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Characters: Nanami and Bakura the batd
Location: Venezuela
Rating: PG-13
Time: May 20th, evening
Description: Tree-houses are being haunted, Nanami and Yami Bakura move in to ~~enjoy the resorts and spent Shibusen’s money under a thin disguise~~ go ghost hunting.

They had arrived early and taken their sweet time checking out a noble resort that was to be their temporary working central before Bakura and Nanami had eventually made their way to the supposedly haunted tree-houses. It was starting to dawn when they finally arrived after they had followed a dusty and half-forgotten street to its end.

Bakura had organized one of those four-wheeled motorcycles whose names me always forgot and had somehow managed to drive and park it well against all odds (keeping to the tempo limit wasn’t something the Spirit of the Sennen Ring considered an option). Climbing down from it, he grabbed his small backpack with equipment before he nodded to his Weapon of the moment.

“That’s it. We’re here.” Despite what they were about to do he seemed rather cheerful.

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He let out a little mischievous laugh under his breath as he gave her a teasing gaze over his shoulder. "Can you even drive one of those things?"

Truth be told Bakura would probably not mind letting her drive even when she didn't - it wasn't as if he had ever visited any driving lesson either. ~~That and the thief still wanted her to think of him as a friend.~~ Stopping a few meters away from the ladder up to the next tree-house he crouched down and checked the things in his improvised 'tool bag' one last time. Flashlight, a couple of those glow in the dark sticks, a small first aid kit, rope, a small hammer, a big and a small knife, water and something to eat in case they got stuck... looked like he was all set.

Pulling the smaller knife out, he let it casually slip in one of his pant's pockets before he straightened up again and waved her to come over. "Okay. Time to hunt monsters."

"S...sure I can," it looked easy enough anyway; stop, go, steer, no complicated gear shift like in Akio's convertible. Nanami shuddered a bit, now there was a car she'd never climb into again for several reasons.

The blond hung back a little while he rifled through his pack and stretched her arms and legs while eying the tree house. She was dressed modestly for the mission in jeans, sneakers, tee-shirt and zip up sweater but they still looked a little too expensive to be monster hunting in them.

"Shouldn't we just quietly investigate for a little while then return to hunt when there's more light out?" Nanami's self preservation instincts were starting to kick in and she ran her hand over the dagger up her sleeve just to be sure it was really there.

Bakura had chosen to wear similarly modest clothes although his included a sturdier jacket (open and on the long side, as always) as well as lots of colors that wouldn't stand out in the jungle at night. Watching her stretch before imitating her with swift professional moves, he smirked. She would probably come to regret that she didn't go for the cheap version before the night was over.

"Heh. Do you think whatever is here will just sit tight and let us do that? The guy who reported it died rather quickly, which means that it's not one for dawdling."

Nanami gave him a flat look, "you're really not helping to ease my nerves. Like at all. Let's just try to get out of this one not covered some type of liquid. Seriously, how did you talk me into coming here this close to night time? Like hunting isn't scary enough on it's own, now we're probably going to be doing it in the dark. Let's just get in, get out and get paid." And with that, she was already starting up the ladder.

He answered her grumbling with a laugh as he followed short behind her. "Hey, you've got a heavyweight evil spirit right behind you! Do you really think there's something worse than me around?" ...At least his ego was going as strong as ever.

The steps of the ladder were old but for their lack of being looked after still in a rather good condition. Hopefully the rest upstairs would follow suit to their example so that they wouldn't have to worry about brittle pieces of the floor.

Nanami was being careful on the rickety ladder but she glanced back at him as she neared the top. "Do you really have to keep reminding me? But actually yes, yes I do." Namely things with claws and long fangs and poison and a long list of other monstrous-like attributes. Outside of resonating with Bakura she didn't find him threatening and even while resonating so far it was more of an uncomfortable, heavy feeling, one she wasn't all that unfamiliar with.

She stepped off and began investigating the old tree dwelling.

He snorted a little and finished the last part of the climb while mumbling something about not judging a book by its cover under his breath. There was still enough light left so that they could start investigating without having to use their flashlights just yet, so he checked their surroundings for possible traps or ambushes while he slowly trailed behind her.

"Look for anything that catches your eye. It doesn't have to be anything special, if it looks notable take a second look."

Nanami was already carelessly entering the "house" letting her curiosity get the best of her. She was still impressed and horrified that people would live up in a tree and she wanted to know how people could live like this. "What no," her voice traveled out to where Bakura was being more cautious, "look look! I already found something worse than you," she stood inside holding up a creepy doll for Bakura to see immediately upon entering.

He bowed inside after her at her call, looking curious. When Bakura saw the doll and her holding it his expression turned very flat.

"Oh, and also don't touch anything because there'll most likely be traps. Such a doll makes for a fantastic hiding-place for a poisoned needle."

He didn't think that the thing was very scary. Dolls were a thing that many humans considered an existence between them and pure objects, so seeing them fall into the various stages of disrepair unsettled them. All just human psychology.

"EEEHH!?" She threw the doll across the room as quickly as someone would do the same with a shoe upon finding a scorpion nestled inside. "Who on Earth would think to put a needle in a doll? Well, besides you…" She wiped off her hands off on her pants before staring attentively at them to check for puncture wounds. She wondered if Bakura had ever possessed a doll before since he was an evil spirit and all.

"Most tomb builders and guardians back in my time." He shrugged and only gave the doll a passing glance before he turned it over with his foot. "They were pretty big on killing anybody who tried to get inside and take their stuff. I never understood why they put so much effort on preserving food for a corpse just because that rotting bag once held a higher social standing." Wanting your beloved ones to have a proper resting lace he understood, though. But leaving riches and edibles with it was like an open invitation for scavengers and desperate ones.

Bakura gave the doll a last glance before he started searching the cupboards. If something nasty was hiding in the house there would be a good place for it.

Oh, that's right, he was from ancient Egypt. She had mostly paid attention during those lectures. "Shinto and Buddhist practitioners still perform food offerings in Japan but it's certainly less common these days. What's the saying, he who dies with the most toys wins?" While speaking she had remembered filling her pockets with moist towelettes and was now cleaning her hands with one while glancing around.

It looked like everyone left in a hurry as there were too many personal affects that one wouldn't normally leave behind like the photo-album she spotted sitting on the edge of a shelf. She moved forward to study it this time checking it carefully before she flipped it open using the towelette to touch it.

"No, he who survives wins." A series of small clatters and clangs announced that he had started rumoring through the dusty shelves. Nothing you wouldn't find anywhere else, just old and in run-down condition. Bah.

After a couple of minutes Bakura's rummaging stopped and soft steps behind Nanami announced that he had come over to get a look at whatever had caught her attention. Seeing the fotos that had started to turn yellow, he sniffed.

"You really enjoy stepping into every trope you can find. What's next, a magical music box that starts playing all by itself?"

Edited 2013-04-27 02:42 (UTC)

"I haven't heard that one before," she replied absently while flipping through the book somewhat quickly. She was curious about who had lived here but she really only wanted a glimpse.

She really had no idea what he meant by what he said but she knew she was kind of offended by it. "Well, what is it exactly that you're looking for here?" Crap, now she wanted to find a magical music box...

"Anything that will help us track down whatever thing goes bump in the night and ate our informant" he answered snappishly. Bakura had thought that that was obvious. One couldn't go in and just start shuffling through things and raid the nest as long as still a trap or guardian was around. You disabled them always first.

"And it's common sense."

She wasn't sure how hunting monsters had anything to do with common sense but what she did know from experience was that some monsters were attracted by the sounds of partners arguing so she refrained from doing so. It would be best if they didn't come across anything tonight and had to come back at an earlier hour.

Nanami shut the album which kicked up a ton of dust causing her to cough a bit. "Well I don't think anything has been this place in a while," she declared moving back toward where they had entered.

Edited 2013-04-28 16:07 (UTC)

"Yeah," he agreed as he took a step back to avoid most of the mini tornado of dust she had created. He wasn't allergic but that didn't mean that he enjoyed inhaling thousands of little particles of dirt and whatnot else or getting them onto his clothes and hair. (Especially not his hair. Bakura still remembered how much he had always looked like a dirty rag after he had 'visited' old tombs back in the past. Once it had been bad enough to convince some poor bloke that he had been the embodiment of a curse rather than a thief caught in the act.) "It only leaves to wonder why." He gestured towards the room and all the things they had found in it so far.

"Does this look to you as if it were left in a hurry?"

For once, Nanami wasn't actually worried about a bit of dust, it sure beat being covered from head to toe in mud, she'd just take a nice long bubble bath when they got back. "If I had the opportunity at the time, the one item I would have brought with me here would have been my photo album," this was her way of answering yes to his question.

"Shall we attempt the bridge to the next house?"

He made a nonsensical sound as he nodded and started to lead the way to aforementioned bridge. The reason he had asked her was because he had noticed some contradictory signs of the previous owners of the house and their sudden departure. The treehouse had clearly been left in a hurry, but there had not been any of the telltale signs of a rushed departure that had left no time for rescuing anything but their bare lives.

No leftover food, nothing had been knocked over or left lying on the floor. They had had time to evacuate. His expression turned dark at the thought. Time to evacuate and yet no information had been passed on about it... For a reason Bakura himself wasn't entirely sure where it was coming from that thought left him angry with a feeling of faint resentment for whoever had made it out of there.

Once they reached the bridge he took a good look at its structure before he carefully stepped on it. The structure that held it in place seemed fine enough, but the wooden planks seemed way less reliable.

"Funny. If it were me I'd try to take either the people I like or something that's going to help me, like food, money or something to fight with."

Nanami stopped dead in her tracks when he mentioned bringing people before he mentioned the other things, a whirlwind of thoughts moving through her mind. One: Nanami didn't consider bringing her brother before her photo album, so was it really that she treasured her memories of her brother more than the her actual brother after she realized who he actually was? Two: Bakura thought to take people he liked first, so he did get attached to people after all.

"I.. I just assumed the people I liked would be able to do the same on their own accord," she partially lied a bit flustered while combining coming to Death City with whatever had happened here. "I brought money here and it didn't help." Credit cards were basically money dang it.

"Because you use modern day riches. A piece of plastic can't be traded like a ring possibly could." His voice was matter of fact as he carefully started to make his way over the bridge, always ready to make a desperate break for it should it start crumbling right under his feet.

When he reached about the mid of it, something caught his eyes and he stopped. That slightly discolored patch on the ground beneath him... Was his mind playing a trick on him or did it really look like the print of a giant foot?

"I learned the hard way not to trust them being able to." He looked away without mentioning the footprint, calling himself silently to order. "Even if they're stronger than yourself." The last part he said to himself.

"No one expects to be brought to a place that doesn't take Visa, it's everywhere you want it to be and for everything else there's Mastercard..." she muttered taking the opposite side of the bridge a little ways behind him while inching along carefully. She was too focused on the the bridge that she missed the footprint... or actually the footprints that were visible below them.

To tell the truth, there were only a small handful of people Nanami would actually think of taking along with her.

He made an amused noise as he mumbled something about helpless modern day people under his breath and kept walking. Once he reached the other side of the bridge he stopped as he took the looks of the second treehouse in.

It looked decidedly more raggedy than the first one and nature had taken good efforts in getting it back again. Besides that... There was something else. Bakura couldn't put a finger on it, but his fine senses told him to be more careful from now on.

Making space for Nanami, the thief gestured her to move forward. "After you."

Nanami had kept her distance on the bridge so as to not put too much strain on one point, she'd learned that one the hard way once, but as soon as Bakura was safely across she moved with a little more haste until she was safely on the other side. On closer inspection this 'porch', if you could call it one, was a little more volatile than the last. Branches had pushed up through many of the cracks and crevasses causing the wood holding the building up to splinter in areas.

Nanami wasn't exactly sure-footed and she was hesitant about entering the house first but as one who always felt she had something to prove, she took up the challenge and pushed forward with more caution this time. Unlike Bakura, Nanami’s didn’t have great instincts and those she had were driven by emotion, so her concern was mainly over the building structure itself almost as if she’d forgotten that there was a high possibility kishin eggs were in the area. The floor creaked under her as she moved inside. It had started growing darker, not to mention how much thicker the foliage was as they had been heading farther into the forested area, it might be time to pull out a flashlight. As she turned back to ask Bakura to get his out she thought she might have seen something move out of the corner of her eye and she froze.

Freezing had been exactly the right reaction as Bakura moved with the speed of an attacking snake. Withing split-seconds something whizzed past her ear and embedded itself deeply in the face of the would-be attacker behind her who fell back with a scream.

At the same time Bakura had already pulled his other knife as well and was charging the shadow that Nanami had spied. "I've got this, you finish the other one off!"