killing machines like music, too [mari]

[W i L L O W]

What is this pain inside my veins
It turned to frost
Is there an operation, please
And how much does it cost

Willow's long blonde hair was shiny and straight, thanks to spending three hours on it that morning. She work it down, simple, with a dark blue headband with black polka dots. Her shirt was similar- a baby doll top, which was also dark blue, and featured black trim. Her pants were just a favorite pair of old jeans, ripped at the knees. She was wearing three sets of dangly silver earrings, six silver rings with light blue stones, and a lip ring. She had sets of black, silver, and blue bangles on both wrists, and a fresh set of scratches on her left cheek from a recent fight. She also wore a few anklets, which were made of thin ropes dyed dark blue. She wore her favorite pair of silver and blue flipflops, even though it was only March. She wore a thin, navy blue jacket, which held her wallet in the pocket. She looked like almost an nineteen-year-old girl, even though on the inside, she was completely different. First of all, she was designed to kill, to destroy. She was on city council, even though she was only nineteen- because she was a kid genius who had protected the city by turning in a few "criminals".

Willow was standing by a shelf full of rock CDs, occasionally listening to one on the headphones nearby. She was looking for new music, since she had already listened to every one of her CDs at least fifty times. She didn't really care much about the music she listened to, as long as it sounded good. She liked most genres- anything that didn't make her ears hurt was absolutely wonderful, according to Willow. She didn't have a favorite band or song- she loved almost all music. Pulling another CD off the rack, she skimmed the song titles on the back, and looked for the number for the headphones. Pressing the little 5 key on the stand which the headphones were connected to, loud screeching filled her ears. Willow quickly yanked the headphones of, and threw them down on the stand, the screeching still playing loudly. Ugh, that crap should come with a warning label on it.

[Mari GENA]

A hunter.

Mari could recognize that stench anywhere.

Green orbs swiveled to the side slyly, looking from the corner of her eyes for the source of the danger. She inhaled a bit, taking a calming breath before exhaling through her nostrils. Her gloved hand fell from the CD she had been examining, dangling limply at her side. Her other hand moved quietly, first to her hair. Time to think up a plan. This wouldn't be easy; all of the humans would be watching, and Mari really hated to create such a spectacle when they were...enjoying themselves. She sneered a bit and let her limp hand travel quietly to her rifle, which was holstered in her jacket, and pretty damn secretly as well.

Her eyes narrowed as she kept them glued to the figure. She was definately pretty, she'd give the huntress that. Pretty young too, probably around 18 or 19, she'd bet. Mari's face was stone cold. She'd show this novice a thing or two on how to hunt the hunted...for the hunter was soon switching roles. At least, it was in Mari's mind.

She walked slowly around the back of the store, her eyes traveling around, trying to not make her look suspicious. This could easily end badly, and she needed to keep her cool. Obviously. She let her hand skim through a few CDs, trying to act like she didn't notice the girl. She was sweating buckets, and would soon need to rip off her trenchcoat and reveal the weapon concealed underneath...a dangerous move, but it was for the best.

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[W i L L O W]

The smell of sweat, cat, and feli all hit Willow's nose at the same moment, causing her to wrinkle her nose in disgust. She hated sweat, and she hated feli even more. The stupid cats should just packed up and moved to an island somewhere, in Willow's opinion. Some things were just too disgusting to have to meet in real life- and unfortunately, Willow's career demanded that she constantly be around them. It wasn't that she hated her job, she just hated feli- which somehow meant that she was good at her job, and therefore loved it. She tensed, looking away from the screaming headphones, her eyes scanning the store expertly. Her eyes fell on a woman near the back, probably about twenty or so, from the looks of her. She was wearing a heavy coat, the cause for the sweating...and probably to hide a weapon, too. Willow thought briefly about calling mall security, and leaving them to handle the feli. However, Willow wanted to confront it on her own.

She stepped over to the feli gracefully, carefully. Her muscles tensed, ready to fight if need be. Leaning against a shelf, Willow turned to the other woman and muttered softly, "Something smells like cat." She made sure the word 'cat' had extra sourness in it, making the word an insult. She raised her thin, blonde eyebrows in an amused way, waiting for the feli's response.

[Mari GENA]

Her entire body froze when she felt the presence of the hunter so close. So damned close...she was in a helluva tight situation now, and she needed to get herself out of it. Her sunglasses flashed slightly as her hand went to her pocket, letting it rest in there for a while, trying to look casual. But it was pretty hard to look casual when somebody was hunting you down...very hard, actually. But her eyes were fixed on the CD, trained on it, not daring to look into her eyes.

A cat? Smelling? How incredibly idiotic. "Hmph, you say this as if you were trying to insult me," she mumbled, her bright red hand moving to shift through the rack of discs, picking up one here and there. Finally, she let her head swivel to the girl, her sunglasses flashing in the bright lights of the room.

She was definately much prettier up close, but Mari wasn't really able to focus on that. She was trying to keep her nerves calm and numb, so that if something did in fact happen, and the woman pulled out a weapon, then she would be able to evade it. This moment, this is what she has trained for. She had gone up against pleanty of hunters, and most of them went back empty handed with a bruised eye, but there hasn't been one yet that could actually put up a fight.

However, this girl...Mari was definately preparing her mindset to kill at all costs. This girl seemed powerful, and dangerous. At only around 19, she seemed to be almost like a prodigy of some sort. The look in her eye, the professional stance...of course, her choice of words didn't win anything in Mari's book, but that glisten, that poise...her pupils dilated, ready for an extremely long battle.

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[W i L L O W]

Willow narrowed her eyes. "Where I come from, that's an insult- and not just an insult, but a very good reason for me to bash stupid, idiotic your head in," Willow snapped, her voice low and raspy. She glared at the girl, doing her best to intimidate and cause fear. So far, the stupid cat didn't look very afraid- Willow could only smell the faintest bit of a fear-scent coming from her. And it certainly didn't make her smell any better- then again, anyone other than a hunter was supposed to smell bad to Willow, no matter who they were. Willow was created to feel superior- it was always in her thoughts. She was sophisticated, feli were callow. She was lusty and quick, cani were slow and weak. She was incredible, humans were boring.

"So, cat, tell me your name. Have we met? Have you ever heard of me? I go by the name Willow these days, but I've been many different people. I can't believe I've never met you, cat. I've met almost every other creature or beast in this city," Willow growled, smirking slightly. She enjoyed being rude, and the way she said cat, it could have been a synonym for any insult in the world- preferably the ones that were the rudest and the worst. Willow was so against feli and cani, but she loved it. She enjoyed making them afraid, miserable, and then dead. Life was no fun if there was no fighting or excitement: therefore, Willow made her own fun.

[Mari GENA]

Mari's orbs narrowed at this woman, her raspy voice making her own ears tingle slightly for reasons unknown. She was trying to scare her, and frankly, she was scared. But, she could never show something like that, especially to a hunter. Hunters, all they did was kill kill kill...it was so disgusting...A hand rose to run through her hair, the anxiety and the fact that she was thinking up a plan to escape making her mit automatically jerk up to comb through her locks.

"So that's what you people call 'luck' these days..." she muttered softly, almost as if everything was clear to her now, a revelation. These hunters and humans, even the cani, they were so odd sometimes. Thinking that she could take on a feli of her caliber? Hah! She would be in for a surprise.

"My name, hunter, is none of your concern," Mari purred out suddenly, her eyes fixated on the woman. "Agent Willow...strong and as thick as a tree, no doubt," she continued, suddenly starting to move, prowling around her in circles like a tiger would do to its prey. "If you must know, miss Willow--" she said, spitting out the name as if it were poison. Two could play at the cat game, right? "--my name is Mari."

"And it's not that I'm not famous, but I like to keep myself hidden from scum like you, hunter," she said, a small smirk playing on her jaw.

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[W i L L O W]

"Oh, you're so funny, little fluffy kitten," Willow cooed in a high pitched, fake voice, dripping with sarcasm. "I could spare your life, because, oh, Mari, you are just a little fluffy kitten...but it is my job, you know," Willow said, in a mocking tone. She loved messing with feli and cani. And you're oh-so-pretty," Willow snarled. Okay, maybe that part was true, in Willow opinion- but it was no reason not to kill her little feli friend. Right?

"Now, be good, and I won't make your death too painful," Willow hissed. "Come with me, okay, cat?" Willow did her best to sound sweet, innocent, and convincing, even though it was hard. But she had a reputation to uphold, being on council and all. And she couldn't just kill the feli on the spot, now could she? All she had to do was lure the cat to some deserted spot, and kill her. Maybe Willow would have a little camping trip, and have eggs, toast, and feli meat for breakfast. It was a violent image, but one that would make Willow very happy- she loved killing feli and cani. She loved being powerful, being the best, beating down the rest.

"It's up to you, cat," Willow mumbled, leaning in closer, narrowing her eyes, trying to do the whole intimidation-thing, and get the stupid cat to be quiet and follow her. Something told her that this one might be a bit of a struggle- possibly since most of her prey had been younger than her, or a lot weaker than her. However, this ca-, no, Mari, was possibly her age, maybe older. And maybe more powerful, Willow thought darkly.

[Mari GENA]

Oh, her blood was boiling now...Mari could feel it rushing through her veins as her body began to tense in anger. Little fluffy kitten my ass...calm down, Mari, don't show anger, you'll get yourself in trouble. After a few cleansing breaths, Mari's eyes slid shut gently. A few more deep breaths...she opened them once again to stare right into the face of the girl, snarling insults at her that stung, but stung even more when Mari couldn't show her anger. But anger was weakness, as well, and she couldn't very well show that...

A hand rose to run through her brown hair as her mind churned to come up with a plan, and fast. It was already in development before, but now, things were getting complicated...Willow wanted her to go with her, in some secluded, quiet place...well, hell, she wouldn't go without a fight, that was for sure!

Or...could she?

Her catlike occules widened slightly at the thought. Yes, she could! So easily! Just give up, follow the girl, and die...but not really, would she? No, no, she would fight as soon as the girl let her guard down, or at least as soon as the girl tried to kill her, whichever came first. Mari was guessing that it would be the latter. A small smirk played on her lips as her head turned down and to the side, her eyes averted.

"Fine, hunter." She looked up. "It seems almost too easy to you, doesn't it?" she cooed, her orbs locked on the hunter's. She smirked a bit casually before lifting her hands out of her jacket and holding them in front of her as if she were going to be cuffed. Her weaponry wasn't exposed, but she knew the girl had suspicions that she had them concealed, but that was what the dagger in her boot was for. After this hunter was dead she could easily get her gun back and run.

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[W i L L O W]

Willow smiled brightly, putting on a cheerful face. "Oh, isn't that just lovely? Just...smile, keep quiet, and I won't make your death too painful. In fact...let's play a little game here. I'll meet you at Collardville Lake, in, say, sixty minutes. That'll give you enough to flee the country, or get ready to face your death like a strong person. Don't forget, I have been trained in tracking, and I can hunt you down, wherever you go- and I will kill you. So, it's up to you...get it over with, nice and fast, or a whole chase around the world, which ends in your death? Remember, I am a hunter, and you're just a kitty-cat. You can never beat me," Willow growled quickly, still maintaining a slight smile on her face.

"So, cat, what will it be? Collardville in an hour, or are you going to try and run? Or, if you want, I could just kill you here and now. It's all up to you- if you behave, like I said, I might not make it so painful...but then again, you're a stupid cat human that is polluting the earth. You deserve to die. In fact, while you're running out to Collardville, because I know you have enough courage to do so, I'll be planning your death, cat. I shall see you there?" Willow asked.

And then, without waiting for an answer, Willow turned and left the shop, and went off to her little planning session. Willow wondered if the cat actually would show- or leave. Anyway, Willow though, I'll kill her.

OOC: Continue at Collardville Lake?