Henri was now relying on the voices to avoid confrontations and meeting with people he could easily avoid. Well mostly just the voice of Aessesser was especially useful, it would caw outloud and speak in his head when someone came near him now. Usually outloud first which was odd.
By doing this he was able to avoid most people who were hunting for him. He was staying inside the north wall for the most part though, it was good that child had sent him looking for it, there were all sorts of places to hide or make a stand if need be.
From high atop the wall in one of it’s buildings he was looking around the city, vaguely, from inside one of the rooms behind some strange electrical device, when his blood started to boil.
They were very small and far away, he could barely even make out a single detail about them, but that had to be her. No idea who it was with her, but that didn’t matter.
The voices and he started to plan, and after some arguing Henri was set to spring a trap.
Hours passed and she didn’t return along that path, he was starting to wonder if perhaps she was taking another route home, or if she hadn’t decided to try fleeing.
“Find her,” he instructed Aessesser, which took to wing this time. Properly trained birds could be so helpful, but it was even better that his could speak to him!
For a long time he heard and saw nothing, but then he heard a loud caw from his friend and in his head he heard, “She’s here!” The cries were soon silenced, but he ran towards the sound and eventually came to an alleyway. He hid behind some cobblestone and waited. He stood up when he first heard her shoes hitting the ground. Inside the alley was a black cat man that he’d seen in the Bucket, and the Sinclaire. He raised his guns without aiming and fired.
The one with her had apparently been on his guard because he reacted fairly instantly, pushing her out of the way with his own body. The blood that shot out from his side said that he’d gotten a hit. Not bad for not aiming at all. The other bullet his the wall. Pepper shots were never very accurate at a farther range, but he perfered up close and personal anyways. Still, he should have waited till the footsteps had gotten louder.
The cat told her to run and not look back, which she did as Henri opened fire again. Just too far away for the inaccurate weapon, even with aiming. He chased after her, but before he got too far the cat threw something at him.
He dodged out of the way of a small book the man had apparently had, and then turned back, expecting the real attack to follow. It did, but the fellows claws fell well short of his face and eyes, the likely intended target, and only scratched his shirt and were completely useless against the steel underneath it.
Henri kneed the small fellow near his wound and let him fall over, despite his continued struggles. “Come now, you’ll just bleed out faster like that!” Henri laughed as he ran off to chase after the Sinclaire. It wasn’t until he reached the end of the alley and looked about that he realized that he had lost her.
“That man is her friend,” said the same voice that had given him the idea to shoot Mr. Harvey in the first place. “Take him, and you can use him to get to her.”
There was the usual agreements and disagreements, but Henri was really starting to like that voice, almost more than even the first! He turned around to find that the cat was hobbling away, in his hurry and pain he’d even forgotten to pick up the book he’d thrown. Following after his wounded target, Henri laughed.
As the cat turned the corner he called back, “Why are you trying to kill her anyways?! You don’t know that she’s not going to marry anyone yet!”
“It doesn’t seem she’s likely to marry me, though,” Henri admitted.
“You said you didn’t care about that!”
“I said she could get married to end the fued, and that I may have let her do it unlike my brother.” Henri responded pleasantly as he hunted the man down, his weapons at the ready. He was in no hurry. “My blood and the voices don’t want that to happen though…they want it to be me.”
“Don’t tell him that!” Yelled the first voice, Aessesser’s, while the other said “Do not answer him. Shoot him.” Many other voices agreed with this one. He could always take him to that Berithos man’s place…hadn’t it said no questions asked? Pretty sure it had.
Aessesser had returned to his shoulder, it looked like it had been hit in the face by something since it was bleeding, perhaps it had been hit by a small rock, which explained why it had been silenced. Perhaps the cat had recognized the bird, or just hadn’t liked being startled by the noise. Either way that might explain why that cat fellow had been so ready for him.
The cat was making his way towards the station…Henri followed him, and fired for his legs. The bullets were missing their marks, despite how the cat was forced to hobble, and Henri’s guns failed to fire twice completely. The man in front of him must be quite lucky, or perhaps Henri himself was just having a run of bad luck. If this continued he’d have to aim for the back or just run up and club the man.
He reloaded, but before he was done they had reached a station yard. It was dark and late, so he let the voices try to tell him where to go, but every time he turned a corner and opened fire the cat was able to duck away behind something. Henri was enjoying this game of cat and mouse, and with the way the real cat was bleeding, talking, and moving it was only a matter of time till Henri would take him.
Aessesser cawed and he heard in his mind, “Someone is coming.”
Henri was disappointed, as were the other voices in his head, but at least another one of her friends was injured and that would send the proper message for now.
He departed, while putting up his weapons. Before he did he was given yet another wonderful idea from a friend, one who he had discovered already had a name. Strike, or was it Strife. He’d have to ask for that name again after he was done laughing.
…Strife…??