<div class="floatright"><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><div align="center">(http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u133/kokotigress/female%20characters/bluefox-crop_zpsvwb3zm9o.png)</div></td></tr><tr><td><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Name:</strong> Fox Bishop, aka Blue<br/><strong>Age:</strong> 26<br/><strong>Wearing:</strong> Long sleeved tee (cropped) under<br/> open work shirt, worn gray jeans, combat boots <br/>(half laced), fingerless gloves + usual jewelry, eye-patch,<br/> &amp; enhancements<br/><strong>Location:</strong> Durdenville Town Square<br/><strong>Taggoing:</strong> NPCs | Open</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;">Fox Bishop, or Blue as she was known (somewhat infamously) locally, hovered at the edges of the square. Her posture was relaxed giving the appearance of careless ease as she slouched against the wall, her head tilted downward while a smirk canted her lips. She hadn't said or done anything of note since she'd arrived that morning but still, almost subconsciously people seemed to give her a wide berth. Sure, they glanced at her curiously when they thought they wouldn't be caught but Blue saw them. She saw them all. Felt their eyes on her. She didn't care--or at least that was what she tried to convince herself of as she resisted the urge to hold up one shiny metal finger to the bozo who kept looking her way. He had a chipped tooth and a crooked nose but held a sort of cocky swagger that reminded her of her brother. Though without the brains to back it up. Still, even just the vague reminder was enough to make her want to pick up the bag at her feet and leave.<br/><br/>Why was she here again...<br/><br/></span><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Yesterday...</div><div class="spoiler_body"><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;"><em>Blue didn't look up when she heard the creak and rumble of the shop door come down. Right away it got darker without the natural light flooding in but she hardly seemed to notice. Her eye was already burning, feeling as though she'd somehow gotten sand beneath her lid, what was a little more eye strain?<br/><br/>"At this rate you'll go blind, girl."<br/><br/>"Already half way there, Doc." She murmured with a hint of a grin.<br/><br/>"Mmm.." He grunted after her flippant reply. Shaking his head and denying the trace of humor. His voice was surprisingly tough, as gritty as the non-existent sand in her eye. It made him sound larger than life, which considering he'd once been a 6'6" bull of a man wasn't far off the mark, but as the Doc reached a hand out to turn on the lamp beside her she could make out the gnarled and knobby mess that arthritis and a number of accidents had made of hands that had once been as fine as any artist. The hands matched the rest of him too. Big, but gnarled and stooped.<br/><br/>"There is that, which I suppose explains why you haven't been able to see what's in front of you for a long time."<br/><br/>"Yeah, whatever, Old Man." She tried to brush him off, flipping him the bird with her good hand while hoping he'd just go away today and skip the portion of the evening where he talked at her, but no. The scent of oil, metal, and peppermint grew stronger as he leaned nearer. Hovered. Just as he always did.<br/><br/>"You know our deal, kid.. Time's almost up and I won't go back on my word." <br/><br/>Blue heard the, </em>not for you,<em> that hung unspoken at the end of his sentence. <br/><br/>Her vision blurred, forcing her to look up from the map she'd been studying for the past four hours. She swallowed a suspicious lump in her throat and cleared it. "Yeah, I know," she nodded, her slightly raspy voice sounding as amused as ever despite the fact that she felt anything but. "This time next week I'm out on my ass. I haven't forgotten, Doc." She'd been crashing here, in the cluttered back of his shop, for the past couple years. A cot and a desk weren't much but... at some point she'd started to think of it as home. <br/><br/>"Its nothin' personal, kid, just time. My hands aren't what they used to be and keepin' this place..." He couldn't.<br/><br/>"I know. Its fine." It wasn't but hey, what could she do about it? She'd heard the spiel before. He was going off to live with family that wanted to take care of him. He deserved it really. It wasn't his fault she didn't have anywhere else.  <br/><br/>"Look, kiddo, the way I see it, tomorrow's your chance. The slayers will be opening up their doors and... its... an option." And one a damn sight better than the path she was headed down. He'd already learned that there wasn't a chance in hell of making the girl do something she didn't want to but, for this... he had the suspicion that if she just let herself, she did want to. <br/><br/>"I'm not much of a joiner, sorry." Blue leaned back slightly, the stool beneath her creaking as her weight shifted. Everything in this place creaked. Even her bones. "I think I've gotten enough people killed. Filled my lifetime quota, ya know?"<br/><br/>Doc didn't bother to state the obvious. He hadn't been there--going out in the field had never truly been his thing but he done it enough in his youth--but even he knew she wasn't responsible for most of what she liked to heap upon herself. Kid was just a glutton for punishment and he wasn't going to add fuel to her fire. She'd only realize the truth when she was ready to and not a moment sooner. Couldn't force the damn girl to do anything.<br/><br/>"Sure. Well... sleep on it. Who knows, common goals and all. Besides, I won't be around to patch you up anymore and they can help with that at the very least."<br/><br/>"I've watched you enough to know basic maintenance." Which she did. However, they both knew her tendency to overdo things and her upgrades were far from optimal. She'd be beyond basic maintenance within the month. <br/><br/>"Alright kid. See ya tomorrow then..." Doc shook his head and wandered away as Blue looked down at her hand and flexed her fingers, shuffling off toward the stairs. He'd never been one to bother wasting words, or much of anything for that matter. Blue would do as she would. Which was why he wasn't surprised to hear her leave the shop twenty minutes later. <br/><br/>Actually, scratch that, he was mildly surprised... he'd had her pegged at a 10 minute max.</em></span></div></div><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;">Right. Today was the day she let an old man bully her with his passive aggressive non speech thing. <br/><br/>She'd meant it when she'd said she wasn't a joiner. Playing well with others was always pretty hit or miss. Mostly because Blue had never played by the same rules as everyone else. She tended to make rules up as she went--which most didn't seem to properly appreciate.<br/><br/>And yet, here she was. Watching the brave hopefuls that had flocked to sign up for the death squad like the 10 seconds of fame and glory were worth it. Then again, who was she to talk? She'd been watching the monsters and the slayers for quite some time now. Risking her life for those fleeting moments where she could pretend she was actually doing something. You know, making a difference and yadda yadda.<br/><br/>A couple hours had passed since the sign ups had begun but Blue took her sweet time. Sweat had already begun to bead upon her skin, making her shirt stick to her when she finally pushed off the wall. A quick stoop and she snagged the strap of her bag to pull over her head before making her way over to one of the hunters. A slightly older male who wore his badassery as casually as he did his uniform. Blue opened her mouth to speak but at that very moment he lifted his gaze to her, gave her a quick but thorough once over, then started to laugh. <br/><br/>And not like a light chuckle either. Dude was roaring. We're talking bent so far over Blue could see the back of his head. She wanted to pop him in it. Instead she tucked her hands behind her and just waited. <br/><br/>"I think," he began when he'd finally regained control of himself, "I think you're in the wrong place sweetheart. Tell me where you're going and I'll see if I can give you proper directions." He wiped at the corners of his eyes.<br/><br/>"Oh no, I'm precisely where I mean to be." Though not necessarily where she belonged. "I came to sign up for your little club."<br/><br/>"Is that right?" He seemed to sober up by degrees though there was a certain sparkle that remained behind in his eyes. "Well let me save you the trouble sweetheart, denied. Now go on back wherever you came from. This isn't the place for you." <br/><br/>Every word out of his mouth seemed to rub her precisely the wrong way. It was lucky she wasn't left gnashing her teeth and foaming at the mouth by the time he ended with his finger extended, pointing away from the sign up area.<br/><br/>"You got a problem, dude?"<br/><br/>"Nope. Not a one."<br/><br/>"Then stuff your opinion and sign me up." She half growled.<br/><br/>"Why should I?" He challenged her, that damned merry twinkle still in his eye. "We've got plenty of applicants. We don't need you."<br/><br/>"Like hell you don't."<br/><br/>"Why? Why do you even wanna be here?!"<br/><br/>That shut her up. Made her blink. <br/><br/>"Exactly. But I'll tell you what... I'll cut you a break. You can think on your answer while you complete the physical endurance test. You'll have plenty of time. If you don't have an answer by the time you get back, just hand in your weights and keep walking."<br/><br/>Blue didn't seem to have a lot of say in the matter. Grudgingly she gave her info to be filled out and left herself be fitted with the weights designed to slow her down. She noted right away that the weights were lopsided with more weight being loaded onto the rickety prosthetic limb.<br/><br/>"It can't take all that." She pointed out.<br/><br/>"Then you go home, bounty hunter."<br/><br/>She gnashed her teeth together and huffed, much to the glee of the slayer, but said nothing more. <br/><br/>"Alright. Now, with these in place, you're gonna do a lap around town. No shortcuts, no removing the weights. You're being watched, we will know. You hit each check point, including climbing up the stairs to the gate and back down. You make it, we'll talk. You don't, just go on your way. I got no time for losers."<br/><br/>"Yeah, well, screw you."<br/><br/>"Back atcha."<br/><br/>"See ya later baby," she blew him a kiss--well, okay it was less a kiss and more lewd gesture but he laughed all the same--then turned and began the stupid trek around the town. <br/><br/>Blue didn't run but neither did she exactly mosey. She walked at a steady clip, never slowing or speeding. Not even when the excessive weight strapped around her metal ankle began to pull the limb from its already poorly fitted socket. Pain radiated up and down her thigh and hip, and the ankle joint seemed to seize up which gave her a massive limp, but her jaw remained stubbornly set and she kept walking. Even when others commented on the way she was moving or the extra strain at the corners of her eyes she just kept on moving. Around the damned town, up and down the stupid steps, and onward until she made it back to the damn square and could march--or kinda step and drag--herself right up to the slayer who'd given her shit earlier. She didn't know his name but that didn't stop her from sliding her sweaty, dusty, and severely fatigued behind right into his lap and slipping her arms around his neck. <br/><br/>"Alright big boy, you promised we'd talk. So let's talk." There was a wealth of innuendo behind her words but who knew if she meant it. For his part, he seemed unrattled by her, opting only to pluck her arms from around him before standing. He nearly dumped her onto the ground but Blue had been ready for him. Sort of. She ended up on the ground but somehow made the move look more deliberate than like her legs had totally given out. <br/><br/>The slayer seemed to consider her for a moment, a deep scowl on his face in place of the earlier amusement but finally he crouched down and began to remove the weights from her himself. <br/><br/>"So do you know why you want to be a monster slayer yet? Do you know why you are here?"<br/><br/>Blue had to look away. There were a number of things that flashed through her mind but in the end she couldn't bring herself to utter them aloud. Instead she only looked back up at the slayer and grinned. There was no really joy in the expression or even the lightness that usually accompanied her attempts at deflection. Rather, what showed in her single eye was a grim sort of determination backlit by pure fire.<br/><br/>"Its simple really, I'm here because they all need to die, sugar. Every. Last. One."<br/><br/>A moment passed between them, then a nod.<br/><br/>"Usually we ask a preference on where you wanna be in the action but I think I know."<br/><br/>"I'm sure you do." She gave him a wink as he stood and presumably went to fill out the last of her paperwork. Yup, today was the day she sealed her fate.<br/><br/><br/></span>