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On a gloomy and damp night...; open
Topic Started: Tue Oct 4, 2011 12:53 am (767 Views)
Dali
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It was a wet night on the Taras boardwalk. Dali sat cross legged with his back up against a closed stall, trying (unsuccessfully) to keep from getting even wetter. On his lap was a piece of damp board, on which was written "Locksmith for Hire" in smudged charcoal. Underneath, in smaller letters, was written "will pick locks for food."

It hadn't been a successful business ploy so far. Most people just walked by without noticing. And some people...

...some people took entirely the wrong kind of interest.

"Heya, half-breed," a bass-voiced shadow loomed suddenly out of the gloom on Dali's right. It was flanked by two more shadows, both with the same loom-ish qualities. They were all big and gave the distinct impression of lots of shoulders without a lot of neck to top it off.

"H-h-hello?" Dali sputtered.

The figures stepped forward, coming into the sputtering light of a nearby torch. The biggest one was a swarthy human dressed in black. "Remember us?"

"Oh ye-ye-yes." Dali quickly tucked the sign behind his back. "Well, I ha-ha-hate to say this, b-b-but I'm gainfully employed with s-s-someone right now." He started to get up.

The three men quickly surrounded him. "Funny you should mention employment," the leader said. "The Boss was just thinking of starting another..." he sucked a breath through his front teeth, or through the gaping hole where his teeth ought to be, "...enterprise." The other two thugs quickly hauled Dali to his feet, their meaty hands nearly encircling his forearms. "He's decided to hire you as our security specialist."

"R-r-r-r-really, guys, I'm honored th-th-that you th-think I'm that g-g-good, but I'm sure you can find s-s-someone else." The last word came out as a squeak. "V-v-v-very busy right now. Em-em-employer wants to s-s-s-see me s-s-so..."

The leader reached out and wrapped a hand around his throat, "Think about what you just said, halfie."

Dali didn't have to think very long. In circumstances like these, his thoughts could outrun a cheetah. "I th-th-think my new b-b-b-boss wouldn't mind if I'm a little la-late."

"Good," the leader said. He turned and walked down the boardwalk. The other two followed with Dali still in between them.

Dali had two choices: walk or be dragged. Since he liked his ankles, he chose walking. He didn't dare call for help aloud, but each person they walked by he gave them a mute cry for help with his eyes.
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Shan Orison
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It hadn't been a good day for Shan, though it was refreshing to have a bad day in the pedestrian sense. It had been a long walk to the Boardwalk in the first place, and when he set up to play, he found out from some official looking and, importantly, heavily armed guards who informed him he needed to pay a fee in order to perform. A long, circular discussion then occurred between himself and the guards. Shan typically didn't carry money around, since it only landed him in trouble, so he couldn't pay the fee until he played for a bit. The guards insisted he couldn't play until he paid the fee. This continued for a time until the guards began to handle their truncheons in a decidedly aggravated way, so Shan decided to explore the Boardwalk nightlife instead. Then it started raining.

So now he was walking the Boardwalk at night, in the rain, with no way to pay for a room or even take part in any of the fun amusements the indoors offered. Granted, the entire affair was better than running and screaming for his life, but it was a lot wetter and colder as well. He was still debating if that was better or worse overall when he spotted a group of swarthy young men surrounding another, less swarthy man. Really, he was more the opposite of swarthy. Shan like to say he was made of rubber and string, but the man looking rather uncomfortable in his present company was more akin to dry sticks. The rain made it difficult to know what was being said, but Shan recognized the tone and stance of bullies with a victim. The stick man stood and walked with the man like a prisoner with his escort, huddling in on himself.

Shan had faced demons and dragons and drow and the undead. He wasn't about to let a bunch of beach thugs terrorize some poor guy if he could help it, and his conscious demanded he could help it. He developed a horrendous outline of a plan, since they seemed to have the best chance of success with him despite the side effects, and dashed in front of the quartet and stopped right in front of them. He threw his arms wide and set his face in a big smile. "Hello and Welcome to the Boardwalk!" he said in his greatest performer voice. "I am Travis of Travis's Traveling Tales and Tricks of Wonder! Shall I spin a story of amazing daring do, or perform feats of magic like nothing you've seen?" The thugs just stared at him and maneuvered their escort around Shan, who side stepped them to block their path once more.

"Now, now, there's no need to be shy! I can tell you've the look of a man who longs for the open sea, as a pirate captain, perhaps? And you!" he said, turning to the second. "Dreams of being a bold knight, saving buxom damsels in distress, that's more your calling, is it not? And you, sir!" he said, standing before the one who looked the least braindead and thus most likely the leader. "You doubt that any magic I possess can impress you, but just let I, Travis, prove you wrong!"

This is going to end in blood and tears, Shan's second thoughts predicted.
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Dali
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Dali was rapidly resigning himself to the situation at hand when suddenly a red-haired man appeared in front of him and the thugs. "Hello and Welcome to the Boardwalk! I am Travis of Travis's Traveling Tales and Tricks of Wonder! Shall I spin a story of amazing daring do, or perform feats of magic like nothing you've seen?"

Dali had seen this before. Street performers, especially on a nasty night like this, would do just about anything for a bit of money. This one, however, seemed particularly insane. When Dali's escort tried to take him around, the madman jumped in front of them again.

He looked at the man on Dali's right. "I can tell you've the look of a man who longs for the open sea, as a pirate captain, perhaps?" Then he turned to the man on his left, "And you! Dreams of being a bold knight, saving buxom damsels in distress, that's more your calling, is it not?"

Dali felt his jaw drop. He quickly glanced at men on the right and left to see if the performer was indeed seeing the same people he was.

He couldn't be. He absolutely couldn't be.

"And you, sir!" he said, standing before the the leader. "You doubt that any magic I possess can impress you, but just let I, Travis, prove you wrong!"

The leader stared down his nose at Travis. "Huh," he grunted, "We don't have money for you. Push off or we'll grind your face in the dirt."

But his companions were staring. And it take an order to snap them back to the task at hand. Travis had given Dali a moment to work with.

Dali went limp, not only making his body sag, but forcing it down to the ground, making him dead weight. Hopefully they'd be surprised at the sudden change of weight to let go.

No such luck. The men didn't even notice. The leader said, "Come on, the Boss is waiting," and the men started to drag him around the performer. Dali stumbled to his feet as they went by.

"H-h-help me," he said to Travis. "P-p-p-please."

"Shut up, halfie." The leader didn't even look back.

"P-p-please. I'll owe y-y-you." Dali struggled to look over his shoulder as a they went by. "I'm n-n-not good with m-much b-b-but..."

"I said: SHUT UP!" The leader roared. He spun and brought the back of his hand across Dali's face. Stars exploded inside Dali's vision, the world spun, and the sudden limpness in his legs wasn't intentional this time. Something warm began to ooze it's way out of his nose and across his mouth, tasting of iron and salt. Anything resembling intelligent thought scattered.
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Shan Orison
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Shan kept the manic grin, keeping his wince internal. "Wait, wait!" he said, still cheerful. "Let me at least show you something!" Shan spread his arms theatrically, pulling open the sleeves of his shirt in a overly dramatic fashion. "Nothing up my sleeves," he said. "Nothing in my hands. And yet!" He gave a complicated flourish, which ended with him somehow holding a violin in one hand and a bow in the other. "Ta-dah!" he said.

"Kid, one last chance," the leader said. "Shove off."

"At least let me play a tune for you. A good song can warm your heart on such a night almost as well as a fire." Shan raised his violin.

"I said shove-" the leader began, but Shan had already begun playing. It was a simple nursery rhyme, but a touch of will activated one of the many enchantments lying dormant within the instrument. The thugs, as Shan surmised, weren't the greatest when it came to moral fiber, and reeled back from the Glory enchantment, stunned by the music. It shouldn't hurt the man, Shan surmised.

"Now's your chance," he said to the cowering man. "Let's run for it!"

Glory
Edited by Shan Orison, Wed Nov 30, 2011 6:15 am.
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Dali
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"Let's run for it!" seared its way through Dali's stunned mind like a bolt of fire searing through wool cloth. If his mind had been active enough, he probably would have thought those were among the most beautiful words he'd heard in a long time - ever since someone had last said, "Nah, let's not kill him." He didn't need to be told twice. He pointed himself in a random direction and took off.

Unfortunately, that random direction was the same direction the music was coming from. This shouldn't have been a problem, except that his mind wasn't quite aware of what the implications of that would be or, more importantly, the exact location of the musician in the scheme of things - i.e. dead ahead of him.

His first thought on the matter went, Why is that man getting bigger?
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Shan Orison
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The man ran, yes, but not in any way except blind panic. Blind panic, of course, can be fantastic for escaping, but one needs an a flat open plain for preference, so the floodgates of adrenaline could flow freely and a man could really run free and away from danger. In this instance, blind panic let to the man careening into Shan, bowling him over and forcing him to stop playing. This also had the sad side effect of allowing the men to recover from their stupor and realize they've been played for fools.

"Well that does it, minstrel," The boss said. "You're dead meat."

"Sorry, got to run," Shan said, hooking an arm under his fellow escapee and legging it down the Boardwalk. He knew this wasn't a winning long term strategy. He had extra weight slowing him down, he didn't know the Boardwalk, and they seemed the type of gangsters that knew the place like the backs of their hands. Well, he'd have to rely on his rescuee.

"Hi there. I'm Shan," he said, turning randomly down an alley. "Know anyplace we could run to? I'm new in town."
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Dali
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The second impact jarred Dali's brain back into a stupor. Someone (presumably the man he'd run into) pulled him to his feet and was dragging him down the boardwalk. He dragged his brain out of the fog just in time to hear his rescuer say, "I'm Shan. Know anyplace we could run to? I'm new in town."

Dali stumbled to his feet. Run to? Running to places was not his thing. The important thing was away. You ran away. He didn't say that, though. He'd learned to save his breath. "N-n-no. I'm a st-st-stranger here myself."
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Kemi
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As the chase went on, Evals stood in an alleyway of an alleyway talking with a man. Well, talking was an incorrect verb. The man's face seemed broken and the girl held him by his throat up against a wall and her other hand pulled back in a fist. Already bloodied from repetitive strikes against the man's yielding flesh. She yelled at him and he cried out saying that he didn't know. She hit him again and with a considerable crunching sound something else seemed to break in his face. Even after all this he wasn't talking... she threw him off to the side and let some other members of the Shadow Society take him into the now abandoned building through the back door.

Evals was now just bidding her time, thinking about what to do about all of this. Of course her thoughts were interrupted by voices and the sound of running from the mouth of an alley. A familiar face ran by and was with someone else. What was Shan doing? Getting into trouble was his specialty or something. She only turned her head to watch them and then looked around the corner as they ran. She was then passed by three more people, with weapons. Looks like that was the problem.

As the goons chased the two men, the one of them in front tripped. After a few moments, he was being hastily dragged backwards by something white attached to his leg. It looked like spider webbing. He was dragged against the ground and up against the wall of the alleyway until he was forcibly taken around the corner. Only moments afterwards screaming of pain and fright could be heard.
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Shan Orison
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Shan ran, his new friend in tow, as fast and as far away from their pursuers as possible. Shan could probably slow them with a Blast from his fiddle, but even with his friend regaining his feet, he doubted his stability. So they ran, not looking back to avoid cutting down their air resistance. It was only the scream that made him turn his head. Behind him he could make out, in the gloom of secondhand streetlamps, two silhouettes staring behind them. Shan remembered three men, and right now so did the remaining duo. They seemed to be focused on the screams of agony and terror coming from even further behind them before, even more disturbingly, they suddenly stopped. At least Shan now had a good shot.

He brought his fiddle to bear, played a quick ditty, and whispered a word that sent a blast of pure sonic energy shoving the thugs down the ally, damaging and deafening them. On the plus side, it took some time for people to recover from blows such as that. On the downside, they could no longer hear his violins enchantments and, thus, couldn't be affected by them.

"Let's go!" he shouted to his new friend, rushing back down the alley. They were entering an area where warehouses, or at least large storage sheds, were prevalent. He tried the door on one, found it was locked, and surreptitiously whispered something as he held the handle. He tried the door again, and this time it opened. "Inside!" he said, wanted some concealment from whatever it was out there. "Just wish I knew a way to lock this," he muttered as he waited for the man to go inside.
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Dali
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If Dali had been frightened, he was now terrified. The chase had been bad enough, but it was the scream - the scream of a thing in mortal terror - that made his already pounding heart seize up. It was so bad it actually slowed him down. For a moment, he was worried the already taxed muscle was just going to give up then and there.

The man - what was his name? Shan? - slowed as well. He put his fiddle to his chin and played a quick tune. There was a wumph of sonic energy, followed by two meaty thumps of bodies hitting the ground.

Dali's heart leveled out. He could hear some distant cursing, so Shan hadn't killed them. "Let's go!" he shouted and Dali pushed himself into a run again.

They entered into the warehouse district. Shan slowed at one door long enough to try the handle. After some fooling, it seemed to give. "Inside!" he said, opening the door.

Dali didn't need to be told twice. Shan was muttering something vague about wanting to lock the door as Dali grabbed him by the arm, hauled him inside, and slammed the door behind them.

It was dim, but not dark inside. A quick look told Dali there was no obvious, immediate danger here - though there were too many boxed stacked up to be sure of unobvious dangers. Just the same, an unknown danger was better then a known one: you never knew if the unknown danger actually existed or not, whereas with the know you were all too sure. Dali turned to the lock on door.

And the world cleared. His heart slowed. Peace descended on his soul. A lock. He was good at locks. "Hmm...looks like a Wekker, but the keyhole is too big. Could it be a Greener? Unlikely, seeing as how this building is probably new. Either way, I could probably pick this with my pinky finger. But to lock it? Hmm.... Well, if it is a Wekker, the tumblers are going to be unstable, so..." He held the handle steady with one hand and gave the lockplate one good hard thump with his fist. The tumblers fell into place. "Ah...a cheap Wekker knockoff, that's what it is."

It was then he realized that he had just locked himself in a room with a man whose motives were unknown. Yes, fine, he had saved him, but to what nefarious purposes?

"Um...t-t-thanks," Dali sputtered. "My n-n-name's Dali." He paused. "Uh...p-p-please don't h-h-hurt me?"

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Kemi
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Evals made short and painful work of her first victim. Plunging her hands right into his body after propping him up against a wall. She proceeded to rip pieces out of him until he finally died. It took a few moments but it got there. After that threshold was reached, the girl just ripped the man's insides out so they were dangling outside of his torso and then dropped him onto the ground. A look of horror stuck on his face. Poor unfortunate soul. Walking away from the corpse, she walked into the alleyway. Shan and his partner had already vanished.

There, just getting up, were the other two men that were giving them chase. Despite being practically covered in blood, she put on her cutest smile and waved at them as she approached. Without much hesitation after that, she disappeared out of thin air. With subtle traces of magic where she once stood, she reappeared between them. Shortly afterwards even louder screams of pain and horror could be heard from the alleyway. Anyone that would walk down the alleyway would find that this section was stained in blood and shredded bodies.

Given a few minutes later, Evals was walking further down the street looking for Shan. Probably wasn't wise to abandoned her current operation but not like she was getting much out of it right now anyways. Using her Wraith Sight, she found two living bodies inside of a building. Returning her sight to normal, the girl walked up to the door. Her clothing was pretty much soaked in blood and half of her face was completely covered in the red liquid. Part of one of their intestines was hanging off of her shoulders and loose bits of flesh were stuck in her dirty and messy hair.

The zombie knocked on the door. "Can I come in?" Her childish voice asked innocently.
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Shan Orison
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Shan was shoved aside by the bald man with a sudden push, studying the lock. Shan watched him work, fascinated by the change in the man. Gone was the trembles and posturing that worked to make the man as small as possible. During the moments he fiddled with the lock, the man seemed calm and focused. After hitting the door, there was the gentle clicking of falling tumblers locking in place. Well, at least they had that going for them. Shan whistled in admiration.

"Nicely done, man," he said.

The man regained his craven composure, turning and looking at Shan with...was that terror on his face? "U...t-t-thanks, My n-n-name's Dali," Dali said. "Uh...p-p-please don't h-h-hurt me?"

"...What?" Shan said, the world feeling like it slowed around him as his thoughts sped. Was he really scared of Shan? The bard never thought of himself as an object of fear: more the recipient, really. He was just a bard, not a monster!

Except you remain calm and secure in the face of danger, and managed to lay flat two men with only a song, not to mention you've well over a half foot of height on him, his anima said, dredging up images of how Shan must look from an outside perspective. He has no weapons, he has no skills besides that he demonstrated with the lock. If your past self had met someone like your current self, how would he react?

With suspicion, with dread, with fear, Shan knew, because he had met someone before, long before he learned of his violin's enchantments or started coming into his powers as a Muse. Granted, Sebastian had a far more frightening visage than Shan, and had killed a mugger before his eyes with dark necromancy, but the concept was one and the same. Weak and helpless, you learn to use those disadvantages as a strength, giving the strong the chance to lord over you and gloat in their power, forgetting plans to kill you along the way, or so you prayed. He still used his cowardice, his fear, to escape danger, but more and more that fear, the bowing and scraping, was becoming an act. He was growing more confident in himself, and even reaching out to aid others. When he first left home, there would have been no chance of his risking his life to help Dali.

By the gods, he'd grown, but he recalled those not so long ago days.

"Don't worry, Dali," Shan said, sitting on the floor, legs crossed. "I won't hurt you. I can't prove my good intentions except by my actions so far, and I don't expect your full confidence, but you need to trust me for a least a time if we're going to get away from those thugs. Alright?"

Shan studied the warehouse crates, looking for a second exit. There was a large door, probably for bringing in wide loads and carts, there were boxes creating their own labyrinth of cubed wood, and up high there were window. They were too small for a person to squeeze through, but they did provide an idea on how to escape. He rummaged in a seemingly plain bag until his fingers touched wool. Well, hopefully he could get Dali to agree to this, but it should-

More screams came from nearby, this time a duet. Shan froze as he listened, his nerves set on edge. Eventually, they also died away. Eventually.

"Alright, Dali, we need to get moving," Shan said, yanking out a small white cap, decorated with two pieces of wool shaped like cat ears. "This is going to sound crazy, but I need to to put on this hat. It will-"

There was a knock on the door. "Can I come in?" called a voice. It sounded young, girly, and utterly familiar to Shan. He turned his face to the door. Could it be...? Well, it might be. It would explain the screams. Best to make sure, though. It was a dark and stormy night. Who knew what was lurking out there? Well, it was at least gloomy, not to mention damp.

"Dali," Shan whispered. "I think I know who that is. They're a friend, if it's who I think it is, and if not..." Shan trailed off and thrust the hat into the elf's hands. "Put this on and hide. It should keep you safe." Shan stood and walked to the door, his fiddle at the ready. "Forgive my suspicions, but I've had a stressful day." he said loudly. "If you're who I think you are, tell me: What color where the three candies you offered me in Balefire when we first met, and which did I choose?"
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Dali
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Shan seemed nice enough, but lots of people did. Generally just before they got mean. And he'd been rescued by people before. Generally because they wanted him for something.

And then the screaming started. It was worse this time, possibly because there were two voices. Dali covered his ears and shut his eyes while the tortured voices grabbed every one of his frayed nerves and pulled.

The screaming stopped. Shan said something to him, but Dali couldn't hear it over the pounding of his own heart.

Then there was a knock at the door. Dali nearly jumped out of his skin. A little girl said (or at least it sounded like a little girl), "Can I come in?"

"No," thought Dali. "You most certainly can not."

"Dali," Shan whispered. "I think I know who that is. They're a friend-"

"Like hell they are."

"-if it's who I think it is, and if not..." Shan trailed off and shoved something wooly into his hands. It appeared to be a hat with kitty ears. "Put this on and hide. It should keep you safe."

Well, Dali had every intention putting on that kitty hat like a snowball has every intention of vacationing in hell. Hiding seemed like a good plan though. While Shan walked to the door and annouced loudly that he'd had a bad day, Dali crawled into the maze of crates.

He made his way down the narrow asiles as quietly and as quickly as he could, moving away from the door, but not in any particular direction. And, as he crawled, he began to get the strongest feeling of deja vu...

He rounded a corner and a flickering light illuminated the turn ahead of him. "No,"he thought. "It couldn't be. What are the chances?" He crept closer, poking his head around the corner.

Five people - three humans, a tiefling, and a half-dragon - worked quietly in the dim light of a lantern. They were unpacking the huge crates with a furvor that suggested they probably shouldn't be. Dali recognized them. They were the team he'd worked with then he'd last been employed with those thugs. As he was watching, the half-dragon pulled out a medium sized, square crate with a complicated lock on it. A very complicated lock.

"Got it," one of the humans muttered. "Let's get back to the Boss. I hope those idiots found that locksmith."

Dali would be the first to admit he'd like to try and figure that lock out. He liked the complicated ones best of all. But he knew what was in that box. And that lock could stay closed.

"Hey, did you hear something?" the half-dragon rumbled, cocking his head to one side.




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Kemi
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Evals waited a minute until Shan spoke. Telling something she couldn't hear to the other person inside. She felt their vibrations through the ground. A few moments later Shan told asked her a question. Balefire? What? Three candies? More what. "Don't give me that, you're not drugged again, are you?" Evals asked at sounding concerned. Yet she became annoyed by not being trusted by just the sound of her voice. With only a few moments of hesitation, the girl brought her hand back before throwing a punch forward.

Her metal hand crashed through the wooden door with ease. Pulling it out, she looked through the hand sized hole she made. "You're going to open this door or I'm going to remove it." She demanded, completely ready to just break the door down, not happy with the idea of being suspected of someone else.
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Shan Orison
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"Okay, okay. Excuse me for being cautious," Shan said. That was definitely Emily's armored hand, and her mentioning his being drugged sealed the deal. Shan concentrated his Knock spell on the handle and pulled it open. "I was just ensuring that guessing wouldn't work, that's all..." he said as the door swung open, and then he got a look at Emily.

"Ah, Emily, you've got a bit of..." Shan looked over her bloodied form, complete with bits of flesh and innards. "You've got a bit everywhere, really. I'm guessing our pursuit is dealt with, then. Um...Dali, it's okay. It's not as bad as it looks." Shan turned to find a distinct lack of Dali in their little corner of the warehouse. "Well, he ran off. I should probably find him...um..." He turned back to Emily. "I'm guessing I should be thanking you again. Tried to play the hero, and that didn't turn out well. Um, probably should get you cleaned up first before meeting him. He's a bit...twitchy."

Shan's ears perked up as he realized he could hear other voices inside the warehouse. He couldn't make out words, but things hadn't been going well for him thus far tonight, so why should he stumble across the Boardwalk Knitting Society now?

"Did you hear that?" he asked Emily. "I think we should risk Dali's twitchiness and see who else is in here."
Edited by Shan Orison, Mon Oct 10, 2011 2:07 am.
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