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 Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2016 10:51 pm
A string of curses spilled from the commander's mouth while his ears pinned back against his skull. They had all been briefed on their mission: retrieve the operative being held captive by the local pride without being discovered and either bring them back alive or if the subject was critically injured, retrieve the information. Of course, Morrison preferred the former. The thought caused Reyes to roll his eyes as he glanced back to his two agents.
"We'll be passing into their land here soon. Apparently, there are won paths running to this "Citadel" that the pride is supposed to occupy." The unknown guy spoke up, repeating what had been told them, but something Reyes had already chosen to forget for the moment in favor of a rather unfavorable moment that had happened nearly a week prior.
Mikree would be posing as a "War dog", whatever that was. According to the briefing it was something akin to a warrior or guard. That was fine by him. This other guy was a "Scrapper", that was around the time Reyes had stopped listening altogether, but when Morrison was talking about his role all hell had broken loose. He was going to be a "Wretched". A slave. Literal dirt. Apparently, his excessive scarring made him look the part. The mere idea of the commander having to be subservient was utter s**t.
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2016 11:07 pm
The sand was second nature to Mikree who walked just behind Reyes. The Deadlock gang had spent most of their time at the edge of a desert so it was almost like home to him to walk through the shifting, swirling sand. Obviously it wasn't the case with Reyes who was cursing every little grain that flew at him at all. The younger lion had to chuckle softly as he watched his commander once again get a mouthful of the stuff. "Sometimes keepin' your mouth shut helps, Commander," he said with a tiny smirk to his voice. Now that his mane had come in fully and he had reached the same height (if not weight) as Reyes, he felt more comfortable around the other lion. Part of it had to do with the fact that he had been trained from dawn until dusk for the past few months by the commander and a sort of truce had come between them. Mikree fought well enough and would listen to enough of his commands to go on missions now and each one he went on seemed to solidify the relationship between the two. As their companion piped up, Mikree gave a little nod and trotted forward to take the lead. This pride was vicious and bustling, they had been told, but it was also rather scattered and a bit disorganized. As long as they played the part, they wouldn't be taken for rogues, but pride members. As a War Dog Mikree had been told to take the lead and for Reyes to stay in line behind him with the Scrapper making sure he didn't disobey any 'orders'. "Figure this 'Citadel' should be easy to spot, yeah?" he murmured as the scent of other lions began to waft towards them. They were definitely getting close.
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2016 11:30 pm
Reyes' familiar laugh sounded off at the 'advice' he had been given."Hah, if that was true then you'd have a mouth full of sand, kid. You can hardly keep that trap of yours closed."
It was a strange feeling watching Mikree take the lead. His mane had grown in, full and proud and he rivaled Reyes in the height department (though the Blackwatch commander was certain he was still a little taller). He had watched this kid grow up from a rebellious teen into an agent that he would, in certain circumstances, trust with his life. 'At least he walks with confidence.' The thought invaded his thoughts, but only for a moment before what he could only assume was the Citadel appeared on the horizon. It was huge by the distance. A structure comprised of three towering spires that just seemed to jut out of the dunes.
Suddenly the commander's voice dropped as its tone grew sterner, "Remember yourself. No names. We can't be remembered. We were never here. Mikree," Red eyes looked over the tan face, "--be careful."
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2016 11:40 pm
"The sand knows to stay outta my mouth," Mikree said with a little smirk. "We're on friendly terms, you see." Even as he said that he crunched a bit of sand between his teeth, but he fought the natural reaction to try to spit it out. Not while Reyes was watching, hell no!
The winds died down a bit to reveal their destination. Mikree gave a little whistle as he saw it, the size impressive and the construction nothing he'd ever seen before. He could understand why a pride would build themselves a home around it...or in it. He wasn't too sure about how it was used, but he was sure they'd find out.
Reyes' last instructions made him glance over his shoulder as he walked. Oh, he was going to enjoy this. Reyes basically a slave, having to listen to his every word or risk getting a beat-down that he wouldn't be allowed to return...ha. How the tides had turned!
"Just call me MiCareful," he said, tossing a wink Reyes' way. "Now hush up, Wretched. You ain't got no place tellin' me what to do."
Yes, he was going to live up every single second of this mission.
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 12:09 am
The commander seethed internally at his subordinate's demand. It was the soft laughter of their 'Scrapper' that earned the true glare from Reyes. With a soft cry and a hard swallow, the 'Scrapper' grew quiet, his eyes averting from Reyes' harsh look. As much as he didn't want to admit it though, Mikree had a point. Even though he was a new Wretched, he still had to play the part. Though that wink sent his stomach into all sorts of uncomfortable knots. You'd think the kid would have learned to not play with fire though.
It was around that time that a small group of mix-matched species came down the road that the trio had been loosely following in the direction of the Citadel. Nothing more than a passing glance was exchanged, no words, no pauses, no whispering that Reyes could pick up. They had passed their first test, only a thousand more. There was a sigh of relief from the Scrapper amongst them.
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 6:39 am
Mikree fell into a confident stride as he led the other two to the winding footpath that was clearly a main road for this pride. He wasn't worried at all about playing the part - his confidence helped him in that regard, but he was careful not to let it turn into cockiness. Reyes had berated him for quite a while about his attitude and how it could get him into serious trouble. He was still learning to keep a lid on it but he was certainly better than he had been when Reyes had first scooped him out and taken him in. As they passed a group the tan lion felt a little pride wiggle into his stomach. They hadn't even been glanced at. The way they were all falling into line must have looked convincing. He added a little swish to his tail, feeling more and more comfortable in the role. After a bit of walking and encountering more and more creatures, the Citadel was finally starting to come within reach. He glanced over his shoulder once to make sure his group was still with him as the frequency with which they saw other animals in creased drastically. His paws continued to lead them in a slow path to the Citadel where their first mission was to try to tour it and find the one they were looking for. Getting eyes on their target would be helpful even if an extraction wasn't possible at the moment. They were prepared to spend a few days here if need be.
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 5:25 pm
There were so many, but they had been expecting that. Morrison had commented on the supposed size of the pride, letting them know hat groups come and go as well so the size fluctuates constantly. Still, it didn't make Reyes feel any easier about entrusting the head of the mission to the newbie. Though Mikree seemed to be in element well enough to put their Scrapper at ease.
It didn't take long before the Citadel was upon them. It was evident that they were well established. Scarlet eyes gave a sideways glance as they moved passed the major watering hole that sat right up against the stone behemoths. Of course, as they walked, toured the spires, the Pit, the pools, and the slum-like area where the Wretched and the lower-tiered members, Reyes realized Mikree's plan. A deep frown appeared on his face.
First thing first, they needed to find their informant. Blackwatch had a long-term undercover agent within the conglomeration of species. A small brown and cream hyena who acted as a grunt to avoid raising suspicion. Though it had been weeks since Reyes had heard anything from them... The birds had stopped coming after apparently a new Warlord had taken command of the group.
After finding them and learning more on the coalition's status, and getting more of an idea of where to look, then they could move on with retrieving and getting the hell out of...wait, was that him?
Speaking with a cheetah that the commander couldn't identify was the hyena the Reyes instantly recognized. With a tilt of his head disguised as shaking a fly off, he motioned them to the Scrapper amongst them who sped up to Mikree's side to whisper to him. "That hyena's one of us."
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 5:50 pm
Walking through the desert pride reminded Mikree quite a bit of 'home'. When he had been with Deadlock there had been sparring matches day in and day out, roars and cries of pain from somewhere out of sight, the smell of blood and heat mingling with whatever was on the menu for the day. He had to admit it was nice to be 'back' in a sense, even if they were just passing through and he'd never been here before in his life.
The word from the 'Scrapper' made him pause and glance in the direction indicated. Ah...good. That would be a perfect place to start. He strutted over to the hyena and cheetah, looking down at them with a grin.
"Howdy," he said, greeting the two. The cheetah gave him a quick once over before peering behind him at the two that followed, then she turned and left to leave the hyena before him alone.
"Just caught me a feisty Wretched," Mikree said with a nod back in Reyes' direction. If this hyena didn't recognized him (and he wouldn't blame him, he'd never seen this creature before in his life) then surely he would recognize the commander. "Was wonderin' if you knew where a good place to leave him might be?" Hopefully the hyena would catch on and play along.
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 6:10 pm
Reyes watched as the hyena's eyes widen for all but a second before falling back into his facade. It was still enough to have turn that frown he had been wearing in a faint smirk.
"Fiesty you say? Better break him in before takin' him to see the Warlord to get him tagged. I know just the place. Down at the end of the row, round towards the backside of the northern spire. There's a little cave that some of the war pups take new wretched to break them in. Secluded an all. Won't be disturbed by us commonfolk. Seen bones over there, I have. Blood too." The tawny hyena passed a glance to the commander before returning his focus back to the new kid. "Don't know if that one will be suited to dust the upper chambers, he'd probably get stuck with cub duty. Though with his colors and those scars, the Warlord's wives might like to hear stories from him."
Luckily it did seem that the hyena had picked up. Blackwatch wouldn't be here unless they were here on business, especially not with their boss. Even Reyes had picked up on the hints that had been dropped at them despite him staying back several feet, his gaze occupied by something else to appear disinterested, spiteful even. Now he had to see if the kid caught on.
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 6:15 pm
For all his smart-a** comebacks and rebellious nature, Mikree certainly wasn't dull. He listened intently while keeping the easy, almost lazy look on his face, picking up the little hints the hyena dropped. Warlords wives, eh? He bet they were up in that tower somewhere.
"I betcha I could keep a handle on him if they'd be interested in talkin' to him now," he drawled. "Dunno how long he'll be hangin' around after all. Seems the type to break ranks after sittin' for too long."
They were on a time crunch, they needed to get in and out as quickly as possible. He hoped the hyena would show him to where they could find the Warlord and his wives, which was surely where they needed to go. He had the feeling it was that huge spire, but better to be safe than sorry.
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 6:24 pm
"Hm," the hyena was visibly thinking on Mikree's words, pondering ideas for a moment before speaking again. "Go find a champion and make your case to them. The Warlord's hounds they are, they have his ear, though not as tight-fisted as the wives do. Thing is, as I'm sure you know, wretched are typically de-claws, major fangs removed and painted to mark them as property. Recovery can take a lot of time and I dunno," His head leaned to the side as he watched Reyes' glare to a curious war pup be enough to send the runt scurrying with its tail between its legs. "Warlord might want this one intact. It's been a while since we had any as feisty as him."
"And you know just as well as I do, wretched can't go up near the wives with all their bells and whistles. Need to be broke, a non-threat. He'll need to wait somewhere in the middle or down here while you see if the Warlord would even want him as-is."
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 6:33 pm
Mikree listened with a little nod, his brown eyes trailing over to the Citadel. Definitely sounded like that was where they needed to be.
"True," he murmured, although he hadn't known that at all. It was a good thing the hyena had let him know before he tried to barge into the Citadel with his Wretched at his side. That wouldn't have gone over too well.
"Well, thanks, partner," he said with another grin for the hyena. "I'll be sure to keep all that in mind. See you 'round," he added as he turned back towards Reyes and the other Blackwatch member, keeping his pace even.
"Looks like we're headin' to the Citadel, boys," he murmured softly as he got close enough to speak to them. "Reyes, you'll hafta hang out at the bottom while snoop 'round."
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 6:41 pm
The hyena nodded, turning his back to the crowds as he began busying himself with something else again.
"I heard," commented Reyes. At least they were already in the shadow of the giant monoliths so Mikree and the other agent only needed to go up. There of course. was a displeasure evident in Reyes' voice. It was dangerous for them to split up, especially for Mikree. This was his first real mission and he didn't trust that kid to keep his mouth shut sometimes, especially so immersed in a culture they only had a week to learn about. Short order mission with high stakes. Reyes would definitely have some very flowery words to share with Morrison when they got back.
"Go on then, see what you can find out. I'll see if any of the other Wretched have seen our man. We'll meet up by the watering hole later." Of course, his voice was hushed, barely over a whisper. He was a 'Wretched', where speaking out of turn would earn him additional scars and maybe a missing ear or tail to boot.
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 7:07 pm
Even though he was the 'leader' of the group right now, all three knew that Mikree was just a front and Reyes would ultimately call the shots. The brown lion gave a little nod and glanced up at the tower, squinting against the sun that shone so brightly behind it it gave the tower a strange halo.
"Right. Well. Don't have too much fun without us," he said quietly, looking back at Reyes with a little smirk. "We'll try not to be horribly successful without you." Even though his words were teasing there was a mild undertone of seriousness to it. Things could get pretty bad if they were split up, but it was a chance they'd have to take.
Waiting for the other male to join him, Mikree set off for the entrance to the Citadel, leaving his boss behind. Well. Time to see what he was made of.
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