[ he's not kicking or screaming or throwing anything beyond that initial swear, he's just kind of - tunnel visioned in fury, ears ringing. it's louis in the soiree all over again, smug faced as he calmly talked about how halia's destruction was just so helpful, how so many people died, but it was all for the cause, it made them wake up, didn't it? or captain kreuger with his smug face. he'd awakened, then. there's none of that, now.
hulkenberg jostling into him like that makes him suck in a sharp breath, makes the world come back into color. ]
What - [ brief. clipped. ]-- What the hell happened?
[ i will ensure that your injuries heal properly if you would like to hold onto it, she had said, just last night. those around us so often refuse to let us suffer in our pains, least of all alone, she'd told vi.
and there she had been, lifeless, trapped in debris. possibly even attacked, if the apparent scissors were anything to go by. would encouraging her to use it have helped her survive whatever encounter she had had, last night? vi was a clear fighter, or at least deeply aware of how to handle herself, so surely... surely some signs are out there, somewhere - at least if the damned robots don't clean it all up, first.
and what of megumi - hulkenberg is familiar, unfortunately, with the weight of a person's skull. the force it takes to remove it from the body. but the one that would do it to a child is always the most reprehensible sort - ]
The theatre in the Otium Biome was collapsed, all the way to the lighting that once stood above the stage. [ tense, voice low. ] When we arrived, the green-haired elda and I, we discovered Vi in the rubble. A rabbit akin to the ones during that explosive display that took out that man and the star-shaped being ran by, and dropped a block of damned cheese when caught that turned into the Megumi boy's head in my hands.
... 'twas not an accident, at least in part for Vi. It could not have been - she had scissors driven into her neck.
[ ooohhh THIS DOES NOT HELP i mean it helps because it's hulkenberg. it helps because there's someone here to be angry with, there's someone here that he loves and trusts as close as someone you could consider family ( "i can't cook for shit, so, better you than me. "you'll be in charge of the dishes, then." that's the trouble with the kind of person strohl is - when he dedicates himself wholeheartedly, he dedicates himself wholeheartedly, and it comes crashing, crashing down.)
but hearing the full story makes him see red again, and he takes a deep, deep breath, leaning harder into his fist against the wall. ]
The rabbit is his - ability. [ he manages, through grit teeth, first - that first. he liked fushiguro, too, but that's not as cutting as vi's death, which feels like ripping his heart out all over again. ] I think. The rabbit was with him after. That.
[ another sharp, hard breath through his nose. ]
Of course it wasn't an accident. [ half snarled. ] I'm going to find whoever did this, and there'll be hell to pay.
Others have been, even when intent for action was still there. [ it isn't a reprimand, like when she'd kicked him under the table had been. only a reminder, as she stands with him, facing this proclamation of a trial. how laughable - there is no law, no decrees, no system in place here. there are only the guests and the robots that are useless creatures, getting in the way as they tidy up after every single mess that has left blood behind.
but they must find the truth. isn't that the core of what's driven them forward? the truth, and the justice that the answers will bring? ]
I did not have enough time to determine whether his head was severed with intent or something else happened, only enough to catch that Vi had been attacked with something that most certainly would not have been found in such a place. Unfortunate that the robots interfered before I had the chance to do more, and I could not follow them to see where they have been taking our lost.
[ and they have lost so, so many, the next worst than the last. ]
... if we must force the remnants to attend Justice's trial, then so be it. But we must remain focused, Strohl, so that we capture the fiend swiftly.
[ the others have been accidents. this, though, this intentionality, this burns.
it takes a very long moment for him to try and calm himself down again - the tunnel vision of his temper licks anger at the edges of his hurt, and he sucks in an angry breath, trying to settle himself. he has to be smart. he can't just go around accusing anyone of doing this, he has to find whoever it was. justice is not indeterminate and cruel, justice does not burn the whole world down.
remain focused. he's grateful for it, even though he won't say it right now. maybe she'll know in the way he doesn't pull away or punch a wall, in the way he does seem to start coming down a peg. ]
What was she attacked with? [ muttered. right. right. ]
[ he has seen what indiscriminate destruction has brought upon the innocent, his own lands included. hulkenberg understands anger. she understands guilt. but they must see this through, as they have everything else they've stared down up to this point.
she knows that he can be brought to reason. strohl has always had the potential to live up to the legacy that was forged in fire for him, all that a lord is meant to be. but he has to be tempered all the way to his temper. especially when he stands at his most wounded, heart on his sleeve as it is, just like the crest on his back, the mark and weight of his house. ]
At the very least, a pair of scissors. But she fights with her fists, yes? Like Catherina. Like you, when you channel the Brawler. Which means there cannot be a way that her attacker could come out of it unscathed. [ with a shift in her weight, she presses her shoulder more firmly into his. leans. ] So, think like you do when you are the Brawler. Where do you aim, what do you target, when you fight? We must see if someone has injuries in such places.
Scissors. [ he says, scathing. i hope that was a lesbian joke.
a teasing grin. you sure you can handle yourself?
he closes his eyes briefly and sucks in a breath - the heartache of loss like a mantle, once again - and tries to batten down his hatches against the grief, for the first, second, thousandth time. ]
... She was hurt, but she would've fought back. [ brawler. brawler, right. brawler was one of the ones he relied on early when it was just the three of them. vi would've loved catherina. don't - don't think like that. focus. his eyes remain closed, like he could call on brawler if he wanted. ]
Solar plexus. [ he says, eventually, quietly. calmer, now, thanks to hulkenberg. ] Ribs. Throat, jaw. I haven't - I haven't seen anyone with any marks, she would've left a hell of a mark. [ a beat. ]
What about that monkey she had? What if someone took it?
Mm. [ and she had nearly missed their presence. unless mods show up to tell us we do not perceive the lesbian joke.
her eyes remain forward, even as she stares at the writing on the literal wall from beneath her bangs - focusing, trying to commit the scene to memory. trying, just as much, to recall their journey through the cathedral, the sandworm, into the nest, the archetypes that were bestowed upon them and what they learned from utilising them and watching one another.
a soft noise escapes her, at first, acknowledging and encouraging alike, to give strohl something to focus on. his answers come bit by bit, and they are from experience that they can use instead of the experience that hurts again and again and again.
they can do something with this. they must. for vi's sake, but also for strohl's, with how hard this has shaken him. hulkenberg is furious for the loss of two lives, especially someone that she enjoyed the time spent with, no matter how brief, but she is also upset for strohl himself. ]
They would have had to know what it did, to hide the injuries left behind by a fighter that was fighting for her life. Someone that she told, someone that was on that horrendous trip with her - only the young man and Kiruko - or someone that was present at the spa last night with us.
[ strohl mutters, hissing - he remembers the way she refused it at first last night because flurry is a VILLAIN - but he thinks, probably, vi would've fought for her life and wouldn't have been stupid about it. god. the mention of the trip almost takes him off again, thinking about miyu's tiny body in that gondola, and he shakes his head hard to try and clear it. focus, focus, focus. why didn't you wake up, strohl? ]
...'s a good point. [ roughly. he folds his arms, foot starting to tap tap tap away. ] So, what. We find a way to get people to see if they're hurt. No one's got any damn reason to be sporting any injuries save those two.
... 'twas clear that she was thinking of others, when she hesitated. But I would hope that in a life or death situation, she would have seen sense, and would have used it.
[ roussainte ears right next to him. but she gets it - both strohl's hissing and vi's hesitation. hulkenberg puts herself in vi's position, and considers what she would have done, if faced with the same situation. she would have fought with every last breath in her lungs, and such a boon as a heal... it could buy an extra minute, a breath, even just sliver of a chance.
if not to live, then to bring the other person down with her. in the moment, or when they were discovered. ]
Unless Justice knows something that we do not, his trial is a prime time to investigate, is it not? Unorthodox as it might be, it could be the chance we need. Everyone gathered in one place to question and check.
More suspicious if one person refuses not to show, too.
[ strohl mutters, low - good. mandatory attendance tomorrow, then. that - helps. it helps, and he balls his hands up into fists again and breathes, in, and out, tucks his nails against the inside of his palm.
justice, is what they'll get. if nothing else. justice. ] We'll narrow it down and figure out who, and find out their motivations, while we're at it.
[ ... ]
I can't access all of my abilities, but I can channel Warrior enough I've a sword. Once we have our confession, I'll execute the culprit myself.
Start to finish. And if they refuse to attend in the first place, all the more reason to suspect them. Those that are innocent have nothing to lose and everything to gain; we will have to take care, gathering in one place with the accidents that have happened, but it will mean we are able to do more than gawk at deaths as we put our minds to work.
[ ... ]
'Tis the same for me, with Knight's halberd. Whoever they are, we will question them to all extents possible, to determine the truth, and I will not allow their escape in that process.
[ she won't take the killing blow from him, if it's deserved. but she will make him see it through to the very end of the line before they strike. it must be true justice, with the right person, for the right reasons, and not misguided vengeance against an innocent party. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
hulkenberg jostling into him like that makes him suck in a sharp breath, makes the world come back into color. ]
What - [ brief. clipped. ]-- What the hell happened?
no subject
and there she had been, lifeless, trapped in debris. possibly even attacked, if the apparent scissors were anything to go by. would encouraging her to use it have helped her survive whatever encounter she had had, last night? vi was a clear fighter, or at least deeply aware of how to handle herself, so surely... surely some signs are out there, somewhere - at least if the damned robots don't clean it all up, first.
and what of megumi - hulkenberg is familiar, unfortunately, with the weight of a person's skull. the force it takes to remove it from the body. but the one that would do it to a child is always the most reprehensible sort - ]
The theatre in the Otium Biome was collapsed, all the way to the lighting that once stood above the stage. [ tense, voice low. ] When we arrived, the green-haired elda and I, we discovered Vi in the rubble. A rabbit akin to the ones during that explosive display that took out that man and the star-shaped being ran by, and dropped a block of damned cheese when caught that turned into the Megumi boy's head in my hands.
... 'twas not an accident, at least in part for Vi. It could not have been - she had scissors driven into her neck.
no subject
but hearing the full story makes him see red again, and he takes a deep, deep breath, leaning harder into his fist against the wall. ]
The rabbit is his - ability. [ he manages, through grit teeth, first - that first. he liked fushiguro, too, but that's not as cutting as vi's death, which feels like ripping his heart out all over again. ] I think. The rabbit was with him after. That.
[ another sharp, hard breath through his nose. ]
Of course it wasn't an accident. [ half snarled. ] I'm going to find whoever did this, and there'll be hell to pay.
no subject
but they must find the truth. isn't that the core of what's driven them forward? the truth, and the justice that the answers will bring? ]
I did not have enough time to determine whether his head was severed with intent or something else happened, only enough to catch that Vi had been attacked with something that most certainly would not have been found in such a place. Unfortunate that the robots interfered before I had the chance to do more, and I could not follow them to see where they have been taking our lost.
[ and they have lost so, so many, the next worst than the last. ]
... if we must force the remnants to attend Justice's trial, then so be it. But we must remain focused, Strohl, so that we capture the fiend swiftly.
no subject
it takes a very long moment for him to try and calm himself down again - the tunnel vision of his temper licks anger at the edges of his hurt, and he sucks in an angry breath, trying to settle himself. he has to be smart. he can't just go around accusing anyone of doing this, he has to find whoever it was. justice is not indeterminate and cruel, justice does not burn the whole world down.
remain focused. he's grateful for it, even though he won't say it right now. maybe she'll know in the way he doesn't pull away or punch a wall, in the way he does seem to start coming down a peg. ]
What was she attacked with? [ muttered. right. right. ]
no subject
she knows that he can be brought to reason. strohl has always had the potential to live up to the legacy that was forged in fire for him, all that a lord is meant to be. but he has to be tempered all the way to his temper. especially when he stands at his most wounded, heart on his sleeve as it is, just like the crest on his back, the mark and weight of his house. ]
At the very least, a pair of scissors. But she fights with her fists, yes? Like Catherina. Like you, when you channel the Brawler. Which means there cannot be a way that her attacker could come out of it unscathed. [ with a shift in her weight, she presses her shoulder more firmly into his. leans. ] So, think like you do when you are the Brawler. Where do you aim, what do you target, when you fight? We must see if someone has injuries in such places.
no subject
a teasing grin. you sure you can handle yourself?
he closes his eyes briefly and sucks in a breath - the heartache of loss like a mantle, once again - and tries to batten down his hatches against the grief, for the first, second, thousandth time. ]
... She was hurt, but she would've fought back. [ brawler. brawler, right. brawler was one of the ones he relied on early when it was just the three of them. vi would've loved catherina. don't - don't think like that. focus. his eyes remain closed, like he could call on brawler if he wanted. ]
Solar plexus. [ he says, eventually, quietly. calmer, now, thanks to hulkenberg. ] Ribs. Throat, jaw. I haven't - I haven't seen anyone with any marks, she would've left a hell of a mark. [ a beat. ]
What about that monkey she had? What if someone took it?
no subject
her eyes remain forward, even as she stares at the writing on the literal wall from beneath her bangs - focusing, trying to commit the scene to memory. trying, just as much, to recall their journey through the cathedral, the sandworm, into the nest, the archetypes that were bestowed upon them and what they learned from utilising them and watching one another.
a soft noise escapes her, at first, acknowledging and encouraging alike, to give strohl something to focus on. his answers come bit by bit, and they are from experience that they can use instead of the experience that hurts again and again and again.
they can do something with this. they must. for vi's sake, but also for strohl's, with how hard this has shaken him. hulkenberg is furious for the loss of two lives, especially someone that she enjoyed the time spent with, no matter how brief, but she is also upset for strohl himself. ]
They would have had to know what it did, to hide the injuries left behind by a fighter that was fighting for her life. Someone that she told, someone that was on that horrendous trip with her - only the young man and Kiruko - or someone that was present at the spa last night with us.
no subject
[ strohl mutters, hissing - he remembers the way she refused it at first last night because flurry is a VILLAIN - but he thinks, probably, vi would've fought for her life and wouldn't have been stupid about it. god. the mention of the trip almost takes him off again, thinking about miyu's tiny body in that gondola, and he shakes his head hard to try and clear it. focus, focus, focus. why didn't you wake up, strohl? ]
...'s a good point. [ roughly. he folds his arms, foot starting to tap tap tap away. ] So, what. We find a way to get people to see if they're hurt. No one's got any damn reason to be sporting any injuries save those two.
no subject
[ roussainte ears right next to him. but she gets it - both strohl's hissing and vi's hesitation. hulkenberg puts herself in vi's position, and considers what she would have done, if faced with the same situation. she would have fought with every last breath in her lungs, and such a boon as a heal... it could buy an extra minute, a breath, even just sliver of a chance.
if not to live, then to bring the other person down with her. in the moment, or when they were discovered. ]
Unless Justice knows something that we do not, his trial is a prime time to investigate, is it not? Unorthodox as it might be, it could be the chance we need. Everyone gathered in one place to question and check.
no subject
[ strohl mutters, low - good. mandatory attendance tomorrow, then. that - helps. it helps, and he balls his hands up into fists again and breathes, in, and out, tucks his nails against the inside of his palm.
justice, is what they'll get. if nothing else. justice. ] We'll narrow it down and figure out who, and find out their motivations, while we're at it.
[ ... ]
I can't access all of my abilities, but I can channel Warrior enough I've a sword. Once we have our confession, I'll execute the culprit myself.
no subject
[ ... ]
'Tis the same for me, with Knight's halberd. Whoever they are, we will question them to all extents possible, to determine the truth, and I will not allow their escape in that process.
[ she won't take the killing blow from him, if it's deserved. but she will make him see it through to the very end of the line before they strike. it must be true justice, with the right person, for the right reasons, and not misguided vengeance against an innocent party. ]