Of birds and bounties (Kaida)

A quiet afternoon, a solid tree branch, and the distinct chattering of wild birds. Kaida couldn’t think of a better time or place for a nap. To top it off, she’d been able to afford a decent meal that morning, instead of having to go hungry like most days. With her hair set on a mottled green and brown coloration, she relaxed against the tree’s upper trunk, her hands clasped over her stomach. While she wasn’t too worried about anyone trying to attack her in her sleep here, she knew it was better to be safe than sorry. One too many close encounters with less than savory characters had instilled that mantra into her.

It was such a relaxing spot that she barely noticed the birds go quiet. A sudden and very loud bang jolted her awake, along with a cacophony of startled birds. The sudden movement caused her to lose her balance in the tree, slipping over the edge of the branch. She gripped the branch tightly with her hands as she slid, ending up hanging from it for a moment before letting herself drop. As the balls of her feet touched the ground she ducked into a roll to reduce the impact and sound of her landing.

Another loud pop rang through the air, though not nearly as loud as the first. Assuming it was those ‘less than savory characters’ again, she moved in a crouch through the sparse underbrush. Creeping quietly toward the source of the obvious gunshots, Kaida kept her breathing quiet before settling behind a bush.

Moving some branches gingerly to make as little noise as possible, Kaida made a small open space in the deciduous plant’s cover for her to peer out of. Through this hole, she caught sight of the person who most likely had fired the gunshots, considering the woman had a rather large rifle in her hands.

Just as quietly as she had before, Kaida let the bush’s branches move back to their natural position. Turning around to silently plop her butt down on the ground, she pulled a few folded pieces of parchment from inside her coat. They were her collection of wanted posters, and she gingerly unfolded them, sorting through them to see if this woman had a bounty on her head.

A smirk curled at her lips as she found one with the woman’s picture. With that kind of hair and clothing choices, it was hard to mistake her for someone else, and Kaida quickly folded the rest of the posters back up and returned them to her coat. Immediately making her move would be a bit foolhardy though, so instead she quietly moved away from the bush and to a new vantage point to plan out her move.

As the woman moved out from the tree line, Kaida slunk from her hiding spot, her plan quickly forming into reality. She followed silently a few yards behind, keeping her target in a certain range. It was a bit easier to move silently once she made it outside of the tree line. There were no stray twigs or roots to keep an eye out for on the open grassland.

Keeping the distance between the two, approximately eight yards; as she maneuvered to keep out of her target’s line of sight. Continuing to follow as the woman collected more birds she had slain; Kaida silently closed the gap between the two to about five yards.

With the distance between them shortened, Kaida tapped into her more useful pool of abilities, and activated ‘Midnight at the Masquerade’. A throng of illusionary dancers suddenly appeared, the area around them appearing to be encased in a bubble of glass thirty feet in any direction, using Kaida as a center point.

The bounty hunter’s target would find herself suddenly in a ball gown. Despite being part of the illusion the feel of the clothing change would still be there. Kaida herself would have this same illusionary change, though her new outfit would not be a ball gown. Instead she’d be dressed in clothes that suited her more androgynous build.

Now appearing to be dressed in a dark, tailed suit with a white undershirt, and a matching top hat, and a mask shaped like a fox’s face; Kaida moved to seem as if she were just another of the illusionary party-goers. She danced in time with the rest of the illusion, all the while keeping an eye on her likely very bewildered target.

So she’s keeping the gun on her, the blue-eyed bounty hunter thought with a grin. She had intended to merely pin her down and apprehend her the easy way, but this made things a bit trickier. Not to mention more entertaining.

Continuing to dance ever closer to her target, she grinned slightly. It was almost too easy to get within arm’s reach of her quarry. With a simple flick of her hand during a twirl past the red head, Kaida sent her rifle teetering forward and off the woman’s shoulder. The movement easily flowed right back into innocent looking dance moves.

Won’t you dance with me little rabbit?

She felt like a fox bounding playfully, ever closer to an unsuspecting rabbit before striking. This was really the only thing that counted as fun in her life, and had been the only thing for quite a few years. Kaida had developed a twisted enjoyment for the “hunt” while she grew up on the streets.

Won’t you come have a merry time?

Unlike many bounty hunters who just clashed head on with their targets, Kaida much preferred the ambush approach. She’d had to develop stealthy abilities to make up for her lack of size and strength, and she’d taken to them quite well. Honing her skills over the years had brought her to this point; where she could easily blend in and out of a crowd, both with her illusion tactic as well as quick costume changes. The fact she had the ability to change her hair color at will only helped her skill at going unnoticed.

Won’t you come and play this game of mine~?

The illusion man her quarry threatened with her rifle barrel showed no reaction to the gun at all. Instead he acted as if the woman were merely another dancer cutting in to claim him as a dance partner. Kaida found it all rather amusing really. She could only wonder how the woman would react if she indeed fired and saw the bullet pass through him while doing no harm at all.

Putting a bit of distance between herself and the trigger happy pirate, Kaida put a bit more focus on her illusion. A rather fitting song had wormed its way into her thoughts, and the bounty hunter had decided it was time for a change of tempo among the dancers. The song itself, while only audible to the illusion itself rather than Kaida’s target, was a rather jaunty marching song with a piccolo melody.

All at once the pace of the dance changed to match the song, illusionary limbs moving quicker and with sharper precision in their more aggressive movements. Kaida changed her movements to match as well, and couldn’t help but to whistle the melody along with the dance. Her fast movements around the impromptu dance floor would make the sound ring from all sides of the mirrored bubble.

As the bullet passed clean through the glass with no visual damage to it, Kaida frowned slightly. The rules of the little game had changed, which meant Kaida had to change her plan. A smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth as new plans began to form in her mind.

So we’re going to be playing that game now are we?

Thanks to the illusion, the bounty hunter’s weapon had been hidden, though it had remained in the holster on her back the entire time. Now that the game was changing, she pulled the collapsed scythe from its leather straps and quickly darted through the crowd. Some extra distance had managed to get between herself and her quarry while the woman had begun to panic.

It was a simple matter to close the distance; without her looking in Kaida’s direction, the bounty hunter was free to dart straight through the dancers, knowing full well none of them were actually solid. She could only imagine what the same action would feel like to someone else, since for her the simple fact they weren’t real kept her from feeling anything as she passed through the incorporeal people.

Once Kaida made it just a few feet behind the red head, she swung the still collapsed scythe. Her aim was to deck the woman across the head and knock her for a loop.

At the moment the two weapons collided, most of Kaida’s face still remained hidden behind her mask. Her lips twitched up into a toothy grin, visible below the edge of the caninesque mask. Below the brim of her hat her eyes shone from behind the fox face, shining with twisted delight.

She watched as her quarry retreated back out of her illusion, simultaneously disengaging their weapon lock. Kaida merely grinned from within the circle of illusion, the mirrored bubble appearing as nothing more than clear glass from the outside. With just a couple steps, Kaida made her way past the edge of the illusion, the entire charade vanishing as she did. In a smooth flick of her arm, the blade of her scythe was popped out of its folded state and locked in place, the edge gleaming menacingly in the light.

“My name is of no real importance,” now with her entire face visible, Kaida smirked at the redhead, her own hair changing to a shimmering white as she spoke, “but if you must call me something then call me Loki.

“Either way I’ll be you’re undoing.” Her tone held a dark edge to it as she shifted her legs into a wider stance, crouching slightly as she held her scythe with the blade down, the tip pointed toward the sky, ready to swing up in a slice.

Knowing full well bringing a knife to a gun fight was a bad idea, Kaida had already ran multiple plans through her mind, most of them being less than useful to her. The head on approach seemed best, so as the pirate sighted down the metal barrel pointed toward her Kaida launched into a flat out sprint, throwing in a zigzag motion to her path. It was a useful strategy, making her a harder target to hit, and giving her better positioning for agility.

As the first shot rang out, that movement proved to be useful, as Kaida was able to dodge the bullet; though just barely. It glanced past her with violent speed, the wind from its passing sending strands of hair in her face as the color shifted to a fiery red. Her dodge wasn’t the greatest form of agility either, as she overbalanced to the right and had to shift into a tumbling roll. She made use of the forced roll though, aiming it forward as well as right, moving her still closer to her target.

Once her feet were under her again, she sprang forward, close enough now for her scythe to be in range. With a fast swing, she launched the blade of the weapon at the pirate’s shins, the scythe itself whistling slightly as the air passed over it.