A Hunter at Her Worst ~ Open Starter
{Anyone is allowed to respond}
Ruby's face was flushed with rosy pink as she stumbled her way through the woods that she swore she knew like the back of her hand, the moon's light her guide through the darkness. Her breath reeked with the sharp scent of alcohol and her steps were more of a shuffle than the confident gait she usually used as she made her way towards her cabin through trees and overgrown shrubbery. She could've taken the nice dirt trail- should've taken it, really. It was free of the traps her compulsively paranoid hands laid along the rest of the forest floor, but she knew where they all were. At least that's what she thought, but alcohol addled brains weren't the best guides and taking the trail would have meant taking a longer, more winding path rather than the straight shot to her home.
She tugged the sides of a loose black coat closer together without actually securing the sides together. It concealed the gun and blessed dagger she always kept on her person. Her eyes squinted forwards, her eyes landing on the cabin she could just barely make out within the dark.
Before she could feel either annoyance or relief, her foot fell in the center of a bundle of chains that were expertly hidden under leaves, and she felt her legs fold from underneath her and her knees press against her chest as chains wrapped around her body in a loose tear drop shaped cage hanging from a sturdy branch. A bell attached to where the chains met the tree jangled to alert their hunter of her catch... which happened to be none other than the hunter herself.
She froze stiff for several long second, her eyes wide as her brain struggled to catch up to her body, but this worked to sober her up rather quickly. "Son of a bitch..." She hissed and pressed her legs outwards against the chains. The bell rattled louder as she struggled, slipping her arm out through a gap within the chains, trying to stretch her hand up high enough to reach the branch where the chain was secured to the tree, "Please, fucking... just..." She huffed in frustration. She grabbed at the silver chains with her other hand, pushing them away from her face as she looked up to the jingling bell -a bell that she had picked out- that seemed to now mock her predicament, "Can you SHUT the hell up!?" She spat at the inanimate object.
She grit her teeth. She wasn't making any progress like this... and to make matters worse the chains were blessed to burn any demonic creature that was unlucky enough to stumble into the trap. It didn't burn her, but it would irritate her skin if left in here long enough, and... well, she wasn't sure how long it'd be until someone found her here.
She laid back against the chains before she tilted her head to look at the forest floor. Here, the sadistic hunter sat suspended in the air within her own trap...
The order was clear: find the hunter known as Ruby and enlist her help.
It couldn't have been more clear. It also couldn't have come at a better time for Miss Moral, who needed to leave her temple and leave it quickly; some people didn't take too well to losing games of chance but ESPECIALLY those of the cloth. Who knew that they'd been cheated but just couldn't prove how the half-divine had done it. Not a problem. Moral didn't care to spend time in sour company and she left as soon as she was given instructions, off on her first mission in months. She didn't expect much, not from someone who lived out in the woods, but still, tracking this Ruby woman down and watching her imbibe CHEAP alcohol, just to go stumbling back through the woods and get caught up in her own traps ... it would've been a mercy to the temple if Moral left the woman hanging there to starve and reported back that she hadn't found her. But it would've meant further delays in payment for Moral. With a heavy sigh, the woman stepped out from the trees and approached the hunter; wrapped up like a piece of meat, left out to dry. "This isn't a common occurrence, is it?" She questioned as she walked out into the small shards of moonlight; a light cloak of golden fabric around her otherwise bare shoulders in a shade that almost matched her yellow hair, accessorized with a permanently blooming pure white flower. "Because if it is, I don't think you're fit to catch much more than a cold." The half-divine - what some might call an angel, what others called a demi-god, what Moral personally chose not to comment on - was chubby and short, almost cherubic, and wrapped in a pareo while she stood below Ruby and gazed judgmentally at her predicament. Her big brown eyes had no mercy as they accessed the trap, but she did manage a nice comment. "Did you, uh," Moral waved her hand towards Ruby. "Do whatever to these chains? It's pretty nice work. Any other beast would be snarling in pain." "But you're the beast today." The woman giggled and shook her head.
Ruby's deep grey eyes noted movement just beyond her clear field of vision. Her head snapped to the figure, eyes narrowing at the angelic looking woman. The instinctive anger that burned in her eyes petered out into surprised caution as she blinked. The chains and bell clinked and jingled as the woman shifted herself around about as gracefully as a fish on land to face the yellow haired woman below her. There was obviously something divine about this creature, and that put Ruby on edge more than a ten-foot demon would have in this situation.
Her lips hung in a deep frown as she endured the teasing, but it marginally lessened at the... what she could almost swear was a compliment.
"I did, yes. Their imbued with holy energy and made from substances many monsters are known to be weak to, but I don't make a habit out of... uh, 'testing them out' this thoroughly, no." Ruby answered with a scowl, "Is it a common occurrence for you to stalk people? How long have you been watching me?" She asked, accusation edging into her tone. "And are you planning to help me out of here or did you come out of the shadows purely to taunt me?" She asked with more boldness than she felt. If there was one thing that could make her faulter, it was angelic forces. They were, generally, stronger than her and she knew she deserved their wrath. There had been many an innocent target that ended up on the wrong end of Ruby's blade and while the woman carried guilt from these actions, could she truly say she regretted it when she knew deep down in her heart she would do them all over again if good enough opportunity presented itself?
Her eyes stared down at the woman, eyes burning into the other woman with faked confidence.
Moral was used to people responding that way; as the so-called 'demons' were hated, then so was anything vaguely divine revered.
She couldn't claim that she disliked this ALL the time but, right now, it didn't seem necessary. Getting the hunter down, with minimal damage, did.
"You're rude, too." Moral remarked with a bored tone, circling Ruby to examine the trap and avoid getting up in it; her mana was tested enough by being out of the temple, she didn't need to risk it further. Each step that this woman took in her sandals, a requirement for traveling to malicious lands, it was another step closer to her convincing herself to leave Ruby to hang. One only needed to glance and see that this would be a headache of a situation; no delight or power to be found here. Okay, she wasn't doing any better back at the temple, but ...
It couldn't be avoided any longer. Moral had to do her job. "I've been following you since the sun set to ask for your assistance, hunter, and bring a job from the islands. There are rewards but you might prefer to discuss those on the ground."
"How is someone meant to get out of this trap?" She asked; still not sounding like the most motivated of messengers but, honestly, who could be? This wasn't any kind of 'punishment' or retribution of crimes for Ruby, the creature might be unholy but the gods had no desire to strike her down, so Moral was here, in this context, as an equal.
An equal to someone who got drunk and fell into her own traps. It was amusing ... and Moral did wish she could play with Ruby a second more, but she wouldn't.
Not unless Ruby earned it.
"You're not much nicer..." Ruby retorted, her head swiveling to keep Moral in her sights.
Ruby's eyes narrowed at the idea that this woman brought with her a job opportunity. It felt odd coming from something other than the usual haunted human or magic user that needed some questionable items for an even more questionable spell, but Ruby wasn't one to worry all that much about such details. If this lady had a job for her, she'd most likely take it if for no other reason than to have something to do.
She sighed and looked up. She stuck her arm out between the chains to point at the part where chain connected with the tree above her head, "You have to untangle the chains from the branch and once I'm on the ground, you'll have to pull the sides of the 'net' away from each other so I can get out easier," She stated. Technically, she could crawl out on her own if the trap was simply let down, but it'd take a while and be quite the struggle... She wished to spare herself the indignity of having to do that infront of company.
She looked back down at the other woman, slipping her arm back into her trap so it could rest at her side, "... You can climb a tree, right? Or maybe... fly?" She squinted. The woman's attire didn't seem all that fit for tree climbing.
Well, she wasn't trying to be any nicer so that checked out, but Moral did bow her head to acknowledge the comment. "Sorry. This situation is unusual, catching a hunter in a trap." "Even you have to admit that," she hummed smugly at Ruby, and began consider how to assist. In truthfulness, she'd hoped that this woman would have an easy way to get out; they didn't need to waste more time. However, her help was required and, for the most part, politely requested. Moral listened, nodding, while watching and observing this very complicated setup. Undoubtedly, it was secure. From anyone aside from Moral. "No, climbing isn't my thing and I leave flying to the birds and clouds. I'll see if I can't find a nicer way to help you." Moral replied with a humorous tone as she reached a hand up to touch the chains, directly underneath Ruby. The things that were fascinating about the 'angels' from the island, they had magic, and they could manipulate it in everything. A wicked person might choose to drain it from something, or corrupt it with dark spirits, but a GOOD PERSON like Moral, well, they would never. Instead, she encouraged the chains, bending them out of their shape with a simple exhale of her mana, her powers. The ones that she ran her fingers over unhooked from each other and, suddenly, the trap was no trap - dropping its prey onto the ground. Looking down at Ruby, the woman smirked, then extended her hand to the fallen hunter. "There was a lot of mana flowing through those chains, I'm surprised. I didn't think a ... a demon could manage that," Moral remarked - a snarky compliment.
More snark than compliment.
"It's nice to see you outside of that trap."
Ruby frowned at the angelic being's words. She tilted her head as she watched as the other woman touched the chains below her body, ''Right. Well, whatever you decide to do, can you hurry it up? I don't think either of us want to be wa-AAHH!" Her voice cut off as she suddenly dropped from the net, crashing onto the ground with a hard thud before she could have understood what the other woman had been doing.
Ruby groaned, pressing her eyes shut tight. She rolled onto her side to press and rub her palm against her back, "Ow," She hissed, her tone near accusatory as her eyes gave Moral a pointed look, even though this would have been the outcome whether Moral followed Ruby's instructions or not.
"A bit of warning would have been nice..." Ruby slowly sat up. She eyed the hand offered her a moment before glancing to the side. She ignored it as she moved to push to push herself to her feet on her own, "Don't call me that. I'm only that in part..." She murmured, dusting herself off as she looked down at herself, now sore from her landing.
"Now, would you like to run by me what you want my help with? You need some demons killed, I assume? Or... something killed?" She asked, eyes now returning to Moral.
No real damage was done, Moral knew that, and if a bent pride was the only injury, then Miss Ruby should consider herself lucky in this encounter.
Though it had only just begun.
Moral smirked all the more when her hand was rejected; some people, and especially the uptight warriors at the temple, might've been offended but she admired Ruby's spirit. It'd be very helpful in these coming days. This approaching challenge.
"Sorry," she lied, "I forgot to. I'll remember better next time."
Was that an implication that Ruby would be foolish enough to find herself in another trap? Rude - very rude. An attitude that was becoming increasingly normal with this supposed angel.
"Some things must be killed; several dark entities attacking the island chain that I call home. When we reached out to others for help, many of them recommended you ..." Moral's eyes trailed over Ruby, showing clear disbelief. "I hope you clean up well. You look like even small monsters could eat you in a single bite," said the short woman.
Ruby's brows furrowed into a short-lived glare at the implication. Her expression then morphed into one of intrigue, "Really? Well, it seems my reputation proceeds me. How nice," She gave a small hum of a laugh, her eyes flickering off to the side. She was a little surprised to hear that her name had spread so far, not because she didn't do a good job, but she simply hadn't considered that any of the people she did business with would recommend her for what sounded like such a high-profile job. She didn't stay in the loop, really she didn't know about any other hunters besides herself, but surely there was better? Perhaps not... That idea gave Ruby a bit of an ego boost.
She looked back at Moral, crossing her arms over her chest, "Maybe I look that way, but you look like a pleasant, intelligent woman. Obviously, looks can be deceiving," Ruby shot back with a slight sneer. She tapped the tip of her boot against the ground as she shifted to rest her weight on the balls of her feet.
Her voice fell into something more serious, the edge of sass almost entirely disappearing from her tone, "What do you mean by 'dark entities' exactly? Demons, ghosts, vampires? If you want them gone, I need details."
The ways that the island gained its knowledge, it was a private system but Moral would be the first to say that the information was typically accurate. Frighteningly so.
As far as which one of her clients spoke of her skills and recommended her, perhaps none of them had.
Perhaps one of her victims did.
Moral snickered sarcastically also, almost mirroring Ruby, when the half-demon spoke smugly about her 'reputation'. "Oh, yes, very nice. We're lucky that you were available for work," she agreed in what seemed like a backhanded way. Backhanded was still an agreement, however, and as she walked away from the trap, Moral was silently relieved that she'd found the hunter at all. They didn't have more time to waste. They needed Ruby's help more than this divine being could possibly express.
Enough to allow a jab slip in and NOT snap back.
"They can, can't they? I couldn't imagine being pleasant," the blond woman said, feigning a dramatic shudder, as she abandoned the woods and headed towards Ruby's small shack - avoiding the traps as best she could. "Let me in and I'll explain everything; it's not going to be an easy task. That's why they sent me to help you, Hunter."
"Otherwise, we're pretty positive that you'd die."
Ruby gave a small snort at Moral's wit. Though Moral being some angelic creature still put Ruby on edge, at least she wasn't some uptight woman with her head so far up her other end that she'd get incredibly offended when offered back the same level of insulting remarks she dished out to others.
She sighed as Moral began heading towards her home. She gave a final glance to her trap, frowning at the sight of her work being made useless thanks to the angel like being's powers.
She turned and hurried to get ahead of Moral, lightly nudging her arm in the way of the other as she brushed past the shorter woman. She took the lead in walking to her home, safely guiding the woman away from any traps. If Moral wasn't her enemy, she wasn't looking to make one out of her by getting her potentially hurt in a trap. "Well, that's reassuring. Either you have no faith in me whatsoever, which makes me wonder why you even came looking for me at all, or... these creatures are highly dangerous things that I probably haven't dealt with before..." She furrowed her brow. That was a little troubling if that was the case...
She glanced back over her shoulder at Moral as they reached the front door of her cabin. "Sorry, if it's a little messy... I wasn't expecting company today..." Ruby murmured, grabbing out her keys to unlock the door. She stepped inside and kept the door open for Moral, watching the other with critical eyes as if she expected Moral to caste some spell as soon as she stepped inside.
Ruby's home was a little messy. She usually cleaned when she became aware someone might come inside, whether that someone was a client, or a victim, but she didn't get that change with Moral. There were some clothes kicked to the side. It was hard to tell if those were Ruby's or not... Demon parts were easy to sell, but their clothes... not so much. She usually just ended up donating them or burning them unless she could find some other use for them, and that was a rather rare occurrence.
Some dirty glasses sat around a shabby green couch, residue of whatever liquid had been in them laying at the bottom of each one. If those weren't enough of an eyesore, there were also three dirty plates stacked atop one another that were laying next to the couch's leg. She just hadn't been bothered to clean them up yet.
The middle of the living room wasn't too bad. Some boxes were huddled near a stone fireplace with two demonic horns mounted above, their color a sheer black with a stripe of deep purple winding around from the base to the tip.
A metal ring was secured to the wall in the center of the livingroom. Around there, dots of red-tinted brown clung to the walls and were soaked into the grooves of the floorboards.
This was not a happy place. Not for anyone that found themselves a short-lived prisoner within these walls, and not even really for Ruby either, yet she couldn't imagine herself living anywhere else.
No, not that kind of angelic creature, just another kind that would risk injuring the person that they'd come all the way to ask for help from. SO much better.
Ruby rushing to get ahead, it was almost endearing; she was a hero, wasn't she, beyond the demonic influences. Saving someone even when she didn't have to.
Sweet.
Moral followed behind her, patiently, and just looked at the traps while walking past them, impressed by the workmanship. Or workwomanship. Workdemonship? Regardless, Moral could understand the hunter's curiosity surrounding this case. She, personally, only had a small amount of faith in Ruby but someone must've known about her skills. Her skills and how they compared to the beasts that she had to face.
"Oh, Miss Ruby, I'm sure it's nice!" She encouraged, almost sounding sarcastic, before the door was unlocked and … okay, it wasn't nice.
It wasn't the worst, however.
Dirty and bloodied clothes lay on the floor, a strong aroma coming from that, and bugs were collecting around the filthy dishes. Her decorating wasn't terrible, although it got questionable in parts, like the ring attached to the wall and the strange mess that was staining the floor …
Nodding, Moral took her words back. "No. It's bad. I can't believe anyone lives here," she quietly corrected herself before easing herself very hesitantly into the room, staying clear of the mess as best she could. "Hunters really are a different breed."
