tampered | (no subject)

(no subject)

When; May 25th, night
Rating; PG for language
Characters; Rangiku

10thdiv_haineko, Greed

so_very_greedy, Zaheela

henkonasuisho and Cobray

gunofdis
Summary; Rangiku's off on a walk after losing her temper and what might be part of her mind. Greed goes to be with her, or is it to check on her?
Log;

She's had to stop several times to catch her breath after leaving the manor house, but it didn't stop her from continuing on her way. It'd been a foolish thing she'd done earlier; flipping out on the open network was bad enough, but not locking the post because she was too frustrated to notice made it worse. Her so called friends had poked their way in and made their opinions known, not to mention she had the feeling that her entry had been read by others that hadn't bothered commenting.

It'd taken another round that had left her hands bruised and a little bloody to pull herself out of the odd spell that had been happening more and more often lately. Since then, her hands had continued to shake as she tried to hold back the darkness growing in her. The Bond with her Consort, coupled with the weakness her pregnancy held over her made said resistance hard, and growing harder each day.

Wide eyes stared up at the lake before her. She was unaware she'd walked that far. Maybe she'd shunpyo'd part of the way, but she doubted it. She didn't have the energy to waste unless it was a life or death situation. The baby shifted in her belly, mirroring the unease she felt. Without a thought, she smoothed a still trembling hand over the soft material covering her swollen middle as she settled back against a tree.

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There was a soft rustling of underbrush behind her, as a large hand landed on her shoulder. Greed's rough, deep voice drifted into her ear.

"Ran, ya' shouldn't be out here at night. Not even in the day, really. Ya' ain't got the energy," he said, concern in his voice, "Luckily, the tracking was easy. You're puttin' out a lot of scent."

A kneejerk reaction made her react to someone touching her before she stopped to realize who it was. A wickedly slim blade no longer than her forearm appeared from the sleeve of her robe and flashed through the air, barely stopping an inch from Greed's face. It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared once she placed the voice.

That's right.... he said he'd try to find me.

She didn't turn her head to look at him.

"You actually tracked me by scent?"

Greed didn't even flinch at the close proximity of the blade, but kept a steady hand on her as he came around to her front.

"That isn't going to stop the larger beasts, ya' know. And you'd attract them like this. They'd pick up on exactly what I picked up. My kind have heightened senses, though Gluttony's were the best. He could track people throughout whole cities, forests, deserts, anywhere. A woman puts out even more scent when pregnant. It's a big tip-off as to her condition."

She still doesn't look up at him. Instead, her hands slide into the sleeves of her robes and she glances down to make sure they're not in sight. "Nothing's gonna eat me, Greed."

"You don't know that," he said, putting his arms around her, "I just wanna' see you safe. You've been gettin' more and more down lately and I don't know what to do about it. I'm not good with stuff like this. I'm drownin', here."

For a brief instant, she sagged against him, then pulled herself to a painful straightness. "He..... He's not going to be able to keep this up much longer, and neither am I. The dark..... it's so dark."

Finally, her head lifts as she rests it back against the tree, her overly pale skin even whiter in the dim light.

"What is it? What darkness do ya' mean?" he asked, getting around behind her.

He lifted her to get directly between her and the tree, then lowered himself to the ground, allowing her to recline on him. His hands went to her shoulders, gently massaging them.

"Please. Tell me."

She didn't protest being moved, even if she mumbled something under her breath. She still kept that stilted stiffness, as if she was wary to relax around him.

"Ain't the same Ran.... maybe Jan's right.... about being a fake..."

"You're not fake. You're just under drawing up pieces of somebody else. You've always known what he is, Ran."

He moved his hands over her back a bit more.

"That's what people have always tried to bring up with you."

"He's not what He was, either."

She slowly relaxed under his hands, but still kept the rigid line of her back. "They don't understand. They don't.... "

"Then MAKE me understand, because I sure don't get it. He still feeds on negative energy. He's still going to be a god again. And any humanity he may have learned is going with it."

The little relaxation she found at his hands evaporated as she stiffened. Her voice, still soft, took on a hard, discordant sound, like metal on metal.

"NO. He.... He'lL STiLl bE DifFErENT ThaN HE wAS."

Without warning, she twisted in his arms, fixing him with bright blue eyes.

Too bright.

Reacting to the darker presence, Greed's pupils shifted to reptilian slits as the iris' went to a deep, glowing violet. He held her fast, not moving.

"Calm down, Ran. I'm just tellin' you the truth. No matter how nice he may be, he'll never become something else. No more than I could get married or stop going after money. We're not just creatures of habit, Him and me. We ARE those habits. It's our purpose."

"NO. You'RE LiKE ThE REsT!"

With a feral growl and more strength than she looked like she possessed, she wriggled, trying to wrench herself free.

Honestly, she didn't know why she was exactly there, listening to the conversation like some kind of hunter. Zaheela frowned as she stood hidden in the foliage of a tree, watching the scene below. She didn't quite mean to follow Rangiku, to be honest it wasn't on the absolute top of her priorities list, it was more like she ran into the woman. And chosen not to make herself known or get involved if she could so help it.

In the beginning, she considered walking away, but this was Rangiku, who had numerous enemies and... well... her reaction earlier had troubled her. So she stayed out of sight, out of human hearing, and out of mind, listening, noting, and disliking all of it.

...What a headache this was turning out to be.

Greed continued to hold her to himself.

"Would you listen to yourself?! Just listen! That isn't like you! The Ran I knew was strong, willful, independent, and didn't take shit. Now you're completely dependent on that guy!" he said, struggling with her. His nose prickled as he detected a new scent.

"I know you're watching this, Zah. What the hell do ya' want. I'm busy."

Ran snarled like a wild animal and freed an arm just as Greed's attention was snared by the newcomer. Her head snapped up, bright eyes staring up into the trees.

Zaheela did not move from her perch, nor did she make a sound. Greed had addressed her, but she was not in the mood to answer. She watched the scene below, an air of concern around her, as her own eyes, naturally slitted and feral continued to observe in silence. She felt a twinge of agitation when Rangiku's eyes stared at her general direction, perhaps at her.

Fighting the urge to sigh, a hand slipped to the hilt of one of her two blades, just incase the woman, who appeared unstable mentally, chose to attack. As much as she cared for the woman, she wasn't a punching bag.

"Zah! Show yourself!" he barked, a sound that came out like a roar, a sound that made the water ripple and dew fall from the nearby trees.

"Ran, you need to calm down right now," he said, restraining her, "Please!"

Another growl and the Mark on her head started to glow a malignant red. A flash of power that wasn't her own reiatsu allowed her to free both arms and she was up on her feet and into the trees, riding on that unnatural power.

The first warning sign was that there was some king of mark on the woman's head. The second was the flare of power, a power the hidden woman had only felt from the Red god himself, and memories of the rape of her soul were briefly noted. Anger flared, hate even, and she was SORELY tempted to draw steel from wooden sheath. Instead, she waited, watched, predicted, and leapt out of the way, landing close to Rangiku but out of any attack path. In doing so, she revealed her location, but it was already too late for that it seemed.

She didn't feel like fighting, but if Rangiku pushed her, she would.
"Rangiku, calm yourself." Was the only things she said, calm eyes locked onto the pregnant woman.

Cobray had been keeping an eye on Rangiku all day. He felt she had destabilized enough already. Now, using that man's power, he was convinced enough to finally appear. Stepping out of a wormhole, the red glow engulfing him from the demonic symbols was eye catching. But now, there was no time for games.

Cutting straight to the chase, he pulled his pistol from it's holster on his waist and pointed it at Rangiku. With his soft, unemotional voice, he spoke up. "Stop."

Greed transformed into his shielded form and got between Ran and the gun, yelling back at Cobray.

"Put that shit away!" he snarled, picking up speed as he gained and Rangiku. He quickly caught up and grabbed at her arms.

Like a cornered cat, she slowly eyed each of her adversaries, silently judging her options. The moment Greed grew close to her, she kicked at him, landing a blow before she was off again, still using up the power that fueled her mistrust.

A tiny voice deep in her head tried to remind her that these were friends, and they wanted to help, but the darkness flooding her soul silenced it and slowly poured into the void left by her missing partner.

Without looking back, she was back on the ground.

Now, any healer worth their salt and some understanding of the mind knew that letting a person in such a state run off alone was, more or less, an invitation for disaster. As Greed had tried before, restraint of the subject was necessary. Hand darted into a pouch tied snuggly to her belt and took out a small green coil of what appeared to be thread before concentrating on her own power and leaping forward, form blurring to outpace Rangiku. Shunpo was faster, slightly, then her own speed, but what Rangiku was using was NOT that, and she out paced her, landing harshly on the ground and threw the coil at the woman, focusing on releasing the seal.

Concentration peaked a moment later and she felt the spell take place.
"Hojo: Ni" She muttered before the coil exploded midair, sending strands of movement inhibiting threads flying towards Rangiku.

Cobray's honed eyes caught Zaheela's movements and his own thoughts aligned with hers. He didn't wish to inhibit Zaheela's progress so he slowly walked towards Rangiku. He held his gun level with her mid section as if baiting her to come towards him.

Seeing the situation getting worse, Greed took a new action. He dodged to the side and started using the trees to his advantage. He bounded from tree to tree, using each to boost himself along over the other's heads.

When he had gained enough distance, he dropped low and pushed off from the ground launching himself at Ran from the side, attempting to scoop her into his arms like a steam shovel.

Her attention was split, which left her at an disadvantage. The moment Greed started towards her, she focused what meager reiatsu she still had on her own, and launched a binding spell at him.

The effect was obvious, though. Her hands shook for a moment as the power drain made itself felt. In the last instant, though, she caught sight of Cobray stil headed in her direction, then the threads. Desperately, she tried to wrench herself out of the way of the closest threat, but she wasn't quick enough. The threads caught her arm, stopping her retreat.

The slim blade was back in her free hand in the blink of an eye; brandished with all the skill the currently addled blademistress had.

"GO AwAY. LEt mE Go!"

Zaheela had enough. She simply did, all of this was enough. Zaheela darted forward, hands clenched at her side before grabbing for the hand that held the weapon. Right hand grasped the wrist and her her left one Blurred and struck Rangiku across the cheek.

"Snap out of this." She snarled, uncaring that the slap had been uncharacteristic of her normal self. "I'm SICK of you trying to push help away."

Cobray nodded in approval, seeing Zaheela slap Rangiku. However, the two were far to close to each other to use his weapon, so he stayed where he was for the moment. Not being proficient at close combat, he chose to leave it to the professionals. However, if Rangiku broke free and ran, he was ready to pump a few shots into her legs to stop her.

The binding spell only stopped Greed long enough for him to dig under it, after which he ran over to the two currently engaged women put grounded himself to the blond girl.

"CALM DOWN."

Furious, Ran tried to pull her hand free of Zaheela's grip, growls silenced as she tried to lick away the blood from the split lip she now sported. Icey eyes locked on the one she considered as close as a sister, ignoring Greed and Cobray for the moment.

"BLeEDinG Me ISn'T SomETHinG A FrIENd wOUlD Do, nOW iS It, SiSTeR?"

The mark flared up again at the taste of her own blood, speading that unnatural strength though her yet again. She knew it wouldn't last much longer this time, though...

With a shout, she yanked her arm free and the knife flashed, slicing through the threads that bound her, then back at Greed.

This close to the mark, was maddening, the power was too close. Zaheela struggled to keep in control, and chained down the anger that bubbled inside of her, and perhaps a bit of madness.
"No, but special cases call for special, shall we call it NEEDS? A friend would of told you how much of a risk you are taking. A Sister would of knocked you out the moment you put yourself in danger. You complained about your soul being split?" She snarled as her hand was wrenched away. They itched to draw blades, to slice and tear and BLEED the wretch. Instead, she merely shoved her palm forward as Rangiku moved to attack Greed, striking hard at the inner elbow. A move which jarred the joint, painfully, from the socket.

"You are not the only one suffering from the loss of their soul, and quite frankly, sister, you have no right to complain. You GAVE your part away for your child. We had it torn from us by your consort. You turn from friends who would do anything to help you." She purred, ignoring Greed's outburst.
"You claim to fear us leaving you alone, and yet you tug at what little connections you have. Tell me, sister, are you afraid? Afraid of us leaving you to rot in darkness?" Zaheela's tone was almost playful now, but still hinting at the lack of restraint. "Afraid that we dislike what we see? So afraid, are we, and yet so proud that you would ignore the very fact that here we are, risking life, limb, and blood to ensure your safety? Foolish sister, stop thinking you're alone before I find reason to bleed you. It's time to wake up and stop relying on your consort. You are weak, sister. Time to become strong again."

"Rangiku. She is correct. You cannot gain true power from others."

Cobray put his gun away and stepped into the melee, relying on genetically honed reflexes to get him through safely.

"You can only gain true power...emotional, spiritual, and physical...from yourself and the support of your friends. You may chant that we hate you but we are only here for you. So I beg you, put away that useless darkness and come to our light!"

Greed visibly rolled his eyes at his cohorts' comments. He SO hated melodrama.

"Come to our light?" he thought, "What the fuck?"

He quickly snapped back to the task at hand, holding the thrashing woman and whispering harshly against her ear.

"Did you even think about your KID, Ran? Think about what all this fightin' is doin' to her! I'm sick of hearin' excuses and SICK of hearin' you call on a god you don't even need to be strong! Now shove this shit back down where it came from, knuckle the hell up, and snap out of it! Are you just gonna' let yourself be controlled? MAN...THE FUCK...UP!"

The quick flare of pain from her dislocated elbow made the power flicker, but it was the answering pain from her belly that stopped her altogether. One moment, she was struggling, her hand curled around her rapidly swelling joint; the next she'd frozen as the odd power drained away in a rush. With a odd moan, she sagged against Greed, the started to slip from his arms as the overbright light faded from her eyes.

Zaheela had raised an eyebrow at Cobray's almost cliched saying as well. It was somewhat tempting to point to the man that an imbalance of light wasn't helpful either, but whatever. She watched as Rangiku visible paled. She wasn't in the mood to stay near her any more.

"Next time, No warning." She grumbled before harshly grabbing the arm and popping the joint back into place. Ignoring any noise of pain which could of occurred, she turned and began to walk away.

Urgh, she really wasn't in a comforting mood. She'd leave that to Greed. The anger was simmering away, but a bitter taste lingered in the back of her mouth.

Greed gathered her up in his arms. The main question was...what now? It wasn't supposed to go like this. He yelled out to the others in the area.

"DON'T EVER INTERRUPT MY BUSINESS AGAIN, GOT IT?! NEXT TIME YOU INTERFERE, COBRAY, I'LL RIP YOUR LUNGS OUT! ZAHEELA, STAY OUT OF MY WAY WHEN I'M FUCKING BUSY!" he snarled.

With a few quick leaps, he left the area.

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