Cupid #2 Infiltration

The sweating Cupid stopped in her headlong dash throughout the mansion. She ransacked the room, paying little heed to reducing traces of her presence. It was far too late for that, and her time was limited. The item was exactly where the dossier said it would be. She secured it on her person. The smile of success melted off her face as she turned to see that her distraction hadn't been as successful as hoped.

She didn't wait for the Devil Bug to step fully out of the shadows into the room. The Voracious Winged Gang was hunting her for several reasons, none of which involved polite conversation. Pelipa kicked a heavy table at the doorway with as much force as she could -- right into the path of the emerging Devil Bug. The table bucked and spun through the air like a crazed wooden animal. The Cupid wasn't surprised to see the insectoid bandit leap over the table -- right into the arrow the kneeling Pelipa fired into the narrow space left between ceiling and flying table. The exact same space the Devil Bug jumped through, with her uncanny reflexes.

The arrow struck true with a meaty thunk into the Devil Bug's left shoulder.The dark haired bandit landed gracefully while yanking out the embedded projectile. The table clattered noisily in the background as the Devil Bug unsheathed a pair of knives, without apparent difficulty. Pelipa exchanged her bow for her jian. Drawing her sword as the Devil Bug approached...

Pelipa shifted left as she spun her jian towards the bandit’s wounded shoulder, while doing her best to note the small shifts in the Devil Bug’s posture and response. The Cupid’s mind tried to pierce the bandit’s style in time with the strike that sought to pierce the other’s body.

The Devil Bug bandit, Donoma, hadn’t really expected to find the interloper. But the life of a bandit in the Voracious Winged Gang wasn’t given to expectations anyway. She was more than happy to meet the tall Cupid’s sword, not caring to put much effort in disguising her Style. The weak attempt at subterfuge in the bandit’s movements wasn’t enough to deceive the Cupid. The roachgirl’s knives trapped her blade for a split second, before one bounced off her sword and swiftly slashed right beneath the Cupid’s collarbone. Instinctively Pelipa shuffled out of range, startled at the intensity of the bandit. In the split second she regained her composure she recognized the Ravenous Flock Style of her opponent.

Stumbling back from the smiling Bug, the Cupid bumped into a nearby bookshelf. Smoothly twisting with the force of her stumble, she kicked off the bookshelf, just so, unbalancing it. The Cupid landed near the right of the Devil Bug, while spinning her jian fluidly to distract the bandit from the toppling bookcase and lending what unpredictability she could to her diagonal thrust at the bandit’s midsection.

Hemmed in by a falling bookcase on her left and the wildly spinning blade of the Cupid coming from her right, Donoma felt herself hard pressed to handle any of it. The Devil Bug’s block of the jian thrust at her midsection wasn’t enough to keep the long flat blade from piercing her high along her right side. Rallying her Chi, Donoma slashed angrily, catching the Cupid once more with a slash across her upper chest.

Pelipa drew her blade out of the bandit, stepping back out of range just in time to see the wobbling bookshelf collapse on and pin the Devil Bug bandit.

Keeping herself under tight control, the Cupid spun her blade in a shining flourish meant to clear the blade of most of the blood. Pelipa held the struggling bandit’s eyes as she paused, the silver blade of her jian pointing skyward, ready to strike. Donoma glared, holding her gaze, not quite able to hide her anxiety at being at her opponent’s mercy. With a loosening of her arm, the Cupid’s sword fell quickly -- into her scabbard. Giving a small bow and an even smaller smile, Pelipa murmured softly at the pinned bandit. Donoma stopped struggling as the words echoed in her mind; the bandit felt herself smiling as she gave an abbreviated nod of her own. The sounds of yells and movement reached them. The Cupid gave an apologetic bow before diving out the window.

The thief was well on her way when the other bandits came to assist their comrade. Donoma was certain the Cupid had escaped as they bound the Devil Bug’s wounds and scolded her. None of it seemed to matter when compared to the heat in the thief’s eyes, Donoma could still feel it flickering within. She felt a joy which had seldom graced a bandit’s life when she recalled the Cupid’s words. Donoma’s eyes flickered to the window, unconsciously. It **really** had been an honor, hadn’t it?

Fin.