TITUS RAM TEST DRIVE

[emperorofthieves]

PROMPTS

1) A thief in the night. You're sleeping peacefully, when suddenly you're awoken by the faint sound of rustling. It's quiet, so it could just be the wind, or perhaps you've a pet that's making the rounds? Surely that's it. Yes, you had better go back to sleep and ignore the shadow that moves across your bedroom, searching for wherever you keep your valuables.

2) Backed into a corner. One wrong turn, and you found yourself down a dark alleyway with three--no, four men pointing daggers at you, one of them gesturing for you to open your coin purse. You're contemplating what to do when a hooded figure comes swinging down into the alley and lands hard on one of the muggers, followed by two daggers thrown at the shoulder and thigh of the other two nearby. Just as you're wondering what happened, more dark figures with knives come rushing into the alleyway. Looks like it's just you and the hooded man against these assailants now.

3) Wildcard. Make up your own scenario!


Note which scenario you're starting with in your comment header! You can message me on plurk at dolphinsdontmoo or on discord @ haeralis#8694.

Comments

2

[fujimaru]

[ This is probably more familiar than she will ever admit, and she is almost certainly going to get into a lot of trouble later. Listen, it wasn't like she meant to get distracted and wander off from the others, it just sort of... happened. Getting mugged is just like the human version of a wyvern trying to bite your head off, right?

...Actually, come to think of it, dramatic rescues at the last second are also kind of familiar, but they don't really lose their charm. In spite of the looming threat, Ritsuka does the first thing that comes to mind: she applauds. ]

--Whoa, nice!

[emperorofthieves]

You can praise me later.

[the hooded figure, whose hood has shifted so it no longer hides the long golden hair or the eyepatch, is scanning the area as it fills up with more dudes]

Hey, can you fight by any chance? I'm guessing no.

[fujimaru]

I'm a lot better at the... uh. Tactical part?

[ "Giving orders" but usually she knows the people she's ordering, so that's out. ]

[emperorofthieves]

[swings a hard right hook at a guy who lunges for them, who then hits the ground like a ton of bricks]

Alright, miss Tactical. Count how many of these punks are surrounding us while I make a path.

[he does a flip off the chest of another dude, knocking him into more dudes who fall back like dominoes]

[fujimaru]

Is that counting the ones already down or just from here?!

[ At least the other thing she's good at is: keeping out of the way of people doing the fighting, not the lease of which because she'd really never hear the end of it if she got herself injured on top of everything else. ]

[emperorofthieves]

Count the ones that are up, and the ones that are getting up!

[he yells, and it could be mistaken for aggravation with her, but more than likely it was the fact that he narrowly dodged getting slashed in the ear just now and instead took a hard scrape on the shoulder]

Where do they keep coming from!?

[fujimaru]

I don't know -- three, right there, three!!

[ MAYBE... MAYBE NOW IS THE TIME TO RUN AWAY? MAYBE THEY SHOULD RUN AWAY, ]

[emperorofthieves]

That's three too many for me right now. Alright, we're taking off! Brace yourself!

[suddenly he

rushes towards her and grabs her around the waist, one hand holding a grappling hook that he flings up into the air and lands on the ledge of the building they're next to. and then he starts climbing up the side of the building, fast, even though he's only got the leverage of one hand holding the rope connected to the grappling hook]

[fujimaru]

Not again------!

[ She's wailing it as they go up, but even as she does, she adjusts to grab onto him in turn. She knows better than to go deadweight, at least, even if there's not much she can actually do in his position. Boy this is going a lot faster than expected. ]

[emperorofthieves]

[the hooded cloak he was wearing almost falls free in the process, it's now hanging off his arm holding her, so she can get a better look at him. he makes a "hup!" sound as they reach the roof and flips up onto it, letting her go and catching his breath]

Okay. Phew. That was the easy part. Are you ready for the hard part?

[fujimaru]

[ oh no he's hot

I mean ]

...Wait, what's the hard part?!

[emperorofthieves]

[oh no. he gives her a biiiig grin]

We're gonna go jump over there.

[he points to the building nearby with a lower roof than the one they're on now, so ostensibly they could make it but a straight jump between the two would be precarious, to say the least]

[fujimaru]

Oh no. Oh, no, no, no, noooooooooo--

[ Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, the sad dog whines, even as she's bracing herself for this. ]

[emperorofthieves]

If we go it together, we might not make it. So we're going to have to do it one by one. Hey.

[he puts a hand on her shoulder]

What's your name?

[fujimaru]

Ritsuka...!

[ She's going to fall and die and that will be incredibly difficult to explain later, but she is still a good girl who can (belatedly) introduce herself. ]

Hi.

[emperorofthieves]

Ritsuka. I'm Titus. You're going to be fine, just watch.

[he takes the grappling hook and attached rope and flings it across to the other side of the building, and hands her the end of the rope]

You can use this to swing across. You just have to hold on tight.

[fujimaru]

I'm gonna go splat, and then I'll have to explain it to everyone...

[ But like before, even as she complains, she takes the rope, looking at the building and swallowing hard. Okay. Okay! You can do this, Ritsuka! Don't look down, Ritsuka! ]

Next time, just pick me up and throw me as a projectile, okay?

[emperorofthieves]

You're not gonna go splat, I promise. I'll protect you.

[squeezes her shoulder before letting go...........and literally just, freestyle flinging himself across the gap between the buildings. WHO NEEDS SAFETY PRECAUTIONS]

[fujimaru]

Worry about yourself, too!!

[ Is all she can yelp before he goes. And then she has to take a couple more deep breaths before she grips the rope, as tightly as she can, and takes the leap.

It's kind of tempting to close her eyes, but she doesn't, because otherwise she's pretty sure she actually would go splat. ]

[emperorofthieves]

[there's a few heart-pounding moments while she's in midair that it feels like she isn't going to make it, and titus scrambles to hold the rope while she swings--and she starts to descend too quickly, titus panicking and reaching his arms out towards her so she can grab onto him, grab onto anything]

Shit--!

[fujimaru]

[ At least, for all of her hesitation before, Ritsuka does have some self-preservations instincts that kick in at a time like this. This isn't the first time where it's been uncomfortably close, and as soon as he's in arm's reach, she grabs for him, her expression set in determination, rather than panic. No dying for her, today. ]

[emperorofthieves]

[as soon as their hands clasp he's hauling her onto the roof and letting out a peal of laughter]

You made it!

[fujimaru]

[ She takes a couple of automatic, wobbly steps, then sways, grabbing for his arm again to stay upright. But a beat later, she's laughing too. ]

Yeah, somehow...!

[emperorofthieves]

See? What did I tell ya!

[he catches her and holds her upright until she can stand without wobbling]

[fujimaru]

Yeah, yeah, you were right.

[ She takes a few deep breaths, like she's shaking out the unease, then grins. Now that it's over, she can relax. Ish. ]

You were really cool back there, Titus!