The Path to Nisan's Cathedral

This is a long, elegant bridge, spanning the distance over the lake of Nisan between the town and its secluded, and glorious Cathedral. To the <north> stands this beautiful creation- so tall and broad that it dwarfs the town easily, ornate and nearly shimmering in the bright sunlight. To the <south> stands the modest town of Nisan.

Contents:

Gabriel

Kaori

Letting go of Gabriel's shoulder, Bart waits for him to start following him, whispering all the while, "What the hell were you doing? She was practically gonna up and hit you there, with that look she was giving you." he sighs a bit, as he turns to her, waving a bit. "Come on, we've gotta go see if Margie's ok. If anything, I know for sure something's up now. Or maybe we're both overreacting...but I gotta know for sure if everything's ok in there," he whispers a bit hurriedly, starting again across the bridge.

"I'm sorry, Captain..." Gabriel says in a harsh whisper, "But I KNOW that something's up with that girl! I just..." he sighs angrily, "I know I've seen her before... And I think I may know what's going on... but... I'm not certain."

He /better/ not be certain... after all, that could jeopardize the entire mission. Blowing a loud sigh, Kaori seems to be venting, now, grinding her heel on the bridge and tilting her head left to right with a few cracks. Opening her jacket again, she kicks a small stone, displaced after years of wear and tear on the bridge. "... dammit..." she mutters, thoughts still racing.

Bart sighs. "Well, anyway, Margie comes first, then we can go back to the ship and think about this all we need to. If Margie's hurt or something, i'm not forgiving myself," he says, in a whisper. "First, let's get out of her line of sight- then we'll go around the back. I used to drive the nun's crazy using this passage to sneak out!" isn't it strange how Bart's being a troublemaker when he was a kid's actually coming in handy now? :P

Gabriel nods. "Did you see how many of them there were? If it's only her acting as guard, we may be able to withstand a fight... I pray it won't come to that, though..." His face switches from angry to worried, thoughts of the Holy Mother seeping into his mind as well.

They scouted the town for a good long time, prior-- so no, while she has no definate knowledge of when exactly they're going to be going around the cathedral to sneak in, Kaori paces, biting her lip and entering that long moment of indecision-- wait 'til they're gone from her sight, then go... or just go around now? The options (more like odds), unfortunately, are not looking that good in her favor no matter what.

Bart shakes his head, his tone coming up a little bit, but not enough (at least he thinks) for Kaori to hear him as the distance gets bigger, "If it really is nothing, then fighting that woman could get Margie in a whole bunch of a trouble with that country, much less Nisan. I don't really think fighting her's a good idea...though I really wish I could, it'd be so much easier." There goes compulsive old Bart with that underestimation again. "Think she can see us from here, Gab?"

Gabriel folds his hands in front of him, trying to look more Priestly; "Better safe than sorry... stay quiet and focused..." he sighs, closing his eyes a bit and thinking. "She knows we're going to try something... it would be stupid to underestimate her. The safest plan would be to split up-- one to detain her, one to sneak in... but if there' smore of them, going it alone would not be smart.

Her thumbs dig just over the edges of her pant pockets, pacing back and forth rather boredly. Yeah, that's the plan... make them think she's bored, and waiting for them to move... perhaps that'll motivate them also to move, so she can get ready to intercept. Oooh. Attack from two fronts? It'd be hard for Kaori to defend against, that's for sure. Hard to keep both of them in view, anyway...

Splitting up? "Nah," Bart replies, "She'd be expecting that. EVERYONE expects you to split up. That's how it always is in the comics, and every time I tried it too. I don't think it'll work. Well...hey! Actually...," Oh, god. The gears in his head are turning. Looking back, now he can't see Kaori. Good. "Ok. Now's our chance. We'll split up as we go around. If she catches one of us, the other'll get to the cathedral. No sweat! The secret doors in the back, just look for a panel you can push, and push it in. It'll fall right out of place. Cool, huh?" isn't that what Bart just decided against just a second ago? Oh, well.

Gabriel smirks. "Cool indeed, sir... Any message I should give the Holy Mother, should I get to her before you?"

Why didn't she bring her gun? It's sitting under the seatcushion in Daphens... and it's certainly too late to go get it, now. Kaori blows a loud sigh, checking a small diode-size light built into the plate of her gloves. Okay, so, they're working perfectly. Time to get ready, then... settling in a bit of a lower-set crouch, she murmurs ... well, something, and waits for them to make the next move...

Bart shrugs, "Just tell her i'm still out here, and if she needs it we'll save her," he smirks. "Let's do this!" and so, he turns and on Gabriel's acknowledgement, begins circling the cathedral in the distance from the left.

Gabriel nods sharply and, with a flurry of red robes, turns and begins walking down the opposite path, trying to keep just beyond visual range...

But.. hey, where'd Kaori go? She certainly doesn't seem to be there, now... did she enter the cathedral when they weren't looking? Or is she just /that/ skillful in disappearance acts? No, not at all. She's actually just around the right corner, pausing in wait. They /are/ sneaky devils, aren't they? The pilot waits for a good long time, keeping her ears as open as she possibly can and senses alert. Yes, this is the sort of state where one /could/ hear a pin drop. That is, unless Bart and Gabriel are making enough noise to qualify as a caravan of some kind...

Bart looking through the trees a bit as he scurries through them, Bart notices that Kaori's gone. Great. She must have followed them or something. That'd explain why he couldn't see them, anyway. "C'mon Bart, you can do this!" he whispers to himself as he reaches behind the cathedral. Poking out of the trees, he looks around. So far...so good. No Kaori yet, right? He starts to head for the cathedral back. This feels kinda nostalgic, as much as Bart shouldn't be thinking about this. He almost feels the urge to head straight back to his old room, too. But Margie's more important than childhood stuff- that can wait.

Gabriel moves down the path, slowly at first.. but as he rounds a bend, he crouches down low and shrugs off his robes, leaving them in a pile beneath a bush-- he continues on quickly and quietly, wearing a button-down shirt and black slacks, as well as his holstered revolver at his side. He slips off his shoes to pad along on the stone path making as little sound as possible...

Kaori has disconnected.