Midnight Aftermath (Open)

[Terran Grant]

A night like any other. Gunshots could be heard every so often in any given direction, ringing out in tribute to the failing system of law enforcement they represented. Of course the most noteworthy noise was not just anything - like whatever drive-by/gang-war was going on in Slum One or Slum Two, or even slums Four, Five or Six (indeed, it seemed like there were so many it was easier for some people to keep track of them with numbers, rather than keep track of their names) – no, it was the series of explosions running down the mostly abandoned… something street. Terran found it particularly difficult to keep track of the name of a street while a couple thousand pounds of metal bore down on his back-side.

“What the hell kind of museum uses an armed Military Drone for security?!” Another explosion rang behind him, causing some poor man’s car insurance rates to sky-rocket in the process (an explosion which he narrowly avoided, mind you).

How did this all start? Well, a couple hours ago Terran managed to knock over a museum; carrying out a particularly valuable painting in the process (a rope tied to the painting slung over his shoulder). As Terran so often did, he got all the way to the end of the job before tripping some kind of sensor in his rush to get out. Now most security systems might just set off an alarm, called the police, any number of other, much more peaceful (though still noisy) things. This one? Well this one sent a [probably illegally owned] military drone after him; and a fearsome one at that, armed with any number of weapons and a rocket-launcher that could put any tank barrel to shame. Were it not for the fact the thing was about to kill him, he might have marveled at the engineering genius that went into making sure the barrel wasn’t heavy enough to cause the mechanical sentry to tip over.

Despite all of the commotion and fear of death, or perhaps because of those very things, Terran had been running his brains out - just barely avoiding whatever round this Metal Messenger of Death aimed to make into a suppository.

Boom. He barely dodged another round. Boom. Weren’t they concerned about the safety of the artwork he’d stolen? Boom. Unless… Crap! It was a fake! The museum must’ve switched its artwork with counterfeits at night just in case of any break-ins.

Terran grabbed the rope around his shoulder and, in mid-stride, twisted around and threw the painting directly at the robot, or more specifically at that aforementioned over-sized tank-barrel. Taking advantage of the blinding [for the robot] explosion, Terran ducked around a corner and straight into a trash-can.

The robot’s sensors recovered, but only in time to find that its target was lost. Faced with only one logical choice, it turned around and began its trek back to the museum.

“Phew,” the man-wolf, or wolf-man (it was hard to figure out) crawled out of the over-turned trash-can. “That’s the last time I ever try to rob a museum,” that wasn’t true, he’d probably be doing the same thing a month later.

[Sythe]

Amusement danced in blue eyes, as if they had been some sort of ball room. As a shadow lay on top of a building, some would state it was a gargoyle, but it wasn’t.This commotion didn’t wake up a bunch of people, to be honest most people were use to this sound at night. But it did cause enough commotion to awaken a coal black wolf, from it’s slumber a few blocks away. It watched as the stupid machine turned around and walked back to where ever it came.

This wolf had been different though, severely different. Upon it’s head was blue ornaments one could called it, but really branded in was noble markings. Some would think that this was a noble wolf, but not. The look in it’s eyes, it had gotten away long ago. A feat some tried and failed, and the small creature turned around on the roof top, before bursting into a jog across it. It’s muscles worked perfectly with the small creature. It wasn’t big so it wasn’t much of a fighter, but when it came to running. Almost non could match up to the speed. The wolf lunged down below, jumping off the wall on the side, and she landed softly in front of the maned wolf.

But what was on the ground was now a young lady, with coal eyes and hair to match the eyes. Her skin stuck out in the shadows, being a porcelain colored. She held a smirk on her face. ”Quiet a show you put, but if it was me. I would have taken the thing out.” ah yes, another reason why most though of this she-wolf to be one of paradise. Her attitude was brilliant, even though in her human form, she was still relatively short.Really the only reason why she bothered this one was because of the fact she enjoyed the show he put, even though she considered him cowardly..but smart for running. He could have attacked it when it had it’s back to him.

[Terran Grant]

“Well if you want to jump in and charge head on at a contraption with more guns attached to it than I have teeth,” and he had a lot, “be my guest. Of course I doubt that pretty coat of fur would look so pretty with a bunch of holes in it. Besides, I thought” he sighed, “I was carrying valuable cargo.”

The blonde man stood, small pieces of trash clinging to his form; particularly a banana peel on his head. Grabbing the peel with only thumb and forefinger (seemingly afraid of touching something so gross, even though it’d already been on his head), he held it up to his nose and inspected it for a moment before tossing it to the side. A particularly disgusted expression found itself on his face when he saw the peel cling to a wall with a wet splat, rather than fall to the ground. Eww… How was that even possible?

“Name’s Terran, though most people seem to call me ‘You bastard,’ or ‘the fleeing suspect.’” He extended a hand for a hand-shake, he’d been around humans long enough to prefer a hand-shake over the good old canid introduction called butt-sniffing.

“Hmh,” he gave her an inspecting ‘up-and-down’ look, “What brings a sterling example of what the wild has to offer, such as yourself, all the way out here?” It did seem strange to him that a wolf would be in this neck of the woods (or this far out of the woods even). Not to mention… well, who would know why she was on a roof anyway?

[Sythe]

She stood there, and she glanced to the entrance of the small alleyway and snorted, human trash. Was all she thought when she stared to the pieces before stepping on one of the shards. Fine then, she would be his guest. She turned from him, well this was her getting herself into more trouble then she needed, but she needed to show this wolf the true meaning of being a wolf. She ran quickly, and she was fast, as the tank like machine was turning the corner, it seemed to see her running at it rapidly, and she jumped up landing on the machines head..well if you would call it that, guns pointed up to her, and she paused, before jumping up, it just barely missing her.

She landed on a street lamp, that didn’t seem to want to work. She looked to it, and what stood there was not a woman, but a dark wolf. The machine shot, she jumped it skimming her hind quarters, before the street lamp falling on it. The machine seemed discombobulate for a moment and sythe jumped, grabbing the arm of the robot with a large gun on it, and bringing it with her. The machine turned to her, and with a weapon coming out of it’s chest compartment, shot at her, she was shot through her shoulders, and she winced. Okay, Not your smartest move Sythe. She thought to herself. As she stood up, ignoring the searing pain in her shoulders, she jumped forward, the machine throwing the street lamp off of it, as she bit down on where the machine’s motion censor was. This was Oakum technology.

She turned her head, as the robot flailed quiet comically. She jumped down and walked towards him, her tail wagging quiet proudly. As she turned human, gripping her shoulder, paying no heed to the machine that ran into a building shooting wildly. Oakum technology wasn’t as good as Darcia. She smirked, and stood straight, quiet proud of her damage. ”The names Sythe” She spoke with a huff.

[Terran Grant]

“Tch,” that point blank explosion he caused totally softened it up for her. Yeah, that was it.

In any case, he didn’t take it as a lesson on how to be a wolf (not that he was really a wolf anyway). All the display really seemed like to him was a particularly nasty injury that could have been avoided. And he’d been in enough scrapes to know that injuries, grievous or otherwise, should be avoided as much as possible. Hey, who knew when the next enemy would show up?

The machine’s rampage and subsequent crash into one of the nearby buildings just made him hope said building was as empty as it looked. “Sythe hunh?” Well, he supposed it wasn’t any weirder for a wolf to have such a name than it was for him to have a name like ‘Terran.’

Well, he supposed he should just thank his lucky stars (that couldn’t be seen in the city, at all) that he was still alive after avoiding what seemed like a hundred explosions. It was only a matter of time before the law-enforcement arrived (to be honest he was surprised they weren’t here already, but it was a bad neighborhood after all, even worse now that half of it seemed to be on fire).

“So uh… we should be getting out of here right about now. I’ve got a place where we can lay low if you need one,” he stared at her wound for a moment, “or a place to recover from your injuries if you prefer to call it that.”

[Adam Kohaku]

The one who got away. Why was that the only being upon Adam’s mind? He had searched through the cities in search of that black wolf. The wolf who continued to slip through his fingers every time they came in contact. But now, he was searching to give her a warning. She had to know of the dangers that awaited her. She had to know of the cruelty of Lord Darcia.

The long haired hunter’s search had led him into the forsaken city of Ángeles Caídosse. The Kohaku had no want of being in the city, but he had to find that wolf. The urge was unexplainable. Whatever was driving him was not the lust for bloodshed and reward that he was so use to. This was not just work anymore. He was a messenger of destruction and death, and this time is message was to warn.

The sound of bullets and heavy artillery. A machine was on the move, hunting down some creature. The sound was very distinctive. Humans usually were not hunted down by military machines, and if they were, humans only lasted a few minutes with wave upon wave of bullets. An animal was being hunted down, and the hunter had a feeling his wolf was a possible target.

Adam ran through the city with invisible strings seeming to lead him through the destroyed streets. Truly, it only took the hunter a matter of quick minutes to reach where the destruction was occurring. Dark blue eyes fell upon a street covered in bullet holes and fire. A machine malfunctioned off to the side, but that was no concern of the Kohaku. His eyes fell upon the two animals who stood in the street. One was unfamiliar, but his eyes instantly soaked up the familiar appearance of the one who had gotten away.

“You animals sure know how to make a mess. This is probably why I never wanted dogs.” Adam moved forward with ease, his eye observing the two creatures. “You will have the entire police force and perhaps every hunter in the area running you down at this rate.”

The wolf hunter’s long locks swayed slightly as he turned his head to the side, surveying the damage. He was wearing his long black jacket despite the heat with black pants and boots to match. A sigh passed through his lips. Everything was always dramatic and complicated whenever he ran into the wolf who had gotten away. Trouble seemed to follow her, or she simply enjoyed finding it.

[Sythe]

She looked to him, and her nose twitched. Through the gun powder, and her blood, she smelled a scent of some one else. She looked to Terran. Her heart beat was raging against her rib cage, as if any moment now it would rip out of her chest and run away in fear. She turned her head back to the streets, gripping her shoulder tightly, causing a blood stream to be drenched in her palm, and slipping between her fingers. She glared to him, as a long haired woman..no man walked through the debris.

She looked to Terran,”You should run.” she spoke, before turning her back to him and actually, standing in front of him protectively, it was quiet comical due to the fact how short Sythe had been. A smirk grew on her face to the hunter, what doesn’t kill you..makes you stronger right? She limped forward and stared to him. ”Adam..this war rages against me and you... you leave him out of this.” she spoke, as she stared to him. Her eyes shimmering blue as a wolf now stood there, fur bristled up making it look like she licked an electric plug, her lips pulling apart, a mean snarl escaping her throat.

She was going to get her flower maiden, and she didn’t need him at her tail every time she was near her, or else she would never be safe. The flower maiden that is to be honest. She glared to him, she paused...some thing was up..he didn’t draw his blade? Her fur went down, and she tilted her head looking around..was this an ambush?! She looked around, no... he was the type to do it on his own.

”Something is wrong..” she murmured to herself, just barely audible for Adam to hear.

[Terran Grant]

“Make a mess?” Wasn’t it the man-made contraption that caused all this damage to begin with? “Last I checked I wasn’t the thing packed so tight with rockets and bullets I didn’t have room for a colon.”

Shooting a glance past the human, he saw the robot still unloading every shell it had at presumably imaginary blips on its radar. “I should think the police would be a bit too busy trying to get that thing under control to notice a couple dogs.”

An injured wolf against an uninjured man who presumably specialized in killing the lupine kind. Right…

There were a few options. Option one; haul his tail away from here and let whatever happen. While probably the easiest choice, it would have left a bad taste in his mouth, not to mention there was no guarantee he wouldn’t be hunted down afterwards. Plus, eh, there was almost no way to stay down-wind from a predator in a place with wind as capricious as this. Option two; cause some kind of distraction and run away in the confusion. A simple plan, an effective one and one that wouldn’t leave a bad taste in his mouth; the only problem being that one of them was injured and it’d be hard for her to run (or so he guessed anyway given that it was a shoulder wound), not to mention a trail of blood would be pretty easy to follow. Avoiding conflict seemed like the ideal option, but probably not the realistic one at this point. Which only left option three.

“I’ve been on the wrong side of the law enough to know how things work around here. Considering how notorious the law enforcement is around here they’ll probably start shooting at anything that’s still moving on sight when they get here. You included. So, we can either fight it out here,” yes, he said we, “or we can save this confrontation for later.” Terran’s human expression matched his canine one, a blank stare. “Your choice.”

Yes, he knew how to think like a hunter; he used to be a hunting dog after all.

A human hand adjusted those fake glasses on his human nose.

[Adam Kohaku]

A long sigh dragged out slowly from Adam’s lips. Both animals seemed oblivious to his true intentions. If he had wanted a fight, both of his katanas would have been drawn, and the animals would be at the mercy of his blades. But no, he had a message for the black wolf who had bristled up before him. He had thought that by now she would know how his demeanor appeared when he was about to attack. They had had too many run-ins and battles already.

Cold blue eyes looked over at the unfamiliar beast. This creature seemed not to know who Adam was. Well, not too many knew of his appearance. Beasts that had seen the Kohaku rarely lived to tell the tale. Of course, the one who got away lived and would continue to live. Regardless, most knew of his name before they knew of how he looked. Before they knew of those cold dark blues which promised death.

“You obvious do not know who I am,” Adam said to the unfamiliar animal. “No human would dare to raise a gun to me. No human would dare to kill me. Even in this chaos, policemen know exactly who I am. They know my face, and they know the wrath that they will bring down if they shoot me. And anyways, you caused this mess. The machine is specifically programmed to hunt down beasties like the two of you.”

The wolf hunter took the few strides to reach the two creatures. He had no fear of them. Why should he? He was one of the best hunters in the game. Though he was not usually an arrogant person, Adam knew he could take on the likes of them. The one who had gotten away was injured, and this other animal seemed more wanting to flee than anything else.

“Stay in your illusions. No one will bother you if you are with me and if you appear human. I can take the two of you to a more secure place where no one will interrupt us.” Having status does have its advantages. Adam looked to the black wolf. “We need to talk, so I suggest you follow me without protest. If you worry about me attacking you, throw those ideas out of your head. My blades can no longer harm you.”

Adam wrinkled up his nose at the idea. The wolf he had been tracking down was now the wolf he was helping. There had never been a wolf he could not kill. There had never been a wolf that was safe from his katanas.

“You can come along if you wish,” his next words were to the other beast. “You are no mere dog and trained eyes can see that. Not to mention you leave a nice trail of red fur.”

The wolf hunter walked passed the two, going down the street. There was no reason to wait and see if they would follow him. He had no wish of staying in this area, and if they followed it was their choice. Adam could only lead the way.

[Sythe]

She paused, this was what the world was now. Nothing but chaos, just the nobles tried to make things nice looking to make it appear as if every thing was fine. She glanced to the machine currently destroying the buildings, it was running out of ammo. She paused, and her ears twitched as she tilted her head to the left slightly. Police cars were coming, they were three or four miles down. She paused, and looked to Terran, then back to the hunter that had his back to her. Something was wrong. She looked to Terran again, him reflecting from her cold blue eyes, before the young girl appearing in front of him.

”He is one of the most famous hunters of Darcia, me and him have a rival type thing going on. No wolf has ever gotten away from him, he’s over all a truthful person. Why he hasn’t attacked me is what worries. If you havn’t guessed his name, he is one of the three Kohakus. Adam.” she whispered to the fellow wolf, her coal eyes narrowed onto the young Kohaku’s waist, more specifically his blades.

She took a few steps after Adam? Who was he too lead the pack? She smirked, oh if she would have said that out loud she knew for sure he might try to skin her alive. She paused and turned to him. ”You know old man, if you come... your going to get yourself in some deep trouble. You can turn back now...but then you’d just be turning away from Paradise.” she spoke the last part a lot softer, Adam would have heard this, if he was paying attention. She then turned her back to the elder wolf, running in front of Adam, even though every step cause a fiery pain to run up her leg and into her spinal cord, and into the brain telling it she was in pain. She wouldn’t wince in front of Adam, oh no. Show now pain.

She glanced to him. This wasn’t this Kohaku... her eyes stayed on him a little bit too long.. but she didn’t care if he noticed. Something was wrong.. and he was doing something wrong, she felt it at the pit of her stomach.

[Terran Grant]

Now Terran had never heard of a hunter so famous that everyone would recognize him on sight, but that crap he spouted earlier was just a bluff anyway. He doubted the police really would shoot at him without provocation but eh… this guy was probably bluffing too. The only way he imagine he’d be that famous would be if he was connected to one of the Nobles maybe? Pfft, what was the chance of that?

And it was true; he had no idea who this person was. Most of the faces Terran knew were those he’d robbed, those he was going to steal from or those who he should never steal from. Apparently he didn’t quite understand the woman over the sound of a noisy explosion, or something anyway, because he didn’t seem to respond at all when she said he was one of the three Kohakus.

Terran can come along if he wished? Turning away from Paradise? No, he’d be turning away from someone who was injured and quite possibly walking right into an ambush. He doubted there was much need for an ambush but-

OLD MAN?! Come on, he wasn’t that old! He only seemed able to stutter in response after the words finally sank in. Eventually he regained his composure though, and he thought about saying something back but they were already leaving by the time he opened his mouth. Forget it.

Running after them, slowing to a walk after catching up with them, he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of trouble he’d gotten himself into. He could just run away, but he’d still have to live with himself afterwards.

[Adam Kohaku]

Though the female wolf raced forward, the wolf hunter soon took the lead. He was the one who knew of where he wanted them to go. She seemed to still hold a sense of arrogance upon her being, but the one who had gotten away twice was injured and had no idea where he was taking them.

The human and the two beasts wandered through the city streets. The abandoned ruins of buildings turned into more livable residential areas. The city was not all terrible, though there was very little money in the hands of any resident. The wolf hunter, however, did have a small cubbyhole tucked away in the nicer parts of the big city. A place to sleep was always nice no matter where it resided.

The two animals were led to an apartment building and where led up a rather long staircase. Living as far away from the streets was for the best. No too many thieves would wander all the way up to the top floor to break into someone’s place. Adam would know. The burglars would not risk their freedom on the chances of grabbing a few dollars from an apartment so high up.

Adam reached a door at the very end of the stairs. He slipped out a key from his pocket before placing it into the keyhole. Turning the knob, the Kohaku pushed against the door forcing it open.

“Come in,” he said to the other two before disappearing inside.

[Sythe]

Blood drops seemed to follow the woman, it seemed to stick to her like her shadow, to be honest. Sythe wondered when would she ever stop the blood? She paused, and sighed. Leave it to a Kohaku to live in the most hard to reach place. She took a step up the stairs, and paused.. Glancing back..So he felt like getting involved? How odd she took him for the one to duck in run..while considering that was what he had put off.

He had still smelled like garbage. She wouldn’t say anything, it was just her strong nose she rationalized. She paused, and almost tripped over a step as the Kohaku entered into the room. It could be a trap. She thought, but walking in anyways, black paws walked in, blood drenched arms. She didn’t care much for the furniture. She walked in far enough so Terran could get in, and she laid down, to tend to her wound. She was use to doing this. ”You know..I was thinking of cleaning my wounds on your bed...but I figured you have something important to tell me. Because I’d figure the only reason why the mighty Adam Kohaku would want me in his room is for a throw rug.”

She had been quiet blunt about what she was saying. But she had a feeling that it was important, she glanced to Terran. He really didn’t know what he was getting into, the small dog licked her wound tenderally, wincing sometimes.”Adam this is Terran, Terran Adam Kohaku. Now that introductions are out of the way.. what is it Adam?” she spoke her blue eyes narrowing onto the androgynous hunter.

[Terran Grant]

“Unless he suddenly developed a taste for cross-species relations,” Terran remarked, trying to lighten the mood with a joke but seemingly failing in the process. The thought was just too ‘ew.’ “Hehe…eheh,” he scratched his head, the ‘holy crap this is awkward’ expression on his face all too obvious.

The Maned Wolf elected to stand, rather than take a seat on anything given his less-than-clean status at the moment. It wasn’t a long walk here, but man did it feel like an eternity, and he seemed nervous enough to flinch at any sudden sensation that surprised him along the way (like a gaggle of rats digging through trash or a cat purring just a little too suddenly).

Well, if he was going to kill them it seemed unlikely he’d drag them into an apartment. The two smaller creatures would have had all the advantages in a setting like this… Well, with the exception of the involvement of a gun anyway. Seemed logical to stop worrying about it, but he still couldn’t help but flinch when he heard a police siren move right on down the street.

“Kohaku…” he mumbled to himself, a finger moving up to his lips in thought. Why did that name sound so familiar? It definitely wasn’t on his “stolen from” list, but it wasn’t on his “do not steal from” list either. It was like it was something he should know but for some reason didn’t. Oh well, no reason in worrying about it. A look around the room said this guy didn’t have much to steal anyway. You can’t get blood from a turnip, why steal from the poor?

[Adam Kohaku]

Another sigh. Such animals could be annoying creatures. Adam was in no mood for jokes and such. He meant business; none of this was for pleasure. Not to mention his dislike for the thought of mating outside of his species. Perhaps Kaine would do such a thing but not this Kohaku.

The long haired hunter moved across the room to a window. He looked through the glass before closing the curtains. He took no chance; he hated the thought of being spied upon. Though he had paraded the two animals around town, he still wanted privacy when speaking to the black wolf.

“You two should sit on the furniture. I don’t really use this place much. Really, I only use it when I must sleep overnight in this forsaken city. So sit back and relax. It will help calm any tension I hold toward you, animals.”

When animals stood at attention, tension seemed to dig its claws into Adam’s back and crawled its way up his spine. Each movement they gave would force the hunter to be on edge. He wasn’t use to such confrontation. He wasn’t use to simply talking to these creatures. Normally, when he was around beasts, his blades were cutting them apart.

“I feel as though it is necessary for me to give you this warning,” Adam said, his words being sent in the direction of the female wolf. “Lord Darcia has attached a bounty upon your head. He wants my siblings and I to hunt you down and capture you alive.”