[Liberation] [Mission] [Closed]

There were a lot of things that she didn't like to do and one of them, without a doubt, had to be taking care of a stuffed teddy bear doll that was supposed to mimic a baby. It's wailing and screeching in the middle of the night, the fact that it had to constantly be tended to unless she wanted to let it blow up in her face. Nights waking up at 2 AM to hear the ear-splitting howling of a child, pretending to change diapers to something that didn't even need it, shoving baby formula into its muzzle to feed it like she was supposed to. The school did a lot of stupid things, but this had to be the absolute worst out of all of them. Who the hell decided that just because the wonderful Autumn role models screwed up, that everyone had to be punished for their actions? This was plain torture. It sent pains through her temples and each day meant she was getting closer to strangling the stupid thing.

What the hell was its name again?

...

.  .  .

Ah, forget it. It's stupid, anyway. That was back at the academy, where she didn't have to think about being sleep-deprived as is. The dark circles under her eyes were making her look more and more like a raccoon with their little masks. It was impossible to nod off and get so much as a wink of sleep with having to tend to that thing constantly. Letting it burst and shatter like glass was more tempting than not. Overdosing on hypnotics sounded tempting, but copping out with taking a mission was better. A chance to go on vacation, get a break from everything, and pretend she was actually doing something, which she wasn't planning to do.

At least, that's what would've been the case if this mission wasn't so serious and all about rescuing people. They had to play the part of the hero, save the day, all of those cliche things that stories included to appeal to the masses. Marvel and DC had quite the thing for doing that in the olden days, didn't they? Comics that just went around and let little kids believe they'd be that cool one day. It was funny how close they got with the idea that superpowers truly exist - it was even funnier to see kids make-believe that they actually had these powers and would become the heroes that stories told them they would be. The media implemented all of these fibs and lies to children, to give them a sense of self-confidence or hope or anything. One would've thought that kids wouldn't take it so literally. But of course they did. They're children. They'd believe anything that was practically eye-candy.

With that out of the way, she couldn't believe that she was sitting around in some Asian country in the middle of the rain, waiting in the middle of some overcrowded city, waiting out as the pitter-patter came down, the glistening drops clinging to her hair and drenching her clothes. They didn't give any warning that the weather would be this bad. It was sticky, humid, and there were more bugs than not that Tabitha would've figured that this was summer, if anything. The fast pace of the people moving, with disregard for others in the slightest, shouting out gibberish to one another, it was a surprise that these people favored advanced motorbikes over cars. There was no sense of traffic laws.

It was overly bright and vivid, the ostentatious stores and signs, with the lighting and everything. People littered the streets and it was hard to not look around and see people that were shrouded by cloaks in their emaciated states. Children wandering around with bruises and scars, aimlessly looking for any bread crumbs or spare food that might be thrown out. This was practically a fucking slum. It was gross and practically a pigsty. It stank of overused aromas to hide what might be the smell of rotting corpses.

Tabitha was practically leaning on the handle of her suitcase, silently glad for the overhead canopy that blocked them from the heavy showers, but she was tired of waiting. A small slip-up, and she had to straighten herself back up a bit again. With an exasperated sigh, she narrowly dodged a dragonfly zipping forward.

How much longer did they have to wait? It's been practically an hour since they'd left the airport and made their way into the city, having this translator come to them. There was too much Vietnamese being tossed around and it made her head hurt not being able to understand any of it.

"If this fucking translator doesn't come in the next five minutes, I'm going to kill something."

The rain seemed to get heavier, seeping through the cloth that shadowed over them. Fuck this.

How exciting, her first mission! Pepper tried to pack to a minimum, only taking with her what was needed. Clothes, toothbrush, shoes, etc. The flight had been nice, besides the little kid that kicked her seat the whole trip, but she couldn't complain. He was just a kid after all and didn't no better. Although some chose to hide it, every student chosen to go on this mission was about to burst with questions. Who, what, when, where, why; the five key questions. Pepper tried to contain her curiosity for some of the students didn't seem very talkative. She knew some missions where dangerous and had no idea what to expect, but in the end, Pepper would make the best out of it.

And there they were, standing in the rain. Everyone including herself, looked worn out. Tabitha in particular looked extremely pissed and she wondered why. At least things couldn't get worse. She thought to herself with a small smile. A sudden boom of thunder roared in the distance and the rain fell hevier than before. Well, I guess it can.

Mikaela had had her headphones on for the majority of the flight. Flying made her nervous, but the music helped to calm her down. But now that she was sitting in the rain, she was fairly miserable. It was too hot for her to be wearing her jacket, but she needed something to keep from getting completely soaked. "Ugh, why are we just standing out here?" she asked. "Who are we supposed to be waiting for again?" She crossed her arms. She never really liked rain, it made her hair smell like wet dog. It also took forever for her clothes to dry out. She looked around for any approaching vehicle that looked to be slowing down, but there were none.

Rain was a fantastical thing to Kaya. She leaned against the wall a few steps back, staring up at the pitpatter that drenched her nose. The one thing that beat this precipitation, however, was the city. She had never been to a city before. After the drops began to find her eyes too many times and she jerked her head down in annoyance, her gaze turned to the crowds, the bustling city in action. Oh, how terrifyingly wonderful it was. She watched them pass down the sidewalk, one man tossing a few words her way in a caustic tone as he pushed past, but she didn't care. She smiled and looked down at the cement and wondered how life could have been like that, so filled with human spirit, and she never knew about it, never experienced the culmination of life. It was fantastic, bigger than any village gathering in Arviat.
I'll take you to the city someday, Loic promised years before. She'd asked him if he would marry her then, and he dodged the question nervously until a new topic found their conversation.
She pulled up the drenched collar of her sweater and flipped through her phone, a phone without service, making the contact list dance from Loic to another name, Loic to another name. And she looked up at the voice of one of her groupmates. Feeling a sudden need to contribute, to remind those she came with of her existence, she stepped off the wall, sidestepping the peevish glare of a rushing woman and making her way a few steps to the streetside. "I would like to be dry," she announced, her voice small and uncertain, like the words she spoke weren't the truth or not entirely the truth, like she couldn't decide between the comfort of a warm vehicle or the freshness of a crisp rainy day. The rain made the steel cling to her leg icily, but it was nice to know it was there, to remind herself to walk in ways where she did not feel the blade carve into her. She absentmindedly toed at her sock.
Kaya seemed particularly interested in Tabitha, the group leader, a hostile girl that she could not understand the appeal of. She gave a frequent glance in the girl's direction every now and again, watching her face, wondering if she'd ever shed a smile. She liked this Tabitha, for she'd never met someone like this Tabitha. The only person that came close to her was Arbor Banks, but Arbor Banks was quiet; Tabitha seemed keen on venting what she could aloud.
She gave a smile in this girl's direction and pulled her slipping bag further over her shoulder, a process she had repeated too many times. Kaya didn't seem particularly annoyed.

Destiny stood in silence among the others. She wasn't bubbling with excitement like Pepper was, nor did she hate the current situation like Tabitha seemed to. The spring prefect had been on a mission before an knew that there were a lot of dangers that came with them, even if it was as simple as checking out a mansion. The only thing she didn't like about this whole situation was the fact that Juan couldn't come along, and there was also the fact that she had to switch to a smaller weapon. She knew how to used said smaller weapon, but she preferred the longer range of her scythe. The rain didn't bother her she just let the water cool her from the warm weather, and the heat she was used to seeing how she would spend a lot of time in Mexico before she came here.

The necromancer had her arms loosely folded in front of her stomach as she stared out into the city. There were a lot of people but going on business trips with her dad, and living in New York City she was used to crowded places. Though there was the one thing that she didn't like crowded places, her white hair was a bit strange, and so were her eyes. She kind of stuck out, and that would always earn her a few looks from passers. Over the years she learned to deal with it, so she just kept her eyes focused on something else while she stood and waiting for the late translator. Though in truth she was using her gift to detect what dead, and skeletons were near by. She felt in a place like this she could easily find one if she needed them at a moments notice.

If it weren't for the obvious fact that Mikaela was wearing headphones, Tabitha would've allowed a snide remark or two fly freely from her lack of ability to listen carefully. Yeah, just ask who they were waiting for after she just said who they were waiting on. Weren't they great listeners? Did they even look at the information page provided for them when they signed up for this mission? Nobody seemed to know what the hell was going on here and they had literally only started, save for the stupidly long plane ride from the Americas to Asia. The lack of common sense was getting on her nerve; they had a good entire day during the flight to ask questions or figure out what they were supposed to do. Guess they spent that entire time lazing around like a sloth instead of going over the agenda or something. God, none of them were Autumns - it'd be more understandable if they fit into the house through stereotype, but it was fucking Summers and the Spring prefect. And Destiny hadn't bothered saying a word while dragon girl was glancing around with owlish eyes as though she'd never been in a city before and was some child being taken on vacation.

She took the mission to avoid all the idiots at the academy and all she got for a group were idiots.

They kept looking around as though they were expecting something, as though a car would drive up the alleyway and pick them up to take them out of the rain. It would've been at least alright if said precipitation wasn't so sticky and warm, but everything about the place reminded her of a desert - only with way too much boiling water. The smile Kaya flashed at her was received with rolling eyes and a groan. That was, without a doubt, a girl who didn't get out much. Her curiosity or naivety or whatever innocence it was, it was rather annoying. Wasn't this school great? Expose the girl to another culture when it didn't seem like she could grasp on what the hell happened in the campus.

Dark grey eyes lowered to her wrist, constantly checking the time every few seconds or so. Time was stupid, moving at a brisk pace when someone's having fun and then crawling as slow as a fucking snail when she needed it to hurry the hell up. If the translator didn't arrive in a few more minutes, she could go kick and dent a trash can or something. Just something to vent out at. Piling on the stupid teddy bear project and Jane's stupid excuse for a prank on Valentine's and being tricked into going to the Winter Formal by D'Angelo and Juliette, punching or destroying something would make her feel at a bit more ease than messing up her voice from yelling too much and getting pissed off at more people. Getting irritated and being disappointed in her generation was becoming easier by the minute by all of their stupidity.

Ten more seconds and she could casually excuse herself and find a better means of distracting her compelled glances towards the homeless, their poor and pitiful eyes marked by innocents, scratches and bruises, blood oozing out from the cuts, and the brown rags that they called clothing. The homeless who tried to sell the homemade charms and goods with their fragile hands, delicately overworking themselves and people wouldn't even bat an eyelid to help them out. Did people not have any sympathy or pity to those less fortunate around here? Actually, who was she kidding? Greedy as hell. Fuck the rich.

The loud vrooooooms of motorcycles echoed one another, filtering through the crowded streets and Tabitha found herself disgusted at the lack of respect some of the people had for each other. Were they that wrapped up in themselves nowadays? Or were they just in a bad part of the city? Her question was left to be pondered when one of the motorbikes paused beside them, their rider evidently another girl without needing to see under her helmet.

Oh, it was the translator.

First thing Tabitha noticed that she was on the short side. Then again, most Asians were. As the girl removed her helmet, she shook her head to clear off a few droplets glistening on her strawberry-pink hair and a wide, cheerful grin inscribed itself on her face. The way her reddish, almond eyes peered around towards their makeshift band of a group didn't betray disappointment. If anything, they seemed slightly pleased. "Hallo~ Sorry I'm late - had to catch up with another client that forgot to pay up." Her voice didn't mark much of an accent, if any at all, and if anything, it was almost flawless English. This girl did know Vietnamese, right? Because they weren't going around not being able to communicate with anyone. She was looking at the group again before her gaze wandered back to her motorcycle, almost biting back a nervous laugh. "Ah, I didn't think there'd be this many of you, so I took my motorcycle."

Her helmet was pressed underneath her arm as she simply smiled a little wider. "The hotel isn't too far anyway!" Overenthusiasm was awful. She was completely regretting the whole thing to have the translator come. If she was going to be this annoying, then ripping out her own hair sound very, very appealing right about now. "There's a bike rent a little down the street and then it's just a few mile's drive to get there. I can take the two youngest people on my own." Was she seriously implying they were going to get away with riding a motorcycle without having a license...? Actually, that sounded rather fun. It sounded really fun. Forget the rules.

"Okay, now shut up and let's go." The faster they reached a decent shelter and got away from the slums, the more comfortable she'd feel about being in this city. Tabitha grasped the handle on her luggage, pulling it up. The translator didn't argue with the forceful remark and beckoned the group to follow her through the sea of people and machines.

After a while of waiting the translator showed up. She seemed nice, although her accent wasn't very Vietnamese-ish. Pepper shrugged it off. An accent didn't really matter, all that really mattered was if they knew how to speak the language. The translator mentioned something about the youngest riding with her and wondered who the youngest people in the group were and if anyone would actually want to ride with the translator. Anything to get out of this rain would be nice. She gave a sigh, glancing around at the gloomy group of students. Gripping her suitcase, she waited for orders. Better to be given orders than yelled at by Tabitha, right?

Mikaela had taken off her headphones shortly after asking the question, waiting for a response, but she got none. She shrugged, and didn't have to wait long before their translator arrived. She listened to the incredibly peppy girl talk. "That sounds all fine and dandy, but who are the two youngest? I'm probably one of them, but who's the other?" she asked the group. She was only 14, and wouldn't turn 15 until October.

Kaya watched the translator whir up on the motorcycle, oggling at the purring engine until there was a call for the youngest and she gave a look around. It seemed that everyone was pretty young, their appearance seemingly matching them in age, and Kaya took a hesitant moment of pulling on her damp collar before she rose her hand, slightly, hardly higher than her shoulders. "I am fourteen years of old," she announced, quieter with the buzz of the city, but her eyes were wide and blinking. She rubbed a drop from her pale nose and looked around.
"That is young, right?" She certainly felt it. All these people seemed like seasoned spies to her, no matter how peerish or juvenile they seemed. She felt new, alone in a strange world she did not know how to deal with. That made everyone an expert to her, and so her youth seemed definite. She coughed in her fist and cast an upward glance at Tabitha, a fleeting glance. She seemed mad. Most people would be. Papa always talked about his first experience with rain, and said it was awful, that it was like snow that had places to go. It infects everything you wear, he told her after his trip to Seattle. While snow is calm and serene, rain is brash and latching.

Destiny was relieved when the translator finally showed up.Though the necromancer didn't like the fact that she only brought a bike. When the translator mentioned taking the two youngest people the spring prefect knew she was in that group. She was in a group of youngsters.. "Well let's get going. The sooner we can get this over with the better." Destiny grabbed her back, and held to it tightly so she wouldn't lose it in the sea of people they were about to shove their way through.

Tabitha could only groan to spite the others. She was as young as the rest of them and it didn't look like the school supplied them with anyone that was of the upperclassmen group besides Destiny. All of them were around 14 or 15, at the least, from how youthful everyone seemed to be - the innocent sort of looks that made them cute or charming, the perfect target for boys to ogle all over the moment they were spotted from a mile away or their breath was so much as in the same vicinity as them. They were all the kind of girls that fit that stereotype of being pretty, with porcelain faces and delicate little creatures that had to be protected. Hell, some of them might look a certain age but were actually much older than they appeared. That was what was up with Destiny, right? Wasn't the prefect supposed to be 18 or something? And here she was, more or less the opposite of their globally-acclaimed adorable physique.

Bruises and bandages would constantly be plastered over her body from stupid stunts that she would pull, her snarky and almost smart-alec attitude accompanied with shooting dirty looks at other people to ward them off, and her manner of speaking where she'd just let curse words fly in and out without so much as a censor to hold her back. There wasn't anything that made her seem like a sort of girly-girl that wanted to be stared upon or begging for attention with the make-up that caked their faces that made them look like those creepy-ass dolls that mothers had a tendency to collect and put on their shelves, probably to give the kids nightmares. Society said that girls should be weak and fragile, like the most intricate snowflakes that melted at the touch of one's palm, and that they always needed their prince to come sweep them off their feet and rescue them from the evils that tormented them.

That was annoying as hell. It was one thing to have these people look around and expect her to be stuffed in a dress and skirt, but it was another thing to expect her to act a certain way. Only boys could be wild and free, huh? She wanted to be her own person? Haha, no, be a good little girl and conform to propriety, already. Tabitha shook her head as a fly buzzed in front of her eyes, hovering dangerously close and obscuring her vision, she turned towards the translator once again and back around to the group. From a quick estimate, she couldn't tell who exactly was supposed to be the youngest and from that point on, she didn't care. It already looked like Ms. Perfect wanted to get a move on - to get served and treated like royalty, or as royal as they could get in this barren wasteland of a nation - when everyone knew she was practically the eldest student here. It was something that Tabitha could only roll her eyes at. Typical, self-entitled and privileged behavior. Disgusting.

She flicked off a mosquito that threatened to suck her blood from the surface of her skin and turned back towards the translator within the few moments that she began to speak up again. "Ah, I thought you guys knew. My bad!" Another nervous chuckle had bubbled up her throat as pale, delicate fingers moved a stray lock of hair out of her face, as though it were in the way in the first place. Probably done for style points or something along those lines. "That's alright, I checked all of your records before this. Tabs and Mikaela are the youngest, but... I guess I'll take Destiny and Mikaela."

To say it didn't irk her in the slightest would be a lie. That nickname gave her really bad vibes and brought shivers down her spine. She would have to kill her roommates some more for subjecting her to all of this. Tabitha was only at least satisfied with the fact that she could get away with riding the motorcycle now without any repercussions and being babysat by a girl who barely looked much older than them.

Once the translator was sure that the two she had addressed were on the backseats, she took caution in being slow to allow the three remaining girls who were forced to walk with all of the luggage to at least have a bit of an ability to keep up with their pace. By the time they had reached the bike rent and gotten everything paid for, it was an easy trip to the hotel they would be staying at - La Siesta Hotel & Spa. It was supposed to be fancy and had won Traveler's Choice a few times here and there, so it must be in good enough quality. Would be strange if Americans could afford the luxuries in such a poor country, after all. And at least, in their downtime, she could take the opportunity to relax with a massage or something. The school was paying for everything, last she heard.

At least the translator could speak Vietnamese, just as promised. That, and the hotel had staff that were accustomed to working with travelers who only knew English. More than she had hoped. It was comforting and better than being stuck in a strange place where there were absolutely no connections to home... wherever home was supposed to be.

The moment they entered the hotel, their translator called the closest staff member, tapping him on the shoulder. "Xin lỗi cho hỏi? The man had turned around and once she was sure she had his attention, she continued with her question. "Bạn giúp em đựơc không?"

"Dạ. Đi với tôi."

Everything settled with bellboy grabbing all of their luggage and sending it up for them ahead of time while the current man handed them over to the receptionist, who gave them three sets of keys. And there were five of them. Their companion spun on her heel, clutching each of them between her fingers like knives. "Mind deciding who gets to hold onto these?"

"Well?" Tabitha turned back, gesturing to the others. "I'm not taking care of the keys."

Well, at least the translator was here and at least they were at the hotel. Their translator talked Vietnamese to the desk guy and a bellboy took their luggage up. By now, everyone was tired, miserable, and just wanted to rest. When Tabitha turned back to the group of exhausted students, no one said a word. Giving a sigh, she held out her hand. "I'll take a pair. There are only three keys, so two people will have to share a room." She looked at her class mates. "Tabitha, you want your own room, right? Who wants wouldn't mind sharing with me?" Normally Pepper didn't take charge, but she really just wanted to change clothes and if Tabitha wasn't going to take charge, she would.

Mikaela thought for a minute about what Pepper said. "Wait a minute, if there are five of us, and only three rooms, wouldn't there be two people per room except one?" she asked, trying to be sure. But she really didn't want to share a room with the girl, so she spoke up again. "Hey uh.. Destiny, was it? Would you mind sharing a room with me?" she asked, looking over to the white-haired girl. She felt bad leaving the other girl, Kaya, possibly without a choice, but honestly all she wanted to do was get some fresh clothing on.

"I'm comfortable with whomever." She spoke to no one in particular as the bellboy took her bag. She looked up at him, eyes wide and mouth parted in a smile, to which the man gave a similar visage. It seemed to be halfly for the job, however, as she saw it fade before he even turned from her, and she looked to her feet as she walked with the others, tapping the ground with her toes first each time she stepped forward. Her arms were extended as if she was on a balance beam, following a navy-blue line of tiles that adorned the floor before her; she noticed that people were giving short glances her direction, and she cut it out pretty quickly.

Kaya walked slowly, but still kept in line with the Tabitha girl. Despite Pepper's acknowledgement of Tabitha's preferred loneliness, Kaya didn't seem to take that as a hint, and walked in line with the girl. "Hi, uh..." She coughed into her wet sleeve. Perhaps it wasn't the best decision for her health to stay in that sweater. "Would you like, um, a shared room with me?" She looked directly at Tabitha, eyes shining and cheeks warm from sticky rain and humidity.

Destiny totally didn't take the bike like someone assumed she would, she wasn't that kind of person (>>) When they finally reached the hotel the necromancer couldn't be more glad. She was ready to take a break no matter how big or small. She needed to get off her feet for a moment. She almost didn't catch what they were supposed to be doing. Honestly she came back to her attention when Mikaela asked her a question. "Hmm? Yeah I'm Destiny. And sure I wouldn't mind sharing a room with you." She said in a friendly tone. The necromancer took a pair of keys. Which left the other girls to get their stuff sorted out.