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Post by HERO on Nov 2, 2014 9:58:59 GMT -5
"Sticky Fingers" Completed.
![Keita, Aiden, Shane]() Keita, Aiden, and Shane (left-to-right)
Prologue
It was noon, and the schooling district was just teeming with swarms and masses of students moving in every see-able direction. Chatting on mobile devices, laughing with friends, booming the sweet yawns of post-class-relief, most were on their way to a number of places they had to be. Many were going home, their morning classes over. Others could very well be going onto a second set of classes, and others yet could be making way to various shops or maybe even preparing for dates.
There were three boys however that had a unique reason for sticking around the district. They went to the same school, an Arcane magic-focused establishment, but split up at every dismissal with nothing but a nod. Disappearing into crowds, they decided on this day to split into three directions. When the crowds were tightly condensed, anyone of them could slip their fingers inside of a clueless kid's jacket, or a distracted girl's jeans, so long as they weren't skin tight. Slip in, and slip out. Slip in, and slip out.
Regrouping later, they would walk together silently, before taking a hard right into the familiar alley. "4," said Keith. "3," counted Shane. "6," counted Aiden. "Six? Not at all afraid of getting caught, are you?" "Not as long as I know how to take advantage." "Should we do a pickup today?" "I'd say nah. I like to stack things high before carrying my own body weight away." "Pffft, 59 ain't much, Mister Fellow Skeleton." "It is when I slap back-to-back platinum and gold." "Remember when you slapped that lady's rear-pocket and almost got decked by her fiancé?"
Some banter would continue for a few minutes longer before they exchange handshakes, and leave for home.
Prerequisites There are no prerequisites to this story, however characters with a knowledge of Arcane, or Divination magic may have an advantage. There are three encounter-able targets, so a close number of people is ideal. If you have an interest in joining, simply PM me, and link me to your character sheet, which should be posted in the alloted thread. Posting Order: 1. HERO ( Oratus Sermus) 2. Tyen Peremy ( Tyen Peremy) 3. Rehynn Saarlith (Unavailable. Temporarily out, able to join back in at anytime.) 4. Malimytol (Zhen Xuan) (Deceased) Note: Posts of any size are acceptable, and can even be just a few lines. Post what you can to get your actions across. This story is small in scale, so pushing it along shouldn't be too difficult, and I understand time constraints, so skipped turns shall occur only when there is a huge need to get the story completed.
The events of this story take place before those of Clan of Saph'ral.
Roleplay Starter
Noontime, next day. A small gathering was building around a large poster on a bulletin board. The bulletin had a nickname, "The Bounty Board," being suited for bounty hunters and prospective one-time hires. The other posters were smaller, inconspicuous, typically holding mundane tasks for mundane awards, or impossible tasks for rewards that might not be worth the trouble.
Oratus happened to be walking down the street, having just left Conjuration school. His pointy-tipped hat poked into the sky above, and his thick cape fluttered gently behind him with every pass of breeze. His white t-shirt was clean, and the back of his jeans lazily and subtly dragged on the ground with each step.
His mind was projecting the days until upcoming exams. He had to to plot out what he needed to improve over the next few weeks, and did so mentally, swinging his finger in the air to mark off dates on an imaginary calendar. He stopped this to glance ahead, and grew curious when he took notice of the crowd. A closer look was necessary, and so was gently pushing his way in between to get that look.
"BOUNTY." That's what the poster said in big red lettering. "There has been a series of disappearances over the course of the last few months, and thievery is expected. On the day before this posting, several disappearances occurred yesterday noontime, reports coming from three areas within the local schooling district. Please report all suspicious persons to Sh'rutal Law Enforcement. You may contact us with mobile devices using the following information..." From there on, there was a number of ways to get in contact, and a final statement. "Handsome rewards shall be gifted to those who aid us. If pickpocketing is the case, we would very much like for you to turn the perpetrators in."
'Interesting,' Oratus thought to himself. 'I could probably do this myself, actually, and get a nice sum of cash, or perhaps something I can trade in for some new gear. I wonder how many others here have the same idea.' He took a moment to pull out his student notebook, and scribble the information down in a page margin. 'I wonder if any others have the same idea. Some of the people here I think are victims.'
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Post by Tyen Peremy on Nov 2, 2014 15:56:00 GMT -5
Tyen was one of the many who resided in the swarming masses of students. She had always begun to feel irritated as she normally did, come the end of class time and the beginning of next blocks for some. The halls were to crowded. The people were too loud. There was simply not enough space for Tyen to feel comfortable in such crowds. She borderline couldn't stand this place and was likely one of the few who were never seen with friends or even really socializing.
However, on this day, Tyen found herself actually aproaching one of these crowds. One that centered around the poster with the bright red words "Bounty". 'Intriguing' Tyen thought to herself as she aproached the crowd. Perhaps there was something interesting for her to do on her free time here.
She would move up to the crowd and without the use of manners, she would push her way through, at one point even grumbling out "scoot your little ass" as she would push through to get a look at what everyone was so drawn to, stepping out into the front a mere person away from Oratus, where she would lean over and begin to read. "Handsome rewards" Tyen said somewhat audibly, however at the same time it was meant only to herself. That was almost litterally the only thing that truly stood out to her. She read the poster but rather just didn't really care. She had plans now. She had a pretty good eye for detail. She would be paying close attention to her surroundings, to suspicious people, to anything that could get her closer to this 'reward'.
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Post by HERO on Nov 20, 2014 17:36:29 GMT -5
It didn't take long for Oratus to scribble the relevant information down, and get to brainstorming on what the perpetrators could be, what he could get as a reward, ways he could trap them if they were in different situations, how he could get the leads he would need to figure out where they are, what he could do to def- Yep, he was pretty much sold on the idea of taking on this bounty, whether or not it would be a foolish decision in the end. If he was to fail, then what are the odds he'd put in a lot of resources to make it really not worth it?
Taking another look at the poster, he made sure to scan for details that might help him out. If the thefts were coming from three different areas, then it'd be really easy to guess that there would be at least three thieves. It'd be weird for someone who got away with it like they did to move so extremely fast through the streets. And maybe there could be a place or two where the items they didn't have much use for could re-enter circulation?
"Ah, there's a lead," Oratus let out, imagining a couple of kinds of places he could try visiting. Beginning to back out of the crowd, he'd try to smoothly slither away before his adolescent eyes would be caught by a sight that would set of a kind of strange, but easily identifiable spark in his brain. His finger automatically pointed his hood up to allow more light in his retinas, and his eyes to quickly scan up the body of a slender woman with a small top and shorts. The boy was seventeen, so he couldn't help but at least do that much. He wasn't much of one to flirt often when he had other plans in mind, so he would continue to slip out and pull his eyes away so that he would move down the street with a purpose. 'I wonder if I can find the nearest pawn shop without much worry.' He never had to go to one, and understand there to probably be at least one around, but wouldn't know it's exact location. Thankfully, the streets were busy, and with a short exchange he could figure it out.
A single tap on the shoulder, a single catching of a suspicious remark, a single question:
"Excuse me, can you point me to any pawn shops near here?" Oratus asked quickly. "...Down this street, take a left turn, right in the dead center on the left," was the response he got after a few seconds of apparent thinking. Oratus would then give a "Thank you," before moving in said direction.
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Post by Tyen Peremy on Nov 20, 2014 19:15:14 GMT -5
Tyen would turn and step away from the crowd after only a short moment more of thinking about it. She would push her way through the crowd, not paying too much attention to the people in and around here. She had a plan beginning to conjure up in her head now. She would begin with heading to places most popular for being pickpocked at, and be sure to keep some of her valuables on her at the time. Hopefully this woukd lure one of the dirty thieves into attempting to steal somethijg from her. Perhaps her wallet, which she could make seem like it had money by slipping a few pieces of paper into. Perhaps have her mobile phone poking out the top of her back pocket. She figured this would lure the person into attempting to steal from her. Her pockets were tight enough that she would feel the objects being slipped out from them, and when/of that were to happen, she would and very much could, spin around with her gun held out to him or her.
She thought about all of this as she would make her way through the area to her home where she could get a few things. The only current thing she had with her was her usual gun that was kept tight in a holster that was strapped to her leg and of course, her phone in her pocket. If she was lucky she wouldn't even need to get home to get anything. If she was lucky she could probably catch someone in the act before she got anywhere. She doubted that would happen though. Her phone probably wasnt if any value to them.
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Post by HERO on Nov 20, 2014 21:37:07 GMT -5
It had been just a few minutes since the bell at the Merlinwood School of Magic gave it's dismissal bell. Students were still pouring out in large groups due to its large size, and the typical manner in which the students tended to just chaotically wander around until finding their friends and cohorts. A particular group of three students, three boys of similar ages, light builds, and school uniforms took their time in walking down the steps while chatting. They kept to nonsensical topics: the goings-on of their school, the mental insanity that afflicted some of the teachers, the rumors of Betty giving Jimmy the grandest of all romantic gifts in the boys bathroom, that sort of stuff. They had a bit of fun in playing BumScoop, and seeing how quickly they could shift gears to where their real fun was without showing much investment in the topics they were talking about. This point happened today sometime after crossing the street, while they were huddled together in an alley.
"Keita," Aiden said sharply, looking up to see a delighted set of red eyes. "You take the north. Shane." Another set of ready eyes of gold flashed up. "You take the east. I myself will take the western area." Keita grinned, having no objection, suggesting, "Let's make it funner. Rather than value, let's aim to go for cool-looking stuff instead of true-value. Like taking a wallet with the face of a lion on it that's only got a few coins instead of one with a boring design and fat notes. Also, the more ridiculous way of getting away without getting caught or knocked the hell out gives bonus points." In unison, the brown-eyed Aiden and gold-eyed Shane replied, "Why not?" They decided amongst themselves that the winner gets a pick of ownership on one piece of the other's takes on that run, and then split up.
Departing to the west, Aiden moved as quickly as he could manage without giving off the sense that he needed to get away from the school building to others more than anyone else did. Left-right-left-right cadence served him well in his purpose, as far as he saw for a number of blocks, and then he calmed to a slower pace. His eyes would then scan the crowds, one in particular catching his eye for a reason that caught him a little off-guard, the bounty. He would make an appearance of ignoring it though, and walk past, instead letting his eyes roam again. The next thing to catch their focus was a girl that was dressed in a way that was possibly a bit provocative, his mind stuck for a moment while hovering towards her as she was on her way. Such short shorts and top were definitely distracting to say the least, but what his eyes flashed to then was the weapon on her leg, an insanely cool-looking firearm that could easily win him the contest. What was left to assure victory was a cool story. Not much time would be taken to create it.
His prime opportunity was when she would pass by another pedestrian. Then he was to dip his finger into his pocket, taking a swift motion to scoop something out, tiny and white, but obscured by his hand when lifted away. Next, what was needed was a sleight-of-hand, and a bit of conversational skill that may or may not have been strong enough to warrant his apparent confidence. One pedestrian then moved just pass the opposite side of where she carried her pistol, a bit of a ways before she left the district. A swift step forward would be initiated, his hand swiftly swiping forward to plant the fingertip as gently as he could manage right onto the bottom of the pistol grip, and half a second later retract it to bump in between her and the pedestrian, making a show of perhaps pushing his way in between, a little. "Excuse me miss, but, you look a little familiar to me. Do you go to school around here?" Distraction would hopefully be his best ally here, the aim being to keep her attention focused on looking towards him, and away from the couple-second enveloping of her weapon and what would immediately become after it's swift disappearance. "Might I have seen you around here before?" A calm smile sat on his face.
On this particular run, the others wouldn't have very much hassle in snatching what they liked, however nothing they had could top Aiden's attempt.
Sticky Plant [Quickdraw] -Aiden reached for the butt of her pistol with his finger, aiming to make contact and cause it to disappear.
Oratus crept into the dusty store and glanced about at the unevenly lit showcases and counters. Weapons, jewelry, musical instruments, archaic recording mediums, all sorts of things could be seen. There was a price tag on just about anything, and it would probably be expected that after payment just about anything could be taken without much hassle. This was a fine place as any to get stolen contraband dropped off. He poked around a bit before making his way to the store clerk.
"Hey, have you gotten anything dropped off really recently?" was his first question, slipped out of his mouth in a rather blunt manner. The clerk would then explain to him the new watch that was dropped off there a couple of days before, a silvery piece with a shiny clock face that was paid a reasonable sum for. Otherwise, it had been a slow half of a week. Examining it, and holding it up, the watch was special-looking indeed, a hefty sum tied to it by a white string. However, on it's metal-worked strap was a sticky substance, messy and hard to completely remove from it with his thumb. Such a watch should've came in a box, and otherwise it had no signs of scratches or even heavy wear, so it couldn't have been passed through many hands. "Tell me, did the owner appear sketchy to you?" The response, "Maybe, but I'm not the kind of guy to ask many questions. For the most part he seemed sorta close to your age," allowed Oratus to make note that shops like these could allow them to make money and ditch things.
Walking out of the store, he glanced left and right, letting thoughts float around about what he had found. A watch would normally be hard to snatch from someone in ways that could lead police to think of pick-pocketing. The person's age was interesting too, leading him to think wonder that they might be a student, which would make sense considering that the pickpocketing tends to happen in this district of the huge city. Pulling up his notebook, he scribbled, "Likely students, attending schools here. Near my age. Capable of snatching watches off of people's wrists. Sticky residue - tag?" He was focused in thinking it all over, making his way towards home for now.
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Post by Tyen Peremy on Nov 20, 2014 23:41:56 GMT -5
When Aiden could feel the gun, he would be able to tell that the gun was holstered firmly. The shape and design left it with less of a smooth surface, and the wider opening at the tip where the shots came out of would mean that it would definitely be felt being pulled out. The holster itself was made from a thick yet somewhat stretchy material that held it tightly, but wouldn't fit completely to form, making it so that way it didn't get caught due to the odd design it carried. It was obviously a somewhat weighted weapon. She would feel it missing from her leg should it be taken.
Tyen's attention would be pulled to this person as he attempted to talk with her. Instead of replying the way any other person would, she would stop walking and let her hands fall to her side. The left hung just almost a half an inch or so above the gun, seeing how high it was holstered on her thigh. She could easily reach for ot should it be needed. Tyen's eyes would land coldly on him and she would almost seem to glare. "Does it really matter that much? Sure I go to school around here." Her tone was entirely unamused uncaring. She didn't seem to be the most friendly of people and he wouldn't be much of an exception unless he could get onto her good side.
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Post by HERO on Nov 21, 2014 0:01:13 GMT -5
Aiden broke a bit of a sweat at the back of his neck feeling the harshness of her response. Stopping quickly after she did, he sidestepped to place himself in front of her, letting the loose tie of his uniform swing.
"Well,you seem interesting enough to become familiar with. From that look, I guess we must not have met before. Allow me to fix that." Reaching a hand forward, he'd offer a shake in which he would try to keep the appropriate hand away from the weapon. Right at this moment, the pistol on her hip would disappear into the thin air. "Aiden."
Sticky Teleport[Quickdraw] --- Oratus determined that possibly making his own way home could be of benefit for now. Stepping off, he turned his body and began walking, looking towards the sunlit sky and letting his mind wander to other things he could do today. While at home he could call the law enfircement for extra leads, or he could head back after a bit and find leads on black market alley stolen goods distributors. He never seen one in this part of town, but they could exist.
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Post by Tyen Peremy on Nov 21, 2014 0:47:28 GMT -5
Tyen only looked down at his hand. She wouldn't move her hands to shake his, she only looked, and said, "Tyen." As a response to him giving his name. She ignored almost everything else he had ti say to her. However, she would suddenly feel a weight be removed from her left thigh. She would litterally only glance for almost half a second before her eyes would fall onto his, they were practically flaming now. There was no doubting she was extremely pissed now, and seeing that she didn't feel it get pulled, she knew there had to be some sort of magic involved, and she was almost certian it was him. Why else would he approach her.
"You'll give it back now, or I'll be sure to have your head", she basically growled out however, she didn't make a scene quite yet. "And I'll start with making the blood in your veins boil". Tyen had no problem with dishing out the threats, and at that, she had no problems with attempting the make them come true either. She would even take a step forward, ensuring she would be closer to him, tilting her head to the side just slightly enough that her mismatched golden eye would come into view from behind her deep purple bangs. She didn't care if she might be shorter than him, she wasn't scared of him, and she would do all she could to get her closest and most meaningful possession back to her. If it took money she would do it. She would get all the money she could. But she wouldn't show any emotion other than anger. If it took murder, then she would fo it. She had no reason not to.
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Post by HERO on Nov 21, 2014 5:40:42 GMT -5
Aiden saw the weapon disappear within his periphery, although he made as sure as possible to not even make a glance below her face yet. He took a step backwards, wary of the violent threat Tyen gave him, eyes widening and cheeks flexing downward some. "Uuh....take what? Have I done something? I'm sorry for bumping you like that, but I wanted to approach you and might not have a whole lot of time," he then said, before allowing his eyes to dip down to her hips, and raising a finger to point. "Wait, weren't you carrying something in that holster? It looked like a gun, but had the style of an eye-catching asian antique?" He was caught, but he wouldn't show signs of it, rather he would start to act as naturally clueless as possible.
Oratus was heavily thinking, processing the information he gathered still while passing in between crowds of people. His hood up and cape drawn about him gave off an additional sense of being impersonal as he shifted and slipped in between people. He found that it was easy to move around people, and if he appeared distant enough, plenty of people wouldn't really care. He would keep moving along until his eyes were pulled up once again by something familiar. Sometime after turning the corner, he saw a far distance away the girl from earlier, and a guy about his age talking to her. He guessed he wasn't well liked by her from the cold or angry stance she was in. Now he felt was a good time to try listening in, stepping a little faster to try to eavesdrop.
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Post by Tyen Peremy on Nov 21, 2014 10:04:20 GMT -5
When Aiden took a step backwards, she took another step forward, her pugnacious attitude only becoming more clear as her glare deepened and her left hand began to grip into a fist, and at that she would begin to dig her nails into her palms purposely. She might have possibly bought his act, had he not suddenly pointed out what was missing from her holster on her leg. And when he began to describe it seemed to point it out even more obviously. Why would he know what it looked like if he was just coming to talk to her. He was obviously examining it either from behind her or from somewhat afar.
She would take another step forward and as she did it, she once again began to speak, though, in a deeper and more angry tone. "You see, I could make it look like you were never murdered. There wouldn't be any blood left around. I could dispose of your body and if your blood was boiled, it would look more like Pyromancy versus Haemokinesis. No one would ever know it was me." Tyen was obviously pissed and obviously not falling for the act seeing as he was the only one to have bumped her within this time frame. "Or, i could yell out very loudly "i found one of the dirty thieving pickpockets! He stole my gun!" And you would have authorities all over you. But that wouldn't be as fun. If you ran, i would chase you. Automatically you'll have attention drawn to you in such a crowd as you race through." She continued, as, at this point she no longer cared if other people heard. She was a little too angry with him. A menacing grin was crossing her face now as she thought about the possibilities of what she could do to him if she didn't get that gun back. She could continue speaking, but at the same time she wanted to hear his act slowly begin to fall apart on him. She would listen if he had any offers he might give to get out of this particular situation, however in her left hand where her nails were digging into the palm, she was slowly starting to create open wounds and at the same time, she was beginning to gather her mana for an attack.
-------- (Blood shot {0})
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Post by DC on Nov 21, 2014 13:21:17 GMT -5
Zhen Xuan. He was an outsider to everyone within Kalg'rai, and everybody knew it. They didn't even require a simple divination check or to even speak to him. He was dressed in such a way that he couldn't really walk a few feet without eyes being drawn to him. At least, that's how it was at first. After a while of his being in Kalg'rai, people stopped noticing. At least, within Sh'rutal, at this point. Zhen had become known to wander the city and do various jobs that merely just kept him entertained. There was rarely ever anything truly exciting to do. This made the Drexen-Corrupt a little antsy. He started giving into his corruption a little more; he started picking fights in bars and in alleys, angering shop owners with impossible bargains, and things of that sort. Just the kind of thing to provoke a good fight, which he hardly ever found. This was just barely enough to keep his corruption at bay. People learned to accept it, regardless, without necessarily tagging the label "asshole" onto Zhen. They quickly came to understand that he suffered from a sort of multiple-personality disorder. One side was an asshole, but the other was quite a lovely character. He was quite humble and forgiving. He often wound up apologizing to those he had angered or hurt when he had lost to his corruption. In a way, this made him a little more "famous" within Sh'rutal. Not in the sense that the authorities would know him by name, but if they had seen his face, they would know who he is. He wasn't enough to draw immense attention, but in the "underground" he was a legend, of sorts. Still, at the end of the day, he was an "outsider" to Kalg'rai. He was seventeen, which added to the enigmatic "popularity". But, as a seventeen year old, he was still expected to go to a school, as per norm of Kalg'rai. He wouldn't oppose such a rule, and when he wasn't under his corruption, he actually really didn't mind it at all. He excelled in hand-to-hand melee school, and people were left to wonder just what it was that the Shaolin that he periodically talked about were, to have trained him so much in hand-to-hand. But that wasn't the full length of it. He had drastically become more practical of a fighter through his savagery as the drexen had given him abilities and all new combat capabilities. At the cost, he lost his "formal" styles and replaced them with far more aggressive tactics. He still kept much of his Shaolin training in discipline and personality that is instilled almost unconsciously, however, his fighting style seemed to belie all of it. Zhen Xuan was the Corrupt Monk. That was often the title he was addressed by when someone who approached him, or he approached for whatever reason. That having been said, it wasn't much of an issue to push through the crowd by the "bounty" notice. He had taken note of the information, though he didn't really have any interest in the reward. He just wanted to do the right thing, and help those people who are going through unnecessary suffering. He vowed to stop at nothing to help them. It was not a matter of following rules, but rather, a good moral code. He wanted to help, and not for the fame and glory of it; he wasn't interested in favor and reward. So with that, he had decided to head off to the concentrated area of "attack" up north of the city. He already knew that his outlandish appearance would attract a thieve's attention alone. One wouldn't know just what was within the pockets of his attire, since his origins were unknown. On top of that, he wore a set of shiny, midnight-blue bracers as well as set of shoes. Whatever items of value he might have within his pockets or "robe", as well as his bracers should very well attract attention. But here is where he got a little creative with it. As he headed up to the area of the north, he found a fairly empty alley and summoned a drexen. The darker lighting would do well to hide the drexen's summon, and it coiled itself around his neck much like a necklace, though let the bright green light from its single antenna dangle like a pendant would. That would indeed make for an interesting, and valuable-looking item. With that out of the way, he made his travels to the north, unaware of the goings on with Tyren, or even who that might have been.
Drexen Summon(Quickdraw)
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Post by HERO on Nov 22, 2014 3:57:27 GMT -5
Aiden took a heavy gulp and grimaced in the vision of such unfiltered anger and violence, him almost tipping himself backwards and falling were he to not take a bit of a sweeping step further backward. He rose his hands up in a form of submission, his palms open. "H-hey, easy, easy," he said quiveringly, obviously not much of an agressor. "I don't have your gun, my hands are empty!" He would continue until all hope was gone. "B-but maybe I could try to help you get it back?"
On the district's outskirts, right on the border to a complex business district, Shane and Keita sat on a row of covered bins, waiting for the last member of the trio to make their way back. They took some time, talking about finding what they got, a hi-tech watch, and a somewhat interesting belt. Keita supposedly didn't even spare another glance towards the man who's pants had fallen. Although he did spare a glance to the small group of school girls across the street and their reactions. Shane's snatch was simple, but indeed pretty cool looking. He merely tapped as the corner turned.
After a deal of time passed, they looked to each other, and towards the busy district's road expectantly. "Think something's up?" Keita asked, his face uncertain. "Yeah, something," would be all Shane had to say before they both got up. "Let's split up and take the ends of the northern district seperately, looking inward." And so the two stepped off, one approaching the scene of importance in one direction, and the other coming closer to the monk, however the distance in between wouldn't remain far at all for much longer.
Keita would happen to be the one to come closest to the monk first, a good bit behind him. His eyes were easily swayed to the man, the form of dress not exactly a common thing for him to see. The neckwear was of intetest too, the green shape reminding him of the color of a serpent. He couldn't possibly know what it looked like at the front yet, but hey, his snatch was of lacking coolness with a good story. Taking such a thing would balance it out. The most appropriate thought for such a thief would then be to determine just how thick or heavy it was, the magnitude of that factor determining just how risky the steal would be. As if this were his exact thought, he would slightly pick up in speed to come closer.
Oratus didn't have to work all that hard in extracting the information he wanted to hear through eavesdropping. He focused his ears forward, and had only just gotten to pretend to be window shopping when he heard the accusation outright, alongside the violent threats. 'So then, it wasn't that he was trying to hit on her, but rather he stole from her. Maybe both? If a chase does ensue, it's best I prepare to knock him flat. Otherwise, the reward might be lessened.' And so, Oratus flipped open the notebook he carried in his pocket, letting the pages flip open to his Wind Burst spell. Mana flowed through his hand and into the page on which the spell circle rested.
Across the district, but primarily in the center, bells were ringing to mean the mark of the transition of afternoon classes. And as such, traffic was lessening, as was the crowds. The number of people on the street would begin to lessen, however there would still be at least plenty to report, or record what was happening should they be alerted for a short while longer. ----- Wind Burst [0]
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Post by Tyen Peremy on Nov 22, 2014 4:42:07 GMT -5
Tyen's grin would turn further upwards, however now turning more into a pleased smirk at his seeming submission. His stumble, the stuttering in his words, the way he put his hands up, it was all pleasing, mostly because of the fact that she knew she was striking at least a small bit of fear into this boy. "No." She said in an almost commanding voice, "You're not going to try to return it. You are plain and simple going to return it to me, or you'll face whatever i have to dish out to you as pay back. No guarantees I'll let you survive."
Her clenched fist soon unclenched to reveal four deep and now bleeding wounds from where she dug her nails into her palms. Instead of the blood beginning to run down her fingers though, it would start to lift and flow up and begin to swirl slowly as it created a bulb of blood. As she continued to concentrate her mana in that area, she would continue to draw her blood and the bulb would begin to grow bigger. "I better have it back by the end of this day."
Meanwhile, her free right hand would move up to her thick, mowhawk like purple hair, and would run her fingers through it, pushing her bangs backwards and away from her face to ensure full eye contact with him just to show the full extent of her anger with him.
---- (Blood shot {1})
Tyen's blood begins to ball up in the palm of her hand as she concentrates her mana in that area. The center of the ball begins to crystallize.
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Post by DC on Nov 22, 2014 14:47:04 GMT -5
After a deal of time passed, they looked to each other, and towards the busy district's road expectantly. "Think something's up?" Keita asked, his face uncertain. "Yeah, something," would be all Shane had to say before they both got up. "Let's split up and take the ends of the northern district seperately, looking inward." And so the two stepped off, one approaching the scene of importance in one direction, and the other coming closer to the monk, however the distance in between wouldn't remain far at all for much longer. Keita would happen to be the one to come closest to the monk first, a good bit behind him. His eyes were easily swayed to the man, the form of dress not exactly a common thing for him to see. The neckwear was of intetest too, the green shape reminding him of the color of a serpent. He couldn't possibly know what it looked like at the front yet, but hey, his snatch was of lacking coolness with a good story. Taking such a thing would balance it out. The most appropriate thought for such a thief would then be to determine just how thick or heavy it was, the magnitude of that factor determining just how risky the steal would be. As if this were his exact thought, he would slightly pick up in speed to come closer.
Success. Zhen had attracted attention, judging by how one person in particular had approached him. The speed in which someone approached him. Doubt. Perhaps it was someone who wanted some task out of Zhen, having known his reputation as an outsider with a knack for drawing interest out of people. Something was off, though. At this moment, he almost thanked his corruption as if it were a blessing; in some ways, it was indeed a blessing to Zhen, while other times it wasn't that much. The person approaching was his age, or around that age at least, and he had an interesting demeanor, to Zhen. He couldn't quite place it, but something tugged at his gut about this encounter. The ex-monk slowed his pace to a stop, however he wouldn't look over his shoulder at the one approaching him. He looked around, however, as if being lost for a moment. At least, that wasn't exactly a lie. He didn't often venture into the northern parts of the city. "Hm... where's the nearest bar...."
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Post by HERO on Nov 22, 2014 17:59:20 GMT -5
Oratus crept up closer with the guise of window shopping, coming near enough to even see the sweat of the thief with his peripheral vision. The book kept charging the seal, as mana was being pulled from the land. His free hand would slide upward and to the right, placing mana into the spell circle needed to produce an ice shard.
Wind Gust [1] Ice Shard [0]
Shane, having not seen any sign of Aiden yet, was moving in a hurry, speedwalking sortof until he saw the scene that his friend was caught up in. Peering across the intersection and a bit further down the sidewalk was his friend, hands up in surrender, and being talked angrily at by a girl. A failed take, but he wasn't running. Shane was then quick in pulling out a piece of paper and a marker, drawing a circle with the paper against a window display.
Aiden hadn't yet caught sight of his possible savior, his focus being on the woman that was preparing to inflict an outstanding deal of pain upon him. "Hey, you can't possibly be being fair here!" he said almost pleadingly. "B-but listen, if you give me your number, I can promise you I'll get you your weapon back as soon as I can!" He instinctively took another step backward after seeing the blood ball up on her hand. "I promise!"
Keita faltered momentarily in his step, apparently worried by the monk's stopping. He pressed his foot down slower, at a more normal pace then, obviously not wishing to come unnecessarily into his view. Quick improvisation was needed, unless he would have to give up. He happened to be the only one of the trio with a knack for enchanting, which played a big part in their scheme.
Keita knelt quickly down to scoop a pebble, and pour the mana necessary into it to produce a yellow-ish glow, an enchantment created to cause the object to float, and then he would take a chance in pushing it forward towards the space above the monk's left shoulder before hurrying toward's the monk's left. A sticky-fingered scoop and attempt at a gentle plant of his finger on the necklace of the monk would follow, the young boy praying that the monk would find distraction in the magic floating pebble in that tiny, difficult window of time. All or nothing would describe Keita's approach well. "Excuse me sir, gotta catch that!" would be all he would say immediately after, with the intention of walking around and running to catch it.
Float enchantment [Quickdraw]
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Post by Tyen Peremy on Nov 22, 2014 19:21:37 GMT -5
"I don't believe you" she basically snapped at him, focusing more mana in her palm. The bulb of crystalizing blood would continue to grow in size, shapt crimson red shards slowly becoming viewable as it began to build up. "I want it back by tonight." Not once would she stop stepping forward when when he continued backwards, however her anger continued to build and she would actually pick up pace. She was getting far enough with her blood ball that she would now be able to inflict a fair amount of damage and pain to the boy should he not agree to go to wherever he had it stashed now. "Where is it." The way she said it, wasn't even a question. It was a straight out demand.
---- ( Blood shot {2} )
Tyen's blood bulb would begin to grow, now Aproximately to the soze of a baseball. The crystallization wpuld begin to become viewable.
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Post by DC on Nov 22, 2014 20:20:56 GMT -5
Zhen's reaction was a little too instinctual to be logic-based. With the form embedded into his most basic personality, and the drexen using the moment's startle to its advantage, Zhen exploded into a very simple, yet possibly devastating motion. It was at this moment's falter of Zhen's calmness that his drexen-corruption would take hold, meaning there would be no restraint. As Keita would rush towards Zhen's left, Zhen simultaneously whirls around to his right while balancing on just his left leg; he performs a 180 degree spin and sends a powerful side-kick that would meet directly with Keita's sternum if he didn't dodge it right away. Zhen was already aware that his momentum would belie him. Zhen already knew the attempt with his speed was something that signaled a full-out attempt. So his sprint should reflect that. But Zhen hadn't planned on striking with the force he did. The force of his kick would actually launch Keita back a few feet if it connected, and could very likely crack a few ribs, if not damage his sternum/diaphragm region. Too late; Zhen couldn't change his movement, now.
Zhen performed a "side kick" with a 180 degree spin so that it should have his heel meet with Keita's torso
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Post by HERO on Nov 22, 2014 22:18:46 GMT -5
Oratus kept an eye on how the things were proceeding, imagining just when he would have to know to jump in. Interrogation would've been so much simpler were he to bite the bullet and take some Divination schooling, but then again, Oratus had quite enough schooling for such a short period. Nothing came to mind for him yet on how the boy could've stole the gun and hid it so quickly, but she was so certain of him that he should at least stay close. In the middle of his thoughts and observation though, he was able to take notice of the other uniformed boy across the street. The boy was drawing something quickly, but precisely in marker. The two's uniform was the same, so they could very well know each other. Perhaps it was time to move things along himself. "You seem certain it's him who took it. It'd make sense with all the action happening right after the bells ring." That's what Oratus said while raising the tip of his hood up to give a clear view of his red eyes, and stepping forward next to the girl he stared at earlier. "Have you checked his uniform pockets? I assume he hasn't moved from this spot since doing it?" Oratus'es book would remain out, his thumb comfortably holding the pages open. The seals kept charging, pulling mana from the surroundings. Wind Gust [2] Ice Shard [1]
Shane precisely drew the needed markings onto the base, and filled in the center crux needed for the full effect, peeking across the street after. Aiden's situation was obviously not getting any better, and moving closer would possibly set off an attack from the angry woman, who would appear to be creating a ball of blood in her hand...Not a good situation by any means. Shane began to step off around the corner and loudly whistle, paper held gently in hand. Aiden gulped, about stuck in his position, even as he would take another step backward. His face showed nothing short of terror, and his hands waved back and forth in pleading still. "I-I d-don't have it! B-lieve me!" he cried, moving back still. He took another hard gulp as Oratus would move up closer and give Tyen the suggestion, his eyes taking split seconds them to look for ways of escape. Shane was beginning to move down the street at the turn of the intersection, whistling a tune they knew, signalling an escape. His eyes then moved right back to the woman, slightly hopeful. "Please, trust me." Keita wasn't extremely far from the other two, but neither would be able to see what happened to him. Extending his arm out toward's the monk's necklace, he was confused to see it bend away from him, and just as bewildered to see those shoulders turning, and that foot driving into his chest. The finger stretched forth in all it's strength had a white sticker attached to it's tip. This sticker would remain poking out as Keita would be knocked onto his back and onto the edge of the curb, sprawled. Short raspy breaths were all Keita could take after, his eyes clenched tightly shut. The rock, holding little charge, simply soared onward and dropped onto the ground with nothing else happening to it.
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Post by Tyen Peremy on Nov 23, 2014 15:20:35 GMT -5
Tyen wouldn't so much as even look at the person with the pointed hood as he stepped up to them, but rather in an annoyed voice would say, "No. But i somehow doubt my gun would fit in a suit jacket pocket." She wasn't attempting to be snappy to the new approaching person, but thats how it would come out due to the situation.
However Tyen would continue her glare at Aiden and stepped forward again, still increasing the size of the crystalizing ball of blood. Now it was beginning to take shape. The shards of crystalized blood were beginning to angle upwards into a sort of tear drop shape, with still liquid blood still swirrling around it and continually adding to the size. She would still though take the strangers advice as she said, "Empty all your pockets." Even though she knew it probably wasn't there, she didn't care. Perhaps there would be a a clue as to how he had done it. She hadn't yet noticed the person off in the distance who could possibly help Aiden escape.
---- (Blood shot {3})
The ball of blood begins to take on an elongated tear drop shape as the crystalized shards begin to take shape.
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Post by DC on Nov 23, 2014 16:40:00 GMT -5
The initial response to Keita's approach, and then push back, was more than what Zhen had planned for. When he hit the ground, and started gasping for air, Zhen had completed the recovery from the kick, still in a stance enough to fight onwards should something else occur. Zhen thought briefly about the stone that had whizzed right past his shoulder, but then determined that it wasn't very important considering the situation at hand. Zhen's initial, instinctual response having been completed, he was able to retain his calm demeanor and assess the situation at hand.
He approached the boy, who was obviously around his age judging by the uniform, and then crouches down beside him. His breaths were quick and were obviously painful. Zhen had done more than what he planned for, and that caused a small frown to appear onto the fallen monk's face. He waited a few moments and then considered, for a brief moment, lifting the boy up by his skull and holding him so his feet were off the ground, holding him by his skull alone.
Shut up, drexen.
"I'm going to venture a guess and say you're one of the thieves that are causing trouble. I wouldn't lie, either, because given your current situation, you're really in no place to. I am a Drexen-Corrupted, and I cannot promise that my corruption will take hold at the moment you lie. I cannot promise you'll live on if that happens. I would rather not kill you, but I cannot control my corruption. Sorry," Zhen explains. He explained it calmly, as if he hadn't just kicked him down, and as if he wasn't concerned about the very same thing he was explaining.
Zhen waited for a response, then hummed in thought. If he kept taking quick breaths, his hyperventilation would catch up with him and cause him to pass out from lack of oxygen in the brain.
That would be counterac—no. I could put him somewhere that I can talk to him more privately. I did just humiliate him publicly. He even considered that being more favorable than just talking here, where one could overhear the conversation and claim a bounty on something he didn't want taken advantage of.
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Post by HERO on Nov 25, 2014 3:00:54 GMT -5
"Hm...true, but it wouldn't hurt though. If he really is the thief we're looking for, being a magic student could mean he's carrying something else of interest." Oratus watched closely for what he would do, flexing his fingers and allowing his spells to grow in power. He thought still of the suspicious boy who was across the street, and took a moment to lean over and see if he were still moving away.
Wind Gust [3] Ice Shard [2]
Aiden had begun to visibly reach a panic point, sweat rolling down his neck and a slight fog accumulating on his glasses. "Y-y-yeah...sure..." he mumbled before taking another step back. Lowering one hand into his right pocket, he then fished out his communicator device, and would quickly take the opportunity he could to fling it as hard as he could imagine towards Tyen's face before taking off from a hard pivot towards the direction of Shane. "Shane!!!"
Shane was about halfway down the block then, quick to hear the hard footsteps that would begin to come, and would turn around himself to take off into a sprint towards the target of rescue. Sheet of paper out in the open, those familiar with arcane mages would quickly figure out he was meaning to teleport him away. The spell circle on written on the sheet would begin to glow blue, as well as Shane's silhouette, a sign of priming. "Coming!"
Teleportation Priming [Quickdraw]
Keita was still in a state of disbelief, or perhaps it'd be more accurate to say he was in shock from how quickly that had just happened. He clenched his self tight, and it took a second for his mind to register, his head nodding affirmative to the monk's inference. Keita would start to get some control over breathing in due time, but even then he'd feel a sharp pain with his inhales. "I-wheeze-so-hee-rry..." It was perhaps beneficial to beneficial to the young monk that the streets were still clearing, and the number of people were becoming sparse. A few more elderly people did however happen to see it and give a show of mixed reactions ranging from disbelieving blinks, to profanity and laughter.
(There's probably a ton of mistakes in there, but I can proofread in the morning.)
EDIT: One set of mistakes cleaned...
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Post by Tyen Peremy on Nov 25, 2014 3:51:47 GMT -5
The last thing Tyen was expecting to get was a hard cell phone whiped at her face, which, when faced with it, gave her little time to react and the best she would have gotten was a flinch as she would take a step backwards before feeling it connect with her face. Her first reaction when she felt it crash against her face would be to shout in an angry and somewhat pained voice, a vast yet quick list of profanities followed by, "Son of a -----, you dirty little theif!". Her voice was quite a loud shout, hopefully enough to draw the attention of most of the crowd around them in the hopes to have someone interfere before he escaped. Tyen's free hand had by now made it up to her face and was holding where the phone had connected, however as she saw him run towards the person who called out to him, would drop it back down. She would try to ignore the throbbing sharp pain as she would take off after him, no longer paying mind to the stranger that had entered the situation now. Her take off into the run would be fast, and as she did this, she would release the sharp, spire like, tear drop of a crystalized blood ball, which would send it shooting through the air at rather high speeds, aimed at him alone. She doubted it would hit due to the fact that he was running, and now, so was she. All the extra movement made her doubt that anything would make contact, however if it did hit, it probably wouldn't be anything vital but hopefully enough to knock him down or throw him off balance. All these thoughts would race through her head as she put up a chase, still though, her throbbing face was slightly distracting to her.
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Post by DC on Nov 25, 2014 11:37:13 GMT -5
Trying to be less annoying about referring back to the parts addressing myself. I find it more organized if the part addressing Zhen is sort of "restated" so as to avoid confusion a little more. Zhen had to cast off the few reactions that he could detect via sound; he only knew of the amused reactions that sounded off. It's not important. He took a few moments more to let the boy level off his breathing, but Zhen didn't leave him an option to escape. If he left anything unchecked, it was likely he'd find a way to escape... once his head finally wrapped around the situation. Zhen couldn't have that. So, in that moment, the creature that posed itself as a necklace then unwrapped itself from around Zhen's neck and moved itself through the air and hovered above the boy, looking down at him and merely suspending itself in place there. It looked something like a worm, almost. It was a small, slender creature with a mouth that were just a circular row of teeth along an opening. It had four columns of "spines" along it in a "t", or "x" depending on how one looked at it, however the "top" of the creature was noted via the esca, which is what gave off the bright green glow. Obviously, this creature was under Zhen's control. "This is called a drexen. I don't very much like displaying my abilities in public, but you've left me little options. If you move in a way that suggests resistance or an attempt to escape, this creature will do exactly as I tell it. Let me tell you how this works. Drexen aren't from Kalg'rai. In fact, they aren't even from this plane of existence. And these little creatures... well... this one... is able to do some very interesting things. This is only a drexen whelp. Young. Not very well aged. But that means it isn't able to control itself that well. Now... drexen are able to do a variety of interesting things. Drexen can corrupt entities into being what's called a Drexen-corrupt. What this means is that when you die, your body will become a breeding ground for the drexen. When they are finally aged enough to leave the body, they will exact their abilities onto it to break out. Literally. "Drexen are able to do a couple other things. One of which is the ability to attack as if it were physical, yet not be able to be touched by physical means. Think of it like a poltergeist, actually. Magic is the only way to combat them. But they can also do some other interesting things. You see, where they come from, they have the signature ability to modify anything's quote on quote durability. Flesh, bone, earth, cloth, you name it. They can make it harder than steel, or they can make it more fragile than paper. So, if I don't like a movement you make, you will be made more fragile than paper. And all it will take is a simple scratch to tear you as if you were such. I want some answers."
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Post by HERO on Nov 26, 2014 6:15:58 GMT -5
(Fourth or fifth time writing this, because circumstance is lovely.) Oratus whipped his head hard in a quick double take while was still leaning to peek at the blone-haired boy across the street and down the block, his attention then shifting to the brown-haired one taking off immediately to his left and then back. An escape attempt was happening, and Oratus was quick to react on his suspicion that the drawing the savior-boy carried was a teleportation spell. Stepping forward briskly, he thrusted his open right palm forward and caused a fluttering reaction within the Wind Gust spell circle, an immediate attack launch following. The attack was carried forth by a linear blast of pressurized wind, aimed towards the left side of the schoolboys with an aim to disorient them and blow away the sheet of paper holding the spell with rough force. The Ice Shard spell circle continued to charge, pulling mana from the land. Wind Gust [3] Ice Shard [3]
The timing of the attacks left Aiden and Shane first to be knocked roughly off balance by the wind blast, neither of them having much of a way to see it since...well, it is hard to see air move before you feel it. The piece of paper Shane held in his right hand was knocked away, left flying upward while he and Shane careened into the path of the powerful crystalized blood ball. Lined up, the high velocity blood ball struck Aiden in the middle of the lower back, and smacked his body forward into Shane in such a way that normally would mean boys their age having to defend their masculinity. They fell out on the street in a half-mangled heap, and the paper would fall to the ground on the nearby sidewalk. They pain they suffered was fairly visible from the hit. Teleportation [Disrupted] Keita needed a moment to bring his focus to well enough to fully pay the due attention to the words the monk spoke, but good for Keita, or perhaps bad for Keita, there were quite a few of them. His red eyes took a slow glance up, and stiffened frightfully on the creature above him, his body following suit to the point it may have been hard to believe he wasn't just a corpse with open eyes. Apparently listening to everything intently after, the rushed manner in which Keita spoke probably indicated his willingness to talk. "Y-T-t...Me and my h-friends, d-d-the thieves were us, we've done it everyday after school for the past couple of months, making a game!" He was speaking quietly in a way that he was sure Zhen could hear him, but no one else would be expected to. "We made seals and paper and stickers and keys and thought it was just fun, using all of the magic we learned at school." Sweat soaked the collar of his school uniform, which was slightly dirtied now by the street. "Please...don't torture me..."
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Post by Tyen Peremy on Nov 26, 2014 21:53:33 GMT -5
Tyen kept up her chase as Aiden ran towards the other boy, however when she saw them initially be knocked off balance by the wind, and the slip of paper flicker free into the find before fluttering to the ground, caused Tyen to slow down a bit with a slight feeling of relief. That escape plan of theirs had failed. When the large ball of crystalized blood managed to make contact with its target because of their already compromised balance, knocking them over ontop of eachother, her run died into a quick jog until she stopped beside them. They had definitely failed. She then looked down at them, though mostly at Aiden with a flaming glare. Her face was still throbbing and without a doubt was probably beginning to form a bruise, yet this was the least of her worries at the moment as she growled, "You really do want me to kill you don’t you? Maybe your little bastard friend too?"
Tyen was entirely serious. By now the thoughts of the bounty were far gone in the back of her mind. That gun was the one single thing that really actually mattered to her. She wouldn't have much cared if they took anything else, and would have simply turned them in, but this on the other hand was entirely different to her. "The only problem with killing you boys is that i wouldn't get my belongings back" she mused as she patted at the empty grey and black, thick fabric holster strapped on her upper thigh, showing exactly what she meant by belongings. "I suppose blackmail might work. Perhaps even some form of medieval torture, like the usage of a rat trapped between a bucket and your body, prompted to eat through your abdomen by the usage of fire. Anything to make you tell me where it is will do i suppose." With every word she spoke, her angry eyes never moved away from observing Aiden and the other boy. She would gladly kick should they attempt once agaim to run.
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