Not Your Average Photoshoot

The small ship was full of tourists mostly, and a good number of people who just wanted to unwind and enjoy the ambience of Crescent Island, with its natural beauty and lovely weather. Among the many people coming to the island for recreation, there were a number of individuals who had come to the island for business. One of such was the Ascendant Demon Slayer, Venus Rigel.

As she alighted from the ship, looking for all the world like a tourist herself, she took in the scenery, enjoying the view, although she was looking for someone. A particular fellow called Gilbert, who was the client concerning this mission. Venus was minded to believe that she had a weird taste for missions, seeing as she always seemed to end up with missions with a weird twist to them. Like this one. The whole idea was to ensure that Gilbert, who was a talented photographer trying to get noticed by one of the larger media companies, was able to complete his photoshoot successfully.

That sounded easy enough, except that it seemed that the place he had chosen for the photoshoot location seemed to have been illegally 'supervised' by a band of cultists calling themselves 'Nature's Fist'. According to Nature's Fist, some parts of Crescent Island were hallowed, and humans were not expected to be walking about there, desecrating the holy land with their sacrilegious feet. So, any human who trespassed would feel the might of Nature's Fist. It wasn't like they were particularly a threat, though; just a band of coots with too much time and too little sense. However, it seemed they had a personal hatred of Gilbert, and so things could possibly get hairy if they crossed paths. Which was why mage supervision had been required by Gilbert, to ensure that his photoshoot, which had the chance to launch him to prominence, was executed successfully.

Venus noticed a man with weird glasses and an odd hairstyle standing with two large cards in his hands. On the one was written 'Ms. Rigel', and on the other, 'Mr. Stern'. That would probably be Gilbert, or one of his associates. She walked up to him and said, "hi." He turned and studied her for a moment, then said, without returning the greeting, "You're late. Models should have already been at the make-up stand by now."

"Funny," Venus replied, "I didn't think Ms. Rigel was supposed to be engaged here as a model." The man did a double-take. "Are you-- that is-- I thought-- are you Venus Rigel?"

"In the flesh," came the reply. Now all Venus had to do was stay with the fellow who was currently embarrassing himself, as she waited for the one designated Mr. Stern to arrive. She just hoped her mission partner wouldn't have a behavior very identical with his name.


481/3000

The silver-haired mage was already beginning to question his affinity with Crescent Island when had picked up the job. This being the second time in a week he was bound for the island, the first being a pirate-related job. And it had been the same ship, the same captain too.

“Hey, Stern!” the captain shouted in greeting just as he took his first step on the board. The captain of the ship, a humble ferry that would do trips between the mainland and the islands around on a daily basis, was a man by the name of Howard. No last name, just Howard. Shane broke out a smile and waved in the direction of the man before walking to the center of the ship and found an empty seat to sit on.

The trip took no less than thirty minutes, Shane paying no attention to the other people on board. He had closed his eyes the entire trip, keeping to himself. The moment the ship jolted slightly as it was docking, Shane had already opened his eyes. He allowed the other passengers to disembark first, coming up last.

His eyes caught a sign with his name on it when he stepped off the boat, his combat boot thumping heavily on the wooden dock. It seemed like the photographer had sent his assistant to pick him and his partner up. Adding to his surprise, Shane discovered his partner had stepped out from the stream of passengers in front of him, responding to the other name that the photographer’s assistant was holding up. Shane had actually been on the same ship to Crescent Island with the other mage he would be doing the job with.

As he approached them, Shane smirked a little at the girl’s response to the assistant’s snobby attitude. He decided he was going to have a little fun.

“You must be Gilbert’s assistant? I’m the male model he asked for. Can you bring me to the make-up stand?” Shane said, putting on a wide smile. The assistant was dumbfounded for a while, racking his brains as he tried to remember if there was a male model in the photoshoot.

“Err.. Umm.. Please give me a moment.. Please wait…” the assistant said as he quickly squeezed the name cards under his left armpit and tried to dig around in his backpack frantically.

Controlling himself so that he wouldn’t laugh out loud, Shane turned to look at Venus and gave her a mischievous wink. He turned his attention back to the assistant, watching the man read and re-read a list of names, presumably the list of models.

Deciding that he had gone too far and they were just plain wasting time now, Shane cleared his throat and said, “I’m just messing with you. I’m Shane Stern, the second mage for the job.”

The presence of an approaching male with a similar hair color took Venus' attention from the flustered man momentarily. "I guess that's my mission partner," the Demon Slayer noted mentally, evaluating his features silently. "Looks rather fit, weird left eye color, but he's quite easy on the eyes, despite that scar. Now let's hope his persona matches his looks..." He arrived, and, with a smile, identified himself as one of Gilbert's models, throwing the man into another bout of confusion. Venus watched the proceedings silently, willing to just watch and see what would happen next, until the newcomer turned to her and winked. Realizing that a trick had just been played on Gilbert's assistant, her lips curled into a wide grin, as she mentally awarded Shane points on her 'regard meter'. Eventually, the silver-haired man introduced himself as Shane Stern, and put an end to the confusion.

Gilbert's assistant stared for a moment at the other man, then cleared his throat, after a poor, but eventually successful attempt to conceal his annoyance. "Well, I'm glad you had your fun," he said petulantly. "Come along, we wouldn't want to keep Mr. Gilbert waiting. Oh, and please try to be as best behaved as you can afford. This photoshoot can not be jeopardized under any circumstances."

The man turned and began walking in the direction of a series of temporary structures, expecting that the two mages would do the same. Venus, however, fell back momentarily to talk with Shane, if not for anything, at least to properly introduce herself. "For a moment, I was scared your surname might be indicative of your persona, no offense intended," the Ascendant Demon Slayer said to him with a bright smile. "Venus Rigel, but you can call me Vee, if you think two-syllabled names are a bit tasking on the tongue. Pleased to meet you." It wasn't like the average person would have a problem with a name as short as hers, but Venus liked nicknames, thanks to the informal qualities they possessed.

Eventually, led by the assistant, the two mages came face to face with Mr. Gilbert. Bean-pole thin with an almost crazed look in his eye, and always burdened with a particularly oversized camera which hung from his neck, he grinned from ear to ear when he saw the mages, and shook their hands with a lot of force, or tried to, whether they appreciated the gesture or not. Venus, for her part, looked as though the fellow was going to rip off her arm from its socket, when Mr. Gilbert shook her hand. After struggling, and successfully managing to free her hand, the Ascendant Demon Slayer shot the photographer a reproachful look, as he turned to shake Shane's hand. "Welcome, welcome," he said delightedly. "I would have loved to entertain you guys more, but we must attend to the photoshoot immediately. I'm sure you know the threat we're up against. Nature's Fist, they call themselves. I hear they've been scouting this area, trying to see if I brought protection, in which case they might probably attempt something more nefarious than whatever plan they woke with today. To that end, I believe the both of you can disguise yourselves as lifeguards. We've got uniforms, and I'm sure you'll find sizes that fit you both." He gestured to a couple of dressing rooms. "If you please...."

WC: 581 words
Total: 1534 words

Shane watched as the assistant tried this best to mask his annoyance at Shane’s little prank, struggling to regain control of his facial expressions until he managed to smooth it out with a small ahem. Putting back on his professional face, the assistant turned around and walked as he talked, expecting the two mages to follow behind him. Shane shrugged, walking at his pace. The girl, his partner for the job, had purposely slowed down her pace as well to introduce herself.

“It’s not everyday someone dares to bring it up to me,” Shane said with a warm smile, pointing to his scar on his left eye, “courtesy of this beauty mark here.”

“Anyway, since I know you appreciate humor, I believe we can definitely get along. I’m Shane, I don’t really have much of a nickname actually. You know, only having a mono-syllabic name. Great to meet you too.”

It was a short walk, as they quickly reached the site where the photography was to take place. Gilbert was a very thin man that looked like he was malnourished and his eyes had that crazy look in it. Shane kept his expression neutral as he continued appraising the photographer’s actions. He seemed to be a lively person, in contrary to his stressed outlook. Shane return the man’s enthusiastic hand shake with a firm one of his own, after watching how Venus had almost had her shoulder popped out of its socket.

Regarding changing into the security uniform, Shane peered in the direction Gilbert had pointed in, and then shifted his eyes back to Gilbert. He took a look at Venus and the way she dressed and then shook his head at Gilbert.

“Nope, we are fine as is. We aren’t generic security guards, and we look as intimidating as it is, as mages. Wearing the security uniform would make it the reverse actually,” Shane pointed out. Gilbert took a five second pause to take in what Shane had said, his expression clearly showing he was evaluating the man before him. And then he nodded with a serious expression.

“Thank you for the advice, Shane. I will leave it in your hands then. This will be the defining moment in my career, so I will be depending on you,” the photographer said, dramatically clapping his hands on Shane’s shoulders as he spoke and then walked off with his huge camera dangling around his chest.

Shane turned to look at Venus with a quizzical smile.

“Weird fellow, isn’t he?”

It was great to see that Shane was, at least as far as first meetings went, a humorous person. The Ascendant Demon Slayer agreed silently when he said the two of them would get along. The only reason they probably wouldn't was if Shane eventually turned out to be a jackass, which was highly unlikely, seeing as the average jackass usually took every available chance to display tomfoolery. So far, the silver-haired fellow was decent enough, and while he informed Venus that people often felt intimidated or frightened by his scar, enough to guard their words around him, Venus' readiness to talk with him was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but the result of careful, though silent, observation. Funny how people jumped to conclusions by first appearances. Venus, being the object of such judgment calls, could relate, although she never tried to change the general initial opinion about herself. It made people underestimate her, which could be used to her advantage.

Shane didn't seem obliged to agree with Gilbert's suggestion that the mages change into lifeguard outfits. Not like Venus was bothered; as long as the mission was successful eventually. She personally didn't think she looked in the least bit intimidating for any reason, but she couldn't speak for Shane. In any case, Gilbert eventually saw sense in the mage's words, and left the security detail to the mages. As he walked off to finalize commencement of the photoshoot, Venus turned at her mission partner's question and shrugged. "Well, he's as odd as they come, but trust me, I've seen worse," came the reply. "At least he's not trying to baste us in machine oil or make us eat our toes."

Venus looked round at the environment. Obviously, the immediate area in which the mages stood wasn't where the photoshoot would take place. "What do you think, Shane?" asked the platinum blonde girl, "should we sweep the site of the photoshoot just in case someone has planted something there? And do you think we should split up?" It wasn't as though she couldn't make the decisions herself, but being one who didn't like to readily take leadership upon herself, she preferred being democratic when she was working with someone else.

In the distance, a cleaner carried sanitary paraphernalia. "And while you're mentally churning my questions, here's a bit of a brain teaser: why does a cleaner, who's working in a sandy environment, carry a mop?" She began straying slowly in the cleaner's general direction.


WC: 434 words
Total: 2380/3000

Shane’s left eyebrow arched upwards at Venus’ reply. He was somewhat intrigued and also afraid to ask her about why she had spoke about being basted in machine oil or licking her own toes. Were there really jobs like that? The silver haired mage wondered to himself, inwardly thanking his lucky stars that he had only been receiving normal jobs, albeit dangerous ones. But still normal.

He took note of what Venus had said, his vision zooming in on the cleaner as well and the oddities about him. Shane nodded, agreeing to what the girl had said.
“We should do that. You’ll check that guy out and I will move in the other direction. Let’s check back here in an hour.”

The two separated, Venus’ attention on the suspicious cleaner while Shane prowled around the perimeter of the photography site. A fair bit of the people who saw him walking by flinch slightly when they saw the scar and the red eye, while some stared. Nevertheless, Shane had no problem with it beefing up his image, the easier it was for him to act as a deterrent to any rowdy behavior.

As he moved, Shane kept his ears pricked and his eyes were roving over everything he could find. And then he saw it. Beyond where the photographer and his assistants were discussing what their photoshoot would entail and everyone else distracted by the loud gossiping and giggling of the models, something was happening over by the buffet table that was plated with mostly snacks and drinks.

Someone was bent over the table, wearing a cap that was pulled down low to hide the face, sneaking glances to the left and right every so often. The person was swapping out the snacks, replacing them with identical ones, storing the original ones into another bag. Hands working quickly, the person moved from one plate to another in record time. Shane approached slowly and silently, until he finally stood in front of the person.

With a quick flick of his fingers at the cap’s bill, Shane flipped the cap off the person’s head, revealing a shower of red hair that dropped down to cover the person’s face. The person stood up straight and shrank back in shock, fear written clearly across her face, letting out a shriek of surprise. She dropped the two bags in her hand, a black one for the snacks she were bringing away and a transparent one for the replacements.

The shriek had pulled the attention of the crew to them, many of them spectating the situation. Shane bent down to pick up the two bags, looked into each of them and then put the black one on the table. He fished out one of the scones from the transparent bag and then pointed it at the redhead. She flinched when she saw the scar.

“I saw you replacing each and every one of the snacks on the table,” Shane said, loud enough for the others around to hear him. “Why?”

“The snacks… The snacks… were already… stale! Yes, they were already stale!” the girl stammered, as she tried to find an excuse. When she had finally stumbled upon one mid-sentence, the confidence boost allowed her a small bit of defiance as she spoke. “The snacks were already stale, so I’m replacing them with fresher ones.”

A look of triumph glinted in the girl’s eyes as she spoke even louder. Shane merely frowned and then extended his arm fully, the scone still between fingers.

“Since the setting up of this area for the photography, it’s only been two hours. What a wonderful caterer you are to care so much about the freshness of the food,” Shane said flatly. The girl, thinking that Shane had bought whatever she said, nodded vehemently. But her joy was cut short.

“Eat this. If you say you are replacing it because it’s slightly stale, it should be alright to eat it. Here. Eat. It,” Shane pressed, as he moved one step closer to the red-haired girl. The girl looked around to the left and right, apparently looking for help, hoping that someone would walk out to act the hero and stop the bullying. Unfortunately for her, none dared. Not even the man who was hiding behind one of the trees a few feet from behind the girl, obviously an accomplice. Shane had noticed him earlier. He had almost come out when Shane confronted the girl, but he ducked back when the girl spoke up for herself.

“Eat the scone,” Shane said again. The girl slowly held out her hands under Shane’s glowering gaze, reached out for the scone in his hand. When the scone was finally in front of her mouth, the girl looked at the scone, as if pleading with it. Shane merely continued watching. Shooting a look at Shane, and getting the same glowering gaze from him, the girl meekly looked back down at the scone and bit on it. Shane watched her, until she finished the whole thing. And then he waited.

First there, was merely some dry heaving. And then, within seconds, the girl’s body was trembling, turning into full on puking. Shane had expertly dodged out of the way of her vomit. The redhaired girl dropped to the knees, vomiting the contents of her stomach without restraint. The onlookers, who had originally thought Shane was a bully, stared with eyes wide.

“Nature’s Fist use some really nasty stuff, huh?” Shane said but his expression was on the man behind the trees. Turning back to the crew, he merely pointed at the girl. “Secure her.”

When Shane turned back to the man behind the tree, he found no more trace of him. He had completely abandoned his comrade. Shane took another quick sweep of the set and walked back to where he and Venus had split up earlier.

Venus agreed with Shane's suggestion that she check out the cleaner, while he did a sweep around the area. "Hey there," she called out to the man, as she walked over to him, a rather friendly smile on her face. "Yeah, hi." He replied, looking a bit uncertain. Of course, his uncertainty could be as a result of having a pretty young woman approach him, if he was a socially awkward person, but Venus was sure that wasn't the case. He looked wary, guarded, like an animal that was securing a piece of meat.

"I was just wondering, could you point me to where the indoor bathrooms are?" she asked. Believing that the question was her actual motive for speaking to him, the cleaner shrugged and said, "I really don't know. My work area is restricted to the open spaces."

"Oh dear, such a pity," came the reply. "I was thinking that you would know, since you had a mop, and you surely would have used it indoors, yeah?" There was an uncertain pause, as the man realized his cover had been blown. He sighed and put down the bucket in his hand, then with a sudden motion, he tried to crack the mop stick on Venus' head. The Demon Slayer dodged the swing easily, but was temporarily distracted, as she didn't hear the expected call of alarm that should arise when a bystander noticed a scuffle. Truly, everywhere seemed deserted, and Venus had just returned her gaze to the questionable cleaner, when she noticed that the stick was swinging her way again. There was no time to dodge.

Holding out her hands, palms out, she received the stick and clenched it, even though her palms smarted. The man pushed against her, hoping to make her stumble backward, and weight was on his side; he was easily forty pounds heavier than Venus was. Instead of instinctively making the mistake he'd want and try to wrestle him, the Demon Slayer yielded backward, but shot her knee upward, catching her assailant in the unprotected crotch. He left the stick to cradle his hurting regions, while Venus, now holding the makeshift weapon, completed her fall, and from her supine position on the sand, swung the stick across his head, breaking it on his left temple. A quick sideways roll ensured that the man's form didn't land on her.

"Well, that was exciting," Venus muttered, checking the contents of the bucket. Live crabs. Lots of them. She emptied the bucket close to the water's edge, and called security. As they were bundling the false cleaner off, Venus checked around. All seemed fair and safe, so she waited for Shane's return. "All clear," she said, as he approached.


WC: 462 words
Total: 3821/3000

Shane nodded and gave a smile to Venus as she approached him with good news. He had caught sight of what happened over at her side earlier. It had been more dramatic that what had happened on his side, but after this two incidents, he was guessing that the Nature’s Fist would stop trying to wreak havoc and prevent the photography session.

“Great,” Shane said as he shifted his posture, allowing his previously crossed arms in front of his chest to drop to his sides, “I think with that girl barfing all over the place and that guy holding his privates with that agonized look we are quite done here.”

He grinned as he gave the two Nature’s Fist members by the side of the set. The guy pretending to be the cleaner was rolled up like a ball, hands between his thighs, eyes closed. Cold sweat even seemed to be rolling down his face. Beside him, heaving and retching every few seconds was the girl. Other than Gilbert giving instructions and the click of his camera, she was the only other source of noise.

“Great work for today, I reckon.”

Venus nodded gladly, as her colleague considered that the two had done a great job. It hadn't been as difficult as she had feared, and the Demon Slayer was feeling quite positive about the fact that, so far, all her missions had ended in success, especially this one, being her first C-rank mission.

Even though the two mages kept watch over the proceedings of the photoshoot, there was nothing else about that would cause alarm. The hiding individual that Shane had noticed when he accosted the snack-swapper was nowhere to be found, most likely having escaped to report back to the members of his cult, because at any rate, he never showed his face again for the rest of the day.

Roughly thirty minutes later, Gilbert walked up to the two mages, along with his assistant, as the two rendered their thanks and praised the efforts of the duo. A little extra time-wasting, and the mission was officially over, allowing Venus to say her goodbyes to her partner and the photoshoot crew. There was nothing now left to do except wait for a ship that would take her to the mainland.

Now, where was that ice cream stand...?


WC: 202 words
Total: 4204/3000