Slayer x Pyre 1x1

[StarryKnights]

Sahara stared in awe up at this building. "Hey...I know this hotel" she grinned and looked to Livia. "...Wait here a moment will you..." She said before approaching one of the guards. It was a tall, muscular man, with a grim expression on his face. "You and your little friend need to move along Missy, before you get hurt" he spoke in a low tone, to avoid being heard by passer bys. Sahara didn't seem phased. "This place is the for the elite, right/" The guard arched an eyebrow. "Yes, only way in is to be on someone's guest list" Sahara grinned. 
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"Well, what if I told you..."
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The two spoke for a few minutes, the guard had a hand on his hip, inches away from the gun he had holstered there. Sahara was a cool as a cucumber, and didn't seem phased by the show of force. The guard's expression changed from grim, to skeptical, and then shock. 'oh, well, I'm sorry Miss. Cephres, I never meant to offend you..." Sahara shook her head. "No worries, I have no real desire to head insdie today" As much as she wanted to continue this hunt, she and Livia needed to retreat while the quitting was good. "I just have a question is all..." she pulled out her tracker and pulled up the picture of the Asian man. "Did this man wcome here today?"
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The guard looked at the picture, and frowned. "...Yes...he and to others..." Sahara looked back to Livia and grinned. "others, you say?" she pulled a pen and paper, and asked the guard to describe the other two. The man gave a detail descrption of a male, and a more general one of a younger looking female, but sadly he didn't catch their names. "Right then, thank you, and I'll be sure to tell my mother that you were most helpful" The guard nodded semi nervously and watched as Sahara walked back over to Livia.
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She handed her the notepad. 'Well, its not a total loss, we knew that they are here...and what the other two look like...more or less" she smiled and looked back at the guards. "I...know someone who stays here often..." she looked back to Livia. "I'd say we should go in but...I think your right. Time to call Rufus and bail...no sense in digging our grave even deeper" She wanted nothing more than to continue this hunt, but they were in enough trouble as it was. Ideally the advanced team would be able to track down the prey and bring it in without too much trouble.
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Sophie Stolts and Niko Medina
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Dragons that got captured wound up disceted, broken and ultimately, as test subjects. The memories still haunted Niko at times, and he was always on guard for hunters. Today, it seemed, that paranoia had played a hand in saving his and Sophie's life. he was thankful for that. He didn't care much for this fancy hotel, with its fancy room and shit, but it did seem to be safe...for the moment. Once the three of them were in the room, Sophie made a beeline for one of the bedrooms. She'd never seen a hotel so rich and classy, she squealed with delight as she explored. The sight brought half a smile to Niko's face. He was thankful that at least for the time being...she was safe. Looking to Kaito, he spoke. "Those two will be calling an advanced team to get us, we won't be able to stay here long" he looked to the window, judging the distance from it to the roof top. It was doable...for him and Kaito but Sophie wans't used to such feats. Currently she was in the bathromm, gushing over the fancy towels. "...Sophie has never been in this sort of situation...but..." he sighed. "Its important she remains unidentified...her parents are dragons as wel...air, I believe" he scratched at the back of his neck. "I can think of some places we could hide, where our scent would be masked by wel...the filth of the street..." 
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Niko looked Kaito up and down. "...I've been in this city longer than three years, its funny how we never ran into each other until now..." Crystal City was big, but even so, a dragon could smell another dragon from miles away if they focused... He supposed he never did bother to explore this area until he met Sophie, after that he was always focusing on her... 
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"Do you know of any others?" 
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[pyreshadow]

Kaito Iwasa
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A small nod was given as Kaito figured as much; he wanted to be optimistic about things but that wouldn't fly with the hunters, he knew it. He'd seen it happen before but thankfully never really had a part in it himself. Hearing that Sophie had never been in a situation like this before caused his eyes to widen for a split moment before he glanced over towards where the girl was. How had she been able to live such a life before? It was miraculous really, to think that her and even her parents were able to live freely in this day and age. His own had been killed when he was younger by the hunters, though he still had family left. Just...not family that he really cared to count on. "If push comes to shove, we can work something out. That would still be the best bet." Kaito pointed to the window again as he spoke; even if he had to carry Sophie, it would still be safer for them and faster to leave that way than trying to leave any other means. Shrugging lightly, he pulled out the 'phone' that he had taken from the hunter and began to eye it a bit before opening it to look it over properly. Though his eyes did dart back towards Niko for a brief moment before going right back to focusing on what he was looking at in his hands. It...was most definitely not a cellphone, which meant that she still had his picture. But what the hell was this thing?


"The city itself is vast and Crystal City is only a part of the city, so it's no wonder we never ran into each other before. Ma-chan wanted me to focus on my work alone so she thought it best that I live here as well so that's why I live on this side of town. I don't get out much though except for around this area." He shrugged as he spoke while fiddling with the device, pressing a couple of buttons until the screen showed what it was supposed to show. A thick, dark blue dot that blinked to show its status sat right smack dab in the middle and caused his head to cock to the side as he looked it over. "Huh?" Again his eyes glanced over to Niko before he shook his head slowly again. "No. The ones I knew are long gone and you're the first I've met in the city. Perhaps there are but-" he stopped when the device suddenly started beeping and the screen changed to something else, causing him to drop it for a second. Did he break it? He hardly touched the thing so how could he have broken it? As much as he thought that, the thought passed as he realized it was a message being received similarly to a text would on a normal phone. Only the message had a picture of a beautiful redheaded woman at the top that read:


'The beast has been detained on N. Armistead. She's currently heavily sedated but took down three of our men in the process. Requesting immediate medical support. Rogers and Tanaka are bringing the beast to Leira Research Facility and should be there within the next half hour. Full report to come once we return.


~Gomez'


Staring at the words a moment longer, he turned the device so that Niko could read the words better and not upside down before leaning back in his chair. "Apparently there is another and right now she's being taken into custody. I took this device from that hunter during the chaos, although I was trying for her cell so that I could keep her from having my picture to give to her headquarters. This might be some kind of additional communication link they have with one another besides their cellphones, maybe just a more secured line." It was an assumption but it was all he had to go on at the moment. Shrugging again, he got up as he was going to get some water for himself and offer something to the two of them once he was in the kitchen and saw what was available. Little did he know the blue dot on the device moved when he did and the device itself beeped when he started to move and when he stopped.

Livia Hayes
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Livia stayed off to the side as Sahara did whatever it was that she was doing before pulling out her cell again. She ended up calling Rufus to get him to come and pick them up; apparently he already knew they were in deep trouble because he was apologizing for them and saying they shouldn't back down for doing what they felt was right. The man sided with them at the very least so it was nice to have some kind of extra support. By the time she got off the phone with him, Sahara came back holding out her notepad towards her. The first few words were clue enough that she managed to get descriptions of the other two, albeit a weak one of the girl but it was something. "Wow. Maybe this will at least be able to keep us from being in complete hot water." Yeah right but it was nice to dream. "I already called Rufus, he should be here in a at most ten minutes he said. Although he did add 'less with the way I drive' at the end of that so we'll see." She shrugged her shoulders at the end of that before eyeing the building again.


"The advanced team is already on their way too so it shouldn't be long before they arrive. After that, they'll have access inside since they have privileges that we don't I imagine. On top of that-" Livia paused when a louder, more annoying beeping went off and she realized after a second that it was coming from Sahara's device and not either of their cells. "What, is one of them moving or something?"

 

[StarryKnights]

Sahara Cephres
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Sahara looked down at her phone and shook her head. "nope, its a message requesting medicinal aid, apparently some of ours were hurt while capturing another dragon..." She turned and showed Livia the message. "Crazy to think others found a dragon too...though we hit the jack pot" Maybe after they were in custody, Vicky would show them some mercy. Sure they'd screwed up, but they also hit the mother load when it came to dragon hunting. No one else would be able to say they found three dragons within a two block radius.  She knew they were in trouble, but what they discovered had to count for something. "Maybe when this is all said and done, Mai could sneak us into the lab, I'd love to actually....you know, talk to one of these things" She pointed to the building behind her.
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"I can only imagine what fascinating things they have on their minds" Sahara's eyes shone with a keen interest in a subject most hunters didn't bother to think about.  Mai owed her a favor, it wasn't crazy to think that she could...talk to a dragon, if only for a minute or two. She had so many questions she wanted to ask... 
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"You know, in spite of how shitty things turned out, this was fun. If we live through Vicky's punishment, we should partner up again" she smiled. 
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Niko Medina and Sophie Stolts
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Niko's eyes lit up when he read the message. "Another dragon...' he looked to the window, and then to the kitchen, where Kaito was. "...We have to go get her, we can't jsut let them take her" he exclaimed. Sophie poked her head in. "What are you guys...oh..." She spotted the device in Niko's hand, and walked over to take a closer look. "huh, look at these dots..." she looked from the dark blue dot, and then to kaito. "...uh...Mr. Kaito...i think...this is tracking you..." Niko blinked and looked to the screen again. "Holy shit Sophie...your right...this thing its..." he grinned. "...heat signature...its tracking our heat signatures...we're colder than normal humans...i guess..." He looked to Sophie excitedly. "If thats the case, then i can trick this fucking thing" All he'd have to do was regulate his internal temperature. Sophie frowned. "Thats all well and good, but we should stay here and let things simmer down Niko"
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Niko shook his head. "No, there's another dragon out there, sedated and detained, we have to go get her" Sophie blinked and worry colored her features. "Captured...but...if we go..." she looked back down at the device. "...Then this thing will track us" Niko shook his head. "I'll go, you two should lay low...we can regroup later..."
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Sophie didn't like this idea...she didn't want Niko going out by himself. She looked to Kaito. "Please tell him this is nuts"
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niko rolled his eyes. 'We can't stay here long, they'll have a team out here soon to track us down...and we'll all end up like this other girl..." he looked to Kaito. "We should all move now, before that team arrives"
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[pyreshadow]

Kaito Iwasa
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Mr. Kaito...? His noses wrinkled slightly at being called that as it made him sound far too old for his liking. He was still trying to think of a good plan for going after the other dragon like Niko suggested too but the whole Mr. thing caught him off guard. Though that was down-played when she suggested that the device was tracking him. He walked back over towards them with a bottled water in hand and made sure to walk in a way so he could see the device from over Niko's shoulder. How the dot seemed to thicken when Kaito drew closer to it. "If it's a heat signature, then we should all be able to no matter what element we are. It would all be about how we go about doing it though." Kaito could just make his body temperature colder and that would at least mess with it enough to cause it to malfunction. As the two of them began to argue a bit between each other, Kaito looked the note over and looked over the dragon again. It wasn't until Sophie's voice caught his ear that he drew his gaze to her.


"I'm afraid my dear that I agree with Niko." He gave her an apologetic smile before making a motion towards the image of the woman. "We have to help her but I would prefer if you wouldn't go alone." Kaito glanced the other male over when he said that before his arms crossed over his chest in thought. "Knowing that there's another dragon, especially one that's near to us, I can't just sit by and let her stay in captivity. I haven't experienced it myself but...I know what happens there. We need to get her out." Reaching for the device, Kaito placed it back into his pocket before he walked over to the window and eyed the building across from them. It was the best option that they had still and it could net them a car too since there was a garage attached to it. "The woman that I was with earlier, Marianna, she's a sweet lady. She'd be able to watch over Sophie if you'd prefer to leave her in someone else's capable hands." As Kaito suggested this, he opened the window and made a motion for the two other dragons to follow him. "And as for you my dear, I understand that you aren't accustomed to this but this is the safest bet for us to leave. I'll keep you safe, I promise. Just...try not to call me Mr. Just Kaito is fine." He gave her a gentle smile as he held out his hand for her, figuring if he kept a gentle hold of her while he jumped he'd be able to land just fine. It wasn't like she'd be heavy or anything.

Livia Hayes
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"Capturing....one of the teams actually managed to catch one?" Livia asked in surprise as she stepped closer to eye the device. How amazing that was, still not like their three dragons they found but still being able to capture one was something else entirely than just finding some. Her brow rose curiously when Sahara admitted to wanting to sneak in to the lab to be able to talk with one before she ended up laughing quietly. "You know it'd be the same as talking to me or someone else. They've been trapped in a human's body for who knows how long so the only thing keeping them going now is their heartscale. It's the only reminder that they're dragons, not humans. Or so I've been told by someone that's actually gotten to talk with some before." Her father had that luxury and he said it was just like talking to any old human, that there wasn't anything special about it. At least not unless you started messing with their heartscale or something about their dragon traits. Then things changes real quick. "It might be pretty interesting though anyway. Just to be able to see their heartscale." That was something Livia was most interested in seeing since she'd been told it was the most beautiful thing in the world. More beautiful than diamonds and pearls, or really any gem a woman could desire.


"Yeah, it's been fun. Hopefully they'll pair us up again. Shame we can't choose our own partners." Livia would rather work with Sahara since they were similar-minded women when it came to a lot of things. Right as she was thinking that, a Suburban pulled up by them and the window rolled down. The sunglasses Rufus was wearing were lowered as he eyed each of them and then then the building that they were standing in front of.


"Yeah, ya ain't getting in there on ya payroll. Get in." He motioned with his head for them to get in before rolling the window back up but this time all Livia did was chuckle at his words. With one last look at her partner, she climbed in to the backseat and buckled up; only once both of them were in did Rufus start driving off in the direction of headquarters with his music blaring like it had been when he first dropped them off.

 

[StarryKnights]

Sophie Stolts and Niko Medina
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Sophie didn't like this plan. She didn't like the idea of another dragon being held captive, but she didn't want anything bad to happen to Niko or Mr...uh, Kaito. She frowned. "But we just got here" she crossed her arms and looked to the floor. "...Is it always gong to be like this, running and running with no end in sight?" Sophie had lived a quiet life back home, right then she was wishing she'd stayed there. The city was exciting, but it was full of dangerous she wasn't equipped to handle. She wasn't like Niko...or Kaito..
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She wasn't used to a life on the run, and she didn't want to have t get used to it.
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"If you don't want to help, then we'll drop you off with this woman Kaito mentioned" The man spoke up. Sophie looked to him, surprised in his eyes. "No, I don't...I'm not a child, i can make my own decisions..." She frowned at the both of them/ "...You act like I'll be some sort of burden to you both...I...can handle myself..."
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Niko arched an eyebrow, he seriously doubted that , but now wasn't the time to argue. "Well, we need to get going Sophie, so we need your answer...now"he made his way toward the window. It was an easy jump for a dragon to make, even an impaired one like him... 
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Sophie eyed Kaito's hand for a moment before pushing it away. "I can make it" she said stubbornly. She was an air dragon, she was perfectly fine with jumping...
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"...If we're going to go...then we should go" she said with a sigh. She felt like this was a bad idea, but the others seemed to have their minds made up. So she'd go with them, and make sure that they didn't get hurt. 
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Niko nodded and looked to Kaito. "Well then...lets go"Sophie's eyes went wide as Niko opened the window, took a step back, ran a jumped. "Niko!" She ran over, and breathed a sigh of relief as he laned safely on the other rooftop. Okay, so maybe that looked way scarier than she'd thought it would be... "Uh..." she looked to Kaito. "...So...M- I mean Kaito....I changed my mind..." she looked back across the gap. "...I could use the help..."
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Sophie wasn't used to this sort of thing...but she was willing to learn. After finding two dragons, and now a third, to be friends with, she wasn't willing to let them go.
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Sahara Cephres
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Sahara arched an eyebrow. "Oh, and who do you know that spoke to a dragon?" she chuckled. She knew it wouldn't be much different...but. "I know it won't be different...but I want to see the scale...you know she sighed. "It must be amazing to see it attached to a living, breathing dragon. And any we catch wont stay that way for long" They were destined for the cutting bored. "You know, I heard that some years ago, a dragon escaped headquarters" Sahara smiled as the car drove up. "I hear we cut apiece of that dragon's heartscale off, and its somewhere in the lab"
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The dragon wasn't expected to live, yet somehow it had. How it escaped its containment was still a mystery,though many believed it had been an inside job.
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When Rufus pulled up, Sahara chuckled. Her mother's name could get her in this place,but there was no sense of chasing the dragons any further. The advanced unit would be here soon enough. She climbed in the car behind Livia, and offered the woman a smile. 'Well, heres hoping they put us together again" Livia was a lot less of an anal retentive prick than she'd been expecting. Sahara hoped that they'd get to work together again.  Sahara buckled her seat belt, and stared out the window as Rufus drove them back to head quarters.
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[pyreshadow]

Kaito Iwasa
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Kaito ended up looking Sophie over with a gentle smile playing on his lips, not at all bothered by her thinking that they thought she'd be a burden. He was only going on what Niko said, her not living the life that they had. No Kaito certainly didn't have one like Niko did but he felt he had one that was still much more involved than most dragons these days. When the other two finally joined him by the window, he ended up chuckling at Sophie's sudden enthusiasm; or perhaps it was more of a cover than anything but either way she still seemed like she was prepared to actually jump. Kaito gave the other male a nod and waited for him to jump first, then glanced over to Sophie to let her go next. Only her reaction was exactly what he thought it was going to be. It was cute though. He ended up chuckling again as he stepped closer to her and settled one hand across her mid-back and the other underneath her knees. In one motion he lifted her up into his arms and glanced down at her with a gentle smile.


"Don't worry. As I said, I won't let anything happen to you either." Kaito spoke confidently as he held her close, making sure that she was comfortable before turning to the window. "Just hold on." It was the only warning that he gave to her before he bolted towards the window and jumped without a second's thought. He landed safely on the other rooftop without any problems and turned to glance back at the window they had come from. Shame they didn't get to enjoy the room but maybe another time. With another smile, he looked to Sophie again as he let go of her knees first so that she could stand on her own feet again. "See? Not bad at all." He kept a hold of her back though in case it was a bit of an adrenaline rush for her since she wasn't used to such a thing just to keep her steady. Once he was sure she was fine, he stepped away and looked over the edge towards the street. Two Suburbans were coming down the road towards the hotel, which meant their time was limited. "We need to go. Now." Kaito announced as he saw the cars slowly pulling over to park outside of the hotel. "We don't have much of a head start, two cars just pulled in to the hotel. We'll need to be quick in getting one of our own if we're to get to that Leira base before the other care. I think from here's it's maybe ten, fifteen minutes?" As Kaito spoke, he started leading the way to the door where the staircase was leading down and found it locked. Easy enough to fix with a quick kick to the door, causing it to fly off of its hinges. Maybe that was a little too rough but they were on a time crunch here. Turning back to the other two, he made a motion for them to go first and he'd follow after them.

 

[StarryKnights]

Sophie Stolts
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Sophie blushed and kept her eyes down., She wasn't proud about needing help, air dragons were the fastest, they were at home in the air and on land, the same way a water dragon was at home in water. It was embarrassing she couldn't stand to jump from one roof to another. Sophie had mastered her powers growing up, she'd had lots of free time, and her parents had insisted so that she'd never cause a scene. She could manipulate the air in any way she wanted, making it thinner, heavier, lighter or fast moving. It was her lifeblood...and Yet. She needed help jumping from one window to another. Her parents would be so disappointed... 
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"Oh uh" she stammered as Kaito picked her up, reflexively she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I uh...uh th-thank" she stammered nervously as he spoke. Sh could feel the heat in her cheeks as she blushed. Now that she was up close she noticed something that should've hit her sooner. Kaito was pretty hot, even more so than Niko...
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After all, the initial reason Sophie had even spoken to the other dragon, aside from the fact he was well, a dragon, was because he was attractive. What 21 year old girl wasn't looking for a hot guy to hang around and maybe, court.
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She giggled and nodded as Kaito gave her warning, but nothing could've prepared her for the heart stopping sensation she felt as they jumped. It was a rush, an exhilaration that Sophie only felt when she flew., which she'd only done a couple of timesA grin colored her features, but her grip around Kaito tightened.
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She didn't let go until they were both safely on solid ground.
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h uh...thank you..." She smiled as she regained her balance.
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Niko Medina
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Niko rolled his eyes as Sophie regained her balance, she was such a little ditz. As long as she was across safe though, it didn't really matter. "well, why don't we get going then, if your fine, princess" he spoke with the tiniest hint of an edge, his words got a riseout of Sophie though, who sent him a dirty look as Kaito kicked down the door. It seemed subtly was out the window then... He liked this guy, he knewhow to get shit done. Niko headed down the stairs first, followed by Sophie. The stairs lead down to another door, which had a label which read "Top floor,maintenance access" This apparently was used by maintenance staff going to and from the roof. They were on an office building, several different businesses rented the floors. The lower four floors however, was a parking garage. If they could get down there, Niko could get them a car, assuming Kaito was coo with stealing one.
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Niko cracked the door open and peeked his head out, he was faced with a long, lit hallway with several doors which lead to different suits. They needed to find the stair, the elevator would take too long, plus they'd have to share the ride with other humans. "Aha' Niko
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smiled as he found a door simply labeled stairs. He turned back to the other two. "Hop your ready to walk, fourth floor is where the parking garage starts...we can...borrow a car from there"
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[pyreshadow]

Kaito Iwasa
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Kaito followed after the other door down the sets of stairs until they reached another door, which they couldn't just kick open like he had done the first time. They didn't know the building yet so if there was some kind of security near then that would cause a slew of other problems. It just worked out for them at the earlier moment for Kaito to do that. So when Niko peeked through, Kaito pressed himself against the wall and stole a peek through the crack as well to gauge the type of building that it was. An office building of sorts, which meat there were businesses in there. There was most definitely a garage on the lower levels though because he'd seen it before they even jumped across the building. Niko spotted whatever it was he was looking for, so Kaito glanced over to him with a curious gaze before giving him a nod.


"That's the idea, something inconspicuous preferably but we can't really be too picky." Kaito nodded his head in agreement since he had been thinking of stealing a car from the beginning when they first starting talking about the rescue mission to begin with. The only problem was that if this was really a business oriented place, they'd stand out pretty drastically. They'd need to walk to keep from being suspicious but still try to move along quickly. "Keep calm and just keep walking, no matter what happens. Let's go." Kaito gave a nod of his head before letting Niko lead the way once again since he knew the direction they'd need to go. Kaito followed behind, keeping his head forward but his eyes scanning around them every now and then as they walked. For the most part it was uninterrupted but as they neared the door leading to the stairs, someone called out to them. Kaito felt his heart drop a little but he was quick to think about the way out of it. Turning to face the man in question, he began to speak angrily in another language to him and pointed upstairs. The man in the suit seemed taken aback by the sudden outburst and clearly was confused, so Kaito continued with it. He made a motion to the man's suit and then to himself about how he wasn't wearing a suit, then pointed upstairs again. When the man still seemed to not get it, Kaito ended up letting a slew of curses leave his lips in the same language before he huffed and turned back to Niko and Sophie. He spoke to them also in that language and made a motion for them to continue, making it seem like they understood what he was saying even if they didn't. Before he followed the other dragons into the stairs, he turned back to the still stunned man and pointed upstairs again before snapping more words at him. Even though the man didn't understand, he ended up running off towards the elevator nearby likely to try to see what was wrong with the upstairs.


Kaito took the chance to let out a small sigh as the door closed behind them, his hands resting on his sides. "Well. Guess my mother was right for teaching me other languages that after all." There was a small, almost sad smile that crossed Kaito's features for a split moment as he thought about her before he shook the thought away. "It didn't buy us much time though since now they're going to end up questioning who we are and how we got into the building. We'll have to hurry."

 

[StarryKnights]

Niko Medina
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Niko lead the way down the stairs, with Sophie sticking close behind him. Kaito made up the rear and kept look out for anyone or anything. Ideally the hunters were going through their hotel room, and weren't in the building yet. Now that they had one of their devices, they could figure a way around them, and keep their crucial step in front of the people trying to kill them. When they reached a lower level, they encountered a door that Kaito couldn't kick open. "Alright, give me a second here" Niko crouched down in front of the door, pulled out a lock pick, and went to work. Surviving on the streets had come with learning  several useful tricks, like breaking and entering. Niko didn't do it as often since he met Sophie, but he used to supplement his meager living by stealing from local houses. Mainly food, clothes, and small items he could pawn, but either way, he was an expert with a lock pick.
​

He could also hot wire cars, which he'd use to get them their way out. He carried on working as Kaito screamed in what sounded to Niko like gibberish. Sophie's grip on his shoulders tightened, but Niko kept working. "Act natural Sophie, we're almost there..." he grinned as the lock clicked open/ Turning around, he saw the man Kaito had been yelling at was running off. Kaito was right, they didn't have much time now. He pulled the door open, revealing the first floor of the parking garage "Okay, lets pick  car" he looked to Sophie and Kaito. "And fast, before they catch oh" he looked toward the hotel, Niko knew they had to be swarming the place by now. He was already altering his body temperature, he hoped it was enough to throw off their devices. If it wasn't then they may have a fight on their hands... Niko wasn't sure how that would go, seeing as the enemy had tranquilizer guns... They wanted them alive, and that made his skin crawl. he was not going back... Never again... His hands clenched into fists at the very thought...
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Sophie Stolts
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Sophie frowned, noticed how tense Niko looked. "Niko..." She offered him a smile and rested  hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump/."huh...oh...right...' he shook his head and looked back to the cars. 'We need to get going" With that, he started looking for a car where they could all sit comfortably. Niko was tall, he needed a lot of leg room. Sophie sighed and looked to Kaito. "...So...what language were you speaking...back there?" she asked, looking back to the door. She'd been so confused when Kaito had started yelling, in what sounded like Japanese to her. She'd taken a course on it in community college, but never anything after that. It wad complex and Sophie didn't think she'd ever be able to be fluent. Then again, it could also be Chinese...or even Korean...given Kaito's obvious Asian heritage there were loads of possibilities. Sophie didn't want to assume anything.  whatever he'd been saying, it worked on scaring off that man in the suit, poor guy had looked so confused. She was thankful Niko and Kaito were there, Sophie would've been caught by now if she was on her own. She felt like such a child. She'd come out here to live on her own, and now she was clinging to these two for protection. She knew she wouldn't last a day now that the hunters had boosted their...hunting.  She sighed and followed after Niko, she hated the idea of stealing,but they didn't have much of a choice she supposed. This was fight or flight, and fighting wan't an option. 
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[pyreshadow]

Kaito Iwasa
​

Making their way into the garage, Kaito's eyes already started scanning the cars for the best possible candidate. There were quite the number of nice ones but so far none fit the bill for what they'd need; speed sure but that would make it easier to track them as well. He kept close to the other dragons and thought that he might have found a good fit for them when he heard Sophie speak to him. As he turned to her, he gave her a gentle smile while his hand came up to rub the back of his neck lightly. "Japanese. You probably can't tell since I don't have an accent but it was technically the first language I knew. That was all lost though when I grew older, more so when I moved here but..." he shrugged his shoulders lightly, not quite wanting to talk about it. It was the past and he knew as much as anyone the past could never change but it still didn't stop it from opening up old wounds he'd rather not touch. "I can also speak Cantonese as well as some Russian. The Russian was more because Ma-chan was thinking of sending me there for some 'inspiration' for specific art and...well, that's just a long story. But it comes in handy regardless." Like in this case for scaring off that guy since he had no idea what the hell Kaito was talking about.


"Here, I think this one will do just fine." Kaito brought the topic back to the car they were searching for and paused in front of a midnight blue Ford Fiesta. An economy car with room for them all to stretch out and duck if need be, except for the one driving the car of course. Glancing it over briefly, his eyes traveled back to Niko for a moment as he regarded the other dragon. It wasn't quite the same as picking the lock on a door but maybe... "Are you any good at breaking into cars, by chance?" Kaito asked with a growing grin on his lips, somehow feeling as though he already knew the answer to that question. If he was wrong, there was always just breaking the window in and taking the car that way. Of course, hoping a spare key would be in there was somehow a bit much to hope for but it was a possibility. A very slim possibility. The smile faded slightly as his gaze darted over to the entrance of the hotel when a shriek of surprise was heard. Another Suburban pulled up, this time with men openly armed and showing off badges that likely made them appear as though they were cops. They were still going inside of the hotel though, which meant that they hadn't caught on yet that none of the dragons weren't inside the building as of yet. They still had the upper hand...for now. "We're running out of time."

 

[StarryKnights]

Sophie Stolts
​

Sophie's eyes went wide, she could speak a little French, but that was about it. She'd taken it in high school, dreaming of one day living in France. Obviously, that dream was short lived, Sophie could never wrap her head around how inanimate objects had genders. It was too confusing for the young air dragon, and though she dabbled in classes, she never committed to learning a language fluently. "Wow, that's impressive" she said with a smile. "All I can speak is broken French" she scratched the back of her head. Kaito was becoming more and more interesting with each passing second, she wondered what else he knew. Much like Niko,he seemed to have a past he didn't like talking about, something Sophie couldn't understand, but she could respect it. When she'd pressed Niko for more details on his life, all she'd gotten was an angry scowl and a slew of curse words. She knew some liked to keep their secrets and all she could do was be mindful of that. Sophie was a very open person, seeing as there were so few dragons in the world, she didn't see a sense in being closed off with her own kind. They were all on the same side, no longer were they fighting both the humans and one another...Sophie didn't have a depressing past, she'd grown up with her family in a small sleepy town. Right then, she was hoping and praying that her family was safe, in light of this flurry of activity from the hunters.
​

 
​

Niko Medina
​

Niko looked the car Kaito had chosen over, and grinned. "Well, I'm actually better with cars then doors" he smirked as he examined the lock. If there were spare keys, that'd be great but most people weren't stupid enough to leave such things laying around. Crystal City did have a booming black market for auto parts after all. It took Niko a few minutes to pick the lock and open the door, as he did, the car alarm started to blare.
​

"Fuck" the dragon swore. Newer cars had alarms that went off whenever the key was used to unlock the door manually, it was part of the reason he'd stopped stealing cars in the first place. Sitting in the driver seat, Niko checked the usual places for a set of keys. Much to his surprise, he found some,on the underside of the sun visor. The alarm went off as he turned the key in the ignition. By this time however, the hunters across the street had to have heard the commotion.
​

Niko stuck his head out the window. "Get in, we need to move"
​

Sophie climbed in the back sea and looked anxiously toward the hotel, where a portion of the squad could be seen heading for the exit. Their lead was starting to slip from their fingers, they needed to get on the road. Once there, they could head over to save the other dragon.  
​

 
​

 

[pyreshadow]

Kaito Iwasa
​

Kaito gave the other male a nod but kept his gaze on the hotel as more of a lookout type of role than anything. Things seemed fine so far as Niko was focusing on getting into the car but the moment the alarm went off, it caught a few stares from a few passerbys. Kaito stiffened slightly, a more stern look crossing his face although the people that were looking weren't the ones that had come out of the Suburbans. The only problem was that one of the people was a hotel staff member and they ended up going inside of the hotel. Biting his lip slightly, Kaito glanced in the direction of Niko to check on the status of how things were going to see him rummaging around in the driver's seat for something. By the time that he looked back to the hotel, the hotel worker was back outside pointing towards the garage area with none other than one of the hunters that happened to be fully decked out in their equipment. Even though they had an advantage now that the alarm was off again, it didn't do them any good since the hunters had now been alerted that something was going on over here. It was only one but that wasn't the point. A door swung open nearby as well and the man that Kaito had yelled at earlier, along with some security guards, came running through the rows of cars as well. Their time really was up it seemed. The hunter had called in his squad and now the guy from the business was bringing in security. What horrible luck.


"Hm?" Kaito heard a beeping sound from the device that he had taken from the hunter earlier but he waited as he jumped into the passenger seat up front. "Drive. The man from earlier upstairs as well as a squad are coming at us from two sides." Kaito told the other dragon, pointing both to the right where the man was and behind them where the hunters were coming from. Only once the car was moving did he end up pulling out the device to look it over with a new found curiosity as yet another blue dot had appeared on the screen. Not just the one representing himself, that had become fuzzy and distorted thanks to what he was doing to his own temperature, but one that was moving. Was that the female they captured? "Here. Follow the route to get to this one, if Sophie is right about this device tracking us then this might be the other dragon." Kaito pointed to the new dot that was further ahead than they were now that they were on the road. The device was held out in a way so that Niko would be able to glance at it every now and then while still keeping an eye on the road as well. "We might be able to catch them before they make it to the research facility, if we're lucky." So far they weren't exactly lucky but they were lucky in making escapes so it might turn out.

 

[StarryKnights]

Sophie Stots
​

From the back seat of the car, Sophie paled as she saw the hunter advancing toward them. "Niko..." she looked to the river seat. It was time to go, she had zero desire to be a science experiment.  She could see the malice twist niko's face as he saw the hunter, it almost looked like he was going to go after them. TYhat would be sicide, but thankfully when Kaito got in the car, Niko put the pedal to the metal,the tires screeched before the car rocketed forward, throwing Sophie against the back of her seat. They were out of the garage and merged into traffic within minutes, Sophie peeked behind them and saw a squad of people getting into their SUV. 'Uh guys, looks like their gonna follow us"
​

 
​

Niko Medina
​

"No fucking shit!" Niko snapped back at Sophie as she pointed out the obvious. Of course they were going to follow them, they were hunters. it was their job to catch them, they weren't going to give up so easily. Niko glanced over at the device in Kaito's hand. He knew  a shortcut to get them ahead,and ideally, the hunters would lose them. "Sophie, remember how we said we can fool this device" he asked as he made a sharp left turn, which threw Sophie into a window. "Ow...yes...why?" she asked as she sat back and buckled her seatbelt. "Make sure your doing that...distort the air or something..." Sophie nodded, he hoped she had enough control over her powers to do that. They whizzed down a side street and were catching up to the fuzzy blue dot on Kaito's device. For the other dragon's sake, he hoped they got to her before they reached their base. Niko wasn't going inside that hell hole again, dead or alive. 
​

 

[pyreshadow]

Kaito Iwasa
​

The sharp turn caused Kaito to shoot his hand up and grab the bar by the window firmly. His eyes were more locked on the mirrors, gauging how much of a distance they had between them and the hunters following them. The shortcut that Niko took seemed like a good idea but it was one the hunters still followed them down regardless. After a few well timed twists and turns, they made one final turn that ended up making it seem like they were going into a garage even though it also led to another road as well. It wasn't until they were back on the main road that they actually lost them, at least it seemed like they did. There weren't any Suburbans behind them so that final turn had to have given the hunters the slip; well, that and maybe managing their body temperatures helped a bit. "I think we lost them." Kaito announced as he turned to look over his shoulders to scan the cars as a precaution. When he was sure he didn't see the hunters' car, he turned back forward with a small sigh that caught in the back of his throat when he saw one parked at a red light two cars in front of them.


A curse was close to leaving his lips but when he looked down at the device still in his hands, he realized it was the exact one that they were looking for. The one with the other dragon inside. "Hey." In case it hadn't been obvious to the other two dragons yet, he made a motion to the device first and then pointed to the Suburban ahead of them. "She's in there. How do you want to go about this? We can't exactly just try to take it out in broad day light. I'm fairly certain they've still got armed hunters in there with tranqs in case she starts waking. Plus with all the civilians around, it'd make things more difficult but..." a fight might end up happening whether they wanted it to or not. Kaito glanced back to Sophie for a moment when he thought about Niko's words and how she'd never been in this kind of situation before. It made things more difficult too since they had to think of her safety and her family since she wasn't marked yet. Kaito supposed he was lucky in the regard that his family had already been wiped out so it didn't matter too much that his picture was gotten. Or at least he was under the impression they had been wiped out anyway, he and his mother hadn't been there at the time and had only seen the aftermath. Quickly shaking the thoughts from his mind, he glanced up at the light when it turned green before turning to Niko. "Getting the driver would be best. They already know me now so it's not like I have anything to hide at this point in time. If you can pull alongside it, I think I can manage to get into the driver seat and go from there. Risky sure but it'll throw everyone off in the back if it works the way I think it will. Sophie needs to keep herself hidden since she isn't marked and it needs to stay that way while you need to keep near so we can make a swift escape once I have the other dragon." Or in case the plan flops because the hunters are prepared for any kind of emergency situation, which Kaito doubted but it was still a slim chance. Giving the two a quick smile he added, "Unless you have a better idea?"

 

[StarryKnights]

Niko Medina
​

Niko recognized the car which was only two in front of them. That had to be it. Kaito confirmed his thoughts. Now that they'd found it, they needed a plan, and quick. They'd lost the other hunters, but by now, everyone had to be on high alert. Dragons on the loose was likely to have all hunters on high alert. With so many civilians about, fighting would be risky, especially if they were forced to transform. That would cause one hell of a distraction, however it would also expose their kind to the world. That wasn't the sort of thing any dragon needed to be dealing with... Niko looked over to Kaito as he explained his plan, they followed the car as the light changed from red to green.  he could get alongside the car in auestio0n pretty easily, but after that... "Odds are, there's at least three others in that car...they'd tranq you..."And then they'd need to rescue two dragons instead of one. 'What we need is to get them to pull over...that would make this a lot  easier..." How to do that though...? Niko supposed he could melt the tires, Kaito could use one of his water tricks... "Sophie, you got any ideas?" he said, looking into the back seat. He was surprised to see Sophie had her eyes closed, and was deep in thought. "Sophie?"
​

"...Can you get alongside them Niko?" she asked as she opened her eyes. Their sky blue color seemed to glow slightly, and her pupils were slits,much like Kaito's when he'd called upon his powers. Niko grinned and nodded. Over the next block he switched lanes and drove alongside the hunter's car. 'Act casual" he said, looking to Kaito. "Girl's got a plan"
​

 
​

Sophie Stolts
​

Sophie only half listened as the boys talked about their next move. Now that they weren't actively being chased, she was able to relax a little bit. She wondered what the captured dragon was like... She hoped they weren't in pain, but it had sounded like she' d put up quite the fight.  Hopefully she/d be okay... As they pulled up to a red light, she spotted the car ahead of them, and her heart lept to her throat.Kaito confirmed her thoughts, that was it. The car they were looking for. the dragon was there, now they had to get to her. Kaito seemed to have plan, but Niko didn't appear to like it. He thought it would be best to stop the other car...
​

Sophie thought for a moment before an idea hit her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath., It had been a while since she'd called upon her powers... The air in the car kicked up for a split second before Sophie opened her eyes. her pupils were slit like a cat, and she could feel the movement of the air around them.
​

Upon her request Niko got alongside the hunter's car. Sophie took another breath before rolling down the window, the fresh air flow helped her feel more at ease with this. Looking to the tire, she concentrated for a moment, and then, it popped.
​

Manipulating air had it's benefits, this time, she'd used it to pop a hole in the hunters car.
​

"Okay..." she looked to the front seat as she rolled the window back up. "Hopefully they'll pull over now...all we have to do is follow them"
​

 
​

 
​

 

[pyreshadow]

Kaito Iwasa
​

Even if they pulled over it wouldn't do them any good where they were now. They were still on a main road, with a lot of passerbys and commotion. So the likelihood of them even being able to do much of anything without being tranq'd was low. Biting his lip sightly in thought, Kaito glanced back over to the other car as Niko asked the other dragon if she had any thoughts on what they should do. Silence was the answer and soon it was clear she had some semblance of an idea. He gave a quick nod and sank into his seat, a casual posture with his elbow resting on the window and his hand combing through his hair as they neared the other car. It gave him the air of someone just relaxing as well as the cover to keep an eye on the driver as well. The sound of a tire popping caught his ear and he noticed the way the driver almost instantly let out a slew of curse words.


"That's a great idea, Sophie. But you do realize it only solves one problem and doesn't quite help us with resolving being out in the open like this or being able to get to them, right?" Kaito made a stealthy motion to the car as it was looking like it was going to pull off to the side of the road right then and there. Only something else happened that Kaito hadn't expected at all and it caused him to sit straighter as the sound of gunshots hit the air. Not tranquilizer guns but actual gunshots. "Or not...the hell is going on in there?" The Suburban swerved hard left and just barely managed to not hit their car as it continued down the road instead of pulling over like they had moments before been about to do. All of a sudden one of the hunters was thrown out of the car, taking one of the doors with him, by such force that Kaito couldn't help but have a small grin on his face. "Well...I think our rescuee doesn't quit need...rescuing?" As he said this, the redhead in question peeked her head out and instantly looked in their direction. There was blood dripping down her arm and some on her cheek but whether it was hers or not was hard to tell from where they were. What Kaito could tell based on that look was that she knew they were dragons...and that she was still a bit out of it because of the effects of the tranquilizer too. She was pulled back in roughly by one of the remaining hunters so Kaito unhooked his seat belt and glanced over to Niko once more.


"There's no point now. Get alongside it once more. If she's awake enough to be throwing people around like then-" right as he was about to say another plan that he had thought of, the Suburban swerved again and throw out the remaining hunters as well as the redhead. The car itself ended up tumbling and colliding with the nearest cars, causing a nasty collision that was quick to gain the attention of the passerbys. Some were already on their phones dialing for the police to come while others were trying to figure out what had just happened. The redhead was once again unconscious on the ground from the mix of being thrown around like a rag doll and the tranquilizer still in her system but thankfully the hunters weren't exactly in the best of shape either.

 

[StarryKnights]

Sophie Stolts
​

Sophie pouted, sure her plan wasn't the best but it was better than climbing through the van's window. At least if they pull over they could= "WHOA!" Sophie clung to her seat belt as Niko swerved to avoid being hit as the van narrowly missed them., The sound of gunfire made the blood in her veins freeze. She gripped the belt hard enough to turn her fingers white. The hunter's car was missing a door, and a red head could be seen for a moment before she was pulled back. That was her, the other dragon.... Sophie guled, there had beel blood on her face, and the air dragon couldn't tell if it had been hers or not. She hoped she wasn't hurt too badly... 
​

Niko Medina
​

"OH SHIT!" Niko swerved to avoid being caught up in the car crash, their car came to a screeching halt as the van collided with the car in front of them and flipped onto it's side. The hunters and dragon were both thrown from the vehicle, which came to rest on it's side in the middle of the road. Traffic came to a halt as passerby started calling for help. The dragon was in the road, out cold.  unbuckling his seat belt, Niko practically  kicked open his door and made a dash for the girl.  They wouldn't have long before the police and an ambulance showed u, as he looped the unconscious girl's arm over his shoulder, he was approached by a few people off the sidewalk. "What are you doing?" one shouted, the other two were talking on their phones, describing both the accident, and the man who was moving one of the victims. Niko shot them all a dirty look before he picked up the unconscious red head. He carried her back to the car. "Sophie, scoot over!" he called over the crowd. The air dragon unbuckled her belt, opened the door and slide over, making room for Niko to set the girl inside. 
​

Placing the woman behind Kaito, he looked to Sophie. "Watch her" he then slammed the door, ran back around and climbed back into the driver seat. 
​

The car roared to life and took off down the street,m narrowly avoiding being closed in by the incoming police and ambulance cars. "Alright...we need to ditch this car soon..." he looked to Kaito. "Where do you propose we go?"
​

 

[pyreshadow]

Kaito Iwasa
​

Their car stopped after the accident happened and Kaito watched the hunters closely; he was gauging them to try to make sure that they weren't going to actually get up while Niko was rushing out of the car towards the redhead. Some of the passerbys were trying to approach Niko because he was picking her up though and Kaito had half a mind to get out of the car to stop them. He knew what their problem was; Niko was moving one of the victims of the crash without the police being there. That wasn't the problem they needed to be concerned about, especially now that the sirens were already starting. Thankfully Niko didn't seem to car either as he came back over and settled the redhead in the back seat next to Sophie. Once she was settled behind him, Kaito turned around in his seat and rather awkwardly reached over it to start looking her over. It was a little awkward when the car started and the seat dug into his stomach but he ignored the sudden pain to keep looking over where the blood was.


"Somewhere with a first-aid kit." Kaito announced as he looked over her arm, finding the wound from the bullet being near her bicep. His attention quickly went to her head to see a more minor wound, more like a cut along her cheek. "She's got some injuries that'll need to be patched up." Did they even have anything that could cover it for now? Kaito pulled himself back up to the front seat properly so that way he could dig around in the glove compartment quickly. When he didn't find anything, a small sigh left his lips before he pulled at his shirt hard enough to tear off some fabric. He went right back to the uncomfortable position so that way he could wrap her arm tightly for the time being until they could get to wherever they needed first. With that out of the way, he plopped back down in the front and sighed more heavily before looking around where they were.


"Maybe just find a motel or something for the time being. We need to find a place to hide out until she wakes up because in her current state, they can still track her. We'd be able to clean her up there and we'd be able to regroup there better too." It'd also be easier to use fake names at motels since they were leaving Crystal City soon and that meant less chances to run in to people that ran background checks on them all the time.

 

[StarryKnights]

Niko Medina
​

They needed to go somewhere off the record, a place where no one would look twice. "I know a place" it wasn't a hotel though. There was a shanty town of sorts, on the outskirts of Crystal City. The majority of the city's homeless and degenerate population lived here, it was also where Niko had lived for a period of time. Mainly, after his initial escape from the hunter's base, he was able to hide out among the squaller. he still had a few contacts there, they would keep them safe until the girl was awake. Once she was, they could explain the situation, and hopefully she'd be able to mask her heat signature. Until that happened, they'd be able to track her. Ideally though, their little devices wouldn't have enough range to find them where they were going. Niko looked to Kaito as he tended to their injured party. "There's a shanty town outside the city, i have some friends there" From the corner of his eye, he saw Sophie pale at the mention of the dwelling. She clearly wasn't thrilled to be going there, but they didn't have time to cater to her princess like demeanor. "We should be safe there, and someone will likely have a kit for her" he motioned to the red head in the back as he turned left, putting them on the fast track to get out of town. 
​

Every now and again, Niko looked to the injured dragon in the back, hoping to see her come around. The sooner she did that, the sooner they could plan their next move. it was about a thirty minute drive, Niko managed to get them there without being chased again. he figured in light of the injured hunters, the search may have been postponed. 
​

As they passed the city limits, run down houses and temporary dwellings started becoming a common sight. Niko smiled. "Home sweet home" 
​

 
​

Sophie Stolts
​

Sophie did her best to help Kaito treat their injured party member. She searched the seats but didn't find anything that could be used as a bandage. However, Sophie had a scarf, which she untied and dabbed at the blood drying n the woman's face. Sophie wondered how long she'd be out, the boys had said she'd been drugged. She shuddered to think of what they were going to do with her. Niko had mentioned that while he was captured, they had tried to remove his heart scale, the only thing that gave them away as dragons. Sophie's rested just below her breasts, in the center of her chest. She'd never seen Niko's, but he'd told her what was left of it resided over his heart. His words had sent a feeling of dread down her spine, a dragon's heart scale was a part of their vitality, if Niko's had been damaged... Then he must've been weakened overall... Perhaps that was why he was so bitter...
​

Speaking of Niko, his idea about going to the shanty town didn't sit well with her. Niko was more than used to that...sort of crowd, but the idea of being in a settlement of homeless people scared her... 
​

it was a total sterotype, assuming all homeless people were dangerous, but Sophie had been raised in a small town, the sort of place where people were very skeptical of strangers...
​

Still, she kept her mouth shut during the drive, it wasn't until they arrived on the outskirts of the makeshift settlement that she voiced her concerns. "Is this really the best idea?" she spoke, softly, looking to both Niko and Kaito. "I mean...what if the hunters track us out here...?"
​

"Out here" niko chimed in. "We can fight with less worry of harming civilians...hell, we could maybe even...transform if needed" Sophie looked down to her lap at that. She'd only every fully transformed once... And it hadn't been the best experience. 
​

 

[pyreshadow]

Kaito Iwasa
​

"A shanty town? I think I know of the place, can't say I've ever been before but I think that'll be the for the best." Kaito nodded his head in agreement to the idea, not particularly caring about the fact that it wasn't exactly the best of places to be. For them right now, it was the perfect place to disappear and be off the radar....once the redhead woke up of course. The drive itself was thankfully uneventful and Kaito took the opportunity to rest his eyes for the time being. Not quite to the point where he was asleep but enough to help him relax. It wasn't until he heard Sophie's voice questioning whether they should actually be out here or not. Slowly his eyes opened again as he took in the sight of the town before them before glancing over his shoulder towards Sophie.


"This is the best chance we have for the time being, Sophie. It gives us an advantage because of what Niko said and it gives us more room to maneuver as well. Plus, it's harder to track out here because of the interference of those towers." Kaito pointed to the tower they had been passing just now, one of the few that were in the area before continuing. "Cell phones don't really work that well out in this kind of area, just like they don't work well in dense foresty areas. So this is a good place for us to be." Hopefully she'd understand but it wasn't like there was much of a choice in the matter either. Once the car slowed to a stop, Kaito hopped out of the car and opened the back seat to attempt to get the redhead into his arms the way he held Sophie earlier to carry her easier. Only, he barely got his arms around her when he felt a palm strike underneath his chin hard followed by a fist slam into his stomach. He ended up stumbling back in surprised with a groan and right as he looked over to the redhead in shock, her boot met his face as she kicked him and sent him flying into the ground.


"Oww...shit you have a hard hit." Kaito rolled onto his back from where he laid on the ground, his hand cupping his throbbing chin red chin as he eyed her. She was already out of the car herself and standing in a fighting stance but his tone caused something to click in her head.


"You...you're not a hunter." All too quickly her green eyes widened slightly in surprise as she looked him over, her senses finally coming back to her as the tranquilizer's effects were finally wearing off completely. "You're a dr-" stopping herself from saying dragon as she looked around, she noticed the other two quickly and stepped back. "Where am I? What's going on?"

 

[StarryKnights]

Niko Medina and Sophie Stolts






Sophie frowned art Kaito's words. It seemed the boys were in agreement, and what was worse, they weren't exactly wrong. Sophie knew that deep down, but that didn't mean she had to like it.  She crossed her arms and sighed deciding not to say another word as Niko stopped. Kaito moved around to the passenger door and opened it, but as he reached to help the new dragon out...



"Kaito!' Sophie scrambled to unbuckle the seat belt as the red head attacked the man, Sophie hadn't even notice that she'd come around.

Niko flew out of the car as the red head attacked, but seeing her knock Kaito on his ass only made him smile. "You have quite the punch there huh?" he chuckled. She was confused, coming down from those drugs tended to leave people a little disorientated. "Your among friends" Sophie chimed in, her eyes went from Kaito to the red head. "Like you said...we're,...well..." Sophie didn't want to say it out loud, not out here, where anyone could hear. 


"You are among friends..." Niko stepped forward."Name's Niko...that's Sophie...and the one you knocked to the dirt is Kaito..." He put his hands in his pockets. "We brought you out here to hide and regroup...we ll had close calls today"


The hunters were emboldened by these new devices, and wanted to try and bring in some new prey.He prayed that they hadn't been able to catch many dragons, but he knew the odds of that were slim. If other dragons were in the city, they were probably in a containment cage at the moment...or worse. 


he sighed as a shudder ran down his spine, reflexively he raised his hand to his chest and scratched at where his heart scale was just above his actual heart. Even trough his clothes, he could feel the jagged edge where the scale had been broken. 


Sophie spotted this and frowned.'Stop scratching at it" Niko just rolled his eyes before looking to their new companion.


"Your going to want to be careful, those drugs will mess with you for a bit...depending on how much they gave you...


Niko had been fairly sick during the weeks it took for them to fully leave his system, though that had been years ago. Odds were, the hunters had a new and improved version of the drug by now. 


Sophie moved and offered Kaito a hand getting up. 'Are you alright/" she asked, concern apparent in her eyes and voice. This girl was a bit dangerous, Sophie hoped that she realized she wasn't in danger here.


Niko arched an eyebrow at the newcomer. "You got a name?" 


(( Side note, finally figured out ow to make those white bar things xD ))

 

[pyreshadow]

Tahra Casey and Kaito Iwasa
​

The term friends caused Tahra's brow to raise slightly as she eyed the woman, then the man on the ground as he started laughing slightly. She really did have a mean hit to her and he was really going to feel it later unless he got to some water to heal himself. That would make him a baby though, not being able to handle a punch...well, whatever. He'd deal with it shortly. When Niko spoke up, Tahra's eyed shifted to him with a hint of doubt in them as well as he used that same term she didn't quite like but they seemed to be pretty friendly enough. Plus, they were dragons and that in itself was something rare. Especially three of them being together in one place like this. Did they rescue her? Her tongue clicked at the thought before another quickly made its way into her mind and her hands instantly went searching through her pockets. She felt the necklace she had stolen earlier but that wasn't what she was concerned about right now. A sigh of relief left her lips when she felt the device she had taken from one of the hunters still hidden away in the hidden pocket of her inner shirt before she really focused in on what was being said again. Something about hiding away in this place.


"That explains the migraine...and thinking you were a hunter." Tahra eyed Kaito for a moment before an apologetic look crossed her features. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"


"It's all right, really. Least I know you can give a beating pretty good." Kaito interrupted her with a smile, waving off her apology before he looked over to Sophie. He had been planning on laying for another moment just because but he supposed that wouldn't do. So he took her hand and hoisted himself up with her help while giving her a reassuring nod of his head. "Yeah, I'm all right. It more just took me by surprise than anything else. A little bit of water and the redness will go away." Along with the bruising, which he was sure was forming on his cheek where she kicked him but hey. It was good that she knew how to fight but...he was a bit curious why she'd need to know in this day and age.


"Name's Tahra, nice to meet you all." Tahra gave the three of them a quick smile as she spread her feet a good space apart from her shoulders and held her arms out for a second; then she bend her upper body forward, her palms touching the ground as she just about touched her body together to stretch herself out. "Sorry, I feel really stiff so I just need to stretch for a sec. I wasn't able to really move as fluidly as I normally do, probably because of the drugs like you said." From there, she sort of slid to the ground in the splits and stretched that way for a few seconds before bringing her legs together and stretching her body forward to touch her toes. After a few more seconds, she bounced up to her feet and lifted one of her feet up to do a quad stretch on both sides before a satisfied smile spread on her face. "Kay, I feel a little better now." At least on the stiff body part, not so much the migraine. "So, regrouping huh. Guess they really picked up their game with the new devices that the science department made. I didn't think they were going to test it so quickly though."


"You know about them?" Kaito asked with some shock in his tone, to which Tahra just gave him an innocent smile in return.


"Let's just say I know of them more, kay? I..." Tahra paused as her brows furrowed together slightly, her hand coming up to her head and her eyes quickly closing. The migraine wasn't the only thing aftermath the drugs were causing as a dizzy spell hit her pretty hard. "I don't feel good..."

 

[StarryKnights]

Niko Medina  Sophie Stolts
​

This dragon was very interesting, Niko observed her carefully as she spoke. Tahara...such a strange name, but who was he to judge. She would be a valuable ally...assuming she chose to stick around when she was well.v He didn't know how the drugs had changed since his time in captivity. His man on the inside had been quiet as of late, a troubling notion for Niko. He had only escaped containment because of a scents who had helped him, said scientist remained with the  hunters, upon his death, his daughter had assumed his position in the organization. She was brilliant as far as Niko knew. She also sent him covert information so he could remain a step ahead of the hunters. However, she hadn't sent him anything about these devices... He wondered if she'd been found out? or perhaps she hadn't known about them? he doubted the last thought, but it gave way to a much more worrying notion. What if she had turned on him? The thought made him clench his fists.


If that was the case, then he was in trouble. He would assume the worse until proven otherwise.  Fort now, they needed to figure  out their next move. With Sophie with them keeping a low profile was paramount, if she was identified than her whole family could go down. Sophie was currently standing beside Kaito, watching Tahara as she stretched, a grin came to her face. Sophie had done gymnastics as a child, but she was no where near as flexible as she was then. However, her air dragon bloodline, along with being an amphitheater gave her a healthy amount of flexibility.  It helped to not have arms or legs when it came to being nimble, but that was neither here nor there. Since they'd succeeded in their goal of saving her, she wondered what their next step was. It seemed Tahara had some insight into the hunters and their organization, maybe that would be helpful.


She frowned as Tahara grew dizzy, Sophie walked over and placed ahand on her shoulder. "Maybe we should find you a place to lie down..."


She looked to Niko, who was lost in thought. "Niko" "huh?" he shook his head. "Oh...right...this way..." he pointed behind him, toward the shifty houses where the degenerates lived. The thought of going there made Sophie pale, but now wasn't the time to complain. She looked to Tahara. 'Do you need help walking...we going to find a place to take cover..."


She looked to Kaito, he looked infinitely stronger than her, maybe he could carry their sick friend if needed.

 

[pyreshadow]

Tahra Casey and Kaito Iwasa
​

A single green eye peeked open at the feel of another's hand against her shoulder; she knew based on the smell that the other woman was coming but it was still a bit...uncomfortable to have her so close. Being around people was such an odd feeling even though she was trying her hardest not to let on the fact that she wasn't used to it. Well, they'd probably figure it out eventually. A nod was all she gave at the mention of laying down somewhere before her eye closed once again. Wherever Niko had pointed to went over her head as she spent a moment focusing on her breathing to try to keep herself from feeling too sick. "I'll help her." Kaito's voice rung out after Sophie's, causing Tahra to yet again peek an eye at the other man as he was walking over. Whatever was going on in Niko's head at the moment was something that they could be worrying about later. For now, they needed to worry about getting out of sight.


"I don't like being carried." Tahra protested as Kaito was about ready to lift her up but all he did was give her a smile.


"I understand. However, we're still in a time crunch of sorts to get out of sight and due to you feeling dizzy as you are we need to make sure that nothing happens to you. So I apologize for what I'm about to do..." Kaito trailed off with an apologetic look on his features as he bent his knees to lift her into his arms despite the look on her face. Tahra was about ready to argue again but the sudden movement caused another wave of dizziness to pass over her.


"Oohh, that doesn't feel good." Dizziness, nausea, and migraine; those were the main problems she was feeling right now and she needed it to go away so she could focus on what she wanted to do. "Hey...Niko, was it?" Tara kept her eyes closed as she talked so that way she could concentrate on trying to keep her breathing level as well. "Is there a computer in this place where we're going? I need to look in to something." Kaito watched her for a moment, just to make sure she was steady in his arms, before stepping forward and giving the other man a nod to show he was ready whenever they were.

 

[StarryKnights]

Niko Medina and Sophie Stolts
​

Sophie took a step back so Kaito could pick Tahra up. She understood not wanting to rely on others, but this was no time to be picky. Getting out of sight was the top priority... Even if Sophie didn't like where they were headed... She fell in step beside Kaito and Tahara and looked to Niko, who arched an eyebrow at Tahra's question. "Maybe, depends if Stal still has one..." 


Stal was an old friend of Niko's literally, the guy was in his eighties. He didn't know about Niko's draconic ancestry, and he was going to keep it that way. It would be safer for the old man..."Stal is an old friend of mine" Niko spoke as he walked. "he likes to fix up old electronic junk...he may have something in working order..." or maybe not, Niko was more curious as to what Tahara wanted to check. Seeing as she was unwell, he decided to leave his questions for a later time. 


The group walked for about ten minutes before Niko stopped in front of a run-down trailer. Walking up, the man knocked on the rusty door, and some shuffling could be heard inside. "Justa sec!" Called a voice as Niko took a step back. Sophie looked nervous and was doing her best to hide it.  She fidgeted with her hands while they waited for the door to open, which it did with a loud clang.


"Who's out there?" Called a elderly mn, who looked to be in his eighties. he wore a pair of tattered, oil stained overalls with a hole-ridden shirt underneath. He had a cloth stashed in the front pocket, which he grabbed and used to wipe off the spectacles on his face. Placing them on the bridge of his nose, he squinted at the group for a moment before settling on Niko.


"Ah! Niko my boy, back again are we?" he said with a raspy cough. Niko smiled and stepped forward, Sophie's eyes widened as he reached out and shook the old man's dirty hand. "Ew..." she muttered under her breath.


"We need a place to lay low Stal, naturally your the first person I thought of" Niko said with a grin. The old man chuckled and looked to the other three. His relax expression turned serious when he saw Tahara. "Whats with her?" he asked, pointing. 


Niko scratched at the back of his neck. "She's coming down from a nasty trip...so she needs to lay down" he said, the half truth forming easily at his lips.  "She'll be fine once she gets some water in her...actually" he looked back to the old man. "She was wondering if you had any working computers. Stal's eyes lit up. "Do I? Kid, you know me better than that" Stal chuckled and stepped out of his trailer. "We can get to that later, for now, you four look like you need to sit down"  With a little help from Niko, the old man lead them to a rather large, run down house that was beside the trailer. The inside stank of mildew and mold, but Stal didn't seem to care as he lead them into wat was once the living room. It was where he slept, but he pointed to the couch and said  "Lay her there, I'll see about getting some water..."


Sophie followed in behind the group, her nose recoiled at the smell. As Stal left the room, she sighed."Well, this is...better than the hunters finding us...' she whispered softly, looking to Niko, who nodded.