It had been a pretty weird week for Cerpin. Returning home to find drones lurking around the shadows of Chittentown had been unsettling and the young purpleblood put two and two together quickly. The events of the swampy forest had set off something bigger than he'd anticipated and his grand tower of glory was now under surveillance. He'd have to move. But first he had to get his major belongings out without notice somehow! So what was he doing in New Hemisect City at the moment?
"What were we looking for again? Thermal energy sinks?" Cerpin asked for the third time, seemingly unable to remember this bit of information. His attention kept wandering to where to relocate to. Somewhere underground? He couldn't hole up with his other friends, they weren't very close. The redblood traveling beside him seemed uncomfortable with the crowds listening in on their conversation and the two continued on in silence as they navigated the bustling and confusing city. Eventually they made it to a quieter part of town and Cerpin frowned. This wasn't right, where were the shops?
"We are NOT lost, this is just a detour." How embarrassing and stupid! Somehow he had to find a way back, maybe they could ask someone living in the area. Full of confidence, Cerpin marched right up to the nearest hive and knocked on the front door, missing or ignoring the signs that nobody was home. Except, was that noise coming from the roof top?!
"Who's up there?! Hey, we need help-" His eyes searched for a face on the darkened figure against the night sky. Was that...?
"Etsali? You're alive! Come down here!" He hadn't yet realized he was making enough noise to call attention to the fact that she was trying to sneak out unnoticed.
Doutei
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Yamashii
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KitsuneAura
Magical Detective
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Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2015 7:31 pm
Everything had gone perfectly. Etsali had done the required casing of the hive before she'd gone in, of course, as she could hardly skip it when Keeper would be about to watch, and so she'd known ahead of time that it would be empty. This time, there had been no unexpected guests while she'd collected her loot and so after a fair amount of blessedly uneventful time, she had slipped back up onto the roof to make her exit. Knowing she was basically already in the clear, the thief took her time securing her bag of ill-gotten goods, settled it on her back, and then stood to be on her way. That was, of course, when the yelling started.
She froze, eyes going wide, and turned frantically to stare down at the street below. Wait, they knew her name? Well okay, she wasn't going to lie, she liked the idea of people knowing her name, but she hadn't really started putting it out there as a great thief yet and so- The thought process slowed to a halt as recognition finally struck. Hey, it was the kids! Cerpin and Tevini! A grin started to spread across her face, but fell immediately as a light blinked to life in the window of a neighboring hive.
"S-shhh!" Lifting her hands, she tried to quickly shush the purpleblood. "Okay, okay, I'm coming down, be quiet a sec!" Quickly turning away from the edge of the roof, she ran to the other side, where she'd already found an easier route down. The climb only took a few moments, but she listened attentively as she went to see if anyone was approaching. They definitely couldn't linger here now.
Soon enough, she stood in the shadows of the alleyway, beckoning for the children to come to her. "Come on, this way." Her smile was warm, reassuring, but her eyes kept darting past them to hunt for any movement. If a neighbor came to investigate... "Walk with me some while we talk? Never been a fan of this street." She rolled her shoulders, testing the weight of the bag, and laughed. "How have you two been?"
Yamashii
Doutei
Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 3:16 am
"Weren't we already on a detour?" Tevini grumbled as Cerpin proceeded to get them lost yet again. He was a great partner in several ways but navigation seemed to be one of his shortcomings. No wonder he needed someone else to build the spaceship for him, probably couldn't follow the directions.
'Now what's he found?' Internally groaning, the girl wondered why she hadn't stayed back at their makeshift hideout and sent him to buy her thermal sinks on his own. Oh right, he didn't have a clue what they were. Snapping out of her irritated thoughts, the troll realized Cerpin had knocked on a door and was now calling out to a burglar. She really needed to rethink this partnership if she wanted to stay alive for the next sweep.
"Etsali?" Eyes widened as they lucked out and the troll they'd disturbed turned out to be a semi-ally. Letting out a breath she'd been holding, Tevini nodded and fell quiet while the teen slipped down. She returned from a shadow that Tevini hadn't thought could even hide a troll- impressive. Scurrying over when beckoned, curls tossed in the breeze as the child followed a stranger into a dark alley.
"Terrible. They're watching our hives." The redblood admitted, looking miserable. Scuttle nudged her from behind and she listened for a moment before frowning.
"Are they watching your hive too? Were you trying to break back in?"
Yamashii
SHADE HAS BEEN THROWN
KitsuneAura
Man I just love the image of Etsali peeking out from an impossible shadow and evo like 'wtf how'
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Yamashii
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Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 12:27 am
Cerpin followed Etsali without much thought until Tevini spoke. She had just broken into a hive. That made a lot more sense now and wheels began to turn in his thinkpan. If Etsali was a thief and their hives were being watched now because they had been dragged into Rebel activities... It only made sense to ******** the rules even more in order to recover what they could from their old lives. Even if he was committed to this new cause, he kind of wanted some of his old stuff back.
"Vee, have you got any traps set up at your place?" His eyes glanced to her with a relaxed expression. He rested his arms behind his head in a laid back manner as the trio walked. Cerpin wasn't worried about anyone chasing them down because of the theft. The purple in his veins would keep them safe from any prying law officials. All he had to do was claim Etsali was carrying his belongings and the police typically left him alone. They turned a corner and wedged into a tight alley towards a quieter district of the city.
"I know I have a bunch of alarms at my place. But... nothing a master thief couldn't handle, right?" He struck a pose with two cocky hands placed on his hips. "We need your help stealing our stuff without the drones noticing, Etsali. She needs her tools and I need my beetle collection. Well... my farm." He didn't know if this illegal activity would throw Tevini off or not but the orangeblood probably didn't care. She stole s**t for a living after all. The redblood though... was a more cautious but ultimately honest person. He couldn't risk scaring her off when she was so crucial to his plan. But they honestly needed the funding to both build their rocket and help the Rebels. If she tried to run away now she'd lose everything too, right? Cerpin was banking on this.
"What do you say. Are you willing to pull a heist for me? I'll pay you in whatever you want!" Dark eyes twinkled from the excitement of the whole ordeal. Had there not been a serious threat hanging over their shoulders, it almost might've felt like a game!
Doutei
KitsuneAura
Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2015 10:22 am
Etsali winced, reaching down to pat Tevini's shoulder reassuringly. "Yeah, they're watching mine too. Keeper's having a fit, but-" She paused, blinking, to glance back at the hive she'd just robbed. "Uh, yes. That was it exactly. Got to get in a little at a time, can't take everything all at once, you know?" It was probably better not to let them know it hadn't been hers, especially since if it had, their little display there could have been costly for all three of them. Tevini was already scared, no need to add on.
Except Cerpin seemed to be a quick thinker anyway. She'd opened her mouth to answer his first question before a glance revealed he was asking the redblood instead, and it didn't take a big leap of logic to see what he was getting at even before he got there. Her grin made a return, wide and genuine. She couldn't remember, right off, if Tevini had ever said where exactly she lived, but she did remember Cerpin mentioning that skyscraper in Chittentown, because she'd seen it.
"You had me at 'master thief,'" she announced decisively, already near to bursting with excitement at the challenge to come. "So what can you tell me about those alarms?"
Doutei
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 10:54 pm
"Most of my traps either required triggers or can be avoided if you know where to look." Tevini answered. She was decent with mechanics and making small contraptions but still had a lot to learn to make more advanced technology. She felt a little embarrassed that her hive was less secure than Cerpin's monster tower when she was the more safety oriented of the two. His money conquered her abilities in the end.
'Nothing new there.' The girl reminded herself, trying to snap out of a quiet self pity party. There was no point in stewing over her moody thoughts right now when Etsali was here and ready to discuss options. The orangeblood's eager voice was comforting in a weird way somehow. Her confidence was a reassuring sign that maybe Etsali could actually pull this off. She hadn't looked awkward or uncomfortable at the idea of helping them sneak past the drones so at least she was probably better than an amateur.
"I haven't actually seen the interior of Cerpin's hive so he'll have to figure that out himself. But I'm less concerned with getting in and more with how we're going to transport our stuff out." It was one thing to sneak inside past the drones. The real struggle would be how to gather up and hide their stuff long enough to reach their new makeshift hive at the outskirts of Chittentown. Glancing at Cerpin, Tevini wasn't sure what to say or do about his revelation of having a beetle farm. The legality aside, her morals were being toyed with as she struggled with what was alright and what wasn't. In the past the redblood would have immediately aborted and avoided the highblood from then on. Now that he was kind of all she had... things were complicated.
"We've relocated to an abandoned hive at the north edge of Chittentown. Here, I'll draw you a map..." Taking it upon herself to make sure everything went smoothly, Tevini pulled out a small notepad and began to work out the details with Etsali. The trio spoke in hushed voices, working out the what, where, when, and why- everything except for the how.
Trade secret, Etsali'd insisted.
Yamashii
And that's a wrap! This RP is complete! We decided to fade to black since Cerpini can't actually really go with Etsali on the heist, they'd mess things up in their current untrained state!