001 Reunions

[toxicwillpower]

Characters: Kadaj & OPEN TO ALL
Setting: Lower floors of the tower, dusk.
Format: Either
Summary: Kadaj Awakens. Oh, and kills an Orc.
Warnings: : A little bloody?


With a sickening squish the stolen kitchen knife was removed from the orc’s neck. It writhed on the ground, unable to scream or cry due to the blood that spurted out of the wound in its throat.

Kadaj walked in a wide circle around it. “Well, what do we have here?” He stopped at the head and crouched down next to its face, careful not to bloody himself. “You’re an ugly little monster aren’t you…” He stood and pressed his boot against its cheek, pushing its face away. The blood continued to squirt out evenly but in slow dying arcs from its neck.

Only moments earlier the young remnant had woken up in an unfamiliar territory. Before he could even consider where he was or how he got there this thing decided to attack him. It was the last action it would ever do.

The teen's brows furrowed as he took in the sight of the creature. “You’re not from Gaia.” That was… unsettling. But there was one thing that he was acutely aware of. A sensation. A pull, no—it was a compulsion to travel in a particular direction; and while he had never felt this urge before he knew exactly what it was.

The monster’s gasping breaths shook him from his thoughts. Kadaj looked down to note that its face was completely covered in thick dark blood. It grabbed at its throat and kicked its legs weakly. Its eyes, large and beady, stared at the remnant’s uncaring gaze, pleading.

He clicked his tongue in disgust. Though he would very much like to watch it die a slow and painful death as punishment for the audacity of attacking him, he decided to end it quickly. He wanted to find whatever was calling out to him.

“Don’t look at me that way.” Kadaj casually warned before abruptly jabbing the knife right into the monster’s trachea. It gurgled and sputtered for a final time. Did it die from choking on its own beastly fluids or blood loss? Whichever it was, it was irrelevant. The thing was dead and no longer held any interest. The orc’s body fell completely limp and its once animalistic frightened eyes rolled back into its head.

Kadaj smirked. “That’s better.”

Comments

[unteachableapprentice]

Even though the mage was eager to give information, he only had rudimentary information at best.

"Uh, yeah, about that..." He's actually just scratching his head at this point. "I've never actually seen 'em. The scientists, I mean. Or administrators. That's what the guys here call them anyway. I think I heard about some trouble they stirred up recently, though, there was a wedding of sorts. Dunno much, though, I think I slept through the whole thing. Might wanna ask someone else."

Though it was at this exact moment when his hand hit his collar and reminded him of something.

"Ah, right! See this thing right here?" Of course, he's pointing at his collar. "This thing is supposed to be checked by some guys every other week. Cept those guys seem pretty soulless and stuff. Kinda unnerving. Anyway, you mighta want to pop down over there to check if ya want."

[toxicwillpower]

A gloved hand smoothed over the violet collar that encircled Kadaj’s neck. He already had his fair share of experiences with it. If he were one to bruise, then his throat would have been brightly adorned with black and blue marks from all the effort he had put into trying to remove it. For the moment, it was the only thing he was willing to accept: the collar was not coming off—at least not yet.

“Don’t worry,” Kadaj assured. “We’ll get them off just as soon as we find out who is responsible.” All it took was the right threat, the right hostage, or the right death to get his way.

Wait a second. We?

Kadaj furrowed his brows and turned away from Warmage. There was no we here. It was just him. No one else! It would be different if his brothers were here but they weren’t. So why had he said it at all?

[unteachableapprentice]

"I'll hold ya on to that, though it's supposedly here to keep us alive. What I'm saying is don't get too excited, alright? These could save our lives. Or something.

Plenty of other people are looking for a way out of this mess too, so you'll probably find some people who wants the same as you. You might even find some friends or, uh, not-friends you know in here."

He chuckled as the man turned away from him. Not privy to Kadaj's less than charitable thoughts, he only said what he thought of him.

"You know, even though you act it, you don't seem like much of a bad guy. Knew a girl back home who acted all hostile-like before too, but she turned out alright."

Sorry for the delay!

[toxicwillpower]

For all intents and purposes, this stranger was a human. He looked human, he spoke like a human, he acted like a human, and he even smelled like a human. This rendered him not only worthless, but also the enemy.

Kadaj continued to walk further through the hall, expecting the stranger to follow as their conversation was not over yet. “Hn.” He smirked and glanced back at him briefly. “You think I’m the bad guy? Ha!”
He laughed and shook his head. “No. You’re wrong.” A finger pointed accusingly at the stranger. “You. It’s you and your ancestors that are the bad ones! Not me!”

But that was old news and Kadaj had more important matters to attend. First, find Mother. Then and only then will he plot revenge against humanity.

He sneered and pushed over the closest thing to him --an old bust of someone of no importance. It hit the floor with a loud clang and shattered—the pieces littering the cold tile floor. Hundreds of spiders, both big and small, scattered across the hallway, quickly trying to find a new refuge.

As I said, it's fine~

[unteachableapprentice]

The mage was following him through the hall; it was impolite if he didn't, of course; before he stopped dead, being accused of something incredibly vague.

"Wha-? What did I do? Dunno about my ancestors, but all I did was- well I guess I did cut off magic at one point, but then I restored it. Honest!"

Okay, this guy was probably more deranged than he thought. Also spiders. Why must there be spiders.

Gingerly stepping over the destroyed bust, he continued following the teenager, though keeping his distance now. Didn't want to be hit with more masonry.

"Uh, hope ya don't mind me asking, but why are you angry again?"

[toxicwillpower]

Kadaj stopped short and turned to face the man, a scowl on his face. “Because your ancestors imprisoned Mother for 2,000 years!” The teen’s voice rose, practically shouting. How could someone not know this?! “All Mother needed was energy from the planet and because of people like you she can’t complete her journey! Now it’s MY job to make sure she gets what she wants, to make sure she is happy!” And he would do anything for her—absolutely anything.

The remnant seethed and imagined all the horrible ways he would torture the man in front of him. No one would care; even ShinRa had apparently disposed of him. This man would be nothing but a punching bag to help relieve Kadaj’s frustrations. Except…

“Tch. You’re lucky you remind me of one of my brothers.”

[unteachableapprentice]

He flinched when the teenager suddenly started shouting at him- surprised at the rage in his voice; surprised at what he's saying.

He waited a few moments for the man to calm down- at least, to stop seething with rage- before offering his help.

"Well, what my ancestors did was- well, they weren't my fault. But if you need my help I could help ya...? After all, I wouldn't want my mother's wish to be unfulfilled."

And so this person has a brother. And said brother acts like him.

Warmage isn't really sure if that's a compliment or not. Maybe even a warning.

[toxicwillpower]

Ah! Perhaps there as a chance for this pathetic race to redeem itself after all! Kadaj shook his head. No, who was he trying to fool? Humanity’s actions against Mother were to devastating to ever forgive. Mercy was not an option for them and it never would be. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t take advantage of the poor soul who was misguided enough to want to help him. Kadaj was, if anything, an opportunist, and he wasn’t going to let this one slide away.

Just then the floor rumbled beneath their feet. An ungodly cry echoed throughout the halls. It was, indisputably, another ogre.

Kadaj was completely undeterred. He merely grinned and stepped aside. “So then,” he beamed, “you think you can redeem yourself?” He gestured a nod toward the oncoming ogre. “Let’s see how strong you really are.”

[unteachableapprentice]

The man was sheepishly following the teenager still, wondering what he- or rather, what his ancestors- did wrong. Maybe he should have actually read up on ye olde history books so he could understand.

Upon hearing the familiar growl of an orge, he looked back up. The smell and the sounds- this reminded him of home. Funny how at this point only the stench of his foes are the only reminder of home.

He grinned as the teenager issued the challenge. This was his turf.

"Ya kidding me? I do this for a living. Well, did."

Dramatically drawing his swordstaff, he waited for the monster to commit.

And after a few more seconds of staring down each other, it did.

With reflexes born of decades of experience, Warmage blocked it's arm with the blade and sidestepped the brute's tackle. Now facing it's flank, it was only a matter of quickly enchanting the blade with arcane holy magic before chopping off it's head with one clean slice. It would have been hard to do it in one go, but he's intimately familiar with the anatomy of an orge. It was only a matter of hitting at the right angle with the right amount of force.

Looking down at the blade, slick with blood, he waited until the holy glow ebbed away before addressing the teenager.

"Well? How about that?"

[toxicwillpower]

“You’re not as good as me.” Kadaj grinned. Of course, the remnant would say that regardless of how the other had performed. “But good enough.” It was apparent that Warmage knew his was around a sword. Not to mention he had the strength to back it up. Yes, he would definitely be an assist to the remnant’s mission.

Kadaj casually jumped over the fallen ogre, like it was nothing but a speed bump in his way. “If you’re going to redeem yourself I need absolute obedience.” He held a single finger up for emphasis and he closed the gap between them. “No questions asked. Understood?”

[unteachableapprentice]

He almost snorted. Kadaj, while intimidating, didn't really seem too physically strong compared to him. Even so, he held it in check. Just in case.

'Obedience', however, was something he had never been good with. Absolute or not, he always had been a loose cannon. So what exactly can someone of that disposition say to such an order?

"Yeah, sure."

A bit dismissive, but that's his style.