Dark Omens


Homura warns Kyouko about the coming of Walpurgisnacht, and Kyouko agrees to help.

Date: 2016-01-04
Pose Count: 11
Homura Akemi 2016-01-04 15:29:32 20662
    Penguin Park's Botanical Gardens, today, are the location of a Witch. Or rather, they were. Homura Akemi appears as the Labyrinth collapses around her, tired purple eyes searching for, and finding, the Grief Seed sitting among a bed of roses.

    She softly steps towards the Grief Seed, leans down and plucks it as if it were one of the flowers it was resting among. She looks down at it with a slight smile, saying, "You're mine now." Tossing the Grief Seed into her shield, she turns towards the entrance of the Botanical Gardens and begins walking.

    Her eyes are half-open. She should not have spent literally all night tracking this Witch, but that's just how it goes.
Kyouko Sakura 2016-01-04 15:32:57 20663
    Kyouko was out on the prowl this morning, as well. Or rather, she was on her way back home. She had to be at the conbenie for an afternoon shift in six hours, and she wanted to catch a few hours of sleep before then. She hadn't found any Witches this time around, but she wasn't too worried- she had a few Seeds stored up, and you can't find a Witch every single day. Luckily for the city.

    However, as she was passing by the park, she did sense one- or at least, the tail end of a collapsing Labyrinth. Altering her course slightly, she heads to the spot, curiosity driving her more than any desire to compete for the Seed, since she can tell the Witch is already dead. She lands lightly atop a lamp-post in the park, crouching like a gargoyle with her spear over one shoulder, just as Homura walks by.

    "Oh. Figures its you." Is her greeting. Her tone is mildly scornful, but not outright hostile. She doesn't like Homura, but at the moment she has no reason to attack her on sight.
Homura Akemi 2016-01-04 15:40:36 20664
    Homura snaps awake at the sound of Kyouko's voice, a shot of adrenaline forcing her eyes to open and heart to race. She looks up at the lamppost that Kyouko is currently sitting on, and frowns. There's no love lost between the two of them, and it's been that way for a while.

    "Kyouko Sakura. So you're here. I was bound to run across you sooner or later."

    Homura watches Kyouko intently, attempting to judge her motives for being here. Is she going to attack? Or is she just here? "I'm afraid you're too late for this Witch. It wasn't much of a battle anyways."

    She closes her eyes and flips her hair, then opens them again to look up at Kyouko. "You and I have a couple of things to talk about. Did Mami tell you about Walpurgisnacht?"
Kyouko Sakura 2016-01-04 15:48:38 20665
    "This is my hunting ground." Kyouko points out, a territorial scowl on her face. "In days past I would have run you out of town weeks ago, but it's been brought to my attention that maybe Tokyo is big enough for more than one Puella. Still.. it's hardly a surprise we might bump into each other. So I'll let you have this one. Plenty to go around.. for now."

    She hesitates a moment, and then offers, in a voice that sounds like the words are being dragged out of her, "I heard that you helped Sayaka out with a Witch the other day. Thanks.. for that. I can't always be around, and I'm glad somebody with experience was there to make sure she came through it okay."

    Then Homura mentions Walpurgisnacht, and her eyes narrow. "I haven't spoken to Mami in the past week or so. Why, what about it?" She's heard of such events before, from other Puella, though she's never experienced one herself.
Homura Akemi 2016-01-04 16:01:23 20666
    This is Kyouko's hunting ground, now? Homura tilts her head. Well, technically, didn't Kyouko once claim all of Tokyo as her hunting ground? Well, whatever. If she's not going to force the issue, Homura's not going to call her out on it. It'd be counter to Homura's purposes.

    When Sayaka is mentioned, Homura glances off to the side. She says, "... Yeah... well... don't mention it. She saved my live, too, so I think that makes us even." She doesn't mention the Grief Seed because she doesn't like the way Sayaka seems to view 'outstanding debts'. Better if people just forget about it. Better that than having Sayaka get herself killed just because she thinks she 'owes something'.

    "... Well. It's coming. We should expect it around the end of this month. Kyubey himself has confirmed it. I don't know what you've heard about it, but the real deal is a serious threat. I've seen it before. I want to make sure that the next time I see her ugly face is the last."
Kyouko Sakura 2016-01-04 16:04:53 20667
    Kyouko tried to disabuse Sayaka of that notion as well, actually, but the blue-haired Puella wasn't having it. She had had to settle for making Sayaka promise to cleanse her gem first before giving the rest of the seed back to Homura. "Yeah, well. She ain't perfect." Kyouko says, a hint of teasing mockery in her voice, in response to Homura admitting Sayaka had saved her life as well.

    At the news that Walpurgisnacht is 'coming', Kyouko frowns, but it's not a frown directed at Homura. It's considering. "Coming here? Are you sure? I've heard about it hitting other places, but I haven't seen it before." She pauses a moment. "It's as big a deal as people say it is?"
Homura Akemi 2016-01-04 16:11:55 20668
    Homura raises her eyebrow at the mention of Sayaka not being perfect. A self-depreciating snort is her only response to that. For a moment she wears something of an aggressive grin, looking up at Kyouko, but it passes.

    Back on the subject of Walpurgisnacht, Homura glances off to the side. Is it as big a deal as they say it is? She's seen the real deal so often that it's hard to remember the rumors over the facts.

    "I've seen Puella Magi as strong as Mami Tomoe go against that thing and die." Literally, she actually just saw Mami go against it and die. "I've seen it wipe out cities the size of Tokyo." Literally, Tokyo itself. "It's ridiculously strong, so powerful that it doesn't even bother to hide in a labyrinth. The only time I've seen it defeated is when several magical girls worked together to stop it."

    She's not sharing the full truth right now, but what she's saying is true. "It's most certainly a big deal. Mami and I are cooperating to make plans to bring it down."
Kyouko Sakura 2016-01-04 16:18:15 20669
    Kyouko listens to Homura speak about Walpurgisnacht with a neutral expression, nothing more than a thoughtful frown. She shifts on her perch slightly, moving her spear to her other shoulder, but otherwise makes no comment until the other girl is done speaking.

    "Somethin' that big outta drop one hell of a Grief Seed." Is her first comment. Trust Kyouko to go right to the profit part of the equation.

    She shakes her head slightly, red ponytail swaying behind her. "Well. I may not like you, Homura, but I ain't stupid, and I know Mami knows what she's doin'. Turns out there's a few people in this city I actually care about, so I can't just pack up and run like I otherwise might. So if it's really gonna take that much to take it down, you're probably gonna need me." Arrogant, but in this case perhaps not wrong.
Homura Akemi 2016-01-04 16:27:47 20670
    At the mention of a Grief Seed, Homura glances off to the side. Should she tell her? Should she not? It's something that will come out sooner or later. She wonders how much Kyouko would hate her if she only found out after the fight. For the moment she stays silent.

    "Yeah, well... We don't have to like each other in order to survive. If Walpurgisnacht thinks it can come along and mess us up, well..." She smirks, giving a slight 'heh' before she continues. "We'll just have to mess it up first. I'm glad to have you on board, even if it's just to kill one Witch."

    Homura reaches into her shield, and produces a card. She flings it up to Kyouko. If Kyouko reads it, she'll discover an address, a date, and a time. "We're hosting the strategy meeting at my place. I would like it if there was no violence there. We're inviting a very... varied group. We'll discuss most of the details of what to expect while there."
Kyouko Sakura 2016-01-04 16:32:07 20671
    Kyouko's hand snaps out and snags the card out of the air deftly. She glances at it, then tucks it away into a pocket. "I'll be there. I'll be on my best behavior, as long as nobody messes with me." Girl's gotta stand up for herself, after all.

    She glances off to the side. "Generally speakin', I ain't ever been one for strategy.. I always do better when I do what feels right, instead of thinkin' about it too much. Then again, I guess I don't have the best record of making the right calls either. So for this, I'll trust you and Mami to come up with somethin'."

    Of course, if she ends up thinking that 'somethin'' is a waste of time, she'll likely just go off on her own anyway, but she doesn't say that part. Homura probably knows it, anyway. "I guess I'll see you then." And then she's leaping off of the lamppost into some nearby trees, and is quickly gone as suddenly as she appeared.
Homura Akemi 2016-01-04 16:35:38 20673
    Homura nods as Kyouko agrees to be there. She'll behave as long as no one messes with her? Well, that's fair, and it works so long as no one messes with her.

    Homura secretly hopes that no one messes with her.

    "Even if you don't care for strategy, it'll help if you know the enemy's capabilities. That's also something we're going over." Homura points this out, hoping that Kyouko will at least get something out of the meeting.

    When Kyouko leaves, she's gone before Homura can say, "... yeah... see you."

    The dark-haired Puella turns away and leaves in the opposite direction. She needs to get some sleep.