Welcome to Gaia! ::

" It should not be so hard to find one decent person that meets my expectations," Uzi growled, ears half pinned back as she stalked down a back alley. The essentic had spent the last several days hunting down candidates to care for her offspring. With a human or well non essentic necessary to be it's bonded Uzi was determined to pick one she felt afforded the not yet existing essentic the best opportunities for growth. It was hard though to find a human or other sentient being she felt comfortable with allowing to have such a precious thing as her legacy. Her family and it's future rested on the choice she made.

This was exactly why tonight she'd brought Fran with her, she trusted the male to see things in people she did not to notice things she might miss. That and she was getting tired of going out alone." Are you tired?" she asked turning her head to look over her shoulder at her companion. Uzi could go for hours yet but she didn't want to wear out the other when he was agreeing to help her.

( omg so small and fail forgive me)

Uzi grinned a little to herself , pleased that Fran could continue and that he truly understood the importance of this. For all the other had a reason to dislike people and be distrustful of them in a position of power their willingness to help meant a lot to Uzi. Fran was special to her, something she couldn’t quite explain even to herself other than as ‘ special’. The huntress hoped the more time she spent around him the less likely he was to find a reason to ever leave even if she was teaching him all she knew about surviving alone in the wild if he choose to go. Francis might lack normal sight but he was also rather adaptable.

His left ear swiveled outward for a moment as she picked up faint sounds from further into the alley. Curios about what was going on she hugged the wall and slunk a little further into the shadowy corridor.

~
Callum had Dren pinned hard to the Ill wind’s back wall. One of the 200 year old’s slyph’s arms was pressed against the sprite’s rib cage the other pushed down on his windpipe, enough to make breathing difficult but not impossible. Perhaps most painful for the other though was the delicate looking , oval shaped, iridescent wings being crushed into the wall. Callum would pity the other man but any sign of weakness here would fail to sufficiently intimidate Dren as necessary .

“I gave you a chance Dren, I let you run up the minimum tab and then I warned you to start paying it off or else.” Callum shook his head, his everyone gets a tab system was sometimes beneficial for the casino especially when people planned to pay off tabs with goods they were having shipped from other cities. Other times it merely allowed people to run up debts they couldn’t pay and then they got situations like this.

“ I gave you a week, you did nothing but hope we’d forget, didn’t go to a loan shark, didn’t try and sell your blood and seed for money didn’t even try begging on the streets.” Honestly, the other man might have been new to the area, an immigrant in so much as one could be in the world today but he should have known better than to try such a thing. Callum might be laid back and good natured but he was a serious businessman and anyone attempting to get one over on him or his business was in trouble. Trouble that meant dealing with him personally.

Now Callum pressed harder on the other’s windpipe “ You begged leniency and said you had to feed your family first and needed an extension” the Slyph sighed “ I have a kid, I know how money sucking they can be so I took your gold watch and gave you three days because I too have a family to care for.” It was about as generous as Callum could afford to be and he had really only been that kind because the other man had a small child and a pregnant wife. Still, he could only be pushed so far.

“ I was lenient Dren and yet today I find you back here, not to repay your debts but to gamble away what money you have collected while in disguise,” Callum narrowed his eyes and sneered. God he hated being slapped in the face when doing a good thing.

~
Uzi watched and listened silently, this was.. interesting. She didn’t know these people but she could gather what was happening and was curious to see the outcome, whether this might end in death over money or simply more physical harm.

" The deceptive deserve no mercy," Uzi murmured quietly. That and Uzi believed in paying all debts owed as well as collecting in them be they money or favours. For the essentic your word and if it could be valued meant a great deal. Building trust had been a very hard thing for the natural loner that she was. She judged people harshly and put them into circles of trust and general worth based on their actions and her perceptions of them. A man like this Dren wouldn't be worth associating with.

"I like the winged one though," she admitted, unsure just what the man was. He was serious though and clearly well off from the way he carried himself and spoke. That and her keen eyes could make out the telltale signs of clothes cut to fit and a rich males jewelry, things she had learned from Lauss.

Confident that this man was worth investigating more as a potential bond partner Uzi ventured further into the alley so that her presence was obvious but not fully revealed. This would force the altercation going on against the wall to come to some sort of quick conclusion.

~
Callum didn't like having his back to strangers, especially when he wasn't sure what they were, the stale air of the alleyway told him nothing but that another body was nearby.

"Three hours", he growled to Dren, " You have three hours to get your family and get out of the city." The words were stern, brooking no argument. "You leave the house to me and you take nothing from it except food and water." He'd have someone watching Dren to make sure the sprite complied, the other male would pay off his debt or he'd pay with his life, both were possible if Dren put up a struggle.

Dren struggled to gurgle a protest "fam'ly, waste'lands."

Callum shook his head in dismissal " I don't care Dren, they suffer for your faults." He wouldn't kill them within Vargash but if they chose not to abandon Dre nthen they shared his fate in the wastelands.

At the moment it seemed like someone else had business with him and Callum was curious about this, who purposefully walked towards a shakedown in progress, and a little wary.

Callum released Dren and the sprite gasped for breath before stumbling down the alley. The injured male too scared to do more than take cursory peaks at the figures he could barely make out in the shadows. They were strange lookine but he had no time for that now, he had to get home immediately. Still, a small part of him hoped that whoever they were they meant Callum harm.
~

Callum watched the sprite leave then turned towards the barely visible figured still there. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared imposingly into the darkness. "Come on out now then if you've some business with me."
~

Uzi didn't like the demanding tone this man used but acquiesced anyways stepping out to where the light above the gambling den's back door was illuminated her. The essentics ears were pricked forward in alertness and her tail was held still giving away no notion of her mood. Uzi's colours were also the dark greys and tans that signified she was in her more dangerous hunting mode. " You are," hmm how did they say it now ? " A person of interest to me." she admitted.

Callum had been unsure quite what to make of the tall feline assuming she was some sort of were hybrid. The other though, the sylph was damned if he could guess what it was supposed to be. They must have been from some other city, he assumed, or from out in the wastelands, they looked more rugged than refined if anything and like they might survive out there.

Regardless they seemed decent enough for now clearly trying to decide if he was right for whatever proposition they had. The man flicked his wings to relieve an itchy muscle then nodded. "I see, well I don't conduct polite business out here," he pointed out calmly. He rapped a knuckle on the thick back door embedded into the nearby wall and it opened a moment later. "Please come inside?"

~
Uzi was greatful for Fran speaking as well, it would be easier to asses the man if they both took turns gaining his attention while the other watched. Although already she was distracted by the sounds filtering out from deep inside the building, bells and whistles , shouts of victory and defeat. Something very exciting was happening within and it had her very intent on examining what a gambling den was like.

With a nod the essentic walked forward not too worried about the possibility of being outnumbered by the man's staff inside, this was merely an assessment, they meant him no harm at the moment and besides there were normal people here too and scene would be bad inside the place of business.

Despite the combat essentics strong will and dedicated nature Uzi found herself very overwhelmed once lead from the back area to the ground floor of 'ill winds' as it was called. So many lights and sounds and smells it was hard to categories it all. So many people in states of excitement and dejection and secrecy it was like Uzi was watching some sort of film about human emotions. That all of it was for money and.. well other things the essentic noticed being traded was a bit stunning. It seemed that worth was a word this man knew very well.
~

Callum watched the pair carefully as he lead them around the edges of ill winds pit towards his office. Money and chips changed hands here as often did deeds to homes and cars and the hands in marriage of children. It was not the most wholesome place in Vargash but it was his and it served it's purpose for himself and his patrons alike.

Uzi was definitely going to look around this place more later, surely with her skills she could detect a bluffing player or roll some dice in just the right way. Nothing in her makeup made her suited for this but then again the ability to carve ornate things from bone wasn't normal of a hunter either so perhaps..
For the moment though she needed to keep her attention mostly on Callum, to further analyze him, nothing was set in stone yet.

~
The sylph lead the pair around the Casino and into his office. He was outnumbered by them and they were dangerous looking to be sure but he had guards on the other side of the door. That and they seemed genuine in their intent to speak with him which was intriguing. He was not unaccustomed to business propositions but not from people who looked like this and not like this. Callum would proceed with caution becuase he couldn't not at least listen to the proposal.

If nothing else whatever the two were up to would make a good story to tell his son later and The man needed something simple and easy to do while he calmed down from dealing with Dren.


The office itself was small and unassuming, it was decorated in rich earth tones and the furniture was stone and wood with a little added padding on the chairs. Not the sort of place you might expect to find a sylph but it worked for Callum.

He seated himself behind his desk and eyed the pair warily again as he motioned for them to find seats opposite him. " Shall we skip right to the heart of the matter?" Small talk was for people who approached him through the normal channels , who wanted to be wined and dined while they gave elaborate presentations. These two did not seem the sort to need or appreciate such things.

~
Uzi drummed her fingers on the knee of the leg she currently had crossed over the others. This was the difficult apart, trying to explain things. Still she had wanted to do this herself, with no interference from ' that man.' She owed him no allegiance and he need never know about this at least not from her.

"You will answer our questions and if we still approve we will talk more then." No need to give too much away just yet, risk endangering herself and others
~

Callum frowned but nodded " Three questions and then I will require an explanation," he conceding while putting conditions on the interview at the same time. They were in his home, they would play by house rules interesting and dangerous or not.

Uzi could see Fran in her peripheral vision and noted with a bit of guilt that she'd forgotten he wouldn't know where to sit. Unlike at home where the layout remained the same things here were strange. It happened easily with the alter she was so used to Fran following her lead or simply seeing him as capable of navigating on his own that she often pushed aside the knowledge that his vision had rather distinctive limits.

As he didn't seem to be looking about for a seat Uzi made no motion to help him find one. It did not even occur to the essentic that doing so would have been odd. While she rarely showed her own weakness it never occurred to her to hide Fran's, she protected him after all and her companion could see people should they pose a threat.

Still, Uzi shifted a little in her seat so she could better catch any new signs of distress the other gave while still watching Callum. Were they closer and this a less formal situation she would have poked or pat him with her tail for reassurance. As it was the appendage remained near motionless with just the tip of it twitching from time to time.

~
The sylph's tongue darted out briefly to flick across his upper lip as he pondered the question that had been posed to him. Could he keep secrets, of course, would he, well that was another matter entirely. It all depended on the secret and what danger the truth or knowledge could bring if brought to light.

Callum crossed his arms in front of himself as he leaned forward a few inches and rested them on the smooth marble desktop. He nodded slowly, displacing a few strand of wheat coloured hair as he did so. " I can keep a secret till my dying day if the price or cause is right."The man focused his attention a little more on the odd being that remained standing. "It depends on the details" he admitted. "I don't bring up things I don't have too and I'm none to familiar with the authorities but I'm not the sort to let disaster happen either. I'll tell you now if you're looking for a way to move weapons especially biological ones" he'd heard tell of that in the gossip circles as of late. "You're asking the wrong person to stay silent." Ill winds trafficked a lot of things but there were limits to what Callum allowed in and out. The Slyph was blunt here becuase guilty or innocent the words should cause a reaction.

~
Uzi made a disgruntled noise and shook her head vehemently, ears now pinned back just at the thought. Certainly an essentic could be a weapon but that was not what they were here for and to use science to kill in the ways he implied was cowardice.

Now the huntress was distracted though, what if her legacy was given the task of a killer or a thug to collect the debts owed this man. It was not what she wanted and yet.. could she trust him to give it a purpose to serve that would not taint it's soul?