Fantasy Hunter's Moon: The Sin & Sentence [IC] [CLOSED]

[Infab]

Tariun patiently waited as the group talked amongst themselves, discussing their potential plans. She soon spoke up after Takato explained auras to Inari. "He's right. The succubi and incubi that live in Sekath's territory can tell the difference. They will attempt to either seduce you and enslave you, or outright try to kill you...depending on how they feel at the moment or if they have prior obligations to Thelyra. She's known to be rather strict in how she runs things in Sekath's absence...and is known to do things herself if her underlings have proven less than satisfactory to her." She glanced to Vincent, then to Hudson, before speaking once more. "Thelyra doesn't leave Sekath's palace unless she needs to. So you will find her there. One issue is getting close to the palace...then there's the issue of getting inside to her. That's not counting the issue of actually killing her."

Soon, there was a noise coming from towards Sekath's territory, fast approaching on the cobblestone road before them. They would see its source after a few moments. A two-wheeled vehicle which resembled a bicycle. This one, however, had an engine on it. Soon, it slowed to a stop in front of their truck, and the group instantly recognized the operator sitting upon it. "Nice ta see y'all again." said the blue skinned demon known as Kassidy. She kicked a small metal point down on the side of the bike, which held the bike up a she dismounted and walked over to where Tariun's spectral figure was standing. She was wearing a similar outfit to when she had last seen the group, jeans and a button-up shirt, but now was wearing a nice leather coat over the shirt.

Tariun smiled at the succubus, then looked back to the group. "Kassidy will be getting you inside. Listen to whatever she tells you. She'll make sure you don't get seduced and enslaved...or worse."

 

[Dmaster]

The hunter sneered beneath his helmet as that familiar succubus drove up to them, his seating position shifting more upward as he glared at Kassidy. "And we're just supposed to trust that she won't lead us to our deaths, then?" Hudson growled openly.

"I'm not the only one who takes issue with a demon notorious for beguiling and tricking folk being the leader for this, am I?" The possibility of betrayal was higher than ever, and he was not about to trust a demon they randomly bumped into on the train. "Any other of your friends accompanying us? Should I make ready for a demon that exhales loads of poisonous gas to ride with us in that fucking cramped box on wheels?" Hudson asked Tariun sarcastically.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Inari pouted slightly at the appearance of the new succubus. While more help was appreciated, it was still a another blow to her plan, which she felt was both entertaining as well as effective. "Why she leader? I can be leader and she can help. Demons here no seduce and enslave us, I can do that to them, easy."

 

[Doomevil]

Senya placed her two hands against her belt buckle, listening to everyone talk about their own plans when Tariun was just going to explain the main plan anyways. She saw one of the demons at the train hideout, Kassidy was it? The Warden respectfully nodded once Tariun gave the instructions. Although Hudson had a good point, she turned to him "I second that sentiment. Even though we might have to do it anyways."

 

[Infab]

Kassidy frowned as Hudson spoke. "I volunteered to help yer sorry ass. If you wanna stroll right on into Naraka and get murdered or raped endlessly, though, you can go right ahead. I ain't stoppin' you." she responded, folding her arms. Tariun glanced to Kassidy, before looking back to Hudson. "You need to accept the fact that we're all you have down here in terms of help. You may be willing to walk right into your death for some reason, but your allies aren't. And I seriously doubt your family back home would want you to."

Vincent glanced back to Inari as she spoke up about Kassidy. "She isn't the leader. I am." he stated. Kassidy nodded, motioning a hand to him. "He's tha boss. I'm just providin' assistance." she said, before glancing back to Inari. "Succubi and Incubi are born ta seduce and destroy...yer a bit outmatched, foxy lady." Tariun spoke once again, after Kassidy finished. "She's right. The demons in this territory will tempt you at every turn. Its what they do. If not through wordplay or physical means, then through magical. None of you are immune to it. Not even Loque, or the Oni Takato."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Inari rolled her eyes at Vincent proclaiming himself as leader, and glanced back at Kassidy. "Seduce and destroy?" She asked, followed by her patting herself on her chest rapidly. "I can do that, that easy! Kitsune just as good as these demons, maybe better. I have better charm!"

 

[Dmaster]

Hudson's scowl deepened as Kassidy chastised him for being skeptical, hands balling into fists as he got up from his seat and let himself out. "Better to be done in by one who openly proclaims themselves as an enemy rather than some fuck that pretends to be your ally." he said, just to tremble as Tariun mentions his family.

The hunter levels a finger at the illusion, teeth grit as his hand twitches with tension. "You leave them out of this." he ordered. "I'd rather take my chances than blindly accept whatever dodgy help you provide for us. The second we let our guard down or gods forbid you stop seeing us as useful, your true colors will come through. Don't fucking criticize me for being the only one wise enough to know that."

"Chuckle it off as paranoia, but I've only lived this long because I know when I'm being fucking had, demon."

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

Loque's breathing grows more heavy and pronounced with fear as she looks around at all the others. "S-Surely... you might have need of me elsewhere?" she says, shaking. "...Anywhere but here?"

 

[Infab]

"I'd rather take my chances than blindly accept whatever dodgy help you provide for us. The second we let our guard down or gods forbid you stop seeing us as useful, your true colors will come through. Don't fucking criticize me for being the only one wise enough to know that. Chuckle it off as paranoia, but I've only lived this long because I know when I'm being fucking had, demon."

Tariun went quiet for a few moments, before sighing and looking back to Hudson. "...I pity you. And I wish you had known the days before Taranoch and his ilk...You'd have a drastically different opinion of us." She motioned aside with a hand. "...I can't persuade you to trust me. I know I'm a demon. I've been a demon for several thousands of years. I was a pride demon before I ascended." she said softly, as she glanced down to the ground. "...You don't understand what it means to be an ascended demon down here. We are those that have renounced evil, and wish to only do good. Do you know what other demons think of that? Those that despise the good in people? Those that only want to murder, rape, hoard, and whatever else? We're abominations to them, and are meant to be cast out or destroyed."

Eventually, she looked up to Hudson again. "...Believe what you wish, hunter. Believe what I say to be but a lie. Believe that I'm out to betray you when I find you no longer useful...Do as you wish. I'll no longer provide assistance to you if you believe me to be nothing but this horrible monster only meant to be purged. You will be on your own."

 

[Dmaster]

The hunter lowered his finger slowly, shaking his head as Tariun explained her point of view. It was true he did not know, and his ignorance was the perfect shell to prevent him from learning more about that struggle. And yet his experiences of seeing and dealing with the demons that claw their way out of the Abyss to wreak their own brand of havoc told a different story.

"I never wanted to do this as a group in the first place. I thought I would be the only one here once I accepted this mission." he said, clearly missing the point. "Win or lose, I know what I am capable of. If I die horribly or suffer eternal torture, perhaps that's what I deserve."

Hudson looked to Kassidy, shooting her a glare. "You've still not vouched for your friend here, so I've got my answer. I want no part of this. I'll fucking cleave and beat my way to Sazak's throne for all I care, for all the damned good it'd do. Better than being led on a string with a whole circus of freaks at my side."

 

[joshuadim]

Truth be told, Venextos was tired of Hudson's constant belittling and vitriol to the groups only allies in this realm. And by this point, he felt an annoyance creep up in his mind that was beckoning him to say something to the man. However, he would not drag himself down to that level... at least not for now. He still had plenty of patience to go. Rather, Venextos focused his attention on the succubus from before. "Please, don't mind Monsieur Hudson here. It's good to see you again Kassidy." Venextos said warmly and with a smile. "How well do you know the path we must take?"

 

[Infab]

"Then go die, Hudson." said Vincent. It surprised Tariun and Kassidy a bit, forcing the demons' to look directly at the man in the driver's seat. "Leave Camille without her husband, and your children without a father. They're better off, right?" Vincent shifted about in his seat till he was looking into the back of the truck, staring directly at Hudson past Loque's head. "Whatever you're holding onto must be so fucking bad that you're better off down here. No life of happiness for you back home. Only misery to look forward to."

He then cut a look to Venextos, as he spoke to Kassidy, before continuing. "Do you want to know what I did? Hmm? I'll tell you." He leaned in a little bit, still glaring at Hudson. "I murdered my fucking wife. The woman I pledged my eternal devotion to. The woman I loved more than anything else in the world." he said. "Do you think I've let that go? No, I haven't. I never will." He then turned back around, facing the front, before finishing his statement. "I'm going to finish my job down here. And then I'm going to go home. I'll live with what I've done, and take it to my grave. I will not allow it to turn me in to what you are, though."

 

[joshuadim]

Venextos was surprised by Vincent's sudden passioned speech to the miserable man, and could only silently listen before Kassidy's response. The man had practically stolen the words from his own mouth on what he had wanted to say, and that was quite commendable. Although, it most likely wouldn't get Hudson to see the light of reason it was still a noteworthy speech and Venextos gave an approving nod towards Vincent as a result.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

Once again, the group's morale is sent careening downward due to internal tensions, and unsurprisingly it involves Hudson again. Loque was about to give Hudson a mouthful for talking to demonic nobility like that, but Vincent took care of that for her. Unlike Venextos however, she was shocked at Vincent's revelation of murdering his wife. "V-Vincent..." is all Loque could say to that. And to think she was beginning to admire him.

She sits back down in her spot, and puts her head in her hands with nothing more to say.

 

[joshuadim]

Venextos noticed Loque's demeanor after the revelation about Vincent's crime, and leaned in to speak to her: "We are all guilty of something here, Loque. Some more guilty than others... but still."

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

Loque doesn’t respond, hardly acknowledging Venextos as the shattering of her faith in Vincent and the horror of being forced to march right into the streets belonging to the Abyss’ most decadent predators are nothing short of overwhelming. She probably doesn’t even know that he’s talking to her.

 

[Dmaster]

Hudson kept his back turned to Vincent initially, though the mention of his family got him to clench his fists as his eyes slowly drifted to the ground. "They are better off without me." he repeated, cold and empty despite there being a clear conflict there in his voice and actions. Even still Vincent continued on, the revelation of him murdering his wife hitting him though the man could muster up little sympathy.

"What I am." he begins as he shuffled on his feet to look to their leader. "Is a man trying to atone for the terrible things he has done. I am the way I am because I woke up from who I was - you want to talk about murder? I can't even remember the faces of all the people I've killed, maybe just the paycheck I got if I think real hard."

Hudson stepped closer to the truck with a slow and purposeful gait, continuing to speak. "By the time I realized the weight of those wrongs it was too late. The thing about atoning is it does nothing for all those you've harmed, it doesn't mean shit for the dead and buried. Live with it? Sure I can, and I do - but I'm not going to have myself a new free life in spite of all I've done. My death will have to mean something, will have to punish me for being such a piece of shit in the past." He reached over and grasped at his sword's handle, grip tight and rigid.

"I swore to myself I would slaughter demons just to go out by being slaughtered by them. Anything I've earned for myself is void, I am undeserving. Had I not realized that years ago I'd still be out there shooting up caravans and doing hits."

 

[Infab]

"You say you're undeserving..." said Riberta, finally speaking up from where she was sitting in the truck, "...yet the gods granted you a wife. They granted you children. You didn't earn it, but it was given to you. Are you going to just toss those gifts aside?" She finally sat forward. "...I envy you, Hudson. You still have a family, yet you toss it aside because you feel like you don't deserve it. I had a family, and I had them taken from me. I've done nothing since then to deserve to start anew."

She then straightened up. "So...you're not dying down here. I will not allow you to. You're going home to your family, even if I have to drag your miserable ass back to them kicking and screaming." she stated with a nod, as she looked to the demon hunter. Vincent grunted in the front seat, then looked back to Loque. Taking note that she had gone quiet. His angry expression softened a bit. He'd need to talk to her later.

Soon, Kassidy spoke up. "...Hudson, right? Look...you don't have ta trust me. But I wanna help ya. Most of you folks are nice people...far nicer than the people I knew when I was human and alive. I can get ya in ta the capital of the territory, and I can set ya up in a nice place till y'all can plan somethin' out ta kill Sekath's second." she said, unfolding her arms and letting them hang at her sides. "...Just give me a chance."

Tariun was still silent, her gaze having shifted to the ground before her. Waiting to see what they would all say to Kassidy helping them.

 

[Dmaster]

He eyed Riberta coldly as she spoke. The gods may have provided him with such things, yet demons were the ones who sullied it. Initially he thought what had happened to their son was something that had to do with his sins, or final curses from the demons he slayed. Camille remained a beacon in his life, yet looking upon his two children now only filled him with regrets. Not from that harrowing nightmare of an experience, but something all of his own volition.

As much as he wanted to leave right there and carve out a path to their enemy, doing so would provoke Riberta to act on her promise. And if he were to fight with the intent to kill her, the rest of the group would fight to bring him down as well. Even Hudson would consider that a wasteful death.

The hunter shook his head yet again, realizing the futility of his initial concerns. He looked over his shoulder as Kassidy spoke to him, the grip on his sword loosening, if only slightly. "You'll get one chance. If you so much as think of fucking us over your next garish piercing will be a sword through the chest." he said as he turned himself around.

"Both of you just tell us what we have to do to get this over with."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Inari giggled a little to herself at Hudson's dramatic speech, lamenting about how he couldn't remember the faces of those he killed from what sounded like a life as a mercenary. She couldn't even properly estimate the amount of people she had killed, personally or otherwise. Well into the thousands personally, and into the tens of thousands otherwise. Possibly more. There was no telling. A village of a hundred lives or a unit of a hundred men may seem small, but those added up over the years. Plus all the others in between, like the massacres. Sure, some of it was probably bad, but a lot of it was done for better goals. Killing some nobles for fun and playing brigand when she was bored were probably not the best things she'd done over her life, and some considered her wars to be horrific, but that was just perspective from the ignorant. Maybe there was some indulgence in there but that was something everyone did.

Vincent's reveal about killing his wife was a little brow raising, as while it was only a single person, the nature of the relationship made it rather distasteful. She hadn't killed any family or friends, so there was that.

"Who care if you can't remember faces of dead you made, that must be like, many people. Like many, many people. I sure can't. I maybe can't even count the wars I make over years. Nothing to feel shame for. Just think about good also left to do and have been done. I kill many, sure, but I also help little children and let soldiers go farm. I kill bad nobles who do bad. I kill other warlords who also do bad. When you have bloody path in life, there will be good and bad. It like nature, like of wolf killing, or bird flying, or fish swimming," Inari explained to Hudson. "Maybe not feel bad about past. Be new person, pretend past not real. Or embrace past. You say you did kill for money? Mercenary people do that all the time. Natural. But you kill for money, which go to food and living, so it like wolf and sheep. Like you say, they dead now anyway. What they care for how you act now?"

Inari stretched her limbs out to relax a bit. "Just look at killing as fun play. Make life easy, yes?"

She then noticed Loque look downtrodden again and she sighed, gesturing at her. "And why demon sad again? This about sucky-by and inky-by demons being scary? Bah, they are not so bad, so don't be sad. We just kill and don't stop if we must. Easy to do."

 

[Dmaster]

Hudson twitched as his internal struggle that ate at him for more than a decade was reduced to 'just forget about it' or 'think of all the good those deaths did'. His back remained turned to the rest of the group and yet he shot back at Inari as her spiel ended.

"I struggle to call you a monster at this point. Monsters at least garner fear, some level of respect for their capabilities." the hunter said. "But you? You are just a mangled piece of garbage on legs. There is no good spawned from the remorseless murder of innocent people just trying to live their lives."

"We are above subsisting and seeing paid kills as your next meal and nothing else. Civilized. Something I don't expect a dumb fucking animal like yourself to understand. The Abyss deserves you, and you sure as shit deserve it." he growled.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Inari didn't seem particularly moved or phased by Hudson's words as she examined her paw and played with her claws. He was more amusing when he wasn't putting on his woeful, pitiful, and stubborn act.

"Oh, there plenty of good made from killing. Of course I see you won't understand because if you did - you would not be such a jester. Maybe in different land killing may be seen in different look. Kowareta not such land. But! This is of no matter. You have too simple mind to see other different looks."

His last few words got a little laugh out of her. "Abyss not so bad place, remind me of home but with more silly and crazy. When this all done I make second home here to visit and have fun. This more work than fun so time later will be wanted."

 

[Dmaster]

The irony of her calling him simple minded wasn't lost on the hunter, though he chose not to feed into the foolish mania that the kitsune deluded herself with. Good can be made from killing, though she seems to have missed how he said that slaughtering innocents was a different story.

"You'll get every bit of what's coming to you. I'm sure of it."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"Won't be much," Inari laughs. "I handle much worse before! And who know? Maybe I get reward for doing what I do. I do more good than I do bad. Still, you seem sure of many things, but you seem more like lost fool to me. Maybe if a better person say so I believe more, but I never meet better person. My daughters are better, they good girls, and they say I do good, too. Ah, my youngest takes after me, she such good girl. Sayori very good with sword and has lot of passion. Unlike you, sour like spoiled fruit."

 

[Infab]

Riberta sighed, looking to Inari as she finished. "...For what we do, fox...we don't get rewards." she said simply.