Yi's Debt Redux

2/3/2004

11:03 PM
Logfile from GarouMUSH.

[Somewhere on the rooftops of downtown St. Claire.]

[look Rina]
Dark-brown eyes, touched with amber, look out from a pixie-sharp face. Rina's skin is fair, but not quite pale--a light Mediterranean olive from generations of pure Italian ancestry. Her black-brown hair is left just long enough in the front to fall almost into her eyes; the butch cut tapers to an army-short buzz at the sides and back, hardly more than a velvet fuzz covering the nape of her neck. Her chin is delicately-boned, her mouth small, the line of her jaw well-defined. Her eyes have a shadowy, bruised look, either from fatigue or the artful use of makeup; save for that Gothic touch, she might have stepped from a pre-Raphaelite painting. She can't be more than twenty-five or so, but in that youthful face the eyes are cynical, brooding, world-weary. Athletic grace and a certain streetwise confidence show in her movements, but there is often an element of tension as well.
A black barbed-wire tattoo encircles her neck, and matching inked bracelets are visible on her wrists.  There is another marking visible at the base of her neck, not ink but a scarred-in symbol that looks as if it was branded into her skin.  (page for details if taking a closer look)
Faded, baggy painter's jeans hug her waist and fall loosely to well-beaten Doc boots of faded kelly green. A thin long-sleeved sweater hugs the lean lines of her upper body--tie-dyed cotton in shades of deep green and black.
A traditional biker jacket in black leather, at least two sizes too big, adds a layer of toughness to the petite woman's attire. Several patches of electrical tape and a small plate of discarded circuit board patch a few holes and rips in the leather: the front and back of both shoulders, and a spot near her waist on the left. There are more additions to the traditional biker body armor: scraps of circuit board, metal spikes and rivets, and a pair of mismatched vambraces that make her look like some sort of Mad Max knight errant.
She wears two rings, both a silvery white gold. Her right hand bears a single diamond framed by two smaller ones, the decorative work on the ring elegant and subtle, perhaps Art Deco. On the left she wears a simpler band decorated with letters and scrollwork.

Rina calls in the evening, a little after the early sunset.

Up in isolation, Yi had sat watching that same sunset before the cellphone had gone off and an arrangement place was established. As Rina appears, the Gnawer's eyes turn towards her, tired but not sad.

Rina still has that aura of grief, hanging over her like a tangible darkness of spirit. But she musters a faint smile, genuine enough to soften her eyes, as she crosses the rooftop gravel. "Hey. I'm... sorry I didn't call sooner. Couple of crises came up."

Yi nods with understanding, an echo of a smile crossing her expression. "It's ok," she replies, "anytime you need me, I will be there. Crises included."

Rina swallows. She comes as far as arms' length, studying the Gnawer with worried eyes. "I was kinda concerned about the other way around," she says quietly. "I... I just want to help, is all."

Yi shifts her eyes down towards the gravel a moment, the feelings within her swirling down into a blackish pit. "And you have. I know there are things one cannot control. I would be a fool to think I could have predicted what happened." A fool, no matter what. Her eyes lift again, searching the western sky. "Please, sit?"

Rina drops down beside the raised two-feet of brick at the edge of the roof, setting her back against this support and propping up one knee. She watches the Gnawer with those dark, intense eyes. "Sure. Where you stayin' these days?"

Yi finally takes her eyes away from the darkening sky to settle upon the woman. "I thought, perhaps, I had forgotten where I had come from. So, I returned to the street. To a simpler life, I suppose."

Rina nods minutely, watching her with a trace of worry still in her eyes. "Did it help?" she asks softly.

At the question, confusion settles along a furrow in the Gnawer's brow. "I'm, not sure yet. The great thing is, there are no more lies. There is only surviving. Only life and death." A hand slips out and drags along the concrete. "But every time I come up here, I thought I was running away again." She shakes her head to clear it. "But that is not as important as now. Is there something you need me to do, Rina?"

Rina wets her lips, and bows her head. "No, I just wanted t'see how you were. Make sure you were okay."

The same hand that was touching the roof slides to her lower gut. Yi looks down at her stomach, where a tribal glyph carved onto her body still remains. "I am okay, but... I wonder if I ever told you why I felt so strongly the need to fulfill this debt of mine towards the Walkers."

Pressing her lips together, Rina murmurs, "I don't think so. Look, all that matters to me is that you do, and so I'll find something."

Yi exhales in a soft sigh before nodding. "Then, you should know. When I returned to Hong Kong, it was because my home sept was in trouble. The young were turning against the old, but behind all of it was a vampire. Maybe John had told you, or not. Either way, I went to help. But, in my eagerness to join the fight, I was taken down. The rest of the time, I'm sure I did more than what my elders cared to tell me afterwards, but the Walkers who helped free me along with the others from the vampire were quite angry with what I'd done. I killed. I took some of their tribemember's lives. They felt the debt should have been claimed by the giving of my life. But, Grandmother and Uncle bargained for many long days before a compromise was reached. So, in the end, my life is the Walkers' to claim."

Rina's brow furrows. "Do you... wish to leave your tribe for ours?" she asks, quietly.

Yi's head jumps up with alert and fear. "No!" The surge is electric, but just as quickly passing. "..No... I can't. I never could be a Glass Walker, nor am I worthy of it. The debt is not for a Walker to repay, but for a Gnawer." The no-moon looks back to the kinswoman, her voice and eyes grave. She really means it. "But the deal was struck. Because I was to return here to America, I would seek out the Walker Elder of whatever Sept I stayed with, and explain this debt. John... he tried to wave it off, but I knew I probably would have been watched. I may still be. Anyway... then 'This' happened." By 'This' of course, she means the grudge that Salem holds to her. "Now, I suppose it is you who will decide what is to become of me. But before you do, John did give me a task."

Rina averts her eyes at the mention of John, and a pall drops over her expression. "Tell me," she says, quiet and distant.

Yi tries to keep her voice quiet and steady, despite the flashes going through her mind. Bits of conversation she can remember, events that have sunken so deeply they could not be removed. "He told me I was to find, or forge for him a weapon. One that could be used in his warform, and possibly taken into the Umbra. Knowing that there are few weapon makers now, this was what he thought was worthy of my debt. In the event of his passing, he told me, I was to give it to his ... son." At this, Yi's voice quiets to a whisper, her eyes sliding back to Rina.

Rina closes her eyes, her features tightening visibly. She swallows, and for a long time remains silent. Wetness sparkles on her lashes, and still she says nothing, trying to get her emotions under control, the struggle barely visible.

Not meaning to send the kin to tears, Yi sucks in a sharp breath and shifts a bit closer to her, concern lighting onto her expression. "I hope I haven't upset you," she inserts apologetically.

"You know, about-- about the--" Rina swallows again; when her eyes flicker open, her gaze remains averted. It is a mercy to the observer, not to have to look into that hollow abyss. "If you want to do that," she says hoarsely, "then do it."

Yi remains quiet for a long minute or two, giving the two of them a chance to recover from the painful mention. "I will, or I will die trying. But, Rina, if there is anything else I can do..." She cuts herself off briefly, thinking.

"No," Rina says quietly. "If it was what he wanted, then do it." She swallows again, with difficulty.

The Gnawer shifts with empathic discomfort, knowing now she's upset Rina as if she'd sliced open an unhealed scar. Yi nods again, her hand creeping out to touch the woman in some awkward reassurance.

Rina's expression twists again, and she is very still, hands knotted into the fabric of her cargo pants. "It's a'right," she whispers.

"Would... do you require some company tonight at all?" Yi asks, offering herself as the shoulder to lean on. "I don't really have much to do, so, if you need me, I'm here."

Rina presses her lips together, hard. "I'll be fine," she says softly. With an effort she rolls to her feet and strides away toward the metal door.

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