- Job Info:
Karasuki had decided to visit her home in Oak Town for the past week. She wanted to share her good news with her adoptive mother, Isadora. Finally she had a chance to show the world that she could use her magic for good. Of course, Isadora was strict but she had always believed in her and had taught her to do acts of kindness. The whole idea was that her magic should only be used when necessary. Isadora said plenty of people without magic could be heroes and that she should never rely on her magic to be a good person. Karasuki had grown up with an evil pirate king sharing her soul and she thought Isadora had just wanted her to use her own strength to fend him off. She wanted to see Karasuki become a good person first, a good mage second. And so Karasuki had done! She had spent the week repairing books, drinking tea and regaling the older woman with stories of the people she had met and the places she had traveled to.
On her last day in Oak Town she received word of an older woman needing protection, someone was seeking out a legal guild mage for the job. Karasuki thought that none other than her could be better sought out for such a deed, until she accepted the job and learned all the details. Miss Cooper, an old woman who loved to garden was in danger. Karasuki has spent a few afternoons with the old woman, helping her to find recipe books, gardening books, and books on poetry. She shared wonderful evenings with the woman besides her fireplace as a child, reading with Miss Cooper until it was time to return home with Isadora. That kindly old lady was in danger and now Karasuki was afraid she wouldn't be up for the job. What if she messed up? What if Miss Cooper was killed? The idea was terrifying to her but she had already accepted the job and had no other choice than to follow through.
Geralt was actually being nice about it, having himself enjoyed the evenings by the fire so long ago. It was as close to luxury as he had gotten since being pulled out of his ship, out of his book, and into Karasuki's body. He urged her onward as she hovered near the door, having made her farewells to Isadora already. "Go on, girl. We have work to do. Nobody is going to get near her, we won't let them." Karasuki inhaled deeply and then breathed out her worries with a nod. "You're right, Geralt. We can do this." "Best not let Miss Cooper know, though. The way that woman worries might give 'er a heart attack. Tis enough to give me an ulcer!" Karasuki actually smiled at that as she pushed out the door. Some days, she and Geralt could get along quite well. "I agree."
Karasuki headed over to Miss Cooper's house. It was mid afternoon and she knew the woman was going to be cooking in her kitchen the same way as always, preparing an early supper for herself. Karasuki made sure her purple hair was tied out of her face and off to the side upon her shoulder. Then, she moved near to the house, peering inside each of the windows, but avoiding the kitchen area. No signs of movement in the living area by the large fireplace, no shadows in the tiny bedroom or washroom. It appeared safe in all the normal ways a place did. "Check th' garden, someone could easily hide amongst all those plants," Geralt told her. Karasuki nodded again listening to his voice gently in her head. She snuck around the back and into the large garden behind the house. Enormous forsythia plants lined the door into her home, rows of tiny green and purple plants indicated lavender, basil, mint, and other herbs were growing healthily there, and everywhere else there were groups of vegetation. A small stone fountain held a basin of rain water and a little gnome statue, which did not appear to shoot up water from his hat anymore. Clumps of lillies grew in arrays of red, orange and white along Miss Cooper's white fence and bushes trimmed into frogs and fairies were placed in various locations around the large garden.
There were so many plants that Karasuki felt a bit small and lost in the garden, the same way she did when she was a young girl with muddy hands, pulling up the weeds around that very same fountain. "Was it always so big?" She thought to Geralt and it was his turn to smile inwardly. She paced about the garden and took a seat on the grassy floor, patting the soft blades beneath her hands. "Don't get too comfy, girl. We're on a job still." Karasuki frowned and slumped her shoulders a bit, "I know you're right but its middle of the afternoon. Assassins don't seem to be anywhere. And the best time to go after Miss Cooper is when she starts falling asleep by her fireplace at night. We should be okay for now." Karasuki stretched out and fell upon her back with a light smile on her face. She looked up at the clouds and breathed out a long relaxed breath. She could do this, she had time to prepare, Miss Cooper would never be in any danger. Karasuki told herself this over and over until she felt something cold upon her neck.
Karasuki blinked and looked down and besides her knelt a person in all black, and at her neck was a dagger, shining in the light of the afternoon. "Don't get in my way. Stay quiet or you're dead too," said the person. By the voice, Karasuki could tell it was a man, but a young man maybe her own age. How she had not even heard him was a surprise. She squinted up at him, "Who are you? Please, just don't hurt me." If she looked and sounded weak, perhaps the assassin who had surprised her would let his guard down. Geralt tensed and demanded of her, "Ye better let me at him. I told ye to be careful and now yer going to get us both killed!" Karasuki didn't move or answer Geralt, but she felt him pressing at the confines of her mind, forcibly trying to take over.
The assassin tensed up and said, "Don't matter who I am. I won't hurt you, just... stay quiet." Karasuki sighed lightly, "It doesn't look like he's open to talking. Don't kill him okay." Geralt flexed and took control of Karasuki's body, "No promises." Her appearance changed abruptly: her eyes turning green, her purple hair shortening and turning brown and her voice deepening like that of a mature adult woman. He reached up Karasuki's arm and touched the assassin's face, leaving a black mark there while his other hand grabbed the wrist holding the dagger by her neck. He squeezed tightly, so much so that the assassin was struggling to keep a hold on the blade at all. Geralt swiftly bent his wrist backwards and a crack could be heard which made Karasuki flinch. That black spot allowed him to deal more damage and this assassin would not get away. "So ye like goin' after old ladies? I'll teach ye!" His words came out of Karasuki's lips and the assassin looked confused. His face contorted in pain as he tried to get back, his wrist still in Karasuki's tight grip. Geralt pulled his hand away from the assassin's face and summoned a fiercesome looking falchion in his hand. He drew back the blade and gave a gruesome grin to the assassin.
"Please, oh please," The young man begged, "It was just a job! I'll do anything!" Geralt swung his blade down hard, removing the hand he had just broke with one thump. He sat up and placed the removed hand into the assassin's shirt pocket. "Ye are going to go to the hospital and turn yerself in. Ye are going to tell them who hired ye, what ye tried to do, do ye understand?" The assassin cried out loudly and Geralt threw his hand over the assassin's mouth. "Shake yer head yes or no. And if ye say no, keep in mind, I still have that black spot on yer face. I can always find ye." After a pause and some more whimperings, the male nodded yes and then Geralt let him go. The assassin raced up over the white fence, blood dripping from his wound. He cried and moaned and turned back just once to see Geralt standing there in the garden, still holding his falchion.
"Did you have to go so far?" Karasuki groaned as Geralt returned control to her. "You didn't let me take control to play nice, little girl. Miss Cooper is safe and we have an assassin off the streets. You should be thanking me!" Karasuki didn't like it but he was still right. The falchion faded away and her long purple hair returned to its normal state. "Can we go inside now, say hello?" Geralt asked and Karasuki nodded turning up to the door and giving it a knock. He got the job done even if it was a bit deranged.
WC: 1557
