Closed Katt Burglar (Kelski, Blackwing, Alses)

[Bee]

70 Winter 515AV

Break in’s. They’d been happening all over the city. The Shinya had even put a watch out for any suspicious activity. Money, rugs, jewels. They were being pilfered from people’s houses left and right. Even the ration stores weren’t safe. Surely this was the work of a major thief, or even a team of them. Lhavit wasn’t a rich city by any means, and these robberies were taking a serious toll on people’s wallets and by consequence, their bellies. The Shinya were positive with time he would be rooted out. But how much time was the question on everyone’s mind, as they locked up their valuables and didn’t feel safe in their own homes. The people wanted to know. As a precaution the watch had been keeping a diligent eye out for any activity out of the ordinary. The result being an influx of neredowells being dealt with, but no thief as of yet.

Ghosts, thieves, what was next?

[The PC’s find themselves in Obsidian Club for one reason or another.]

It’s late, on this moonless night, and a man is seated with quite a few others. Friends, acquaintances, who’s to say? They’re all very obviously drunk.
“Ha ha! Got you again!” The man produces a topaz kina in his hand, boasting with it. “You better keep better track of your coin Larl, else I might keep some for myself!”
They are talking very loudly, anyone in the surrounding area would easily be able to hear, even over the music that is playing.
“How do you keep doing that?” Larl throws him a scornful look. “Am I going to have to count my coin when I leave?”
“No,” the first man says, “I swears to the gods I ain’t taken nothin’.” He slides the kina down the table to rest in front of Larl, who snatches it up and gives the man another dirty look.
"And again!" Katts produces this time the entire coin pouch, dropping it on the table with a clink, clink for all to behold. Larl is speechless as he checks his pockets, coming up empty.
"Alright, alright! I think you've made your point. Getch your grubby paws off of me money!" This is almost a threat, though the first man seems nonplussed by it and by all means rather smug.
A different man pipes up, it would seem the first man has been at his games for awhile.
“Now; how did ye learn a trick like that, Katts?”
Katts breaks into a large smile.
“Years of practice, ye ken? I used to get away with hiding my mum’s spoons she would threaten to beat me with, right under her nose too.” Katts laughs again, something that could be compared to a crow’s caw, and winks at the man who spoke before taking a mighty swig of his mug.

The table’s conversation moves along to women and their woes.

[Brandon Blackwing]

Brandon had been rather busy lately; not with work per se, or his usual schedule –as that left plenty of time to go entertain himself- but with some private investigations. For some reason, the amount of robberies had boomed as of late, with a multitude of people complaining about money, valuables or just furnishings vanishing from their homes. Naturally, part of those were Brandon’s doing, as his main source of income was stealing some “leftover” coin here and there. However, jewelry and furniture were not his target. Perhaps rarely he’d go for the odd ring, or maybe even for a precious stone, but if he did, he also had to go through the trouble of selling them, which was too much of a bother.

No, this was the work of someone else, or perhaps more than one someone. If it had been a one-time thing, Brandon would have let it slip, he’d have allowed them to go about their business and leave afterwards. However, too much was too much, and a continued streak of criminal activities in his city could not and would not be tolerated. Lhavit was the bat’s turf, and he wasn’t willing to share. Perhaps it was due to his growing skill and the extended period of time he'd spent as the only big-time thief in the city that his view on what was his had expanded past the “target-of-the-day” to encompass the whole of the Star of Kalea.

Either way, he had allowed a burglary or three, but the amount of actual thefts had far surpassed the number he was willing to overlook. They’d outlived their welcome, and Brandon would see to it personally that they were arrested, discouraged, or kicked out of his city. Enough was enough. Maybe I’m feeling threatened, he mused, thinking of how the Shinya hadn’t been able to catch them yet. Or perhaps Alses is right in deeming them useless. Who was going to say? The Kelvic shifted slightly in his seat, casting a quick glance at the rowdy bunch.

Bah, parlor tricks.

Suspicious as they were, the bat couldn’t shake the feeling of disappointment at the sight of the guy called Katts. Sure, he had managed to swipe the money of his companion multiple times, but the victim was drunker than a sailor locked in a cabinet full of rum. Even the most clumsy of pickpockets would be able to successfully grab the guy’s wallet without him noticing. Brandon grunted in discontentment and leaned back in his chair, the support of the wall behind him allowing for the seat’s tilted position. Really, if he’d known this would be such a waste of time, he might not have bothered coming all the way to the Obsidian. The Club was somewhat known for shady types gathering every so often, and thus Bran had decided to hold a stakeout in hopes of spotting anyone who might fit the bill of the mysterious skilled robbers. He’d never expected to be disappointed though.

They were even bragging –or at least Katts was- about their sleight of hand! Perhaps not a problem during times when robberies were limited to those Brandon executed himself, but now? Bad idea, a very bad idea. “Being smart would have been a redeeming factor too…” the Kelvic thief sighed, shaking his head. Well, all was not lost. Maybe there were more than one guy behind the burglaries, perhaps it was a whole team. It would explain why someone like Katts was able to evade the Shinya for as long as he had. With enough people on guard, communicating with signals, a less skilled thief could compete with the greatest burglars, especially if the latter worked solo.

Brandon would find out soon enough, so he figured, if Katts drank even more, and his lips loosened up further still. He could go confront the guy too, of course, but that was not really his style –not here in the open. Maybe outside, in a dark alley away from prying eyes and listening ears. He could rough him up a little, break some fingers, maybe a leg, and make him spill the beans. If he was mistaken, then that would be unfortunate. In the end though, it was just another reason to wait a little while longer.

Credit goes to Cylos Marn

[Kelski]

[For the most part, Kelski lived a solitary life. It wasn't one she was particularly suited to either. She worked hard at her apprenticeship, learning her craft and content among her stones. She even liked her master leaning over her shoulder teaching her new techniques and talking to her of stones he'd known in the past and great pieces he'd worked on.

But it wasn't enough.

It was never enough. There was a core to her that was empty, seeking, demanding companionship she didn't quite understand. It drove her out in the evenings and sometimes even into the deep night to where people collected, gathered, and did all sorts of insufferable things Kelski did not understand.

Drinking was one of them. She knew the value of good wine and how sometimes tight muscles or a bound up mind could be loosened by a bit of a stiff strong drink. But these people were drunks. They drank until they stank, their tongues wagging, and their mannerisms horrible. Sometimes there was a bard or singer here, sometimes even someone not drunk, not debase, not crude and playing games of chance that interested her. But usually not. Usually it was a night like this full of disappointment and the let down of Lhavit being fully without anyone Kelski found remotely intriguing.

The gamblers and drinkers were swiping things from each other. How typically human to not understand possessions were somewhat sacred. They took like they owned and bragged about it afterwards as if it were anything but a display of bad manners.

Her eyes scanned the room as she refused another drink. Her one wine was enough. Lhavit was half starved this season and most of the people in the room looked gaunt. It made Kelski's lip curl. People surviving just because of a city was unnatural. None of these folks were hunters, not the ones at least that played cards. They couldn't feed themselves, she guessed, even if the city didn't provide food. Rations were stolen. Jewels now too. Nothing was sacred.

Kelski wasn't hungry though. The Sea Eagle fed herself nicely and had no need of food within the city unless she craved a sweet. There were no wild herds of cookies to pick off in the evening or morning when hunting was good. But even here, supplies like flour and sugar were rare and so too then were the cookies. It was a tad depressing though Kelski was sure no one died over lack of sweets.

She glanced at the doorway, almost deciding it was time to leave. Almost. As her eyes tracked right she saw Brandon Blackwing, a fellow Kelvic and her curiosity grew. He was eyeing the place in a similar manner to what she was doing. And though his expression was someone focused and determined, she wondered if he found it as pathetic as she did. Maybe he'd be good for a conversation tonight. She'd met him years ago but hadn't seen him since. That's all she'd wanted when she'd set out to look for a gathering of humans; people to talk too.

So she caught his eye and nodded to him, a kelvic to kelvic greeting letting him know she'd spotted him and found him interesting... far more interesting than the people in the room. At least Brandon was clean. None of the men at the table were, of that she was certain.

[Alses]

Alses was drinking. Or at least, that was the plan in her head, anyway, as her boots clacked and rang on the skyglass flags, hurrying her slight and pale (ugh) Konti form towards the discreetly-welcoming lights of the Obsidian Club.

The city was on edge, as of late – Alses was finely attuned to its moods, she could read them through the ebb and flow of the citizenry, through the auras that flashed and flared and sparkled and sang against one another, but more than that; she was a long-term resident of the shining city, and had seen it in many states.

Indeed, she made it her business to know what – in general terms – Lhavit was thinking. What it was thinking about, lately, was crime. Which was something of an oddity in and of itself; the starry city had, historically, very low to non-existent rates of what might be called the common crimes; theft and burglary, murder and assault and the like.

The Shinya had generally been both enthusiastic and eminently capable of stringing any blue-collar criminal up by their metaphysical – and then, later, literal – necks, and so much of Lhavit’s particular brand of illegality focused on the intellectual, bloodless crimes; blackmail, bribery, and all the deliciously heady flavours of sanguine corruption.

Lately, though, their competence and vigilance seemed to have dipped – and in dipping, the defences had been overtopped and larceny had made its skulking way back into the Diamond. Alses – with a reminiscing scowl and an absent-minded rub of her wrists – thought back to her own less-than-salutary experiences with the wrong side of the law.

A

The Obsidian Club was warm, at least, banishing her morose thoughts for a few ticks. As a rule, the establishment was snug and cosy, with – at this bell, in particular - that special mixing melange of scents that signalled a good bar in full flow. The wave of sound and heat and smell hit Alses full in the face as she stepped across the threshold and into the atmospheric twilight, her shoulders relaxing and some of the lines on her face smoothing out.

Here, now, and for just a little while, she was Sela, and all the cares and concerns and worries of Alses could melt away. With perhaps a little aid from the fruit of the vine.

There was a crowd at the bar, and whilst she waited – not wanting to chance herself against the burlier inebriated patrons – Alses idly surfed the tides of colour and light that her magic painted out of the collective radiance of the assembled souls.

She had expected little more than the usual comforting susurrus that forever sang in the back of her mind, just swollen with djed and moved to the forefront of her mind, rather than a half-heard symphony that was comforting for its mere presence rather than any especial insight.

What she got, in the event – more pressing than the stink of arrogance and smug self-satisfaction that was surprisingly common in the Club – was the feel of an aura both unwelcoming and familiar, and one that moreover might be, if not at the heart of recent goings-on, then at least within a fairly critical organ.

Alses plunked her drink down with fairly impressive finality – if she said so herself – and threw herself into a chair with such force that it nearly threw her out again. “Is it you?” she asked Brandon peremptorily, though her voice was low and would not carry far. “Stirring things up?” A meaningful - if slight - tilt of the head towards the raucous table of petty thieves.

[Bee]

OOCI am SO sorry this has taken me so long, I caught a bit of the writers block but I’m forcing through it because I don’t want to let you guys down. The race is on!
Edit: This will be the posting order, myself, Bran, Kelski, and then Asles.

The bar was almost full. Most people on these high peaks found their solace in taverns, the drink and shared body heat a solid respite from the cold they endured during Winter. Still, Katt and his friends were the loudest in the bar and now they had broken out some cards. Over at the bar Rynas was filling people’s drinks, chatting with his patrons in his usual veiled manner. The table was still talking about women, every now and again it would erupt with either laughter or scorn, they were betting tonight and the pot was heavy with coin.

“Ya know”, said one of them, a man named William, “Women are truly, truly fickle creatures. It’s amazing we men even can stand them.” He placed a card. “Half of them half of the time want clubbed over the head and dragged to bed, the other half the time you have to sing like a lark-- oi! You can’t play that, Francy. Anyway, ya hafta sing like a lark and lead her to the bed with flower petals.”
A chorus of agreeance followed.
Francy piped up, “What about the other half of the first half?”
“Pah! They don’t like anything!”
It was quiet for a tick before William added, “Even then you gotta guess what they want, clubbed over the head or flower petals? A lot of the time it’s neither, one time it was both. This is why I’ll never marry.”
“I know that’s one of the reasons I’ll never marry, that’s for sure,” Katts said with a sigh.
“OI! Barmaid, another pitcher for me lads!” Someone at the table yelled. A round of happy cries and mugs being clanged against one another rang from the table.

“Ahhh, finally the game is turning in my favor.” Katts says as he pulls a stack of kina toward him. The game was getting heavy, most of the conversation died down as the men got drunker and the stakes got higher.
“You give yourself away, Katts”, said William as he peered above his cards.
“Or so you think.”

Katts had the most money of them all, a good thirty kina, while the others had less than ten kina each. The atmosphere of the table was harsh, the gaiety of earlier halted as each man strived not to lose it all. They were all too drunk to put two and two together, but Katts was winning not by honest means. One more bold move and he would have to be satisfied, but this time he was taking more of a risk. Two of the five people went all in. Katts was sure he would beat them both if he just slid that last ace up his sleeve and into his hand but this time he might cause suspicion by taking his third win in a row. That being said, liquid courage made him not only brash but stupid and he played it. Winning a total of fifty kina all together. The table was outraged.

“Thief! Rigger!” Francy stood up quickly, his chair falling over in the commotion. He pointed at Katts with a damning finger, “He played us all for fools!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Katts said in an annoyed tone.

“I don’t know what he’s done, but he’s scammed us all!” William drew a knife from his jacket and pointed it at Katts.

“Hey hey hey HEY!” Ryna came running over and stepped in between William and Katts, slamming his hands down on the table. “Enough, I want you two out of my bar.”

“Fine by me,” Katts said as he finished gathering up the last of the kina that was on his side of the table. He dashed out the door.

“What the-- He took my winnings too! Bastard!” All five men donned their coats and took up their winnings, then filed out of Obsidian Club.

[Brandon Blackwing]

Brandon continued his observations, eavesdropping –which honestly didn’t cost anyone in the room any effort at all- on the would-be thieves, ignoring most of their conversation, as it was of little interest to the bat. They were playing cards now, a game of Stammer and Blush, a game Brandon had played too, once. Back then he’d been ignorant of the rules though, and his plan of cheating a cheater had not worked out as a result. In the end it didn’t really matter though, he and Sal had booked success either way, with a little help of Captain Riptide… ah, good times.

Someone caught his eye, a black and white shade in his peripheral vision. She was staring at him, and the bat looked back, locking gazes with her. The almost-familiar woman gave him a nod, an obvious sign of interest, and Brandon nodded back, inviting her to his table with the incline of his head. Perhaps customs dictated he should go to her, and not the other way around, but he couldn’t care less. Rules had never been all that interesting to him.

It wasn’t the woman he’d invited that joined him at his table though, but a Konti who sat herself down in a rather clumsy fashion. Faces were perhaps not his strong suit, but hers he couldn’t forget even if he wanted to. Her scent too –a bit hard to discern from the smell of sweat, alcohol, and the many bodies of people present- was familiar, and judging from both her dramatic entry and the half-empty glass of some obviously alcoholic beverage she’d brought along with her, she was drunk. The sight was fairly amusing, if he had to be honest, though her presence was not quite appreciated tonight. If ever. But especially now, when things were going his way for once. He sighed. Ah well.

“Drinking this much is quite unbecoming of a woman of your position, Lady Sela,” Brandon remarked mockingly –and failing to hide his amusement- a smirk on his face, and an eyebrow raised. “Though I suppose you’re in disguise, so you can do as you please, eh?” He was ignoring her question for now, only because of the tone of voice she’d used. Being in charge was one thing, but using an authoritative way of speech made him quite reluctant to play along. Whether it was a result of Kriegsfelt and Wind Reach’s endals, he didn’t know, but he was aware he was even less tolerant of it now than he’d been before.

“But no, it’s not me. Not yet, at least.” His eyes flicked back to the table, just in time to see Katts win the first game with a wide grin. The likely culprit pulled his winnings towards him, also slipping the card he’d hid in his sleeve back in the deck. No-one at his table seemed to have noticed, but they were drunk, and Brandon was not. Plus, the bat was vigilant tonight –as always- and his eyes were not likely to be fooled by sleight of hand as average as Katts’s. “I’d appreciate it if you’d not get in my way tonight, I’m busy with something important -” he tilted his head slightly towards the thief in very much the same way Alses had. “-for the good of the city of course.” He crossed his arms, fixing his stare back on the rowdy table, observing the second game as it started. Katts was dealing, slipping a card into his sleeve again, but it went unnoticed by many of the other patrons, including those playing. As was to be expected, the conman won again.

Perhaps it shouldn’t have been a surprise, but the third round started with Brandon’s mark cheating again, and the Kelvic shook his head ever so slightly. If he was right, things would escalate as soon as the third game came to an end, especially so if Katts decided to cheat again –even the stupid and the hopelessly drunk would suspect something was amiss if he won three times in a row. Brandon didn’t expect the conman to stop though, he looked stupid enough, and he was more drunk than Alses. Not the best combination. He decided it was time to leave the bar in favor of positioning himself outside, ready to stalk his prey. The Kelvic excused himself then, having said what he wanted to, and for all he cared, he was done talking to Alses for the time being. After grabbing his vest from the chair, he turned back to the Konti once more. “Also don’t get your drunk butt in trouble with those folks either. That’ll be problematic too.”

He left the Obsidian, placing himself in the mind of someone who’d been caught cheating, running away with the money he’d “won”. Possibly chased by angry players who’d been fooled long enough to lose their precious Kina. What would he do? He wouldn’t stay on the square, that’s for sure, too open, too much skyglass illuminating the area. Brandon would go for one of the alleys –even if it was predictable- hoping to lose his pursuers there. If Katts was a little familiar with the layout of the city, and he ought to be if he was the thief Brandon thought he was, he’d go for the nearest alley –even if he was drunk and stupid, he couldn’t be too stupid. The less time spent on the square, the better. The Kelvic strolled through it, on the lookout for a good place to hide for his mark to pass by. A vaulted doorway would do for now, there was enough shade that a hurried conman wouldn’t notice him –probably. Either way, he could do two things; open the door and drag Katts in when he was about to pass by, hiding him from the man’s pursuers if he had enough of a head start. Or, he could just trip him, allowing the cheated-on gamblers to catch up and reclaim their money. He’d have to make sure they didn’t rough up Katts too bad though; he still needed information out of him. But he would interfere, one way or the other.

Credit goes to Cylos Marn

[Kelski]

The Kelvic smiled as Brandon noticed her and then nodded to her to join him. An invitation! Kelski was finished with her wine so she left the empty glass and rose to her feet, weaving in between the tables to join the other kelvic. She skirted the gamblers whom she'd not been paying attention too. Gambling hadn't interested her, not one bit, and neither had the men at the table. They were a rough sort, only interested in criticism and negativity. Had any of them been like Sal, she would have been more curious. She missed the man since he'd left Lhavit, boarding a ship to parts unknown. And she wished him well.

Nearing the table with Brandon, Kelski paused when a Konti grabbed the chair she'd had her eye on and pulled it out to sit down. What? Kelski didn't notice where the Konti had come from. Had she been behind Kelski and actually the woman he'd been inviting over and not her?

The Sea Eagle felt her cheeks blaze at her mistake. It hadn't been her first one tonight nor in the city of Lhavit. Awkwardness filled her and she glanced around hoping the man and woman - who had started to converse by now - hadn't seen her mistake. She turned abruptly then, and wove her way out of the club with her head down. Inside, she was furious with herself for even trying to come here. It had really been awful sitting alone and had been even worse making the mistake that the other Kelvic had invited her to join him.

Shaking her head, Kelski paused just outside the club, taking a moment to blend into the shadows there and greet them in Makath. "I don't know why I try..." She said, angry and ashamed, the words whispered all but obscure like the shadows themselves. "I don't belong in places like this." She added, shaking her head and then pulling her long black cloak over her head. "Do you want to come with me to the shop tonight?" She asked in the same language.

The shadows, of course, answered.

"What are you doing tonight?" One asked while another brushed her cheek as if to give her comfort. Kelski offered a half smile, far more at ease in their company than in the company of humans. A second one hummed lightly, pleased that his Night Stalker was back among them and not among the people in the club.

"Work. I need to enamel some metal and Master Li wants five feet of gold chain tomorrow. I thought I'd get a jump on it. Our inventory is low." She answered in Makath, all but invisible now that the shadows were crowding around her on the empty entrance. Some touched her and she in turn buried her hands into them. If one could keep shadows as pets, Kelski was well on her way to crazy cat lady status with them. They followed her around and often kept her company as much as she did for them. "I'm not going to fly home. It's too late tonight. The cot in the shop is good enough for now." She added, reaching out to bury her fingers in a smaller shadow that had a higher lighter more flighty voice. Her touch was like a scratch, and its cool darkness softer than any fur she'd ever admired. It laughed at her caress.

Then it started to speak, but Kelski didn't get to hear what it said. Instead, one man in a big hurry rushed out and collided with her unexpectedly. Both of them went down in a tangle. It was not unexpected for Kelski often forgot that when she was surrounded by her friends, she was hard to initially see especially if someone wasn't paying attention to where they were going. The man exiting the building was obviously more focused on what was behind him than what was in front of him. And before they could sort themselves out, four more men were standing there, still complaining about being fleeced.

Kelski knew Okomos and Sheep got fleeced but she had no idea what fleecing a man meant. Was his head shaved? She crammed her neck to see even as untangled herself from him and tried to climb to her feet.

"I'm sorry." She said in common. "But you should watch where you are going." She added, her human facade timid but her Sea Eagle heart bold.

[Alses]

OOCSorry it’s a bit quick; swamped with projects at the moment.

“Ha!” The word, rather than a genuine laugh. “I’m not drunk, ‘Mister Incognito’.” The inverted commas dropped neatly around the riposte, her words just as sardonic as Brandon’s own original attack. “Half a glass of this stuff wouldn’t get a bat drunk, let alone me.” Mentioning previous drinks and previous experimentation would be counter-productive, Alses felt.

He did make her laugh despite herself, and genuinely this time, as he remarked on her disguise. “Disguise?” The rich chuckle died away, leaving only the faintest trace of a smile on pale lips. “I am the same person I’ve always been, but…I suppose being without the armour is a form of disguise. The Night Lord and Day Lady are the experts on that, though. Far more practiced at it than I.”

Alses hadn’t really expected Brandon to answer her in any civilised fashion; she’d gone in bluntly to catch him off-guard, to perhaps surprise a confession of some sort out of him. Thus his – by the standards of their previous interactions – fairly civil and candid reply gave her pause, even as the flickering pearl glimmer of his aura whispered its veracity to her hungry senses. “Well, it could be worse then, I suppose. Your targets were always a little more high-profile. So I hear, anyway.”

Brandon’s antics – and his echo of her own demand, so many seasons ago – made her chuckle, low and wicked. “Someone muscling in on your territory, hmm?” she asked, one near-invisible eyebrow quirked upwards. “How delicious.” She made no comment on his request, fully planning – just as he had with her directive never to return to Lhavit – to ignore it.

“He’s not very good, is he?” she asked critically. “I’m not a larcenor? Larcenist? But you wouldn’t find me winning all the time. People don’t seem to like it.” They were playing with pocket money, as far as Alses was concerned, but nonetheless her auristics was telling her – even if she’d been somehow unable to observe proceedings – that things were turning both ugly and deadly serious.

The flashpoint, when it happened, came quickly; drink-fuelled tempers boiled over as Katts won a third round, sweeping up a pile of glittering kina with a smug grin that did little to endear him to his companions.

Knives glittered, the physical counterpoint to the mental maelstrom raging, all unheeded, around them all. Alses wasn’t the only one to have noticed the commotion, now; the Club had imperceptibly shifted to revolve, in one fashion or another, around the erstwhile gaming table. Inevitably, it drew the attention of the Club’s manager, and she bustled over, a ferocious mixture of indignation and authority that sent them packing in short order.

The situation teetered on the brink for a moment, and then settled; the five men strode out quickly and with purpose, still glittering with burning anger and the promise of retribution uppermost in their minds.

The whole Club exhaled, or so it seemed, a long breath that no-one had been aware of holding suddenly released, and Alses settled back into her chair and reached for her drink, pleased that the situation, such as it had been, was resolved and the thieves were now the province of the Shinya patrolling the night-time streets.

Brandon, evidently, had other ideas, rising and exiting to follow the men – but not before issuing his own instructions, which as a point of pride and honour, Alses ignored: “Again, I’m not drunk.”

Tipsy, at the very most.

“Hey ho,” she announced quietly, mostly to herself, resolving in her head to observe proceedings. There was always the entertaining possibility that she would get to see Brandon Blackwing turned into raspberry jelly, quite aside from any possible civic duty in keeping a set of thieves under surveillance.

She left a decent interval before exiting, the cool night air hitting her like a hammer-blow and making her shiver convulsively, goosebumps marching in rippling waves across her flesh. The hapless Katts, it seemed, had not got far; he was tangled with someone else on the glittering flagstones of the square, a messy, struggling tumble of limbs.

Alses’ instinct, honed through years of living in the shining city, was to look for a Shinyaman on patrol and remand the culprit to their tender mercies – but something held her back. A little voice whispered in the back of her mind, prompting her instead to take a wide arc across the glimmering skyglass expanse, as though she were heading for one of the many plaza exits, an arc that would allow her to keep watch over unfolding events and observe exactly what Brandon decided to do.

The question, now, was whether to intervene, to interpose herself into the developing situation, or to watch, and wait, and assess.

[/center]

[Bee]

Header

They would never catch him. He was Katts! The night. The shadows. A man of distinguished ability. He laughed to himself as he dashed out the door; pockets heavy with kina clacking together, the hollow sounds that rocks so do. Looking behind him the men were closely following, though he was sure-- no positive he could out run them and get to his safe house all within the hour. Perhaps he could have, but not today. He was drunk and not looking where he was going. Seemingly out of nowhere he collided with-- is that a woman? They struggled for a moment, kina frothed from his pockets littering the ground. Katts finally pushed her off of him.
“Petcher!”
He climbed to his feet and pushed her away, the only rebuttal to her simple politeness, only to be greeted by the same men he had hoodwinked just moments ago. Offering only a leery smile, he turned and ran through the plaza. Giving everyone, even the woman he collided with, the finger as he went. One of them, William, made a grab but he was too quick. The man was gone. Four of the men ran down after him while one stayed behind to pick up the spilled kina. There must have been enough to abate his rage because he didn’t pursue the group, instead he went home with his coin.

Katt’s running was quick, he had always been quick. But the alcohol was taking a toll on his perception. Many times he tripped over his own feet, narrowly missing the ground as he collected his balance at the last minute, all the while clinging to his pockets so as not to drop anymore. It was a mad dash and he wasn’t sure what direction he was truly going. Finally, though truly only a small amount of time, he spotted it, an alley. Yes! It was all coming into plan! He would flee down the alley and then zig-zag around the peak to lose them! At last!

Unbeknownst to Katts two different people were just waiting for the opportunity to catch them for themselves. Onlookers who sensed the more insidious side to the thief as conman and a wretch, he who would steal from his own people. One of them was lurking in the shadows, waiting for the opportunity and surely he would have it as Katts was running down the alley casting glances behind his shoulder once again. Behind him the pat-pat of boots wasn’t that far off, just far enough that he might be able to lose them with only one more sidestep into a neighboring alley.

[Brandon Blackwing]

OOCI’m experimenting a bit with the time-space continuum of my posts

“Not drunk, eh?” He raised an eyebrow, not quite convinced by her claim. Alses wasn’t quite stupid enough to call him Incognito when sober. Besides, her breath reeked of alcohol; strongly enough that he could smell it even in this tavern, which smelled of alcohol by default. “Well then, if you say so, Alses.” An eye for an eye. Perhaps she’d refrain from letting everyone within earshot know of him being Incognito if she could be exposed as Alses in return.

Despite being drunk, the ex-councilor radiant’s wit had not left her, nor had her observational capabilities. “Perhaps he once was. But with his mind addled by alcohol-” he gave the Konti a knowing stare “-he’s taking risks no-one would have deemed safe enough.” Brandon didn’t say a thing about the way the man was cheating though, as he didn’t have much to criticize him on. Sure, he wasn’t as good as, say, Brandon himself, but truly it was more than adequate to fool most people. That, and Brandon did not feel the need to reveal the way Katts was cheating to Alses, or anyone for that matter. The tricks of their trade were not meant for non-thieves.

***

In the shadow of the vaulted doorway, Brandon was hiding, waiting, and pondering whether he’d made the right call or not. Sure, if he was about to intercept himself, that plan was sound, and he’d succeed one hundred percent of the time. However, this wasn’t him. Sure, Katts could have been smart, but now he was drunk. Maybe he hadn’t thought of using the alleys at all. Maybe he’d just chosen to run straight through the square. This was taking longer than it should. Perhaps Katts hadn’t been able to escape his ‘friends’.

However, running footsteps approached, first Brandon heard on pair heading his way with admirable speed, though the rhythm was off. Every so often he seemed to skip a step, then later add a couple in quick succession. A drunk person trying to run? Perhaps. Katts? Likely, the sound of many Kina clattering about in his pockets did point towards him too. In pursuit, there were many feet stomping the ground, and voices yelling in futile attempts to get the one chased to stop. Threats of what they’d do to him once they caught him usually had the opposite effect though. Not that the pursuers cared about such trivial matters.

By discerning between the voices, as well as trying to –but failing- count the different rhythms of the strides of the cheated on gamblers, Brandon counted four people, which was curious, as the bat had been quite sure there had been five of them at the Obsidian Club. Though it was possible he’d been mistaken; after all, he’d been more focused on Katts than the rest of them. In the end though, that didn’t really make that much of a difference, Brandon wasn’t planning on fighting them, even though he was quite sure he could handle four drunkards. But fighting would be a waste of time, and he wasn’t planning on being anything but efficient tonight. Sometimes one had to leave the games and the fun behind, and do just what had to be done.

The bat readied himself then, his ears informing him of Katts’ relative position, knowing he’d pass by in just a couple ticks. When the man was about to dash past, Brandon jumped out of his hiding spot, and leapt at the running thief, arms reaching for the man’s waist and legs to tackle him. If he succeeded in toppling Katts or not, Brandon would catch himself with his arms before making contact with the ground, using them to bounce back to his feet to pursue Katts if he hadn’t been able to take him down with him. Should he have managed though, the bat would quickly be on top of the other thief, one hand hoping to grab his leg so he could pin it in place, the other preparing to manipulate the pressure points on the knee in rapid succession with his index and middle fingers. That way he could fully numb Katts’ knee, sever his control over it, and thus prevent him from escaping. When and if the other gamblers arrived, Brandon would tell them to get the Kina they’d lost back, but to leave Katts unharmed, as he had further need of the thief himself.

Credit goes to Cylos Marn