Continuum: Bloodletting (The Shanty Town)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LOTO

Shanty City

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/i/20...ct-d2g2ngf.jpg

Urban city surrounded by a mountainous region that isolates the city itself and anyone in it, with only a few choke points that leads out into the world. These choke points are varied in with the smallest being 25 feet while the biggest is as wide as a football field is long. The city is semi modern third world country status at this point.

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Another cool evening in the Shanty City, the bustle of the day long since passed and replaced with the sinister quiet of the night. An average home, not luxurious but fair in comparison to the accommodation in all but the Singing City, the inhabitants within slept soundly. All except for one, but he could hardly be counted amongst the lives of the living.

Against the master bed, in this case a duvet rested over an old sofa bed, sat with his head down and his hands drooped to either side of him, Adrian reminisced over his latest contract. He was outfitted as accustomed, with his bow and sword resting on the floor near where he sat, and the black leather armour and cowl allowing him to meld into the night. His knife remained in its sheath on his right hip. His pale and unearthly beautiful face was stained with blood, and his fangs shone in the tender light of the moon.

The previous evening

Like an eagle, his eyes picked up the smallest of movements in the gloom. Two men, bulky and armoured in cheap leather hide with vicious curved blades sheathed at their sides. Their skin tanned by the sun, their faces hidden behind a mask of cruelty. Adrian watched from his hiding place atop one of the smaller shanties, peering down through the gloom at the guards. His target remained a few paces away, drinking from a large fountain which pooled into a shallow recess of cool marble. He likened it to a Roman villa, except for the barbaric backdrop to the scene he could almost believe it.

Finally, he had seen enough. Carefully he lifted the recurved bow from his back and drew a strangely crafted black arrow. In the same movement, the bow twanged near silently and the arrow was let loose, piercing the neck of one of the bulky guards as his companion turned to speak with his employer.

“We must go. Thi-“ The mercenary turned as he heard his comrade slump to the ground gracelessly, his cry a gurgle as the blood pooled from his fatal wound. He drew his sword in alarm, but to no avail as a thin blade was drawn across his throat by the shadowy figure of the Vampire Assassin. He also fell clutching his throat, but Adrian had already moved past him and sped towards the target a few paces away, reaching him before the second guard had even hit the ground.

“Blood drops, on the sand.” Adrian whispered. The target turned in alarm, a grossly fat man with water splashed across his face and stains on his rich apparel. Adrian had drawn his blade, and with one smooth lunge sent it through his chest. As he withdrew the cool metal which had so easily taken the man’s life, he allowed the stricken tyrant a moment of his time.

“The water removes the stains.” The fat man gurgled and choked as he dropped face down and his blood pooled across the sand at the front of the fountain. The water fountain spurted briefly and the stains were indeed washed away, if only momentarily.

“Yet bloodied I stay.” Adrian paused as he finished his parting gift, and drew his Obsidian blade. With a whispered incantation, he cut his own arm and allowed his life blood to drip into the fountain. After a few moments, he turned and climbed calmly back up onto the shanty house, taking the bow sheathing both blades and leaving the area.

He had waited out the day in the small safe house he had made for himself on arrival. There he remained until some-time into the night, just to be safe. He had some small amount of business to attend to in the town, and someone of his particular class had a habit of becoming awfully hungry.

Indeed, as he stood it became immediately apparent that he had already exhausted the supplies in his current location. Blood stains on the sheets and a single limp hand trailing from the bed gave a terrible insight into the horrific fate which had befallen the previous occupants. Calmly he wiped his face and shrugged his bow onto his shoulder, clipping his sword’s sheath to his left hip and striding from the house with cool confident steps. He had three of his custom arrows in a small quiver strapped to the small of his back, two hungry blades and vampiric blood in his veins.

He had work to do.

Dusk till'Dawn
http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/6...onyvampire.jpg

Earlier that day

She glided through the noonday sunshine’s oppressive heat, moving as if always cloaked in shadows, though the place had few, and as if even the ever present dust could not touch her. The open market was crowded—it was always crowded in shanty town—with yelling merchants and customers bargaining for every copper piece. Thieves were positioning themselves in all the best and busiest places, where they might cut a purse string without ever being noticed, or if they were discovered, where they could melt away into a swirling crowd of bright colors and flowing robes. Nihil noted the thieves clearly. she could tell with a glance who was there to shop and who was there to steal, and she didn't avoid the latter group. she in fact purposely set her course to bring her right by every thief she could find, and she’d pushed back one side of her dark cloak, revealing her ample purse—revealing, too, the jagged ash colored jewel-decorated dagger that kept her purse and her person perfectly safe. The dagger was but one of her trademark weapons, one of the most feared blades on all of Shanty Town's dangerous streets. Nihil enjoyed the respect the young thieves offered her, and more than that, she demanded it. she had spent two years earning her reputation as the finest assassin in Shanty town. Of course that was before the current police force had fully established itself.

She crossed the busy avenue, heading for a small outdoor tavern that had many round tables set under a great awning. The place was bustling, but Nihil immediately spotted her contact from Thultanthar, the flamboyant Sha’lazzi Ozoule with his trademark bright yellow turban. Nihil moved straight for the table. Sha’lazzi wasn't sitting alone, though it was obvious to Nihil that the three men seated with him were not friends of his, and were not known to him at all. The others held a private conversation, chattering and chuckling, while Sha’lazzi leaned back, glancing all around. Nihil walked up to the table. Sha’lazzi gave a nervous and embarrassed shrug as the assassin looked questioningly at the three uninvited guests. “You did not tell them that this table was reserved for our luncheon?” Nihil calmly asked, her face hidden under her cowl. The three men stopped their conversation and looked up at her curiously eyeing her up.

“I tried to explain . . .” Sha’lazzi started, wiping the sweat from his darkskinned brow. Nihil held up her hand to silence the man and fixed her imposing gaze on the three trespassers. “We have business,” she said.

“And we have food and drink,” one of them replied. Nihil didn't reply, other than to stare hard at the man, to let his gaze lock with the other’s. The other two made a couple of lewd remarks, but Nihil ignored them completely, just kept staring hard at the first challenger. On and on it went, and Nihil kept her focus, even tightened it, her pale blue gaze boring into the man, showing him the strength of will he now faced, the perfect determination and control.

“What is this about?” one of the others demanded, standing up right beside Nihil. Sha’lazzi muttered the quick beginning of a common Thultanthar prayer. “I asked you,” the man pushed, and as he reached out to shove Nihil's shoulder. Up snapped the assassin’s hand, catching the approaching hand by the thumb and spinning it over, then driving it down, locking the man in a painful hold. All the while Nihil didn't blink, didn't glance away at all, just kept visually holding the first one, who was sitting directly across from him, in that awful inhuman glare. The man standing at Nihil’s side gave a little grunt as the assassin applied pressure, then brought his free hand to his belt, to the curved dagger he had secured there. Sha’lazzi muttered another line of the prayer. The man across the table, held fast by Nihil’s deadly stare, motioned for his friend to hold calm and to keep his hand away from the blade.

Nihil nodded to him, then made a single motion for him to take his friends and be gone. She released the man at her side, who clutched at his sore thumb, eyeing Nihil threateningly. He didn't come at Nihil again, nor did either of his friends make any move, except to pick up their plates and sidle away. They hadn't recognized Nihil, yet she had shown them the truth of who, and something of what, she was without ever drawing her blade.

“I meant to do the same thing,” Sha’lazzi remarked with a chuckle as the three departed and Nihil settled into the seat opposite him crossing her legs. Nihil just stared at him, noting how out-of-sorts this one always appeared. Sha’lazzi had a huge head and a big round face, and that put on a body so skinny as to appear emaciated. Furthermore, that big round face was always, always smiling, with huge, square white teeth glimmering in contrast to his dark skin and black eyes. He was of the few mortal humans used by Thultantahr, mostly due to the fact the living can com and go more easily then the dead often could.

Sha’lazzi cleared his throat again. “Surprised you came out for this meeting so quickly,” he said. “Now to business. Our King would require a task of you, it would seem he has taken notice of the rise of this 'police force' within Shanty town."

Nihil only continued to stare at the man who continued after clearing his throat again. "He would have yo learn what you can of 'cops'. Assess if they will be a danger to his future plans or not. With the investments of the Death arcanist in his most recent rituals he has... accelerated his plans."

Nihil made sure not to respond to this news visibly, keeping a stoic face. Though what the man had meant interested her. It could only mean the Ancient King had finally made his move, which meant at such an early stage precautions would be needed. So it made sense to feel out possible future enemies now rather then later.

"I understand...I will what I can learn."

"Very good, I'm sure it should be no difficulty for someone of your skill." He said picking up his glass and drinking deeply.

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Present time

The busy hustle of the day slowly faded as the sun set, people returned to their homes, closing shop or stalls. Few remained out after dark settled, surrounding it to the less savoring members of society. Walking briskly in short strides Nihil moved with purpose in each step. Having already set out to drop off a her package for her spy within the police force. It was too risky to meet with her informer in the open, thus more subtle means had to be used. She walked down a narrow alley way. Garbage, pipes, dumpsters, and refuge of all shorts littered the walls and alley. Nihil walked with her cloak tightly grasped to her body, no longer revealing her purse, but rather a long wicked looking dagger at her hip. Such candle still task demanded as little attention to be drawn to ones self as possible, but failing that showing you were armed was one of a sure ways to prevent trouble. Hence also was her choice of route through dark alleys rather then the open street where she could easily be seen by those on the ground or from windows to rooftops.

It was best to play it safe, at least until she had successfully delivered he message. Then it was a simple task for him to pick it up the following day during his patrol. She had no fear of the dark shadows, here she was at home, at her strongest, and none would surely would dare fathom attacking her.

• The sunset, a beautiful sight truly, one Kommander Strakhov would never miss. They were especially spectacular over the snowy plains of the Khadorian battlefields of the Motherland, making a well light environment. But those days seemed so far ever since Strakhov’s came out of the Temporal Rift… He had found himself in a dense forest out south of this world, had to survive by hunting down animals. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, especially since He was pulled out from an assault to the flank of a Cygnar fortress. The foot of the Kommander had barely touched the inside of the Cygnar ground before he vanished into that rift. It was an event that broke him… But he wasn’t going to give up. There had to be a way to get out, and Kommander Strakhov would figure it out. All he could do for now is go around this world in search of a way out.
  
  This town was nowhere near what his Motherland looked like. The structures, the people, the camaraderie… Nothing seemed to be there. It was something he considered filthy and without tradition, a junk town. The people were disgusting, selfish pigs… At least for the most part. Strakhov had the courtesy of helping those in need, since in KJhadorian Law, you had the duty of helping anyone that need help without question. The only exception was on the battlefield where it is fight to the death. It seems not everyone followed that tradition… Here, they would let people die for some money. It was quite sad, but couldn’t be bothered by a simply soldier.
  
  Strakhov had just finished helping an old lady bring her bags back home and giving her the Khadorian blessing, leaving to search for more answers. This town was more massive than he had expected, its streets being crowded. He had managed to keep attention away from him, although he was a giant man in a suit of red armor in the middle of a city. And it didn’t take long for the Kommander to realize the alley was much faster to travel by… And so he had turned to start going for the alleys, between two houses. No one dared even go there, which was quite odd for the Reaper, but he wouldn’t mind anything at this point. Although they were filthy, the odors were quite terrible, it was a lot faster.
  
  Yet, it only took a few minutes before trouble showed up. Strakhov had already spotted the four individuals that were seemingly waiting for someone. They seemed to be nothing more than typical human beings, with simple clothes, armed with what seemed to be tiny carabines. They approached him, their weapons already in hand, and the Kommander stopped and even said the first words.
  
  "Good evening comrades. I thought these alleyways would be much more crowded… It was a wonderful sunset,. Da?"
  
  Alexander was speaking with a thick Khadorian accent (Russian) to the people who seemed to barely understand him. The men looked at each other and on of them pointed his gun towards him. Again, it seemed nothing more than a small caliber bullet could be put into those things… The Cygnar had much more powerful weaponry than that. And so he listened to the man, understand him quite easily.
  
  "Look punk, this is going to be simple. Give us your goods and you can leave… And show us the weapons you carry! Now fool!"
  
  The man seemed to be quite serious about it, in which Kommander Strakhov would do exactly what he was told. He reached behind him; two others had pulled out their weapons and the Kommander didn’t react. Instead, he smiled devilishly and within a second, the ground beneath those men had completely altered, unbalancing them and making them fire wildly, missing the Khadorian Kommander by a mile. With a quick tug, he pulled his Riot Gun to the front and shot off two Shells of lead pellets, hitting all four and sending them flying to the ground. The shots from the Riot Gun were extremely loud, a lot louder than those little pistols of theirs.
  
  Three men on the ground were dead, having received a large amount of lead with their vital organs. One though was agonizing, wimping in pain. Strakhov had only noticed once he put two shells back into the barrel loader of his gun. He lifted his head to notice the man still living and but the Riot Gun back into its place. He approached as the man tried to lift his gun up, but got kicked away by the tall man above him.
  
  "You are not a smart man comrade, you should have known better. You think with your puny bullets, you would have killed me? Now, I will end your suffering, couldn’t let you suffer like you do."
  
  And before the man could even respond to this, the Kommander had already reached his side for the Trench sword and smashed the skull of the little man with the points on the guard. The body fell limp immediately and Strakhov simply shook his head and sheathed the weapon away. He simply marched away, a simple laughter as he spoke to himself, going along to find some answers.
  
  "I knew men were fools, better never would I have known them to be this stupid. Even Cygnarian soldiers knew better than to demand something from a Khadorian soldier"
  
  

Swift steps rounded another corner as Nihil neared the drop off point; the alleyway here was wider here, being a full ten feet across from wall to wall. Though there was still much refuge that littered the way there was room enough to bypass it with little trouble. Sidestepping a long pipe still leaking that had once connected from one wall to the one across, her acute hearing picked up the sound of a booming sound. She froze in place as she inclined her head in an effort to make out anything else, from the sound of it, it no doubt was a discharge from those more advanced firearms Nihil had encountered in more than one occasion. The sound echoed through the maze of tight pathways and alleys. Making pinpointing the source almost impossible...but it was close. Best not to get involved whatever it was, besides she had a mission to do. She ducked under a low hanging close line and vaulted a turned over box of broken stools. She made it the the somewhat dank end of the alley. There was found a tightly sealed sewer entry, where a stream of water from the pipe further up the slightly sloped alley ran into. Nihil took a knee making sure to stay clear of the dirty water. Puller a dagger from her belt, the Dagger of Falling Ash as it was more commonly known, and then jammed it into the wall just beside the sewer manhole. She gently pried the block of stone loose using the dagger as a makeshift tool, then pulled the stone out free.

She quickly scanned her surroundings, then pulled a small object from her cloak and placed it in the blocks place before carefully replacing the block, after which holding her dagger so the blade pointed down she marked a concrete block three blocks to the one she had opened a moment ago. Standing to her feet slowly she looked around again, sharp eyes scanning the darkness, though to her it might as well have been the middle of the day. Satisfied she began to walk down the alley again, she had nearly made it to the end when she slowly abruptly. She turned her head back slowly, and after a few moments finally turned to leave. Suddenly in a blur of movement she spun in place and a single throwing dagger was sent flying through the air faster than he human eye could follow. In a dark corner something gave a short yelp then stumbled out of the shadows, falling off the barrel to land flat on it's face on the hard ground below. It's skin was pale green and ears short but floppy, a maw of sharp teeth and the average size a goblin though somewhat shorter.

However before it's body even touched the stone floor Nihil was on the move as she ducked and rolled under a wild shot from the dark. The bullet struck a pipe which spewed hot water in a misty spry, she had already left fly another dagger. However before it found it’s mark in the last sentry was a whistle and a door was kicked open further down the pathway, four burly looking humanoids jumped out two armed with strange looking bull faced metal weapons, shotguns if she remembered correctly and each with a long blade under the barrels. Thugs. Lovely. The other two held clubs in their hands with nails crudely jammed into them. The two with the firearms where first priority, one leveled his gun at her and it barked loudly, in the confined space of the alley the sound was deafening. Nihil however seemed to not move or react at all to the attack, merely standing there in a half crouch. The pig face, tusk mouthed humanoids, looked profoundly confused by this. When the one who had fired the shot fell back dead a dagger inbetween his beady eyes. The reaming thug's faces mouths went agape, and their heads shot up to the railing of pipe above. Spotting Nihil crouched there like a hawk, the shadow image she had left behind fading away. The last one with the gun aimed and fired but Nihil was already on the move, her leg's already flexed, she bounded in a leap forward right over their heads. Spinning in the air with acrobatic ease, another dagger embedding itself into the last gun wielding creatures head. She landed with her knees bent behind the furthest rear creature. He turned spinning his bat like club in a mad swing, it sailed harmlessly over Nihil's head as she fell to the ground and broke into a spin around on the floor using her right leg to kick out the orc creatures leg, tripping the already unbalanced attacker causing him to fall to his side heavily, injuring his right shoulder, dislocating it, and knocking the side of his head hard on the stone floor.

The second Orc recovered from his shock quickly and charged toward Nihil who was already rising to her feet, the heaving swing come down hard. All brute strength and no skill behind the blow. Nihil turned sideways causing it to soar down in front of her just missing the shoulder, the partial image she left behind already fading. Her left hand came down to grab the clubs handle as her right back hand slammed into it's throat sharply. It's hand shot up to it's crushed windpipe, just as Nihil jammed the butt of it's own club into it's stomach. Knocking the air out of it's chest and causing him to double over in pain. She pulled the club from his now weak hold and, like a bat swing, slammed it into his skull as he was still stooped over. His skull cracked and the club broke from the force, sending splinters flying. The Orc dropped to the ground as the last Orc got to his feet, his right arm hanging weakly. Overcome with rage he swung at Nihil, but it was wild and easily avoided by Nihil who seemed to simply dance out of his reach in a tight spin to his right. He gave an angry yell and came at Nihil again and again, each swing easily avoided as Nihil effortlessly danced out of the creatures swings. Finally eyes wide with anger he raised his weapon for another powerful swing. But to his surprise he could not pull it back down. He looked up in a panic and realized one of his long nails had impaled itself in an overhanging pipe. By the time he realized he had been doped and his head shot back to where Nihil was he was already as good as dead.

The first slice across his throat caused blood to start flying in a dark red spray, Nihil spun low with a flourish as Dusk stabbed into a slit of the creatures rib cage hitting a vital spot, then ending in a low crouch facing away from the orc, Dawn already red with blood, stabbed into the creatures left kidney. It jerked violently for a moment then fell forward heavily onto it's face. Nihil stood slowly, scanning around the alley, but saw no further foes. She whipped her blades clean on the dead orc and sheathed them. She moved quickly to leave the alley entering another narrow pathway. The sounds of gunfire and death no doubt would cause others to take notice, and Nihil had no intention in staying long enough to give any explanations.

Watcher

From atop his urban perch, perhaps twenty feet from the ground, Adrian observed the lethal skirmish below. The sounds of gunfire had caught his attention, emanating not far from his destination, and as he swerved to avoid them he found himself almost dead centre in another dangerous situation. Needless to say, he bounded up the nearest wall and secured himself a safe locale to view the events which unfolded. With a cool professional detachment, he acknowledged the skill the female possessed as she dispatched of her attackers. Her skill set reminded him of his own, but her manner was wrong for one of his profession. Unless she preferred to deal out death and risk her own, rather than taking the easy option of escaping a pointless fight. Adrian could not be sure of her motives with his lack of knowledge, a fact which unnerved him. He considered she might be a high level criminal in the area, perhaps leaving the dead as a message was beneficial to her.

Although not naturally inquisitive, there were some questions he could do with having answered. Mainly, why was there a potentially equally skilled killer roaming the streets where he was doing business. Secondly, what exactly were they? He could sense something strange about her demeanour, indeed his senses detected something familiar even from the distance he peered at her from, blending into the shadows to become near invisible.

As her final foe was dispatched, Adrian moved abruptly to follow Nihil. Her route was obviously taking her towards a narrow passage, an ideal place for him to make an entrance. Indeed Adrian was often fond of drama; hence his chosen form of speech which currently took his fancy. Such things were subject to change in his extra-ordinarily long life, but he took pleasure in confounding people, an interesting trick for a vampire. Quickly, with vampiric speed and strength, he jumped from his half crouch and caught hold of a rooftop belonging to one half of the alley way. He twisted as his momentum carried him on and with a kick, he sent himself flying backwards at an angle so that he landed facing Nihil about ten feet in front of her at the end of the alley. His shrouded leather armour and hood became suddenly visible, or at least to some degree, as his shadow meld faded. The Viking sword clipped to his side, the bow on his back, and the dagger at his hip gave insight, to the trained eye, into his profession. Although he did make a move towards removing an arrow in the quiver at his back, his eyes narrowed dangerously beneath his hood.

“You spill blood with skill.
But do you fight for the thrill;
Or take gold to kill?”

He would ask in a quiet voice, only just audible to human ears if she was indeed human. His accent was soft, but starkly similar to Romanian. Although he had made no overly hostile moves, his sudden appearance may very well cause Nihil some alarm if she was the type to become uneasy.

• Barely seconds after his little encounter with those street thugs, Kommander Strakhov heard shots going off. He took a pause in his walk through the alleyways and turned towards a wide alley to his left, where he thought he heard gunfire. It wasn’t one of those small caliber weapons either, that he recognized immediately. A second one could be heard, and that one was a spread shot from the power of it… It seemed to be quite some ruckus, which called to the trench fighter. Citizens to help and people to kill for their inhuman ways? Exactly what a Khadorian soldier needed. Which a wide smile, he took his riot gun in hand and started running towards the sounds, knew they couldn’t be too far.
  
  He dashed through the alleyways like a raging soldier, one thirsty for blood and for a good fight. It had been quite some time since he fought with a good soldier, ever since he had arrived in this world. He saw a few people within the shadows, but none seemed to dare stop the frenzy of the tall Khadorian. Hitting over a few trash cans on his way, he heard one last shot and then nothing, silence again. Strakhov knew he was near, could smell the action in their air dying… and he had guessed right. He came to an alley where a dead corpse was laying there. The green skinned humanoid was certainly dead, a dagger right between its eyes. Strakhov took the time to look down upon it and be surprised by the accuracy of that throw. It was quite rare, even for the troops he trained, to get such a skillful throw out.
  
  Looking out into further in that alley, he noticed a few men looking around, with others bodies on the ground. He noticed two other daggers, perfect throws again, and a few cut open skins. It was quite impressive, but it wasn’t one of the five humanoids trying to figure things out. They seemed to not have noticed him still and Strakhov knew they were other mindless thugs. One less on the streets would make this city a little better. And so, he stood up straight and rolled the barrel. He then started slowly walking towards them, trying to be loud and make sure he got their attention. Didn’t take long for them to react; some rifles pointed at him within seconds.
  
  ''You! You did this to th-''
  
  The piggish guy didn’t have time to finish as the grenade launched out from the riot gun and hit the group of four head on. The blast spread fire to all of them, setting the night alight. Their screams could be heard, they were roasting alive, unable to get a shot off towards the tall man. And with a sly smile, he turned his barrel again to then discharge three rapid spread shots, killing them nearly instantly. They weren’t much, but it was quite amusing to the soldier as he took his time to reload… Luckily, these building weren’t made of wood and any inflammable object or there would have been trouble.
  
  ''Something tells me this night is going to be fun. Maybe someone might help me.''
  
  With a chuckle, Strakhov reached within a pouch to pull out a large cigar. He drew forth his sword to cut off one end and approached the fire that was still burning. Reaching down, he lit up that cigars and took a long draft before leaning up against a wall and waiting, riot gun at hand. He knew well that this would certainly attract a few of those thugs and when they would arrive, he would have one hell of a party for them.

Moving quickly through the pathway Nihil made sure to put as much distance between here and the scene behind. She could not afford witnesses so close to the drop off point. She know no one would ever think of looking where she had hid the package, even should any find it they would never decipher the code. Still she could hardly afford screw ups on such a simple mission. She had been sloppy and she knew it, which only meant she still needed to further sharpen her skills. It could not be helped, it would be best to be scarce of this place all together. However fate seemed to have other plans as she reached halfway down the alley. Her sharp senses cast alarms through her mind as she stopped in place with her hand already on her dagger. A shadow seemed to drop from the roofs above to land ten feet away from Nihil who stood posed in a combat stance. In a half crouch her left hand behind her back under her cloak, and left leg leading, Dawn already drawn in her left hand before her.

The shadowy figure wore a hood, and once more what seemed to be a sword,and dagger at his belt, with a quiver and bow as well. Yet something Nihil could sense was profoundly different about this one then the thugs earlier. She doubted he was one of their number, and therefore his reasons for appearing were a current mystery, but even more puzzling was his words down to the way he spoke them. He had that smell of death about him as well, the coppery scent of blood which was what had tipped her off far before he had even appeared. Surprisingly had it not been for that she might not of been aware of him until he revealed himself. Few were so adapt at stealth as to be able to blend with the shadows so well and stay hidden for so long.

Whoever this man was she had little intention of fighting him, it was unlikely he knew about her package and delivery. If so why bother showing himself to her at all? No there had to be another reason, but if he knew nothing of the drop. She could choose to avoid an unnecessary conflict. Enough blood had already been spelt, and this one from the smell of death about him likely held few qualms in killing himself. Something about him made even the trained assassin uneasy, not so unlike the Lich's and vampires of the Bone king's court.

At his question, pale blue eyes peered out from under her dark hood. Pulled to deeply over her face for him to likely make out any features from this distance and lighting. "I see little reason why it would be business of yours. Unless those were comrades of yours I suggest you leave this place and bare my path no longer."

She kept her stance fluid and her muscles tightened in case he chose to become hostile. With practiced eyes she scanned the alley before her, it was 5 feet wide from wall to wall. Smaller then the one earlier, but just enough room to fight if it come to that. There was pipes in this one as well, windows, garbage, barrels, and a few other pieces of trash littered the floor. The alley was over all 60 feet long and most of the roofs here three to two floors high. If worse came to worse she had an escape plan.

Suddenly she heard it, a loud boom then followed by a series of shots from a high powered cannon of some short by the sound of it. She tensed, what in the nine hells was that? Worse the sounds of wailing in the distance sounded less then appealing. She could not afford to linger her for long, that much was obvious.

“You seem very wary;
But I should cause no alarm.
And thugs pose no threat.

For they fight like fools
Will you answer my question,
Or will blood be drawn?”

Even as he asked this, Adrian noted her glances and summarised from their closeness she was more like him than he had originally thought. Although obviously not human, he had a sense that in some small way they were of the same cloth. He could tell she was no vampire, but unliving perhaps? That was a possibility, he could certainly smell it on her but that could be a multitude of things, perhaps she was a necromancer, perhaps she destroyed the dead on a regular basis.

Suddenly a booming noise emanated from somewhere down the alley and he winced in annoyance. His sensitive ears caught the sound but the only physical representation of the pain he showed was the smallest tilt of his head. As it passes, he summarised that perhaps her wariness was warranted, it was indeed time to be off.

He had still made no hostile moves, but that didn’t stop him watching her hands and especially her blades, very carefully. His eyes could easily see past her to the narrow entrance-way, and from there he saw the approaching thugs who so eagerly sought the woman. A cracking gunshot rang out, and the thug dropped to the ground, curious indeed.

“Perhaps you are right,
I will delay you no more.
But I will watch you.”

He said it with only a hint of an ominous undertone in his voice, took one look at the metal pipe running along the wall next to him and jumped towards it. With a practised acrobatic grace he caught hold curled up and forced himself away from it with a kick, turning in mid-air to land flawlessly on a rooftop above the alleyway. After he had done that, he waited a moment and let the shadows curl about himself, interested to see how things would play out.

• The fire of the incendiary grenade was lighting the dark alley in which Strakhov was simply enjoying a cigar. It was pleasant break from the mess he had just created, also tried to cover the smell of burning flesh a little. It wasn’t that he wasn’t used to it, have the Flamethrower Kommandos burn through trenches, but he would usually keep going and leave the bodies behind. He was slightly surprised that the Peace Keepers still hadn’t arrived yet, but then, it still hadn’t been that long and the city wasn’t small. He could give them a chance to get there if no other thugs would show up.
  
  Luck had turned out to be quite fortunate, as he heard something come from a close alley, like if someone knocked over a steel trash can. Strakhov was highly curious now and picked up his Riot Gun, the cigar still in his mouth. He slowly walked past the fire, the heat barely bothering the Khadorian. It went to a much smaller backstreet and the Kommander slowly started walking down, trying to notice where the sound had come from. Considering the darkness of the night, he reached up and cut the cigar were it still hadn’t burnt up and put it away to put on his Alchemical Mask. It didn’t grant him night vision, but it made it look a little brighter, helping him discern smaller details.
  
  He kept walking for a few feet, still spotting no sign of life. He found it quite odd that a thug would hide in the streets they knew so much. Checking left and right, in each smaller alley, but still no sign of life, Strakhov, lowered his Riot Gun and looked around him. Maybe someone just ran across for some odd reason. Either way, Strakhov sighed and shook his head and was about to turn around, but then he saw a little figure run across, not too far from him. He instantly ran forward, trying to catch up. And when he turned the corner… The little figure was stuck in a dead end. He would have raised his shotgun, but then he was quite surprised to find a little girl no older than 11 trying to hide.
  
  ‘Please! Don’t hurt me!’
  
  She cried as she did her best to hide from the tall man’s sight. Removing the mask from his face, he had a very disappointed look on his face. Children living in the streets? His society would have never left this happen; the Queen had set laws for this! It was an outrage that these people would do that. He could immediately tell she was homeless by the rugged clothes she wore. He couldn’t leave this like this, it wasn’t what the Khadorian traditions dictated to do.
  
  ‘Come here little girl, I will not hurt you.’
  
  Strakhov knelt down and And slid his gun to his back, just to seem non-threatening. Ike he had predicted, the little girl stayed there, terrified of his presence. With a long sigh, he stood back up and came closer, reaching for something within his pouch. At this point the little was horrified, not knowing what he would do. She decided to start to scream, thinking that someone might help her.
  ‘Someone! Help me please! Pleaaasseee!’
  
  The girl cried, thinking her fate was sealed. But on approach, the tall man pulled a small bag and tossed to her feet. Of course, a few coins and some bills scattered a little on the floor. The girl was confused, looked up to the soldier in awe. Her crying had stop near instantly, but she was about to say something, but the Khadorian signaled her to be quiet. He then turned around and started walking back towards the wider alley.
  
  ‘You shouldn’t be in the streets little girl. Take it and do something of it.’
  
  And so, he came out, and to make sure no one would immediately come to this place, except for peace keepers, Strakhov pointed his gun up and fired two slugs, a booming shot resonating through the streets. It was a fairly obvious signal to get the hell out for those around, and Strakhov put the mask back on, started walking around the desolated back streets, hoping he could do something more before the peace keepers would find him.

Not more than a few seconds after the first two explosions had sounded through the air, an officer had already dispatched himself to deal with the danger such a situation could present. Said officer was Sergeant Leo Maxim with the local police force, who stood upon the flat of his broadsword as it tore through the air with the aid of a Materia orb placed within the center of its handguard. As the man soared through the air, his lightly blue hair whipping in he wind, his glowing blue eyes scanned the alleys and darkened backstreets of the city beneath him. Eventually he felt he would have to come across the creator of the explosions or some sort of rubble to point him in the right direction, bu several minutes of unrewarding searching had begun to bring him down. Just as he was about to turn around and head back to HQ, he sucks a brief flash of movement within a dark alley which brought him to a stop.

-

Hovering in the air 70 feet above the ground, Leo focused his eyesight to the dark alley where he saw a slightly familiar woman having a brawl. Seeing said woman seems to shift Leo's attention to a more important matter as his sword suddenly took a nose dize. The wind whipped viciously around his body as he dropped towards the ground, lowering his weight closer to his sword. When he was only 10 ft from the ground he straightened his blade horizontally and focused on expelling a large gust of air from the blades underside. With that gust of wind Leo began to slow down, coming to a full stop only 3 inches from the ground before channeling the wind to push himself forward, slicing through the darkness with ease.

-

Approaching a rickety building he took note of the known landmark and began to slow his pace down, coming to a complete stop in front of a 10 ft wide alleyway opening. Looking into the mouth of that alley he saw what remained of a pipe that had once stretched from wall to wall but now only dripped slowly onto the pavement below. 'Here's to hoping what I saw was right..' Leo thought to himself, before nodding once and taking off into the shadows. Before to long he was forced to suddenly lurch towards the ground, his blade screeching as it briefly touches the ground, having almost ran into a low clothesline. Having dodged it Leo turned back and smirked with pride, before he was suddenly sent flying through the air no longer standing atop of his blade as it lay within a turned over box of stools he had not looked to avoid. His armor screeched and cried out as it skid atop the stone floor as Leo fell end over end, coming to a stop at the end of an alley siting upright and rubbing the back of his head. "Well that was just oodles of fun.." Saying this Leo sighs and drops his head down, seeing now that he was sitting upon a sewer grate which made him laugh a little and look at the wall to his left. The pale yellow blocks all appeared to be the same but a closer inspection revealed one of the bricks to have a marking Leo had been looking for and counting 3 bricks to the left revealed a brick sticking from the wall 1/8 of an inch. Reaching to his back he grabbed hold of and unclasped one of the twin daggers on his back and used the tip of the blade to pry the brick free. Inside was a small green box which was quickly placed into Leos Materia satchel as he chuckled to himself and replaced the brick.

-

Just as he had placed the block in place and stood from the ground yet another explosion sounded through the air and brought Leos attention back to the matter at hand. In a few seconds the agonized screams of multiple men fell upon his ears, causing him to grimace slightly. "Damn.." he cursed quietly before running down the alleyway and tearing through the box of stools to find his blade, which he mounted and used to tear into the air again. The instant he breached street level the glow and smoke of a roaring fire caught his attention, his eyes opening wider before his blade moved even faster. When he reached the flames he jumped from his blade, grasping it firmly between in both hands as he inspected the alleyway around him. All at once the smell of burning flesh flooded Leos nostrils, causing him to groan quietly before looking into the flames to see 4 charred corpses. "Poor bastards.. Must have done something to deserve.." His sentence was cut short as another set of thunderous explosions sounded through the air, much closer now. Holding the blade at his side Leo took off on a path towards the explosions, listening for any sounds a person would be making. He came to a point that rejoined the main road, and continued in another alley across from this one and was about to turn down the main road, before he saw a large man stroll between back alley ways just a few blocks down. Not knowing for sure whether or not the man was responsible, the fact still remained that he was one of the only people he had seen in the area and so he ran after him, doing his best to keep quiet.

-

Before making the same turn the other man had, Leo peeks his head around the corner to get a good view of the man who was obviously well armed and could very well be the culprit he was searching for. Stepping round the corner Leo takes a few minutes to close the ground between them, stopping when he was 30 ft away from the lumbering man, calling out to him. "Sir!" he bellowed down the alleyway, waiting for the echo to subside before continuing. "Due to your appearance as well as your weapons I have reason to believe you are responsible for a quadruple murder not far from here." Saying this he brought his blade back to the ready position, holding it in both hands as he stated in the direction of the man and watched him with a stern eye. "I am going to have to ask you to come in for..questioning."