thatsthespirit | [Shinnosuke + Noctis: week 5, Thursday afternoon]

It seems like we'll have to. Even my obvious teasing wasn't enough to get the point through to his brain.

[SHE'S THROWING SHADE. . . this may be a little more retaliation for the stunt he pulled last Friday tbh, although she's mostly over that. it's all in good fun]

[and she waits until they're out of town, well on their way to the homestead/watering hole, before she gets even more blunt]

Noctis and I each have a role in this game-- Bounty. We've both found and met with the leader by now, which means the Sheriff has given us the name of our fourth and final living member.

According to our leader, you are that member. Correct?

[...]

Reaaally? Huh. That's pretty interesting to hear, assuming it's all true.

And why isn't this leader person with you, then? And what do you mean, "living member"?

Do you really think we have time to do this just to lie?

[seriously, look at how many people are dead, you punk.]

Either way. One's already dead and gone, so we're down to four. [and.] Our leader's occupied at the moment.

[for reasons. he'll just defer to milla, he trusts her boldness on the matter. this isn't really his strong suit.]

[honesty, Milla can't blame Shinnosuke for his wariness. she'd be wary too, if she were in his position, so she just. powers forward. the power of boldness!!]

The fifth Bounty was killed by Nisha, the Coal Miner.

[inclines her head slightly, affixing Shinnosuke with a firm gaze, even though he can't see it]

And it's as Noctis says. Our leader is currently in the care of someone else we trust at the moment. Of course, we'd be happy to take you to them. . . if the Sheriff wasn't lying about your role in this game.

[ball's in your court, Shinnobutt]

Who knows? You two could be bored.

[He smiles.]

... One more question. Well, unless I feel like having more.

What are the genders and age ranges of the other Bounties? Child, adult, whatever. You don't need to attach the ages to the genders, if you feel like that's getting too specific.

[if it weren't for the fact that they have their own sources and he knows that shinnosuke is a shit about literally everything.

he lets out an agitated groan, looking to milla before grumbling the facts.]

Why'd it have to be this guy, if he's gonna be such a pain about things? [after all, shinnosuke's still not confirming while asking for more information.

not exactly a trust-building exercise here.]

[IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE FACT THAT SHINNOSUKE'S NAME CAME FROM THE SHERIFF, YEP. . . this is why you're the last one they found Shinnosuke!!]

Hmm. . . perhaps the Sheriff thought it'd be funny? We do know he does things based on entertainment value.

We could always drop the conversation here and leave him to his own devices while we plot with the leader ourselves.

[HA HA. but she's not going to do that, which is obvious by her next answer]

Five Bounties. Three adults, including the one who died. One teenager, and one child. Four males, one female.

[she doesn't assign genders to ages, since he told her she didn't have to]

...

[He holds up his hands, still smiling.]

All right, you pass the test. I believe you.

[Aside from the mandatory bit of doubt, anyway. Sorry, Noct.]

You got me: I'm the last Bounty. Too bad about Mr. Ocelot, huh?

Edited 2017-02-17 03:37 (UTC)

[why are you like this, shinnosuke.]

You just really had to it make a pain, right?

[even if he hums in agreement, it's definitely a shame one of their numbers is lost, but they're making it work.]

I'd say maybe next time we could be more subtle, but that's about all we've got now.

Mmm. It is a shame about Ocelot. . . I only spoke to him once or twice.

[rip cowboy dad :( :( :(]

And even if you were slightly annoying, I can hardly blame you for being cautious. Keeping our heads down to avoid capture is, after all, what we're meant to be doing.

[u mad noct

He supposes he could've been a tad less paranoid—Milla was actually one of his primary candidates for the female Bounty he knew about, but.]

Right... and on that note, I don't suppose you could tell me the identity of the leader now?

Yeah, guess we could. You'll probably need to know that now that you know the rest of us. Gonna have to meet him anyway.

[and yet. he doesn't say it.

sorry, milla. at least this time it's on purpose just to be a punk to shinnosuke?]

[LBR HE PROBABLY DESERVES IT]

[Milla smiles, but it fades pretty quickly. normally, she would absolutely refuse to give out this name so casually under any circumstances. but since Shinnosuke is a part of their group, as confirmed by someone she doesn't think would lie about it. . .]

Damian Wayne.

. . . and because you've read the Bounty rule book, I suppose I don't have to tell you how vital it is you keep that name close to your chest.

[that last sentence is said with the utmost gravity. Damian is, in Milla's opinion, the key to this game, and she'd do anything in her power to protect him]

Damian, huh...? Good. He was one of my suspects.

[It's nice to know his logic wasn't faulty, even if it doesn't matter now.

He does look a bit more serious now, though.]

And don't worry, I don't plan on spilling. Do you really think you need to tell me that, considering how closely I've been holding my cards to my chest?

[He doesn't know if anyone suspects him of having a role, but he hasn't breathed a hint of it to anyone (... well, no, that's a lie—there's one person he came close to).]

Out of curiosity, how did you find each other? Or him.

Doesn't hurt to be safe. Stakes are too high not to.

[but this time, noct will actually be a little helpful in answering earnestly; getting on the same page now is important.]

A couple of us got together to talk about stuff—a couple of things came up that gave Milla the signal.

[as in, he was purposeful in being cagey but helpful to try and suss out other bounties, she just got to him first.] Can't say about the others, that happened before I knew who was who.

[nods at Noctis, indicating that his version of events is correct. she gives a more detailed one, though]

At that meeting, Percy-- who coordinated it-- gave out some information that made me believe he knew the Bounty Leader. Noctis displayed subtle, yet detailed, knowledge of the information contained in the Bounty handbook. I approached both of them. Percy led me to Damian, and Noctis confirmed his role after I confirmed mine to him.

[Milla so bold??? her actions were dangerous, but they all had good consequences, so she feels justified in taking them]

Percy. . . he isn't a Bounty, but he's been a tremendous help in getting us together and passing us information. He's the one looking after Damian. I believe he's extremely trustworthy.

Edited 2017-02-17 04:08 (UTC)

[Shinnosuke has to pause for a moment, before laughing and shaking his head.

Looks like he wasn't the only one lying to Xion during that trial, when she brought up the "Bandit leader". Though they were also idiots who gave it their all; Shinnosuke knows that he, at least, was trying to correct any misinformation even though it could've benefited him.

They're not very good "criminals", are they?]

So Percy knows, then? I'm surprised. I thought Mr. Sheriff was supposed to punish us for spilling the secrets about our role, unless you're telling me something more happened behind the scenes.

And I'm guessing one of you is responsible for telling Riku about the "Bandit leader"?

Edited 2017-02-17 04:16 (UTC)

Not exactly.

[this is the part where noct can actually step in.]

He had some information already—no idea where he got it from. When I went to him to find out, I said I knew that there was a role that took out bandits that didn't do their job.

[suffice to say:] No idea where he got "Bandit Leader" out of that, but I couldn't really say too much when we found Riku's notes. Wasn't really the time to go clearing things up—Xion... really wasn't in a good place for it.

[and noct is noct, so dealing with her grieving made it really hard to step up and say "yeah, and half this shit is wrong, your friend fucked up," without a reason why he knew.]

[and Milla, of course, at that point in time, wasn't about to correct any mistaken public assumptions that could have benefited her]

[but as for the part about punishment--]

The rule book states, "If a role has been revealed to the public, it is the public's responsibility to decide how to deal with them. Not the Sheriff."

Technically, our roles haven't been revealed to the public, just to certain trustworthy individuals who have helped us accomplish our duties. I don't think the Sheriff would punish anyone for that.

[she hopes, anyway]

[He shrugs.]

He wasn't very specific when I asked, though I'll admit I didn't think to ask for elaboration. I just assumed he meant to anyone.

[But Riku's still a mystery, huh? That's not good.]

Did you seek me out first when you learned about me, or does Percy already know? Because if he doesn't, then I think I'd like to have a little talk with him.

[riku's definitely a mystery they weren't able to crack, especially considering riku's letter to him from the gy was A MESS OF BLOCKED OUT STUFF.]

We found out last night. So... not really wasting any time. Percy knows too, yeah.

[milla can add whatever to that, noct is just kind of being succinct about things.]

[MILLA FELT THE SAME WAY TBH. WHAT WAS RIKU TRYING TO SAY!!]

[but Noct's answer is basically her answer, so she just nods in agreement]

I know I've been keeping him informed of our movements as Bounties. I imagine Damian has as well.

[Percy Jackson is basically an honorary bounty at this point tbh]

... Well, I think I'd like to talk to him anyway. Knowing that people have been talking about me behind my back makes me just a little uneasy, you see?

[...]

Another question out of curiosity: have any of you asked for anything from Mr. Sheriff?

I haven't, really. Nothing that isn't already covered. All I know is he was pretty pissed about how Riku went about some stuff.

[he sighs a bit, hal is a hassle for him to deal with, honestly.]

Might be able to get stuff from him now that we've all earned some merit for finding each other, though. [though he'll look to milla—he knows that she and damian have done a lot more talking to the sheriff than he has.]

[gives Noctis a curious glance at that, but she doesn't press into it. at least, not now. maybe she can ask about the Sheriff's feelings on Riku later. . .]

I have asked for something, yes. He gave me a reward for finding Damian last week.

[and since she isn't shy about what she asked for. . .]

I got information-- the same information I gave to you the other day, Noctis, and will give to Shinnosuke.

[a beat]

And I also asked for the right to investigate the body at the next trial.

[whoa now that's new???]

[He lets out a light laugh.]

You're asking for more useful things than I am, apparently.

[He's been pretty distracted these few weeks with... irrelevant matters.

... And he supposes that unless one of them ever decides to attack him (for whatever reason), it won't hurt to admit this. With the hand not holding his walking stick, he reaches into the inside of his coat and pulls out a knife.]

We suck at strip searches, seeing as how I've had this on me since the first week and nobody has ever thought to search through people's clothes.

—Wait, you asked to be able to investigate the body?

[there is some "hold up" there, but shinnosuke has a point too.]

The strip searches don't help much. Neither do the alibis. They're mostly just wasting our time, since nobody really knows how to do them the right way.

[there's really nothing that helps them in either; even what little hints they got from the strip search the first time really just wasted their time. they need to find things more concrete, or have people who are better suited to be thorough.]

[considering Milla is openly wearing Higekiri's sword at her waist, Shinnosuke's knife doesn't faze her. HONESTLY, PEOPLE NEED TO ARM THEMSELVES. . . TO STAY SAVE!]

The alibis and strip searches give us some sense of accomplishment, but Noctis is right. They're relatively useless.

[a small sigh]

The ability to investigate the body may also be useless, but it's something more than we've had for the past few weeks, isn't it? That's why I asked for it as my reward.

[He has Sei's sword at his waist too now, so club of other people's swords, yeah!! Sorry, Noct, you're not invited.

He places the knife back in his coat. Honestly, even though nobody checks, at least with Simon dead, he can now leave it in his room before trials. (He really didn't trust Simon.)]

Well, we need all the help we can get, considering how incompetent all of us are. But you really are a goody-two-shoes, aren't you? Asking something like that for a reward...

[noct, the man who can canonically wield like 13 weapons at once, here, weaponless. there is irony here, he is exasperated by it.]

It's a good thing to ask. It might not help, but it may give us a clue we wouldn't have otherwise. If we're going to get to the bottom of things, it'll help.

[he sighs.] We've run around in circles enough letting innocent people be scapegoats.

[he's not sure it'll help anymore than the alibis and strip searches, but they won't know unless they try.]

[annnnd she feels a slight pang of guilt for Tarvek in week 3. that'll hang over her head for a very long time]

I agree.

[to Shinnosuke]

I have no use for anything the Sheriff might be able to give me. My duty right now is to end this game as quickly as possible, with as few casualties as possible, and ensure that everyone makes it back home alive.

I'd rather ask for information and assistance in trials then material objects.

[or. the human body that he had hinted at offering her in their last conversation]

In other words, a goody-two-shoes.

[... Well, not that Shinnosuke can claim to be as awful as he pretends to be, although he can't guarantee he wouldn't ask for something selfish first (he would, uh, like his sight back).]

But it's true that at this rate, we're all liable to die.

And that's why we don't really have time to waste on anything but solving this mess.

[they're all pretty aware that they're liable to die—and that they're targets by being bounties.

obviously.]

A "goody-two-shoes" is probably someone more akin to Yuna and Papika, honestly.

[or Jude!! she never considered herself a do-gooder tbh, just someone who followed her heart and her duty whenever she could]

And Noctis is right. At this point, we need to step up our game. Now that we have all of the Bounties gathered, we should be able to brainstorm solutions to our problem together.

[Shinnosuke + Noctis: week 5, Thursday afternoon]

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