Ride the Wave, In for a Penny, in for a Pound.

[~beflexor~]

(OOC: there we go, give you two RPs to choose from (or join both! XD))

The Rare Barrel was a rather large tavern in a bustling city filled with mostly humans. It stank of booze, sweat, and vomit, yet most of the patrons didn’t seem to notice. It was more homely than run-down considering it was one of the cheapest places you could get a room for the night without waking up to find all your possessions missing and the staff conveniently wearing a ring with your crest on it.

These days the town had found itself in the middle of a massive crime-wave: noble manors were broken into on a daily base, people walked the streets in plain clothing, for fear their normally worn baubles would be snatched away from them. A curfew had even been issued with little effect.

A barfight had just broken out in The Rare Barrel, something about which of their bawds were prettier, but everyone froze when the doors slammed open and a heavily cloaked figure strode in and slapped a scroll on the bar. A shock of reddish brown hair escaped from behind the hood and the figure tucked it back with a flawless, feminine hand before unrolling the scroll, setting a mug on one end and a stale breadroll on the other to keep it from rolling again.

“Everywhere” she began “everywhere we have found nothing but simple things, objects to hawk at the nearest fence, nothing of true value. I have a plan though, but I’m going to need help, it will pay off for each and every one of you who participates. I propose we ride the wave, the crime wave, and attack the most valued building of this city.”

She slammed down an arrow on the map, right where the City Museum was, and threw back her hood to reveal an elf of undeterminable origin. She had cream skin, more wavy, reddish brown hair, studded with the occasinal teal bead, and a mischevious gleam in her green eyes.

Afree Redwood crossed her arms. “So who’s with me?”

[~Arx Fatalis~]

"This is no place for a kid! Get outta here, ya scamp!"

A couple of people yelled at him as he passed, but Al'aundro ignored them. They were alcoholics, they didn't matter to society anymore, so why should he listen to them? They would just keep being mean anyways. He was more occupied with the lady that just walked through the door. She was an elf, like him! That meant she was probably nice.

He walked over to her and gently tugged on her shirt. She didn't feel it though, cause she didn't turn around. Well, or she was ignoring him, he didn't know. Grabbing a stool he talked softly into her ear.

"...I'll go." He then plopped down on the stool and waited for a response.

[~beflexor~]

Although the silence had lasted only a few minutes, to Afree, it felt like two whole weeks.

"Uh...heh heh" she laughed nervously and pulled the hood of her cloak back over her head. Maybe being so blatant and public had been a bad idea.

Just as she thought about leaving she heard a voice.

"Whazzat?" she turned to see a...kid?

Yes! A kid! Kid's were great thief recruits! They were small enough to fit into spaces most people wouldn't and, more importatly, they had that ability to be 'visably invisable', meaning most people tended to brush them off as unimportant.

"Good, good" Afree said, wringing her hands "all we need is a few more people. Here" she flicked a card at Al'aundro "my card."

It read:

Travis Clark, Bounty Hunter

"Oh crap!" Afree snached it back "that's not mine!" she then nonchalantly tossed it into the fireplace and patted herself down before remembering she didn't even have business cards.

"Well, introductions can wait until we hit the hideout and I discuss the plans, but where are my manners? I'm Afree" she extended her hand.

[~Arx Fatalis~]

"Well, introductions can wait until we hit the hideout and I discuss the plans, but where are my manners? I'm Afree," the woman said as she shoved her hand out in front of him.

Al'aundro had read once that something called hand-shaking was some sort of human greeting. So he reached out timidly and grabbed her hand and shook it. Human stuff was so weird. "I'm Al'aundro, but you can call me Al if you want," he said softly in her ear again. He didn't like talking loud.

Wait... had she said hideout?!

Heroes had hideouts! If this nice lady Afree had a hideout, then...

She was a HERO!!

He wanted to be a hero reeeeaaally badly. They were so cool, and they could do stuff with weapons and be like whooosh whooosh ting ting ping BLAM and stuff would be dead. That was probably the most awesomecoolsuper thing about them. Well, that and they didn't have to take baths. They could walk around and smell like the inside of a werewolf's bowels and no one cared. That was awesome.

"I'm ready to go whenever you are, Afree," he whispered in her ear.

[~beflexor~]

Afree stared at Al'aundro for a moment after the hand-shake. Jeez, had he learned that greeting from a human? Human stuff was weird.

"Okay peoples" Afree said, taking out another piece of paper "I'm going to leave this here to anyone still interested. You'll know where to go when you read it" she winked.

"Now then Al" she said, putting her hand on his back and leading him out the door "let me tell you a little about the phrase 'it was like that when I got here'..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The hideout wasn't too impressive, a two-story building with two bedrooms upstairs and a single, big room downstairs. Afree had converted one bedroom into a kind of bunker, the other room she had made entirely as her own. It was a simple enough room with a bed, a dresser with clothes, and a nightstand with a few papers on it. A normal room.

At least it appeared as such.

The downstairs room had a large table that took up a forth of it, several men sat at one end playing cards. One of them seemed to be winning, and it showed, his missing teeth also showed that the other two were sore losers.

There was a wall with a number of locks on it, at first they seemed like an odd decorative set of items but enough time showed that they were used for lockpicking practice.

A fireplace sat in one corner with a large pot of soup warming above it. Occasinally an old, dark-clad woman would shuffle up to it and stirr it before shuffling back off to the table to fletch some arrows.

Afree entered with Al'aundro and plopped on a pile of old blankets and clothes that was used as seating.

"We call this place Weave's Shadow, since it once belonged to the master thief Weave. After we finish dinner I'm going to tell you exactly what we're going to do Al. Feel free to explore, but beware, Weave could be hiding anywhere...waiting to pounce on you and take back his home..." she cackled menacingly.

[~Pieboy~]

The pink fog was increasing in thickness. That was troubling. He seemed to have lost control of the illusion. Usually the elephants showed up before the haze got really thick, but they were nowhere to be found.

Clearly he'd just have to look for them. He stood up from his place at the corner table, tossed too many coins at the Rare Barrel bartender, and wobbled out, collapsing in the street as soon as he reached it.

He groggily pulled himself to his feet and waved away some of the haze. There they were. Luminous footprints on the ground. Elephant footprints, to be exact. So they'd finally gotten fed up with him.He guessed he couldn't really blame the pachyderms, but it was annoying. It was his spell, after all. They didn't have any kind of right to do this. Besides, they were just hallucinations.

He followed them. They passed the other bars, and then he began to worry. What if they were the hippos? It was easy to mistake hippopotamus prints for elephant ones. If he wandered into the hippos again, he didn't know what to do. The last time he had, he ended up hanging from a ceiling in a tavern basement with a shrimp in each ear and the taste of salmon in his mouth. It hadn't been a good night, needless to say.

Nonetheless, he kept following them until they reached a large two-story house. The glow was fading. He had to recapture them fast, or else he'd have to re-write the spell. Not that anybody ever bought it anyway. He just happened to like it a lot.

So he knocked on the door of the house, and then collapsed on the front doorstep. Hopefully it was the right kind of large water animal on the other side.

[+transcon+]

He somehow beat people there to the home of Weave, the Master Thief; not to be confused with Cleave, the Master Chief. He was the town's captain of the guard. No. Weave was a man he had heard much about and had respected. He wasn't sure if this was truly his home as thieves with reputations as far and wide as Weave's never had such a luxurious home out in the open. Unless, of course, it was he who was the head of the Thieve's Guild.

Or was it Praxxon?

The intruder didn't really care, as both Praxxon and Weave were respectable folk. One robbed from the rich and gave to the poor much like in that other place where this guy did a similar thing. The other robbed from the rich and stole from the poor. It was really an economic boon to society, despite how the guards felt when their pockets were empty.

Of course, that led mouths to be empty. That was just bad. Then, if people were starving, that would mean that there'd be no one to play with.

Speaking of playing, he heard two others enter. One of them was probably the one who left the note. Who knew who the other person was.

The man was just putting on his ornate black and royal violet robes. He ran a towel through his crimson hair, taking care around the ears. Fully dry, the man proceeded to pad down stairs barefoot. Finally spying the two other intruders, he leaned against the wall and smiled at the two very sweetly.

"If you're looking for Weave," he spoke with a thick Japanese accent, "I'm afraid he slipped out for the moment. I borrowed the bath, if no one minds. I just figured that since no one was around that-!" and then he bit his bottom lip with a fang as his eyes settled on the feminine elven figure. He knew that face. He knew that smell.

Sourdough.

His heart leaped into his throat momentarily as he remembered feeding this woman sushi and treating her in a way that no one apparently dared. She was brilliant, nimble, and beautiful... when she wanted to be.

"My my," he smirked, the firelight from the fireplace dancing in his red-slitted eyes. His two lengthy tails swept about him in an attempt to hold his heart in its place. "This is such a pleasant surprise. If it isn't Afree Redwood!"

'Kyuubimaru no Hakari'. The Romanized name the Kitsune call him. The Nine Tails of Balance. A force of nature, a demon of neutrality, embodied in mortal form. He greeted Afree and the other young stranger with a bow of the head out of politeness.

"Would you please introduce me to your new friend?" His lips turned to a friendly smile. Hakari knew this adventure would be exciting. He simply loved to watch. Maybe even participate if the circumstances deemed it necessary. And, with Afree evidentially spearheading this campaign, it was bound to get chaotic... and fun!

[~RejjeN~]

As the cloaked figure entered the bar another cloaked figure, really tall too, was sitting at a corner in the bar and observing the newcommer. From the way he held one of his arms over his mouth or nose though you could tell the stench of the place made him uncomfortable. He did not seem to react much when she mentioned the "most valued building", until Afree proclaimed it to be the City Museum.

'A Museum... A place of history and ancient artifacts. Would be the perfect spot to begin my research. I should follow her' Azarias thought, and then waited until the elf woman exited with a younger elf boy until following. It was not hard to follow her in the crowds, seeing how different she was from the rest of them, that went for him too of course, but he did not try to hide himself, that usualy got more attention than not acting at all.

Once they reached her so called "hideout" he waited for a bit, then after a few minutes of nothing happening he opened the door, his right hand on his swords hilt under his heavy mantle. What he found inside was, a bit of a surprise. A rather large room, with 3 men holding some kind of thin paper pieces in their hands while showing them to each other and swearing at one of them occasionaly. Whatever they were doing it did not seem very enjoyable. 'Humans...' was all Azarias thought.

Looking around some more he noticed the elf woman and the elf boy, although there was a third person there, some strange man with tails... 'This is just getting stranger and stranger...' He thought as he walked inside and approached the three non-humans.

To any non-noble Azarias would appear to be atleast a high standing citizen or rich adventurer, to some he might even appear as the noble he is if they looked closer at him, but what was most striking with him was his color shifting eyes and white hair. His heavy black mantle was being drawn over the floor behind him as he walked, revealing his fine grey tunic with a strange crest on it, and the chainmail under it. He had a armguard on his left hand that had several small crystals of some kind on it, that while seemingly being there as decorations gave of a wibe of power, atleast to people who could feel magical wibes. The same thing went for his sword, which had a larger crystal above its hilt. Overall he seemed like a well dressed adventurer well prepared for battle. ((Sorry if its shabby, just tired and dont want to go too indepth))

He approached the trio, but he stopped a few meters away, waiting for them to finish whatever conversation they were up too, while using the opportunity to observe the two grown-ups closer.

[~Arx Fatalis~]

The hideout known as Weave's Shadow may not have been the most magnificent of hideouts for a band of thieves. Unless, of course, you were a young, adventurous wood elf named Al'aundro who wanted to be an adventurer, in which case, it was quite possibly the coolest thing ever.

As they entered the hideout, a man approached them, talking about something involving the bathtub when he stopped, and instantly began eying Afree up and down. She WAS very pretty, from head to toe, but he seemed to focus on certain aspects, such ones between the head and the toes. Although, he had heard humans talking about some other kinds of toes while looking at girls like that. He didn't really know what they were talking about, though.

"Would you please introduce me to your new friend?" The man said as he looked away from Afree for a moment to glance at Al'aundro.

"I'm Al'aundro," he said quietly as he waved at the newcomer. As he glanced around the hideout, he saw all manner of trinkets and things that looked appealing. With a squeal of delight, he ran rampant through the hideout, fiddling with everything possible to be fiddled with.

[~beflexor~]

(OOC: Aye now dere's a-peoples comin' out from the woodwork dere is! XD)

"There's a bathtub up there?" Afree said, getting up and looking up at the ceiling. When her eye caught person mentioning it her heart leapt up into her throat and she let out a noise best pronounced "gnee!" as her hands went to her neck. She turned around and pounded on the table, scattering winnings everywhere.

The elf then turned around, completely normal, as though nothing had happened. "Sorry, gave me a bit of a start.

One of the men reached down to collect everything that Afree had scattered and growled "hey, where's the money?"

She bit her lower lip and ignored the man. After Al'aundro ran off she pointed a finger in his direction "that's Al'aundro as you can see. So what brings you to the underworld of human society, Hakari? I admit this place has a bit of charm, what with the dank and all." She turned a full three-sixty, her arms outspread "I mean the dank, c'mon people! Lemmie hear it for the dank!"

Not a single response save for an unidentified belch.

Afree then noticed Azarias. The elf crossed her arms and looked at just how well-dressed he really was. "And what have we here? Someone looking to contribute to Weave's funding?" She wiggled her fingers "I think I'll just help myself then-" She took a single step forward when she suddenly heard a knock on the door followed by a loud thump.

"Da Fuzz!" Yelled out the dark-clad old woman.

"Everybody! Positions!" Afree ran over to the fireplace and pulled a tiny, discrete lever at the bottom corner of it.

The whole wall of locks and knobs that held both cloaks and bows suddenly flipped around, consequently taking Al'aundro with it. The other side of the wall had a small wooden table and a vase with dasies sitting on it. A hole opened up beneath the table and the three card-players dumped their cards, the arrows being made, and what remained of their money, one of the more seedier looking players even leaped into the hole as well. There was a series of other clanks and thumps from upstairs.

Afree ran over and hid behind Hakari, staring at the door with wide eyes. When there was nothing but silence for a few minutes, Afree reached over, opened the door a crack, and peered out at the person laying on the ground.

"False alarm...hey where's Al'aundro?"

The old woman flicked the switch again and everything went back the way it was.

"Now what do we do about this guy? Meh, let's just go ahead and drag him in, then I'll get the plans for my heist."

[+transcon+]

"Excellent," he grinned, but then his eyes narrowed. "So, now that's out of the way, I was wondering when you are going to drop the act? I can see you're doing all these things as an attempt to push my buttons. You took chances to try to rile me to anger, disappointment, dissatisfaction, and failed at leading me to believe you're stupid."

"I am what you see" she began "if you see nothing but a meddling thief with no regard for others than that's what I am to you. If you see an elf with a habit of not paying attention that happens to discover that certain things are not edible the hard way, so be it. If you happen to glimpse someone with unrivaled skill at what she does despite her shortcomings, well, I don't know. People are often blinded by their expectations of me, they get a tunnel-vision and see only what they expect to see. I don't know if I'm smart, dumb, good, bad, rich, poor (though I hope I'm rich), or an elf on one big magic-induced psycho trip."

'Ahh, such fond memories,' he wistfully thought to himself as he was introduced to the elven child and the man clad in dark armor. Azarius caught his eye. Red slitted eyes studied the white haired man carefully. After a moment of scrutiny, the fox demon nodded his head knowingly at the man. 'This will make my job easier.'

Hakari's heart instantly raced when Afree dodged behind him. Suddenly perplexed by the surprisingly unexpected reaction of himself, he began to wonder what it was that he was feeling. His cheeks blushed, which complimented his bronze toned skin. His eyes betrayed him as the perplexity of the empathetic quandary raced through his mind. This was certainly something he had not expected, nor was this the time to voice such admissions. First, he must study this new found flower within his chest before describing its bountiful color.

The feeling wasn't unfamiliar, to be certain. However, for him it was only a faint sense of Deja Vu for the moment. He knew he'd felt this feeling before as perhaps in a previous mortal incarnation, but for the moment it was fleeting as the elven woman moved towards the door to help drag in an unconscious man.

He thought he caught her glancing back at him. Those eyes that shone with brilliance of intelligence. The face that was beautifully honest. And, from what he could see within beyond the pretentious facade, a heart of gold.

Hakari couldn't believe that he actually thought that to win such a heart from a thief would mean to steal it in an impressive way. He shut his eyes for a moment and shook his head as if it would help him shake away these strange ideals, though his face still couldn't deny the blush across the cheeks and the bridge of his nose.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Al'aundro," he smiled again and reopened his eyes only to find that he was so distracted by his own racing thoughts to miss the poor lad's disappearance. 'Never the mind,' he considered. 'Children do such things. If he was important, he will show himself sooner or later.'

"I found your note," Hakari finally forced himself to speak to Afree. He had no idea why he was apprehensive when it came to that elven woman, but he finally fought through the foliage of confusion and pressed forward. He took a step out of the stairwell he was standing in to allow people to see him more clearly. "I could sense that you had left it. You're leading quite an adventure, eh? It must be exciting, then! I cannot wait to hear of the details. You should know how I'm attracted to such endeavors, hm.

"Let us just say that I'm eager for now." He raised his brow and tilted his head towards his hostess. Then, he turned himself to the white haired individual clad in dark armor.

"And, I can't help but suspect your familiarity," he said while tapping a finger to his own chin. "May I have the honor of knowing your name?"

[~RejjeN~]

OOC: He isnt really clad in dark armour. Its prety much just his mantle thats black in color, the chainmail is normal steel colored and covered mostly by a greyish shirt. But oh wells

The elf woman was a skilled thief, no doubt. When she pounded the table, and stole the money on it at the same time he had just seen a blur of her hands. He would have to keep an eye on her. When she approached him, saying something about "contributing to Weave's Fundings" Azarias reached inside his mantle and grabbed the hilt of his sword, while keeping an eye on her hands in case she intended to try something. But before she got more than one step close there was a knock on the door, which made everyone in the room except the man with tails and the kid "Get into positions".

Azarias got a but confused by the sudden ruckus over a knock on the door, but was also amazed by how fluidly everyone seemed to do their thing, also how the different shelves on the walls spun around into the other side, hiding their contents. When the door was finally opened the elf woman said it was a "false alarm" and everything returned to how it had been earlier. Outside laid a man who seemed unconcious, who the elf woman started helping in. The tailed man said something to the elf woman, Azarias was not paying full attention, before the man turned to him and began to speak.

"And, I can't help but suspect your familiarity," he said while tapping a finger to his own chin. "May I have the honor of knowing your name?"

Azarias took a moment to look over the man once again, he seemed mostly like a ordinary man, except for his obvious differences of course, but Azarias could tell there was something more to him as well... But he did not know what. "I'm afraid we have never met before, my name is Azarias..." He said, seemingly about to say something more then stoping suddenly. "Yes... Just Azarias." He said, not entierly convincing. "May I have the honor of knowing yours? Also if you don't mind me asking, what are you?"

OOC: Crappy, but it will have to do for now... Sorry for the time it took

[~Arx Fatalis~]

"Da fuzz!!"

*Clank*

While Al'aundro fiddled with the locks and cloaks, the wall suddenly flipped, and he found himself staring at a bleak, stone-ridden wall. As far as could be seen, there were not any escape routes he could use to free himself, either. Faced with such a calamity, he did what any young child of any race would do.

He screamed.

For about 30 seconds, he screamed his heart out until the room clicked back together. Everything was about the same, except for the people at the table grumbling and one man crawling out of a hole in the table, the lack of cards or money on said table, and one individual dragging an unconscious man inside the building. Afree was helping, so Al decided to stay out of the way, the man looked heavy.

After the man was dealt with, Al'aundro walked back over to his new friend. The weird man with tails was talking to someone else that he couldn't see, but it didn't really matter, he didn't want to interrupt. He merely leaned against a wall, waiting for Afree to get the plans for the heist.

[+transcon+]

"Ah. My name would be," the fox-eared individual spoke, but as he did, the rumbling of the wall and the screaming of the young elven child drowned out his voice. The lips were moving, but the words were not heard. Eventually, the ruckus ceased, and the sounds of his voice were heard once more. "But, you may call me Hakari."

Whether by intention or by coincidence, he managed to hide his identity in the open. It was left unheard of his complete list of titles and the fact that he was the Demon of Balance. Even his peculiar oriental accent made lip-reading impossible as he spoke the native tongue here. He let a small smile dance across his lips, confident that he remained honest that none can sense deceit upon him as he used the environment to his advantage.

As if he really wanted this band of travelers and adventurers to know that there was a major demon amongst them. That would spoil the fun! He so loved walking amongst the mortals. Bad idea to freak the mundanes, he thought to himself.

"Perhaps, at a more appropriate time, you and I could get better aquainted, ne?" He waved his hand in a simple gesture indicating his interest towards Azarias. Then, the sudden reappearance of the elven lad, almost the same time he made his invitation, caught his attention.

"Ah, you poor thing!" he grinned, despite his feigned attempt at solace. "While you were back there behind that wall, what did you find?"

[~RejjeN~]

"Ah. My name would be," The tailed man said, but just as he continued his voice was drowned by the noise in the background, Azarias tried to understand what he could by how he moved his lips, but he couldent make anything out of it. "But, you may call me Hakari." He finished, as if nothing had happened. 'Was that... Intentional? I cannot tell.' Azarias thought, annoyed at the sudden noise.

He noticed that a smile was on Hakari's lips, but that might just as well be because he liked meeting new people, who knew. Nonetheles, he himself had his secrets and he had to hide who he truly was as well. As the heir of the Elemental Legion.

"Perhaps, at a more appropriate time, you and I could get better aquainted, ne?" Hakari said while doing a simple wave with his hand before turning to the elf child that had come out through the wall again. 'He knows something... Maybe he can feel that I am not human... Oh well, I am also interested in knowing what he truly is.' He thought as he walked over to the big table and sat down on one of the empty chairs around it, as far away from the men playing cards as he could. Now he just needed to wait for the actual plan to be announced.