Night Meeting with Grimjaw - RPLOG
Participants
Date
15/6/478
Log
The night time air is cool and humid, with the promise of rain to come. On an unremarkable corner of Mange Square a zebra in a high collared coat waits, his hands shoved deep in his pockets.
Serana flicks his tail some, used to these sorts of rendezvous as he meanders his way through the crowd, spotting Stripes a bit earlier then he imagines the zebra might. [Evening.] she hums. Female only in the conversation directed towards the zebra.
A black furred jackal makes her way towards the corner. A bit on the shorter side, but standing tall and proud all the same, dressed in a black suit with a striking red cravat. "Good evening," she says, dipping into a little bow, but saying nothing else. She didn't need to speak of the reason she was here.
Natska perks her ears and lifts her head a little as something catches her attention. The jaguar is shrouded in a dark, hooded cloak, and the shadows seem especially thick where she walks. [... evening.] She pauses, giving the other members of the little group a curious look.
The Zebra does not speak, he only waves a hand at the group and leads the way down a series of winding alleys. After a short walk, he stops and points.
In another shabby park, much like the one where the group met is a gathering of cloak shrouded beings, most looking worried and agitated and all gathered around a central, smaller being. "I don't like this boss," a large form says loudly to the central figure, "This place is too open!"
The Zebra produces three cards from within his coat and passes them around:
"This is Harry "Hatchet" Grimjowl, a scion of the Longtail clan trying to sieze control of the local gangs. He has acquired seven very costly Soul Gems and plans to trade them off to several gang leaders to buy their loyalty. Retrieve the gems and deal with Grimjowl."
Serana hums softly. It was going to be another one of -those- missions. He didn't speak, merely flicking his tail and moving off to the right. Staying clear of the clearing and skirting around it, she debated actually getting into this one. Katrina might not be too happy, but then again, less problems with people getting themselves out in the open, And those retrieved soulgems might be more useful out of his hands. She did remain within sight of the duo, however, contemplating what she should do.
Cassidy eyes the card for a moment before tucking it into her coat, taking a moment to adjust her black gloves afterwards. "Fair." She looks towards the group in the park, tall ears flicking. "Is that he? No hunt, tonight?"
Natska accepts the card from the zebra, then glances out of the corner of her eye towards the group across the way. Then her attention moves back down to the card in her hands, and she hrms quietly.
The zebra shrugs at Cassidy's question and waggles his hand in a 'maybe-yes-maybe-no' gesture. Then he turns and walks back down the alleyway, turns a corner and is gone. Looks like it is up to the group to do what needs doing.
Aside from the grumbling of henchmen, the little park remains quiet. For now.
Serana frowns the shark flicking his tail more as he lurks, listening to the group. He would attempt to gather more information before wandering in guns blazing, but... More often then not Stripes was very straightforward. Still... He would be wary, a hand resting on a pistol, just in case.
Cassidy tilts her head to the side as the zebra takes off. She glances towards the hooded jaguar and shrugs, looking towards the group again. "Well then. What is our plan? I would be happy to walk up and simply ask, if we have nothing better in mind to find out if these are our marks."
Natska makes another small, noncommittal noise. "Might work. I'd be willing to be patient and watch for a moment." She pulls her shadows a little closer around herself, eyeing the other group and trying to catch sight of "boss".
The gathered beings in the shabby park stir as another group emerges from the back streets. These wear some sort of costume, clown motley and domino masks. With the addition of this gang, the total number of beings in the park grows to ten. Five on each side.
"Here we are, Grimjowl," one of the clowns says, "You got what we came here for?"
The smaller figure among the cloaked beings nods once and one of the larger beings steps forward with an ornate box.
Serana's eyes raise slightly, Shifting further. That box is most likely the souls. he removes the pistol, keeping it hidden as he pressed himself sideways a bit, keeping the drawn weapon at his side. This was secondary to the storm he was calling. Not a massive one, but a bit of rain and thunder to cover the sound of movement and perhaps lower their visibility a bit.
"Guess we have our confirmation," the jackal says, drawing the sidesword from her hip. "How shall we proceed?" She asks, drawing up a bit of wind around herself to keep the rain off. Can't go having her suit get soaked.
Natska frowns watching, then starts circling the scene to try and get between where the clown posse cane from and their current position. "I'm not sure," she murmurs quietly just before. "But if we want the box we can't let them leave with it."
There is a spear of lightning and a crack of thunder as the drooping heavens finally open up and pour down rain in sheets. With that last little nudge from Serana, of course. Beings of both groups look to the sky, obviously unhappy, even if their faces are not visible. One of the Harlequin's stalks up to the grunt holding the box, his motley already drenched. "Let's see it," he growls.
The being opens the ornate box, revealing its contents to the clown. He seems pleased by whatever he saw and nods, allowing the large henchmen to close and secure the box. "Then we have ourselves a deal, Grimjowl," he says, holding out a hand to the smaller figure, "Pleasure doing business with the REAL Longtails."
Serana hums, the rain and the thunder sufficiently loud enough to cover the sound of her pistols, and the rain would easily disperse the smoke from the shot. Still... Shifting a bit to get a good line on the harlequins, she leveled the pistol aiming for the mass opposite the mass in front of her. A second was all it would take for the thunder to go off and her to fire the shot into the group opposite the longtails. Perhaps some confusion would be in order.
Cassidy flexes her fingers, waiting. Once the chaos and brawl started, she would be ready. Or ready to take out anyone that tried to make a go with the box. And maybe the storm would play to her benefit...
Although she didn't know it, Natska had been thinking much along the same lines as the shark. However, her chosen tool for sowing chaos and confusion was quite different - she takes a moment to gather her will and run through some of the more abstract dark math equations she has at the ready, reaching out with tendrils of phantom terrors.
The lead Harlequin reaches for the box, then reels back as a pistol ball slams into his shoulder! "Ambush!" someone shouts, and the whole crowd bursts into activity. Two large cloaked figures grab hold on the smaller figure of Grimjowl, dragging him away from the scene, one still holding the box of soul gems under his shoulder. The others are all looking for the source of the shot while the harlequin leader struggles to regain his feet, blood running from his wound and staining his clown motley a savage red. Then the screaming starts. One of the harlequins, closest to where Natska has ensconced herself behind the group falls, clawing at himself and tearing off his mask and hood to reveal a very frightened looking ferret. Soon, two other Harlequins are occupied by whatever terrors haunt their hallucenations.
Serana smirks, mission accomplished. Silently following after the trio most likely with Cassidy right on his tail. He would get close enough to prepare a shot or two Mostly to eliminate the escort. However, if the jackal had any other ideas, she'd wait until the maximum necessary to stop the trio.
Cassidy furrows her brow as the commotion starts, turning her attention towards the fleeing ones, especially the one with the box. The jackal starts off at a walking pace to intercept the group, but her attention is on her magic. A bolt of lightning striking down from the stormy sky to hit the one with the box, as if an act of nature.
Natska moves after the jackal, keeping pace with the other woman and holding her cloak close against the rain. While her partner handles the one with the box, she reaches out with one more spell, attempting to tangle the group dragging their boss away and make one of them stumble.
The big being with the box cries out in agony and goes down amidst the smell of ozone and scorched hair, leaving a scorched ape of some kind lying on the cobbles with the box lying by his side. The other two beings do not even slow, continuing to flee the scene. Natska's magic does its job though, and the smaller being falls with a cry as a cobble skitters out from under his foot! "Run, Boss!" comes the muffled shout as he tries to stagger back to his feet, his ankle obviously injured. He draws a pair of flashing knives from his belt and turns to face the advancing duo.
Meanwhile, the two functioning harlequins have managed to manhandle their own leader off to a side alley and out of sight while their frightened fellows seem to finally be shaking off their illusory terrors. The other hoods have finally detected Serana, but it is Natska and Cassidy that draw their ire. "Stop them!" shouts one, flinging himself bodily at the jackal.
A gust of wind and the jackal is blown daintily back and out of reach of the lunging being, but she doesn't stop there. "You should have gone the other direction," she warns as she tries to turn the poor being into a walking pyre.
Serana flicks her tail some, easily skirting the battle as the attention wasn't on her. The dead ape would get her attention, as well as the box at his side. Taking what advantages she may have, the shark would swoop to the box while the jackal and her partner would proceed to grab more attention by killing things. Should someone rise up to challenge her, however, she would quickly silence them with a pistol shot, meaning to see if they should continue chasing after the longtail, as she believes they might have to.
Natska flicks a crystal rod into her hand from out of a pocket in her cloak, and a lash of fire spills out, hissing and spitting in the rain. "Out of the way," she snarls at the gangers. [Get the target!!] she adds to Serena.
The attacking thug roars in agony as he goes up in flames, his companion flinging himself aside to avoid the conflagaration. Meanwhile, the rest of the harlequins have dragged themselves away, deciding that discretion is the better part of valor and that they really did not need those gems as badly as they had thought.
Serana's attempt to take the box are met with a searing pain as her forearm is slashed by a thrown dagger. "Hands off, pal!" snarls the small being that had been playing 'Boss' earlier. He limps closer, pulling another knife and looking around. He seems to be a male ocelot under that hood. He licks his lips nervously as he faces off with the three warriors, holding up his knives defensively as he limps along, keeping his back to a wall. Away down the street, the final shrouded figure has managed to reach a corner and duck out of sight.
Serana winces lightly, looking to the wound with a slight exhasperation "That'll take a bit to heal." he offers, testing the movement of the arm before checking the box again, but not after firing at the small ocelot that threw the knife in an offhanded manner. He would have proved annoying if the shark didn't prevent him from stricking back. Second though, he'd fire again, juuuust to be sure.
Cassidy makes her way to the others after the being goes up in flames, turning her attention towards the 'boss.' "You are... Grimjowl, was it?" The jackal tilts her head. "Surrender the box and we'll make this quick." The jackal jerks a thumb towards the fire. "Burning is a -really- awful way to go. Lightning isn't much better."
Natska had a feeling, and she knew she had to act on it, since... well. The cloaked feline's fiery whip winks out, and she breaks into a sprint, chasing after the hood that ran away.
"Ha!" spits the ocelot, "Me? Grimjowl? You wish!" The injured cat limps closer, his eyes flickering between his three opponents, the box on the ground and his fallen allies. "You aren't lettin' us go anyway, why should I go making things easy for you?" His head snaps around as Natska breaks into a sprint. "Jimmy!" he shouts and the remaining thug produces a pistol of his own, taking a shot at Natska while the ocelot throws his two knives at Cassidy!
The second thug, Jimmy, misses with his shot, the ball pinging loudly off the stonework of the alley. As Natska reaches the end where the fleeing gangster disappeared she is just in time to see a fluttering cape disappear around another corner.
The Ocelot sneers at Serana as her first shot goes wide, but snarls and falls to his knees when the second manages to slam into his hip. He spits and draws another knife, looking between his assailants. "Go help the boss, Jimmy!" he shouts.
Serana hums bleeding arm aside he goes for the box again, grinding his teeth slightly as the pain registers with his movement. He'd have to get that taken care of. Either way, he opens the box, checking the contents over before closing it. The pistol shot probably leaving the ocelot disoriented and giving him an unstable base to throw from. However should the ox not contain what thay're after, however, she'd kick it back towards the cat and the jackal for them to look it over some, as Natska chases down the straggler.
"You deal with this one," the jackal says, most likely to Serana as dances back and into the path of 'Jimmy.' "You should be careful who you shoot at. Do you fly?" She kicks up a gust of wind trying to launch the thug high into the air. She didn't care to catch him or keep him up there, though. If she could get him up, that's all she needed to do. Gravity would handle the rest, if he could, indeed, fly.
Natska turns her focus back to her chase, putting the wind against her back and willing it to help her run as she does her best to catch up to the fleeing long tail.
Jimmy is no lightweight, but Cassidy's blast of air is enough to send the thug flying and landing with a rather unpleasant CRACK! So much for that fight.
Serana finds that the box contains seven, glittering soul gems of various color. Looks like they had the goods.
Upon turning the corner, Natska finds an empty street with several routes of egress. It looks like her quarry has eluded her. This time.
Serana hums softly "Well, this is what we came for." he hums, looking to the ocelot with a hum. "Now to get rid of you..." he sits on the box, flicking his tail a bit debating how to finish him off, before deciding to just freeze the water above him into a spike, let gravity work it's wonders.
Cassidy grimaces at the sound of impact, making a face. At least it was quick. She glances over towards Serana and the ocelot, but does not interfere, instead looking off in the direction Natska had gone and starting in that direction.
Giving up on the chase, Natska takes a moment to catch her breath and draw the shadows of the streets up close around herself once more. Then she turns back the way she came, retracing her steps towards the scene of the scuffle.
The poor ocelot does not stand a change as the magically created shard of ice crashes down on him, immobilized as he is by his injury. The corpses of the hooded thugs lying about the alley and shabby park testament to the brutal skill of the group. All that is left now is to deliver the package.
Serana flicks his tail, humming softly and admiring the pattern created by the shard for a few seconds before falling onto his rear, a bit lightheaded. He kept the box under him, however, moving over to sit on it as he waited for the duo to return. Endeavoring to hold his arm enough to prevent any more loss of blood.
Cassidy nods at Natska's return, making her way back towards Serana. "Got the box? Let's get that back where it needs to go, then, and be done with this before anyone comes to check out all the noise."
Natska makes a little grunt of agreement. She remains otherwise quiet, surveying the other two's work, then looks back to Serena. "Need me to carry that?" she offers.
Serana nods lightly "It would be appreciated." the young shark gives standing with some difficulty and pushing the box over with his foot. Visibily he was having a bit of issue, but not anything he wouldn't be able to manage for now.
Cassidy nods and turns, glancing around. "Did we even get a meeting point? I don't recall him mentioning one. So we just go back to the tavern? Maybe he'll be there?"
Natska takes a moment to adjust something under her cloak, then nods back at the shark and picks up the large box. "Was it on the cards he gave us? My hands are full or I would check. Otherwise, back to the guild it is, I imagine."
Serana hums "I would imagine it's back to the guild." He fails to mention that normally it's back to wherver they met last, the less they know the better "We'd have to make it quick though, This arm of mine doesn't seem to want to stop bleeding."
The group needn't have worried. As they turn the next corner, Stripes, the zebra is there waiting. The equine is frowning at a thin knife he is busy cleaning, but brightens up a little when he sees the box. He steps forward, three small, but weighty bags in his hand for a job finished.
Serana nods softly, giving the Zebra a soft nod before taking her bag and making her way off to find some healing. Everything else will come later, but most of this was going to repair her arm enough. Miiight need to relax for a day or two so she could function effectively again.
Cassidy stands around long enough for the box to be handed over and payment to be received before nodding. "Good work, then. I'm going to... Head off, I suppose! Have a good night, you lot," she says before turning to go.
Natska inclines her head and accepts her bag of lucre, giving Stripes a slight smile. Then she tucks it away and makes her way off down the street as well, fading into the night.
