[Slave Market] Running Wolf

by **Fallon** on July 7th, 2014, 10:53 pm

50th Summer 514 AV
Night

Fallon had finally grasped upon a lead. And it was one she was not about to let go of. There was no time to grab Zandelia, time was of the essence and she was certain that it would eat it up within an instant. No, she would have to take whoever she came across on her firm stride forward through the city - if anyone she knew appeared of course. It was always an issue with Sunberth, either there was the chance of meeting another or they were simply lost between the maze of narrow streets and alleyways. The black cloak was pulled tightly around her frame, the eyes darting out beneath the hood and catching the low light of the night.

Somewhere beyond she could hear the sounds of scuffling, fists growing rougher and the muted shouts of fighting. It had picked up of late - and it was something that made her nervous. The gangs were on the rise of violence, it was thick and heavy, the rings of combat, the beat that seemed to rise up within it. A mad lust almost on the edge of breaking down into chaos. It was enough to make her pulse quicken and her eyes to always look back and forth - fearful that it soon would her with the dagger in the back. Still, at least with the darkness the cool air allowed her to operate at a more steady level.

Hot breath escaped between teeth, the crunch of boots barely upon the dried earth as she hastened her step. Blades clinked underneath the folds, hidden from the world for the moment at least. Another flicker, a step back briefly into shadow as she heard the sound of running footsteps. Men from another gang ran on past, breathing hard and scrabbling as they went - that sound of pure terror and looking to escape the clutches of death. There was a deep inhale, the stillness as she pressed her back against the wall, the hand slipping to the tulwar hilt - ready to draw if need be. A second lot of footsteps were not long behind, running and shouting out their jeers as they made chase after those who fled in terror. She was not noticed and they were gone within mere ticks of appearing.

Exhaling she gave a pause, and pushed herself off once more. Slipping into the street, her head whipped about a flurry of blinks as she confirmed there was no immediate encroaching danger, that glance over the shoulder and then a forward spurring. And through it all the words and plans ticked over in her mind. Whispered rumours of a white wolf down at the slave market was one that grabbed her attention immediately and grasped upon the single thought of Orvin. She only had to hear it once to follow the one who spoke it outside and shake down for answers. Between the hisses answers had been pried free, the mention of the 'Amber Wave', of books and chains only served to the steel the determination that grew.

Lips were wetted, another step, another careful and watchful glance. Footsteps grew heavier, the nagging worry growing within her pit as she focused on her goal the best she could. She was about to step into a den of lions, a place where she would have only her wits to guide her forward. An extra set of eyes would not have gone amiss for the task. But there was no time to go back and grab someone. She exhaled a 'petch', her head turning as her shoulder bumped past another. There was a shuffle and a misstep, foot slamming down to keep her balance. Temper rose, head snapping round to glare, "Oi, watch i-" she barely had time to finish before her attention was snapped and grabbed by who it was. Her finger waggled, jaw opening and closing a few times before she grabbed him firmly by the shoulder, "Wait. You. Gideon right? It's Bitzer. I need you for something. Like... right now." Her hand released the shoulder, her head poking out from beneath the hood as she made sure it was correct, before once more it snapped round to the surroundings. She did not have much time, "I mean... if that's possible? It's important. Please?"

by **Gideon** on July 9th, 2014, 4:44 pm

The streets of Sunberth were no place for a man from southron lands these days. Hostilities were on the rise between factions who held allegiences to abandoned moral codes, possessed of a madness that imprisoned them. It seemed contradictory to the freedom they believed themselves striving for, but Gideon wagered they cared little for philosophical musings in such desperate times...to each their own.

The alleys had become a gauntlet of cutpurses and muggers as well, each one looking to profit on quick coin and then turn around to spoil it on lecherous wants. Yes, the honest man didn't stand much of a chance making it in this little slice of a godless realm they lived in. Thankfully for Gideon, honesty didn't fall into the category of virtues he held in high regard.

The mark he'd been tailing for some time now had gone missing in the past couple of days. In a city like this, that usually meant someone else had found them and done gods-know-what to their now rotting corpse. But given that this person of interest had retained some of their monetary value alive or dead, most likely dead, it was worth his time to investigate further.

The only thing confident in Gideon at the moment was his stride however, a fabrication to the rest of the world while what remained trembled in abject fear. It was all he could do to maintain appearances. Around him his greatest fear was coming to fruition. This state of chaos might have been good for business at times, but it hobbled any sense of internal peace he might find. He loathed the writhing mass.

Following the natural path of the road, his attention was drawn to the noise of an object, a stone perhaps, skittering down an alley behind him. Keeping with his forward momentum, he delicately reached around to the small of his back where his kukri lay inconspicuously sheathed, head turning over his shoulder while his other senses sparked to life.

Narrowing his gaze upon the alley where he decided the noise had come from, it was a mere tick before he heard the footsteps of another approaching him from the front just a few feet away. Reacting as quickly as reflex would allow, he snapped his attention ahead of him again, free hand reaching out instinctively and catching a slender wrist between callused fingers while the other unsheathed the bladed weapon from his back.

His first impulse told him to stab out and be done with it, but something about the wrist in his other hand gave him pause. The woman's words caught his ears and instantly triggered a sense of familiarity, her features coming into view as recognition kept the blade from its intended purpose of disemboweling. A sense of guilt quickly ensued, washed away by a sigh.

Through his teeth he spoke in hushed tones, struggling with the common tongue as frustration bubbled to the surface, cheeks colored in an incarnadine hue. "Bitzer... Almost hurt you bad."

The severity in her expression stopped him from pressing the issue, his own becoming muted as she spoke. There was a sense of...apprehension? vexation? just beneath the surface that he could not define, though her urgency for the matter was palpable. Releasing his grasp from her wrist, Gideon sheathed the kukri behind him.

He had decided a long time ago, since coming to Sunberth in fact, that while getting paid to put food in one's belly was irrefutably important...making a contact, someone he could rely upon, would be far more beneficial to him in the long run. His kind relied on networks, and helping her now made all the sense in the world to achieving that goal. His mark could wait. She was likely burned or buried, anyway.

"Yes, I come with. Where we go?"

by **Fallon** on July 10th, 2014, 1:58 pm

There was a noticeable flinch when she heard the grind of metal and the faint ring of a sharp edge being released from its bindings. A reflexive tug came as she felt the fingers close in around the limb, rigidness consuming as she thought for a moment that she had incorrectly guessed the person and made a mistake. Her own hand gave a reach for the tulwar hilt, the beginning grind as she went to bring the sword forward in retaliation to the revealing of the weapon - a kukri - out of fear she was about to be brutally gutted. For a moment there was little more than silence, the growing energy of a fight rising up from within.

And then there was that hiss, the clicking of the foreign tongue as it tried to sound out the words. Her form relaxed, the hand releasing the tulwar hilt. Released, she took a step back and turned her attention once more to the world around. Her little time, she had to be quick now she had the man's attention. There was a wave of the hand, a discard of the statement to one side, "Almost. You did not, there is a difference. It is my fault anyway. Shouldn't grab without warning."

She left it there, her brow still stuck in its furrowing as the scene calmed - for the moment at least. No doubt it would begin to amplify soon enough. Her hand rose and gave a point in the general direction of the Slave Markets. A long suck in of the air, a force down of the growing sense of foreboding within her form. She needed to focus and keep her gaze locked upon her end goal. A moment of relief came when he agreed to come along, though the fact he had agreed without questioning the nature of why she needed him was one that was a worrying one.

"We're going to the Slaves Market," She paused then raised her hands between them both, aiming to silence any rising reaction that may come from it, "I have a lead on a group and... something important. Very important. I... there is a group, a gang, and they took him away, and now I know where he is. I need to get to him before they move him again. Petching..." Fallon shook her head and turned on her heel, feet forced into movement as she begun the quick step away, "This way, I'll try and explain clearer on the way."

The black cloak was gathered around her, eyes boring forward as she simply focused on the destination. Her hand slipped onto the tulwar hilt, then traced round to her own kukri before finally returning. Steps quickened, the occasional glance to see if Gideon was still keeping up with her as she paced, "There is a group that has caused... myself, a few others and potentially my allies some issues. Slavers primarily, they're hard and brutal, though they are not one of the big three, they're still a force to be reckoned with." Her head snapped forward, a gesture to the side and out of the way of some oncoming runners. They dashed on past shouting out their noises but barely minding them otherwise, "They're not afraid to break into your home, your residence and lodgings, and leave a mess for you to return to. But, they have means in which to be followed. This isn't a run in and break out... I don't know if we have the time to do that. But if information can be gained, books, records, knowledge of their routes. Anything. Well, it will obtain the one up."

"Are you alright with that? No going back if you follow me in," She paused then, the edge of Slavers Row caught within the darkness of the night. Beyond she could see the glowing lanterns of a few guards, the near silence within the summer air giving it an almost eerie feel. Lips were licked, her gaze rising and lifting as she picked out the distant tent tops of Slavers' Paradise, and then the Row just beyond. Somewhere the sounds of drinks and cheers were going on, the shouts of late night sellings calling out and the distant crying begs of another lost behind it all. Her knuckles cracked, the chains of control trembling for a moment and then calming - losing her temper would not help in this situation, "Probably be easier to get behind them, sneak in style. Be stupid to go in drawing blades and going for a straight up fight. Be dead or worse before we know it."

by **Gideon** on July 21st, 2014, 12:18 pm

Much of Gideon's work in the south had involved piecing together bits of loose information, spoken from the mouths of those usually unwilling to part with it in the first place. Names, locations, items of interest, nothing was outside the realm of knowing if one had but the ingenuity to extract it. But Fallon was not some task with a coin purse attached to it at the end, and being that his struggle with the common tongue was challenge enough, Gideon found her clipped explanations to be horridly veiled in secrecy. Time spent translating one statement made the very next lost upon his ears, until he had little more than an understanding of: She wants me to help her retrieve something.

Perhaps she just didn't trust him.

Then why ask for my help in the first place? She had a way of commanding his attention at the very least, footsteps following blindly beside her as he attempted to unravel just what it was he was getting himself into. The struggle in her words bled into fragments of expression ultimately concealed by her ability to keep a stoic facade. Something was troubling her about this endeavor. That much was obvious. Only with time to think on their little stroll was he given the chance to understand further.

Their approach to the Slavers Row was not lost upon him. It was a place Gideon had largely avoided since knowing its existence. The sounds of auction, even at this hour, could be heard peppering the thick summer evening air, enkindling his skin to crawl across his body. Their voices were the ignition of memories he'd done well to forget, now given new life to plague his thoughts again. Sweat surfaced on his brow, and a shiver ran through his spine. "Wait," he hoarsely whispered in Tawna, then more firmly in common once he again realized present company. "Wait."

"If you want go in there," his voice regaining more of its composure, "we need plan. Not just this, 'sneak in style', yeah?" Gideon may have feared the slavers to an extent, but out of the fear he had developed a healthy contempt for them as well. If this Bitzer wanted to enact her vengeance so badly as to walk right into the thick of them where they were most well protected, far different than their escapade in the middle of the wilds, she would have to think like them in order to get whatever it was she wished to retrieve. And to think like one sometimes involved becoming one. At least for a time.

"They too many eyes, and we just four. Sneak get us killed, or worse. We not sneak. You sneak if you like, but Gideon...savors, his life. This right word, yes?"

Eyes darting around, he quickly found what he was looking for, Gideon's hand wrapping firmly around her forearm as he led his companion to the privacy of an alley. To the passerby it seemed little more than a couple looking to take advantage of the darkness, a danger in itself in a city like Sunberth. But given their armaments, it would take a bit more than a desperate man with a dagger to filch anything they might possess. Dragging her into the deep encompassing shadow, his eyes searched while his nostrils flared. Nothing here. Perfect.

It began with the rustle of fabric, their eyes taking some time to adjust to the penetrating shadows that practically consumed them. The sound of leather being pulled against itself was accompanied by the scrape of metal. Quietly and with some efficiency, Gideon began to undress himself. It seemed the passerby would be right in their assumptions, though one party was seemingly more enthusiastic about it than the other. "We need story. You can make one, yes? ... Maybe one better than this 'sneak in' plan." He paused to muster a simpering grin.

It appeared more pained than humored.

by **Fallon** on July 22nd, 2014, 4:54 pm

Fallon wetted her lips, the green-blue orbs staring at him almost expectantly. She would not blame him to decline, it was a dangerous thing to be involved in - it did not necessarily result in death but a much crueller fate if things truly did go wrong. She could almost feel the cold iron around her wrists and the tightening of a collar around her throat, an all too familiar sensation that seemed to rise up and bubble within. It was barely a push off before she heard the mumble, a groan almost within the foreign tongue that caused her to pause, and then the strong confirmation in that of common. A chew upon her lips, the moment of shuffling as she fought to calm those turbulent thoughts and focus them down on to one point.

Perhaps having Gideon there proved useful after all, a voice to bring some form of logic to the situation. Sure, there was one side to simply sneaking in and attempting to avoid detection - but the cost of being caught seemed high. Eyes blinked, her focus coming down to a point as she contemplated what to do. When it came to the wilds she had a plan set up, she had the people to back her and the time to lay down some foundations in which to brace themselves against the impending danger. Escape routes were gathered, and the Scars were brought together to work. But this was impromptu, there was no forward planning, no knowledge of escape routes and ways out - it was merely walking into a den of lions with only her wits and her weapons. Slowly, Fallon nodded in agreement, "Yes. A plan... Sorry, my thoughts were focused on the end that I did not think upon the start."

"Savours is the right word. To enjoy doing something. Which in this case is to live," There was only the smallest of shrugs, "I think we are both in agreement on that one. So, we do not sneak," Her chin lifted, her eyes staring into the open maw that made up the entrance of Slavers Row. For a moment her brow creased, cheeks puffing out as she tried to work upon a plan that may help them succeed - or at least bring them closer in. Part of her thought upon acting her way in, lies and deceit bringing her in closer to her end goal.

There was a noticeable flinch when he grabbed her, eyes darting down to the hand that grasped her. There was another pull in reflex, a moment of alarm as the obviously stronger of the two gave her a firm tug. What had he seen, what caused him to move away with such haste? Or better yet, what was his actual intention? She gave a jerk back, the leading away into an alley making her eyes widen and the look of slight terror sweeping over. Wait, what were they doing now? Skin prickled, her stomach knotted in rebellion to what could potentially coming.

Darkness embraced, and it was the mind that went into over drive. It could only be described as a moment of stiffening, her back pressing into the alley wall behind her as she heard the ruffling of fabric. The reaction came out next, hand swinging out into a slap of reflex and the expression of being little more than petrified having smothered the usually calm expression. Eyes were wide with alarm, a hiss escaping from her lips, "What the petch do you think you're doing! Don't," She glared, a deep inhale as she forced down the tensing nerves, "Don't, touch me! I, just. No." Knuckles cracked and tightened, an obvious level of misunderstanding flaring up once more. With another jerk, she took a few steps away and out of reach should his intentions turn sour. Perhaps it was only then that her hand impulsively rested upon one of the weapon hilts, and a composure was chased. Grimacing she tried to follow what he was trying to achieve, "What story? Gideon, what are you thinking?"

by **Avarice** on September 24th, 2014, 10:21 pm

Succumb to Your Desires
.

Fallon :

Gideon :

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Closed [Slave Market] Running Wolf