The Cafe: foreword Gaz is really smart but he's about to do something ******** retarded *is*
Emily thought of punching Artimul in the kneecap she positioned her fist and almost did then Saya spoken. “Chigue is literally gone,“ she then lowered her arm and watched Saya‘s a** as she left and spoke to her telepathically ‘I know your marrige is failing with Chigue, but I am a different person. We can start a whole new relationship‘. She said. and then made a prayer to the BMC to kill the store owner that was looking at her new wife. ‘Fuastine would be next‘
Gaz smoked one of the NCs and called the BMC to teleport the Ice Heart “Imari, my coven is giving you the Ice Heart, rrriight about now. Their telling me all involved in this chapter‘s thoughts. So we'll let you know what. I am not sure how Governor Angel Ador or the...Residents at Age Castle will react until I'm told“ Gaz said through his com as he received a text from his second phone he took it out and read it, ‘Luckily for you I'm sober. But I did it anyway XD...Roflmfao dude, I put it in the transport - BMC‘. Gaz didn't respond the Cafe just had a memes if Nova would approve of this.
Age: 23 yrs old Sex: Male, Female, whatever Location: Maytech transit, Mood: Joyously motivated in the spirit of the Most High, Amen." t
A sing-song voice: "~I've got your Biscoff.~" The attendant returned a little later with the cookies and another attendant, a guy. Chesnut brown hair, uniform the same as the woman's. The lady handed several packs of cookies to Erasmus grinned stupidly.
Thank you, um, I am, sorry, I didn't get your name." Erasmus inquired shyly. He was confused as to what was going on, but he didn't want it to register outwardly and risk seeming rude.
"My name is Kathy!" She announced her name with the 'genki' energy of a obnoxious anime character. The lady attendant pointed to her male co-worker. "And this is Brian." She was much less enthusiastic to announce his name.
Brian smiled, and extended his hand to Erasmus. Erasmus was registering relatively clearly on his gaydar, and he felt that Kathy was just being hit by romantic misfortune again.
Erasmus felt a fleeting moment of slight discomfort. There was something 'unrighteous' in these people, but he didn't know what. He brushed it off immediately as himself just being judgmental, and returned the introduction. "I am Erasmus. Pleased to meet you both." He extended his hand and shook with Brian.
"Indeed." Brian was eying Erasmus like a fine rack of lamb. "Kathy and I are available if you want anything. Just holler." Kathy and Brian both bowed and walked away.
Erasmus opened up one of the packs of cookies and resumed his illustration of the Earth as an asymmetrical parallelogram. If only he knew what this, 'Icy Heart' stuff was about. He kept thinking about it, it was slightly frustrating. He placed one of the cookies in his mouth, MMmm, cinnamony-goodness. "Biscoff is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
Meanwhile, in the pantry o the train Kathy was feeling totally elated and conident. "So, what do you think of him?" She asked of Erasmus. "Gay. I am almost sure of it. Brian's 'instant gaydar' was rarely ever wrong. Kathy looked disappointed. "Aw... not again.."
Artimul stood there holding the store owner up high, grinning as he was about to feed... this moment was his, and he had been hungry for a while. His mouth opened wide enough to bite the mans head off but just as soon as he was about to he felt a tug at his robe. It was Meo."Father... that man's soul is disgusting, please do not eat him."
Artimul pushed the man against the wall then looked at Meo. " I'm not a hero today, beloved... I am a monster and you are an angel... I will spare him because you said." He muttered as he brushed blood off his clothing and then looked at Faustine.
"Very well friend, you have us both... but I have one demand, that we gain chigue back as a comrade or I will not work with you..." He trailed off and then looked at the store keeper.
" We are all monsters to you huh? Industry is the good guys because you're stupid enough to believe we're terrorists..." He said to the storekeep. The storekeep just stuttered but Art caught him off guard then. " I will destroy this world if there are too many of you here." He boasted in his Setra form. He stormed out the store andMeo ran to catch up.
"Father... you're making Party Crashers look worse." She said to him. Artimul turned and gazed at his daughter, then flicked her chin and said. " I AM bad! You're mother was the only good thing about me, listen Tazali... We are what Gods are made up of... we're taking this form of Djinn only to fool them but know that you are unlike any life form in this universe..." He said. It was true there was no name for his race, but his race usually became whatever demigod or deity they pleased, in this case a Dark Djinn.
Faustine noted that things had gone south almost instantly upon Artimul walking into the shop. While Saya had paid for their items rather curtly, nothing had made quite as big of an impression on the shopkeeper as having been throttled by a wayward Djinn no doubt. Faustine cringed and buried his face in his palm. Something was going to have to be done about this madman. Meo seemed to be a decent voice of reason for him, but that didn’t change the fact that Artimul had walked into the store, immediately had started shouting at the hapless Cervantes, and then had proceeded to rough him up. Faustine sighed with a great deal of exasperation. Artimul brought up a good point. What were they going to do with Chigue? Faustine did not necessarily need Artimul’s support, but to keep Saya at her best, they either needed to find a way to dispose of Chigue entirely, or help him get back to his old self. With his new mixed personality being highly suspect in Faustine’s eyes, the Loa began thinking of ways to kill Chigue while making it look as if the Industry had been responsible for the crime. While the cogs of his mind turned, he remained aware of the fact that they needed to leave. Quickly. They needed to get to some sort of place where they’d be safe at least temporarily, where they could get food too. An inn. There were plenty of them.
”Yes Artimul, I will do what I can to help return our friend to his old self. I do not know how we will do that per say, but you have my assistance in the matter as needed.”
Whatever it took to keep everyone happy. Faustine gathered up their clothing and took a deep breath. Before Artimul got further out of hand, he needed to address the issue that was weighing heavily on his mind.
”Artimul. If you attack another person without warrant, without reason, without purpose, I will see to it that you do not travel with us further. I do not care how self-perceivably evil you are, we are an organization with a set goal. If you cause this organization problems, if you set us back, you will not be welcome among us. There will be no arguing. This is not a power struggle; this is for the good of all of us. The squeaky wheel gets the oil, do I make myself clear?”
Faustine looked Artimul dead in the eye, letting the Djinn know that he was not playing. He was not bluffing. He would not be moved.
"The choice is yours, and yours alone."
Faustine glanced at Saya. Her distinctly non-violent nature would help him in this case, as he was sure that she did not want the P.C. to be constantly related to a string of random beatings and senseless violence. It simply did not serve them at this point in time. They already had a bad reputation, and Artimul was only making it worse by hurting people in the only district that supported them on the entire damned planet. If they lost support in Qikuala, they simply would have nowhere else to go. Perhaps at this rate, they would have to stay in Fistle, perhaps permanently. This war was a war of public relations, and they needed to be building up, not breaking down.
”Bon dieu…Alright. Time to go. We’ll go to the nearest inn, get a room for the evening, and then we’ll travel. Everyone rest and reconnoiter, but not for long. We’re talking naps, dinner, and wound cleaning, not twelve hour sleeps.”
Faustine walked out of the store without another word. If he could not lead gently, he would tell everyone exactly what they were going to do. If everyone was going to drag their feet, he’d force them to run. He was growing tired of the apathy, the lack of desire.
”Like a wild train rollin’ right up your track,
Whoa Whoa, watch it, watch it.
It don't mean a thing,
It don't mean a thing,
If you ain't got that swing.”
Badou considered his new “teammates” carefully. He didn’t care much for the girl with the prosthetics just based off of first impression, sarcasm was kind of his thing but hey, at least she used guns; the night-walking cold-as-ice demon looking S.O.B. on the other hand seemed like he was alright. He didn’t talk much, and he didn’t ask needless questions. He seemed to take offense to something that Imari had said, which Badou liked even more. Still, the man just sat there, puffing on a cigarette. He smoked too? That was cool. Badou had grown a little bit weary of being called out on his habits. There was certainly a bias against smokers within the Industry, or so it seemed. And yet, here was this guy, lighting up in the middle of a train car. Jess seemed to be made uncomfortable by the smoke, but that was a usual thing. She hated cigarettes. That was one of the few things she hadn’t forgotten after losing her memory. Although, she had apparently forgotten about some mission she had apparently gone on with Julien. It would have been before she and Badou had met, because before Jess lost her memory, the two had been nigh inseparable.
On another note, Badou was positively bristling with excitement when Imari got into the details of the mission. This one was shaping up to be a good one. Badou knew a thing or two about this sort of snatch and grab. He had already begun outlining the operation in his head, knowing exactly what steps they were going to take to make it to the endgame. While Gretchen introduced them, and the demon stared lustily at his new partner’s rifle, Badou hunted down a pad of paper and a pen. Badou wasn’t worried about negotiations quite yet. Whatever this item was, he doubted that anyone was going to just give it up; especially when considering the Industry’s reputation in the area. They were supposed to publicly uphold the idea that they weren’t evil, but no doubt they’d be blamed when this Ice Heart went missing, so what was the point? Sure, he was fine with not shooting anyone in broad daylight, but as far as “convincing” Angel Ardor to give up his relic of immense power and value…? Well, that was just a load of bullshit as far as Badou was concerned. He knew Ardor’s reputation. The man bowed to no one, and that was how Fistle had remained independent of the Industry for so long. Getting the man to give up his item wasn’t going to happen, and to this extent, he agreed with Crase. They had no bargaining chip. Nothing to hold over the man’s head. Not yet. While Jess spoke with Gretchen, Badou finished scribbling on a piece of paper. He picked it up off the pad, and presented it to Imari.
Our team of heroes finds some lodging at a hotel, a resort, etc. Somewhere preferably with some degree of privacy where we won’t be bugged, as we do attract suspicion just based off of principal.
Stage II: Dossier Time
We begin gathering information in two stages. We need to know everything we can about Angel. Not just official information. We need to know his habits, what he wants, what he desires, and how we can use that against him. If we can bribe him or buy him, this is where we find that out. If we can neutralize him, here’s where we figure that out.
The second thing we need to know is what the Ice Heart is where it is, and how to get it. This will require some good old fashioned espionage, possibly some forced entry, and document stealing. We need to figure out where information regarding the Ice Heart is being kept, failing that, we kidnap Angel and interrogate him.
Stage III: Acquire the Ice Heart
We will plan this out based off of the information we acquire in stage two. This will require good cooperation between all members of our team, no doubt.
Badou handed the paper to Imari so that she could look at it, and perhaps pass it around.
”It’s rudimentary at best, but it’s a brief outline of the steps we can begin taking. This isn’t much unlike operations I’ve run in the past, both for the Industry and my old employers. I have some background in this, especially in the spying aspect of things. I’ve never run packages before, but I can definitely protect whatever this is, so no worries there.”
At that moment, Badou’s communicator went off. He reached into his parka’s pocket and retrieved it. When he saw who the message was from, his stomach dropped. It was José. What the flying ******** did he want? That scaly b*****d hadn’t spoken to him in months, nearly a year. The two of them hadn’t exactly been bosom buddies since Badou had begun working for the Industry. Badou read the message and frowned, but quickly covered it up. He didn’t want anyone asking unnecessary questions about who he had been talking to, not that it was anyone’s business. The communicator wasn’t Industry owned; he had bought it for his own personal use. It just so happened that he also used it as his official one. He quickly typed out a response to José.
”There’s no way for me to help you right now, Smalls. I’m not even in the same country right now. I’m in Fistle on work. Maybe I’ll catch you when I get back? Sorry.”
Badou didn’t feel very comfortable in resisting José. Bad things happened to those who said “no” to El Chupacabra, but there was nothing that Badou could do about it right now. There was no way for him to just “decide not to go” on this mission. That would cost him just as much as it would to say “no” to José, perhaps more. He was looking at a choice between whatever José could think up, and jail. Torture sounded good compared to a stint in the Eagle. He’d take his chances, and hope that he could help José in the future to make up for it. If not, perhaps he could pay tribute to the scaly b*****d. Badou bit down on his lip and reached into his pack of filter-less cigarettes for some quick stress relief. Good thing that the tram had advanced filtration systems for the air, or he and the demon would have swiftly turned the place into a hotbox. Badou put a cigarette in his mouth and then turned to Alexander, hoping to form some sort of connection.
The vampire lord sits on his red cushioned throne, elegantly drinking wine from his glass. His deep red eyes watches the hadfull of lightly clotherd females in the room. They were humans, or just newly born vampires and nothing but slaves of his. The vampires gaze lazely skims trough the females and offers his now empty glass to his left side, where one female was ready to fill it from the bottle she held. He was thinking that wether or not should he take a part of this war, between the hybrid and those neve wave vampires. But why should he? He already had everything he needed and as long as neither of those war mainacs came to his door, he saw no reason to go slaughter any of them. So ******** that. He had his harem and enough wine in his cellars to keep him satisfied. Now laughing, the vampire takes seemingly random female and heads to bed room.
The dream ends.
Krineen opens his eyes and sees the familiar, grey and broken ceiling. "Ah, god dammit!" He shouts, now awake from that dream like thing. He knew that what he saw was way too real to be dream and had vague feeling that something greater was behind it. But he didn't care, he was frustrated that he had to wake up before the good part. He lifts himself up from the unconfortable bed and rubs his face. As he looks up he notices that he is in small, cramped cell. "Ahaha.." This was nothing new to him, he spent almost as many nights in here as he did in the in that Mafia paid for him. Mostly because this dusty police station of sorts was much closer to the bar he usually spent his time, than that inn. Bear king stands up and walks to grated door. On otherside of the locked door, Kri sees young male officer cleaning up the doors with broom. Kri had never seen this guy before or atleast didn't remember the guy. "Yo! Shithat!" The young officer raises his gaze from dust pile. "Yes, you. Open this door and go fetch my stuff." The officer looks confused at first but then walks to door next to Krineen. "You are under arrest and suspect of beating down 11 men, urinating and destroying public property among many other things. You are not going anywhere any time - Ghack!" Trainee officers speech was cut short when Krineen grapped a firm grip from his collar and lifted him in air. The bear king lifted the boor male on his eye level. "Listen now, ********] Kri spoke with violent grin apearing on his face. "You must be new in here, so I let this slide. But now, do as I told you or I break yer legs and feed them to you." He spoke on dangerously calm tone and let go of the collar, dropping the guy on ground where he grasped for air, before runing to the room next to the cell rooms. "The key is on the left side, next to that first aid kit!" Krineen shout after the guy, trying to help the new guy a bit. He loved being helpful.
Trainee officer looks dumbfound at his senior coleque. "Sir, you can't be serious! That guy is dangerous psycho!" The trainee had dificulties to understand that he was indeed going to let that hulk out of his cell. "He may be psycho, but he is a psycho who kills other psychos and very much less other civilians." Elder officer said, turning another page of his news paper. "Ahah, I heard that you donutassed sherif!" Was shouted from other room. The elder and younger officers both look towards the room, before the elder continues. "Also he is main reason why our station even stands. The man's bails are hihg and regular enough to keep us on bread." He says, keeping his tone lower now. The old lawman also had taken many bribes from Mafia, but that he didn't want to say outloud. "Besides, if he wanted, he would had broken out by now, so go open that door."The elder officers said with rather tired tone. And the loud "Hahaa!" from other room just seemed to confirm that.
Kirian, now free from the cell and outside of that sad excuse of police station steps out to freezing coldness of Fistle. Kirian was quite a sight, as he stood nearly 7 feet tall and was seemingly build nothing but muscle the most specular sight was that he only wore jeans and leather boots in this freezing climate. And didn't even seem to notice the cold at all. He checks that his wallet and cellphone are with him and checks the messages of his phone. Much to his surprise he had got message from Smalls. Kri puts message back to him while he walks towards the inn, where his "appartement" was.
From: Krineen.
To: Smalls.
Message: Yo, I'll hear ya, greenass. I'll be there faster than lasered bunny, make sure that you have enough booze for me this time boss.
After writing the message and rather confident on his clever name for the man who he respected as his boss, Kri lights up a cigar while walking inside the inn.
Cigar at his mouth and wide grin, for no aparent reason, on his face, the bear king walks past the line that was on the counter and nods to innkeeper. "Awesome morning to you, now give me the key to my room, so I can fetch my things and be on my way." Some guy was going to say something to Kir for walking past the line, but the bear king pushed the guy violently aside without even noticing the man. "Oh and bring some food. I am so hungry that I could eat a deer." He didn't joke about that. He probably could. After getting his key and huge platefull of meat and potatoes, he marched towards nearby table with them and started to consume his meal. He have had his room for half a year now in this inn and was a regular sight for most in here as well as most were regular to him too. But there was this duo that he hadn't seen before. Not that it was now too inrested on them as he was too busy eating.
"This forest is my home. The animal inhabitants are my people and family. The law of the wild is the only law I follow. This is where and how I was raised and nothing you do can ever change that."
Kanahi looked at him. "Okay." He said with a smile. He was learning something. Or he would be. He would be learning something new. He was excited to learn new things. Since exploring the world outside the forest and learning new things was why he left in the first place. He would have a tail wagging right now if he had one. He didn't but his eyes still gave off that excited glisten serving the same purpose. Possibly giving the same impression without the actual event occuring. He sat up straight to listen intently. He couldn’t wait to understand the confusing terms that Baylor had given to him. Getting up and following Baylor towards the Eatery.
Two leggers put food on rocks to change flavor and taste? Why would you want to do that? Oh. Warm food makes you warm inside. That makes sense then. He still didn’t see the point of having hot rocks and that actually sounded painful to touch. How would you even make hot rocks? The only thing he knew that could make hot rocks was fire. Fire was bad. Especially to forest. Where his loyalty lay. The forest. The pack. The animals inside the forest. He was on a journey to explore outside but in the end he would go home. He knew it. That was where his heart and soul were...in a sense. Still thoughts of going home were so far from his mind right now.
He was getting to learn. New things. New terms. What two leggers called things. “Warm is good.” He said slowly. “So warm food warm self...then cooking makes sense...sorta. Still seem like lot work to eat. Not cold from cooked food. Good. Right?” He said in his slightly more, very very slightly, sure yet still broken English. His face scrunched when he spoke it but it meant he could converse with Baylor. He looked up at Baylor with a slight tilting of his head. Seeking and asking if he understood that right. He
He followed Baylor as he entered a room with strange objects. Sniffing them but had no idea what purpose they were for. He opened his mouth to try to bite on it in curiousity when Baylor moved. Quickly shutting his mouth and following him over to the bar. He seemed to be stopping here so he sat down by Baylor who stood at the bar. He listened to him as explained what room was. Room and house meant den. That was rather confusing. Why would they both mean the same thing? He decided that it didn’t matter. Just that they were going to a den. The room that he said he got them. “Okay. Den I know.” he said. Nodding his head. “Warm den….yay.” He said with a wide grin. Looking excited now that he understood what Baylor had said when they talked about the room previously.
He felt the patting to his head again and rubbed into it. Taking it a sign of affection or friendship. In any case his mind accepted it as a positive gesture. An audible chrring left his throat until Baylor stopped. He looked up at him as he watched him again. He watched Baylor take a bowl and set it down. Sniffing the strange object and biting on it. A series clink sounds echoing out as he spent a couple minutes biting on it in various places. Finally moving to sniff the water as if sniffing for something bad smelling. Catching nothing he started to lick and lap up the water. Shrinking down to almost laying on his bent legs and arms. Gratefully lapping up water as quickly as he could.
Too fast apparently as he hiccuped which jolted his entire form due to it being unexpected. Staring at the water a minute. Faintly growling then stared at it again before resuming lapping up water. When he’d finished quenching his thirst he sat up. Watching Baylor lift his glass. Watching the movement of the hand. Studying it curiously. Moving his paw up to look at it. Then clumsily attempted to copy it. Attempted and failed utterly. A huff before he ceased attemptings for the moment. Try again later. Was the decision he came up with.
Shifting to sitting again he began scratching behind his ear with his left leg. Lowering it when that itch was gone. He sniffed around near Baylor yet didn’t move from where he was sitting. He smiled up at him as he stood up when Baylor moved from where he’d been. “Yes!” He said happily. He would then follow Baylor happily. He was also utterly and innocently oblivious to any stares that may have been on him and following him out. The bartender having been one and was still standing there with an utterly confused clueless expression while scratching his head.
Kanahi ran into the room and immediately started to explore it. Running around and standing up on his hind legs to stare at higher things. Then drop down and run around looking at more things. He for the moment forgot about the food. His mind exploring this new place. First with his eyes where he moved around with delighted excitement written all over his body and movements. His eyes really wide like a child in a candy store who was told pick anything you like. When satisfied with his new exploration he started it over in slower motion. Sniffing around and ltaking in the different scents. Moving in a low crouch across the floors and through the room. Moving all around and sniffed everything.
Eventually making his way back to the food on the table. He attempted standing on hind legs and that didn’t work. He moved his paws to grab onto the edge of the table across from the tray with food. Shakily standing on the two legs. He just studied the plate. Sniffing the plate then dropped down. Waiting a second before doing this again. He then climbed up onto the table and sat there. Hands in front of him. Sniffing the different items on the plate. The only thing he knew was actually food was the meat. Yet it smelled odd. The vegetables weren’t anything he’d seen before. He had no idea what that white stuff (rice) was. He just sniffed the food and stared at it then went back to the meat.
Moving forwards on his legs and hands before shrinking down. Thankfully this table was as sturdy as the rest of Fistle. He moved forwards and bit into the meat on the corner. Holding it with his “paws” and tore the piece off. Chewing on it slowly. Not sure about this strange flavor. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t what he was used to. He still chewed it a mix of open mouthed and not. He also wasn’t sure he was crazy about the hot. Hot made his tongue ouch. He was and was not enjoying this “cooked” meat. Whatever the rest of that stuff was he didn’t know if it was even edible. Veggies were green. All he equated green to was forest grass and thus peeing on it. He did not see how or why you’d eat that. As for the rice...he had no idea what that was or why it was supposably edible.
He’d just swallowed the small test bite he’d had when Baylor walked in. He sat up on his knees with his “paws” resting on the end of them. Baylor was something he got….mostly. It was a lot more than what Baylor said was food. He pretty much left Baylor the entire meal. “Cooked meat hot. It ouch.” He said. Panting a bit as his tongue still hurt a bit. Though it was starting to go away. “Not know what white stuff is. Or why eat the green.” He said. Shrugging a bit and smiled. Happily sitting here with Baylor. “Cooked meat okay. Hot and hurt.” He said with a smile. He wasn’t sure one time sampling would convince him of its worth. Even with the warm factor. He had watched him eat.
He caught a scent but didn’t pay it attention fully. He was still smelling the steak as it had been so very near. It wouldn’t be long now. “Yes! Teach Baylor proper names.” He said with excitement. Jumping down off the table and ran on all fours. Sitting down beside Baylor and looked up at him. “Ulfric and Lupa...what call Alpha. Ulfric male top wolf. Lupa is mate to Ulfric and Female top wolf.” He started out. Saying it slowly as each statement was one he had to work to phrase as he’d never spoken out loud in common.
He looked at him and then continued. “Freki and Geri next. Freki is second in co...mannn...duh. Answer to Ulfric and Lupa only. Geri is third in co...man...duh. Answer to Ulfric and Lupa. Maybe to Freki in certain events.” He said. Speaking very very slowly. Not because Baylor was dumb but because this was very hard for him to explain. “Bolverk is….bad wolf but it okay as it his job. Uh...he do things other wolves would not or do not do. It is okay and done for elder wolf and pup safety. Just outside normal rules but they do it by order. It hard to explain to two legger that one.” He said softly. In a way it was a lot like the animal kingdom version of a mercenary or bounty hunter in a sense. Only it was for the weaker of the packs protection and in a sense “sanctioned” by the leaders. Also one of the most dangerous ranks.
He looked at him and started to speak. “Then there is t-------” He cut off. Standing up and sniffed. Sniffing around and followed it towards the door. Being it was shut all he could do was move back and forth with his face pressed to the space at the base of the door. Sniffing and lightly growling. Not at the moment in anger. More curiousity and wanting to play. He smelled bear. The bears he knew were friend and foe. They played wild life style. He sniffed. “Bear...wanna see bear. Smell bear…” He said. His focus completely lost from the current coversation. He kept repeating smell bear and then stepped back.
Throwing himself into the door trying to open it. After a couple times and a slight ache he stared at it. He wanted to see the bear. Looking at Baylor. “Lets go see the bear.” He said with a smile. He looked at him. “Wood smell rock wall won’t move.” He said. “Can’t make it move.” he added. Shifting around then sat down. He smelled bear. He wanted to go find bear. Looking at Baylor. “Tell you rest of ranks later Baylor.” He said with a big honest smile. Looking at the door then to Baylor. Just like a dog who wants to go outside but the owner isn’t moving. Look at door. Look at person. Look at door. Look at person. And repeat. That was exactly what he was doing.
Artimul bent down to meet Faustines gaze. He looked calm and seren although the anger drove him nearly insane. This human telling him what to do? No way in hell.
" Understand this is the LAST time I will bend to meet your cold stare, Faustine...I will listen, and make decisions but you are in no way ordering. I have to maintain the properties of fear then, you're not built like this!" He grinned and returned to his straightened stance, holding one arm out to meet Meos. He started walking towards the door slowly as Faustine stormed out and he called out " Think we're heroes, huh? You have the wrong opinion, Faustine... Oh how you've changed." He called.
after returning to his normal state he used his spells to make him fly towards Faustine and stop right in front of the painted man.
"Listen to me when I speak to you, or you will not be respected... A leader dedicates his time to listening, not being a coward and running off... now what are you?" He asked. " Hero, or villain?
Aparently none of the others had any questions, or then they just waited to get answer to what Crase just asked. Either they were dumb, while being content when knowing not ever detail of this mission, or then they trusted they're leader enough. Crase could decide which it was. Shruging he takes another bite from her bread and notices the guy who aparently was some sort of demon to watch her rifle. It didn't escape her attention that Alexander seemed intrested about the gun, but she guessed that it was likely profesonial intrest. And she had to admit that the gun wasn't quite normal sniper.
"Intrested?" Crase asks from Alexander. She takes the rifle from her side and offers it to guy stock first. "Just don't break it." He spoke in rahter cold and perhaps sarcastic tone. But that was her way of talking most of the time.
When Baddou wrote a note that he gave to Imari, Crase had to wonder what her role was in this. Sure enough she was introduced as field medic and top notch sniper, but not anything specific was given to her. And she didn't want to go on mission where she didn't exactly know what was her purpose in it. Nor she did not know the value of her team mates or purpose exept of those who Imari told they're mission roles about. "So, Am I to cover somone up when we get the Heart, or is there something else planned for me?" She then asks, her question was thrown at Imari's direction but Crase could accept answer from anyone. Aparently some parts of the mission weren't too clear yet and some planning was still to do.
What's better than being the owner of your own club
having access to all the booze and drugs you could ever want
and making friends with the right people?
Nothing,that's what
...well except for I dunno
having an actual immune system.
Lazuli was in the middle of kicking another one of his goons awake when he noticed the rather scantily clad woman drenched in blood tackle what appeared to be a rather wobbly school girl.....how odd....yet not surprising.....a bit messy though. To make matters stranger they were both now in the VIP area with Jose and that made it kind of awkward...for Lazuli at least....he could have bet Jose was enjoying it. He then noticed the trail of blood leading to the small kitchen that was really only there for VIP's to get some mediocre food when they were drunk enough to stomach it. "Oh now that's just lovely....." he said with a bit of a sigh. "good thing im the owner of the place....I'll get generic minion number one to clean it." he muttered to himself ah the guy by his feet shot awake and began to stand up. Before the guy was even totally off the ground Lazuli snapped his fingers and pointed to the mess. The grunt rolled his eyes and slinked off to find a mop.
It was around then the familiar voice of Jose drifted to his ears. Lazuli damn near laughed out loud when Jose's guard went on the defensive, Really? Here? My place? Funny...damn canon fodder... , he thought now smirking under his mask.
Lazuli strolled up to a reasonable distance,doing his best not to eye the bloodied pseudo orgy going on only about a foot away. "Dreams eh? s**t I wish it was a dream...trippy as hell. Woke up with a few bullet holes on the road....with no holes in the suit. Freakin' weird." he said with a laugh. Crossing his arms he tilted a head toward the fiasco next to him, "So uh....friends of yours Smalls? Gotta be honest. Didn't think you had a blood fetish." he jested before pacing a for a brief moment and immediately getting to the point. "Well I'm not gonna sugar coat it. I need info. Maybe something more in the future. Its no secret you have quite a bit of influence around here. I'm lookin to make a transaction; help me get to the bottom of the whole blacking out s**t and I'll owe you one big time. Good for favors, maybe I could do some jobs, grease a some palms, or I could even get ya some more of the bourbon. " Lazuli said with a small nod towards Jose's drink.
Well one things for sure
I'm not about to let that stop me
Or anything else for that matter
well...except cats
I like cats
Baylor chuckled as he watched Kanahi try to eat. "You need to blow it like this first." He said as he showed the wild man how to blow on it softly to help cool it off. It was an interesting meal to say the least. Baylor didn't complain about having both helpings of the rice and the vegetables to himself, though he was raised on trying out new things. You never know if you didn't like it unless you tried it first. Within reason anyway. "You should try the veggies, some canines will supplement their diets with grass to help their digestion, some even like the...uh... yellow things from the ground." He meant carrots, hoping that the wording was easier for Kanahi to understand. He lifted his rice bowl to better examine the contents and made a somewhat disappointing expression. "However this rice is bland. It's be better with milk tomorrow..." He set that aside in favor of finishing the veggies.
With his were side being an Aries ram, he didn't mind eating a predominantly vegetarian diet. However, the Aries ram was a predator too, so meat was an inevitable thing that he needed to eat. Lucky enough for him, Kanahi's catch gave him enough to sate the cravings of the beast within. Any other predator-type were and he would need to supplement himself with the protein only meat could provide. Or eggs, Baylor enjoyed raw egg for some strange reason. Something about the gelatinous consistency perhaps.
Baylor was pulled from his own thoughts at Kanahi's mention of the pack names. He straightened up in his chair and listened intently. At the mention of 'Bolverk' He felt an odd tingle in the back of his neck, like he had heard the word before. That or the way it was spoken by Kanahi. No, not the way, Baylor had heard that word before.
It was his first change. The young boy was in a full feral form and out on his first real hunt with his father. The two Aries goat Were's had happened upon a camp of elves just outside the forest area. There were ten in the party, and all around the fire looked to be highly experienced hunters themselves. There was one though not at the fire. Baylor's father informed the youth that she was their spiritual leader. Or at least the spirit guide to this party. They were probably out on a scouting mission, having come from the forest it seemed they were scouting the neighboring city. Baylor's father said it would be best to ignore them. However this was the youth's first change, and he wasn't in control of his own beast form.
He ran out and attacked the party. His father followed out too, if only to protect his son. It ended in disaster, the only elf to survive the onslaught of the two wererams was the woman. She cursed Baylor, so he would find ultimate happiness and watch it taken away from him time after time, she used the word 'Bolverk' in her curse and it had stood out in the boy's mind.
There was something going on outside the door. Earlier Baylor had felt eyes watching himself and Kanahi, but he didn't pay much attention to it. Though, since now Kanahi's attention was wrenched away at the same moment as his was, he had to give it some merit. He went to the door with Kanahi and listened with his ear right on the door itself. "Ain't no bears in this inn." his words were low and almost like a growl. Earlier Kanahi had likened Baylor to a bear, the man did measure up to almost eight feet, much like a small grizzly maybe. Could there be someone even larger following them? It wouldn't surprise Baylor at all, he did rack up a few enemies and who knew if they had gotten out of the asylum.
Baylor put a finger to his lips, a motion that meant for Kanahi to be quiet. He slowly opened the door and peeked outside. He didn't see anyone. Baylor placed a hand over his chest, there was a pocket in his vest that he usually placed his needle set in. He unzipped the pocket so his needles would be at the ready, and opened the door. The feral side in him was itching to show through, for now he let himself change to his mid-morphed form. Two sets of horns made their way out of his skull and his hair too grew out to a bright red color. His teeth sharpened and grew out along with claws that formed at the ends of his fingers, replacing the human nails he had there before.
If he was to shift his form it was usually to this appearance. For one thing, it didn't hurt him as much. In this cold weather, with his joints giving him a little trouble, he didn't want to cause too much strain on his body by shifting to his full beast form. For another thing, he didn't want to rip up his long sleeved shirt. This one was a bit small. Lastly, he didn't want to leave a hairy, and horned, mess when shifting back to his weaker, and much smaller, human form.
In this form his own senses heightened. He did smell something that reeked of wild animal. The smell was mixed with that oh so familiar scent of iron bars and police incompetence. Someone else was there, the question now was whether or not it was a friendly. Baylor looked down at Kanahi, a gaze that was once red, now orange/yellow eyed. "Do you think you can find the origin of the scent?" He asked in a quieted tone.
"...There's usually a woman to blame."
--&Mood: Alerted
--&Position: Upright
--&Tune: Wall of Pride [by Voltair]
--&With: Kanahi
--&Place: At the inn with Kanahi.
--&Objective: Figure out what the 'bear' person is doing.
*Edited
TimeKeys
InSanor
Sorry 'bout the wait. Was out and tried working on my collar a bit more. [Note, invisible thread is a b***h to work with at hand.]
"This forest is my home. The animal inhabitants are my people and family. The law of the wild is the only law I follow. This is where and how I was raised and nothing you do can ever change that."
Kanahi. “Yes. Bear. Bear. Open.” He said. Looking to door then to Baylor. Standing up excitedly when he went towards the wood smelling rock wall that he couldn’t open or move. He bounced around on all fours. He wanted to go investigate and play with the bear. His mind connected that to both training and fun. He tilted his head seeing Baylor growl. If he had a tail it would be wagging so fast anyone behind a bit would have a slight breeze. Anyone too closely behind would be having back and forth pimp slapping feel from the tail. He looked at the door then up to Baylor.
He saw a motion but didn’t fully get it. Just that body language for some reason triggered a silence reaction. He stared at it studyingly. Standing on three “paws” as he mimicked the action. Over and over again. Still not fully getting it. Eventually he grew bored with it. Ceasing it to stare up at Baylor while he waited. Bouncing around silently yet in eager impatience. Letting out a yip of curiousity as Baylor grew new parts. Claws he knew. The horns...maybe they were like antlers? The big bucks had antlers. He bounced around then started sniffing Baylor after he finished his new appearance. He looked at Baylor curiously. Though his gaze went to the door. Bear. He knew there was a bear out there.
He looked at him. Door. Open it. More. His feral mind was thinking impatiently. Well more accurately it was Open wood smelling rock wall. More. More. Open. Open. Door opened fully and he bolted out then silently pushed “paws” before him after sitting down quickly when he heard Baylor still moving. He looked at him. Why wasn’t he following already? He must be doing something two leggers do? He stood and waited impatiently patient...ish. Looking up at him. “Yes!” he said. Taking off excitedly. Sniffing around and following it back the way they had come prior.
His eyes getting a wolfish look to them as he occasionally remembered to make sure he was still there. He ran into the dining area and still sniffed around. He found the source of the bear. Growling out hi from the side. Bouncing and moving around. His form bent at the front with his claws extending. “Grrrr! Grrrrrr grrrr! Grrr grrrrrrr.” (Translation: Bear! Lets play! Come on. Play!) He stared up at him and then let out a wolfish howl. “Awooooooooooooooooooo ooooooo.” (Roughhouse time!!!!!!) He stared up at the bear. He looked strangely like a two legger but he smelled like bear. He knew bear smell.
Krineen has now finally finished the meal sizeable of something that would take a while for six persons consume, the bear king stretches and was thinking of taking a short nap. Sure enough he told to Smalls that he would come quickly, but man couldn't travel while tired and hungry. Right? He lits up another cigar and was quite content on his well being until some other customer from nearby table came to him. "Sir, would you please put you cigar away.. My wife has weak lungs and.." Much more didn't the poor fellow had to say, as Kir had kicked the man on lower section quite hard. Only small squaking noises came from the man after that. "Haha! And you have weak balls! What a combo you are! Now get the hell out of my table, before I ******** eat you too!" The bear king growled. It did take a while for the man to crawl away from the huge man. "No ******** manners.." Bear king mutterd, his good mood now gone. But few deep breaths from his cigar made him feel slightly better.
Not long after that, Kir could hear some rather strange noise. Loud thumping noises as if someone were jumping arround and then something that sounded like runing. Didn't take long for him to get answer to that, as the most strange kind of person aproached his table now. Combination of dumbfound confusion, instinct baed waryness and amusement went trough his face as this stange guy sudenly and loudly apeared before him "Aha! What tha ******** now?!" This was the same guy who had seem before. But Kir didn't register this guys behaviour back then. He looks arround, but most of the other customers had left after his previous show. So this wasn't so damn clever distraction attempt. "Seriously what tha ******** have you've been drinking? I want that same exact stuff!" But something on the guys action reminded him about how animals acted.. and unless this fellow was under some spell, which he could say he wasn't. Kirneen was able to recognize most spells and enchants by they're effects. Cat? Pff.. no. Dog? No. More feral. Wolf. This guy thinks his a ******** wolf! "Ahahaha! Well ain't this god damn priceless?" He takes a small dear meat slice from corner of the table and offers it to the guy. "Hey bou come get some beef. You look to skinny anyways. Aww.. Comeone! I know its usualy the wolves that give leftovers to bears, but this is grazy world, eh?" He had wide grin on his face, like a child who was given new toy to play with.
[********] It would seem that Kanahi was far too excited. He rushed on a head without a moment's hesitation. Baylor on the other hand was very cautious when it came to something that gave off the feeling it could easily kill him. In his human form any how. Baylor lived by a couple phrases. First and foremost was 'Tanz Mit Mir' but that was beside the point. Second was 'Never trust what you can't kill'. He headed to where Kanahi had run off.
As he went along he noticed a mass exodus from the eatery he and the wild man had just left. Double ********] his gait quickened as he was now slightly worried about Kanahi. Though when he got to the scene it would appear that the man wasn't in any eminent danger. That was a relief, but Baylor wasn't about to shift back into his full human form. His mid-shift form would do for now.
So the bear Kanahi had sensed was in reality a man. A werecreature like Baylor perhaps? No, he had a totally different feel to him than any normal werecreature. Baylor kept a cautious, but non-threatening stance about himself. "If he was under the influence, that would be one pricey drink." Indeed, Baylor was a terrible conversationalist. On the outside though he looked calm and collected. Inside though was another story. שפרא אדם טיפש! מה הוא חושב שכולם פשוט יקבל אותו בזרועות פתוחות? הוא כמעט גרם לי התקף לב בורח ככה! He made his way closer to the two, slowly but not like he was afraid, more like he wanted to respect the man's space. "I'm sorry if he disturbed you. We were a bit curious is all." He felt like he was fumbling over the words.
Conversing and interacting with people was not at all Baylor's strong suit. Unless he had some alcohol, taking on a new job, or was about to kill the person, he wasn't great with talking. It was a miracle he had ever gotten married, and even that ended in disaster. Case in point, the longest and most normal a conversation he had ever had was with Kanahi, the wild man who didn't speak much English. So, speaking with this rather rough looking man now felt as foreign to him as 'two legger' talk was to Kanahi.
"...There's usually a woman to blame."
--&Mood: Alerted, cautious
--&Position: Upright
--&Tune: Wall of Pride [by Voltaire]
--&With: Kanahi and some burly looking fellow
--&Place: The bar, eatery at the inn
--&Objective: Try to keep cool and not sound like a moron
"This forest is my home. The animal inhabitants are my people and family. The law of the wild is the only law I follow. This is where and how I was raised and nothing you do can ever change that."
Kanahi looked at Kri with a tilting of his head. “Dri..nk...ing?” He sounded out. Still these words tasted icky. He liked his way better but normally two leggers didn’t know that language. He knew this...was a bear! His nose told him so! It was a bear. Not a two legger. He stayed in the play now posture he’d taken. Grrring and jumped a little bit but didn’t move. Barely over a centimeter off the ground. His eyes watching Kri for movement. Any indication that he would play wild-life style with him. He thought over it. “Water.” He said with a wolfish smile. Revealing the fangs that stayed like wolf canines except when fighting prey or playing with wolves or bears. Which was why he was here. He wanted to play with the bear. It would train him too.
He looked over his shoulder. Smiling more. “Baylor. Bear.” He said. Looking back at bear as he wanted to play still. Mentally his brain was crying from confusion. He didn’t get why they were talking about drinking and drinks. It made no sense. Staring at him. “Grrrr grrrrr yip grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr grr.” (No thanks I hunted cat and ate steak.) He howled again for him to play. “Yes. Full though.” He said in broken english. Jumping his front a bit. “Aroooooooo.” (Roughhouse) He looked at him. “Yes. Two leggers stray-ang-uh. First time out forest.” He said slowly in broken English as he sat up a bit. Staring at him. Tilting his head and let out a wolfish bark followed by a quick light toned howl. Challenging him to roughhouse play with him.
50
100
200
