venice/chicago ♔ i need a summer like a winter in my heart

[romanticidal]

♬ Winter In My Heart - VAST

WHO || Rafael Giovanni, Buffy, Myri, Dumage, Kat, Gar [closed]
WHAT || The Knights regroup and then go their separate ways
WHERE || Knight's hotel room in Venice > Flight to Chicago
WHEN || July 7th
HOW || Actionspam

And back to the hotel go the ladies, ready to say their goodbyes, with Myri & Buffy heading to Chicago to reunite Rafael with Jade, and Kat & Gar meeting the rest of the team back at the castle to try to convince Wynn to let them remain on their mission...

[ooc; see subthreads!]

Comments

[romanticidal]

Knights who fight for Shadowkind.

So you are...?

[slay]

Still Buffy. But, from ... another world, yeah. [ she gives a nod. ] And not actually from New Orleans. I ... got to this world in California. And ... aside from that? [ she shakes her head. ]

I remember ... energy. Coming through. A-And, that's it. [ she slows her speech, glancing down at her hands fidgeting in her lap. ] I haven't really talked about it. At first I thought maybe it'd come back, but ... it's been months. [ she looks back up at him, a grim smile in place. ]

So, Shadowkind. Yeah. Not just Shadowkind, I mean, we sort of fight for everyone. Peace, I guess, between Shadowkind and humans.

[romanticidal]

A noble goal. To some people's eyes, one that will never be achieved, but I like to imagine it is not so...

[ he watches her for a moment ] Hiro is the same, you know. He arrived from the Shadow World several years ago, with no idea who he was.

[slay]

Do you know if he could ... ? I mean, all the fancy kung-fu. You, and Isabella, and Hiro, you all handled yourselves pretty well. Wicked well, actually. Did you guys train him, or could he already do it? [ it's a cautious sort of prying, seeking out some kind of solidarity. ]

[romanticidal]

He already knew how, though he had to train himself to remember. He does not know why he learned the skills, or what he used them for in the other world. [ his life is the bourne identity ]

[slay]

[ omg soulbonding to hiro bourne twins. ]

Me too. I mean, I -- [ she takes a breath. ] I can do things that I ... shouldn't be able to do. Remember how I told you about someone getting hurt during job-training? [ she nods. ] Knight-training, but ... You get the gist.

[romanticidal]

[ he seems to mull something over a moment, then says: ] I meant to ask you ...

Why you came back. You could have made it safely to the cellar.

[slay]

Those guys came to your house looking for you. Not us. You were the ones in danger. I wasn't gonna just ... hide in some cellar while you were in danger. [ she looks sheepish as she admits; ] Not that you needed the help.

[romanticidal]

[ the tiniest little smile at the last bit ] Ah yes, well... it is always good to have someone at your back.

I don't know what to say, beyond... grazie.

[slay]

Don't mention it. [ she smiles, settling back. ] Have you heard of the, um. The Brotherhood of Enlightenment? They're being funded by NOVA, the record company that's getting a hold of Shadowkind DNA. They're some anti-Shadowkind organization -- I figure if anybody knows more about them ...

[romanticidal]

[ he shakes his head ] I have not. But there are so many such organizations, everywhere in the world, that it is not surprising.

[slay]

Not all of them connected to Jade. [ she says it grimly. ] I just ... I don't get it. I mean, Jade turns out to be a person, we follow the breadcrumbs to NOVA, which sends us looking for Angelo who just happens to be at your show? [ she deflates, cheeks puffing out. ] I don't like thinking the bad guys understand this running in circles thing better than we do.

[romanticidal]

This is why I must speak to Eterna. There may be things she did not wish to share with someone she did not know.

... She has her reasons for being distrustful.

[slay]

Mm. I don't blame her. Not all Shadowkind get the carpet rolled out and invitations to knighthood. [ she gives a nod. after a beat, she sits up suddenly, looking at him. ] Wait. You said NOVA tried to recruit you before, right? I know you said it was another guy, um, Dirk ... Dirk Smitland, right? But, does the name Chad Becksworth mean anything to you?

[romanticidal]

One of the brothers, who owns the company. [ he shrugs ] This is something most people in the music world know.

But it was not him who met with Jade and I in Chicago. It was his brother, Burt Becksworth. He sat in on the meeting.

[slay]

[ buffy takes a moment, trying to digest this. why would burt take lead on a meeting with shadowkind when chad was the one so interested in donating money to anti-shadowkind organizations? ]

What was it that turned you off of signing with the company?

[romanticidal]

I was not interested in the first place. We really went for Eterna, though there was a discussion about me while we were there. But our place was with the movement, and the attention so much fame would put on us would take us away from that.

[slay]

Yeah, well, by the sound of it, the movement saved you from a seriously bad situation. Chad Becksworth's the one funding the anti-Shadowkind groups and gathering their DNA. What he wants it for ... I can only imagine. [ she shakes her head. ] We've got knights on it, though.

[romanticidal]

May I ask... how is she?

[slay]

Jade? [ buffy perks up. oh. right. close. she softens. ] I didn't get to know her well enough to tell. She's singing at a club, this place called Nightscape. [ she smiles. ] She's really good, too.

[romanticidal]

I see. [ it's a bittersweet 'I see'. he's just going to stare at a spot on the wall of the plane k ]

[slay]

[ she watches him for a moment, then settles back in her seat, glancing away from him with a sigh. ]

The truth is, I don't know if she's the Jade you remember. What I know is she's alive. And, we're going to make sure you see her again.

[romanticidal]

I cannot tell you how much this means to me.

[ a beat ] You said she was in danger. This is because of what she is believed to be connected to?

[slay]

Yeah-huh. Problem is, these anti-Shadowkind groups want the Eternal Jade, and it's got something to do with her, which means until we figure out what that connection is and beat them to it ... [ she doesn't feel the need to explain further. ]

[romanticidal]

... Then they will still be coming after her.

[ he rubs a hand across his mouth, eyebrows knitted together ] You will have my help, in any way I can. Isabella and Hiro have contacted our allies here: they will be able to hold off our enemies and try to see how far information has traveled about our identities.