Like Moths to a Flame [Open]

[Skyburn]

- Having left his pack at the Castle, taking but a single extra clip from it, Hail trudged on with Reason towards where they assumed Deadeye and the others to be. Hail had also left his trenchcoat back. It was just deadweight. That left all of his weapons visible to anyone on the outside, but his pistol if just by the back of the grip. His sword wouldn't give off much a glimmer from any light; it was sheathed. It was nearing midnight, which would fall in a few hours. With the Castle in his trail, he moved forward with only a few figures in his sight to walk towards. His eyes had already adjusted, but in the darkness from the lack of an early-setting fall sun meant it was still rather dark and all he had was a flashlight, which he didn't want to turn on for waste of battery power. The teenager moved towards the few figures in front of them but he had no idea if it was mere rubble, friend, or foe. Dressed in a black t-shirt and forest-camo jeans and black combat boots, looking quite military-like with the consideration of his short hair and his clothes, he wasn't likely to be spotted by anyone normal.

[Deadeye]

"...and just put the butt of the gun against your shoulder, like this. No, not like that. Like this!"

John "Deadeye" Remington was teaching his little buddy Judas how to shoot. The kid was annoying as hell, but damn, the kid had spunk. Hard to get away from a kid who follows you everywhere. Hard to stay mad, too. Obviously, John wasn't mad anymore as he was now teaching his fellow tribesman how to shoot a gun.

BAM!

A can about 100 feet away from the two Cigarettes was sent flying by Deadeye's bullet. He had set it on a broken pillar lookin' thing as it was easier to see than if it were just on the ground. It was the target. The prey. If anyone was going to survive in this hellhole, they needed to be able to spot their target from a mile away. To most, that would have just been a figure of speech. To Deadeye, it was a lifestyle.

"Alright, I'm gonna go set up another one kid. You can shoot the next target...if I can find somethin..."

[Judas]

Kael grinned cheerfully, and enthusiastically raised his hand as the other boy corrected [almost scolded] him He seemed overall unfazed by the harshness in his elder's voice. It was as if he thought he was still in school almost; smiling ear-to-ear and waving his hand high in the air as if Deadeye didn’t notice him already. [Well… Actually… That might’ve been likely – Kael was rather on the short side.]

“Hey, dude!” The boy chirped, not really even waiting for a ‘what?’ or a ‘yes?’ from John. He seemed fairly excited about this whole ordeal, almost jumping up and down as he asked his question. Of course, Kael was excited about most things: big things, small things, and insignificant details. Things like the moon still in the sky at morning, little love notes drawn on walls or carved in trees, hanging up on salesmen who pronounced your last name wrong [Obviously most of them assumed no family would take on the name Iscariot], laying down on cold tile after you’ve been out in the hot sun… Things like that. Oh right, and singing along badly to the radio.

“Dude… Johnny…” He chimed again, smiling. “Is there really that much of a difference between this and that?” He inquired, trying his best to mimic the positions. Of course, he ended up doing the same position twice since… Well… He couldn’t quite tell them apart. “I mean… Does... Is it really that important…? Well… Of course it’s important but uh…” Kael scratched his head, searching for the words that were on the tip of his tongue. He flopped back to sit down on a crate of sorts and think about it for a moment. “What I’m trying to say is,” He began again, considerably more serious and tolerable this time. “Does it affect the shot that much?” He smiled gently, inquisitory.

Judas watched carefully as the older boy demonstrated the technique again, pouring delicately over each detail and actually, examining it rather thoroughly. Such behavior wasn’t typically expected of the goof, but in all fairness he was a fairly good student. That is, he was one of those messed up kids who sometimes, occasionally wanted to learn. Even so, true to his nature, he pulled of his studying of the demonstration with a soft smile on his face the entire time.

Laughter. Genuine laughter. From Kael, naturally. It was the other teen’s last comment. He gave a toothy grin, breaking away from that receptive feel and look to return to his normal state of affairs – Optimistic naivety and foolishness. “Johnny, I’m sure you can find another target!” He cheered. “All you have to do is put a person in you don’t like!” It was a high-spirited, matter-of-fact statement but a moment after, Judas seemed to have second thoughts about his words. There was a pause and he amended himself quickly. “Someone you don’t like who’s over 5’4”.” Well… At least now he was safe from the gunslinger.

[Skyburn]

He heard the gunshot and in reaction, Hail dove to the ground, throwing up dust and dirt where he hit. Hail hadn't heard the snap of the bullet, so he knew he wasn't being shot at, he was just being safe. Almost instantly after hitting, he got on his feet, but still hunched over so his hands were touching the ground, scrambled into a doorway. His hands rested on one side of the doorway as he got into the building. Standing upright, he caught his breath. Not hearing more gunfire, Hail peeked out into the streets once more. All that met his eyes was two figures, one with a rifle, the other either learning or teaching the other by the looks of it. Hail almost shouted "Flash" to wait for a "Thunder" response from the others out there, but the odds that anyone but him in the entire city knew that code were as slim as a super-model. Hail drew his weapon, not knowing if they were from another tribe or not. The caseless pistol cradled perfectly in his hand. Sticking only his head out of the doorway, keeping the pistol merely inches inside it to keep it out of sight, he yelled. "Who goes there?" Then reconsidered the wording, "What tribe?"

[Deadeye]

"What the hell?" Deadeye said outloud, turning around. Who the hell would ask a question like that? They were on goddamned Cigarette territory. Why would anyone be randomly shooting if it weren't Deadeye? He did it all the time.

Then, realizing it could be trouble, John dropped to the floor, signalling Judas to do the same. John took out his revolver from his holster and put in one bullet. That's all he'd need.

"We're Cigarettes! Who the hell are you?!" John, asked before he decided to shoot anyone. No use killing someone who could be of use, right?

[Judas]

There were a handful of things in the world that Kael wouldn’t have ever expected.

This was one of them.

Granted, in New Pork this predicament would be the very essence of what usually happened. The very thing to expect… That’s what they said, at least. And by all means, it made sense. New Port was filled with many, many kids. Most of these kids coming from dysfunctional families, prisons, psych wards, the streets etc. Little to no compassion usually existed in those pubertal shells they crept, and sneaked around in – Knifes hidden in the folds of their clothing. Not only this, but New Pork was full of, as they say, ‘feral children’ [Although Kael noted that this stereotype was mostly secluded to one, particular tribe…]. ‘Feral children’ who could kill another kid and smile about it. Smile.

Of course, not meaning to say that all of New Pork was like this… Just lots seemed to be. The angst levels were going off the charts and the ruined city was thus filled with a haze of pretty crappy pasts. And when you had such a past, you usually toughened up a bit right? But that’s not to say you go completely bonkers… Some in the city did… Some still seemed pretty okay for the most parts. Lots of the Cigarettes seemed fine… Johnny seemed okay, despite his undying love for… Shooting things… Well… Johnny was half okay… Commando was fine… Despite the quietness… But a lot of people were quiet. There was Vox, Reason, Daisuke, and Sera—No… Not entirely… Kael was still largely convinced that there was something seriously wrong with Seraphim that could easily be solved if, with the help of others, Kael could teach him to smile. But the fake brunette highly doubted this would ever happen, so when imagining it, it was only fair to put some more fun in it – And make the teaching session into a lively musical… Well… It wasn’t going to happen anyway, right?

In any case, yes… The current incident surprised Kael. He glanced around for a few seconds, not near worried enough about his own ass, and stuffed his hands in his pockets calmly, while trying to figure the current situation. It was actually Johnny’s motion, or rather gesture, that caused the goof any other movement besides a pose and expression that may have translated to 'I'm just asking to get shot.'. With a largely spread, and equally distributed grin playing upon his face – Judas winked in reply, and did as he was told, flopping down to the ground clumsily but at the same time, somehow ending up in a low, neat, kneeling position. At the gunslinger’s reply to the unknown third person though, Kael blinked, surprised and puzzled before breaking out into a naturally goofy smile – Ear-to-ear.

“Johnny!” He called cheerfully. “You managed to say that without using the word ‘fuck’ once! I’m so proud of you!” He chirped, clapping softly to himself. “Well… I mean… Yeah… You still used hell but… We’ll focus on the positives for now! Dude, you also didn’t use any bad English, you know?”

It was just in the teen’s nature…

He had to say the worst things at the worst times…

[Skyburn]

He nearly put the pistol into his pocket, but kept it out just in case for a second. "Hail Briggs! New guy in the Cigarettes!" He waited a few seconds, to let whoever it may be out there to compute what he had just said, then he poked his head out of the doorway, spotting the pair up ahead. It didn't take long to stop the weapon in the taller's hand, glinting in what little light was around. It took less time to determine he wasn't a threat, so, to show that Hail wasn't either, he dropped the uncocked the pistol, still out of sight, dropped it into a pocket, and thrust both hands out of the doorway to show their lack of deadly items. Not a half second later, the rest of his body followed, revealing his black shirt and camouflage MARPAT fatigues, forest design, but rather than the oddly shapped camouflage of old, it was made of little squares put together to make many-sided (and rather small, each individual "square" part of a block less than a centimeter across) polygons of only right-angles, rather than splotches that looked like spilt milk with odd food-coloring. His black gloves were pocketed right now, as were a pair of sunglasses; neither he needed, but his combat-boots were scuffed, not having had the chance to shine them, nor would it help when stealth was important. Hail walked towards the two, hands at his side, ready to grab his concealed pistol or rather overtly placed saber, sheathed in black leather with metal ends, should he need them. "So, now that you know my name, who might you be? Reason sent me to find a few people. Apparently there is a suicide raid going on to save your leader... uh..." he thought for a moment, tilting his head slightly, moving a hand up against his temple and hair, holding his head as he tried to pluck the name out of his inner thoughts, "... Seraph," his hand moved from his head as it popped back to a straight position, and his hand moved down into a pointer finger, not really aimed at anyone, but forward, "and some girl who's name I won't bother remembering. I came up with a little added planning and Reason appointed me to make it a little less... suicidal, and a little more successful." It was still suicidal, but he didn't want to mention that. They just had a better chance of coming out alive this way.