Belle
If Belle's adrenaline wasn't churning through her veins like floodwaters, she might have found this moment nostalgic. She'd first met Lycaon by waking up in his arms while he was running down a narrow passage, and here she was again. But Belle mostly felt angry and frustrated and afraid. She'd kicked that soldier, Eleven, right in the face; Belle's first opportunity to personally strike at someone who was actively trying to destroy her life. But she'd felt no satisfaction, no resolution; ust more anger and frustration that she'd had to do that at all. Belle didn't like being angry. She didn't like hurting people. She hated that this was necessary.
But there was zero opportunity for introspection at the moment. Lycaon rounded the corner, skidding on the floor rather than trusting that the walls could withstand his weight- only to see two more yellow soldiers running their way, obviously in a hurry, most likely because they were late to the very intersection that Lycaon had just rounded.
Behind those soldiers: a blue-skinned, white-haired, nymph-like figure stood in the middle of the hall. She wore a green windbreaker and black skirt, had some sort of street sign strapped to her back, and she was eating a sandwich. Her eyes widened in shock as Lycaon brought Belle around the corner.
Belle felt Lycaon leap and butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she experienced the sensation of freefall. She yelped, unable to stop herself, as Lycaon flung himself feet-first at the enemy soldiers, each of his feet smashing into the faceplate of each man as they tried to bring their guns to bear. The sound of metal crushing ceramics was loud in the air and Belle saw a spurt of red liquid from one of the soldiers before her world became a chaos of rolling fur, tangled bodies, and unwinding momentum along the cement. She felt herself tumble free of Lycaon's grip and the cold stone of the floor provided a hard final stop.
Belle opened her eyes to see the tiny thiren woman looking down at her, her face still in a state of surprise, her cheek still bulging with a bite of her lunch.
"Whrat's gerrin on?!" said the girl.
"The yellow ones are trying to shoot me!" said Belle.
"Wherr?" said the thiren, stuffing the rest of her sandwich into a coat pocket. Her other dainty arm reached back for the handle of the signboard on her back. Or hammer. Or sword. Whatever it was, it was almost as big as she was.
Belle didn't sense any aggression from this stranger, so she rolled over to check on Lycaon. Her heart skipped a beat to discover that Lycaon was already up and his back was to Belle, and in front of him, Soldier Eleven rounded the corner in hot pursuit, flaming sword menacing and low in her grip. She leapt at Lycaon. Lycaon met her slash with his left shin, sparks and flaming gel splashed off from the contact.
"Herrly cow!" said the blue thiren, fully drawing her weapon and stepping in front of Belle.
Belle's eyes dropped briefly from Lycaon's fight and noticed that one of the two soldier's he'd just kicked in the face was moving. The other was very still and blood was leaking from his helmet onto the floor, but the one that was not still had regained his gun, raised his body, and was aiming the weapon directly at Belle.
She felt time stop a brief moment, the tiny little hole of the rifle's muzzle becoming the center of Belle's entire universe. A memory of her mother laughing crossed her mind's eye.
A sheet of metal cut the gun off from Belle's view, and then the metal sheet expanded wider with a mechanical clanking noise. Gunfire erupted and the blue thiren ducked behind the impromptu cover of her own weapon and looked at Belle with wide eyes. The loud clanging of an automatic weapon firing uselessly into an impenetrable object filled the hallway.
"They are trying to shoot you, lady!" yelled the thiren.
"I KNOW!" yelled Belle, her voice coming back in a rush of relief and fear. She hoped Lycaon was all right on the other side of her unexpected salvation.
"WELL! I don't know what's going on with you," yelled Soukaku with a wide grin on her face, "But the people with guns shooting at the people without guns are 100% always the bad guys!"
Belle didn't have anything to say to that, her anxious eyes darting from her easy-going savior to beyond for a glance at Lycaon. Was he safe? Was he winning?
After a few seconds, the bullets stopped and the thiren peeked up over her barrier, then she leapt away over it, dragging it after her. Belle witnessed another example of how thiren strength wasn't exactly as evident through body size like human strength was, as the little wisp of a young woman swung the billboard of metal that served as her weapon like it was a tennis racket. Belle had a brief glimpse of the wounded soldier trying to reload his rifle when the metal paddle smashed into him. The soldier catapulted through the nearby wall, leaving a ruined hole in the sheet rock to mark his abrupt departure.
At nearly the same moment, an alarm klaxxon went off through the structure. A verbal warning emitted from unseen speakers in the hallway.
"All staff: shelter in place protocols are now active. All staff: shelter in place… shelter in place... shelter in place."
The blue thiren girl rested her massive metal swatter on her shoulder and had a hand at her ear. After a moment, she lifted a portion of her coat in her mouth.
"Yeah, Captain! The yellow ones! They're no good. They're shooting at people!... Yes, sir."
Meanwhile, Lycaon continued to duel soldier Eleven in the hallway. Belle briefly toyed with the idea of picking up the other downed soldier's weapon, but she wouldn't know how to use it and she didn't trust her ability to not accidentally shoot Lycaon with it. Her eyes shifted to her blue savior who was… simply watching the battle? Should she appeal to this young woman to help Lycaon?
"Help Lycaon!" pleaded Belle. "The wolf thiren! He's my bodyguard!"
The thiren girl looked back at Belle with surprise. "Sorry, I just got ordered to stay put, lady."
Belle began to object, but then the girl's eyes rose up to look behind Belle, so she turned to follow the gaze. Another thiren woman was striding down the hallway towards them, this one was black-haired and fox-eared. The fox thiren's clothing matched the theme of the blue girl's, and a curved sword rested at her hip.
"Captain Miyabi!" said the blue girl to the approaching fox thiren. "The lady here says the wolf guy is her bodyguard. So he's a good guy. I think."
Captain Miyabi's crimson-eyed gaze fell on Belle, and Belle took in a small bit of breath. The Captain's gaze felt heavy, like it was a tangible thing. Belle felt a chill that made her shiver.
"It doesn't matter," said Captain Miyabi, eyes sliding off Belle like she was irrelevant to the universe. "This all stops right now."
Belle didn't like the sound of that. And while she knew Lycaon was more than capable of defending himself, there was something in this new woman's demeanor that filled Belle with subtle dread- like standing at the bottom of a dam and imagining what all the water on the other side would do if the floodgates suddenly opened. Plus, he had his hands full with one swordswoman already.
"Don't kill him! Please!"
Captain Miyabi was already drawing her sword, her eyes focused intently on Lycaon and Eleven. She turned her sword over in her grip, reversing the killing edge and the dulling edge. Her voice was soft and confident. "I don't intend to kill anyone."
She darted forward. To Belle's eye, it was like watching an action film on fast-forward but in real life. Lycaon and Soldier Eleven were about to clash again, sword against leg- but suddenly Captain Miyabi was there and her sword flashed out twice, and then both Eleven's sword and Lycaon's leg had reversed direction. Both combatants staggered back, trying to recover from the forced change to their momentum.
Miyabi's sword flashed out again, this time striking the solar plexus of both fighters so quickly that Belle noticed a half-second delay in their reaction to the blow. Eleven and Lycaon staggered back a step, shoulders hunching, empty gasps from lungs that suddenly could not find air to breathe. Finally, the dull edge of a katana hooked the back of one leg and the empty katana sheath hooked the back of another leg, and Miyabi yanked the feet out from both fights, slamming their backs on the ground as they continued gasping for air.
Miyabi looked down at them both, her face impassive and emotionless as she resettled her sheath and slid her sword back in.
"Your battle is over and you are in our custody. Both of you will remain on the ground until instructed otherwise."
Soldier Eleven tried to rise, her sword an aid to the effort, but Miyabi's foot lashed out and kicked her wrist. Belle heard an audible snap of bone and the flaming sword skittered off down the hallway. Eleven grunted and gripped at her now swordless hand. Miyabi stared down at her, entirely impassive, seemingly not feeling the need to verbally repeat her previous statement to Eleven. Meanwhile, Lycaon slowly turned his head upward to search for Belle, their eyes met. He seemed relieved and then relaxed himself on the cement under Miyabi's stoney gaze. Perhaps Lycaon taking his lesson from Eleven's swift punishment.
A deeply awkward silence descended on the gathering. The blue thiren sighed and set her giant weapon to lean against the ruin of the nearby wall. She fished her disordered sandwich out of her coat pocket, bits of lettuce jumping for a chance at freedom. She looked back at Belle.
"So… what's your name? I'm Soukaku," said Soukaku before taking a big bite of her sandwich and chewing while looking at Belle with wide, curious eyes.
"Belle. And… thanks for saving my life, Miss Soukaku."
"Mfffmffffention ot," said Soukaku.
Footsteps approached, some light, some heavy. They gained half of Captain Miyabi's attention and Lycaon's head rose again from the floor. Belle could see his body tense, though she hoped he wouldn't try anything at the moment. Surely he felt the lack of threat in the air the same as she did.
Qingyi appeared from the alternate hallway with four armored soldiers in tow- the standard gray ones like those that were guarding the front gate. She gazed over the gathering and bowed her head slightly in deference to Captain Miyabi.
"Thank you for your assistance, Captain."
Miyabi let a soft breath of air from her nose, too elegant to be called a snort- but Belle thought it was definitely a snort. Her voice was quiet and mild. "I trust your people can handle it from here, Miss Qingyi?"
"Yes, of course," said Qingyi grimly and she motioned imperiously with one arm and the soldiers advanced to take possession of Soldier Eleven and the deathly still soldier bleeding on the floor. Another two of their number lifted their rifles and advanced into the hole in the wall blasted by Soukaku's unfortunate opponent- perhaps they thought there might be an active shooter still conscious inside. Belle seriously doubted it.
Captain Miyabi turned and walked down the hallway from whence she came, sparing not a glance for Belle or anyone else, her attention now apparently focused elsewhere. Soukaku picked up her weapon and left to trail after her commander.
"See ya!"
Meanwhile, a radio on Qingyi's vest grumbled out a grim voice: "We have eight Obol in custody."
Qingyi reached for the device and spoke side-mouthed into it: "Then we have the last three. Keep them cuffed and separated. And call over to NEPS and ask them to send Miss Doe to us. Tell them it's urgent."
"Yes, ma'am."
Lycaon rose up to tower over everyone, Captain Miyabi's prohibition against movement apparently lifted with her departure. Belle went to him immediately, searching him for wounds. Some of his fur looked scorched, but other than that, he seemed unharmed. Soldier Eleven was similarly unscathed except for the wrist that Lycaon had not been responsible for breaking. Apparently, the two of them were relatively evenly matched. Meanwhile, Miyabi was on an entirely different level.
"Belle," said Lycaon, relief evident in his voice. "You are unharmed?"
"I'm fine. Are you-?" Belle's hands instinctively wrapped around him.
"I am well, Belle. I am well."
"Well," said Qingyi. "Aren't you two cute."
Belle glanced over to see Qingyi peering at them with that little grin of hers. But as Belle had so recently witnessed her using some sort of quarterstaff to block bullets meant for them all, she feld intense warmth for this strange and mildly obnoxious little woman. She disengaged from Lycaon and reached for Qingyi's small hands, which caused the woman to blankly look at Belle in surprise.
"Thank you, Qingyi, for saving us back there," said Belle, who found herself with more and more people to thank every day.
Qingyi's mouth formed an 'o' of surprise for a half-second, and then her eyes went half-lidded and smug.
"You're welcome. I need you in one piece, after all. And speaking of that- let's get you started with Dr. Roy and then we can sort through this mess and see what we can learn from it." Qingyi frowned down at Soldier Eleven who was listlessly allowing herself to be handcuffed, the fight gone from her with the absence of her sword.
"And find out why our loyal dogs went rabid."