Fantasy The Second Wind [Official Roleplay Thread]

[Melon Bomb]

Discord: https://discord.gg/8mDK7A6
OOC: https://www.rpnation.com/threads/second-wind-ooc.342180/
Character Sheets: https://www.rpnation.com/threads/second-wind-character-sheets.342179/
Interest Check: https://www.rpnation.com/threads/the-second-wind.342116/

-

Hearthwood, Capitol of Savana

Like a finely embroidered cloak of stars, the night sky graced the city of Hearthwood. Network after network of hanging lanterns shed light over the passing crowds and the smell of freshly cooked food filled the air, celebrating the special occasion of the kingdom's founding. Hanging over the rows of buildings and the busy cobbled streets were massive, ancient trees bending their boughs and branches above it all like shelter from the outside world, the rising moon gently peaking through the canopy of leaves.

Travelers and natives alike passed through the gates, looking to participate in the grand festivities to come. Laughing children chased after fireflies with nets and drunken fools took turns at the shooting gallery, snickering and elbowing one another over scores and losses. Taking in her 17th festival in a row, a certain Hilde Marristern was always astounded by the effort everyone put into the events and decorations. She bit into her cotton candy and was surprised to find it was quite tasty. She'd never tried it before. . . an import from Miraqi? At least, that was what she heard.

The Elder Order had plans to host a special show during the festival for the first time, the darn prudes, but she couldn't lie to herself - she was excited to see what would happen. Mage performers were one thing, but they had to have something truly special up their sleeves and there was no way she was going to miss it. Candy in hand, she continued walking and admiring the sights, oblivious to what would soon unfold.

As the city came to life with lights and parades, somewhere nearby, a peculiar exchange was taking place.


- - -

"You're off your rocker," the mediator insisted, almost slamming his hand on the counter. The scrawny, whittled skeleton of a man spoke with more confidence than someone of his stature should have, but might and magic were not the only sources of power in this world. The dingy little shop was hidden in plain sight, and none would be the wiser. "No one's going to agree to this ridiculous plan."

"Can you arrange this or not?" the other woman responded quietly. Long, black hair flowed behind her, and her violet eyes were sharp like an eagle's. She posed a question, but there was no hiding the fact that she was making a demand. The man picked his teeth with a wooden stick, pausing a moment to shoo away children who were straying too close to the open door. Warily, he shifted his attention back to this delightful 'customer.'

"Sure, we can, but there's no way that anyone-"

"Then don't argue with me," she interrupted, reaching into her bag. Before he could say anything, she dropped a hefty pouch on the counter and continued, "Strictly business, right? Whatever happens is no skin off your back. And I believe you may find this to be very convincing."

The man laughed, opening the pouch. "You don't have that much money-" His eyes widened in disbelief, the toothpick dropping from his lips.

He was expecting a bag of coins.

Not. . . this.

 

[Jensoman]

Flin Meeru

Flin calmly and lazily walked through the streets as he gazed at his surroundings, while resting his guitar's body on his left shoulder while holding it's end with his left hand. The scent of freshly cooked food reached his nostrils, and he breathed it in. He enjoyed the delicious smell. He didn't care too much about the large amounts of people around him right now. He managed to get inside, and it was certainly worth the trouble. He smiled at the kids that he saw running around, and ignored any drunks that he would pass by. Being a magic caster himself, he was quite interested to see which performance the Elder Order would reveal. At the same time, perhaps he would be able to help out some people for some quick cash. 'This sure is a busy place...' He thought. He turned to some ruckus nearby, and noticed a few loud-mouthed drunks who were about to fight. 'Geez...I don't want to put up with that right now..' He thought to himself, and readied his guitar. He began to play some music.

The song was quite soothing and calm, and it reached the ears of the two fighting drunks. They suddenly began getting drowzy, and collapsed on the ground. They snored loudly, and Flin put his guitar on his shoulder again. "Yea! That's what ya get!" He spat at the two men. To others, Flin's shout to the two men seemed completely random. What did he even do? With that, Flin went on his way and kept looking around in search of something fun that he could keep himself busy with.

 

[Tex.Y]

Hoots and hollers, from all around, were drowned out by the vicious sound of Ki'Tann's teeth digging into the bones of a succulent drumstick. Scraps were scattered all around where he sat, his face half buried in the table before him. Shreds of chicken skin, tossed peas, and several piles of brittle, cracked bones, stripped to their very marrow, lay in tatters behind the hungry Felis as he added to the pile, bit by bit, without any sign of stopping. His tiny frame jostled from side to side as he ate without restraint, rustling the equipment that was strapped to his body. Most notable was his sword, strung tightly against his back. It tapped against the ground whenever his shoulders bounced upwards. What a slob! He certainly wasn't shy about showing his feral side, even after he'd finished tearing through his current delectable victim. Kit tossed the remainder behind him, with little regard for anyone nearby. The bone crashed into one of the nearby bone piles, littered with teeth marks and cracks, just like its allies who had given their lives in glorious battle against Ki'Tann's stomach. A losing battle, no doubt.

"Full," Kit purred, straightening his back. He shifted his focus after a brief delay. To what exactly? Hygiene, of course! The Felis acted as if nobody was watching, running his bristled tongue down the lengths of his fingers, hands, and forearms, in a meticulous series of rough licks. Shards of chicken bone, and meaty debris, fell from the thick fur along his arms to the ground below. He was quick about it, falling into his own little world with half-closed eyelids. Suddenly he stopped, and looked up at the nearby humans who were staring at him in awe. Kit licked his lips absentmindedly and rose his paw back up towards his mouth. What the hell were they looking at? He licked the corner of his fist and began to straighten the fur between his ears, before pushing himself away from the table, and patting his belly with satisfaction. "People eat," He growled, "Cease your glares."

Some took heed of the grumpy Felis' warning, while others simply made distance before glancing back in his direction. Had they never seen beast folk of his ilk before? Cat folk couldn't have been too rare. It might have been true that his people were greatly out numbered by the humans that took residence in Savana, but they weren't so uncommon as to turn every single head in the damn plaza. Kit sighed and stood up, wiping his cloak down with both hands, and checking his equipment. The tiny humans could be rather deft. He'd lost crossbow bolts and coin in the past by not demonstrating diligence for the sake of his belongings. Fortunately, nothing seemed to be missing. His dagger, crossbow, and all fifteen bolts, as well as the sixteenth stored atop its weapon of use, were accounted for. All that was left to do for the night, was keep calm. Tomorrow, he would be in search of coin. Whatever trials his search entails were of little importance. As long as the guard didn't catch wind of his identity, he could stroll through the capitol leisurely. The Felis unsheathed his claws and began to lick them clean as he turned away from the mess he'd left without a second though. 'People are being paid to clean this up,' Kit thought, sheathing his claws with a subtle chuckle.

 

[Berries]

Sitting atop a tree, Lin viewed the preparations going on below her. Somehow, she had ended up in the Elder Order's much-anticipated festival show and she wasn't quite sure how. Around a month ago she had come across some advertisement at school promising money for talented mages to put on a performance, and since she was eternally broke she had signed right up. Little had she known she would end up being casted as some circus animal and be performing tricks all night. Either way, it was paying well, and the work was actually quite easy. The only thing that this required was for her to turn her blood lust on and jump around a stage for a little bit surrounded by fire and metal traps; all in a day's work. Her blood lust probably wasn't even required, but the organization had asked her to use it for "flare" and "just to make sure she didn't hurt herself".

Yawning and stretching her arms, the leopard's large canine teeth glinted in the lantern-light. Eventually she figured that it was probably time to get down from the tree and start preparing for the show. Resentfully tumbling down from her tree branch, Lin walked up to a small puddle of water and checked her reflection. She didn't care much for how she appeared to most people, but the thought of being seen by a large crowd was testing her usually iron-clad nerves. Somewhat combing her hair with her claws, Lin looked up as one of the stagehands yelled her name. "You need to get dressed, we're starting soon!" He called to her, and the leopard scowled. This was the worst part of the whole scenario; the ridiculous costume that they were having her wear.

When she had first encountered the skimpy, unpractical garment, Lin had almost quit on the spot. Then she had been forced to consider her financial situation. Her family had stopped sending her very much money - notably they still paid for her schooling - and scraping up enough change for meals everyday was starting to become a struggle. Besides, she needed a new set of armor. Reluctantly changing into the costume, Lin stalked the sides of the festival in discomfort as she waited for her cue. I'm a disgrace to beastfolk everywhere. Letting them coerce me into this ridiculous gettup.

--

Marcie wasn't quite sure what had compelled her to attend this festival. She had little to no money, she didn't really want to interact with people, and her termites were hungry. Looking around, she figured that there were a lot of promising trees in the vicinity, but it would be a pity to eat one of the prettily-decorated ones. Sighing heavily at her life decisions, Marcie moved through the crowd. Nobody acknowledged her. That was quite normal, especially when she looked so disheveled. People tended to assume she was in poverty and nobody wanted to deal with that, so they left her alone. It wasn't that they were wrong. Mentally counting the coins in her bag, she came to the grim conclusion that she had five coppers. Total. That was all. Everything. Done. Probably not even enough to buy a meal.

It really was a pity, especially since everything around smelled so good. Sighing once more, Marcie found a decent-sized tree that wasn't decked out with decorations and discretely placed her colony on it; letting them eat away. Jealous and wishing she could feast herself, Marcie left her termites behind to eat and set out to find something that she could afford. The girl tended to value practicality above all, so was strolling around looking for something filling but also reasonably priced, when she came across the ice cream stall. She had eaten ice cream once before, and the memory of its heavenly bliss seeped through her body like a chorus of holy angels singing. Biting her lip, Marcie restrained every muscle in her body from going. She was broke. She couldn't afford a tiny ice cream cone, her money was so much better spent on a real meal-

Her reasoning was no use. Her body walked towards the stand on its own, and Marcie attempted to smile at the vendor. "H-how much for one?" She asked, blinking in surprise at the unusual stutter in her voice.

"Ten coppers," the man replied, eyeing her with disdain. Of course, her poverty in the way once again. Walking away from the stall, Marcie's hands formed into fists. No matter what she had to do, she would get an ice cream at this festival. Five more coppers. How would one earn money?

 

[August]

Although night had fallen, the city of Hearthwood was alive with lanterns and people as the festivities brought people together (mostly) to just have a good time. Despite what many other would think, Kai actually enjoyed the Festival and was glad to have an excuse to go even if he was mostly on his own. Kai at the beginning of his arrival he stayed close to where his family were assisting the Elder Order's preparations, feeling a bit embarrassed to show up alone. Of course he came fairly early but as things started to kick up, he could see students hanging out with each other on their break from school, young couples strolling along with their hands together. Even the drunks were grouped together, mostly fighting but that seemed like something they liked to do when intoxicated. At some point, all of the scents of the freshly made food had gotten to him and he no longer cared if he was by himself. He could have fun on his own.

Apparently fun was trying out all of the foods from the stands, and even after indulging himself on the many treats he was still being swayed by the sweets being offered. Over the course of his solo adventure, he had eaten cotton candy, a variety of chocolate dipped goods, some questionable chocolate dipped goods, a handful of honey coated bread, and even three ice cream cones. Kai had a weakness to ice cream, and it was honestly one of his favorite treats other than anything that had honey added in. Despite all of his spending, Kai still wandered the stands with a pouch full of coins, jingling with as he looked around for anything new to try. Or maybe even some trinkets to take home with him.

Kai was trying his best to spend his time doing something other than giving in to gluttonous urges and eat more of what the festival offered. Just as he finally started to look through some of the handcrafted things people were selling he couldn't help but notice some more students passing by, talking about thing the Elder Order were hosting. Rumors of who were performing and such, but it wasn't the conversation that kept him staring . . . It was the ice cream cone. 'Don't do this to yourself Kai, you're going to make yourself sick', As he scolded himself mentally, he watched the group walk away, staring at the cone with a blank expression. 'I'm not sick now . . . and it is a festival, he shouldn't be thinking too much about later he should enjoy the now right?'

Biting on his lip slightly, and giving his pouch of money a squeeze, he did the most daring thing he would ever do and pushed his through the crowds of people to head to the ice cream stand. He new exactly where it was, visiting it twice already. Upon arrival to the stand, he noticed someone ahead of him asking for the price then walking away without buying anything. How tragic. Kai slowly approached the stand after she had walked off, clearly upset. He couldn't help but glance over at her a few times feeling bad for her . . . He almost wanted to share some of his own money to treat her, but he wasn't sure if she would take that lightly. Kai wouldn't want to offend her or anything, but he really would have liked to buy her a cone. It'd give him a reason to chat with someone other than people trying to sell himself.
"Buying more already?" The man asked him in a much friendly tone than the lady, since he already knew Kai was a paying costumer from some earlier buys. Kai tore his gaze away from the poor female and dug into his pouch to pull out ten coppers,
Kai simply nodded a bit embarrassed as he placed his payment down and slide it over to the seller. The man counted it over with a simple glance before collecting it and serving up his cone. Kai quietly thanked the man and stepped aside to get out of the way of any other customers. He looked off in the direction of where the Elder Order were hosting their show and started to wonder if he should just head on back there. Maybe after his ice cream, or after he'd gotten some trinkets to take him with him . . .

 

[Melon Bomb]

As the crowds gathered, so too did the soldiers of Erylon. Though they were merely arriving to observe the celebrations and fulfill their duty as guards, it would certainly make some of the festival-goers uneasy to have them looming over them as they always did. Word has it that their official leaders would be attending as well - high expectations were placed on the shoulders of the Elder Order, and for good reason. They were quite eager to display their mastery of their magic and sway the people to their side with dazzling performances. Of course, they were still none too pleased with the military occupation but it was a chance for them to show what they were capable of, and they wanted to make sure all would bear witness to the fruits of their labor.

Violet​

Rolling a coin between her fingers, Violet whistled a familiar tune as she expertly weaved through the crowds, brushing past the tightly knit people by a hairsbreadth. There was still time left before the show started, so she might as well enjoy what the festival had to offer while she had the chance. Something about being out here was so much more liberating, and she could scarcely believe what she had been missing out on all this time. All the more reason to see her plans through.

Eyes scanning the flock of people gathered around, she noticed a younger girl walking away downtrodden from a vendor. Poor thing. Smiling to herself, as they passed each other by she stealthily slipped three gold coins into her pocket. She stopped a moment to apologize for bumping into her and went on her way as she kept a lookout for anything interesting over the horizon.

Shuri Rose​

What am I doing? I didn't come here to get wasted. . .

This is what Shuri told herself as she drained another glass, wiping the foam from her lips with the back of her hand. She was under a lot of stress, to be sure. And she definitely wasn't safe in Savana - Erylon forces were stationed here as well, no doubt they'd be hunting her down. The woman took another swig, slamming the glass back down onto the table. Damn. . . what am I even supposed to do with this information? It's just a death sentence. Maybe I can change something, but is there anything I can really do by myself?

She roughed up her hair and let out a groan, sinking into the table in front of her.

Who am I kidding. . . If I ever want to see her again, I've got to do something about this. No matter what it takes. Looking up, there was a peculiar sight before her. Some manner of beastfolk, quite effectively armed to the teeth. No wonder he was drawing so much attention. Walking around like that, he was just asking for guards to step in and tell him off for carrying such a ridiculously dangerous weapon. Her fingers ran over the cloth drapery that hid her steam rifle from plain view. Well. I have a ridiculously dangerous weapon myself, but I doubt anyone would recognize it. None of my business either way.

Shuri took another sip.

 

[michikarp]

The Festival was in full swing. Vendors were selling. Everything bustling and loud around him. Groups of drunks were meticulously scattered around the festival area. Leandro had no reason to intervene with their actions as long as no one died of course. So he was thankful he didnt have to spend the night escorting people out of their wits back to the jailhouses. Compared to the last two years he'd been stationed in Savana the festival at Hearthwood was much more heavily guarded. Caused by the sudden appearance of the Elder Order.
A bunch of mood spoilers is what they were with that pretentious name. Everyone not armed looked visibly tense with the large assortment of soldiers patrolling around.
Though thanks to his luck in shift breaks he'd be able to grab something sweet and sit down for whatever they had planned with a buddy instead of having a watchful eye off to the side.
Unfortunate that he can't casually approach normal people at the moment due to his lackluster appearance as a member of the Erylon militia. His shift still wasn't technically over and he had to keep his sword and his armored uniform less something unfortunate happened.
He wandered around the outdoor theater for a few moments, it would begin soon and he was contemplating whether he should save himself a seat early or grab a snack. Leaning to the latter, he walked off, his eyes scanning the vendors to the side as the lanterns strung about flashed warm colors over his body and surroundings. He wouldn't go too far off from the theater so he could get back quickly. It was mostly souvenirs until he rounded a corner though. Then he had a nice row of vendors to choose from.
Icecream? No, the idea felt too cold for him at the moment. Perhaps he'd settle for something meatier at the stall near the back.
He stopped in his tracks for a second upon seeing a feline beastkin wander off from the stall he was eyeing. An assortment of weaponry just casually on him. No attempt to hide anything.

"That looks pretty dangerous little guy."
He muttered to himself.

He lingered on the sight for a moment before remembering it was rude to stare.
Leandro toyed with the thought of handing off a warning for a second just to be safe but he wanted to enjoy his hour break at least acting like a civilian. Not to mention that cat hadn't made an unlawful move just yet, so he could technically ignore it. He made his way to the counter, eyeing the prices and reaching into the wheat sown pouch at his side. 37 Copper pieces, about a dozen silver and 2 gold coins on him. He stepped forward to buy something before his boots felt the brunt of crunching bone beneath him.

"Gee, who made the mess?"
"Customer with too many daggers for me to complain."

Huh.
He decided on the cotton candy the place was also selling in the end. It wouldn't get everywhere while he was eating. Plus it was the cheapest option.
He walked back to the theater afterwards. Sliding into a seat near the back, while he bit into the sweetened fluff. Ready to enjoy himself.

 

[Jensoman]

Flin Meeru

Flin continued to wander within the streets, in search of something to do. A peculiar beastkin had caused somewhat of a mess when he ate, but he wasn't too surprised about it. It was a beastkin after all, and it wasn't strange to him that they had their own way of eating their meals. He kept note of his weaponry, though. If the Felis would decide to cause trouble for people, it would be wise to be prepared. None the less, he kept wandering about. He did not spot anything too interesting right off the bat, but he took note of Shuri further ahead. She looked awfully concerned and troubled. 'Ugh...another one...' He thought to himself. Flin always looked down at people who got themselves drunk carelessly, and saw them as low-lifes. But in a way, he pitied them. He used to be the same a long time ago, just doing whatever the hell he wanted without regard for anyone else. And they ruined their own lives in the process.

Flin sighed and wandered up to her. 'Might as well keep going.. Not that I've got anything better to do...' He thought, and sat rather abruptly onto the table. He considered Shuri to be yet another drunk, so he doubted that she would care much for his sudden action. He readied his guitar, resting it upon his lap. He began to play a soothing and calming melody.

As Shuri would hear it, she would feel as if her worries and concerns melted away into nothing. A peaceful feeling would wash over her. She would start feeling more happy about herself and everything around her. Flin intended to make her fall asleep, but little did he know that Shuri's will-power was too strong for her to be completely affected by Flin's low-level sound spell. "Ya shouldn't waste your life by drinking.." He hummed to Shuri, but he mostly spoke to himself. He believed that Shuri wouldn't remember much of this event anyhow, feeling confident that she would fall asleep. He hadn't noticed her hidden weapon yet.

Melon Bomb

 

[Berries]

Despite her fur, Lin felt exposed. She could feel eyes burning into her skin and constantly whipped around while under the impression that somebody was looking at her. Thoroughly uncomfortable and out of her element, the leopard paced back and forth along a somewhat secluded path next to the theater. She had very little to do aside from wait in anticipation for the upcoming show. Eyeing the other performers enviously, she noted that they didn't have to wear anything ridiculous- okay, maybe that one human girl was. But the rest of them were dressed properly! Wishing that she had some sort of cloak to cover herself up with, Lin cursed the fact that she hadn't had foresight enough to bring one. Instead, all she had was her regular clothes and the stagehands would yell at her if she ditched her costume this close to the show's start.

Generally, Lin enjoyed festivals, but this time around she could hardly focus on all the exotic smells and people. All she could see was her routine over and over again in her head, and slowly she realized that she was nervous. Very nervous. She hadn't felt this way in a long time because she didn't really care what people thought about her, but once again the notion of a big crowd made her confidence break down. It wasn't as much that she feared messing up - she knew that she could do everything they needed of her with ease - but the fact that so many people were going to see her like this was a massive blow to her self-esteem. Once again, the girl had the internal self talk about essentially selling herself for money.

Abruptly, Lin stopped pacing. Dragging her head up and looking straight ahead, her eyes narrowed in determination. Yes, she was going to do this. Yes, she might look like a fool. But no, she gave absolutely no shits about what other people thought. She was doing this to get some money, and it was benefiting her. That was a good enough reason to not have to justify herself to anybody else. Licking her lips subconsciously as she envisioned the armor she'd be able to buy after getting this pay, the girl set herself at ease. Looking again at her attire, Lin decided it could be worse- maybe. Probably not actually. She was wearing a short skirt with a gap for her tail and a top that could only be called a shirt because it happened to cover her chest. Luckily, she did have a sturdy pair of shorts underneath her skirt so she didn't have to worry about flashing anybody, but she still was showing much more leg than her norm.

Beginning to stretch out, Lin tested her range of movement in the garment. It was actually very practical in the way that it was entirely non-restrictive; if her body could do it, the clothes could do it too. Putting together an experimental routine, the leopard began to perform a few flips. Towards the side of the festival as she was, nobody could mistake her as a street performer looking for money, but at the same time her movements were pretty eye-catching.

--

Marcie didn't even notice when the strange lady bumped into her; it was all in a day's work, and in a day's abuse. Besides, the festival was crowded and the jostling crowd was pressing against her on all sides. Preoccupying herself with scanning the ground for coins to see if anybody dropped anything, Marcie was soon rewarded with the discovery of a single copper on the ground. Crouching to pick it up, she quickly noticed a few scornful glances directed her way but she shrugged it off.

Scouting for two more copper, the girl began to feel like something was off. Something small was bothering her at the back of her mind and she couldn't place it. Frowning to herself as she walked, she tried to place her feeling. It wasn't anything bad, it was just that something was different. It took her quite awhile to realize that the thing throwing her off was a new sound coming from her bag - the jingling of coins. Opening up her coin pouch, Marcie was surprised to see that a few gold coins had mysteriously ended up in her belongings. Stopping in her tracks, her instinct was to immediately put it away to hide it from any thieves that happened to be roaming about.

Unable to believe her eyes, she ended up pulling the pouch out again and staring at the coins. Gold coins? She hadn't had this much money for years- maybe for her entire life. Where had they come from? More importantly, how far away was she from the ice cream stall? A rare grin on her face, Marcie turned around and started plunging against the flow of the crowd to return to the ice cream stand. She was so elated that she forgot to continue surveying her surroundings, and a few greedy eyes had crept their gaze into her money pouch.

Skipping into an alley to take a shortcut back to the ice cream, Marcie stopped in her tracks when she saw two dark figures blocking her way. Slowly backing away, the girl froze when she bumped into somebody standing behind her. Three common muggers. Even without her bugs, Marcie was far from defenseless. Beginning to spin around lithely with her staff in hand, she was unfortunately too late. The man behind her had clamped his forearm around her neck and squeezed tight to strangle her and lift her off of the ground. Twisting viciously, Marcie managed to twist out of the man's grip and stumble back into the middle of the group. Grimacing, Marcie held out her staff. 3v1? This was going to be a little rough.

 

[Deadly Malice]

Delano surveyed the festivities below him with ruby eyes and a joyful grin, a deck of playing cards constantly being shuffled in his hands and his suit freshly cleaned ready for the nights fun. He watched the cheerful people and petty thieves of Hearthwood go about their business, legal or otherwise, after all he wasn't one to judge others on their work. Delano Quickly jumping down into a side alley, moved around the corner quickly to avoid a patrol of guards, and then heading to mingle with the crowd. He was suppose to meet with a guild contact for his next assignment, but it wasn't anything urgent so he decided to go and enjoy himself outside of work, as he rarely got to do that.

Paying for a handful of sweets he slowly moved through the crowd, making sure to avoid guards and anyone who might take an interest in bounty hunting. He would stop every now and again to perform a variety of magic tricks for children and adults alike, much to their pleasure and delight. While performing one trick he noticed a a couple of men following a young lady who seemed delighted at her coin purse. Rolling his ruby eyes at her stupidity Delano cut his trick short, apologizing to audience and told them that he had something urgent he had forgotten about. Making his way to the alley he watched his the girl stood with a staff out, ready to fight.
​

Deciding to save a life instead of taking them for a change Delano grabbed his mask from beneath his suit and attached it to his face. This mask was a beautiful white Colombina mask, covered in a decor that look like it had been made from playing cards. He rubbed the makeup off of his right cheek, revealing his tiny broken heart tattoo. Joker manifested a deck of playing cards and began to shuffle them in his hands as he walked towards the group. Maybe they would recognize Joker from wanted posters or previous encounters, or perhaps he would be the last thing they learned in their life. Honestly he could probably take the 3 on his own but he was looking to have some fun He called out to the small group, the cards constantly moving and rearranging.
"You know, if you're going to mug someone, do it where people can't see you... For example that alley way over there would probably been a much better choice".​

 

[Melon Bomb]

Shuri Rose​

Her eyes traced the man's movements as he drew closer and closer to her table. With each step he took, Shuri could feel her scowl growing just a little bit wider. Now what could you possibly want? she thought to herself, watching him take a seat near her. This was much too suspicious, but. . . he didn't look like he was with the Knights of Ia. They couldn't have found her already, could they? She eyed him warily nonetheless, keeping her gaze trained on him as she lifted the glass to her lips. She was surprised when he suddenly began to play his guitar, a calming melody easing her nerves. Her body relaxed a little and her grip on the cup loosened - almost instinctively she suspected the work of magic, but she didn't fight it.

Until he started talking.

Her scowl returned and she could feel herself stating to shake off the effects of the spell.

"Must be nice living the easy life," she said with a certain bitterness to her voice, sharply drumming her fingertips against the table's polished wood. Some nerve this guy had. If only he knew the half of it. "I'd mind my own business, if I were you," she continued, paying much more attention to the crowds than the man himself. They had soldiers posted here too, it was only a matter of time before they put out a wanted notice.

As she occupied herself with paranoid thoughts, she started feeling droplets coming down on her. Just a light drizzle - for the sake of the festival, hopefully it would stay that way. But she was thankful. If she ever needed to make a quick getaway, rainfall would make decent cover. And speaking of cover. . .

Shuri pulled her hood over head, as if to keep out the downpour. The truth of the matter was that she didn't mind the rain at all. Rather, she had obscured her face from any onlookers after spotting someone suspicious amidst the throng of faces in the distance. A face she recognized, and a face she didn't want recognizing her own. How did they get here so fast? Damn. Her eyes shifted back to Flin. This guy. . .

 

[Jensoman]

Flin Meeru

Flin smirked confidently to himself, as his melody seemed to work just like before. But then, Flin's eyes widened and his mouth fell wide open as Shuri resisted his spell. 'What the hell...?!' He thought. He stopped playing his guitar abruptly due to the surprise. It wasn't uncommon for Flin's soothing melody to fail to work against some people, but he didn't expect that a simple drunk would be able to resist it, and still make out what he said at the same time. Shuri's words stung deeper than Flin expected. He quickly recomposed himself, despite being slightly annoyed.

"How the hell would you know anything about my-" He muttered, but cut himself short. Her attitude towards him reminded him of his parents all that time ago, and how he felt embarrassed about what he'd done. He only wanted to make sure that no loud-mouthed drunks would ruin his time here by putting them to sleep. In addition, it would have made sure that they wouldn't have gotten into any trouble. So, how the hell did he get stuck in a situation like this?!

Flin let out a huge sigh, and he felt his anger fade away. "Look...I'm sorry, alright?" He muttered. "I know life ain't a walk in the park. I don't know your story and I don't have the right to lecture you, but...there are good moments in life, too. Don't give up, you can do better than just sitting here getting drunk. Try to stay positive and press on." He stated to Shuri. As he felt the raindrops land onto his face, he looked up at the sky and cringed in annoyance. "Of course it fucking rains now...gods.." He whined.

Melon Bomb

 

[Tex.Y]

His ears fluttered rapidly for a moment. Rain? Today? Kit's head darted towards the sky as a series of lightly falling raindrops met his muzzle. He scowled and rose his cloak upwards to conceal himself from the dreaded fate of getting completely soaked. The Felis might have been a beast-folk, more civilised than the animals in the wild, but that didn't change the fact the he absolutely despised the rain. Without delay, he rushed towards the nearest shelter; A covered grouping of seats near the festivals edge, grouped carefully, in front of a large wooden stage. Salvation! Today wouldn't be the day that a bout of nasty weather soaked straight through his layers and chilled him to the core. The very thought made his tail twitch. Or maybe it was the rain? The rain was at fault for everything bad in the world! Kit grumbled quietly and took a seat near the seating arrangement's corner, crossing his arms and slouching impatiently as the weather worsened all around him. Maybe whatever the hell these stupid humans were planning to showcase could brighten his mood. It would be good for a laugh or two. But, considering the setup, it was likely that they wouldn't sending any of their kin to perform in the rain. Their torches, piled neatly at the edge of the stage, wouldn't work while soaked. What good was a performance by humies without their flashy instruments?

Something caught his eye despite the sky's onslaught. Beyond the edges of the stage, surrounded by a small grouping of trees, an unfamiliar woman pounced around, scantly clad in an outfit that hardly covered a shred of her patterns. Beastfolk? Kit's eyes wandered across her figure while she demonstrated uncanny agility, even for his own kin. But she wasn't quite the same as him. Cat folk varied in pattern and physique, from the most common, under-looked species, Felis-Catus, to the rare, and esteemed groupings. Lion folk, Leopard folk, Panther folk, the list went on. Kit blinked himself out of a stupor and cleared his throat, nearly mesmerised by the girl's movements. Was she meant to perform? Looking like that? Why else would she be flipping about like a circus animal so closely to the stage? Fortunately, Kit didn't care much for the unspoken castes that developed within his race, but there was a sense of decency in any town or village run by the humans, one that applied to everyone behind their walls. Perhaps she'd lacked the pride that plagued leopard-kin?

Kit's ears perked up beneath his hood and spun leftwards. The clattering of steel tore his eyes away from Lin, and back towards the stage. Something fell past the concealment of the curtains, and it wasn't a pile of soaked torches. There were hoops, blades, and several casks. One of the casks shattered open, letting the oil within splash chaotically across the stage and seep into the wood beneath, as water pelted it relentlessly from above. Ki'Tann's eyes tensed up and his tail whipped from side to side angrily. What manner of practice..? It was all too familiar. Hoops, knives, flames, and whips to entertain. One of the barbaric practices of the humans prone to enlist the lithe physiology of his kin, or other, likewise agile beast folk. His eyes darted back toward Lin, picturing a hoop of flames wrapping around her graceful figure, mid-jump. Of course. Kit's claws dug into his bicep, through the fabric that hid his pattern. So that's how it was.

 

[Berries]

Eyes narrowed, Marcie assessed her situation. Her termites were too far away for her to control, and she couldn't sense any other colonies nearby. This was why she hated cities, where were the conveinient beehives when you needed them? Concluding to begin to keep bees at her next opportunity, the girl backed herself into the middle of the group of three assailants. Obviously, the single man right behind her was the strongest out of them, but the other two were armed with swords. Scanning their faces quickly, she determined that none of them were particularly dangerous. She kept herself up to date on wanted posters because when you're a woman traveling alone it was good to know which people to avoid.

Stepping backward once again as the group began to close around her, Marcie's eyes lit up when she suddenly sensed an ant colony at the very boundary of her senses. Calling to them, confidence suddenly coursed through her. She was sure of her self defense skills and would have been able to hold her attackers off for a little while, but swords were eventually going to beat her staff and after that she'd be done for. However, with her ants, she'd be able to distract the men and get away. They were a few seconds away but during this time Marcie heard a new voice.

Impulsively, she and the three attackers turned around to see the newcomer. Cards. Tattoo. Mask. Unmistakable. What did the Joker want with her three gold coins?! Processing his words, Marcie's eyebrows furrowed. Was he... helping her? Why? For her three gold coins? That hardly seemed like payment. All she had wanted was some ice cream, but now she fully realized why she disliked following her dreams. It was never worth it. Eyes darkening, Marcie used the distraction Joker had provided to spin her staff around and hit the first swordsman over the head: knocking him out cold. Ducking reflexively under the sword that the second swordsman swung, Marcie knew that these three muggers would be fast work with Joker around.

However, should she have to fight the famed assassin, Marcie's prospects looked grim. Very grim. The ant colony was arriving soon, but what could her bugs do to defend her against this? Dodging another blow from the still-conscious swordsman, Marcie looked straight at the Joker with her emotionless, dead-pan eyes. "What do want?" She asked flatly, her aura suddenly manifesting from a victim to his equal. Marcie may not have any life aspirations, and she might be at the bottom of the social ladder, but you'd better damn well believe she was going to survive.

--

In the middle of a tumble, Lin's hair suddenly prickled at the touch of a raindrop. Stopping straight in the middle of a sequence of air flips, she landed on her feet and looked up. Clouds were brewing, and more rain droplets were on their wa. Snarling openly, the leopard looked desperately around for shelter. The stage? Right as she thought of it, a bunch of boxes crashed down. Rolling her eyes at the stagehands' clumsiness, that option was very quickly eliminated. The pathway she was in had tree cover but considering her clothing that certainly wasn't enough to shield her from the water-

There. Across the way there was a covered group of seats. Converting to all fours, Lin sprinted across the plaza. Each drop of water that hit her fur gave her speed and she rocketed ahead. Her canines protruded from her lips and as she approached the seats she executed a perfectly timed dive roll into cover. Standing up panting, Lin looked around before freezing as she saw another beastfolk man sitting under the cover as well. Her fur standing on edge, her arms clamped themselves around her her stomach in an attempt to cover herself up. Bam, just like that, all of her mental preparations were shattered again. Bottom line, this entire situation was embarrassing for her.

Not speaking and turning away from the man in silence, she took a seat at a table. Her tail tapped on the floor in a nervous trait that she had tried many times to quell in the last but had never been successful with. Staring at the stage and attempting to block the other feline out, Lim's ears twitched in alarm at the fact that the stage seemed to now be covered in gasoline. "Incompetent humans," she muttered to herself. Extra flames would probably not be that dangerous for her, but with the unpredictable nature of fire it was never certain.

 

[August]

Gaining some distance from the ice cream stand, Kai had pushed through all of the vendors trying to sell him even more stuff and had nearly made it back to the Elder Order when he was stopped by another stand that sold handcrafted accessories. This was another weakness of Kai, and he couldn't help but take an interest that led to him nearly buying out most of the shop. Luckily it began to drizzle and Kai had to pull himself away from the vendor who was graciously accepting his buisness. He should at least try to see how his parents were doing even though they were probably busy with making sure the show went on track. At least that is what he told himself, but rather go where things were being prepared he went over to the covered seating area. Kai cautiously navigated around people already seated to find a section near the front that had a few empty seats, in which he settled in to wait to see what the Elder Order had worked up today.

From beyond the stage, a curly head girl had been watching in blind wonder at the casket being shattered open to spill out the gasoline onto the stage. In the midst of her snooping around she had spotted a familiar face in the crowd. Closing her eyes in focus as her power fluttered up in her system, the child vanished from her spot before miraculously appearing behind Kai. Unfortunately for Kai's little cousin, she had teleported off the ground and as soon as she reappeared she came crashing to the ground. Hearing the suddenly noise behind him, Kai jolted upright and turned around to see the little girl popping back on her feet as if she hadn't just caused a disturbance.
"Did you see that Kai? I can do cool Mezza stuff too! Why can't I be in the show?" The girl whined as she got up then ungracefully climbed over the seat to join Kai in his roll.
"Katie . . . You're five. You're too young to be in it" He replied as he started to look around at the others who had gathered here.

"So? I'm just as talented as anyone else here, and daddy knows it too! They're all big meanies back there." Kai's cousin continued to rant. For the most part, Kai had zoned out of whatever she was going on about until her heard, "And then I heard they were going to set the ropes on fire. I didn't know her performance would be so exciting! So I guess its a good thing I wasn't in it, because now I can see all the cool acts."
This was fairly alarming, and had caught his attention. Kai looked down at his cousin questionably,
"What you mean they're going to set the ropes on fire? What are you even talking about?"

Katie's eyes brightened in naive excitement, "Yeah, its going to be super spectacular! I heard that the cat lady was going to do a bunch of flips and even some trapeze stuff. Its a last second change, but they said they were sure it'll go well. They even added gasoline on the stage to add a sense of danger- hey do you have any money for cotton candy? Daddy wouldn't give me any money because he said I would lose it all."
Kai bit the inside of his cheek, as he stared at the stage where the 'cat lady' would be performing. Last second change? Did she know what she was getting herself into or did they neglect telling her?

"Go ask Nana to go take you to get some cotton candy, I know she is in the back somewhere helping with the costumes." Kai reached into his pouch and pulled out some coins to hand to her.
"Silly Kai, I know where Nana is, I was already back there." His cousin rolled her eyes as she took the coins into her hands, holding onto them tightly. "Okay, I'll be back! Don't let them start without me, okay? If they do, you yell really loudly for them to wait for me!"
Kai watched her dart off to behind the stage where the performers had their costumes set up, sighing with relief. Nana was slowed by her growing age, and he sincerely hoped they wouldn't be back until after death defying performance. He stared at the female beastfolk who was clearly embarrassed and trying to shelter herself from the rain. Was she the 'cat lady' Katie talked about? That was just insane, she couldn't possibly be doing all that without knowing what was in store for her, could she? Kai bit down on his lip unsure of what to do about this, wondering if he should try asking if she was well informed about the sudden changes to her performance and if she was still consenting to this kind of treatment . . . He just wasn't sure how to approach her about it.

 

[Tex.Y]

His eyes followed her as she darted towards the overhang frantically. Looks like she shared his aversion to the rain, if nothing else. Beastfolk were a curious lot, all different from one another, even if placed under the same definitive umbrella. Kit found it calming when he saw upright cats, acting as cats should. He didn't hold it against any Felis who acted indifferently to the rain, or took to a refinement that matched the humans, but there was comfort in the unique similarities between his kin that popped up now and again. Running on all fours, though? Even Kit didn't resort to such instinctual behaviour under normal circumstances. Lin didn't match his expectations of a Leopard subspecies at all. She was even less refined than he was!

When she stood upright, the confidence in her demeanour vanished soon after. Panting she'd just run a marathon, the girl tried to cover up her fur. Kit stifled a chuckle and averted his gaze as nonchalantly as he could manage. What was there to be ashamed of? Beastfolk were never truly nude. Kit himself wasn't fond of the clothing he was forced to wear. Though, even he couldn't repress his more impure thoughts. They were befuddling, and completely incoherent, when smashed against his prejudice. He pulled himself back to reality again with a few rapid blinks. Beastfolk were different. That was that. He looked back to Lin as she sat down, and reach towards his hood. His ears flopped free an twitched leftwards, catching Lin's recent statement.

'Incompetent humans'

Perhaps she wasn't as conditioned as he'd initially thought. Thoughts ran through his mind. Hoops and oil, a stage, and costumes with components that bordered on human taboo. Risque practices, all around. She had to have been forced into entertaining a herd of slack jawed idiots. Was it for money? Debt? Slavery? Nothing was certain for the moment. He abandoned the thought, and spoke without thinking a moment later.

"If you muse about such incompetence, you've no need or reason to bridle yourself at their behest," He insisted, his voice raspy and torn. The voice of a smoker, no doubt. Though, Ki'Tann has never wilfully inhaled toxic substances, that's what most would assume. It made him sound much meaner, than he was. Or, maybe it didn't? He wasn't exactly... Polite.

 

[Berries]

Tail tapping on the ground and staring at the stage, Lin's ears twitched when she heard a voice - presumably from the beastfolk man from earlier. Turning around to listen to his words, the leopard hesitated. She didn't want to admit that she was selling her services for money, but even that was better than letting him think that she was some kind of circus pet. "I need the money." She admitted slowly, each word burning at her tongue. Suddenly thinking of her brother, Lin's hands turned to fists. Her claws dug into the pads of her hands as she considered the fact that she was using her brother's life to perform circus tricks. Ears drooping, the girl laid her arms out on the table and rested her chin on her hands.

Watching the stage be assembled in defeat, Lin's tail went limp for a few seconds as she doubted her life decisions. If her brother was still around, he- he- what would he want her to be doing? He'd want her to be happy, probably, or something cheesy like that. But how could she be happy knowing she was living his life? What had he wanted from his life? Knowing her brother, named Chin, he would have wanted to laugh. Likely, he'd want to be the one watching shows like this and eating cotton candy. Her anger diffusing, her tail swayed from side to side in content at the thought. She had completely zoned out, and when she realized that the beastfolk male was still there she bolted upright.

"Uh yeah. Money. That's why." She repeated, eyes fixing on the man. Her embarrassment led her to further need to justify herself, seeing his array of weapons. "I need a new sword, probably. At least sharpened." Leaning back in her chair and brooding, Lin knew that she also needed armor but her sword was pretty nicked and beat up at this point. "Armor too. My equipment is pretty much a mess," she concluded. Defensive, she eyed the man skeptically. "Who are you anyway? And why are you here?" Her head tilted slightly to the side, considering his weapons again. Was he some kind of guard? That was unlikely, the guards around here seemed to hate beastfolk with a passion. She hated to draw stereotypical conclusions about beastfolk, but he did look awfully like a fugitive.

Eyes adjusting to a pair of humans at a table a little ways away, Lin scowled at the sight of Katie. That little girl had been running around throughout the entire rehearsal process and was the most annoying little brat that the leopard had ever met. There seemed to be a boy around Lin's age as well, and she thought that she recognized him from somewhere. Maybe from school? What was he doing with the obnoxious brat?

 

[Deadly Malice]

Joker stood with a grin on his face as he watched the muggers straight up swing a sword at the lady, sure she knocked one of them out but now the rest were apprently out for blood, and ,as he had shown his face, they were out for his blood as well. The big tough looking fellow started towards the card shuffling assassin, obviously oblivious to who he was. The mugger stood quite a bit taller than the small assassin yet Joker didn't seem fazed one bit, he just kept focusing on his playing cards.

"You know, if you keep looking so grim someones gonna think you'll want to kill yourself. I-".

He was stopped short as the big man swung a fist towards his face. As the fist drew nearer to his face Joker moved slightly to the left, changing his shuffling cards from both hands to just his left palm, drawing a hidden dagger with his now free right hand and moving in an instant so as to put the dagger at his assailant's throat. Coughing slightly as if to clear his throat he address the motionless and terrified man.

"As I was saying... I can help you with that".

In a smooth motion Joker slashed the blade accorss the mans throat and stepped to the side so as to avoid the bloodshed that was to follow. Tossing the dagger to the side without a care ,and moved to shuffling his cards with both hands once again, he looked back over to the young lady who was still under asault yet had decided to speak to him. Then he noticed the look in her eyes, she knew who he was, and that just made things all the more sweet.

"Why to help a damsel in distress of course. What kind of gentleman would I be if I just let a lady be robbed."

 

[Berries]

Deftly ducking and dodging the sword as the mugger hacked at her in frustration, Marcie was confused. She wasn't supposed to look grim? She had thought that appearing intimidating would help scare Joker away, but it seemed like instead he was laughing at her. Of course, she could probably never hope to live up to his level of ability which probably was why he seemed to be looking down at her. The girl couldn't help but stare at his cards as he shuffled the deck, entranced by the fast-moving sheets of paper, but was jolted out of her stupor as Joker slashed the large man's neck. Realizing that she, too, was still in combat, Marcie turned her attention back to the fight.

After seeing his partner get cut down, the swordsman looked terrified. Staring at Joker wide-eyed, the man abruptly dropped his sword and began to run away. Marcie wasn't having any of that. Sticking her staff out, the man tripped over it and landed face-first on the pavement. Giving him a solid whack in the head to make sure he was unconscious, Marcie hesitated. She should probably start running herself at this point, but out of curiosity she stayed. Turning to look the man in the face, her eyebrows furrowed at talk of 'gentlemen' and 'ladies'. He was a wanted assassin. She was a poor homeless girl that traveled with a colony of termites. 'Gentleman' and 'lady' hardly seemed to enter the picture.

However, if he hadn't killed her by now, Marcie decided that he wasn't a threat and let her curiosity get the best of her. Cautiously walking towards him, staff at her side just in case, the girl paused a few feet away and looked at him intently. "You are Joker right? The assassin?" She questioned, obviously not that bothered by his identity. She was no bounty hunter, she just liked to keep track of criminals to avoid. In this instance, it seemed like he was unavoidable so she made the best of the chance she had been given.

"Thanks I guess, you probably saved me." Humility was one of her strong points, though social graces were not. Her ant colony had arrived and she let them crawl up her staff until her weapon was a mass of crawling insects. "But I don't like being in debt. I'm no lady, but how can I repay you for your efforts?" It was true, Marcie didn't like to be in debt. Besides, she figured if she had a purpose to serve Joker with he'd be less likely to kill her.

 

[Tex.Y]

A nosy one. Ki'Tann grunted and shifted his weight about uncomfortably, using his tail to position the sheath of his sword further away from the center of his back. It was digging into his spine. Far be it from him to remove it, though.

"I am Kit," he answered, briefly. Ki'Tann looked past Lin at the chatty little brat who babbled about something he didn't quite catch. His neck craned to follow the little girl as she left, but he didn't pay her much mind. Children were a curious bunch of loudmouthed, impressionable canvases. Even so, it was likely that human children were conditioned to think just as their dense caretakers. He turned back to the leopard-kin and cleared his throat. She seemed distracted. It was not unusual for common folk to eye his weapons, even less so for guards, but it irritated him. Kit stood up and walked over to the table, seating himself across from Lin. He hesitated for a moment before speaking again. Kit was never secretive about his business, as it had never proved to be detrimental to his goals. What reason was there to hide his practices? "Sorry," he cleared his throat yet again, louder this time, and continued. "Savana is ripe with opportunities that promise coin. I'm here for the same reason. Money. Though, I would never lower myself with a display of sex appeal, for the entertainment of humies. I have my pride to think of," he growled, slouching forwards and placing both of his elbows on the table. His eyes traced the lines in the wood as he thought it over. Poor girl. There was no precedent for her submissive action. It was just another case of the humans turning one of his people into a wretched slave. "Coin can be plucked from many different places. Why choose to sell your talent to humies?" Kit's ears twitched rightwards, and he leaned back into his seat, letting his right hand hang behind him. He turned his head towards a pair of well dressed humans, husband and wife from the looks of it. "None appreciate it," he said quietly. Kit glared at the couple as they passed him by. His eyes shifted towards the table again, and then back to Lin. As soon as the two humans were gone, Kit lifted his paw and gently placed a small pouch on the table in front of her.

"They throw coin at you, as if feeding an animal, assuredly so."

 

[michikarp]

Leandro was still in his seat when he felt the first drops of a cloudless drizzle tink onto his chainmail. Thinking maybe that he should have kept his helmet on.
He thought he had struck his luck for the night but the weather said otherwise. As did a few startling screams a little ways off from his area. He rose out of his seat, couldn't say he wouldn't be disappointed by this damn capital. The cotton candy was still in hand before he shoved what he could in his mouth and carelessly threw the paper cone to the ground. Jogging half heartedly towards where he thought the ruckus was coming from. It'd be odd if he weren't there when a patrol arrived for whatever it was too.

What awaited him at the area, wasn't exactly something he wanted to see in terms of festival sights. No, there was a man covered in his own blood with an exposed throat. That definitely wasn't very fun. He swore he could feel his stomach sink at what he would be busy with for the rest of the night. And at the end of a narrow alleyway he found two other figures on the ground. Breathing, but he'd have to tie their hands up and take them to the jail houses for an account of what happened.

The damn drunks.

Warding off the passerbys trying to see what had happened he stepped into the alleyway.

"Who would pick a knife fight here?" He whispered to himself.

Crouching to the first man, he noted his face flat on the ground. Sword in hand. He probably wasn't guilty, he looks like he fainted if anything and there were no blood stains. The incision on the unfortunate one seemed too fine for a bulky sword anyway. He pulled the knot on his hands tight as usual and placed him against the wall. He was the most likely despite it. A little farther in lay the other person, face up, weaponless.

What the hell? These are the only possible ones?

Crouching down to tie the same bundle of rope to him he noted two standing figures. Talking. He opted to messily wrap his hands and stood up. One of them seemed to carry himself with an air of confidence. And he looked eerily familiar too. Leandro's hair stood on end as he approached the duo.
The patrol should arrive in the next 3 minutes.

"You two, what are you doing here? Are you related to this?"

 

[Deadly Malice]

Joker moved the cards back and forth between his fingers as he watched this stranger deftly take out the last of the muggers with a swift trip and hit. His ruby eyes now scanned the stranger properly, she didn't look like anything to special yet she tried to sound confident and was doing quite a good job of it. Standing there he wandered what she would do as her indecision took over now that the immediate threat was gone. To his surprise she turned around and confronted him, even though she outright said he was a wanted assassin. Most people would of just ran, and others in the guild would of killed her then and there but he liked her spirit and decided to stick with his plan to save someone. It was then that he noticed the bugs, and more specifically how they seemed to be completely fine with her and how she was completely fine with them. So fine in fact that her entire staff was soon covered in ants.
​

"I am the amazingly talented, as you have just seen, Joker yes". Doing a quick bow before standing back up to face her. "And as for debt, think nothing of it, I was merely helping out someone in need however if you ever need someone of my particular characteristics don't be afraid to ask."​

He unraveled the deck of cards he had been shuffling, closed it back together, then moved his hands in separate directions, pushing down together as the deck vanished between his closing palms. He then pulled a joker card from seemingly nowhere, waved a hand over it and extended it towards Marcie delicately. While he hadn't been paying attention to the noise that was going on behind him, as the sounds of the festival was plenty loud on it's own, he then heard some brave soul speak up to him. Turning on his heels as if he was on stage he smiled at the man in guards clothing, his mask brightly colored in white, black and red while his tattoo gleamed in the moonlight. He smirked towards the guard and decided to play with him a little and responded in a very over the top manner.​

​

"Finally the guard shows up, my my if I hadn't been here this poor lady would of been mugged and killed and you lot would of been non the wiser. So what I believe you're trying to say is, you're welcome" He then took a step towards the guard and fanned out a deck he pulled from thin air. "Pick a card my good guard... hehe it rhymes".​

 

[Melon Bomb]

Shuri Rose​

Through the corner of her eye, Shuri kept her gaze fixed on the figure navigating the crowds. She heard Flin's words, but being so focused on the man's movements, she hadn't registered them until a few seconds later. He was out in the open now, clearly on the lookout for somebody. "Who says I've given up?" she replied, shifting her rifle strap back off of her shoulder as she left a handful of coins to clatter onto the table. The cloth unraveled to reveal a strange weapon in pristine condition, the likes of which have never been seen before in the city of Hearthwood. She twirled it once until the barrel faced forward, kicking up her leg onto the chair and using her knee as support to steady her hand. "I'm just getting started."

There was a sudden pop from her gun, partially suppressed by the rainfall and the chatter of the crowds.

Then the man in question sank to his knees, clutching an invisible wound in his chest. Though he was quite far away, in his dying moments he was able to turn around and catch a glimpse of her face. With a silent gasp, the man collapsed to the floor and gave his last breath. Unsure of what had happened, the walking stream of people looked at the dead man with curious eyes but went on their way, taking him to be another staggering drunk.

In one swift moment, she draped the off-white cloth back over her rifle. Strapping the weapon to her shoulder again, she glared at the musician and mouthed,
"We never met."

Then, she disappeared into the nearest alley.

-

Hilde Marristern​

Hilde loved the rain.

As the scent of petrichor reached her, her walk seamlessly shifted into a light skip as she hummed to herself and munched on her cotton candy like a child.
It wasn't long until the show would start and the last thing she wanted to do was miss it. But as her dwindling pockets made clear, there were many distractions and frivolous entertainment to be had on the way there and she was going to have to try a lot harder to pull herself away from it all. Managing money wasn't exactly her strong suit, so she needed every coin she could get.

Perhaps it was a side effect of her sonic-based magic, but through the rain she was able to pick up a voice she definitely recognized - the voice of a friend and a classmate from the academy. She looked side-to-side and spotted a certain feline woman taking shelter from the downpour, grinning to herself as she decided to skip over and pay her a visit.

"Hey, Lin. . . ?" her voice slightly trailed off halfway through as she got a good look at what she was wearing.

Not that she was going to judge. She coughed away the awkwardness (and also some mucus), just now registering a second beastfolk person sitting beside her. She cocked her head to the side as she looked him over. A relative? Maybe that's rude to assume. . . Either way, she had no business with someone who looked so dangerous and so shifted her attention back to Lin.

"How are you holding up? Bummer about the weather, huh?" she laughed meekly, scratching the back of her head. "And on the day of the festival, no less!"

She tried not to keep looking at the massive weapon that Kit was packing behind him.

 

[Berries]

Nodding as the man confirmed his identity, Marcie blinked once as he bowed. Hesitantly bowing in return, she was completely out of her depth. Eyebrows raising at the proclamation that he was merely helping out somebody in need., Marcie wasn't sure what to make of him. Did assassins do that? She didn't like to make assumptions merely based on somebody's profession, but she still found it kind of suspicious. Then again, it wasn't like she had very much to offer anyway. He seemed to be pretty extravagant with his bows and his cards, perhaps this was just another way for him to be avant garde. As he began to shuffle his cards once again, Marcie couldn't help but stare.

Allowing herself a small smile as he pulled the joker card out of nowhere, she took it carefully and held it in her hand. It felt magical, though she was well aware that the user was the one that was magical and not it. It wasn't often that the girl kept keepsakes but she figured that she might as well keep some memory of this very weird, very strange day. It had been a rollercoaster so far: down as she couldn't afford ice cream, up as she suddenly came into relative wealth, down as she was mugged, further down when a famous wanted criminal showed up, and finally up again as he helped her instead of harming her. Shaking her head, Marcie concluded that this kind of life was nice. Perhaps she should live around people more, they were interesting.

Glimpsing the sight of a guard's uniform behind them, Marcie opened her mouth to say something but the guard had already arrived. Cursing herself for being so careless, she prepared to flee the scene before reconsidering. Technically the men had mugged her, but she would feel bad if Joker was caught on her account. Watching as Joker spun around, Marcie wondered if he was about to kill the guard. Instead, he seemed to be messing around. Rolling her eyes at his antics, the girl sent a few ants out to assess where the nearest guard patrol unit was. A single guard wouldn't be any trouble, but once a patrol came along there was likely to be a lot more chaos.

As Joker played with the guard, and his cards, Marcie noted that the next patrol was going to be arriving in three minutes. Walking up to Joker and tapping him on the shoulder, she used her ants to write messages on her palm so that he could read it but the guard couldn't see.

Don't play with your food.

She commented sarcastically before saying what she actually wanted him to know.

The next patrol comes in three minutes.

Figuring that giving him a heads up would satisfy her debt, Marcie wasn't sure whether or not she should bail then and there or stick around. Perhaps the guard would need her story about the mugging. Leaning against one of the walls of the alleyway, Marcie decided to see how the scenario played out.

--

Seeing that the man didn't seem to like revealing any information about himself, Lin backed off her line of questioning. She might have been mildly nosy, but she knew when not to cross boundaries. Blinking as Kit stood up and walked over to her table to sit, the leopard was surprised. He didn't seem to be one who particularly wanted to interact, but she was glad to talk to him if he wanted. She needed something to take her mind of her nerves anyway, and it didn't seem like he was malicious. Maybe a little crude though. Actually, a lot of crude. But that kind of thing didn't matter as much as intent.

As he apologized, Lin waved it off and waited for what he had to say. At first he seemed pretty amiable, but as he spoke about never stooping to lows of a display of sex appeal, the girl glared at him resentfully. Her act wasn't supposed to be about the sex appeal, it was supposed to be about her ability: these clothes had just been thrown in after the fact. When he continued on to imply that she had no pride, Lin couldn't help but snarl a little bit. If all he was going to do was talk down to her, why talk to her at all? It seemed like a waste of his oh-so-mighty, so-much-better-than-her time. Maybe he just liked to lecture people.

The reason why she was getting so defensive, of course, was because he was right. Where was her sense of pride? Why had she felt the need to sell herself to the humans for their entertainment? Dipping her head in acknowledgement of his words, Lin's sharp eyes caught his actions as the couple walked by. Her mood lightened, she grinned at Kit and lifted the pouch experimentally with one paw. "That was smooth," she commented, mildly impressed. "I suppose that's an alternate way of earning coin? Defying the law?" Tossing the pouch back towards him, Lin stood up and stretched.

"So it's either you comply with them or you rebel against them. A great lot of choices there." The leopard's train of thought was suddenly disrupted when Hilde appeared out of nowhere. Hearing the trail of the other girl's voice as she discovered the outfit, Lin sighed and threw a shrug in the direction of Kit. Here she was complying some more with her human classmates, she supposed.

Turning around and smiling at Hilde, Lin made a face when she mentioned the weather. "Yeah, this rain is being quite the disturbance. I'm holding up alright though, I'm one of the first acts for the show tonight," she said. "And how are you? Enjoying yourself?" Lin inquired, obliged to continue the conversation. Noticing Hilde's discomfort at the presence of Kit, Lin decided that that was good. She didn't especially like to socialize, so some well-placed human deterrent was always welcome.

 

[michikarp]

Leandro's mouth soured at the words the stranger threw his way. He shouldn't have to deal with this on his break of all times. He also didn't believe anyone else would be brave enough to try and mug someone at such a heavily patrolled festival in a shallow alleyway. Sparing the two bodies at the corner an icey glance for making his night worse so quickly he opened his mouth to say something when the odd mouthed stranger stepped toward him.
There was that off feeling again. Leandro was usually one to rely on his gut instinct in situations like this. And right now, they were saying he should keep his distance. Lesser in his fortune he had to stay as he was. Running away from this area would be breaking protocol and he didn't want to lose his position.

Pick... a card?

What kind of person would stroll up to a guard covering a murder scene and— he finally got a good look at his face.
"Oh."
More like oh shit. How was he supposed to deal with a wanted criminal like Joker? Training taught him how to wield melee like an almost pro not magic defense while having minimal magic potential.
He felt his stomach sink a second time and the adrenaline kick in.
The second figure approached from behind, a girl, staff in hand.
So he wasn't lying about a girl getting mugged.
She showed the man something on her hand before she slinked back against the alley wall.
He was in kahoots with someone?
Everything was getting worse very quickly and he suddenly hoped the patrol would get here quicker.
Maybe he should grab his sword? No. His hand wavered at his side for a second but he was sure he'd definitely be attacked should he unsheathe it. His only line of defense was the light armor under his guard cloth and a helmet he currently didn't have on. Practically naked when up against something arcanic he assumed.
He breathed in sharply, suddenly feeling very pressured. If the patrol arrived and Joker was still here there was a high chance of a bloodied fight breaking out. Leandro in the middle of it. AKA, he dies very painfully. He breathed out.

"I'm not in the mood to die. Walk away before the patrol gets here and I'll say you got away. I'm also taking the girl as a witness."

Unless he had a problem with that.
He felt his hands starting to get clammy under his gauntlets and shifted ever so slightly. Hands raised up defensively. The deck was still held up, and for god knows why he plucked a card as he was asked. Daring not to look at it.

"I'll take this as evidence." Slightly inaudible due to his surprisingly low voice and the festival clamor.