Two Hunters, One Prey. [Leanne]

Job Details:

Interesting.

Things had been quite eventful; lately, Jester had found himself a fun new player. The White Queen; the magnificent woman with the ability to turn any moment into an eruption of chaos and bloodshed. She had been delightful to work with, or rather to play with. With every move she made, he could see it, the endless possibilities that lay ahead of him. The fun they were going to happen, he just needed to set up the next game. He had ideas, possibilities. His White Queen's malevolence only seemed to grow with her ego, the more she became entitled to, the less she tolerated. He needed to raise her up, he had an idea, but it would take funds. Funds and other players. They didn't need to be extraordinary, just willing. Perhaps it would work, if not he would just need to explore other routes. But if he could lead her down this path, well, the future of Earthland would change drastically. He would get to witness as his queen flooded the people with fear, fear of her name, fear he would contribute to.

And so, he had taken a job without her. To broaden his horizons a little, to give him time to think. When he was with her, he became so fixated on her malice and bloodshed. He couldn't calculate quite as easily. Also, he wanted to see, if he could achieve the same thrill without her presence. It was an intriguing concept, to see if she really was the peak of his entertainment at this moment in time. He had played such games before, games that came to conclusions that had left him riveted with satisfaction for months on end. But still, once you played such a game, playing it over and over again grew tiresome. He needed something new, and his queen was the ideal creator for such fun. He just needed to make the right moves.

He had plucked the job from the halls of another guild; he wasn't even a member there, he had just walked in and taken it before walking out. No one had even noticed. They were so weak and pitiful for a 'Dark' guild as they were so aligned. He would never consider joining them; even Nightmare hadn't been entertaining enough for the clown. At least, not with their new rules. Limited the victims he could target. What did he care if someone was a mage or not? They all bled the same.

He had gone to the Holy Trinity of the Talonia and looked up the girl in question. He had also managed to learn just what it was the girl was running from. These sisters were cruel, heartless and greedy; Jester was only so happy to return her to them. Because you didn't just run away from such cages, at least not in Jester's eyes. If this girl wanted to be free, she had to destroy the cage entirely and everyone in it. She didn't deserve to be free. Not yet at least.

It didn't take Jester long to find her.

The girl knew of the nun's connections, their position in society. The girl was creeping through the shadows, staying out of the public eye, slowly trying to accumulate the funds so she could leave Talonia. It was just so... obvious.

His golden eyes peered down at the alleyway; he was crouched on the roof of a building. Wearing his 'Ringmaster' suit; which included his red cloak, black top hat and white mask wearing a broad smile. Intensely looking down on the girl in the alleyway, her hair a mess and her clothes smothered in dirt. She was counting the change she had managed to pickpocket in the rush of the morning market. He would watch silently, remaining completely still as he prepared to capture his prey.

WC: 757 / 3500

Well, well, well, what did we have here...

As Jester watched the girl, he sensed the presence of another approaching her. A magical aura creeping along, stealthily stalking the girl. It seemed someone was after his prey as well. Jester quickly surmised that it was another mage that had taken the job at hand. He doubted it was just some generic attacker, after all who would girl after such a measly target. She may have been weak, but she didn't exactly have much to offer. At least not as far as Jester could see, she was just a weak human with nothing particularly interesting about her nature. Not yet at least, but sometimes humans were mouldable playthings. Maybe he could make something...interesting happen.

But first, he needed to take into account this new variable, the other hunter. How to deal with that? Should he make a move on her first, eliminate her in case of interference? It wasn't as though the job really mattered that much, he could always grab another. But he didn't want any outside influences affecting the girl before he could see if he could influence her himself. He wanted his own fun before bringing her back to the nuns, he wanted to plant a seed and see if it grew.  This approaching mage could ruin that possibility entirely. But then again, they may also prove useful or perhaps even fun, they may even prove to water his seedling, contributing to the chaos he hoped to create.

The clown stood up, stretching his arms for a moment. He stepped off of the building suddenly dropping down into the alleyway. He fell quickly, his body doing a three-hundred degree turn in the air, he swiftly landed on a dumpster lid, using it to propel him off before landing in front of the girl. She jumped up with a shriek, pulling out a switchblade and pointing it at him. She was quick, but Jester was quicker, his cane smacking her hard with a hard 'thwack' knocking the knife to the ground. She went to pick it up but Jester swept it away with his cane out of her reach. She looked up at him fearfully, quickly trying to back away from him. "Hello little mousey..." He said, his voice silky and soft; sounding no louder than a whisper. "Are you going to let the kitty cat catch you mousey?" He purred leaning forward slightly. She turned on her heel running back towards the entrance of the alleyway. Jester smirked, at this rate she would run right into the other mage. "Runaway mousey, runaway, straight into the jaws of that little kitty cat." His words were louder this time, loud enough so that the other mage would hear him.

WC: 460
Jester's WC: 1217 / 3500
Overall WC: 1683 / 7000

The clown tilted his head, watching the spectacle as the girl fled, from his clutches. It was clear; she would run to the exit of the alleyway. Hope to flee into the crowd, thinking he would dare snatch her out in the open. Maybe she could scream for help, call him a predator and draw the attention of a passing Rune Knight. It was such a shame for her that this would not be this case, not a shame for Jester though, Jester was delighted as his fellow hunter stepped out in front of the entrance of the alleyway. A young female, with black hair and reddish eyes. Reddish eyes... like his queen. She wore an extravagant dark dress and used her matching parasol to block the girl's exit.

The female spoke, teasing the now terrified girl about her being too easy to catch. She then talked to Jester, confirming his theory about them taking the same job from the nuns. Her words caused Jester to smirked behind his mask, that was an interesting remark. So the girl wasn't doing it for payment a lot, did she perhaps carry a sadistic nature? Was she a potential gamemaster like his Queen and the Music Man? Jester's curiosity was picked. He would most certainly play this out a little longer. "Oh yes, we must prepare the mousey before she gets eaten." He replied eagerly. It was amusing that she would refer to Jester's mental health, often he had heard comments about his sanity, or rather his lack of it. It was silly. He was fine; it was the rest of the world that wasn't thinking correctly. It was his job to educate him, to true sanity.

Jester began to stride forward, closing the distance between him and the girl. Between his approach and the young girl's laughter, she freaked. Deciding to take her chances with the girl, she attempted to jump over her parasol and escape into the streets. However it seemed this was doomed from the start, her leg got trapped, causing her to fall flat on her face. Jester did not cease his approach; he had anticipated that the kitty cat would not let her go so easily. She laughed loudly at the girl's troubles, before talking about how tired she was. She referred to Jester once more, asking his opinion on the matter. The clown stopped in front of the fallen girl, reaching down. He grabbed her by one of her ankles, gripping it tightly, he lifted her off the ground. Straightening up, he dangled her there upside down; she looked severely disorientated from the fall. He glanced at the girl in the dark dress once more, "She is a very sleepy mousey after all, no good, no good at all. Let us play with the mousey. Maybe she'll wake up!" He said with a high-pitched snicker. The girl who was started to regain a sense of what was happening began to struggle frantically. Shrieking in fear about what was about to happen to her, even with the nonsense the clown was speaking. She knew this two weren't here to help; their sadistic tendencies were clear to the girl. She was desperate to get away, but Jester had no intention of letting her flee. Not when things were just started to look a little fun.


WC: 557
Jester's WC: 1774 / 3500
Overall WC: 2719 / 7000