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With A Little Help From My Friends (Aeyt!)

Started by Eckhart_Von_Musel, January 18, 2018, 07:27:49 AM

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Eckhart_Von_Musel

"I'm telling you dude, this guy has the coolest blades in Le'Raana!"

"Alright, alright, I'll check it out! Man, you're pushy today..."

Ignatius Pratt was a long way from Zantaric. Long, pointless detours weren't anything new for the boy, of course- Carolina was uncannily good at getting the teenager to wander off the beaten path. This time he'd found himself in Arca's bustling market district, watching as the merchants and vendors haggled with customers.

Carolina tugged at the boy's hair with her beak. "You won't be complaining when you see the shit this guy is selling!" she thought to him as the boy approached a blacksmith's stall. "They have cyathil, man! Cyathil!"

Ignatius's eyes lit up. "Wait, really?" he thought back, quickening his pace. Upon reaching the stall, he gasped- the bird was right. The teal metal glimmered in the sunlight, and the numerous steel blades also being sold seemed downright unattractive next to it. A suit of cyathil armor stood on a stand behind the counter, sparkling brilliantly. "No way! That's awesome!"

"Told you!"

Ignatius picked up a cyathil dagger, grinning wildly. He looked at the vendor "Hey, how much?"

The balding man looked the boy over dismissively. "Eighty suns." he said flatly.

"Do I get my Friends discount?" the boy replied instinctively. "That's an awful lot..."

"Hahaha!" Carolina laughed. "We're not in Zantaric you goofball! He won't know what you mean!"

"Ohhhh yeah..."

The merchant gave Ignatius a funny look. "Friends discount? I don't know you."

"Hey, you can just take the knife y'know." The bird flew onto the suit of armor, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Just keep talking for a sec, I'll do the distraction thing."

"But I'm your nephew!" Ignatius told the man angrily. "Come on, can't you can cut the price for me?"

"What? I don't have any-"

*CRASH*

Carolina had undone the armor straps, causing the suit to fall off the stand with a loud clatter. The vendor turned around, and Carolina flew back onto the teenager's shoulder. "Come on, let's go!"

Ignatius nodded, pocketing the knife quickly. The two would slip away into the crowd, hoping nobody had seen them...

Aeytrious

        ...But that was unlikely. In Arca, thieving never went unnoticed. The shop itself was a front. How else would a street stall afford that much cyathil? Places like that were watched, protected. Even though the shop keeper was distracted by the collapse and then preoccupied by the cleanup, other eyes saw the boy slip away with the dagger. They had seen it all, even the way the bird had undone the ties before the boy slipped away. The ability to control animals to such a fine degree was a useful trick. Perhaps the Soot Wolves could recruit the kid into the Scavengers. He didn't look too old, and though his look more fit the dark Shadows, such a skill would be more at home with picking pockets and thieving.
        That was how Ignatius Pratt gained his first Shadow. The Soot Wolf that tailed the boy was well trained, and had years of experience. There was no way some every day street rat was going to make her. Dressed like any other commoner, she slipped through the crowd like flowing water. Keeping just close enough that she wouldn't lose sight of the boy. It wasn't hard to keep track of him with the bright yellow bird standing out.
Guild
The Soot Wolves

Characters
Ryk/Theodore/Rufus
ArjanDirkElijahGeldGulliusHiram
HerewardKheelanKurohanaLex
MalilaMelyndariaMowellesaQuinnlyn
SehrayanahTiberiusValencia
Ritousaey


Eckhart_Von_Musel

"Man, that was kickass! I'm proud of you, champ!"

"Aww, thanks!" Ignatius thought as he moved with the flow of the crowd. "But you did all the work, really. You're the cooler one." 

"Hey, it was teamwork." the bird replied, preening her wing. "Don't sell yourself short, it's really lame."

The boy's cheeks tinged pink. "Sorry..." Shaking his head, he changed the subject. "Hey, we should be far away enough, right? Can I take it out and look at it now?"

"Hell yeah! Go for it, man!"

Grinning, the teenager ducked into an alleyway. Looking both ways to make sure they were alone, he took took the dagger out of his pocket. It wasn't particularly ornate- it didn't need to be- but the unusual color of the metal made it stick out among the boy's dark clothing. Ignatius bit his lower lip. "This is so awesome..." he whispered out loud. "Man, wait until Sarah and Randal see it!"

"Toldja coming to Arca would be worth it."

Aeytrious

        The woman following Ignatius signaled to others about her quarry in the complex hand signals of the Soot Wolves. Scavenger Wolves all passed on the word as the boy made his way past them, and Ignatius gained two more Shadows along the way. Down the alley he turned, gave a cursory glance that the coast was clear, and then pulled out the dagger. He didn't even hunker down and get proper concealment. The kid was obviously an amateur, at least from the perspective of the Soot Wolves tailing him.
        Several sets of eyes watched Ignatius now, and strained to listen as he whispered. "This is so awesome. Man, wait until Sarah and Randal see it!" Down at the end of the alley a drunk got up from among some refuse. He stumbled toward Ignatius, apparently oblivious to his presence. Several feet from the boy he stopped and opened his pants and began urinating on the wall. As he shook himself he paused and vomited on his own boots. Then the Scavenger Wolf, who couldn't have been more convincing if he truly was drunk, made a dash for Ignatius. Another Scavenger and a Shadow moved to block in the boy as the not-drunk man made to snatch up the boy.
Guild
The Soot Wolves

Characters
Ryk/Theodore/Rufus
ArjanDirkElijahGeldGulliusHiram
HerewardKheelanKurohanaLex
MalilaMelyndariaMowellesaQuinnlyn
SehrayanahTiberiusValencia
Ritousaey


Eckhart_Von_Musel

"Hahaha! Ignatius, look behind you!"

Turning his head quickly, Ignatius was just in time to see a clearly intoxicated man throw up on himself. "Eww..." The boy looked at Carolina, his nose wrinkled. "Why'd you make me look at that? It's gross..."

"It was funny! You'll look at whatever I- Oh shit dude, look out!"

"No way! I'm not falling for that this- AHH"

The drunkard had lunged forwards, grabbing the teenager tightly. Carolina flew away, chirping wildly. "Shit! Do something man, use the knife!"

Trying to put on a tough face despite the fear he felt, Ignatius would make an attempt to slash at his assailent...

Aeytrious

        The knife Ignatius held wasn't an ordinary blade. Cyathil was valued for being light in weight but as strong as steel. That meant it was saved for the best craftsman, to make their best products. The blade in his hand was extremely well made, and extremely sharp. It parted the cloth of the fake drunk's sleeve with ease. The leather armor beneath was equally easy to slice through and the blade found the flesh of the man's arm. The cut was only a graze, and was deflected by a metal rivet in the hidden armor. The arch of the swing after deflection, and the movement of the man in his apprehension of the boy, drove the dagger to the hilt in his shoulder. An unlucky occurrence, but the Scavenger Wolf simply grunted as he took the wound, and wrapped Ignatius in strong arms.
        "Someone grab that blade and heal our drunk," the female Shadow Wolf stepped forward, commanding the situation. "Catch the bird if you can too," she said and someone on the roof began the attempt immediately, "but don't hurt the bird, we don't know how the kid controls it. Could be he can only control that type of bird, and I've not seen another one this far north of Adela." Someone was wiping the blade clean now that it had been pulled from the mans shoulder, and while he had bled a bit on Ignatius, the wound was closing from the magic of a potion. The female Shadow stooped to eye level with Ignatius as the big man held him still, and kept his mouth covered.
        "I'm guessing you're not from around here kid," the woman said with a lovely smile. "If there was a kid that could control animals that well in Arca, he'd already been scouted for recruitment by us. Trouble is, nobodies allowed to commit crimes in our city without our permission. Not only did you steal from someone in our city, but you stole cyathil from a Soot Wolf vendor. That's a lot more trouble. The rule is though, that you keep what you steal, but you have to work to pay it off. Since you have such a neat trick though, we'll take you to see the boss." The woman stood up and called to the others on the roof tops. "Anyone catch that bird?"
Guild
The Soot Wolves

Characters
Ryk/Theodore/Rufus
ArjanDirkElijahGeldGulliusHiram
HerewardKheelanKurohanaLex
MalilaMelyndariaMowellesaQuinnlyn
SehrayanahTiberiusValencia
Ritousaey


Eckhart_Von_Musel

Ignatius's heart skipped a beat as his blade connected, getting stuck in the man's shoulder. "Haha! Carolina, I got- oof!" The boy's telepathy was cut off as the drunkard powered through his injury and pinned his arms. Ignatius tried to cry out, but the man's hand had soon covered his mouth. "Fuck! Carolina, what do I do?"

"Hang on champ, I'll think of something." the bird replied as a woman stepped out of the shadows and began to speak. "Looks like these guys want me too. Joke's on them, they'll need more then a pansy-ass butterfly net to catch me!"

"Carolina hush, I'm trying to listen to this..." Ignatius narrowed his eyes, looking at the woman nervously. "These guys are from the Soot Wolves? Shit, now what?" 

"Ahahaha! They think talking to me is your power! You oughta- oops, he almost got me that time!"

"Umm... I think they want to recruit me..."

"Well duh, who wouldn't want you on their side? You're kickass!"

Ignatius's cheeks tinged pink. "Aww, thanks! You're awesome too!" He beamed from underneath the man's hand. "We still gotta get out of this though, I'm already in a gang..."

"Oh, pfft. Just meet their boss and explain how worried your parents in Ravensway will be if you don't get back home on time. Make 'em feel like assholes, y'know?" The goldfinch evaded the net one last time before flying down onto the woman's head. "Thirty minute sob story and we're on our way!"

"Haha, alright!" The teenager struggled in the man's grip, trying to speak through the hand on his face. "Mmm muh mm mm!"

Aeytrious

        Someone threw an electric spell at the little bird, narrowly missing. "Don't kill it you idiot! I said catch it. If that's the only bird he can control, he's useless without it." A gag was tied in place to keep the kid from making too much noise and then the large man carried him like a sack over his shoulder through several secret doors and finally a stairway into a tunnel beneath the city. There were many such secret accesses throughout Arca. Over the years, mage groups, assassin guilds, and many thieves had occupied the underbelly of Arca, and the Soot Wolves had sussed them all out. The Shadow Wolf in front of the big man was the only one that remained, the others returning to their duties or trying to catch the bird. She led through the paths quickly without reading the secret marks that told clever eyes where they were.
        "Don't worry kid," she said to Ignatius, "the Boss is a decent guy. He doesn't kill kids. You're almost killing age, but I think you'll make it through this okay. Hopefully he's around right now, or we might have to throw you in a pen until he's available."
Guild
The Soot Wolves

Characters
Ryk/Theodore/Rufus
ArjanDirkElijahGeldGulliusHiram
HerewardKheelanKurohanaLex
MalilaMelyndariaMowellesaQuinnlyn
SehrayanahTiberiusValencia
Ritousaey


Eckhart_Von_Musel

Iggy's eyes widened in shock as somebody threw a lightning bolt towards Carolina, missing the bird by a hair. The woman who's head she had perched on seemed completely unfazed- no easy feat. "Whoa. That was hardcore..."

Carolina took off once more, groaning. "Yeesh. Looks like they won't let me just tag along, huh?" The goldfinch flew up above the buidings, chirping wildly. "I'll catch up with you, okay dude?"

"Wait, you're just gonna leave?"

"Calm dowwwn, Champ. I'll still be in your head, remember?"

"Yeah..." The boy frowned as a gag was tied around his mouth. "I guess that's true..."

Ignatius flinched as he was picked up, stuggling to break free of the man's grip. "Mmm mm mh mhmh!" he exclaimed angrily as he was carried down a dingy stairway and into a dark tunnel. Wasn't it enough that they'd gagged him? Being carried like this was just humiliating!

And uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable.

"You there yet, dude?" Carolina's voice rang in his head. "What direction are they taking you?"

"Man, I don't know!" the boy thought back, ignoring what the woman in front of him had to say. "We keep turning! I'm underground now too, so that sucks."

"Sheesh. Yeah, that's no good. Hang on, I'll think of something..."

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