03-01-2016, 02:39 PM
Through the strobing of her flash, the sword swung back, broad side of the blade striking against Hatate’s legs and sweeping them off the shaft of the spear. With a surprised yelp, she tumbled backwards, legs catching on the pole and tilting her back just enough that she bashed her head on the ground hard.
Pain exploded into the reporter’s head, and stars flashed across her vision. A faint clattering reached her ears, soon drowned out by the clanging of armor as the knights closed in on her. Wood pushed against her legs, her line of sight tottering end over end, and soon the rest of her body met the ground.
Her head throbbing from the impact, Hatate shot back to her feet with all the speed and grace she could. Upon straightening up, it wasn’t more than a moment before a cold, metal gauntlet closed around her wrist. Luckily, it wasn’t the arm holding her camera, and the tengu quickly brought that up to the helmeted visage of the knight. Her thumb pressed down the button, unleashing five more rapid-fire shots into their visor.
A muffled cry escaped the soldier, their grip on Hatate’s wrist weakening as they flinch back from the flash. Seizing this opportunity, the reporter ripped her hand free from their weakened grip and back-stepped furiously, getting as much distance from the group as she can.
“Woah,” she said, coming to a stop just far enough away that she could hopefully talk to them without getting stabbed. “This would make a good headline. ‘Knights Attack Lost Prime.’ People would totally be outraged over you guys attacking a poor, defenseless bystander out of nowhere.”
“Thou art neither defenseless nor a bystander!” a voice of complaint came from the armor in the middle of the formation. It was Captain John voicing something Hatate had already knew.
“The people who read my paper won’t know that,” her mouth turned up in a sly grin. “It’s called controlling the narrative.” Which was also totally something she wouldn’t do, it’d ruin her integrity as a reporter. Not to mention she either needed to find a way back to Youkai Mountain, or she’d need to set up a print shop here so she could even write a paper. It was all she had to go with to keep these knights off of her, though, so for now she just hoped they wouldn’t call her bluff.
“What is thine word versus mine?” he growled, far too stubborn for his own good. “I am a respected Captain in the ranks of Camelot. Thou art just some faceless new Prime.”
“I’ve got a bunch of pictures!” the photographer responded excitedly, flipping her camera around in her hands and facing the screen towards the knights. From this distance, they wouldn’t be able to see anything actually on the screen, but it was the thought that mattered. “Got everything from you guys, like, standing around, to even trying to get me with your swords!” A small giggle escaped her. “And because I’ve been using rapid-shot mode, I’ve got, like, a lot of pictures!”
Captain John remained silent in the face of the journalist’s story superiority, something which Hatate took full advantage of. She flipped her camera closed again, and crossed her arms across her chest. “What’s like, your purpose here, anyway? Why are you walking around this place, there’s nothing here.”
“It’s none of thine business what we’re doing in the Nexus,” the knight responded, rather harshly, and turned back to his horses. “Come, there is work to be done.” Armor rattle as the group turned as one and began mounting their horses.
“You totally got sidetracked didn’t you!” Hatate’s voice easily rose above the din of the armored soldiers. The Captain froze in his tracks for a split-second, quickly catching himself and continuing to mount his ride, not saying a word. That pause was all the tengu needed, and she watched them ride off into the distance, smugly satisfied with herself for getting out that relatively unharmed.
Unable to keep the arrogant smile off her face, she flipped the camera open and brought it up to her lips, pressing down the button with her thumb and starting some new notes.
“The knight was totally self-righteous. It’ll be his downfall someday. He called himself ‘Captain John’ or something. He’s not like, a ship Captain, is he?” With that part done, she released the button and pressed it again after a second, beginning a new section. “Those other knights were, like, incredibly silent and well-behaved. Do they just exist to follow orders? They seemed pretty unenthusiastic about following his orders though...” Two soft clicks followed her question. “That Captain got sidetracked by me. He totally had a different job to do. And he mentioned something about a ‘Nexus.’”
By now, the knights were far enough away that she wasn’t worried they’d turn around and try to run her down. She turned back to the place she’d been flying to originally. Her small detour hadn’t really given her all that much new information, she still had no idea what she was even heading towards. A blur of purple sat within her peripherals, and the reporter shifted her gaze over to it. There, in the midst of the white, her tokin sat, knocked off her head by the scuffle. Silently, she stepped over to it, picking it off the ground, dusting it off, and returning it to its rightful place atop her head.
Turning back down to her camera, Hatate began to concentrate. If she couldn’t get any more information out of the good Captain, then perhaps she could find a news article or something with her thoughtography. Her camera’s screen flickered static as she focused on the keyword ‘Nexus’ and tried to bring up the most recent picture. After a few minutes of useless nothings flashing across the screen, a photo of a black-haired boy appeared on her screen, accompanied by the yellow text of what appeared to be an emergency message. The journalist’s grin couldn’t grow any wider. This may not have been information on the Nexus like what she was looking for, but it sure as hell was a story. The apprehension of a very dangerous criminal? Like she was gonna let that story escape her. Without a moment of hesitation, Hatate took to the sky as fast as she could, eyes darting around the endless white of the Nexus as she searched out any large groups.
Pain exploded into the reporter’s head, and stars flashed across her vision. A faint clattering reached her ears, soon drowned out by the clanging of armor as the knights closed in on her. Wood pushed against her legs, her line of sight tottering end over end, and soon the rest of her body met the ground.
Her head throbbing from the impact, Hatate shot back to her feet with all the speed and grace she could. Upon straightening up, it wasn’t more than a moment before a cold, metal gauntlet closed around her wrist. Luckily, it wasn’t the arm holding her camera, and the tengu quickly brought that up to the helmeted visage of the knight. Her thumb pressed down the button, unleashing five more rapid-fire shots into their visor.
A muffled cry escaped the soldier, their grip on Hatate’s wrist weakening as they flinch back from the flash. Seizing this opportunity, the reporter ripped her hand free from their weakened grip and back-stepped furiously, getting as much distance from the group as she can.
“Woah,” she said, coming to a stop just far enough away that she could hopefully talk to them without getting stabbed. “This would make a good headline. ‘Knights Attack Lost Prime.’ People would totally be outraged over you guys attacking a poor, defenseless bystander out of nowhere.”
“Thou art neither defenseless nor a bystander!” a voice of complaint came from the armor in the middle of the formation. It was Captain John voicing something Hatate had already knew.
“The people who read my paper won’t know that,” her mouth turned up in a sly grin. “It’s called controlling the narrative.” Which was also totally something she wouldn’t do, it’d ruin her integrity as a reporter. Not to mention she either needed to find a way back to Youkai Mountain, or she’d need to set up a print shop here so she could even write a paper. It was all she had to go with to keep these knights off of her, though, so for now she just hoped they wouldn’t call her bluff.
“What is thine word versus mine?” he growled, far too stubborn for his own good. “I am a respected Captain in the ranks of Camelot. Thou art just some faceless new Prime.”
“I’ve got a bunch of pictures!” the photographer responded excitedly, flipping her camera around in her hands and facing the screen towards the knights. From this distance, they wouldn’t be able to see anything actually on the screen, but it was the thought that mattered. “Got everything from you guys, like, standing around, to even trying to get me with your swords!” A small giggle escaped her. “And because I’ve been using rapid-shot mode, I’ve got, like, a lot of pictures!”
Captain John remained silent in the face of the journalist’s story superiority, something which Hatate took full advantage of. She flipped her camera closed again, and crossed her arms across her chest. “What’s like, your purpose here, anyway? Why are you walking around this place, there’s nothing here.”
“It’s none of thine business what we’re doing in the Nexus,” the knight responded, rather harshly, and turned back to his horses. “Come, there is work to be done.” Armor rattle as the group turned as one and began mounting their horses.
“You totally got sidetracked didn’t you!” Hatate’s voice easily rose above the din of the armored soldiers. The Captain froze in his tracks for a split-second, quickly catching himself and continuing to mount his ride, not saying a word. That pause was all the tengu needed, and she watched them ride off into the distance, smugly satisfied with herself for getting out that relatively unharmed.
Unable to keep the arrogant smile off her face, she flipped the camera open and brought it up to her lips, pressing down the button with her thumb and starting some new notes.
“The knight was totally self-righteous. It’ll be his downfall someday. He called himself ‘Captain John’ or something. He’s not like, a ship Captain, is he?” With that part done, she released the button and pressed it again after a second, beginning a new section. “Those other knights were, like, incredibly silent and well-behaved. Do they just exist to follow orders? They seemed pretty unenthusiastic about following his orders though...” Two soft clicks followed her question. “That Captain got sidetracked by me. He totally had a different job to do. And he mentioned something about a ‘Nexus.’”
By now, the knights were far enough away that she wasn’t worried they’d turn around and try to run her down. She turned back to the place she’d been flying to originally. Her small detour hadn’t really given her all that much new information, she still had no idea what she was even heading towards. A blur of purple sat within her peripherals, and the reporter shifted her gaze over to it. There, in the midst of the white, her tokin sat, knocked off her head by the scuffle. Silently, she stepped over to it, picking it off the ground, dusting it off, and returning it to its rightful place atop her head.
Turning back down to her camera, Hatate began to concentrate. If she couldn’t get any more information out of the good Captain, then perhaps she could find a news article or something with her thoughtography. Her camera’s screen flickered static as she focused on the keyword ‘Nexus’ and tried to bring up the most recent picture. After a few minutes of useless nothings flashing across the screen, a photo of a black-haired boy appeared on her screen, accompanied by the yellow text of what appeared to be an emergency message. The journalist’s grin couldn’t grow any wider. This may not have been information on the Nexus like what she was looking for, but it sure as hell was a story. The apprehension of a very dangerous criminal? Like she was gonna let that story escape her. Without a moment of hesitation, Hatate took to the sky as fast as she could, eyes darting around the endless white of the Nexus as she searched out any large groups.
![[Image: ZpWQiiu.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/ZpWQiiu.gif)