quickly. "i'll only need two." he managed, before flailing his body beneath her foot in a desperate attempt to escape. the only outcome of this, however, had been his own embarrassment, for he still remained beneath her strong limb, unable to move.

xoxhe attempted to retreat once again, failing just as miserably as he had during his first attempt. a defeated grunt escaped from his lips as he relaxed his muscles once again, laying limp against the cool floor. there was a long, awkward pause that hung loosely among them, before he finally huffed out another response. "alright- go ahead and kill me. but i at least want to see the face of an ugly comme up close before i allow it to exterminate me from the face of the earth." he muttered, his heart still thudding aggressively within his chest.

[bawnbawn.]

➣➣➣ A D E N - A S H N I

Location; Subway tunnels. Mood; Cautious. Tagged; Open.

Aden's day had been filled with drama from the second she'd been woken up by the blaring siren of her alarm. Like any other week, she'd rise at 7:00am, and have a healthy breakfast of cereal, orange juice, and a chocolate bar (which she would eat away from the judging eye of her cats). Then, it would be a short skateboard to work - an old pound where pets that had been found or abandoned were taken care of to the best of the employee's capabilities. It was a harrowing yet rewarding choice of career, looking after sick or injured animals yet knowing that you were making a positive difference in their lives.

The positive outcomes, as rare as they could have been, were why Aden chose that particular place to focus her skills on; to kind of balance everything else in her life out. Simply put, she found it humorous how she worked to save human lives at night, and animal lives by day. Though of course, when hunting became dangerously taboo and everybody had disbanded, saving animal lives was the only productive thing the girl could plausibly accomplish. She enjoyed every moment of it, however the destruction of her nightly activities left her feeling empty and, well, pointless.

Aden was moreorless built for hunting, having spent a majority of her life training and studying to take down the beasts who went bump in the night (which was a cliché phrase, however she loved using it if only to see the eye-rolls she'd get from the other hunters). It was the one thing in her life she felt she was awfully good at; stalking through the night, taking down monsters, being the hidden saviour of the city's citizens. So when hunting became too dangerous to continue amongst the fine streets of Paris, Aden had reluctantly stepped back and allowed her hard work to diminish into memories and fantasies. It wasn't long before she travelled to other countries with other hunters, yet she always found herself returning to the classy life of France. Despite the opportunity to hunt, she supposed home was just too difficult to stay away from.

Towards the end of the years-long hiatus, Aden had become somewhat withdrawn compared to the outgoing person she was during the times of creature-killing. Sure, she still laughed, made jokes, and treated her friends to random gifts, but to anyone who truly knew her, they'd understand how empty she felt (and how much she actually showed it). Without the thrill of racing through the night and tearing her weapons through monster's bodies, life was just... dull. The animals at the pound were rewarding, as were the few hunters she'd managed to keep in contact with, but nothing could ever compare to the adrenaline she'd feel on the jobs underneath the moon and the stars.

So when finally, finally, she was called back into action on that particularly uneventful night, Aden had felt the happiest she'd been in four years. It was silly how emotionally-dependent she was on hunting, however she felt no shame in the correlation between the job and her overall happiness as she sharpened her weapons and read up on her previous studies.

That brings us to where Aden was now, silently stalking through the darkness of Paris' subway tunnels with her hand on the hilt of her machete (while most went for the traditional katana, she simply respected the machete's greater strength and power). She was executing all of the tips she'd learned over the years of hunting - breathe through the mouth and exhale through the nose, rely on both the flashlight and your own hearing, and stick to the very side rather than leaving yourself wide open from the back. It all felt so natural to her, so comfortable, that a small grin graced her features as she moved further into the city's underground tunnels.

She was beginning to hear the faint echoes of voices and bodies moving through the subway in front of her, though Aden didn't know if they were fellow hunters or the creatures she'd come here to eradicate. Immediately cautious, the brunette withdrew the machete from its sheath on her back and advanced forwards both slower and lighter. The last thing she wanted was to die on her first mission back, because really, how ridiculous would that be? If the situation wouldn't have been so morbid, she was sure the other hunters would laugh about how unprofessional she was (and really, she wouldn't have blamed them).

Realising that her thoughts were beginning to stray, Aden shook her head and berated herself. Now wasn't the time for getting off-track, because on the other side of the wall she was approaching stood another person. She could tell from the echoes certain noises failed to emit, warning her that yes, she was very close behind somebody else. Or something else, the brunette warily noted. Though she knew that a few other hunters would probably be turning up in the subway, she couldn't freely dismiss the presence of the monsters that were apparently roaming around.

Stopping just behind the end of the separating wall, Aden took a deep breath and held it in. Before she made the killing blow, the brunette wanted to find out who she was sharing this particular tunnel with. As it was mentioned before, fellow hunters might be staking out the subway just like her, and she didn't want to make the mistake of accidentally killing another human. So with that in mind, Aden gripped her machete in one hand and her flashlight in the other. Counting down from three in her head, she slowly exhaled before soundlessly trailing beyond the wall, immediately coming into the view of another presence. Raising the weapon to prepare for any necessary attacks or blocks, she bathed the other in the yellow glow of her flashlight, only to blink as she settled her gaze upon a somewhat-familiar human.

"What the heck?"

[thorne.]

━━━xＡＶＡ ＧＥＲＯＵＸx━━━━━━━━━

locationxsubway tunnelsxxxxtaggedxcaroline + augustus





the dark and empty tunnels felt oddly dense with dust surrounding every nook and cranny, as if from an unknown entity trying to suffocate anyone and anything trying to infiltrate the premises. it was a haunting sight in a haunted area, something most normal human beings would find unnerving, and most would immediately turn the other way and never look back. that, alongside the spasmodic beams of light at every corner from the patrolling police officers and the massive unknowns for the targets' whereabouts, were some largely daunting factors that made the current mission more troublesome than initially required. however, ava geroux was not troubled in the slightest, especially for the trivial objectives that only served to block her designated path. as it stood, she was a firm believer in improvisation and cared very little for mechanics of the smaller details that ultimately lead to the production of her desired conclusion. the only thing on her mind was the mission, the monsters, and her purpose. everything else were vague recollections of "what if's". this mindset was likely a reason that made the seasoned huntress into a force to be reckoned with, as it amalgamates with her innate physical abilities into a lethal combination.

she navigated through the blackened tunnels with a leveled grace, small footsteps nearly inaudible along the aged tiles and petite frame relaxed as she remained close to cover. her heart contracted with calmly in the moment, due to the years of experience in the field, but ava could feel her fingers twitch every so often with an underlying sense of anticipation. it's been quite a few weeks since her last hunt and the twenty-five year old found herself feeling an emotion nearing excitement in the face of the upcoming threat. she took on the current mission alone, void of the usual company of her twin brother. it was for no reason other than a matter of priority. he was on his own investigation of the whereabouts of recent monster showings, which required a larger and more vivid magnitude of research that seemingly left ava incapable of comprehending. and without much debate, the two come to a mutual agreement in only sending ava to investigate the sightings in the subway tunnels, as oppose to the both of them together. in order words, it was a "divide and conquer" tactic, one that the huntress found nothing to complain about.

the area offered little to no light, making it difficult to traverse without stopping at an end or revisiting a spot on multiple occasions, so ava trusted her own sense of hearing and the usual gut feelings. she used her flashlight minimally, to avoid possible collision with any unwanted personnel. while keeping as quiet as humanly possible, she was also hyper aware of her immediate surroundings, from the clumsy dragging of the officials' boots to the small clicks and tings of the subway itself━and everything in between. and her unconscious intuition remained as the driving force in every step she took.

suddenly she paused beside the entrance of another tunnel, lingering a couple moments more than her typical stride previously throughout the evening. her back was shoved against the adjacent wall, close enough to where she was able to feel the coldness of the concrete on her shoulder blades, through the flexible material of her black clothing. the faint sound of voices waft through the stale air like an unnatural force among the silence, quickly causing the huntress to become more alert. taking a calm, collected breath, ava lifted a single hand to reach over her shoulder for the hilt of one of the long swords that criss-crossed along her back. the katana shined a dangerous gleam as she slid it out from the sheath, offering little metal-to-metal resistance. the weapons were the only two objects that held sentimental value to the detached woman, each having previously belonged to one of her parents respectively and were given to her when she was sixteen, before the awaited celebration of her couronnement. nearly a decade later and they remained in the same pristine image due to careful care.

clenching the wrapped hilt carefully, she proceeded slowly down the staircase, on the trail of the spoken words and muffled voices that approached her location. briefly she pondered about the possible source. it couldn't have been the monsters, as they were hardly careless enough to give away their identities that easily. although there was still the potential prospects, the hope, that she may be able to give rest to the needless search in a reasonable manner, to put the beast down without prolonging the goose chase. however, the sight of two entirely human bodies wrestling on the floor caused the electrical sense of anticipation to seep from her bones. pausing only momentarily when witnessing the scene, ava relaxed her stance, especially upon hearing a threat from a familiar womanly voice. she traveled closer to the two suspects with effortless ease in retaining her stealth before stopping to observe them. neither of them noticed her presence until huntress finally flickered on her flashlight, bathing the two in a dull stream of light.

"you two would do better without making so much noise," she informed bluntly, almostly inaudibly while peering at them with narrowed eyes. then she sighed, removing the source of illumination from the other two hunters and lowering her weapon to her side. truthfully, she felt the smallest sensation of disappointment in the discovery, but none of it came as a surprise. of course there would be other hunters desiring to investigate the reported sightings. however, in her eyes, the sight of them brawling with one another appeared counterproductive and slightly ludicrous. "caroline," she began, eyes moving to focus on the light-haired huntress positioned threateningly on top of her recent prey, "what are you doing?"

[morris.]

ＬＵＣＡ ＦＡＵＲＥ．
xxxxxxx━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
xxxxxxxxxxxchapter one. xxlocation the subway tunnels.xx tags sang hee, pascal.
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given the lighting circumstances, it was a bit difficult to read lucas features--especially since the flame he held was more towards the face of the smaller girl, because it was her he was questioning. however, his expression did transform quite a bit in those alotted seconds. from alarm, to relief, and to irritation that lined his voice, and accented an eye roll that he managed to throw into the mix as soon as the girl pretended to forget who he was.

rather than waste time by going on about their past, or bringing up the girl's distaste for hunting as a jab (though he was considering it), luca mentally moved on while sang hee became her handsy self--and pushed the hand holding the lighter away from her face. because sang hee was manning a flashlight that was clearly operational (unlike his own), luca capped the flame--but not before another presence emerged from the flames.

having already been spooked by a fellow hunter, luca took the sight of pascal rather well. but his hand remained on the handle of his sword, just in case. you never knew if someone was bitten or not. the only confirmation was the speech that left the bearded hunter's lips--clearly and with an edge. a second light hit luca almost directly in the eyes, causing him to pull up a hand to defend his corneas.

"i think it's safe to say we're all here for the same reason." luca answered fast, even if it wasn't his place to. irritation was clear, but it was mostly due to the fact that the bright light was leaving his senses desperate to adjust in such a dark setting. he knew deep down he had no business fussing over the question that had been asked (three times now) because he was the one to initially make it the topic of discussion. "the coms, right?" it was safe to verify. he had no clue what the rest of the guild's former members were up to because he hadn't been in contact with most of them--but it did seem like a safe assumption to think that they were both down here for blood. it wasn't like normal people strolled the subway tunnels after hours--or any hours, really. "have you seen any?" neither of them seemed to be roughed up in the slightest, but again--verification was key.

suddenly, the walkie-talkie in his belt began to sound again. screeching, this time, after a longer hiatus than usual. on the other end was a very stressed out zara. "luca? are you there? luca?" she sounded like she was on the verge of tears, like she had heard the last of her brother.

luca did not hesitate to give the woman a response. "i'm here. the feed went out. everything's okay." he didn't lift his finger from the button because he wasn't done talking. "and we've got company." he looked at sang hee, and then pascal before looking down at the walkie talkie as if he was talking to zara in the flesh. this time, he removed his finger.

it took a second or two for zara to respond. luca figured she was calming herself behind the scenes with a few breathing exercises--or something or the sort. but luca continued to wait, because he knew she'd say something. call it sibling intuition. "company?"

"two guild hunters. form our guild." he didn't bother naming names--because he wasn't about to start a lengthy conversation. but he did want to let his sister know that there was a streak of hope, regardless of the dismal conversations they had on the topic of the parisian guild.

zara did reply, but luca completely spaced out--and failed to hear what she said as the flashlight connected to his belt began to light up once more, hitting the ceiling above the trio. light was usually something very welcomed in such a devestatingly dark place like this. but rather than the smoothed over tile that seemed consistent throughout all of the tunnels, a creature attatched to the ceiling was revealed.

the light hit the grey monster in an unforgving way, causing it to snarl as if it had been brutally injured. and then it lept. down towards luca with a malicious look in its cloudy eyes as if he had been the one to cause it harm. luca's back hit the ground with a loud thud. like a rabid dog, the comme bit at luca's face with an unnaturally extended jaw--a rather frightful thing to see in something so close to a human in appearance.

both of luca's hands held the creature far enough from his face for the creature to bite, but it was clear that he couldn't hold out for long. his arms were faltering, and he was left to feel stricken with confusion as to why something like a comme was so strong while he fought for his life on the subway floor.

[wonderfall-]

xxxＡＤＥＬＩＳＥ ＯＬＩＶＥＲ ＶＥＮＥＶＡ！！
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location;; subway tunnels ◍ tags;; aden ◍ mood;; apprehensive, surprised ◍ words;; 508

Sometimes the nights stretched too long. Adelise's job as a web designer allowed her to release the energy, making, fixing and creating something she was proud of. Calm. But beneath the surface, she craved the hunt and excitement, the physicalness of it all.
And so a quick nap was taken and she headed outside in the cool autumn air with her equipment. She walked down the familiar paths, hopped over the right fences and ducked under the right rails. The moonlight lost Adelise's figure as she seemed to be consumed into the tunnels.
The change in atmosphere was immediate. The sound of Paris night life immediately became mute, as if the tunnels were a vacuum. Silence was so rare in a city like Paris, and she relished the sound, or rather, the lack of it. Taking steps forward now, her light footsteps still made a slight echo. She turned to look back at the light at the end of the tunnel. Adelise wanted to laugh at the metaphor, as she headed deeper. She certainly wasn't going to find the light at the end of the tunnel anytime soon, metaphorically and literally.
Spots of colour danced across her vision; she was in total darkness. The torch from her belt was soon on illuminating the tunnels, as well as her senses; her vision was given back. Nothing seemed out of place, as normal as walking through a subway tunnel could be. Technically, Adelise was the one out of place, but then again, so were the monsters she came here to hunt. She continued forward, still cautious with every step she took, years of training drilled into her movements.
She was quick to realise something wasn't right. There seemed to be a fainter light up ahead, masquerading as her own torch light. Her torch was off immediately, second nature. Being discovered meant losing the element of surprise, the advantage. And she didn’t want to let go of it so easily, unwise if it may be to lose the sense of sight, but her hearing made up for the loss. She stuck close to the wall, and drew out her katana, letting the fighting style sink back into her head, preparing herself mentally.
But she didn’t need to. Before her sword made a fatal mistake, she realised the being was a fellow hunter! She surprised herself even further by remembering the name which belonged to the woman.
“Aden?” a breathy laugh forced its way out, not how she wanted to make her first impression after years. She needed to focus, not let the relief overwhelm her. “What are you doing here?”
She needed to be friendly. This discovery meant some of the hunters were still active, which proved her thoughts wrong. Adelise had only begun cleaning Paris out again a few months ago, not enough time to get a census of how many still hunted. She put her katana away for good measure, hoping she didn’t come off hostile like how she portrayed herself all those years ago.