Exploration (Open)

[true_noir]

Characters: Chloe and You
Setting: Exploring
Format: Action or Prose
Summary: Chloe's first days in the Tower are spent quietly, observing from the wings, looking at the floors near to the dormitories... 'catching up' with old friends.
Warnings: PG, but Chloe's always a creeper. Possibly some threats of violence when she meets Kirika, but not necessarily worse than that. I'll update if needed.


Dormitories/Hallways
Having re-acquired her cloak and body-suit from the trunk, Chloe had slipped her blades into the bandoliers on her back and begun the process of exploring. Early meals of oatmeal, unappetizing, bland and boring oatmeal had been washed down, and she had little interest in remaining in the cafeteria for long. She spent only a minimal amount of time in the room that was supposed to be her own and instead began to wander amongst the various floors, looking about with curiosity and remaining at a distance to most of those that she saw.

For now, it was a new world she had been trapped in. Until she properly understood it, understood what this collar meant compared to the one she had known before, she did not want to tip her hand prematurely.

Aquarium
Well, this at least was interesting. The forest had been skipped on almost immediately. Chloe had bad experiences with woods that thick, and she didn't expect this one was any different. One look at one of those deer was an aid in suggesting she try something more quiet, something with glass between she and the animals.

For now, standing and staring at the fish was at least soothing, if surreal. This tower's construction was hard to really understand.

Cathedral (Closed)
The familiarity of this building was haunting. The chapel that Altena had used had been non-descript as well, any signs of a use for Christianity long lost and forgotten, just as much as the old pagan artifacts lying about the vineyard of home. The faint feeling that she was interrupting, that she did not belong. She stalked amidst the wings, at the edges of the pews and pillars. She wanted to see who else came to places like this.

She suspected she knew one who might, but that would be a sole matter of chance.

Comments

Cathedral

[carrythesin]

If Chloe continued to stalk, she would find that chance she waited for. Because in one of the pews, Kirika sat silently as her body leaned forward to the next pew. From the memories she carried, she remembered a place similar to this but more ancient. It was both a burdened and a relief to find anything similar from the place she could called 'home'. How she wanted to visit that place and many more. Perhaps this Cathedral was more of a reminder than something to cope.

She had explored the Cathedral on her first arrival. Unless she wanted to look at the different structures and glass, sitting and gazing to the stage was enough.

Cathedral

[true_noir]

Chloe saw her from behind the pillar. She remained there, breath held for a moment to be certain that Kirika was not aware of her presence at first. When she kept her eyes on the chapel's altar, the woman began to calm considerably. Her eyes closed and she breathed a nearly silent sigh of relief. She did not want to be noticed until she chose to be.

Sneaking forward along the side aisle, she made her way towards the pew that was two rows behind Kirika. They did not have much space classically, but if she could keep very quiet and crouched low when needed, she might be able to get almost up behind the clone of her former friend before she was noticed. If she was lucky, she might end up in the seat right behind her first.

...Kirika could sometimes seem rather lost to the world after all.

[carrythesin]

Chloe's strong point was stealth while Kirika had creative kills. Kirika's ears were expert in picking up different sounds. Long as Chloe haven't disrupted the sounds in the Cathedral, it wouldn't be a surprise if she ended up next to Kirika. No hostile or threat was sensed.

For now, her mind was in space.

[true_noir]

Chloe was more than willing to take her time until she was behind Kirika. The first real sounds that would change the world around the girl would be the shift of fabric as someone drew a knife from leather. It was a familiar sound in its own way, and quite obvious that the person who did it was making just enough noise to be heard.

When Kirka turned, she would find her leaning over the pew, smiling. The blade wasn't doing much, just idly resting in her hand, back a foot or two. "A fitting place for reunions, wouldn't you say?"

[carrythesin]

When air was disrupted, Kirika's upper body turned quickly towards Chloe with her Beretta handgun. The gun was turned half way until she saw Chloe's face before her arm froze in the air. It was a common reflex for her especially for one who would sneak up behind her. She set the handgun on her lap with her hand on top. Even though she made herself open, she wasn't wearing a sweater for nothing.

Kirika glanced at Chloe for the very first time. She looked the same and yet quite different from what Kirika remembered. A reunion, somehow it didn't quite fit in Kirika's thought. "I suppose so..." Kirika responded but it doesn't sound convinced.

[true_noir]

She looked a little older than Kirika would have 'remembered,' a shade taller and a touch more filled out. There weren't many other changes than that. However, there was a difference in the way that she smiled at points, as if she 'knew' things that she shouldn't have. It was as if she had grown just a bit more impish since even before the real Kirika had met her.

The knife didn't rest in her lap, one hand putting it point down on the edge of the pew and twirling it while they spoke. "I owe you... one of you a fork, I believe. I am afraid, however, that I do not have it anymore."

[carrythesin]

When Chloe mentioned the fork, Kirika's stomach turned. The image of that day was clear in her memories. The last split image of Chloe when she was alive, and the face betrayal haunted her. The sin committed on that day couldn't be atoned, Kirika knew that well.

With that thought in mind, a couple tears trailed down her cheeks as she clutch the gun as hard as she could on her lap. "It can't be atone," Kirika whispered. She shut her eyes for a brief moment before she looked in Chloe's eyes. "Did you think I-she wanted it? To carry your body where it could finally rest?"

[true_noir]

She leaned forward when the tear slipped out of one of Kirika's eyes and her tongue snaked out to try to catch it if she didn't dart away quickly. A strange reaction, but then again Atia had given her strange tastes at times... and experiencing the discomfort that this girl felt over what was partially her responsibility and partially not was ... intriguing.

"You were always a curious one," she said, refusing to dignify the 'she' use just yet. "There were two sides of you... the one stolen from me by that woman, and the one I knew for so long. The other side of you probably would have."

[carrythesin]

Kirika didn't move when Chloe's tongue darted. She was taken by her surprise. She knew Chloe had more affection for her, to 'Kirika'. She brushed her cheeks with her other sleeve. When Chloe mentioned the other side of herself, silence fell.

She signed. "Just as her name, it's part of me too." She remembered once when her perspective shifted to a different direction, her true memories. That particular morning in the facility when she almost had taken the lives of her friends. One of the experiments she had to endure. "You... look different from what I remember." Kirika reminded herself, perhaps to shine some light.

[true_noir]

"I am different than you remember. There was no hell that you sent me to, not at first," she said in a soft tone. "Only oblivion. And then... I woke in a bed, a hell of sorts, though different."

Her lips parted and she giggled. It was not a particularly sane sounding laugh, not in the slightest. "I suppose I've been brought to another hell now, with you. Appropriate this time, yes? I could tell you about the other hell if you wished.... or I could show you one day."

[carrythesin]

"Different?" Yes, she had to question that. This tower was similar to the facility she was drawn to. Was there another place different than this? When Chloe spoke of she could 'show her', Kirika remained quiet. Although it didn't meant she disagreed with the idea.

[true_noir]

"Decidedly different than this place," she said softly, the hand not holding the knife reaching out from the other side of Kirika to gently brush over the collarbone, a faint flicking motion like she was casting aside a lint ball. She did take her time with it, though.

"The island tortured us like this place seems to haunt, but not in the same way. Did you mean to send me to eternal torment, I wonder? Did you plan to join me in it one day..."

[carrythesin]

Kirika didn't flinch when Chloe brushed her hand against her. She brushed her own collarbone right after trying to find the meaning of what she meant. Towards the center, her fingers curled into her palm.

When Chloe spoke again, it stumped Kirika. ...Did she really tried to send her off? No... She didn't want to send her off, not even to Hell. Would she had gone to that place too after termination? Another guilt conscious painted on her face as she pulled her head away.

[true_noir]

Chloe reached for Kirika's chin to grip it and force her to look at her own. She didn't look mad, but there was a firmness there as a very thin growl built up in her her throat, eyes focused on the clone of her friend. "You do not have the privilege of looking away from me any longer, Kirika. You realize this, don't you?" she said in a cold tone of voice.

"So, you regret what happened to me, do you? The look you gave me when you stuck a fork into my heart, it was real?" she added, lips quirking upwards in a cruel twist. "How very precious. And what do you mean to do now, when the shade returns from the grave you sent it to?"

[carrythesin]

Kirika squeaked as she felt her chin pricked by Chloe's nails. Her head was drawn back towards Chloe again with her unsettled eyes to Chloe. After Chloe spoke, she shaken her head from her grip before she could rub her hand on her chin. It did kept her head unturned.

But what does a killer do when someone returned from the grave? Forgiveness? Hardly. "You forgot, we have just met," she spoken as a clone. "From the world where death is permanent, it's a strange place for me. Death to me is another person waiting to wake up. So how does one from your world, I don't know."

[true_noir]

"I think that I once said that did not entirely matter to me," she said softly, leaning up towards her almost close enough to kiss but not quite. But, I suppose that we may have some ... catching up to do to truly see through the fog of this strange little meeting."

She closed her eyes for a second, keeping herself leaned in close. "Perhaps I will ask you this. You remember things, little Kirika. What is it like to meet the woman you remember killing when your hands cannot recall the act?"