[Official] Smooth Criminals

[ℓorєsaucє]

Smooth Criminals

Setting: This plot begins in a darker area of the downtown district where they are plenty of alleyways to take cover in, and a few manholes that give escape routes into the sewers. Few people ever venture here as this part of downtown is known to "attract the bad guys" making it all the easier for gang activity to go unnoticed. There are only a few shops in this area still open for business 24/7, unlike the busier part of downtown. One of these shops is an electronics and tools shop, that has found good business in letting the gangs buy certain items from it.

Time: Late afternoon with dusk approaching, 5:10PM or so. It's not late enough for the teenagers to be out wandering, but it's also late enough for the younger children and other adults to already be at home. Prime time for trafficking of anything despite how relatively light it still is.

NPCs: Given the lack of human characters played by actual members, assume every member of this gang is an NPC. You may 'take control' of them at any time and for any purpose, but there are specific rules about this:

1) One NPC can't be in two places at once. Use our Plotting Page to discuss between one another what NPC is going to be where if you decide you're going to use one, please.
2) These humans, particularly the gang members with high status, are experienced gang members. They have been trafficking weapons, drugs and possibly even other human beings for many years and they know how to avoid attention, appear normal and not get caught. Several will also be armed and dangerous. Keep this in mind when roleplaying them; they are extremely difficult to take by surprise and they know what they're doing. Keep them in character because if you don't you will be told to edit your post.
3) Some of these bad-boys have done tough prison time and have come from rough areas of the USA. Very little scares them, including wild and dangerous animals. In fact, some of them used to make their living illegally hunting such creatures. Again, keep these NPCs in character to the best of your ability if you play them.

List of Specific NPCs:
Boss Man: Even the gang doesn't know their leader's real name. He doesn't tend to leave their HQ for anything, making him extremely elusive. He is NOT PHYSICALLY PRESENT during this roleplay, but he maintains contact with the higher ranking gang members through walkie talkies and radios. His name is probably going to be heard.
Scourge: The effective leader of this trafficking operation today, and a real tough man. He's forty-nine and has done twenty-three of those years in prison; before this he lived in a small town in Alaska where hunting was the sport of all boys. Wild animals are like toys to him; he loves to play with them and ain't afraid of them.
Beans: The lowest member of the gang members out today and he is constantly reminded of it by the nickname they've given him. Despite his mistreatment, Beans is a loyal follower of the gang with a submissive personality. He lives on Scourges every word and thinks the man a hero. While he won't willingly give up gang members or what they're doing, his personality makes him easy to order about regardless of who you are. Quite a nice guy actually, if not a little paranoid. In his late teens or early twenties.
"Mad Dog" Rob: A thirty-seven year old man who is infamous for his past; a murderer who managed to get away with his crimes and flee the state he lived in. He doesn't talk very much and he's build like a Sherman tank; physically brawling this guy will probably end you up in hospital if not leaving you dead. He's exceptionally unstable mentally and emotionally at times, and he tends to find having a pet dog helps him keep himself together. However, he has periodic psychotic breaks, during which his furry friend doesn't tend to survive. His current dog, Hodgepodge, is his twenty-first canine since he joined this gang nine weeks ago.
Hodgepodge the dog: A purebreed Doberman who was born and raised to be a guard dog, he's not the friendliest of beasts towards strangers and will likely rip off one of your limbs if he doesn't like you. However, to animals he is far more approachable, particularly big guard dogs like himself who he relates to very well. This animal has heard of what became of his owner's previous dogs and is fearful of what will become of him, but he also will not leave his master's side because he was brought up to believe duty before all else. Even if it kills him.
Aaron and Josh: Two brothers, twenty-four and twenty-nine respectively, and quite the life of the party. They're very jovial at the worst of times, with a bit of a sadistic sense of humour; the older brother Josh in particular is believed by other gang members to be a rapist. Whether this is true or not, nobody knows, and if it is true he has never served time for it. Handsome lads but a bit outspoken, they tend to get into trouble with Scourge relatively often and are easily distracted from work. They are both, however, exceptionally loyal, and will become exceptionally angry and violent if anybody threatens their friends, family or gang.

General Plot Direction: This will be the first appearance of this human gang in Shelpey Alley and they are currently trafficking in a lot of their weapons and drugs to their new HQ. Where this HQ is? Nobody knows, and it's not likely anybody will hear about it today either. However, it's hard to move two vans worth of weapons, drugs and other such illegal substances around without attracting some notice.
Thieves and Assassins alike are generally expected to be assessing the threat level of this gang in their own separate ways; it's entirely possible two members of the same gang who aren't aware of each other's presence are trying to work out how dangerous this human gang is going to be. Fights may or may not break out, as the human gang can be quite testy and are quite territorial already. If this human gang discovers any character to be of the "Assassins" and "Thieves" they have heard of, they will attempt to fight and capture this character so as to have a hostage they can both use as a bargaining tool, and of course torture to get information they want out of them.

Participating Characters:
Tabris (Player: Loresauce)
Seth (Player: Loresauce)
Tenma (Player: Kitten)
Alex (Player; Dante)
Sin (Player: Sinneh)
Kyrian (Player: Sinneh)

If your character is participating in this thread, please PM myself or any other staff member before posting, so we can put your name (and character names!) up on here. We recommend you all wait until at least four different people are participating, just in case you decide you also want to further a mini-plot of your own within the same thread.

We hope you all enjoy the up and coming plot, guys! If you have any questions, PM me, and I'll be happy to answer them. <3 This plot has been posted first because it got the most votes and you all seemed really excited for it. Enjoy. =) ~ Lore

[Alex]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true][atrb=height,413][atrb=background,http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g105/iluvk9s101/Alexpost.png] [scrolly:h(333),w(262),sy] OOC[I guess I'll get things started?] The young man, walking with his head down and eyes wary, purposefully did not draw attention to himself as he passed through the sidestreets that connected one warehouse to another in the desolate city district. Though no one else could be seen, this area of town was more than notorious for shady people to hang out, and though he was a Shifter and the leader of his gang, those two things wouldn't do much to save him if he found himself in a spot of trouble. Shifted forms are only good if you can REVEAL them, and gang backups are only good if they're AROUND. As Alex paced past dumpsters and steaming ventilation grates, he kept his ears pricked and his feet ready to run at any sign of danger. It was best to be safe than sorry, anyway, and Alex planned to make it home safely tonight. The fox-shifter jumped and spun to face a sudden sound: in the corner, there, under the shadow of an empty crate! His wide eyes stared at the spot until a single alley-cat appeared from behind the crate, a mouse hanging from its clamped jaws. Alex let out a breath and took a few unsteady steps on his way. Maybe he was being a bit paranoid? Certainly he was over-reacting to things. He'd walked this part of town numerous times before without a problem. Why so nervous now? Alex knew why. Ever since Amber's death-by-Rohjyx, Alex felt unsafe and uneasy. The news had come as a shock: the murderer himself had delivered it to the Thief through a cold and vicious grin that only broadened as Alex's mind processed the situation with growing horror. Amber had been a close friend, a trusted Second in Command, and an innocent enough victim. It was completely unforeseen; completely unforgivable; completely unnerving. Alex had been stripped of his friend, co-leader, and his confidence. Though he hadn't stopped to realize it, his wits were diminishing and his thinking was spiraling into a panicked state of paranoia that he couldn't shake. Another sudden sound cut into his thoughts and Alex froze out of instinct, green eyes suspiciously searching for the alley-cat. But the feline had taken off a while ago, and the sound was coming through the broken pane of a warehouse window. Curiosity piqued, the Thief crept against the wall and stopped underneath the sill, listening. Whatever it was, it didn't sound like a cat. There were shufflings and bangings and...voices. Alex crouched lower and strained his ears. "Beans, get your ass over here with that crate!" "Sure thing, Scourge," "Fucker, don't carry it- use the lift. These are bigger slugs, they're gonna be heavier," There was a clatter of sound and the clanging of something metal and wooden, and then the voices retreated further into the warehouse. Alex contemplated what he was hearing. Slugs...certainly not real ones. Were they talking about...ammo? They had a crate of gun ammunition? This didn't sound like a legitimate group of people that had the rights to own crates-worth of ammo. Alex rose to a half-crouch and stole a glance through the window. What he saw confirmed his suspicions. [/scrolly]

[ℓorєsaucє]

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[atrb=background,http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e240/latias-mimic/SethTableFooter.png] [scrolly:h(325),w(340),sy] He was away from the territory of the Assassins without supervision for one of the first times in his life. Little Seth had tried hard to avoid detection as he had Shifted into his natural feline form and left the old bar where his parents made their home. Tabris had been tired; she still seemed down and upset without Rohjyx around and wasn't completely her usual self and it never failed to make Seth somewhat upset. So, once his mother had fallen asleep due to sheer exhaustion, the young Shifter had sneaked past her and out of the bar. His mission was to try and find his father, and get him to come home. But Seth had no idea how big the world was and he had travelled great lengths already - or at least it was a great length to him. And although the little panther cub was innocent in his intentions to try and fix his family, he had no real idea how far away his daddy and sister Kaija were, and he was starting to regret having ever left home. It was darker in this area, and the sun would also be setting soon. Seth was completely lost, and he didn't like it one bit. As it was, Seth had taken to hiding amongst some crates just outside of one of the many warehouses. He had no idea how dangerous the district he was in was; otherwise perhaps maybe he'd have stayed away; and the noises of the humans inside the warehouse had frightened him the first time he heard them. They would shout a lot, bark orders at each other and although sometimes they would laugh, other times they seemed angry. He didn't understand what was going on at all, but after half an hour of hoping the voices would stop and having no such luck, Seth finally realised he would have to brave the world again and leave his hiding spot. The panther cub did so with great caution. He kept to the shadows instinctively as he darted out from the space between two crates and then pressed himself up against the wall of an adjacent warehouse. "I shoulda stayed home... Mommy's gonna be so mad at me." He whined quietly to himself, trying to keep from tears at how scared he felt and how he wished Uncle Roscy, Mommy or Uncle Tenma was there to watch over him. Holding back tears at how he still wished Daddy and Kaija were both back home where they should be. Stifling a sniffle, Seth found himself distracted when he noticed some other animal not too far away. It had a funny dog-like appearance but walked almost like a cat, slinking around and keeping low to the ground. It was a fox. Well they were common enough, Seth supposed. It was a... distracted fox. Maybe Seth could play with it until somebody found him! The temptation was already proving too much as Seth lowered himself into a crouch, gaze fixed on the vulpine animal as he began to stalk forward slowly. Of course there was every chance the fox would notice him because he wasn't exactly professional at stalking yet, but Seth didn't really mind. After all, he wasn't really going to hurt it. Stalk. Stalk. Stalk. Seth wasn't far at all from the fox now. He paused in his stalking, crouching still and bunching his legs up under him, preparing to spring at the unsuspecting victim. Then, from the warehouse, there was a huge clatter, and Seth couldn't repress his jump of fear and little growl of warning. His head span around wildly for a moment as he made sure that the noise hadn't come from outside - just in case - and the fox was entirely forgotten for a moment as the panther cub curled his tail tightly around him and sat his rump on the ground, not daring to take another step. [/scrolly]

[Aria !]

If there was one thing Tenma was good at, it was spotting shifty behavior. And these guys were about as shifty as it came. Being in his dog form, he could smell things humans couldn't, and by associating the smells with items, know things humans could not. Like the fact that there were a lot of strange people walking around, Smelling heavily of gunpowder and iron, and just.. blood. Dog's had that sixth sense, but it was a little different to Tenma because he was part human. It was like a little tingle in the back of his mind, just a little alert signal if someone was particularly dangerous, nothing that really dealt with other emotions though. Sort of like a dinner bell, one associates it with a certain time, or in that case, dinner being done. The little bell in Tenma's head went off when there was bloodlust, a particularly dangerous/threatening person, or when someone intended or was ready to hurt other people. And that bell, for the love of god, was about to drive him crazy with how much it was ringing.

So, he decided to investigate. Shifting to his human form quickly and scaling a fire escape, he peered into the windows of the storage building from the roof next door. Of course he'd shifted back to dog form, he'd be less likely to get shot if he was just some random dog on a roof looking in curiously at what was going on, rather than a spy from.. well, whatever these curious people were against.

Peering into a top floor window, he couldn't really see much. People carrying crates and crates off of vans with dark-tinted windows that drove in, squabbling with one another and just generally fiddling about. It looked like one of those well-planned operations, similar to what he'd seen in Mexico. But if it was anything like it was over there, there was definitely going to be problems. Because what he had seen were Drug Cartel's, and they weren't to be messed with. Now that he was taking the time to actually smell the air, taking in big wafts of it over his scent glands.. it was there, definitely. Drugs. Drugs, and a whole lot of gun-smell. He could only assume that they were human, going on the fact that there seemed to be no.. animal scent? What was that smell.. two of them, different but familiar. He knew them.. but where?

Stealing a glance down into the alley, his maroon dog eyes first landed on an orange fox, looking just like any other typical old fox. But it acted different, if only just a bit. Foxes were sly, cunning, shifty.. but not that jumpy. He sniffed in and out in it's direction, trying to place the smell coming from it. It smelled distinctly like.. The Thieves. His mind drew only one conclusion- Alex. He had never met the fox-boy before, but his owner Rohjyx hated him, and so Tenma did too. Anyone who was Rohjyx's enemy was an enemy of his, even if it wasn't vice versa.

Suddenly remembering that there were two familiar scents, he took his now glaring eyes off of the small vixen, eyes going further into the alley before stopping on a small mass of black fur. It seemed to have frozen when a large clatter came from inside the building, and when it turned just slightly he spotted that oh-so-familiar spot of white on his Chest. It was none other than Seth. Rohjyx's son. Tenma's so-named Nephew. Seeing him so close to the leader of the Thieves (he presumed) made a rush of, well, one could call it protective instinct, but it was really more like Tenma making a hurried, quite worried, scramble down that fire escape. He'd almost forgotten to shift, and almost fell flat on his dog-face as such. But he managed at the last minute to catch himself, human form, though he scuffed up his hands and knees. That was alright, his breed had a high tolerance for pain, not only that, but there were more pressing thoughts on his mind at the time.

Shifting back to his dog form, his main form, he hurried over to the young panther. His claws clicked and his paws thudded hard against the ground, a clear indicator that he was coming- to both the fox and Seth. He slowed his pace down as he got closer to Seth, coming to a rather slow lope as he came up beside him, bending down and nudging the cub in the shoulder. "You alright there, kid?" He asked, tone holding a certain gentle tone that Tenma never really used with anyone but Seth. Kaija got a version of the same tone, but it had it's differences, just because of their personality variations.

"Your mother will have a cow when she finds out you were out here like this. It's very dangerous around here, Seth. What were you doing out here, anyway?" He could never find it in him to scold the kids, or take harsh tones with them. Their place in his heart was special, if nothing else. Much like the one he had for his sister, but, that was different in it's own right as well. Standing close to the young cub he looked to the fox, his tone much different; a sort of gruff, slightly annoyed tone.

"Alex." To confirm or discern his suspicions, would depend on if the fox responded to the name. Face holding a rather unpleasant look, as if even being near 'Alex' made him uncomfortable (in an angry, kind of I-want-to-eat-your-face-but-Seth-is-here way). The name was said as a greeting you would give to someone you really weren't pleased to see, weren't on good terms with, and didn't want to be around. And in truth.. it was all three. Tenma would have liked to just rip the young fox to shreds then and there, be rid of the Thieves for a while... But no, that was Rohjyx's kill to make. Tenma wouldn't deprive his master that joy.

[Sinneh]

The liger teen woke up, sore and battered, in the back of a moving van. Almost as if he was in a daze, he took inventory of his body and surroundings. His ankles were bound by lots of duck tape, as were his wrist behind him, and the strange sensations from those limbs signified the lack of proper blood flow to them. Duck tape also covered his mouth, and randomly he thought about what a bitch it was gonna be to take off. A sharp turn and the screeching of tires caused Ky to roll forward, his momentum making him crash into first one side of the van then the other painfully. He shook his head once the van was driving smoothly again, sending a sticky piece of trash off. Gawd it was horrible back here, cigarette crap, candy wrappers, junk and fast food garbage, and what was that…empty gunshells? But it was a welcome change from the warehouse…

The front of the van and the where kyrian was was blocked off by wire caging like the older police cars used to have. There were two men up front, and Kyrian cringed at the memories- shutting his eyes tightly and trying to suppress the memories from overwhelming him at a time like this. “Damnit Mad Dog how much longer until we get there? Scourge is gonna just love this!” There was a growl as the driver proceeded to get Aaron to shut up with his annoyingness or get thrown out of the car. “I’d worry about other things Aaron, you were supposed to bring in the new shipments, but where are they? Oh right, you left them back at the other warehouse where that fucking ass of a brother you have was out in the alley-OK OK DROP IT DAMN!” HE was interrupted by Aaron yelling at him. Silence dominated the van for a few more minutes before it was broken once again by Aaron. “So hey…did he really turn into a tiger, while you were torturing him…?” At first he sounded almost shy about it, but really he was grinning ear to ear at the prospect. Mad Dog grunted, both men glancing back at Kyrian, who was now pressed up against the back side of the van.

But his mind was somewhere else, once they’d started talking…he couldn’t shake off the voice.
It was any other day, Kyrian had to work at the club, but his manager had told him he’d have a house call, so obligingly he’d left with his stripper self. Sadly, on his way he’d seen a man, maybe late twenties, with a girl in an alley. He would’ve blown it off, but his good reckless self did so otherwise. “Hey, get off of her you asshole!” He’d warned, changing course to run into the alley where the poor sobbing woman was being raped, lying on the dirty alley floor like some garbage thrown away, an old toy. The man began laughing, sending off some smart ass remark before drawing a knife at the oncoming liger teen. But with his time spent in ROTC and such, a man with a knife was hardly the problem. They got into it, the knife being flung after a painful joint lock flow, and since the man was obviously a brawler with only street expertise he fought dirty.

Well the woman ran off, and Ky would’ve left the beaten man alone to tend to his own wounds, but the cold press of steel on the back of his head told him his night was officially screwed.

Mad Dog, as Ky would find out his name later, had taken him inside, tied him to a chair, and then interrogated him on what he knew, what gang he was in, and the like. This is where Kyrian’s willfulness sprung, and that combined with his yelling he wasn’t in any gang he was just there to kick the ass of some piece of shit rapist- yes that is when things became…well it went from interrogation and threats to actual torture. First Josh got to have a piece of him revenge of sorts; pulling out the brass knuckles and just totally having fun decking the teen all over his body, and it wasn’t until Mad Dog pried him off to get in his share did things stop.

His face stung, his body was shaking, but not so much in fear than in adrenaline and frustration. His pain tolerance was high but come on! Why would Fate have him tested like this?! He spat blood since both of his lips were busted in multiple places, and more than a few of his teeth were loose. The Man with the Brass Knuckles shook out his hands, jumping from foot to foot with a sadistic laugh as he got ready to start again. He could barely see him now, his eyes were swelling shut, also cut & bleeding, and he tried to pull against the rope ties again, only succeeding in having them bite deeper into his wrist and the extra strain on his arms, shoulders and back was hardly worth it. He cursed again at the Man, and just as he was about to leap at him the other man came in. Something about Boss Man wanting something done? He laughed, an unreasonable reaction but once began he couldn’t stop. It was only when the man grabbed him by the hair and yanked his head back, rancid breath in his face but he was too numb to care. “Think this is funny boy? We’re not even halfway through with you yet punk.” And then he got to laugh at Kyrian’s shell shocked silence.

For a good deal of the night, Mad Dog beat him, cut him, choked him- taking hour long breaks during that in which Kyrian tried to sleep, anything to escape the room in the warehouse. After that, Mad Dog came in to cut his bindings and to see if he really could fight or if he had a reason to beat down Aaron for being taken out by some teenager.

Shakily he rose to his feet, but then a rough shove sent the teen stumbling out the door into the main room. He crouched, steadying his breathing despite the bruised ribs, maybe even a broken one or two. Nothing other than that was broken, but by god it felt like he broke the record of having the most bruised bones and sprains. But this was his ticket out, and he’d be damned if he wouldn’t take it. “So lemme get this straight. I beat you, I go free?” His voice came out gravelly, but stronger than how he felt. Mad Dog laughed as he clunked his way after Kyrian, cracking his knuckles. “I never said that, I just want to find out if you were good enough to take him out or if I can get to punish Josh.” Kyrian groaned, falling to his knees. But he wanted the pain to stop, oh boy he did. He feigned disorientation, which honestly wasn’t too hard, and then when Mad Dog came at him ready to swing, Kyrian dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around Mad Dog’s legs and shoved forward, taking him down so he fell flat on his back. Ky hammer-fisted Mad Dog right where it hurt for any male, but not before he brought out a knife and sliced across his cheek. Kyrian used his remaining strength to scramble off and crawl towards the door, legs giving out. Bloody fingers grasped the doorknob, but a heavy biker boot came crashing down on his arm at the elbow-Mad Dog. Pain all over his face, he yelled out- And that was it for Kyrian…literally.

He began shaking, sprouting pale fur, crystalline robs slitting and fangs elongating. The change was slower than normal because of the state of his body, but when the tail came from under the bloody khaki shorts even Mad Dog stopped and stared as the golden teen became the platinum & gray liger. He was laying on his belly, and for a second he wondered why he hadn’t changed before? Something to think about later since Mad Dog regained himself and was reaching for his knife again. Kyrian snarled, chest heaving painfully with the effort. A new cunning entered Mad Dog’s eyes. He’d never seen a liger in all his work for the gang, so he thought Kyrian to be some jacked up tiger. Kyrian roared, hissing and snarling-but it was all noise, he didn’t move from his position. And Mad Dog knew this, knew it was all for show in hopes of sending the human away. He grabbed the knife and threw it at Kyrian, and he only had time to sit back-and then Mad Dog was behind him with rope against his neck, pulling him back to increase the pressure. Maybe he did this a little too well, or maybe he simply underestimated exactly how wounded the liger was. But whatever the case, the feline fell back, and the impact on his body and the strangulation was enough to knock him unconscious.
And now he was here, bound again, in the back of a fucking van with the motherfuckers that got him in this condition and place in the first place. Damn he must’ve changed back. And he wasn’t naked either, but his clothes were hardly his. He was wearing the spare basketball shorts and red tank he’d brought in his bag for when he was done with his session-where he was supposed to be. His body was throbbing in sync with each beat of his heart, but in an oddly numbing way. Much the same with his emotions, so many, or so intense, that it was just a potentially kinetic flatline. A grenade without a pin, all ti would take to blow would be for someone to let go.

The van came to a stop, and when the back doors opened and sunlight poured in Kyrian groaned-they’d kept him all night. HE was tossed over Mad Dog’s shoulder Fireman style, and it was all he could do not to whimper like a kicked puppy the pressure on his ribs was so hurtful, but his eyes did water. “Hey Mad Dog, I don’t think Scourge’ll want that bloody mess in near him, why don’t ya rinse him off?” Kyrian was breathing heavily through his nose, he’d snapped it into place before but the blood was making it hard to breathe, heavy and metallic. He was dropped none too gently on the grass by a hose, and then was promptly hosed down. The cold water felt both welcome and shun-worthy. Well at least he was clean now, er, at least not bloody. But dripping wet now. He was hefted up again, Aaron walking on ahead inside to fill in Scourge and Beans. Kyrian just caught a glimpse of a…dog? Leaping off the firescape and then..shifting into a human male?! His eyes widened, he wanted to call out help, anyone, anyone…

Mad Dog stepped inside, ‘accidentaly’ banging Ky’s head against the door frame, kicking the door behind him close with a ringing sound of depressing finality for the teen, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time just trying to do some good.

[Alex]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true][atrb=height,413][atrb=background,http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g105/iluvk9s101/Alexpost.png] [scrolly:h(333),w(262),sy] Alex turned around as a new smell wafted to his nose. His eyes lighted upon a small black panther cub, sitting in the middle of the grimy alley, and his first instinct was to bristle his fur, for the feline a few yards away bore a strong resemblance to a particular panther shapeshifter that Alex was not on the best of terms with. But as he watched the cat, it showed no signs of hostility and in fact looked rather...pitiful. Alex tilted his head, wondering where this kitten of a panther had come from. It looked lost. As the fox-shifter was about to take a step towards it, there came the sounds of another animal clicking towards them. A huge dog, tawny and black, lumbered towards them and Alex recognized it as Tenma. What was the Assassin doing here? Did he have something to do with what was going on in the warehouse? Alex saw that the Tenma paid him almost no attention and instead had his sights set on the panther cub, and the vulpine registered a moment of shock. Whatever the huge dog was doing coming towards the feline, it could hardly be anything good. He was too late to react, though, but watched shocked as Tenma barreled to a stop and nudged the cat with his nose. Instead of being afraid of the intimidating size like Alex would have expected, the panther cub seemed to recognize Tenma as...a friend. Alex watched in growing disbelief as Tenma addressed the feline in a gentle tone, and the fox picked up the name Seth. Tenma knows this kid? he wondered incredulously. Who the hell is this cub? Giving him no time to act, Tenma shifted his relieved attention from 'Seth' up to the fox, fixing him with a cold gaze. "Alex," he growled in a voice that sounded like he was just barely keeping himself from charging, teeth bared, at the fox. Probably if the kid weren't there, he would have. At a loss for how to respond to this situation that had quickly grown unbelievable, Alex dipped his head in acknowledgment, keeping his lithe frame tense. "Tenma," he shot the name back in the same tone, eying the pair warily. "Whatever's going on here, I hope you have some kind of explanation." His attention was jolted by the sudden and harsh sound of a door slamming inside the warehouse. Alex caught the diluted smell of blood, a stinging coppery smell that made him crinkle his nose. The smell set him on guard and he felt his anxiety rising: this situation made him feel ill at ease and if he could, he would escape to a higher location to do some recon and figure out what was going on and how the Assassins, Tenma and a lost panther cub in particular, fit into all this. But under the watchful eye of the much larger dog, he felt that standing in place was a safer idea; so long as the innocent cub was nearby, Tenma wouldn't lay a finger on the Thief. But that didn't mean that the action going on inside the warehouse posed any less of a threat. Alex retreated a step until he was closer to the window that he had been spying through so that he could keep a watch on both. [/scrolly]

[ℓorєsaucє]

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[atrb=background,http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e240/latias-mimic/SethTableFooter.png] [scrolly:h(325),w(340),sy] Seth had always been teased by his sister about how easily he scared, and although the little guy attempted to act like a tough man during these times the truth was that his sister was quite right. Seth had that proverbial spine, but rarely did he use it. Cowardice was always the better part of valour for Seth even if he wished he was as brave as his father, mother or even his sister. The young panther cub remained shifty and it took him a moment to even realise the fox had noticed him; this made him nervous and Seth could only hope the fox would not be annoyed or angry with him for trying to pounce on it. The clicking of an approaching animal made Seth twitch again, head quickly jerking to stare off in the direction of the sound, but the anxiety did not last for long at all. "You alright there, kid?" "Uncle Tenma!!!" The little cub cried in a jovial manner, leaping to his paws and happily rubbing his head against the large dog in greeting, purring all the while. He was clearly happy to see the large canine in the area and the appearance of a familiar face seemed to bring a lot of life back into the cub. Or did, at least, until he spoke again. "Your mother will have a cow when she finds out you were out here like this. It's very dangerous around here, Seth. What were you doing out here, anyway?" The large dog said, and Seth seemed to become quite sullen once again. "I know she will. I - I didn't mean to go this far! I promise!" He began, stuttering slightly and sounding very much like a child who had just been scolded despite how gentle Tenma had been with him. "I just wanted to try and make Mommy happy again and bring Daddy and Kaija back home!" A pause, and Seth seemed to become somewhat sombre. "They need to come back home..." Seth fell silent, no longer looking as lively as he had when Tenma appeared as he sat back down on the ground and stared at his front paws. Uncle Tenma spoke to the fox now, a name that Seth vaguely recognised as he had heard his father and Uncle Roscy say it plenty of times before. For a minute he wasn't overly interested, still looking more upset he was in trouble and he knew it than interested in finding out who this mythical Alex really was; it was only when the slamming of a door reached his ears that he jolted too and leant into Uncle Tenma for support. Seth remained that way for a moment, until the smell of blood met his nose. The panther cub's head rose up quickly, sniffing at the air fervently. His lips curled slightly at the bottom, a half snarl on his face as he stood up and slowly plodded towards the same window Alex had been at before. He glanced at the fox as he passed, eyes a small warning that any funny business would get him hurt, and then manoeuvred his way to the window so he might look in. "That's a horrible smell, Uncle Tenma. Do you smell it?" He asked quietly, not thinking about what might happen if the humans inside the warehouse as he watched them and tilted his head from one side to the other. The tip of Seth's tail jerked side to side in his displeasure and anxiety; these people were bad news and Seth just somehow knew it. "Are these some of Daddy's friends, Uncle Tenma? They're bad people. What are they doing, anyway? And hey! They have a person, too, but he doesn't look so good..." And all the while he was at the window shuffling around to try and get a better look Seth had no idea of the real danger for him, Alex and Tenma if he were spotted, nor how "not so good" that person inside the warehouse really was. [/scrolly]

[Aria !]

Tenma gave Seth a smile at his excited greeting, having missed hearing his little nickname; 'Uncle Tenma'. He listened to little Seth's explanation, not being able to help feeling a little bad for the young cat. Tenma himself wasn't really sure where Rohjyx had gone, or why he had only taken his daughter with him. He suspected that he was training his only daughter, so that she would be able to defend herself. Or maybe he had other plans for her. He couldn't be sure though; even knowing him for over ten years didn't help very much when it came to insight into his head.

His one pointed ear spun in Alex's direction, hearing him return his name in a somewhat of the same manner. Coming from a fox he couldn't help but underestimate the sound.

"Whatever's going on here, I hope you have some kind of explanation."

Was he insinuating that the Assassin's had something to do with this? As far as Tenma knew, Alex didn't even know Rohjyx was gone- which meant giving out that information would be a mistake. Of course, the fact that he even thought that they were dealing drugs and firearms offended him. "If I was the one with the explanation, I surely wouldn't be handing it over to you, Fox." He said defiantly, matter-of-fact-like. Like he should have known not to ask before he even did.

As Seth went wandering off to the window to look at the sound, Tenma's attention was drawn after him as well. He saw a flash of a person being carried in, a young man who looked much like he had given up hope and needed a good rescue.

However, rescuing a man he didn't know was not on his priority list, and even if his list had something besides Seth and Kaija on it, he still wouldn't have made the cut. He looked to Alex, vaguely wondering if he had any intentions of hurting the young cat- But that didn't seem like anything a Thief would do. They were... soft. Not merciless enough to hurt a child. In his mind, they were lucky. Hurting one of Rohjyx's kids.. well, it may as well be worse than death.

He loped over, peering through the window with perked ears to see just what Seth was so interested in. "That kid, is a smell I know pretty well. It's blood. And that guy? It's best you forget about 'im, he's done for, kiddo." He said, watching the boy with pitying eyes. He didn't know how to be non-blunt, even with the kids, but.. Well, it may have been toned down a bit.

"They're not ours, Seth. I don't know who they are.. but they look, smell, and act human." He said, talking partly to Seth and partly to Alex, though he was looking at Alex. "Seth, we really shouldn't be here... if one of them sees you....." He trailed off, thinking of all the things that could go wrong and all they ways he would kill himself for it, not to mention Tabris and Rohjyx helping.

[Alex]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true][atrb=height,413][atrb=background,http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g105/iluvk9s101/Alexpost.png] [scrolly:h(333),w(262),sy] Alex was intrigued by the exchange of words between the unlikely pair. He caught the panther's reference to his mother and father and a name he didn't recognize, but from what he could piece together, the young cub was without his father and was clearly worried about his mother. The question of who his mother and father were didn't really seem that important to the Thief, and was swept aside as he caught the nickname Uncle Tenma. Tenma...an uncle? Alex could hardly believe his ears. The huge dog didn't seem the type to hold any compassion for anyone: however, he WAS acting uncharacteristically gentle towards Seth. So...the cub had been left in Tenma's care, maybe? Until his father came home? So then what about his mother? Alex decided it wasn't his business and that he really didn't care. Let the Assassins take on an extra responsibility- he really had nothing to do with it. At least he knew now something of how the panther fit in. Alex was drawn out of his thoughts when Tenma spoke up, addressing Alex. "If I was the one with the explanation, I surely wouldn't be handing it over to you, Fox." The Thief narrowed his eyes, letting the comment slide as Tenma spoke to Seth. "That kid, is a smell I know pretty well. It's blood. And that guy? It's best you forget about 'im, he's done for, kiddo." Alex stood up on his hind legs and peered once more over the window sill into the dusty warehouse. Sure enough he could now see the source of the blood smell: an unfamiliar boy about his age was being dragged across the hard floor, leaving a crimson trail in his wake. The teenager looked completely drained of any energy to try and fight his captor. Alex attributed it to the multiple woulds that covered his battered body. "Who is he?" He wondered mostly to himself, although if Tenma knew, Alex would appreciate an answer. "We can't just leave him," As Tenma suggested that Seth leave, Alex turned to face them. "You're seriously just going to walk away? I understand the kid, Tenma, but you?" [/scrolly]

[ℓorєsaucє]

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[atrb=background,http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e240/latias-mimic/SethTableFooter.png] [scrolly:h(325),w(340),sy] Perhaps had Seth been older, less naive and a little more human, he would have felt instantly compelled to help the lad inside the warehouse, given his pitiful state. As it was the cub felt some tug of emotion at the sight, and yet at the same time his wild instincts told him getting involved would not be smart. He continued to watch, ears pricked and icy blue eyes even a little bit curious. Seth was too young and too feline to understand why this wasn't a scene he should take interest in. "That kid, is a smell I know pretty well. It's blood. And that guy? It's best you forget about 'im, he's done for, kiddo." Uncle Tenma explained, causing Seth to turn his head and look over at the big dog. The admiration in his eyes was unmistakable and clearly Seth looked up to the older Shifter. "They're not ours, Seth. I don't know who they are.. but they look, smell, and act human." The Shifter then went on, Seth nodding as he explained and still not taking his eyes from Tenma. When he did look back through the window, the scene had changed. The boy was being moved out of sight of the window, although no doubt into view of a window further down the warehouse. One of the younger men looked like he was being shouted at, although it was hard to tell. He didn't look happy either way, his eyes darting from place to place. "I won't ever understand people Uncle Tenma." Little Seth said solemnly after a moment, feeling pity for the captured hostage. "I can see why Mommy doesn't either." A pause as Tenma suggested they leave. Seth turned his head to watch the canine Shifter once more; taking his eyes off the people within the warehouse. "I don't get why it would be bad, Uncle Tenma, although... they do seem like bad people. Maybe we should go back home, Mommy will be mad already if she knows." The little panther spoke, not moving from his perch at the windowsill. He missed a small commotion inside, the young man had averted his gaze to the very window Seth was at and was pointing, telling his friends of an intruder watching them. Perhaps if Seth had been any other colour, they would have realised it was only an animal, but alas he was black and for them, he was little more then a shadow of some kind. Seth turned away from the windowsill at this point, not-so-daintily returning to the ground and briefly stumbling over his own paws. He glanced over at the fox as he spoke about them leaving the boy inside the warehouse, and sniffled slightly. "Daddy and Mommy always said don't involve yourself in business that's not yours." [/scrolly]