Rask ran along the rooftops, his claws scraping across the tiles as his bare feet carried him along at an incredible speed. He was clearing entire houses in breaths where the average human would have needed minutes. However, much like the animal whose shape he now wore, his speed would not last long. That was not a problem, though, as he did not need long.
With a quick flick of his serpentine tongue, he located his vict- er, bounty... and altered his course to follow. Again, he caught himself thinking with instinct instead of intelligence. The "bounties" he received- or "compensations" as they were officially called- were drastically lower if he brought them in dead, if he got paid at all. Only those who were convicted of crimes deserving of execution brought payment if they were killed. And as low as his payment tended to be to begin with, and considering his current bounty was only a petty thief, the job wouldn't be worth the effort if he killed him.
It took only moments before he was but a jump away from his target, and well that he was. Taking the highroad had proved a straighter path- and thus shorter- than the back alleys his bounty had taken, as he'd hoped, but he was still quickly running out of energy. If not for the dark clothing he wore drawing in the sun's heat and boiling his blood, he may well have needed to give up the chase by now.
With a snap of his tail to redirect his balance and the spring of his powerful muscles to throw him into the air, he dives down onto his target, pinning him to the ground as he lands. In moments, he's standing, his sword to the man's neck and his feet holding him down by his arms. The look of dread and terror that had spread across the pitiful criminals face when he'd first realized he was being followed was nothing compared to the look his features bore now. The demonic appearance of the one who stood atop him was enough to frighten any man to silence, but this poor fellow was cursed with the burden of knowledge. He knew who it was who had caught him, knew of the monster's reputation for slaughtering people with ease, his fame as a blood-sport all his own back when he was a spectacle in the arena. The thief would have screamed in terror, but he was afraid to evoke some kind of primal instinct in this near legendary killer.
Rask knew all this, because he'd seen it all before. It was a common site for him, really. Lesser criminals made up the majority of his daily workload, and those who knew of his reputation always appeared slightly different than those who didn't. For one, they always seemed on the verge of wailing for help and begging for their lives, unlike those few who didn't know of him. They just went ahead and wailed about a demon attacking them, and begged for their souls. Rask really didn't care, so long as they didn't waste his time by fighting back. Unlike the larger bounties, which he expected a battle from, small-timers really weren't worth it.
With a single taloned hand, he lifted the petrified criminal into the air and proceeded to haul him to the nearest guard station. From there, the process went rather smoothly. After all the time he'd been doing this job, every guard station in the city held at least one officer who knew of him. After dealing with the shocked expression of a new-by or two as he walked into their midst,- none of them had expected a shadow in full aspect to walk in carrying a bounty that hadn't even been posted yet- he was quickly payed by the senior officer and sent on his way. There was no way to know whether or not the amount he was given was the actual bounty for the man he'd brought in, but from the amount he'd been given it would seem that the officer he'd been paid buy wasn't in on the scam. As he was made known of bounties before their pictures were posted, many officer undercut him the actual bounty and pocketed the rest. They knew that, as the official bounty has not been made, he could not make any claims against them. However, it would seem he got lucky this time, and had come across a guard that was either honest, or too dimwitted to think up the idea on his own.
From there, he found somewhere private and returned to his human form. While he didn't really care if people knew who he was, it did to make things easier. He'd been assaulted by more than one glory-seeker, thinking to defeat him and earn the respect such a feat would have brought. Dealing with them was tedious and time-consuming, and often enough ended in a mess that had to be cleaned up.
Making his way home, Rask stopped by a food vendor and bought a large chunk or raw meat with his extra earnings. He'd take it home and eat it in his animal form. In his life, there were few things he found pleasure in, but sinking his fangs into a slab of raw muscle as it dripped blood brought him a sort of vicious glee. While on his way, he passed by the Journeyer station. People were coming and going from the area, with the post office being so close, and a girl was sitting out front reading. Rask had considered going there on more than one occasion, joining up with a caravan and making his way out of this place where he was known at best as an overly-zealous bounty hunter, and at worst a vicious beast. However, like many a human, he was set in his ways and could see no reason to leave, as their was no guarantee his life would be better if he did. He continued on his way home, looking forward to that nights meal and considering which of his weapons he would practice with that night.
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