forum Untitled 268

Started June 20, 2018 by @LittleBear group

tune

@Danelaw ((No Critiques yet please))

E -

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The entire world was a wet mess. The masses scuttled past my little fire escape, cowering under their cloaks, desperately trying to keep the acid rain away. I instinctively tugged at my gloves; the memory of the acid on the backs of my hands tickled my skin. Thunder rumbled overhead and the lightning lit up the sky a second later, turning the night sky an unhealthy orange.

I checked my watch and cursed softly. It had been over two hours and no luck. My stomach rumbled and saliva welled in my mouth. I could not remember the last time I had eaten a full, warm meal. If I had to return to the dumpster, I might just off myself. I would give it ten more minutes, then I would swallow my pride and head to Madame Camille’s Palace.

The minutes passed slowly and still, only the common riff raff passed under. No better off than me. Defeated I leapt off the fire escape and landed directly in a puddle of the toxic sludge. A drop of it landed on my trousers and I hissed as it ate through the fabric and burned my skin. I hastily wiped at it with my cloak, I would have to find somewhere heal later.

Grumbling, I started to make my way towards Madame’s cursed place. Well at least I would get a bath.

I turned a corner and started to pull my hood up higher when a flash of color caught my eye. Bright red, the color that fire trucks used to be. Immediately I changed course and began to follow at a distance. The figure was obviously male and dripping in opulence. His bright red cloak hung across his shoulders, held in place with a fat rope of braided gold. The cloak itself was covered in beautifully ornate gold embroidery. It should have been a crime to expose such an incredible thing to the elements.

Strangely, he seemed unaffected by the rain. Instead, the grinning idiot seemed to be enjoying himself immensely – taking a little stroll in one of the worst parts of the city. His face was open and delighted as he took in the flashing neon lights of the pubs he passed. After a moment, I zeroed in on my target, his plump wallet swinging from his waist by a thin cord.

“Rich Bastard,” I muttered under my breath as I took off one of my gloves. The world seemed to move a little slower as I approached him and drew my dagger. It hummed gently once I flicked it on.

It should have been a quick swipe, but at the moment that my uncovered hand was on his purse, his swinging hand brushed against mine. This should have been fine. It was not.

I went flying. It was like being hit by a battering ram. Or a truck. Or a flaming telephone pole.

@LittleBear

Fenris-

The acid rain could not dampen my mood. It had been a long time since I had seen a city as grand as this. The buildings were tall and they had enough electricity to light neon signs. What a sight! The gray walls and trash that filled the streets added character and told tales of the thousands of occupants in the city. I could not remember the last time I saw a place so populated, so full of life. I was excited to make new friends.

I passed a few pubs and smiled at every passerby, enthralled by the huge variety of people and clothing and culture. Even the poorer citizens were fascinating. Wait until I tell the village about this, I thought to myself. People in my village had long ago given up on finding new places to settle and deemed cities to be myths or believed them to be entirely occupied by thieves and beggars. How ridiculous, I thought to myself, these people are great! They do not smell great, I contended, but they seemed to be full of personality.

I skipped happily around the corner into one of the corresponding alleyways and headed towards the brighter neon signs near the center of the city, my feet splashing in the acid puddles. My boots were resistant to the acid so I did not worry over where I stepped. Just as I walked past an alley, I sensed someone approach from behind and as I began to turn my hand brushed theirs- and promptly launched me into the wall on the other side of the alley. It was similar to what I believed being hit by a flaming telephone pole might feel like.

E -

I don't know what hurt worse, the initial force or being slammed into the dumpster. I sat there dazed for a moment to catch my breath and someone stepped over me, murmuring "Stupid drunk" as they did so. Man, I wish I was drunk. Then I wouldn't be so damn hungry.

Gingerly, I rubbed the back of my head and already I could feel a welt forming. Across the alley, the fool was still sprawled on the filthy ground. Still, his coat seemed unaffected. As fast as possible, I leapt to my feet and ran to him. He blinked up at me and looked like he was about to say something.

"Sorry," I said as I snatched his purse with my gloved hand. My blade cut through the cord as if it were butter. If I was lucky, he would be too bewildered to give chase.

"Hey!" He shouted and I could hear him scrambling to get up.

I was never lucky.

Fenris -

I felt that, man did I feel it. I landed hard, my back hitting first and my legs sprawled over my head before I rolled over flat on the ground. "Ouch," I groaned and stared up into the sky. The acid rain was only a drizzle now. I would have almost considered the launch fun if I had not hit the wall so hard. It could be worse, I thought, I could still be in the village. With that thought I smiled and just as I was about to get up, a darkly cloaked figure flashed by.

"Sorry," it said, just as it swiped my purse tied to my belt. I was startled at the speed in which the figure sped down the alley and shouted, "Hey!" as I jumped to my feet and followed as swiftly as I could. The figure was small, a teen maybe? Or a woman? I jumped over a spilled trash can and turned a sharp corner, attempting to keep the figure in sight. As I rounded another corner I felt a rope hit my face, pulled taught across the alleyway at head height, and was knocked to the ground.

"Oof," the wind was knocked from my chest. At least I was becoming well acquainted with the city ground. I chuckled at my joke, still lying on my back in pain. I lifted my head to look down the alleyway to see that the figure was gone.

"Damn," I said, and plopped my head back onto the filth-strewn, acid-puddled ground, "so this is a city?"

E -

I looked over my shoulder and saw him still sprawled on his back, I almost felt bad. Almost. As I ran along, I dared to take a peek at my winnings. Inside were actual coins. Gold coins. I stopped in my tracks and took out one of the coins and bit into it. It did not bend against my teeth. I must have just robbed a prince.

I would get to eat today. I could have a hot potato. Or multiple potatoes. And meat. I could have steak. Or even caviar. Oh and the drinks. I could get whatever I wanted. I could get a beer or champagne. I licked my lips at the thought. And suddenly it dawned on me, if I looked hard enough and found one, I would have enough to buy an entire bottle of Coca-Cola. I could even buy a new cloak and some trousers that weren't riddled with holes.

"Bless my lucky stars," I murmured and I finally looked up from my bag. Immediately I wished that I had kept running. Dariut and his goons stood in front of me and I could feel them closing in behind as well. I was such an idiot. Me and my stupid greed. "Dariut, please just let me go. I've paid my fees and I don't cause you any trouble." My belly rumbled in agreement.

He tapped one of his fat fingers on his chin and pretended to mull it over. "But what you've got, I want. And what I want, I get. That's how it goes sweetheart. You know that."

I clutched the purse tighter and my hand moved towards my knife in my pocket. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end and I could feel electricity running up and down my spine. If I didn't resolve this quickly, things were going to get ugly. The last time I lost control, I smelt like burnt chicken for a week and I might just eat myself if that happened again.

Fenris -

I sat up from the ground and mulled over my decisions that led me to this point. I wanted to make a point to my village, I came down a back alleyway in an unknown city, I was mugged by a stranger…wait, did I do something wrong? I smiled at everyone I passed by so they wouldn't think I was a threat. Maybe I smiled too much? That's it, I smiled too much. I fixed as stern a look on my face as I could and stood up. As I walked down the alley I found it very hard to keep the stern look and sighed, "How can people dislike a smile?" I stood at an intersection of two alleys and wondered which way I should go. I decided to go to the left, towards the neon lights. About halfway down the alley I thought I could hear voices and I once again fixed a stern look on my face, not wanting to offend anyone with my smile.

I walked into an opening to see a gathering of people, probably ten or so, older gentlemen. "Good evening!" I said, as politely as I could, I stepped into the light of the opening and, forgetting my rule, smiled brightly at them. "Could any of you fine gentlemen point me in the direction of the city leader?"

All ten heads swiveled to look at me, glaring looks on their faces. It was then that I realized they were surrounding the figure that had taken my coin purse, "Ah!" I pointed at the person, "You! You took my money! Would you kindly give that back? I promise not to bother you anymore, I won't even smile!" I stepped towards the group and heard weapons draw. I stopped in my tracks. One of the men stepped around the group and walked closer to me, "Nice cloak, mind if I take a look at it more closely?" He grinned and exposed his yellow crooked teeth. "Certainly," I said, and unclasped the gold chain from around my shoulders. Smiling, I held it out for him to take it. As he reached for it, I tossed the cloak upwards in the air, obscuring myself from his vision and promptly crushed his face with my fist. The man crumpled to the ground, my cloak falling with him. I shook my fist out, a slight sting running through my knuckles. "I'm not that foolish. I can smell a greedy pig from a mile away, and you lot stink." I smiled at the one in the middle, "Not you, though, you seem nice. Must have been an honest mistake for you to grab my coin purse! Need some help with this lot?"

E -

The hunger must have made me delirious. That or the streets were finally getting to me. Who was this guy? There was no way that he was real. "Do what you want. Makes no difference to me," I said through gritted teeth.

He just smiled more. "I am going to take that as a yes," he said jovially as he moved to stand next to me.

There was no going back, it was either win this or run to another district and pray that Dariut didn't have me blacklisted. I drew my visdagger and flicked it on. It's green glow shined brightly in the dim light and its familiar hum was almost a comfort. "There is still time to rethink this. It doesn't have to be like this. You can still walk away," I pleaded as the rich guy and I moved back to back, turning to take in all of the men. Eleven in all.

He guffawed, "I think I like my odds girly. It was a pleasure doing business with you." And then he lunged forward, his own visblade in his hand and his had much more reach than mine did. I ducked under his outstretched arm and ended up behind him. I had been so good lately, it had been at least two years since my last kill and he was already dying anyways. I really didn't want to end my streak. Instead I dragged the blade across his heels and he pitched forward, screaming as he grabbed for his heels.

Four of his goons turned to me with murder in their eyes and snarls so vicious that I could see their rotting teeth. One picked up Dariut's fallen visblade and decided to throw it at me. Without thinking, I blocked with my visdagger and it bounced off and flew towards one of his comrades. The laser cut strait through the muscle of his thigh to the bone and then fell through some more of his leg before landing on the ground. A second later a good sized chunk of charred meat slid onto the ground next to it. The howls of pain were only there for a fleeting moment as the poor thug passed out an instant later.

Fenris -

I hadn't expected the figure to be a girl. Her voice was a surprise, but even more surprising was the swiftness of her actions as she cut apart on of the men. I lunged forward toward the nearest man and wrapped my arm through his up to his elbow and twisted, the visblade falling from his hand as his bones crunched. With the palm of my hand, I jammed upwards on his nose, feeling it break under the pressure. He yelled out in pain then collapsed after a swift blow to his head. I picked up the man's visblade and, admiring the glowing dagger, excitedly flicked the blade on and off. I had only read about these laser-based weapons.

The girl was holding her own against the men and I took to cutting down my fair share as well. By the end of the fight, we had both taken down four men each and the others ran off down the alley. One of the men whose ankles were cut to pieces was being carried by two others down the alley and he waved his fist rather comically at us, swearing vengeance or something of the like, and I gathered that he must've been their leader. After the men cleared out of the alley I turned to face the girl, holding my hand out for her to shake.

"Hello! My name is Fenris. I'm new to the city. What's your name?" I smiled at her, but not too much so I didn't offend her again. Maybe she would give me my money back too if I was lucky.

E -

What an odd man. "I'm E," I said and stuck my hand out "I'm not". The moment before our skin touched, the air felt supercharged. Goosebumps ran up my arm and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I pulled back my hand like I touched a hot stove. "Yeah, lets not do that again." I offered him my gloved hand, which made our handshake more awkward.

His brow furrowed ever so slightly in confusion but he shook it off. "So, you'll be wanting your money back, huh?" I asked as I kicked at the gravel. God, I had never seen so much money in one place before and it was painful offering the purse back to him.

"I'm guessing that you had a good reason for taking it! Let's go, I'll buy you what ever you need," He said, grinning with all the happiness in the world. My mouth fell open so wide a bird could have nested in there.

"You what - I mean, I, what?" I stammered. And then my belly rumbled.

"Let's go get something to eat. I'm famished!" He smiled and started towards the city center.

I followed afterwards and could not fathom how my luck had turned. I tugged my hood higher and stuck my exposed hand in my pockets. How far could I push this? "I also need a new coat, trousers, gloves, and boots." I managed to mutter.

"Sure! I have always wondered what it would be like to have clothes made by machines!" He was practically shaking with glee. It hurt to look at him.

Soon we came to the inner city and I made a beeline for the first restaurant that I saw. A steakhouse. A beautiful steakhouse. I pushed the door open and my nose was flooded with the very smell of heaven. All was well until we reached the front desk. The hostess took one look at me and her face turned into a snarl. "We don't take your kind here. Scram scrapper."

Fenris walked up to the desk and said "Hello there! We want to eat here, if I promise not to smile will you let us stay?"

The hostess looked taken aback for a moment before she realized the wealth that he oozed. She smiled wildly and gathered some menu screens. "Of course come right this way." She took us to a booth towards the back and when I caught sight of the bread rolls, I almost cried. I shoved her out of the way in my haste to sit down. "Don't even think of sneaking anything. I will call the Authority faster than you can blink," she growled as she loomed over me. As I looked at her I grabbed a roll and stuffed it into my mouth. She rolled her eyes and strutted away, her stupid blue ponytail bouncing perkily behind her.

I groaned as I sank back into the cushions. The bread was warm and so soft and slightly sweet. I'm pretty sure I had died and returned to the heavens.

@Ca1iCa1 I'm good with it! And I'm back in the states, so we might resume soon - if our schedules allow.

Bruh @Danelaw …. get your act together! ILY but lets go chicka!