Fantasy The Second Wind [Official Roleplay Thread]

[Jensoman]

Flin Meeru

Flin stared in disbelief as Shuri revealed her rifle, and fired. He turned to see what she had fired upon, and saw the man collapse into the distance. How could he have been so careless?! This woman could have killed him in the blink of an eye with her insane, mysterious weapon! He felt foolish for letting his guard down. "WHAT THE FUCK?! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" He screamed at the woman. His scream wasn't too loud, due to the many people and the rain fall. His face became pale after the occurence, and his body tensed up. It wasn't the first time that Flin had seen a man die. He'd seen far more brutal things happen when he did jobs for the Heroes' Guild back in Erylon. However, the strange event confused and surprised him greatly. As the woman said that they'd never met, he simply stared at her with a shocked expression on his face. The event that just happened began to register fully into Flin's mind, and he calmed down. He kept sitting on the table, however.

Was he afraid? No, he was simply wondering if it was wise to give chase to her. He was unsure what the woman's reasoning was to shoot the man down. She had some kind of long-ranged weapon, which she could most likely use to shoot Flin down long before he would even be able to play a single note from his guitar. And in a small alleyway like that, he'd have a hard time to avoid getting shot. Should he even care? He didn't even know the man or the woman. He stood up and sighed. "Heh...well, this shit went from a 0 to a 100 really damn quick. At least something actually exciting happened..." He muttered to himself, walking over towards the man that the woman had shot down.

He kept his head low, doing his best to avoid drawing too much attention to himself. He hoped the rain fall would make it difficult for people to see what he was doing. He kneeled down on the ground beside the man, first checking his pulse. Once he found out he was dead, he began to search the man's corpse in search of anything interesting. Papers, notes, anything out of the ordinary, or simply gold to keep for himself. He was rather swift and thorough about it. He already had plenty of experience in this kind of thing after all...despite how long it'd been since he was a petty thief. 'This guy ain't gonna have much use for his stuff now anyway...' He thought.

Flin remained aware of his surroundings during the whole thing. If the guards caught him now, he would be in serious trouble. As he searched, he took note of the fact that the man did not have any major injury, but just a small hole in his body where blood seeped out. What kind of strange weapon did the woman use on him? The whole matter really interested him.

 

[Tex.Y]

Kit frowned and tipped the pouch over, using his left hand to keep them from scattering too far. He mumbled something about the law while doing so, 'laws...hypocrisy...filth' while keeping track of the money he'd pilfered. Several coins poured out, gold, silver, a few copper, and a small jewel. With his right hand, he began counting them as Lin paid her attention to a little humie that'd stumbled across them. He'd no interest in the girl, or any other human, really. Not unless they had valuables, or a death wish. They were a hypocritical bunch, especially what with their selective laws. Savana was no better than anywhere else in the world. Kit had cut through at least 30 guards on his journey across this putrid country, all while just going about his business, and not once had he even been caught whilst robbing the local civilians. Every damn time, it was because of his ears, or his tail, or something else that set him apart. They'd make a comment, Kit would put a bolt in their neck, people would scream, he would flee. The Felis found himself frozen, staring at the coins with his hand stalled above his loot. He shook the uncomfortable thoughts and continued counting. Nobody was going to catch him.

7 gold, 9 silver, and a 4 copper. Kit picked up the Gem with his right hand and extended his index-claw, tapping the side of it gentle. A few barely visible flashes of light blinked through it, and he sighed, tossing the crystal away. A fake. Of course. Even well-off humans fell for scams. When he was finished, he scooped the coins over the table`s edge, into his own pouch, and slouched forwards again, eyeing the festival as Lin spoke with her... Friend.

The rain had ruined many of the uncovered food-stalls. Cotton candy was brought to a distasteful mush, meat was soaked, and bread went soggy. Fortunately, not every one of these idiots was incapable of making adequate preparations for an outdoor event. Forgoing necessities was foolish, but at least it offered up more opportunities to pluck from the festival-goers.

Kit's eyes perked up and he spun his head towards the source of a peculiar sound. A man's scream. It seemed to catch a lot of attention, but why the hell was he screaming? Nobody was hurt, and Kit didn't see anything suspicious. He just.. Screamed, keeping his focus on the woman that sat next to him. Until she took off, that is. Now that was suspicious, not that Kit cared. He groaned and scratched an itch behind his left ear viciously with one finger, lost for words, and slightly offended that he'd lost Lin's attention to a human. It might've been his fault, though. He wasn't exactly the sociable type. Whenever he addressed his fellow cat folk, it didn't usually end well. Not all beasts shared his grim outlook or controversial opinions on how humans went about their business. Be it human or beast folk, Kit's temperament drove people away.

 

[Slothtastic]

The rain had started minutes ago, and it was starting to come down. However this was no problem to the two mercenaries, clad in armor. The duo had originally come for the jobs and coin, but now J'Dul wanted to go to the fair. Which Jukha did not. So, the two were split. And J'Dul chose and played his cards carefully.
"C'mon! Let's go to the fair~! It's supposed to be fun! We need some fun don'tcha think?" J'Dul said with a smirk.
"We don't need fun, we need coin. We're beginning to run low. Especially since you spent most of it on booze and wh-" J'Dul quickly cut him off, "Nice ladies who were very interested in me." Jukha only grumbled, seeming angry about being cut off.
"Fine, we'll go to your fair." He mumbled, being unhappy about the whole thing. Jukha's battleaxe clanked up against his armor, the sword at his hip banging against his thighs.
"Yay! Super happy fun time!" J'Dul cheered, he too had a sword on his thigh. But instead of an axe on his pack he had an even bigger sword.
"I swear, you can be childish."
"I have to release my inner child sometime, right?"
"Shut up." Jukha groaned.
"How dare you tell your guide and best friend to shut up? Who was the man that played with you when we were kids, when no one else would? Who was the bravest one to go up and say hi to you?" J'Dul guilt-tricked him.
"Dick." Jukha growled, making his way to the stage where an event was supposed to be held. J'Dul shortly followed, in the end, leading the two. He simply wanted to go everywhere and have some fun times, while Jukha wanted to leave and get an actual job. This only became worse when J'Dul saw the lady in a very skimpy outfit on the side of the stage. "Now, that's a pretty lady..." He muttered, beginning over. "How do I look?"
"Like we're supposed to look in our armor. Just without the helmet." Jukha replied, seeming very bored with his shenanigans.
"Hello there, miss, what's a pretty lady like you doing here?" J'Dul asked as he made his way over to the two other Beastfolk. "I'm J'Dul, this here's my partner Jukha." He smiled as he gestured to the large apeman.
"Hello." Jukha simply waved and took off his helmet, showing his face.
"So, what's your name?" He asked, looking to Len mainly.
Berries Tex.Y​

 

[Berries]

Watching Kit count his coins, Lin stifled a smile. She decided that although he seemed to look down on her, he wasn't entirely unfriendly. His deposition just left... a lot to be desired. Besides, he was pretty amusing. When his hand stalled for a moment, Lim's ears flickered curiously, but then he kept right on going. Probably some I'll memory had passed, that kind of thing happened to her quite often as well at references to her brother. Lin didn't feel particularly bad for the couple that had been robbed, she knew that they wouldn't miss the money. The leopard couldn't help but wonder who else Kit stole from. Was he some kind of Robin Hood, stealing from the rich (notably then keeping it for himself)? Or did he just steal whatever he thought would bring in the most value?

Lin was hesitating whether or not to ask more questions because he hadn't responded that well to her questioning earlier. Her curiosity was starting to get the better of her when a new voice entered the picture. Turning around to see two massive beastfolk, Lin blinked. They seemed to be in pretty heavy armor, probably mercenaries of some sort. What did they want here? Registering remakarks about her being a 'pretty lady', Lim's tail flicked in annoyance. Men like this had been one of the top reasons why he should she had felt so exposed in this outfit. She didnt like the fact that she was being seized up for her body. Perhaps she should take a lesson from Kit and start walking around armed to the teeth so that this kind of guy would avoid her. Nevertheless, she attempted to be civil, mostly because the apeman fascinated her.

"Performing at the show," she answered the question shortly, before realizing that she had yet to introduce herself to Kit either. "Oh, my name is Lin!" She said with significantly more enthusiasm, gesturing to the seated feline as well. Curiosity once again getting the best of her, Lin couldn't not help but oogle at Jukha. She had never seen such a large beastfolk before, or anybody for that record. She mostly ignored J'Dul's advances and instead focused her attention on the ape. She wasn't necessarily romantically interested, she just had a strong sense of curiosity. "And what about you guys? Just here for the festival?"

 

[Tex.Y]

Kit looked over at the oncoming beast folk woefully. They absolutely towered over him in stature. It was to be expected. Felis Cat-Folk were less respected for that reason above all else. They were small. He averted his gaze almost immediately and scoffed at the large cat-man's introduction. The pride staining his voice was befitting of his pattern. Panther kin. He'd rarely met subspecies with such high status who garnered a single fathom of his respect. From the looks of it, this meeting would not be any different.

Kit looked back to Lin as she officially introduced herself, nodding silently. He turned back to look over the newcomers more carefully. Although J'Dul was disregarded almost immediately, the larger of the two strangers caught the rogue Felis' eye. He'd never seen a gorilla-folk before, or any beast-folk with such stature. Kit nodded in their direction again, waving to the two subtly.

"It's an enjoyable bout, the festival. Just take care around the guards. They've little restraint with their words," Ki'Tann warned.

 

[Melon Bomb]

Hilde Marristern​

As much as Hilde would've loved to respond, her thoughts were cut short as looming shadows suddenly hovered over her. She slowly turned around, face to face with a pair of beastfolk who looked like they meant business. She wondered if these scary looking mercs would consider her to be beneath their notice, but she dismissed the thought when one of them started raising red flags as he advanced on Lin. Somehow, she doubted that his words were from sheer politeness. There was nothing subtle about it,

She took a moment to mull over some manner of intervention, if it was even necessary, but she was interrupted by the the steadily coalescing beat of drums nearby. The show wasn't starting quite just yet, but soon it would be, as the opening ceremonies signaled to the gathering audience. The rain had been fizzling in and out but remained persistent - not enough to cause a problem with most of the festival-goers, but it would certainly dampen their mood. Hilde wanted to invite Lin to sit together with her, but the presence of three strange, intimidating figures nearby made it difficult for her to find her voice. Instead, she stood sheepishly to the side in silence, her eyes shifting around toward the passing crowds, but mostly at the ground. With some patience maybe they would leave, or perhaps she would at least find a decent opportunity to get a word in.

Right now, neither of those things seemed likely.

 

[Slothtastic]

"No. We were ori-" Jukha was then again, cut off by his partner. And it was beginning to get on his nerves, that showed. "Yes. We're here for the festival. As for the guards, I'm sure we can handle 'em if something goes bad." J'Dul said with confidence. "I have a silver tongue." J'Dul informed them. "And by that you mean you have a steel sword." Jukha mumbled.
Jukha looked over the skimpy outfit now. "Why are you wearing that? Is it because of the show?" He asked, seeming confused by her apparel.
"C'mon now Jukha, no need to ask Lin here why she's wearing something." J'Dul gave the calm down motion. But Jukha didn't do anything.
"There is. I doubt she'd wear it on her own accord." Jukha mumbled, before spotting the other person here. "Oh, hello." He waved to her now. That was when Jukha realized they were all studying him. "What is it? Do I have a bee on me?" He asked, looking himself over for anything of interest.​

Berries Tex.Y Melon Bomb

 

[Jensoman]

Flin Meeru

As Flin finished looting the man's corpse, he ended up finding an insignia from the Knights of Ia, and a parchment. He quickly peeked at it, and noticed that it detailed Shuri's appearance. 'Shuri Rose...wanted...knows military secrets...dead or alive...' He thought, overthinking and memorising the most important details within his mind as he read it. He smirked widely to himself. His eyes seemed to flicker up in excitement. 'So she's a criminal, huh? If I catch her for the Knights of Ia, I might get a huge reward!' He thought, quickly rolling up the parchment. The fact that Shuri appeared to be a criminal wasn't too surprising, considering that she shot a man in cold blood. He put the parchment in his pocket along with the insignia. 'These may be useful later...'

After finishing his business, Flin quickly got back up onto his feet and began to walk away from the corpse. He began to ponder about what happened with Shuri earlier. 'She's probably long gone by now...I'll have to find a way to seperate her from that weapon and catch her off guard if I want to capture her. If I'm not careful, I'll be the next one winding up dead.' He thought to himself. His train of thoughts were suddenly broken by the drums that announced that the show was going to start soon. Flin bolted over towards the covered grouping of seats, where Hilde and the four beastkin were. Right now, he didn't give a shit where and who he was sitting near. The rain was pissing him off, and he really, REALLY wanted to see the show. He had great respect for the Elder Order and all the things they could do.

The man sat upon an empty seat near Hilde and grunted. He began mumbling angrily to himself. "Fucking rain...now I'm all wet and shit...ugh.." Flin said. Hilde could feel some slight sound waves emerge from Flin's guitar. It was very slight and subtle, something that nobody else would be able to notice. He wasn't actually casting a spell, after all. He just sat there for a few moments. He threw a quick glance at the four beastkin nearby, finally acknowledging their presence before looking at the stage again. He didn't hate beastkin, but he certainly didn't trust them, either. There were many cases of beastkin rampaging and killing people, but he knew that not all of them were like that. He just didn't like them very much, and felt on edge around them. He turned towards Hilde for a moment, smiling slightly at her. At least he wasn't the only human here. He was very hyped up for the show, despite his cranky attitude.

 

[Berries]

Slightly annoyed when J'Dul cut off Jukha's words again, Lin felt slightly bad for Hilde. The girl seemed to be pretty intemidated, and the gathering of beastfolk would most likely make most people uncomfortable. About to give Hilde more attention so her classmate felt more comfortable, Kit's mentality got to her. Lin was surrounded by humans all the time and had to deal with it, so Hilde would be fine by herself as well. "Silver tongue," Lin repeated skeptically with a raised eyebrow. That silver tongue wasn't making much of an impression on her at the moment.

Ears flattening against her head in obvious displeasure about the outfit, Lin waved J'Dul off as the panther waved Jukha off. "It's fine, he's right. This stuff is ridiculous," she complained bitterly, flicking the skirt in disdain. Looking back up as the ape asked if there was something wrong, she grinned. "No nothing is wrong, it's just that you're massive." She said cheerfully, obviously not meaning the comment to be offensive. Hearing the drums start up, Lin's nerves suddenly rolled into action and her canines appeared from her mouth as she bit her lip. Around the same time that the drums started, a man with a guitar sprinted under the cover and Lin nodded to herself. It was good that Hilde would have some company among his rather rough-at-the-edges beastfolk crowd.

"I guess I better go," she remarked, a nervous edge to her voice. "I hope you guys all enjoy the show." She said, walking towards the stage with a small wave.

 

[Tex.Y]

Kit followed Lin with his eyes as she walked off, offering no form of farewell. Instead, he stood up, spun his seat around, and sat back down, so that he was facing the stage, with both of his arms resting against the table behind him. Another human made his way over just as Lin was leaving to prepare, armed with a stupid guitar, and a stupid look on his face. Kit peered through the corner of his eye at the man as he passed behind, before looking back towards the stage as he left his range of vision. He looked to Jukha briefly and gestured toward the ground.

"If you are here to enjoy, take a seat, and enjoy," He offered, somewhat insistent, "Unless you had other plans, at this event who's sole purpose is entertainment and feast." J'Dul spoke over his larger partner quite often, but Kit managed to catch the very clear fact that they weren't here for the festival. Not initially, anyways. It didn't bother him, but his curiosity when surrounded by fellow cat-folk, was piqued. It was far more comfortable than weaving between the indecent musings of humies for hours on end. "I trust the floor is fine, lest you harm yourself on these flimsy wooden seats."

 

[Slothtastic]

Jukha simply grunted, beginning to move off around back the show. "Jukha, what're you doing?" J'Dul asked, peering around for his friend that was beginning to disappear behind the show.
"Looking for whoevers running this." He grumbled seeming a bit grumpy. Jukha then began searching, trying to find someone who seemed to be running the show. J'Dul simply smiled and sat down on the floor. Whatever show was coming up was nothing compared to what Jukha could do. He felt himself beginning to become hungry, removing a small pouch. It was filled with some pretty good cherries. He took one and popped it in his mouth. These were for special occassions, that being for anything marked by it. So far he'd had 3 of them just this month... "This oughta be good." He mumbled to no one in particular.​

Berries Tex.Y Melon Bomb

 

[Deadly Malice]

A smiled grew once again across Joker's face as the guard seemed hesitant to do anything. He always loved it when people knew who he was but couldn't remember him specifically, the look that they gave when they finally remembered always brightened his day. His gloved hands extended, cards outstretched and the tension easy to slcie when finally one simple sound escaped the guards vocal cords, 'oh'. Bingo. Joker watched the guards attitude shift heavily, clearly he was one of the smart ones, he went to taunt to guard to see what he could get before a hand was shoved into his general direction.

Reading the bug writing Joker's face lit up, it had been so long since he had to fight a group of armored guards, maybe some of them would be mages, that would be f-... It was then he remembered why he was at this damn festival to begin with, a new contract and he was already running behind schedule as it was. While making up his mind his eyes caught to where the guards hand was resting, above his sword, maybe he wasn't as smart as Joker had initially thought. Luckily for the guard he decided against death and went with taking a card. Smiling widely as he vanished the rest of the deck and look back and forth between his brief ally and the nervous guard.

"Now dont show that card to me, I'll try and guess it later. As for the guards, I don't really care but because I like you so much I shall leave." Nodding once to Marcie and once to Leandro he continued. "M'lady, M'guard"

Performing an over exaggerated bow he threw a card up into the card and vanished from the spot.​

 

[Tex.Y]

A short mustachioed man looked through his personal checklist carefully as the stagehands were preparing for the show. Lin was making her way backstage, finally, and the crew was able to disregard what little oil had been spilt. Thankfully, the rain was pretty effective at cleaning the stage off for them. With his index finger tapping down the list, he nodded and swiftly made a B-Line for the stage, right into Jukha's armoured stomach, face first. The man felt his face slowly for injuries, pulling his body back. Blood? Blood!? His nose was bleeding! With his index and middle finger covered in a rather insignificant amount of blood, he looked up at the gorilla beast-folk angrily, but all signs of aggression in his posture soon faded when he realised that he hadn't walked into the stage by accident. He'd walked into a giant beast. His throat stuttered with barely audible murmurs for a few seconds, until he was able to snap himself out of his fearful little panic attack. The manager stood up straight, held his nose as the rainwater washed away the blood on his hand, and cleared his throat.

"T-Terribly sorry, friend. But... W-Who are you?" He stammered, "If you've got complaints, I assure that the show will not be cancelled on account of a little water!" It didn't take long for him to regain his composure. He was surrounded by guards, after all! If anyone had any intent on hurting him, they'd have to be a complete buffoon to lift their hand out in the open like this! The manager peered over his shoulder, reassuring that there were guards nearby... Huh?

...Where were they all!?!

 

[Slothtastic]

"I want you to postpone my friend Lon's act. And during this, I want you to change her outfit into something less revealing, that doesn't make her look like a whore. I'd also like you to pay her better, she seems to do a lot for whatever you pay her. You'd do well to accept my demands." Jukha growled, seeming very ticked off. He did not have any tolerance for people like him. "My people deserve better than the outfit you put them in. Or would you rather not and instead be thrown through the blades, fire, and into the water? After all, it is what Lin goes through is it not?" He threatened. Jukha didn't even check for guards. He simply entered on his own accord. "Do I make myself clear?" He growled, peering down at the tiny man.

---------
Meanwhile, J'Dul was outside, ready for anything and everything. "Jukha can be a bit aggressive sometimes, so let's see how long the manager holds out until he caves into whatever Jukha wants him to do." He laughed, still saying nothing to no one in particular. While in his mind, he was simply waiting for the blood to start flowing and having to stand up and help out.​

Tex.Y Berries Melon Bomb

 

[Berries]

The drums stopping as the start of the show approached, Lin didn't do much to warm up. She had already run around a bit outside, and that was good enough. In all honesty the routine wasn't no that difficult, most of it was just the fire to make it seem more dangerous than it actually was. Nevertheless, her nerves were racing. The MC for the show, some random human, announced her as the first act and Lin shrugged off her anxiety and walked onstage. Facing forward, she didn't see Jukha backstage and instead focused on the task she had at hand. For her act, there were five trampolines, two trapeze bars, three hoops and a tight rope set up. It was like all the circus acts combined into one, complete with the circus animal.

The stage was half-covered because they had needed a ceiling to hang the trapeze bars, but the staff had attached a tarp to the end of the stage to keep the rain off of all the equipment. Her plan was to start on the tightrope, so Lin scaled the pole and walked to the middle of the rope facing the audience. Waiting for the drums to start again to create a rhythm for her performance, Lin wrapped her toes around the tightrope.

Beginning the act with the drums, Lin did a few flips and tricks on the tightrope. Naturally balanced, handstands and one-footed spins on the narrow platform came easy to her. It was after the rope, however, that the show really began. The hoops lit on fire along with the rims of the trampolines, and Lin blinked once. Setting the trampolines on fire hasn't been part of the plan. Nevermind, it didn't affect anything, it was just she had to be careful with her jumps. Using the trampolines, the leopard easily gained feet of height in the air to perform her tumbles and flips, moving from trampoline to trampoline with ease. No need for her blood lust even. Occasionally, she'd take dives through the different hoops and latch onto the trapeze bars to gain even more height.

Easy work. The trampolines were slowly burning up but that was no issue. Nerves sated and somewhat bored, Lin caught a glimpse of Jukha backstage. What was the ape man doing there?

--

Slightly alarmed at how Joker's face lit up at the mention of the patrol, Marcie looked hesitantly at the lone guard. The reason she had told Joker about the patrol was so that they could get out of there, but obviously the assassin had other plans. Watching the guard take the card, Marcie had no idea what to expect. Would he be killed? Or used as bait to draw the patrol to their location? It turned out to be neither option as Joker suddenly seemed to have a change of heart. The assassin threw a card up into the air and disappeared.

Blinking, Marcie sighed. Now what? Looking at the guard, the girl wondered whether or not she should run away. She had been seen as the Joker's accomplice, but she hadn't really done anything. Besides, in the end she had been mugged so she was the victim here. It's just that the famous criminal happened to show up at around the same time. Sending her ants to search around for Joker's location, rather ticked that he had bailed on her, Marcie decided that her best defense would be innocence.

Walking up to the guard, she attempted to smile. Notably, her smile was out of practice. "Do you need any witness testimony? Other evidence? I can help with that." She offered, hoping that the guards nerves would help her case.

 

[michikarp]

Leandro stood still for a moment, looking at the empty spot his imminent doom had been standing in just moments before in an utter daze. The card, standing in the nervous grasp of his hand.
The girl from earlier approached him. A half hearted smile on her face.
Right. Witness.
He pocketed the card with the money in his side pouch. Reaching his hands up to his face to massage his temples. The patrol would definitely chew him out for not wearing his helmet. Then reaching for the rope the unconscious men were tied with he stopped in his tracks to think. She carried herself harmlessly enough. And he didn't feel anything gut wrenching about her. He let the rope almost slide out of his hands. Turning instead to tighten the knot on the men's hands instead of add a third captive. He shook them awake to let them become aware of their surroundings before they got dragged away. Complaining not far behind. Turning back towards the girl.
"Right," he mumbled, "Since this is a murder you don't quite have the choice to make a report later, hopefully someone in the patrol has something to write with and on so you'll be let off." He tried to give her a comforting grin, but that worked out as well as her attempt at a smile.
He was still on his break so they should let him be after this. Though he felt a pang of pity towards the girl who mignt not be able to enjoy whatever tonight had in store. If she were even slightly lucky they'd let her go after a report however. The guards here were lazy with their duty, as Leandro was.
Upon hearing a group of footsteps moments later he turned his head. Right. He grabbed the lady's hand, albeit a bit roughly and walked out of the alley with her and the rope dragging the men to meet them. A group of four. Looking bored out of their minds.
"No helmet huh?"
Well he was right about getting chewed out. The barracks always had something to complain about.
He interrupts before they get any further. Nodding to the gruesome sight to their side.
"Victim of Joker, here's your witnesses," an infinitely slight quiver in his voice. He pulled the rope, the men behind him staggering forward. He pushed the girl towards them as well.
"And she was getting mugged by these two gentlemen, now if you'll excuse me I'm on a break." He thought to hand them the card but, That Joker guy told him he'd try to guess later, and that seemed to pique his interest despite his still fresh fear. He left the girl to deal with the mess of a patrol and walked off. Glancing at his pouch to check that the card didn't disappear into thin air.

 

[Jensoman]

Flin Meeru

Flin narrowed his eyes at Jukha as he headed backstage, and the grip on his guitar tightened. 'How unexpected.' He thought sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Another beastkin, intending to stir up trouble. Beastkin seemed easily offended whenever humans did anything with them, even an activity that seemed as harmless as this. However, he had no intention of letting any of the beastkin here ruin this show. He wanted to learn about magic and the amazing things the Elder Order could do, and he wouldn't let another angry beastkin do whatever he wanted. 'I might be able to knock him into submission if needed..' Flin thought. He shifted his gaze over at Kit and J'Dul briefly, before turning back to the stage. If he were to act, he needed to be cautious about these two. But with all the Mezza around, perhaps he didn't need to do anything. He cringed slightly when Lin appeared on stage. He knew that the gorilla man probably went backstage for her accord, but he didn't know why.

He came here to see magic arts being done, not some pointless acrobatic performance. He stared lazily at Lin as she performed her techniques, not interested at all. He had to give her credit where it was due, though. Her moves were quite impressive. Perhaps beastkin were more than a bunch of savage troublemakers after all. But then again, she was most likely doing what she was paid to do.

Flin's guitar was resting on his lap now. Hilde could sense that the sound waves coming from Flin's guitar were getting slightly stronger and more violent. Was it because he was feeling stressed out? It was still not noticeable for anyone else, though. Flin seemed calm, despite how he was truly feeling.

 

[Tex.Y]

The stage manager rose an eyebrow at Juhka's odd requests. Without delay, he responded quite aptly.

"Lin performs of her own accord, my friend! And I've already offered her more pay than any of my previous acrobats, which on its own might be too much now that I'm thinking it over. Still, you cannot claim in manner of authority over my performers, or my show!" The man tucked his clipboard under his arm and scoffed at Jukha. "All women in my troupe are to wear the same clothing! It is for the entertainment of the crowd. Besides that, I've orders from the order to perform tonight- Or rather, host this performance! And they would not take kindly to hearing of your... Scare tactics! Who do you think you are, anyways? Coming back here, not even presenting your name, eager to threaten me? Here, let me show you how we civilised folk present ourselves to strangers!" The man extended his hand, waiting for Juhka to shake it. "I am Sir Henry Fuzzlenut! Pleased to meet you, sir giant!"

Henry had gotten a tad ahead of himself. He knew the order would likely do something if he were to fall under harm, or at least, hoped as much. But did he need to be so prideful about it? His arrogance overstepped certain boundaries!

Certainly, it was a mistake.
~
Kit eyed the panther-kin that sat near his seat, wrought with a sudden bout of worry. Aggressive? Towards humans? In the center of a human capitol? Surrounded by knights of the order? Oh no... The Felis turned his head towards J'Dul. They must have been awfully confident in themselves, to go around intimidating the humies. Should he step in, himself? Was this even any of his business? If a beast-folk of Juhka's size began rampaging through the festival, it might end up drawing him into the fray as well. The last thing he needed was a bounty of peering eyes on his pelt, especially not with his reputation. Kit swallowed hard, clearing his mind.

"You'd best intervene," Kit insisted, "If your friend causes a scene, he may not just be dealing with a handful of common guards. The last thing any of us need, is for the order to step in with their magic, flailing about. Humans are a prideful cache of hypocrisy and stupidity." Kit shifted his eyes back to the stage as Lin began her performance. It had been a while since he'd seen anything like it, or any show at all, really. This festival was the closest thing to respite he'd experienced in months. Whenever her tail came within a hair's length of the flames, Kit's heart skipped a beat. He was agile, himself, but only with a blade. Flips and turns of this caliber were only privy to the taller, lithe cat folk. His back ached, thinking of what might happen if Lin made any measure of folly. Flames, everywhere, tearing up her beautiful pelt. Shameful, simply shameful! Kit's eyes darted towards the stage's edge, where Juhkal and Henry had stood, discussing something about the show- Likely something about Lin. But what good was it now? His eyes flicked back to Lin's figure, and then towards the trampolines. The fire was spreading. Subtle scents burned the backs of his nostrils, dredging up untold memories. For a moment, he humoured the idea of running onto the stage and tearing the human's precious decor to pieces. What felt like rest, was quickly painted over as something more sinister by Kit's psyche. He crossed his arms and watched Lin continued, anxiously clutching his right bicep.

 

[Melon Bomb]

Although Lin was certainly on stage performing to the best of her ability, it was simply a warm-up for the events to come. The audience was still growing in size and the ones already present began to settle in their seats. A wide awning stretched over the stands, offering decent shelter from the drizzling rain. A reserved, elevated section of the stadium was occupied by an older man donned in plate armor, one leg was folded over the other and his hand rested on his chin. Jonhan was the man in charge of the Knights of Ia's 33rd Division - also known as the division responsible for overseeing Hearthwood. Keeping his eyes on the performance, he vaguely acknowledged one of his officers approaching from behind.

"Speak," he said without turning around.

The soldier bowed. "Sir Galim was found dead in the streets."

A moment's pause. Jonhan shifted forward and took his eyes off the feline acrobat to face the soldier. He was surprised, to be sure, but he remained calm nonetheless. The timing was impeccable, and the day of the festival certainly allowed for one to use passing crowds as cover. Still, it was difficult to believe that such an experienced knight had fallen so easily. "He was one of our best men. Give me the details."

"What killed him is currently unclear," the soldier replied hesitantly, looking over his hastily written notes, now splotched with rainwater. "We suspect it may be some kind of magic, but we haven't investigated enough to determine his cause of death. The only lead we have right now is a man with a guitar. Late twenties, blonde hair. He was scavenging the body, and we lost track of his whereabouts before we could confront him. We believe he may be the killer."

The knight captain leaned back into his seat. "Interesting. Tighten security, tell our men to pursue any suspicious individuals. Approach with caution, assume they are highly dangerous and heavily armed." The soldier nodded deeply before heading off to follow his orders.

"Yes sir."

Whatever methods the enemy was using, they couldn't try anything here without being caught.

There were too many eyes, of that much he had made certain.

Hilde Marristern​

Alone again. Hilde would've sighed, but her body was too tense standing next to these beastfolk. There was a verbal altercation between one of them and one of the staff members in charge of the show - she decided she didn't want to be anywhere near that and scooted over closer to Flin, curious about his instrument. Turns out she didn't even need to ask because he started picking at the strings regardless. Didn't seem like he was any less uneasy than she was. . .

She considered striking up a conversation to relieve some of the tension, but she wasn't comfortable talking with strangers, and particularly not strangers giving off such negative vibes. Instead, she shrunk even further into her seat, as if she could make herself small enough to avoid the attention of the world around her. Not that she stood out much anyway. Her eyes flitted back to the stage, where she knew could find a familiar face.

Just focus on the show. . . no need to stress out. . .

 

[Berries]

Listening to the guard with only half her attention, Marcie was annoyed at the fact that her ants hadn't been able to locate Joker. However, she was quickly jolted back to reality as she was handed over to a patrol of guards. Watching the initial guard walk off, the girl noticed that he had kept the card Joker gave him. That would probably be a good way to locate the assassin. Sticking an ant patrol on the departing guard, Marcie wasn't sure why she wanted to find Joker again. First off, to cuss him out for ditching her to this lot.

Looking at the four patrol officers, Marcie sighed. Better to get this over with. "I was walking through this alleyway when these three men attacked me. I defended myself for a little joke but I was about to be over powered when Joker showed up and killed that one," she said in a monotone voice, pointing at the deceased man. "I knocked the other two out when that guard arrived at the scene," pointing at Leandro's retreating figure, "who attempted to bring Joker into custody. Joker then disappeared into thin air." She finished, walking away before the officers could ask any further questions. She didn't want to have to deal with this, it wasn't her mess.

The officers shouted after her but Marcie melded herself into the crowd, all but disappearing. Walking after the one guard, Marcie didn't have much else to do.

--

Rotating to the trapeze bars, Lin had yet to break a sweat. However, she was keenly aware of the fire expanding across the stage below her. So far, it shouldn't interfere with her performance, but what were the humans thinking? All this was just going to create a mess. As she was considering the fire, Lin abruptly felt the trapeze bar in her hands start to loosen from the ceiling. Activating her blood lust so she could process the situation, Lin realized somebody had set fire to the ropes. What idiot had done this? Pissed off, she simply flipped to the next bar to avoid falling off. Hiwever, as soon as she touched it, this one set alight as well.

Seriously? What was up with this? Glancing to the side of the stage, Lin saw that annoying little girl giggling to herself. Of course. They had been planning to mess with her. Dropping down to the tight rope as the second trapeze burned away, she wasn't exactly surprised when the middle of the tightrope started burning as well. How intent were these humans on ruining their own show? In the end it would probably look like her fault and her pay would get docked. Thoroughly ticked, Lin made the decision that she wasn't going to be made to look like a fool. As the rope snapped between her feet, she grabbed one side of the rope between the toes of her feet and held it together with her body. Falling into the splits, she did a few spins like that before letting go of one side and swinging on the rope to the right. She managed to get on the trampolines from there.

Of course, the rate of the trampolines' burning had increased. The fires were burning with more heat by the second. One by one, the trampolines became unusable as they burnt up. Finally, Lin was left with one usable one and a whole lot of fire. Literally anywhere she could potentially go was flaming, and she was stuck in the middle of a stage on a trampoline that wouldn't last the next three seconds. Beginning to feel fear forming at the pit of her stomach, Lin pushed it away. It was fine, all she had to do was make it off of the stage. That just entailed one massive jump. Eying the gap between the stage ceiling and the tarp they had put up, Lin saw an opportunity. She'd get wet but even that was better than being burned to a crisp. Crouching down as she neared the trampoline, the leopard's eyes flamed red as she leapt into the air.

The trampoline crumbled beneath her but that was fine because she was soaring into the air, through the gap in the tarp, and easily exceeding the height of two stages stacked. Tumbling through the air, she landed right in front of he stage on level with the audience. Out of the fire. Blood lust fading, she was a little tired but in the end she hadn't used it for long. Furious, she nearly stormed off backstage but then remembered to bow, after which she ran off to get changed then give that manager Sir Fuzzyballs a piece of her mind.

 

[Slothtastic]

Jukha looked back out to the act, only to see everything had been set on fire. Which only increased his rage.
"Oh really? Look here. I don't give a shit who the fuck you are or who the hell is paying you. You set fire to everything. As for the crowd's entertainment I couldn't give two shits about it. You are deliberately trying to set her on fire. Now you are going to pay more and give her new clothes or else." He growled, his own bloodlust beginning to form. "How dare you call me uncivilized! Your own act is uncivilized! You put a beastfolk up there in practically nothing and then set fire to everything she touched! Does that seem very civilized to you?" He roared. He had begun to think that of all the people who may die, Henry was at the top of the list. Already the air around Jukha began to cool, he was preparing for his spell if needed. "Give her better pay and different clothes. I don't give a damn about your order. Do it or I may have to ruin your little show on account of your crimes." He growled, the fire in his eyes growing.

---
J'Dul was getting up, "Don't worry kin, if anything happens I think they'll have trouble getting rid of the fire first." He said with a small grin. He was beginning to head backstage as well, the show was just about to begin! As soon as he was back there he saw Jukha, Henry, and Lin. "Heya folks! Jukha! Calm down friend, if he doesn't we'll have our own act. Which is highly experimental, but an act no less." He smiled to Jukha. "And not to mention, if something bad happens during our act we can always take Lin with us. Probably better than whatever's going on here." He said with a mumble, looking across the performers with slight pity. He felt pity on them because they were performing in front of an audience.​

Berries Tex.Y

 

[Jensoman]

Flin Meeru

Flin looked from the corner of his eye towards Hilde, who seemed to be looking at his guitar. He gave her a suprisingly warm smile. He hadn't even played on his guitar yet, and he managed to get someone's attention already? The whole thing made him feel slightly better about himself and the situation. The sound waves from his guitar seemed to lessen. He sighed deeply for a moment, and turned to her. "Like my guitar, eh?" He spoke proudly to Hilde, despite the fact that his guitar looked like a cheap piece of crap. He frowned slightly as he noticed that the girl shrunk into her seat.

Hilde seemed just as stressed out as he was. He suddenly began to play a calm and peaceful melody on his guitar, in an attempt to calm the girl's nerves. It was the same kind of magic that he'd used on Shuri before, but weaker. He didn't want to make the girl fall asleep after all, but merely help her to calm down. The music itself seemed to calm himself down as well.

Despite that Flin was playing his guitar, nobody other than he and Hilde seemed to hear the song. In truth, Flin had focused his sound magic in a small condensed area around himself and Hilde. He wanted to avoid bothering anyone else, but more importantly, he didn't want to hear people whine to him about interrupting the show. He took note of the Gorilla's friend that headed backstage as well, to calm his friend down. Perhaps Flin was stressed out for no reason after all. He did take note of the soldiers sprinting about around the show, but he believed that it was simply to keep an eye on the beastkin. He felt surprisingly relaxed now, despite the fact that the stage was on fire. Such a large amount of fire did seem a bit much, but he didn't seem to care. "Quite the show, huh?" He muttered.

 

[michikarp]

Leandro was already heading back towards the theater. It wasn't that long ways away from the scene in the first place. He turned into an alleyway to take the same shortcut he took to get to the area, droplets of water occasionally cascading onto him, hair and face slightly soaked from the rainfall. At the end of the corridor he saw a sliver of the stage, caught dangerously on fire. No one seemed alarmed by the heat flaring upwards, so he assumed it must have been part of the event. A glimpse of a beastkin in acrobatic's wear heading offthe stage graced his eyes. Of course he spent too much time covering the murder scene. He audibly groaned in the alleyway, whipping his head around to the sound of a single pair of muffled footsteps behind him.
The girl from earlier? That was quick.

He didn't say anything about her report, he figured she didn't do it and that wouldn't be his problem until he clocked in half an hour from now. He turned himself a little away from her, sporting a slight smile.
"Guess we both missed the show."
He stepped outof the alley. Maybe he missed the show he was planning on, but even through the rain there should at least be some activities to partake in right? He could probably drag her along since it was awkward doing things alone, clad in armor and a sword at his side. Who could say no to a mischievous soldier of Erylon? She would technically have to be accompanied by someone considering her witness stance anyway.
"Sorry, what was your name again," he asked "wanna come and hang out with me? witnesses need to be placed under watch after all." He jokingly winked at her before waiting for a response.

 

[Melon Bomb]

"Who arranged this nonsense?"

A fiery-haired woman folded her arms over her chest, watching the conclusion of the first act with disdain. Her lips curled back into something like a snarl, as if what she was seeing was a direct blow to her own pride. "Do we look like some kind of circus act? To expect us to share the stage with such buffoonery, you must be taking us for fools." Though she was not tall, the authority in her voice and the rancor in her eyes put on a front that forced the other man to shrink as she loomed over her. Well, that and her position as the Elder Order's leader helped some.

"We're v-very sorry," he stammered out a reply, nervously fidgeting with his hands. "I'm not sure who was in charge of the events this year."

"Of course. Nobody knows anything around here," she spat. "I'm starting to wonder if that stupid girl knew what she was doing. . ."

Hilde Marristern​

Hilde was feeling better. Not by much, but better. As the calming tune helped her relax, she pulled herself back up and adjusted in her seat, straightening her back more when she realized she was kind of being a weirdo in public. The man sitting next to her had taken the initiative to lighten the mood, which she certainly appreciated. "Ah, the show. . . ?" She looked back onto the stage, wondering how Lin was doing. "I guess so. That looked really dangerous, I hope she's okay. . ." She trailed off, pausing in thought for a moment. Then, Hilde let out a small sigh and patted her cheeks a few times. She had to stop being such a downer all the time! Have some backbone! Resting her hands on her knees, she managed a smile and said, "Are you a performer too? The sound of your guitar is lovely."

 

[Tex.Y]

Henry buckled backwards at Juhka's threats, half-terrified, and insulted. He couldn't care less about the flames on-stage. They were prepared to douse them, with the help of water magic, or perhaps, the rain itself! How dare this boorish beast talk down to him, assuming the worst of his intents? All Henry wanted to to give the people a good show! Besides, he had a pretty piece of paper that gave him the authority to modify Lin's performance without her knowing! She had a chance to read it over! Multiple times! Maybe if beast folk weren't so foolish, she might have asked to review the deal one last time, just as Sir Fuzzlenut was making alterations... In the past 20 minutes...

Then, another beast approached him, this one spouting a bout of equally infuriating implications. That was the last straw! The small man straightened his back and peered around the edge of the stage's interior, behind it. He didn't see any guards in his immediate presence, but surely, if he'd called out for help...

"Guards! I am being threatened! Rabid Beast folk!" He shouted, to no-one in particular. For such a tiny man, his voice was awfully overbearing. That's what years of shouting at carnival freaks did to a man-child. It turned him into a mini-megaphone. He looked back at the two beast folk with a sly smile. "Words, threats, that's all you're worth!" He spat, "Let's see what kind of insults you can spit when you're in chains." Lin made her way backstage just then, as she was finishing her act. The tarp above the stage came crashing down right on cue, allowing the rain to douse every inch of flames, leaving only a plethora of damaged equipment. Trampolines that didn't bounce, ropes that snapped into cinders, and dry, brittle boards that supported it all. The crowd seemed entertained. Most of them, anyways.

Kit was not.

He didn't follow after J'dul, more focused on Lin's performance as she was finishing up. If anything, the larger beast-folk would stand a better chance of saving her from the torrent of flames. Kit was particularly confident that he would perform optimally while surrounded by fire. His tail shivered as Lin finally finished her performance. All was fine, thankfully. But as the confrontation between Juhka and some loud mouthed human escalated, Kit's reasoning plummeted in an instant.

Rabid? Rabid, were they?

Ki'Tann stood up from his seat, quickly making his way through the crowd, and towards the stage, with little regard for the people in his way. His muzzle twitched as rain splashed across his face, but he didn't bother raising his hood for the short stroll. He couldn't really feel the cascade of raindrops, either way.

He knew it wasn't going to end well. This was stupid. 'Who cares?' The order would collapse on them quickly. Somebody was bound to be captured, injured, or killed. 'Who cares?' With so many beast folk congregating, it would do nothing but heighten the prejudice towards his people. For all intents and purposes, this was idiotic. 'Who bloody cares!?' Certainly not Kit, at this point. It was made clear very quickly.

His tail lashed from side to side, purposely slapping against nearby humies as he made his way through the crowd. Somebody stood in his way, noticing his rude shift demeanour immediately. A familiar face.

"Stand do-w..n, s-s-s..so-" the man squelched, unable to make out a full sentence as Kit's dagger found his left lung with a brutal hiss. The Felis pushed the man aside and stomped past him, holding his dagger at an angle and swishing it against the rain to clean it of human blood. The woman he'd robbed earlier bent down beside her husband, shrieking in terror as he was run through by the very same cat that snatched his coin-purse earlier in the show.