who's crying now ━ [NINAZU]

[Stryker]

STRYKER ☣ COTC ☣ KINGPIN

It was good to be back. Sort of. Stryker's presence on The Typhoon's island was a rarity, especially with Goldenluxury roaming. Nevertheless, a mission had to be completed. In order to successfully infiltrate The Typhoon with espionages, they needed clever disguises for their spies. Shapeshifting wasn't enough. Quite notably, one recognizable feature of the island-dwellers was their jewelry. From Goldenluxury's classic feather, Pincher's piercings, to Michael's many chains, they always had a knack for accessories. After all, pirates loved gold.

With that in mind, two members of the Coalition of the Condemned went off into the darkness. Stryker trailed through the underbrush with his tail lashing. His gaze was wide. Any sign of those salty fishfuckers would mean their leave, but they were safe for now. Neon eyes shifted, catching a glimpse of the Crystal Caves in the distance. The light glow of torches lit their entrances, highlighting the silhouettes of a doberman and serval on guard. His head shifted back, giving a cocky smile to Ninazu. "Now how are we gonna deal with this?" The answer was obvious to him, but the methods of doing so where what he contemplated. Nevertheless, he left the ultimate decision to her. A Kingpin didn't always need to be in control... especially with her.

//setting this in the typhoon board bc i might throw in an open thread where the pirates discover missing jewelry + [member=2040]ninazu[/member]

THE WEAK ONES ARE THERE TO JUSTIFY THE STRONG
DON'T BOTHER TO RESIST OR I'LL BEAT YOU

— Reggan

[ninazu]

BURN
BRIGHT

A stride behind him, the lioness pressed her forehead against his shoulder. Without the flames cascading down her body, she stood out no more in the darkness than Stryker, though she ironically felt more exposed. Sighing, she swept her gaze over the guards—mere obstacles to what they needed.

“We’ll both move the earth. Tunnel underground, get into the caves that way. Kill them while their backs are turned.” She glanced at him, solidifying the mental connection between them with eye contact. “I’ll take the serval.”

Ninazu remembered their last mission in the Typhoon all too well. Months ago, back when Stryker led the Pitt with Ninazu at his side, they set the Typhoon’s island alight. She’d been weaker then, confined to her serval birth body, and limited in her magic. She’d hitched a ride in his mane and provided the magical firepower while he dealt with the physical brutality.

They followed the pattern even now, though he’d certainly acquired more magic and she climbed out of her weak body. She sighed again, thick puffs of smoke passing between her teeth. [i]“In and out, right? Let’s try not to get caught, this time.”

© MADI

[Stryker]

STRYKER ☣ COTC ☣ KINGPIN

Upon her answer, he simply nodded. The lion placed his paws on the floor carefully, staring out at his destination and calculating how many strides they would travel before reaching behind their enemies. Finalizing his estimate, he opened a small cavern underneath their feet and tunneled into the dark. As soon as she followed inside, he closed up the hole above them with a swift bang. The darkness encapsulated him, leaving the two blind. While he wouldn't mind tunneling through the dim cave, he would prefer to see where he was going. "Lights, if you will," the Kingpin politely sent through their telepathy. Whether or not she proceeded to light a flame, he continued to navigate forward.

Counting his steps, it was not long before the vibrations of their enemies collided with his senses. Two beings now lurked above them. The doberman was whispering something calmly. In the meantime, the serval was huffing and stomping at the floor, shouting back without a care in the world. Stryker wanted to listen in for longer to hear their debacle, but the couple wasn't here to get the scoop on new, probably Roux-related, drama. Instead, he proceeded a few paces forward.

Before assuming a stiff position again, he gestured upwards. "Let's go." With a grunt, the Crystal Cavern's floor crumbled above them. Carefully, the lion moved the rocks off to the side to avoid the debris colliding and alerting the guards. Slitted eyes peered out from the hole. No reaction. Stryker proceeded to slink out from the hole, pawsteps lightly grazing the ground. As the mutated beast grew closer he began to loosen his jaw. His tongue flickered out from the depths of his jagged teeth, almost inherently taunting the unaware guards. 

Without any further cues, the Kingpin worked quick. Stryker's massive bodyweight slammed down onto his target's back, pinning them to the ground in an instant. Swiftly coming up from behind, his paw wrapped around the canine's mouth. Hot breath from the muffled scream ruminated on his paw pad, but he didn't let their cowardly pleading stop him. Stryker's unhinged jaw enclosed around the male's neck. Dagger-like fangs descended into their jugular, injecting the doberman with venom. They writhed within his grip. He remained in place for a few moments before releasing his grip, letting the seizing victim settle into the floor. The pirate was foaming from the mouth as blood streamed from their sides and the side of their face. Needless to say, the scene was relatively clean. At least compared to his other victims.

Neon eyes shifted from the doberman, not caring about it's eventual fate. His attention redirected to Ninazu, who was (presumably?) finishing off her own victim. "Shall we proceed?" he cooed, allowing himself to speak out properly.
""

THE WEAK ONES ARE THERE TO JUSTIFY THE STRONG
DON'T BOTHER TO RESIST OR I'LL BEAT YOU

— Reggan

[ninazu]

BURN
BRIGHT

In the underground’s total darkness, Ninazu could drown in the absolute nothing. There had been a day she meditated in the deep quiet, and even she had no idea how long she’d been gone. She’d disappeared for hours in the freedom from expectations, society, and the haggard faces looking expectantly to her for something. How she hated shouldering other’s burdens.

“Right,” she answered, as though she hadn’t considered slipping into the darkness here and now. A single flame sparked on the crown of her head, a minuscule spark compared to her usual mane. Fire was greedy; it would eat all their air, if she allowed it.

She followed, assisting with moving of the earth. Boulders shifted out of their way. Dirt fell from above and rose from below, the natural order disrupted. Ninazu breathed with her magic, allowing the power to flow and guide her. It was almost meditative, working in time with Stryker, and she almost hated when they came to their destination.

She popped out of the opening. A hair before Stryker. A touch less careful than her match. The lone flame sprouted into a beast on her back, rolling down her neck and crackling down her spine. The tip of her tail ignited into flame.

Silently she walked, watching Stryker down the doberman in her peripheral vision. A few more paces—the serval was further outside. Her target continued to ramble about the improbability of lightning striking a treehouse, but Ninazu wasn’t paying attention to his breathing. She listened and watched, true, but for a different cue.

The serval turned, saw the doberman, and inhaled.

Ninazu sparked the air, a puff of fire created and breathed in. One choked splutter, that’s all she heard from the serval, before his lungs smoldered into unusable sacks of meat.

He burned from the inside out. Ninazu glanced at Stryker, confirming his success, and then watched him die.

But that was the fun part, wasn’t it? She grabbed the body and pulled it behind a pile of rocks. Ninazu hated the idea of their beautiful plan getting ruined by an insomniac happening to notice the dead guard at the entrance of the Crystal Caves. After all… they cut this mission a little close to the Typhoon’s main sleeping quarters, didn’t they? The thought put a grin on her face.

“Naturally,” she answered, turning back to Stryker.

She walked into the twisting cave, the flames on her body providing ample light, so she took the lead. The bodies at the entrance didn’t bother her—things like that never did—but something about this sat with her differently. Heavy and light, the sensation tugged at her body like the ghost of a daydream’s epiphany.

“This time… we’re doing this. Not for the mayhem. But, truly, for the condemned. It’s odd, isn’t it?” Ninazu mumbled. She hated talking like this; revealing feelings made her feel more vulnerable than anything else in the world. But, she supposed, he might already have figured this out. Stryker usually had greater emotional intelligence than she did. And his motivations skewed less towards selfish violence than hers.

She pocketed the comparisons between them, however, when she came to a row of supplies packed against the wall. With a flick of her fire-tipped tail, she ignited the torches in this larger cave, and her grin widened. “The pirates do love their jewelry,” she chuckled, pushing open a chest. The gold within gleamed in the flickering torchlight, and she pawed a heap into her satchel.

© MADI

[Stryker]

STRYKER ☣ COTC ☣ KINGPIN

With a curt nod, the lion followed her into the abyss. The darkness encapsulated them easily, but Ninazu's bright hues kept them from succumbing. A slitted gaze widened, watching as they passed skeletons. He couldn't help but snort, thinking that Goldenluxury would have kept tidier than this. Nonetheless, they weren't here to critique. Stryker continued on. He merely kept silent, letting his eyes trace the cave's sharp edges and the littered debris on the sides.

Ninazu broke the silence first. Stryker, unlike his significant other, was often the one to confide his feelings first. This was different. The lion craned his head at her words, strands of golden hair falling into his vision. He let the thought marinate momentarily before speaking. "I suppose you're right," the Kingpin concluded. It felt... strange. Unlike before, there was so much more risk to their actions. There was no 'family' to worry about previously, nor any strict attachments. They were vulnerable. "During that time we were imprisoned, I think things changed. Solidified, even." The difference they made in the world didn't have to be selfish. It didn't have to reek of senseless mayhem. Instead, the path could be paved with good intentions to solidify the bonds they had made. Stryker's path was not intent on revenge against Jervis or Goldenluxury, but rather a place to settle in. Even so, if he had to do that gruelingly, so be it. "At least I think so." Despite the struggle, Stryker couldn't imagine a better outcome for them.

In the midst of their banter, Stryker noticed the glint in the distance. Her words only confirmed his findings. With a light snort, he stopped beside her as she opened the chest. "They sure do," he remarked. "Pirates love their booty." Piercings weren't unfamiliar to him. The former ardent had snakebites and an eyebrow piercing previously, but those had long healed. Their flare was no longer his style.

Jokes aside, he sunk his paw into the pile and scooped out a mound. Stryker carefully deposited into his satchel afterwards. Green eyes observed the chest's contents before going in for another pile, eventually catching on two matching chain earrings. The tip of his claw carefully inserted into the two gaps of the earrings, causing them to delicately dangle. He raised his flipped paw to Ninazu, offering a smirk. "Now these would look quite gorgeous on you, madam," the Kingpin cooed. Although, admittedly, he liked them too.

THE WEAK ONES ARE THERE TO JUSTIFY THE STRONG
DON'T BOTHER TO RESIST OR I'LL BEAT YOU

— Reggan

[ninazu]

BURN
BRIGHT

Ninazu hummed at his words, unable to put thoughts into words. Their imprisonment remained a dark spot in her memory, no matter how many times she meditated. The psychedelics came closest to removing the gunk in her mind from such trauma, but the lioness never liked remembering that time. To remember was to drown in powerlessness.

She threw more gold in her satchel, until Stryker’s comment draws her eye. Eyebrow curling up, she glanced over her shoulder before turning her head. Her golden eyes widened.

“One would look equally good on you, my lightning bug.” She hooked one on a claw, raising her paw until she held it at Stryker’s ear level. Smiling softly, she hummed again, this time in satisfaction. “Quite handsome, indeed. The iridescent metal matches your eyes.”

Her flames licked her cheeks, the mane contracting in size but flickering wildly. Ninazu’s eyes narrowed, before her expression returned to a relaxed grin. “Things did change. Before… that… we were both too wrapped up in our own desires. I we hadn’t gone through that mess together, I doubt either of us could trust the other completely. Ironically, all of that bullshit means you’re the only one I could trust completely.”

She inhaled sharply, the flames expanding, and exhaled a puff of steam through her nostrils. The flame’s edges tinged green. She glanced away from his face, staring at the earring in her paw for a long moment.

“Perhaps it’s time we… show off our bond. And using stolen jewelry to do it is about as us as we can get.”

© MADI