Vin sat in the booth waiting for Taylor. The drink she had ordered was some bitter tasting beverage that felt as if it was originally used for torture given it's heat. As all the drinks at this restaurant seemed to act like that, Vin had to wonder if this world's people just had really poor taste or enjoyed burning their tongues for some reason.
Taking another sip so she won't look out of place she surpassed a grimace at it's bitter taste and thought of the mention of school that Taylor had brought up. It was an odd thought. Not an unpleasant one just...odd. In scadrial nobles were tutored and a center of education would have been seen as an attempt to make noble children more loyal to something other than their house. Or a way to have them be assassinated. Either was likely in any case.
As for Skaa, someone at the age Vin assumed Taylor was, would either have been working in a factory or a brothel or have children of her own by now. Or in a rare case be a part of a thieving crew as Vin had been.
A quick glance around the room showed the few fellow patrons to be uninterested in her or the side booth she had grabbed. She had been here for roughly an hour and at this point was more or less an inconspicuous background piece. Elend had walked with her here before going to apply for several jobs. Something called a union, which seemed to be a legal gang, and a part time job as a librarian. Cheap and easy way for them to acquire more knowledge on the area and if Elend could stop himself from just reading all the books present he'd do a fine job she was sure.
Vin gave a small smile. The pair had made a bet on how long he would last before reading some of the books he was supposed to catalogue if he got the job. A sucker's bet and one Vin had taken with glee knowing she'd win. Four hours or less. Elend had been overly optimistic and said the end of the first week.
The chime on the door sounded and Vin spared a glance. Taylor walked in sans costume though the bag on her back suggested she had brought it with her. Her body was lank and lean and if Vin was honest the girl blended into the background and was rather plain looking. Good. The outfit she wore and the posture she held suggested she didn't want to be noticed. Fantastic. One less thing to teach though it could use some tweaking. Vin put on a wide false smile and waved cheerily to Taylor who made her way over.
Vin let the smile fade leaving only a tiny perking of the sides of her lips to remain. "Right on time. Sit down. Would you like me to call over a waiter for a drink for you?" She asked.
"I'm fine but thank you." Taylor said, putting her bag down in the booth. "So… Um. What do we talk about?" She asked.
"My plan was to discuss each other's powers, training, goals, and how we can help one another." Vin said, frowning at the teen's anxiety. She was too low on metals for Soothing an ally but the girl seemed very nervous for just meeting up. Hopefully the lead Elend was looking into buying metals using the computer things would pay off. It reminded Vin a bit of herself when she was younger.. "But I figure names would be a good place to start. I'm Vin Venture."
"Taylor Hebert." She responded by offering a hand to shake. Vin took it.
"Sorry for the delay, looking back I could have just skipped school to meet but I wasn't thinking straight." Taylor stuttered for a moment.
"You're fine. It's my fault for not realizing." Vin said smiling. "So Taylor, how do your powers work? Do you require materials to use it?" Vin probed as the girl sat.
She doubted it was metals, too much variation and none of the powered people she had seen had vials. And Feurchamy was out as well due to the variation as well.
Taylor answered explaining she could control all bugs within a certain range. Useful. Good for scouting and attacking without being seen. Perfect for assassination if the bug used's venom was lethal. Vin probed her some more asking about range and full control.
Taylor responded by having a fly land on the table and move it's limbs.
Vin blinked. Well that was impressive. "Can you do that for every bug in your swarm? Is there a limit of bugs you can control?" She asked
"I could but it be a pain. The most control I've done is have them make my suit. And yeah everything within a few blocks." Taylor said her back straightening with pride.
Vin smiled. "Rusts that's impressive. How did you use bugs to make a uniform?" She asked.
"Spider silk. I can make black widows make a large amount and then weave it into my suit. Strong as steel and bulletproof." She said and Vin gave a whistle of appreciation. A diamond in the rough it seemed that Vin had found.
"What about you?"
Vin considered her answer. Taylor seemed honest and sincere but Vin didn't trust the girl yet. "I control metals. I can Push and Pull on them to give myself a form of flight or as weapons. I can make myself strong enough to lift weights much heavier than myself, I can sense powers, make my senses much more acute, see my own future up to a few seconds," Vin considered the next words. How would Taylor react to copper and zinc? "Influence people's emotions," Taylor who had been listening intently, straightened and gave a frown, "But only in a very limited sense. As you saw when we fought the scaled man, I can only use large bursts of emotion on another for a few moments." A simple lie she could let Taylor know the full truth once Vin trusted Taylor.
Taylor stayed silent for a moment. "Jesus, you hit the jackpot of powers." She finally said. Who was Jesus? Religious figure maybe? Several of the gang members Vin had beaten had screamed the name as she bested them. Maybe an important local figure?
"Maybe. But I require certain metals to use my powers. Something I have in low supply currently." Vin admitted.
"What do you mean you need metals? Like only certain metals work or-" Vin cut her off and held up a vial. Cheap alcohol and slivers of metal showed within.
"I eat metal and get power from it." Vin said simply.
"Huh. That… sounds dangerous. Aren't a lot of metals toxic?" Taylor asked.
Vin gave a nod. "Yes, several of them are toxic. But I burn them away before any permanent effects could happen."
"Damn. That's metal." Taylor said before wincing. "Ok that was a horrible pun. Sorry." She said as Vin raised an eyebrow at the terrible pun.
Taylor looked down at the table for a moment and chewed her lip. "So who are you? I mean you have a foregin accent, you mentioned a team, I couldn't find any mention of a cape with the abilities or look you have online, and you were really open about sharing your identity and… sorry if I'm prying I just rather know more about who I'm working with." Taylor said pausing as she realized she was rambling
Vin nodded. "My husband and I were members of a team. We lost contact with them a while ago and likely won't hear from them again." She said trying to hide the loss in her voice. The chances of seeing any of her friends again were slim to none if she was willing to bet. "But for myself I keep a low profile. You won't find any mention of me or my husband. The other night was the most open we've been here. I'll go into more of myself as we get to know one another," she said changing to subject, "but tell me about you? You showed a lot of skill and promise." She said with a smile.
Taylor blushed and stammered for a moment before asking, "You're married?" Vin gave a light laugh.
"For a few years, yes." She said,
Taylor considered this for a moment. "Damn, I thought you were around my age." She wondering if Vin was in college.
Vin nodded. "I'm 20. You're 16? 15? Not too far apart in years." She said keeping her smile one of humor.
"15." She finally said, still stammering. Around the same time Vin started. Vin gave a nod for Taylor to tell her about herself.
"There's not much to tell. I want to be a hero and thought I would start with some small-time thugs. But then I saw Lung and I was going to get away but I heard him saying he was going to kill kids." The fly on the table had started buzzing rapidly and erratically though Taylor remained calm. Interesting. "I couldn't let that happen so I attacked. Then you showed up." Taylor said with a shrug. The girl was guarded, that was for sure. But she seemed to have a good sense of morals and was clearly powerful. A thought crossed Vin's mind.
"How did they contact you? The ones who gave you the money?" Vin asked her mind drifting to her share of the funds and the things she could get with them.
Taylor paused and frowned. "Tattletale contacted me through a chat forum. She had figured out my identity or at least guessed well enough by the time we met because she listed where I was when I messaged her back." She said and then looked at Vin's eyes and flinched at the near murderous stare.
"So she gave you a story about how it's all a game and there are rules only to then break them and hang a threat over your head that she knew who and where you were?" Vin said the softness of her voice was gone, only steel remained. The pair had talked for a time the night before, mostly on the address of the shop they were now in but Taylor had gone into detail about the "unspoken rules" the girl had told her about.
Taylor nodded her words having left her and Vin made a note to have a long conversation at knifepoint with this woman about forgetting Taylor. Or she could make it simple and kill her and her partners.
"See what I mean? She was lying to you and was prepared to force you to do what she wanted." Vin said. She gave a sigh and placed her hand on the table and fixed a smile onto her face. "But you made the right choice and I promise to take care of her if you'd like. But let's discuss how the pair of us could work together."
Taylor nodded her eyebrows furrowing for a moment before vin changed the subject once more.
"So. Want to show off?" Vin asked.
"What?" Taylor asked.
"I've got my mistcloak in my pack and a spare vial. I'd love to see what you're capable of in a safe environment." Vin said, starting to stand.
"I'd love to!" Taylor said, grinning and standing as well. "Lead the way." She said wanting to prove herself to Vin.
oOo
Vin moved. Faster than Taylor could react Vin seemed to glide across the floor as the tassels of her cloak spread behind her. Taylor summoned her bugs to shield her or to blind Vin but they were too slow. Even as they closed in on Vin, she just moved too fast. The cloak she wore hide her arms and made it hard to determine where she'd move next. Taylor had tried in a previous bout to grab the cloak only for the tassel she had gripped to fall off with ease. Vin had then explained, after kicking her in the ribs, that the tassels were made to rip off if tugged precisely for the cause that Taylor had attempted when she grabbed the tassel.
A decent amount of her swarm began to surround Vin but she leapt into the air and shot forward like a bullet. A hidden swarm Taylor had prepared swept down onto her only for Vin to sling herself to the side wall with a great thunk. With a graceful flip Vin slammed into the ground behind Taylor and kicked her leg's out from under her, sending her tumbling to the ground before Taylor or the small swarm around her could react.
Letting out an umph Taylor blinked and her face went pale at what lay above her. Vin now was mere inches from Taylor, her hand positioned to punch Taylor's throat and her glass dagger poised above Taylor's eye. Vin pulled the dagger away. "You held back?" She asked, backing up and offering a hand to help Taylor up. Taylor nodded trying to catch her breath. The swarm that had started to surround the pair dispersed back into new hiding spots.
"Don't. This was training so I won't fault you for that but in a fight you can't hold back. Fight dirty, go for the kill and don't hesitate. Your opponents won't so you can't either." Vin said, sheathing her knife on her belt.
"I don't want to kill people." Taylor replied, trying to catch her breath. What the hell? How could Vin be so flippant about killing?
"Then don't." Vin said as if that cleared up everything. "But going in easy isn't an option. Hit them hard and fast so they don't get up. Whether that's from knocking them out or killing them isn't important. It's making sure they can't hit back. And in my experience killing is much more reliable in ensuring that than knocking someone out is." She said and began to back up to the other side of the warehouse they had found to train in.
"Are you up for another round?" Vin asked, cocking an eyebrow. Taylor shook her head.
"How can you be so fine with killing people? Doesn't it bother you at all?" Taylor asked, her voice rising even as a part of her wanted to take a deep breath and calm down. Was Vin insane or a psychopath? What kind of person, a hero by her claim, is so ok with killing others?
"I don't like killing others." Vin began looking her in the eye. "But what I'm good at is fighting and killing. It's a job to be done. I'm not a philosopher or a planner. I leave that to others I trust. I make sure that their goals can be accomplished, that they will be safe. I'm a knife that better people wield. I've seen horrors done to others that would make you sick. And if it means staining my hands red to stop those horrors from hurting the people I care about? I'd blacken my soul without question." Vin paused and looked down for a moment. "I don't go around killing innocent people if that's what you're worried about. I kill those who are deserving of it. People who ruin and destroy. I'd say monsters but I'm not going to try and defend myself by saying the people I've killed are monsters. They were men. Vile, cruel, evil men who deserved much worse than a knife in the back." Vin took a breath.
"I'm not asking you to go on a killing spree. I'm asking you to make sure if you have to kill you'll be prepared." Vin said.
"How many?" Taylor asked, frowning under her mask.
Vin gave a sigh."I've done things I'm not proud of Taylor. But I've never killed an innocent person. I don't go and kill people for the thrill of it. Would you kill someone if they endangered someone you love? Those are the ones I kill. The people who would hurt my loved ones or the people who work for those who would hurt my loved ones. Can you tell me honestly that you wouldn't kill someone if they endangered your family or friends?"
"That doesn't answer my question." Taylor said her brows furrowing.
"And you didn't answer mine." Vin replied.
"When you mentioned Tattletale and the Undersiders earlier. You said you'd take care of them… You're going to kill them aren't you?" Taylor asked, her eyes wide behind her mask and her body in a cold sweat.
"I was going to threaten her but if I felt that wouldn't work then yes I was going to kill her." Vin said, crossing her arms. "She knows who you are and if she doesn't is clearly capable of doing so. Do you want to go to your home one night and find her holding a knife to your father?" She said still infuriatingly calm but with concern lacing her voice.
'Jesus Christ, she thinks she's doing me a favor. What the hell was her life like for that to be the first response?' Taylor thought to herself but stayed silent for a moment at the horrifying image Vin had conjured. She wouldn't let that happen. "Don't kill them. Please. Just… threaten them." She said finally. Vin still wouldn't answer the number question and she couldn't be sure that she truly wanted to know.
Vin was nice, she was skilled, and she wanted to help Taylor… Maybe Taylor wouldn't ask. Or maybe she was just not understanding something. She'd figure it out and Vin seemed honest and trustworthy. She'd ask another time.
"Want to go again?" Vin asked uncrossing her arms and Taylor nodded palming a bag of chalk she had.
