Hunters Moon - IC

[Keeper]

Moon once more steeled herself for what was to come.
she sucked in a deep breath, held it and tensed her stomach muscles, waiting for the blow to land.
As the big man's fist hit home she expelled the air in a kiai, lessening the blow's impact somewhat. even so, it was a fierce strike and the young woman's knees buckled and the men holding her let go so that she dropped to the floor.
for a moment she struggled to draw the air back into her lungs and when she did she erupted in a bout of coughing so strong she though she might be sick.
thanbkfully the three goons and the giant just stood there watching her, morbidly fascinated while also appearing as though they weren't sure what to do next.
Gasping and coughing, Moon glared up at the big guy and said, "I'll give you one more chance to tell me what you want with my grandfather. One more chance to leave this room alive."
The brute looked at his companions and they all burst out laughing.

[arcanus]

Moon remembered her body hardening training, tensing her stomach as the blow struck, hard muscle absorbing the blow she untensed allowing it to disperse across her torso, it hurt but rolled off the impact, albeit leaving her gasping for breath and coughing.

The change came quickly the prayer beads glowing hot, muscle and bone cracking and popping, white fur rippled across her form as it broadened and grew, lithe for one of her kind she still towered over the men, including the brute.
Her form a perfect blend of woman and tiger, pure white with black stripes, the cold watery blue eyes of her tiger head regarded the brute with feral intent, a low growl rumbled from the back of her throat as she bared her long fangs.

Then all hell broke lose, the brute whimpered, his bulky form turning towards the door to flee, her clawed hand lashed out tearing his back open from hip to shoulder, she sneezed as an odd grey mist sprayed from the wounds.
She growled as the whimpering man screamed in fearful rage and thrust his knife into her shoulder, her arm swung back claws ripping through his throat, the knife flicking loose from her flesh, the wound healing as quickly as it was free.

She turned to see that the other two men were now cowering up against the wall, growling she turned back to the whimpering man who lay in a pool of his own blood, a wet gurgling noise coming from his perforated throat and as he rattled his last.
The brute lay dead, his back looking like a slab of butchered pork, grey ooze bubbled from the eviscerated wound, the smell of Cinnabon again.

[Keeper]

The great tiger form loomed over the two cowering men, her snout mere inches from one of their faces.
“Why?” the creature growled, the word barely recognisable.
A heavy paw prodded the man, a long razor-sharp claw pressing into his shoulder and soliciting a terrified wail.
“Who? Why?” Moon repeated menacingly.

[arcanus]

Both men screamed, turning away from the monster and clawed the walls trying to escape

Moon frowned growling which just served to encourage more screams, pondering this it occurred to her that perhaps speech in this form was unintelligible to mere humans.

[Keeper]

The rage rose within Moon and she growled in anger.
Claws sunk into flesh, skewering the man who walked in agony.
She bit down on his neck and ripped out the top part of his spine. The body crumpled immediately and she rotated again.
Breathing heavily, deep controlled breaths, Moon forced three rage back down until the huge half-woman half-tiger form was stood quietly looking over the single viewing survivor.

Once again bones popped and shifted as the young woman returned to the room once more.
The remaining man merely stared at her in absolute terror. The meagre light within the room couldn't hide the blood that covered her hands, lower arms and her face.
Quietly moon picked her way across the floor gingerly avoiding the for that now covered the greater proportion of it.
Picking up her discarded sword she returned to the man, point waving before his face.
"Who do you work for and why are you watching my grandfather's shop?" she demanded calmly.
The man just started wide eyed, his lip quivering.
Moon slapped his face, not hard, just enough to snap him out of his terror trance and bring his attention to her.
"Answer me, and you won't end up like these," she said.

[arcanus]

The man looked crazed, wild eyed trying to look away from the blood stained girl but unable to pull his gaze aside.

“We work for Mr Udo, Mr Udo” he whispered looking about fearfully, his face pale and sweaty, he panted looked drowsy and then appeared to pass out

[Keeper]

The silence within the room was deafening. Moon looked down at the carnage and the unconscious form before her.
she closed her eyes to the scene and took a deep breath. she had slaughtered these men but still didn’t know why. She knew the who, but it was the why that would have informed her the most.
Moon summed up the situation on her mind and no matter how she looked at it there was only one way this could go - if there were any survivors then this Mr Udo would know of her and would know of her association with Chang and Hyum and therefore their involvement in this massacre.
she cursed her own hubris and her spontaneity. that was a luxury of the Fist or the Leaf, but she was Lanturn, a leader, and she had to think things through before she acted, that was the role assigned her by the Court.
“No!” she whispered to the silent room. the Court and Gaia herself has sent her here alone, not as part of a Sentai, so she was expected to act as the Five combined. As that was the case then she should not chide herself for such actions when they occur. Take them, own them and deal with the consequences.
The consequence right now was the loose end currently lying at her feet.
“Nine hells!” she resignedly hissed into the darkness.
Rolling the unconscious body over onto his back Moon pressed the tip of her sword to the man’s throat.
Pausing, she glanced around and once more looked upon the grey that oozed out of the brute.
She had no idea what that was except that it was not normal, not natural. And in her world that meant one of two things - it was either made or it was in fact supernatural, and if whatever caused that grey ooze was supernatural, then these men were in league with it. And supernatural things that were not with her were, at this time, against her and therefore against the Courts.
With a sigh of finality she pushed the blade home, twisted it, pulled it sideways within the wound so that the carotid artery was severed. the man would bleed out within minutes.

Without remorse, Moon wiped her blade clean, opened the window and climbed agily into the alley below then quickly darted off in pursuit of Hyun.

[arcanus]

As Moon opened the window she turned back as an ear slitting howl pierced the room, a noticeable wind edged with dark colours whipped around picking up the scant items and violently fling them around, droplets of blood were lifted from bodies and splattered across walls, she squinted as something moaned, a deep noise that caused her stomach to turn.

She snarled instinctively assuming Sokto form as a faint flowing form rose from the recently dead, the one she had silenced, the figure knelt penitently over him stood a darker figure.
The darker figure looked oddly familiar, Moon snarled again the scent of the centipede surrounded them both.
The dark figure continued to look at her as it appeared to rip something fleshy from the kneeling figures face “Tell her what you know” it growled, a hollow noise that caused the air to reverberate.

The kneeling figure screamed in fear and despair
“Speak” ordered the dark figure
“We were sent by Mr Udo, he serves the Scarlet Masters, we were told to keep an eye on the Curio shop and report on anyone who left” the kneeling figure bleated desperately, a watery, distant quality to his voice.
The dark figure nodded to Moon and the pair were gone

Calming herself she once again assumed human form before descending to the street and heading off to Hyun.

[arcanus]

Effortlessly landing on the back alley floor Moon's senses flared, even in human form her eyes momentarily shone a reflective fiery orange.

She sniffed the air, her inhumanly powerful sense of smell quickly picked up the fearful scent of Hyun whilst her spirit senses focused on a familar umbral resonance, one that she hadn't been in audience with for a few years.

As she sniffed she growed hungrily, there was also blood upon the breeze.

Both lay in the same direction, the route she had told Hyun to travel once he saw the signal.

[arcanus]

As she navigated the alleyways Moons senses were sharp, so her reactions were razor sharp she sprung backwards as a figure surged from a blind corner.
The figure moved with incredible speed, a furry of palm punches each precise, Moon smiled even within the tight space her command of her hwaiting.

She blocked and moved within the space, occasionallyn returning a jab, testing her opponent who was now circling with her.
The figure stood upright its shadowy form shining wtih illumination "It is good to see you have not growth soft or slow Chuang!"