four; action

[lunardialled]

A.) 1647 Albright Lane;

[Every morning, the Milkman delivers fresh milk to the house. And every morning, Sakuya dutifully pours it out. She's taken the adage to not drink the milk to heart

Comments

[lunardialled]

[Normally, that tone would snap Sakuya out of things, but this time, it doesn't.]

No. I can't do that.

[notsogreatwall]

[ More sniffling. Those shoulders are locked wide, tense. Her whole body is coiled up with every bit of restraint she can muster, even as it sounds as if she's going to crumble down bawling at any moment. ] She'll hurt others! If we both leave.

[ Meiling reaches up and places her hands atop the vampire's, softly. ] Please... I'm begging you to go...

[lunardialled]

[ Staring. Gauging distance. Calculating the distance between ribs, pinpointing the exact spot she needs to hit for a strike to be fatal. She's just biding her time, waiting for an opening.]

[redthenightless]

I don't care about others, I care about you! [And patchouli and flandre, which would be the first people they'd have to go find] Now let's go!

[tugging urgently on your clothes GIDDYUP MEILING]

[notsogreatwall]

[ She is torn on what to do. Physically, emotionally, logically... It's just one big freaking mess in her head right now, and it shows in the way her body is equally a mess. Meiling reaches behind her as she turns, pushing Remilia away... rougher than she means to, but enough to give her the distance she needs to back away.

--and then turn and roll into a flying tackle aimed directly for Sakuya. If the first solution doesn't work, then she has to resort to plan B: getting the maid AWAY from people so that no one had to hurt anymore. No one had to cry or know pain, except for Meiling. ]

You can't stop this-- [ She hiccuped to the maid, the waterworks on full blast, now. ] --can you?

[lunardialled]

[Sakuya's able to dodge that flying tackle, but it still catches her off-guard enough that she can't immediately strike back. Her full attention is now on Meiling, and she looks, with crimson eyes that betray no emotion.]

I can and I will.

[redthenightless]

Oof-!

[Being shoved aside is not what Remi expected]

Meiling! Stop that, we're retreating, now!

1/2

[notsogreatwall]

[ She doesn't hear those words. Through her blurred vision all she can focus on is those eyes and that face. Meiling's sadness stabs at her heart at the sight, but she forces her eyes to blink the tears away and match that gaze, her arms coming up and forward, reaching out for the source of her grief in this moment. Reaching for her friend, the one she knows is deep down beneath the influence of whatever is causing her to lash out at others; at their master. ]

Sakuya...

2/2

[notsogreatwall]

[ Her steps pick up speed as she advances, not caring if she ends up taking one, or three, or a dozen, or a hundred knives in the distance between them. She hates that pain.

Meiling's eyes never leave the maid's and her arms never lower, but the fingers are no longer splayed out, pleading, reaching. She is grasping, grappling, latching. She hates that look.

And that hate is all sees through eyes no longer blue, but gleaming gold in the light. She hates her family fighting, and she is counting on something that may or may not be true:

Do drones understand the terror of facing an angry dragon? ]

[lunardialled]

[For a moment, her eyes go blue. Sakuya's words - the words of the real Sakuya, not the drone - won't come out, but there's panic in her eyes. Panic, sadness, regret.

That doesn't last long. Those eyes go back to soulless red a moment later, devoid of all feelings, and all intent except killing intent. All she can think of is how important it is to protect her family, to protect the town she cares so much about. Nothing else matters.

She doesn't register the fact that Meiling's eyes have changed color, not before she's let loose another handful of knives.

She hardly registers the fact that her hands have latched onto her wrists until after the fact.

And she's facing all of this with very little fear, very little fright. Far less than she should have.

Somewhere inside, the tiny rational part of Sakuya that's still fighting recognizes what's happening. But that part of her is drowned out and overruled by the droning, and so she can't feel the terror that she should feel when facing down an angry dragon.]

[redthenightless]

Meiling...! Sakuya!

[She feels small, helpless. Her two best servants are fighting each other and she can't do a thing to stop them or put a halt to it. Even more than how painful it is to watch her family fight, the absolute confirmation of how powerless she is now is what pains her. Wasn't the whole point of becoming as strong as she had so she could protect her family? So what if it had come to include more than just Flandre...

But now she couldn't do anything but watch.]

[notsogreatwall]

[ The youkai might be blinded by rage, but she's not deaf. There is no hesitation and no apologies. She only the feels the way the blades bite through flesh and find her bones and the way her hands clamp down on those weak human wrists with nearly enough power to break them.

--but she doesn't. She pulls hard on those arms, her feet leaving the ground as she takes off like a rocket, Sakuya in tow. ]

[lunardialled]

[Sakuya can't help but gasp when she's lifted off the ground. She struggles, but she's not going anywhere, not with the way Meiling's got her by the wrists.

She doesn't know what's happening, why she's being lifted into the sky, but she also doesn't have enough of her usual wit about her to figure it out.]

[redthenightless]

[Oh, it looks like Meiling can fly. And, uh... Sakuya... can't...

REMI DOESN'T LIKE WHERE THIS IS GOING]

[notsogreatwall]

[ And it's going straight up, until the town stretches out below them. She isn't looking at Sakuya, but she lifts her up by those arms and manhandles her until she can look down forward at the ground, so far below. There is a deep growl under her voice; inhuman, with an indecipherable, ancient language to it. It is mostly for emphasis. What will it take to make her see? ]

This is what you're protecting?! IS IT? Don't you know how much pain this town causes everyone? Can't you see the suffering? [ Attempting logic with her rage-blown mind is not the smartest thing she's ever done. ]

What if I dropped you, huh? [ Her grip relaxed briefly, then tightened, to emphasize the point. ] Do you think it'll save you? Do you think the town'll reach up and CATCH you?

[lunardialled]

[It says something that Sakuya screams at the way she's being lifted and shifted so that she can see everything. It's not her normal voice at all, though. The fear is there, but it's out of self-preservation, not out of anything resembling normality.]

It doesn't. None of that is --

[When Meiling's grip loosens, Sakuya screams a second time. It's as pitiful as it is blood-curdling, the scream of a frightened drone.]