03-06-2016, 04:37 PM
“So what’s your name?” Hatate’s bubbly voice shot out the first question, barely-contained smile on her face. The interview had gotten off to a rocky start, with a girl coming out of basically nowhere to assault her first taker and lob some nasty accusations at him. Accusations which weren’t a concern to the reporter, as the only story they’d create wouldn’t be fit for much more than a tabloid. As such, she made a point of ignoring the girl, focusing in on Ryner.
A focus that didn’t last too long. The stench that Hatate had been trying her best to ignore only intensified. Looming over the spirit photographer was an absolute mountain of flesh and metal. She turned her gaze up to him, smile plastered almost painfully to her face as she tried not to gag, and it became quite obvious to the tengu that this beast either was not or should not be alive.
“You had... Questions? Ask and I will answer,” the rotten being rasped, pausing halfway to cough, as if afflicted by some disease.
“Woah, so are you, like, a Jiangshi?” her voice held a genuine intrigue. Had her camera not been flipped open already, she’d have gotten it at the ready in an instant. Not a moment had passed before she had realized what had passed her lips, and her smile fell away. “Oh, sorry. Totally didn’t mean to ask that one. This is business, not personal.” With a small cough and a slight step back, getting in the perfect spot to address both people who had taken up her offer, she reiterated her question.
“Well, my name is Ryner Lute,” the boy answered first, a bit quicker on the draw than the decaying mountain near him. “and this is Ferris Eris.” He gestured to the purple-clad swordswoman beside him.
“Ferris Eris and Ryner Lute,” Hatate repeated, committing them to memory as well as semi-permanent note on her camera, which she held up to her mouth. “And you?” she nodded towards her other taker, who took in a deep, rattling breath before speaking.
“Okor Paleblood,” the walking corpse spoke, voice hoarse, “The Institute’s Dean of Security.”
“Okor Paleblood.” she repeated his name as well, making a mental note to follow up on this “Institute” when she had the chance. Whatever it was, it seemed like it could possibly be a story. “So I assume all of you are here answering a “Mr. Smith’s” call for aid. What are your relations with Mr Smith? Allies? Acquaintances? Friends?”
“I haven’t spoken much with Smith.” This time, the decaying behemoth was first to speak, growling his response while Ryner still contemplated, finger on his temple, on how to answer. “However...” his sentence dissolved away into nothing, the hoarseness of his voice drowning out actual words for a moment. “...As the Dean of Security, I must aid the people of the Omniverse. Especially against threats.”
Hatate nodded along to Okor’s response, humming in interest. There wasn’t really anything there she needed to make special note of, but it was times like these that she wished she carried around a notepad instead of relying on her camera. While it wasn’t any less conspicuous, it was a lot more private, as she didn’t need to actually say what she wanted to note. ‘Okor Paleblood - Not seeking vengeance, could be considered a sort of law enforcer.’ She’d just have to commit that to memory for now and note it later. Her gaze shifted over to Ryner, who now looked like he was ready to answer.
“Well, I fought alongside him in the graveyard,” he started, trailing off for a moment, “but I was killed by the guardian we were facing and-"
"If I would have been present there would have been no casualties. Next time, you shouldn't leave me behind,” Ferris figured then was a good time to butt in, chastising her partner.
“It wasn’t like I had a choice!” he half-heartedly protested, sighing with his next breath, before continuing. “Anyways, he seems pretty... well he is basically like a robot, same as the other guy, Colonel. Not really fun to hang around with, since they are all business, but they don't seem like bad people.”
“Huh...” that small noise was really all Hatate had to offer in response. Smith was beginning to strike her as a really serious guy, which either meant he was the kind who would hold pointless grudges far longer than he needed to, or he’d let inconsequential things slide easily. If it was the latter, then this really wasn’t helping Sasuke’s case at all. Of course, murdering someone in cold blood totally wasn’t an inconsequential thing. The names “Colonel” and “graveyard” were also two things she needed to commit to memory. They’d probably help her figure out a bit more of this. “And what about this “Sasuke Uchiha” you’re hunting? Have you, like, met him personally?”
“I haven’t personally met the oathbreaker.” Okor was once again the first to answer, with a response that seemed to have been formed in preparation for that sort of question. “But what I have heard of him doesn’t speak well.” He trailed off again, something in his throat making his voice coarser than normal. Hatate made a small motion with her hands, imploring him to continue. “He, along with many other primes, participated in Dante’s Abyss. It was only by chance that the coward walked away the victor.”
There were so many new things for the reporter to note, it seemed. If this pace kept up, then it’d be totally impossible for her to remember many of the things she needed to. So in the spirit of overwhelming her memory, she once again turned back to Ryner, ready for his answer.
“He was also one of our allies,” he admitted, perhaps a bit hesitant to reveal that information, as if it were embarrassing. It totally wasn’t, you needed to be an ally at some point to be a traitor, after all. “I wasn’t alive to have seen it, but apparently he betrayed my friends after the fight to take the reward for his own. I'm not gonna let someone like that off the hook. We were supposed to be working together.”
“Wow, that’s like, really underhanded,” Hatate responded, a measure of shock to her voice. If the bulletin was anything to go by, and since it was written by Mr. Smith himself, it probably was, then Sasuke wasn’t the only one in on it. They used these guys and just threw them away, and obviously it affected more than just Smith, Ryner himself was thrown away as well. He helped them in battle against something, and in return, they betrayed his allies. It was totally despicable. She almost didn’t need to ask her next question, but going off the word of one person she’d never met before wasn’t a good idea.
“A Mr Thaal Sinestro...” the tengu trailed off for a moment, not sure if she pronounced that name right at all. “...has described Sasuke Uchiha as “the leader of a dangerous paramilitary organization?” How accurate is that description?”
"Well...” said Ryner, trailing off with a nervous laugh. “I don't know about that... I’m pretty new here, and I haven't even gotten to see anything besides the place we are right now and the graveyard."
“Ah, is that so,” came Hatate’s response, more of a rhetorical question than anything else. He hadn’t been here much longer than herself, which meant his word in speculative matters was just about completely useless. At least there was always things he had participated in directly. The reporter turned again to Okor.
“I too, do not know much...” he drew in another deep, raspy breath, “...about this organization he is heading.” The soldier’s voice faded away, and, expecting him to be done, Hatate hummed for a moment. It seemed this trail was a dead end, she’d need to ask more people, though she’d been expecting to do so anyway. She opened her mouth, ready to move onto the next question, when Okor’s grating voice started up again. “But if he is the leader, then I can only imagine what kind of... craven individuals would follow him.”
Silence fell over the four at the wake of his last sentence. The reporter didn’t really know how to respond to that. It was personal opinion, nothing really she could use, and she was out of questions. She sort of regretted charging here so hastily, she didn’t even prepare a lot of questions in advance, leaving her with only one thing left to ask. “One last thing. You guys totally wouldn’t mind having your pictures taken, would you?” The photographer lifted her camera up a bit, bringing it to their attention. All three of them gave their affirmation, and Hatate thanked them with a bright smile, taking a few more steps back, and seeing if she could get all of them in frame at once. With the camera tilted to landscape, it was an easy task, and after five rapid clicks, she was good to go.
“Thanks for your time!” the reporter beamed, bowing deeply to them, before turning away and scurrying off to summon a notepad.
A focus that didn’t last too long. The stench that Hatate had been trying her best to ignore only intensified. Looming over the spirit photographer was an absolute mountain of flesh and metal. She turned her gaze up to him, smile plastered almost painfully to her face as she tried not to gag, and it became quite obvious to the tengu that this beast either was not or should not be alive.
“You had... Questions? Ask and I will answer,” the rotten being rasped, pausing halfway to cough, as if afflicted by some disease.
“Woah, so are you, like, a Jiangshi?” her voice held a genuine intrigue. Had her camera not been flipped open already, she’d have gotten it at the ready in an instant. Not a moment had passed before she had realized what had passed her lips, and her smile fell away. “Oh, sorry. Totally didn’t mean to ask that one. This is business, not personal.” With a small cough and a slight step back, getting in the perfect spot to address both people who had taken up her offer, she reiterated her question.
“Well, my name is Ryner Lute,” the boy answered first, a bit quicker on the draw than the decaying mountain near him. “and this is Ferris Eris.” He gestured to the purple-clad swordswoman beside him.
“Ferris Eris and Ryner Lute,” Hatate repeated, committing them to memory as well as semi-permanent note on her camera, which she held up to her mouth. “And you?” she nodded towards her other taker, who took in a deep, rattling breath before speaking.
“Okor Paleblood,” the walking corpse spoke, voice hoarse, “The Institute’s Dean of Security.”
“Okor Paleblood.” she repeated his name as well, making a mental note to follow up on this “Institute” when she had the chance. Whatever it was, it seemed like it could possibly be a story. “So I assume all of you are here answering a “Mr. Smith’s” call for aid. What are your relations with Mr Smith? Allies? Acquaintances? Friends?”
“I haven’t spoken much with Smith.” This time, the decaying behemoth was first to speak, growling his response while Ryner still contemplated, finger on his temple, on how to answer. “However...” his sentence dissolved away into nothing, the hoarseness of his voice drowning out actual words for a moment. “...As the Dean of Security, I must aid the people of the Omniverse. Especially against threats.”
Hatate nodded along to Okor’s response, humming in interest. There wasn’t really anything there she needed to make special note of, but it was times like these that she wished she carried around a notepad instead of relying on her camera. While it wasn’t any less conspicuous, it was a lot more private, as she didn’t need to actually say what she wanted to note. ‘Okor Paleblood - Not seeking vengeance, could be considered a sort of law enforcer.’ She’d just have to commit that to memory for now and note it later. Her gaze shifted over to Ryner, who now looked like he was ready to answer.
“Well, I fought alongside him in the graveyard,” he started, trailing off for a moment, “but I was killed by the guardian we were facing and-"
"If I would have been present there would have been no casualties. Next time, you shouldn't leave me behind,” Ferris figured then was a good time to butt in, chastising her partner.
“It wasn’t like I had a choice!” he half-heartedly protested, sighing with his next breath, before continuing. “Anyways, he seems pretty... well he is basically like a robot, same as the other guy, Colonel. Not really fun to hang around with, since they are all business, but they don't seem like bad people.”
“Huh...” that small noise was really all Hatate had to offer in response. Smith was beginning to strike her as a really serious guy, which either meant he was the kind who would hold pointless grudges far longer than he needed to, or he’d let inconsequential things slide easily. If it was the latter, then this really wasn’t helping Sasuke’s case at all. Of course, murdering someone in cold blood totally wasn’t an inconsequential thing. The names “Colonel” and “graveyard” were also two things she needed to commit to memory. They’d probably help her figure out a bit more of this. “And what about this “Sasuke Uchiha” you’re hunting? Have you, like, met him personally?”
“I haven’t personally met the oathbreaker.” Okor was once again the first to answer, with a response that seemed to have been formed in preparation for that sort of question. “But what I have heard of him doesn’t speak well.” He trailed off again, something in his throat making his voice coarser than normal. Hatate made a small motion with her hands, imploring him to continue. “He, along with many other primes, participated in Dante’s Abyss. It was only by chance that the coward walked away the victor.”
There were so many new things for the reporter to note, it seemed. If this pace kept up, then it’d be totally impossible for her to remember many of the things she needed to. So in the spirit of overwhelming her memory, she once again turned back to Ryner, ready for his answer.
“He was also one of our allies,” he admitted, perhaps a bit hesitant to reveal that information, as if it were embarrassing. It totally wasn’t, you needed to be an ally at some point to be a traitor, after all. “I wasn’t alive to have seen it, but apparently he betrayed my friends after the fight to take the reward for his own. I'm not gonna let someone like that off the hook. We were supposed to be working together.”
“Wow, that’s like, really underhanded,” Hatate responded, a measure of shock to her voice. If the bulletin was anything to go by, and since it was written by Mr. Smith himself, it probably was, then Sasuke wasn’t the only one in on it. They used these guys and just threw them away, and obviously it affected more than just Smith, Ryner himself was thrown away as well. He helped them in battle against something, and in return, they betrayed his allies. It was totally despicable. She almost didn’t need to ask her next question, but going off the word of one person she’d never met before wasn’t a good idea.
“A Mr Thaal Sinestro...” the tengu trailed off for a moment, not sure if she pronounced that name right at all. “...has described Sasuke Uchiha as “the leader of a dangerous paramilitary organization?” How accurate is that description?”
"Well...” said Ryner, trailing off with a nervous laugh. “I don't know about that... I’m pretty new here, and I haven't even gotten to see anything besides the place we are right now and the graveyard."
“Ah, is that so,” came Hatate’s response, more of a rhetorical question than anything else. He hadn’t been here much longer than herself, which meant his word in speculative matters was just about completely useless. At least there was always things he had participated in directly. The reporter turned again to Okor.
“I too, do not know much...” he drew in another deep, raspy breath, “...about this organization he is heading.” The soldier’s voice faded away, and, expecting him to be done, Hatate hummed for a moment. It seemed this trail was a dead end, she’d need to ask more people, though she’d been expecting to do so anyway. She opened her mouth, ready to move onto the next question, when Okor’s grating voice started up again. “But if he is the leader, then I can only imagine what kind of... craven individuals would follow him.”
Silence fell over the four at the wake of his last sentence. The reporter didn’t really know how to respond to that. It was personal opinion, nothing really she could use, and she was out of questions. She sort of regretted charging here so hastily, she didn’t even prepare a lot of questions in advance, leaving her with only one thing left to ask. “One last thing. You guys totally wouldn’t mind having your pictures taken, would you?” The photographer lifted her camera up a bit, bringing it to their attention. All three of them gave their affirmation, and Hatate thanked them with a bright smile, taking a few more steps back, and seeing if she could get all of them in frame at once. With the camera tilted to landscape, it was an easy task, and after five rapid clicks, she was good to go.
“Thanks for your time!” the reporter beamed, bowing deeply to them, before turning away and scurrying off to summon a notepad.
![[Image: ZpWQiiu.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/ZpWQiiu.gif)