[Random adventure times] Kat X Rogue [with Celölas and Lutis!]

((Yay shiny new board! If anything plotwise comes to you, just throw it in and we can have some fun. Even if it's floating food structures. Very Happy

))

The hot sun beating down on the tops of the buildings of the city didn’t perturb Lutis as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop, the thin soles of his boots finding grip on the sloping slate tiles as he ran. Luckily they were in a good enough condition to hold together under his weight- the last thing he wanted was to step on a loose slate and go crashing down through some poor person’s roof.

Despite it being the middle of the day, and despite the fact he was casually running across the roofs of the city, it didn’t surprise him that he didn’t attract much attention. For one, the city was corrupt to the core, which made things like freerunning a pretty normal occurrence. And secondly, he was just that good a thief. Really, he did have to congratulate himself on this one. Not only had he gotten away with a pretty handsome prize, he had managed to come away with a few little extra pieces for himself too. Well, the pay wasn’t that good, and he did have to eat and all…

Once he had decided he had gotten far enough away from the site of his little heist, he vaulted down to ground level again, shocking those people closest to where he landed. Giving them a cheerful smile, Lutis started walking, trying to look as innocent as possible. Which was like a wolf pretending to be a sheep- a particularly adept wolf.

In some cities, the sight of a Dragon standing 9’2” tall would alarm some people, but here, Celölas could walk almost unnoticed. She sat back on her hind legs in a patch of shade to escape the blisteringly hot sun and turned to groom herself. Starting at the face, she finally worked her way to her delicate tails. She took great pride in two of them, but the third was a shameful thing to her. A good two feet were missing from the end, and the stump was still matted with scar tissue and un-groomed fur. She hated to look at the thing, and had disowned it as much as she was able. When she was satisfied, she dropped back to her normal height (and all fours) to walk through the small streets. She got the occasional nod or wave from the other residents, but was otherwise undisturbed. She liked that city – people were accepting of you, no matter who you were. It did help that most of them were criminals, but then again, temperamental dragons fit in quite well with humans of a similar virtue.

She could dimly hear clicking tiles, and looked to see a dark shape silhouetted against the burning sun on a rooftop before it disappeared. A little gasp from a street just over told her that the figure must have landed, so she decided to follow. There was a particularly dark alley that way, so she could avoid the sun as well. Hot weather didn’t suit her, but it seemed to make the humans happy, and that pleased her. She looked after the few citizens that weren’t totally rotten wherever she went, and she had grown to love this little town, heat and all.

As she poked her mahogany nose out of the alley, she saw nothing of note – no one looked like they had just leapt from a building certainly – so she just crept out of the alley and sat in another shadow to watch. People-watching was, of course, on of her favorite occupations.

Lutis walked swiftly down the road, tucking his hands into two of his many pockets as he went. The temptation to steal himself a reward off a food stall was rather enticing, but he managed (somehow) to keep his hands in his pockets, contenting himself with thinking of the foods he might buy when he traded in the couple of extra pieces of jewellery to a relatively reliable buyer on the black market- not a bad price, and no questions asked as to where he got the goods from either.

The pull of admiring the jewellery hidden in his pocket proved much too much after only a couple of minutes walking, and he just had to duck down a close alleyway to inspect it. He made a quick circle in the middle of the street, spinning on the spot before a smile crept over his features and he dug in his pocket, pulling out a fistful of gleaming jewels as he backed into a tiny alleyway leading off from the main street. His vigilance to see if he was being followed meant he walked straight into the tall dragon sitting in the alleyway though, bumping in face first to the lean shade runner. His handful of jewellery went flying, but he managed to catch it before it dropped to the floor, stuffing it back into another of his pockets. Which of course, wasn’t suspicious looking at all.

“Oh shit!” he swore before he had time to collect himself, then suddenly realised he was faced with a dragon that may or may not be in league with the thieving way of life. “Uhm… sorry, didn’t mean to walk into you.” He gave the dragon an awkward smile, rubbing at the ponytail at the back of his head to try and dispel some of his discomfiture.

Celölas registered the vague apology slowly, and jumped a little. Seeing the jewelry, she figured that he must be the free runner she had seen, but didn’t give it another moment’s thought. “Oh that’s fine!” she chuckled, smiling nicely, but in the process revealing all of her dangerously sharp teeth. “I’m Celölas, by the way. Nice to meet you.” She said, quite placidly. She really was mild mannered – honest – when she was feeling herself. However, when that thought passed through her mind it filled her heart with sadness. When. The rest of the time, when she was /not/ herself, she was a monster, or at least that was how she saw herself. She went very quiet as she tried to push away the thought, but it stayed with her, providing a lengthy, awkward silence.

Shaking herself all the way to her two (and a half) tails, Celölas strolled a few paces one way to the food stall. The owner of it tossed her something tasty, but she didn’t wait long enough to taste what exactly before swallowing it. Of course, she never let herself think about why the stall owners were so eager to please her. And she certainly had no intention of paying for the food now, so it was of no consequence.

The dragon’s wide grin was sort of offputting, but Lutis knew (or at least, hoped) that she meant it in a good way. Even still, he couldn’t help but feel a little wary of the dragon, hoping it wasn’t some sort of ploy to put him off his guard so it could eat him.
“Uhm… Lutis. Nice to meet you too.” Celölas’ vacant stare was a little offputting and he eyed the dragon in confusion until she shook herself out of her little trance. This was a strange one, and no doubt. He shrugged his shoulders and followed her out of the alleyway, curious to as how he had missed such an intriguing individual wandering around the city before now. He took a sharp note of how the shopkeeper they walked past reacted to the shade runner, acting almost scared of the dragon before he threw her something off his stall. Ah, to be a dragon and to have food thrown at you without having to pay…

“So, have you been around here a long time?” He took a few long paces to catch up with the dragon (she had really long legs in comparison to a human, and this was Lutis talking, who was tall himself!), then matched her pace. He should probably get to finishing the job he had started, but they could wait. After all, he had been doubly quick, and a good service was worth waiting for.

“A while, in fact, I’m surprised you haven’t seen me before, but then again its easy to get lost in big places like this. And, being a shade runner, I’m rather good at hiding in shadows.” She said, licking the last of the food from her face with a long, blood red tongue. She slowed down just a little – not noticeably to onlookers, but enough so that Lutis wouldn’t have to strain to keep up – and looked around. There were a number of passages leading away, and one of them passed by most of the nearby taverns, so she tried to steer them away from it. Taverns means brawls; and brawls meant…

No! She refused to let herself think the word. Even if the rich, velvety smell was already creeping into her mind. Today I will be Celo, and no one else, she thought, and promptly stopped to sit down. Her ears fell limp near her head, and if she wasn’t already as tall as the average man around here, she could have looked quite vulnerable. As it was, she looked like one dopey, yet quite harmless dragon, who had no idea where she was going. Most of that was true, most of the time...

Last edited by Rogue on Sun Jul 31, 2011 10:07 am; edited 1 time in total

Lutis nodded. “I don’t suppose you frequent the same sort of places as I do.” he said with a laughing tone. No, he couldn’t quite see the shade runner in a tavern or hanging around the best places for a thief to pick up a new job. She didn’t seem quite the type for that sort of work- although she obviously had some standing with the local traders. Was she highborn? The thought struck him as both a good and a bad thing- she may turn him in if she thought he was a thief, but if she didn’t know, then he might get in with some pretty decent crowds quickly. Her heart was definitely in a good place- he noticed the slight slowing of her pace, one corner of his mouth tweaking up in a smile.

He almost missed it when she suddenly sat down, continuing on a few more steps before he realised and stopped, turning to look at the dragon in confusion. She reminded her of Hone a little (who he was good friends with), the same vague look on the dragon’s face as she took absolutely no notice of what was happening around her.
“Are you okay? Did you have somewhere you needed to go?” Screw being on time to hand over the goods for the job he had just done, that could wait a bit. This new dragon was just too interesting to pass up.

“Yes. No. Maybe – just not that way” she said hurriedly, nodding towards the street nearest them. Then she caught herself, and stood up again. “I am sorry; I’m just so flustered these days. If you don’t mind me asking, who do those pretty things need taking to? I have a feeling you don’t just have them for display.” She said, remembering how he had almost dropped a handful of things when he had bumped into her. She was quite friendly with the thieves of the town usually, and Lutis seemed pleasant enough. We all have to eat, after all, and it wasn’t like she paid for anything around here.

“Okay…” said Lutis, a little confused by the dragon, but didn’t comment on it. Maybe someone down one of the streets that way didn’t like her- yes, that must be it. He flushed slightly as she reminded him of his jewel-stuffed pockets, digging his hands guiltily into his pockets.
“Uhh, a customer. I was just… returning them for him.” He flashed her a disarming smile, wishing he had been more careful when he had first walked into her. “They’re not for display, no. You don’t display things in this city unless you want them nicked.” He gave her a wink then pointed further down the street and down into another road. “I was going to meet him in a tavern down thataways. Want to come?”

Celölas was hesitant, but considering the time of day decided that one visit couldn’t hurt. “Of course, that sounds like a fabulous plan.” She said, letting Lutis get away with the little lie. She knew better than to ask questions around here – some people didn’t take them well. “Caution is wise around here, quite right. A good few people I know well often have less honest reasons for carrying pretty things. They’re interesting.” She said offhand, before turning in the direction Lutis had pointed to and surveying the area. So far it seemed pleasant enough, and wasn’t triggering any alarm bells for her, so she slowed her pace and waited for Lutis’ directions towards this alleged tavern.

It looked like Celölas had bought Lutis’ lie, which was good, because he could do without a barrage of questions. He hadn’t bargained on meeting up with someone, and hadn’t prepared any answers for awkward questions that might crop up like he normally did. He was somewhat surprised that the dragon knew less than favourable people; pleasantly so. She wasn’t quite all she seemed cracked up to be, and that, in his opinion, was pretty good. Nevertheless, he decided to avoid the topic as they set out for the tavern, walking quite quickly through the thronging street crowds. It was a decent enough part of town, and if Lutis hadn’t had company or a job to finish, he might have been tempted to do a little light thieving. As it was, he kept his hands in his pockets.

The tavern wasn’t very busy, a few people sipping drinks outside in the hot sun and more inside. He looked around for the man he was looking for and found him looking disgruntled and sitting behind an empty glass.
“There he is. I’ll just go deal these, if you stay here.”

Celölas nodded, smiling and let Lutis go to see the man nearby. She was sat just out of earshot, but she had a feeling she wouldn’t find their conversation too interesting. Motioned to one of the shy girls dealing out drinks and asked for a tankard of something. She used to love a good drink, before she realised how often there were fights near her favourite bar. The girl returned with a large mug of foamy liquid, before hurrying away without asking for the pay. Apparently people had heard of her all through town. She couldn’t quite decide if that was a good thing or not. She lowered her long jaws to the mug and lapped the drink as elegantly as she could. She envied the way the humans could lift their drinks to their mouths so easily, but she wasn’t about to complain. After all, what could they do about it? She was unusually tense sitting there, as though she expected something dreadful to happen any second, but she hoped that the drink would let her relax a little.

It didn’t take Lutis long to hand over the goodies he had stolen for the man, and he was soon walking back over to Celölas with a full pouch of coins jingling merrily at his side. She had a pint of something good looking in front of her, so good he quickly ordered himself one too. Now he had actual money, he was definitely going to spend it on the finer things in life. Which definitely included alcohol. He sipped at his drink as Celölas did so, putting it down after a while and sitting forwards.
“Apparently there’s a little to-do going on in the northern quarter, things keep going missing out of some of the warehouses up that way. I dunno if you’re interested in mysteries or that sort of thing, but I might go check it out, as I haven’t got anything more to do for a few days. Wanna come?”

“That depends.” Celölas said slowly. “Will there be any sort of danger? I get… squeamish around injuries.” She added, trying not to make it noticeable how much she was squirming. However, there was a little part of her that wanted to go. She got so bored avoiding any possibility of blood, and this sounded like an adventure. After all, it wouldn’t necessarily come down to steel. She thought, taking a long gulp from the mug at her feet, before speaking again. “That sounds nice. It should give me something to do, so why no?” she chuckled, swallowing her anxiety with a huge gulp. She could already hear the red, velvet voice trickling into her mind, but she refused to listen. She always tried to see the best in things (and people, for that matter), and there was enough that could go right here for her to agree.

“I hope there’s not much danger,” said Lutis, grimacing. “Mysteries I can deal with, but the whole fighting thing… Yeah, I’m not so good at that.” To the extent that a bunny could beat me with a sword. And win easily. Which was one of the reasons it was always a very good idea to have a dragon around- they came loaded with dangerous claws and teeth, and occasionally blades that you could call on to fight battles for you if the time required.
“Oh good,” Lutis said, his grimace turning into a grin instead as Celölas agreed to coming along too. “Always good to have someone to cover your back if we walk into something big. Which I hope we don’t,” he added quickly at the end.

“Well, I say we finish up here first.” He wasn’t going to leave a half-downed pint, especially not one he had actually paid for. “Then we can go check out those warehouses, see if anyone knows about these disappearances.” He smiled ironically. “All we need is the mystery machine now. And a man in a costume.”

Celölas smiled, not quite getting Lutis’ odd joke, but not wanting to offend him. She was seriously concerned about what might happen, but as she lowered her head to lap at the drink again, she felt her thoughts dulling down, and drifting away from any dangerous thoughts. She continued with the drink, until it was almost empty, and looked up again. Looking around, she could see dozens of people going about their lives peacefully, and wondered why she had been concerned about that road in the first place. She was so jumpy, and she decided that, for the next few days at least, she was going to try to relax. After all, they were going on an adventure, and adventures were no good if one of the people going on them was constantly stopping in case something spooked them. Maybe nothing would happen – the mysterious disappearances could have been caused by something mundane and friendly. Celölas continued talking herself round as she took another few mouthfuls of her drink, before finally deciding that she was happy about going, and ready for anything.

The two didn’t talk much as they finished their drinks, Lutis keeping a wary eye on what was going on around them more out of habit than anything else. Celölas seemed pretty jumpy, and he made a note of it- if they were going to investigate mysteries, which would probably involve sneaking (fun!), he didn’t want to jump the dragon without her notice- if he took her by surprise, she would probably gut him with the length of her claws, and that was one thing he really didn’t want to get on the wrong side of.

As soon as he was finished with his drink, and the dragon looked like she was just about done with hers, he stood.
“Right, let’s go. Might as well use the rest of the day for something productive, eh? The warehouses are this way.” He pointed down the street, then round a corner.

The streets were still relatively busy, people wandering from place to place on whatever afternoon business they had as the pair headed for the warehouses, found in the eastern sect of the city. The smaller shops and houses were cut out of the picture as bigger buildings started to fill up the space, running alongside the roads before suddenly coming to a halt, the next warehouse taking its place. Some were better kept than others; a couple were practically medieval. Lutis hoped they weren’t the ones that needed investigating, because that was going to be a joke and half, trying to navigate what was probably crammed to the brim with dodgy goods, and more than a fair share of rats and other undesirables.

Although some of the warehouses looked in fairly good shape, they looked quite creepy to Celölas. She was used to the cleaner, nicer streets in town, and the warehouses seemed a million miles away from there. She almost wanted to go home, but she felt like she couldn’t turn back now.

The street also seemed unusually quiet. In the thick silence she could hear the red, velvety voice trying to catch her, but without its physical lure, the bloody voice was little more that a nuisance. Celölas was glad – she was sick to her back teeth of it anyway.

As she padded along behind Lutis, she looked into every one of the warehouses in an attempt to see what they might be investigating. She wished she had asked Lutis more about it before nodding along, but all seemed well so far. When they passed a warehouse with an open door, she nodded towards it. “Should we start near here, or do you have a better plan?” she asked, before grooming her shoulder carefully.

The warehouse district wasn't familiar to Lutis, but he tried to make out like he was at least familiar with it as they headed deeper into its depths, shoving his hands into his pockets and trying to ignore the little buzzy voice at the back of his head saying, you haven't got a clue where you are, you don't know what you're looking for, you might run into a monster and this nice dragon here might actually be a killer. Maybe she's the monster?

He ignored it. Maybe it was the alcohol? It tended to do funny things to people- maybe it was extra strong? He hadn't thought to ask, just given over the money and had done with it. Either way, it had tasted pretty good. Man, he had missed that sort of thing. It wasn't easy when you were skint, not easy at all...

"Yes!" he said as the dragon suggested a starting place to their search for whatever-it-was they were looking for, swinging to a stop. "That sounds like a good plan."

Taking a match out of one of his many pockets (they were always stuffed with all sorts of exciting things, and matches were boring really), he struck it alight before sticking his head into the warehouse, calling a tentative hello. His voice echoed back at him, rebounding from the tall ceiling. Nothing so far... but maybe there was something further inside? Boxes could hide all sorts of things behind them, or even inside them. MAYBE THEY WERE BEER CRATES? Spurred on by that thought, he waved Celolas forwards, stepping deeper into the warehouse and hoping for a good return for their time.

((This might be a bit random. I don'tr eally know, I've had rather a lot of vodka to drink tonight and then wanted to write some stuff because Aero is afk for dinner, and Zay buggered off >.> Which is totally not cool. but my friend is on FB so I can plague her with my terribad typos and suches like that, because I am very very very kind and nice Smile

))

Completely shutting out the panicked voices in her head, Celölas stepped forwards. The warehouse was dark, but the light from the match illuminated a few of the crates nearest the door. She snook inside and crawled into the nearest pool of shadows, melting into the darkness until only her white arrow-patterned-back was visible against the rusty, iron walls.

Only after she had started sniffing around did she realise that Lutis seemed to have miraculously produced the match from nowhere. She made a mental note to ask him about here he had gotten it from, and what else he had with him after she had finished sniffing around the crates. They smelt un-appealing to her, but she couldn’t tell what the stale, sour smell coming from them was.

She crawled further in again, and tried to push one crate open, ignoring the noise she was making. No one could see more than the random arrow shapes on her back, so no one could kill her in there right then. /but they could make you bleed/ a voice whispered to her, setting her fur on end. She felt a curious mixture of fear and desire wash over her, and forced her muzzle further into the crate to try to blot it out. However, she felt suddenly weary, and anything sudden could have made her snap.

With the shade runner snuffling around the crates nearer the door, Lutis ventured deeper into the warehouse, hoping he could find something of interest before his tiny light source snuffed itself out on his fingers. It smelt musty, the tops of the crates covered in a layer of dust that came off as he ran his fingers over one.

“Doesn’t look like anyone’s been here for a while,” he commented, peering up towards the dark ceiling before digging in his pocket again, pulling out a long candle. He lit the wick then stuck the opposite end in his mouth, waving the match out before he hoisted himself up onto the first crate in front of him, climbing quickly up the stack in front of him until he reached the very top. Taking the candle out of his mouth, he peered into the gloom, trying to make out what might be hiding in the rest of the warehouse.

“Can’t see much,” he reluctantly said, starting down the pile of crates again. “Apart from some pretty big spiders. I guess this isn’t one of the places there’s been any stealing from.” Peering into the gloom, it was hard to make out where Celölas was. “Although it was easy as to get in here, so I wonder why not. Must not be very interesting things in these here crates,” he mused, thumping the side of one crate. It made a dull thunk.

And then something thumped back.

Celölas was still trembling when she heard Lutis thump on the box nearest to her. She jumped, before realizing that it was just Lutis, and sighed in relief. The box smelt bitter, yet quite uninteresting, so she decided to just ignore it and move onto the one beside it. However, as she buried her nose in the next box, she heard a noise. A second bump.

“Lutis?” she called under her breath. “Was that you?” Her voice trembled from the strain as she tried to be heard without raising her voice. Well, part of the tremble was probably fear, but she refused to give in to it.

As she withdrew her pointed nose from the box she heard a rustle. She presumed it was just the sound of the crate against her fur, but the arrows on her back were standing up in a bass-relief of terror. She flicker her tails, and winced as the stump of her third one hit the floor, before sitting back to try to look over the boxes. It was no use – she wasn’t quite tall enough to see over the stacks of crates, and she could feel herself panicking more and more.

As a second bump came from within the box, Luits froze, turning his head minutely back towards it. Celölas had already started investigating the next set of boxes, her face hidden as she peered into its open top.

“No. No, that wasn’t me,” he said quietly, shifting so he had a better stance in case something was about to suddenly leap out and try to kill him. It had happened before, and he wasn’t going to let whatever was in the box take him by surprise. He put one finger to his lips to stop the shade runner from speaking again and giving away where they were- if whatever was inside the box was still unsure as to where they were, something he was starting to doubt. It was obvious Celölas was in no state to take down whatever was in the box herself (and in any case, she seemed like a pacifist, from the way she had steadfastly rejected anything that might even lead to the possibility of bloodshed). Sighing silently to himself, he slid a dagger from its concealed sheath on his forearm and gingerly took hold of one edge of the box, fitting his fingers carefully under the lip of the wood before wrenching it upwards…

The thing inside screamed, then a black shape exploded out of the box, dashing past Lutis in a flurry of limbs and fabric. Something heavy whacked his shoulder and he yelped, trying not to drop his dagger.
“Grab it!” he shouted as the thing-person-animal (whatever it was) made a bid for freedom.

Celölas’s face dropped and her joints locked as the creature exploded out of the box. In the dark she couldn’t see what it was, but when she heard Lutis shout, she knew that she would have to do something. The creature was about as big as a large dog, and she gave chase mindlessly in the dark. Boxes crashed down to either side of her, and as she made her way further away from the light of the door, she found the dark creature harder and herder to see. Eventually, though, she felt something under her paws and felt it struggling in her grip. She made sure that her claws were retracted and there was nothing sharp, and shouted back to Lutis in fear.

“Lutis! I’ve got it! Come quick!” she shouted, pressing firmly on the creature so it couldn’t escape. It was struggling hard, and she was forever cautious of drawing blood. She could already feel the velvety richness in the air, and she knew that she would fall to it instantly if a single drop reached her nostrils. As the creature squirmed again, feeling bony and strange beneath her pads, she called out again, in a barking howl. “Lutis! Hurry!”

The crates Celölas knocked over in her hasty rush to trap whatever it was that had been in the box stopped Lutis from following quickly after, and he had to sheath his dagger again before clambering over them, jumping clear as his weight made them fall further from their new perilous stacking. The quick shade runner had already managed to pin the creature by the time he was out the other side of the boxes, and he struck a match before cautiously making his way over to her side.

Whatever it was, it was hardly much easier to make out squashed underneath Celölas’ paws. He crouched down next to it and carefully pushed one of her paws aside, taking a firm hold on the fabric covering whatever part of the thing it was covering.
“Let go a bit, so we can find out what this thing is,” he said. The thing squeaked, squirming underneath the dragon’s grip. Lutis poked it and it lay still, the fabric covering it moving up and down as it breathed.
“When I say now, let go,” he said, grabbing the fabric with his other hand. “Right… NOW!”

» Snazzy post-tourney times [Kat/Rogue/North]
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» Lutis Passal- .:In yer pants:. (Human)
» Rogue X Saphire [title to come]
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