Tarifa Underground

[Relos]

Relos was beginning to shiver uncontrollably. The frosty winds of Aissic were beginning to take there toll on him, just as he had tried to find a place that hopefully had less crazy people that looked all death warmed over. He had begun to ponder about what that girl had told him, as there was little else he could think about between surviving the chilling weather of his mother's birthplace and the...interesting conversation he had just had. He couldn't shake the guilt that the girl - Vexler if he remembered correctly. She was right, he and Kikuriku had disturbed the resting place of someone else when he had no right other than sheer curiosity, and even that wasn't enough to justify it. Out of fear for his immortal soul, he made a silent prayer that he would be damned to Hell for his crime.

Continuing his walk to find shelter, he noticed an entrance to a cavern that seemed to lead underground. Whether or not it gave him a warm place to rest, he needed something that would at least mean he would be on the inside and freezing to death. Reluctantly, he ran as fast as he could, stumbling a few times. The snow would often be nothing like air to him as he walked through, which he found rather perplexing, but he continued nonetheless. Lying down on the cold ground, he checked his pack to see if any of the food he had managed to bring with him was still edible. Unfortunately, the food had either gone rotten or was simply to mashed to be worth eating. He sighed, his breath visible in the cold wind, and decided that he had little else to do other than journey further inside the cave.

[Violet Macar]

Violet was pretty close with both the Krosts and Clamiers. That, of course, was not something many people could say. Then again, the only reason she could say such a thing (and not even out loud) was because she could shape shift. If she couldn't become two very different people whenever she chose (which was a bit of an over statement, it took more work than that) then she would likely not have weasled her way in to the inner circle of the Clamiers and the inner-outer circle of the Krosts. Being that she had these connections (and they were often fruitful) she spent much time in Aissic - more specifically in the underground slum-city of Tarifa.

At this particular venture, she was going to be working on a little taste of gossip she had overheard on the ship to Aissic. This little rumour had to do with one of the Krost's sons, and so she took her Krost form. It wasn't the prettier of the two. With the Clamiers, she knew she could get her way in through the pants of the old men that ran the show. She could sex up a lot of Krosts too, but that never did much to help her. They were stricter. They were meaner. They were smarter. And so, she had to be tough and smart to get in. The form she took stood at five feet and eight inches and had olive skin. Her eyes were a striking brown and were framed with long, (fake in more ways that just shape-shifting), lashes and her nose was bigger than she would ever have made it if she were trying to look gorgeous. A small beauty mark found its place above dark, pouty lips that never held any trace of a smile. Her eyebrows seemed perpetually drawn together in a mean sort of way, a way that showed she meant some sort of bad business. Her hair was black and fell long and waving down to the middle of her back. Her clothing was heavy, because despite the fact that it was warmer in the underground slum city, it was still chillier than anywhere outside of Aissic. What could be seen was a tight-fitting, fur-lined jacket of blacks, whites and leather browns. The tightness outline the apparent muscle and surprising litheness that hid beneath. Her pants consisted of more tight fitting apparel, more for the easy movement than the sex appeal. They, however, were lined with fur on the insides and kept her legs quite toasty. Her feet bore heeled boots, perfect for walking in snow or kicking someone's ass. Tucked into the back waist of her trousers was a gun. She had borrowed it from her boss at The Tablet. It was a necessary accessory to fit in down here.

At this junction, she knew exactly where she was going. Of course, she was naturally an extraordinarily curious person, and she couldn't help but people watch. Most people looked as though they belonged. Rough and tumble, poor or dirtily rich. There were broken down little shacks and large houses with smashed in windows and garbage decorating the front porches. People fighting, people talking with thick accents well known for this area. People exchanging money, or drugs, or illegal weapons. It was a fun place. But then there were people who stuck out like a sore thumb. They were the people who weren't rough, poor, rich or famous. They didn't look like they were jonesing for a hit or drunk off their ass. They didn't look like they wanted to kill someone. The boy that she saw fit that exact description. He definitely didn't belong. One of these thingmajigs is not like the other...

As nature would dictate it, she wanted to know why. She lost her current interest in getting in good with the Krosts. She lost all interest in getting more on the rumour she had heard, and so now she was walking up to the boy. "Hey, you," She affected the accent of the land, fitting in perfectly. She looked like she was born and raised here, she sounded the same. It was a bit of a pain to avoid the use of her own words (and it certainly wasn't any fun) but it was far more effective.

[Relos]

Relos wrapped his arms around himself, trying to make himself warm. His teeth chattered nonstop, and he felt like half of his body was frozen. His trip to Aissic didn't go nearly as well as he had hoped. He had absolutely no idea how his mother was able to tolerate this place for all the years she had lived here. It was probably her finally getting tired of the terrible weather that convinced her to leave. He thought about that idea for a moment before he realized that she probably was used to it because she was a Nikriel. He was sure happy that he had her blood. If he was fully human, he'd probably be dead by now. In retrospect, he did feel a little bit warmer than when he was at the port talking with that strange girl, but the breeze that seemed to be starting up wasn't really helping. He heard a voice from somewhere, but it took him a while to realize were it came from. He noticed a woman dressed in a form fitting outfit.

Another girl, he thought to himself. At least she didn't look like the living dead like that other girl. Relos, for one reason or another, likely being out of some delirious sense of first impressions, got some sort of "assassin" vibe from her. He rather rude "Hey, you" rather annoyed him. Twice now he had been addressed with an unpleasant tone. "What, do you have some vendetta against me too? I'm just in here trying to find a warm place to hide. Of course, that hasn't exactly been so successful, but still."

[Violet Macar]

(ooc: Fyi, read the description? Tarifa Underground is warm according to the description. It’s like an underground mini-city ruled by crime. Make sure to read the description on the thread, plus there’s a city description of Tarifa (including a bite on its underground) in the country information section of the site)

“This might not be a very safe place for you to be looking for a thing like that, kiddo,” She frowned at the boy. She now knew his reasons for being here, and they weren’t very interesting. How incredibly dull. Then again, for all she knew, he was undercover. If so, he was doing just as good as her. Perhaps he was part of the royal guard – he didn’t look like he would win in a fight, but he could easily be a shapeshifter like her. He definitely wasn’t trying to get in with the Krosts or the Calmiers, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t trying to look perfectly innocent. “You do know where you are, I’m assuming. Bossman Krost doesn’t take to kindly to strangers looking for a place to stay. Not for free, anyhow. Little boys are safer up in the real world, where they can be safe in cozy hotels. People only come down here for two reasons. You don’t have either of them. Here, I’ll es-”

A bang. Loud, deafening. It made her ears hurt and she went to the ground to avoid what she was expected was a bullet. She grabbed the kid’s coat and pulled him down as well. It may make a good story – Calmiers Kill Kid – but she wasn’t a big fan of kids dying. Wasn’t happy enough. Made people depressed. Two more bangs and lots of noise. Everyone on the streets was going into alley ways, into their shambly little houses. Violet couldn’t see who was shooting, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t afraid they were shooting at her.

She decided she had two choices. She could fight back. She didn’t have anything to fight back with, but they didn’t really know that. Her second choice was more appealing, but just as risky. She could change. She would be dizzy and it would take her too long to recuperate. She could be shot while she was gathering herself. While she was changing. She would also blow her cover if anyone saw her change. This was who she was supposed to be. What would she turn into? That was another issue. The fear she had was distracting and she couldn’t concentrate on something original.

“Oh well,” She’d rather try and fail than not try and be shot anyways. Closing her eyes and trying to block out all of the hectic noise of the last three seconds since she hit the ground, she thought clearly of a new form.

She shrunk on the ground. She changed from a tall, six foot tall woman to a normal five foot five. Her hair went white and came up to her shoulders while her skin turned a pale colour that had a blue tint. Her ears got longer and her eyes became a lovely blue colour. She wore a thick coat, lined with fake fur that covered up a thick sweater. Comfy trousers and boots made for slogging through snow adorned her lower half. She felt quite warm, her blood changing to match her new, temporary, race. This could completely fuck her over, but at least she wouldn’t have a bullet in her head. Hopefully.

[Relos]

(OoC: For some reason, I was under the impression that there was a tunnel that led to an underground city. My mistake.)

The girl had a point, a snowy place like this wasn't the best choice, but it could be worse. She mentioned a man named Bossman Krost, which tempted Relos to count how much money he had at the moment. He had a feeling it was something around five hundred, but he just had to look. It bugged him that she had kept calling him a kid and what not. He was eighteen, wasn't he? Of course, he didn't quite act his age as often as he should, but still. It was like people could just act all high and mighty just because of what they knew, what they did. He'd be happy to know more, to be a little more understanding of what that decayed girl from before was going on about.

Of course, all these thoughts just flew through his head to briefly for him to pay them much mind just before his ears rang from an irritably loud bang. He clutched his hears with his heads, but almost immediately he was pulled down to the ground by the girl. He would have gladly gotten up, but chose to lay down and keep his ears covered to block out all the noise. When he heard the sound stop, he turned around and got up. He couldn't see the woman he was talking to, and now he saw a woman with white hair standing next to him. Suspicious...

"Do you know what's going on here?" he asked, raising himself from his position in the snow.

[Violet Macar]

She waited until the shooting came to a close, wondering why the reason was. She would soon find out that it was because there was currently no one to shoot at. Everyone was either hiding, dead, or all on the same side. And what a side it was. She thanked her lucky stars that she had turned into her Calmier persona when she recognized the men who were turning to talk to one another. Two of them put their guns away, and she recognized them as two of the higher-ups. The others stayed close to the men who were talking. She could easily get up - slowly, of course, so as not to spook them - and then she would get the kid out. Sure, a mass shoot-out that ended in a lot of dead people was great news, but she didn't really want a bunch of deaths on her conscience.

"What was that about?!" She asked irritably, her voice noticeably different from before. She got up, holding her hand up and barely keeping herself from flinching when fingers tightened on triggers. Barrels of guns were pointed in her direction until she got all the way up and she was recognized. "Danica," One of the men said, motioning for the others to lower their guns, "Whaddya doin' here?" Violet shook her head, brushing dust and dirt (and of course, snow) off her long white coat as she stepped out of her protected space. "I was meeting someone. My cousin." She motioned for Relos to stand up, giving him a look that said 'shut it'. "He sent me a letter and told he was coming, my reply didn't get to him until it was too late and... well... Now tell me what all that was?"

"Boss' sending a message," One of the men at the back said. He was dark, eyes downcast and shadows drifting over his face unnaturally. "To who?" She asked, flipping her hair and moving closer to the man who spoke. "Listen, Danni, just get out of-" One of the other men began, seeming to be worried, but the shadowed man cut him off with a gesture. Violet stepped back, grabbing Relos by the arm and pulling him towards the nearest exit.

"Well, whatever then," She faked a smile, waving coyly and blowing a couple of kisses, "I'll be back later, just have to get my cousin back to his world, you know?" With a motion, guns were raised again, as were the hairs on the back of her neck. She leaned over to Relos, whispering and shielding her mouth from prying eyes that might discern what she was saying, "I hope you're either good at fighting, running, or not being hit by bullets, kid..."

(Don't worry about it. Mistakes get made. (: Feel free to control some NPCs if you need to for your post)

[Relos]

When Relos noticed the many guns pointed at him, his first idea was to hold his arms up. Idiot. Well, it was probably the best idea since they outnumbered him. The new woman ignored his question, but she seemed to know the people that had the guns pointed at them. "Danica", he heard. Danica gestured at Relos, claiming that she was meeting her "cousin". Before Relos could protest. She shot him a glare. He chose to comply with the silent request to keep quiet, since he'd probably get himself killed and it would probably be best to stick with this woman if she knew these people, and it looked like she had no immediate plans to let Relos get killed. Hopefully.

The woman leaned towards him, inquiring him if he could run, fight, or dodge bullets, of course ending her question with a snide little "kid". Covering his mouth with his left hand, he muttered, "I can fight and I'm pretty fast, but I'm not so sure about dodging bullets."

"What are you two mutterin' about?" one of the men bellowed.
"Nothing," Relos lied. "We're just...discussing...how we to get to her parents, my aunt and uncle, from here. Yes." He turned back to the woman. "So, your plan?"

[Violet Macar]

Violet shook her head along with a small little laugh when the boy asked what her plan was. The chuckle\ turned into a belly-laugh that she paired with a pat on his back, as if he'd just told a funny joke. "Always the comedian," She turned her head slightly to grin at some of her people behind them, "He's a very funny kid you know?" Turning back around when she saw guns pointed their way, she leaned over and whispered quickly, "I have no such thing. No plan. The only thing I know is that someone really hates me... Or there's a rat in the system. Either way, I feel pretty confident that within the next ten to twenty seconds, there's going to be a rain of bullets on our heads. The only plan I've made is not to die. That's why we're walking this way. There's an exit over here that only Clamiers know." Ten seconds had passed, and there was an all too-familiar clicking behind her.

"Get ready to go left. Five. Four. Three. Two-" Triggers were pulled and bullets flew towards them from the distance they had created by slowly walking away. She always wondered why Krosts liked to do that. They would always let the mark walk away, think they could get away scott-free and then they open-fired and left a mangled corpse that no mother could recognize. "One!" She hung left, pushing Relos towards a small alley way that could really only fit someone if they sucked in their breath and laid flat against the wall. She concentrated hard and shapeshifted the large breasts she had in the form of Danica to a much smaller size that would fit her escape.

"All the way to the end," She muttered, pushing Relos through to a spot where it opened up again and left space for one to walk abreast. She heard yelling, running, shooting. Commands being shouted. Then she realized how badly her arm hurt. Looking down, she saw it bleeding profusely, no longer the snow white colour it had been. Now it was her normal skin colour in her unchanged form, and that you could only see beneath the coat she had been wearing when she had shapeshifted. Her entire arm was covered in bright purple cloth with some red accents from her bleeding. Crap in a hat, She thought pulling her arm through to where she could run to the end of the now wider alleyway. She turned slightly, looking behind her and seeing the man from the shadows at the mouth of the alley, pointing a gun at the back of her head. Shitting mittens, what now?

[Relos]

Relos didn't know if he should feel embarrassed or not by the woman's act, but that was the least of his immediate worries. This lady had absolutely no plan, and yet before she seemed to be skilled at convincing the men that she meant no trouble. Before Relos could make a move, he was pushed straight into an ally. He put his hands to cover his head, even though he knew it probably wouldn't stop the bullets. He was just about ready to push Danica away, since so far he'd spent his day either being lectured or tossed around, and he was getting rather annoyed. He turned to speak his mind, but then he saw the shadowed man with his gun pointed at Danica.

Relos reached for his sword, hoping he could at least save Danica.
"Truste me, boy," the man told him. "You really don't want to get involved."
Two men appeared behind him with their guns pointed at Relos.
"Looks like you two are shit outta luck." one of the men snarled.
"Want us to waste this guy?" the other asked the shadowed man.

[Violet Macar]

Well, this rat is daddio big-big-bigger than I frisk fist thought. Clamier alley's been divulged and all... Violet thought as more men came from the other side of the dead-end Alley they were in the middle of. She glanced up, the ceiling was solid, not looking like it had been moved. Perhaps they just thought of it as an alley. Which meant that all hope was not yet lost. If she could get up to it, it could just work.

There was one particular spot on the roof that was not in fact roof. It connected to the sewer system directly above, and provided a good amount of dark cover, stench cover, and a ladder to bring one back up to the surface. It was magicked to look like it wasn't a hole, but the Clamier's weren't really the magic-doing type, instead they were the kind who only did it when they really had to. When you passed through it stayed a weird, bright blue colour for an hour afterwards. So unless these guys had been sitting here waiting for a while, they probably didn't know. She just needed a way to get away, and to get up.

She glanced at the boy she had kind of dragged into this, and determined that she ought not leave him behind. She didn't want his death on her hands. Sure he was being stupid, taking out a weapon and provoking them, but she still wouldn't let the death of a teenager blot her mind. Here comes the green light... She slowly moved her hand over the kids arm, running down to his hand until she felt skin. She was going to need to have contact with his skin for this to work.

Closing her eyes and pretending as if she was preparing to be shot in the face, and took a deep breath and thought thoughts that lead her to a kind of a 'zen' position. The gunmen talked between themselves, and she noted that she recognized a couple of the voices. Then, she stopped thinking about them and then thought about her plan - and in another second she was dragging the kid down with her as she concentrated on invisibility. They both disappeared, looking as if they had teleported away. She held onto his hand as tight as she could making sure neither of them dropped contact. In another second she was back to concentrating on a shapeshift that could help them.

"D'nt oove," She told him without moving her lips, attempting to be as quiet as Asuwang-ly possible. She thought hard and long, knowing that this transformation would cause quite the headache, but she knew that they were not going to be able to walk past the two guys blocking the path who were so big they could not stand breast to breast. In another few moments where she held tightly onto the boys hand and did not listen at all to a word he wanted to spit out, from her back two wings began to spurt. It was not a gentle transformation, and it actually kind of hurt considering the fact she had a bullet wound that got aggravated by the movement on her back.

"Put you guns back up you idiots," She heard after her wings had fully formed. Her head hurt like you wouldn't believe and she felt so dizzy, as if she would fall over and puke. "He told us she's an Asuwang. And what do Asuwangs do best?" In a few seconds she had made two people invisible, given herself wings, and it was taking it's toll. Her stomach spun as if a merry-go-round and her head thudded like it thought it was her heart and she had heartburn. "Uh, they shape-shift?" Whoever said that received the butt of a gun to their head and fell to the ground. Someone else went into their jacket and picked out their gun, cocking it and pointing it at where the two used to be.

Knowing that their time was running short, she knew that she would have to try her best. Flapping her wings that she wasn't quite yet used to, she got them airborne. "Feel free to swing that ringading around and take off some heads, huh?" She offered as she flew like a bird that had gotten itself into the vodka. She held tight to his hand, pulling him up a bit higher so that his feet wouldn't hit someone in the face. "Shoot where you hear the flapping you morons!" She heard called out and she decided 'to hell with the quiet'. She went as hard as she could, swerving with inexperience and heading to that hole in the ceiling ten feet above them.

She reached upward, drifting downward at one point because of her confusion with the wings. It turned out to be good for her, however, because a bullet had just about flown through one of the feathery bits. She concentrated hard on just getting up to the hole, and managed to get her hand through and grasp the edge which she pulled hard on. She had no idea what kinds of things the boy was doing, and she just pulled him up as hard as she could, trying to get the both of them through the hole. "Shitbiscuits!" She cried out as her leg was hit. "That would be a hit boys. Keep at it."

[Relos]

Relos really had to ask himself, why wasn't he doing much? Of course, he never received an answer to his question because Danica had asked him if he was ready to decapitate some people. Relos wasn't that big on the whole "murder" thing, but he'd get killed by these gunmen if he didn't do as the woman asked. As the woman flew around, carrying Relos with surprising strength, Relos took a swing of his blade whenever he came close to a man's head. He tightened his grip on Danica, trying to make sure he wouldn't fall. However, he was pulled up a bit too high, so his blade just barely cut through top of a man's head. Of course, the man screamed in pain, and it seemed Relos had actually managed to slash out an eye.

As the men began to shoot in wild directions, Relos figured he had no other choice. All the men may not hear him, but Relos had to take a chance. He looked up an Danica and had to tell her something.
"Listen, I can shape-shift too. I can turn into a falcon, but that's it. Just let me go, and I'll fly away on my own." He was a bit afraid of her reaction, and he couldn't help but feel stupid for taking so long to do that. He didn't want to lose time, so he began his transformation. His body began to shrink in size, and he sheathed his sword so that he wouldn't lose it.

[Violet Macar]

She remembered the fact that she was holding someone else, but she didn't really remember anything else. Who it was, what it was, the gender, the size, nothing was clear anymore. And such small details didn't need to be clear. Not when she was gasping in pain, now bleeding from her arm and from her leg. One bullet had gone straight through, but her leg held the mother in, and she decided that she could feel her blood passing over it on it's way out through the gash in her calf.

The weight in her arm disappeared, and she looked back, afraid that she had dropped whoever the hell she was trying to save. Instead she saw a shrinking form and a growing of wings. The little bastard could change into an animal, and he hadn't done it yet? Fricken biscuits on parade that might have been useful in keeping my leg from getting smithereened. She let go, afraid that she had taken too long in her reactions but discovering that it had only been a mere second or two. Bullets kept raining, but she tried to keep zigzagging. She needed to not be shot - especially not on the wing. Should she be shot there, she'd lose it. Shamwow -- it'd be gone.

She was more fortunate now, however, because she had two arms, two hands, two sets of ten fingers. She stretched up, hooking both hands on the passage and yanking herself up, shifting her wings away as she entered the sewage system. The stench was monstrous. That and the fact that her latest shift had made her feel like she just had five shots of tequila was making it difficult to navigate and understand. She could see the ladder leading up to a manhole in the surface world of Tarifa, she could hear the commands being shouted below, but nothing was really being understood.

Still, perhaps due to adrenaline, or perhaps due to the fact that Violet refused to die without publishing one crowning glory of a story, she managed to stand. She held herself steady on one leg, the other screaming in pain when it was allowed to brush against the floor and murky waters of waste. She saw the pain as fortunate, now. It kept her awake - if a little too woozy for wear. Stumbling, she hit her head on a ladder wrung and clutched the sides, dragging herself up for her life. If she couldn't succeed, she would very much be dead.

"Hey kid," She managed to utter, finally remembering the presence of someone else, "Want to flutter on up and lift the ironclad circle on the tiptop of this - oh shit forget the language. Move the goddamn manhole so I don't have to," She paused in the realization that she could neither see nor hear any bird or boy around her, and in came the addendum, "Assuming that you can actually hear me and haven't been shot dead already. Or, well... That you've managed to get out yourself. Lucky bastard if you have."

[Relos]

Relos felt guilty and stupid. He hadn't taken advantage of his ability to change shape until now, and it was that hesitance that got Danica shot. He took a dive, avoiding the barrage of bullets that came at him. Just how bad of shots are these guys? Relos asked himself. He might as well follow Danica out of here. They were both stuck in this mess, and she might need her help. He hated feeling like he was a burden, but he had to ignore that for now. He'd make his apologies when he got out and be done with it.

He made his way, flying each way and there to follow Danica. He took note of where he last saw her, and made his way to where he assumed she was. He felt a jolt in his right wing and spiraled into a sewer, using his left wing to cover his head. He could always smell things better when he was in his bird form, and here in a sewer, that was a downside. The horrendous scent was intolerable, and so he had to resume human shape. He used his sword as leverage to help him get on his feet, and he saw that his right arm was trickling with blood, a gaping wound on the back of the hand. Looks like he did manage to get shot. He took off his vest, ripped off a portion of it, and wrapped it around his hand to stop the bleeding. He grunted and panted; he was so much pain. He could hear another voice, screaming, then muttering to herself. It had to be Danica.

He was right. On the ladder, he saw the woman, trying to make her escape.
"Sorry about that," he tried to apologize. He could see the wound in her leg, and he felt that he should help, not put her through more stress. "Get down, I'll take care of the manhole."

[Violet Macar]

When the kid spoke, she thanked her lucky stars. She'd never say it out loud - she was far too sure of herself to go spouting off thank-yous - but she would have died without the help of the kid. She wondered briefly if the kid was the reason she was shot, but the idea was quickly jolted out of her head when another gunshot rang out. No, it was clear that either her identity had been spewed, or they simply knew she wasn't the person she said that she was. The latter was most likely - or perhaps she just thought of it as such because she so desperately wanted that to be the answer.

She heard the manhole moving, the sound of metal against... well, something else that was hard. When the light spilled down and she saw a hand coming out of the hole, she jumped up, all of a sudden lucid again. The pain returned three fold and she stumbled along with the white spots of her vision before managing to grab hold of the ladder. Using the one arm she had left to pulled herself up, finding a spot for her feet to hold themselves tentatively. She went up and up, finally pulling herself up and into the light, crying out with the pain that shot through her when she bumped her shot leg on the crust of the hole.

She looked around briefly, checking to see if the kid was up already. When she saw that he had made it (and that he was bleeding... should she blame herself for that?) she shoved the metal cover back over, cursing at how painful it was to exert that much energy. People had filed onto the streets of Tarifa now, all aflutter at what was going on. They all knew what was down there, but no one really worked to stop it. 'As long as it doesn't come to us,' they would say. And that was the solution. A couple of officers ran from a restaurant on the corner, pulling out weapons of a sort Violet couldn't discern, and they pushed her (and possibly the boy, she didn't catch that moment) out of the way so that they could be ready when the top was busted open.

Violet felt just about ready to faint, just about ready to let the loss of blood take over for the adrenaline. Instead, she came to a horrible realization. Her face was her face. She wasn't shapeshifted. The pain and agony, the gunshots, the blood that was dripping all over the place, it had stopped the illusion. She was no longer Danica. Or even Daisy. The only person she was, was Violet. "Oh son of a flimsy green bitch," She muttered, trying to pull herself up and away from the commotion. She was pretty sure she wouldn't make it out (she was very used to a crowd's reactions) but she had to try. She would find the kid later. Maybe. Hopefully.

She'd feel a hell of a lot less guilty if she did.

[Relos]

Relos figured it would be best to mingle in with the crowd, since everyone was already in such a rush. He felt that he'd be more safer if he was further along in the crowd, so he pushed some of the people out of his way, which was met with the pushes of other people and slurs that Relos found would be best to ignore.

But he had to find Danica. He wanted to at least see her make it out alright. Now that he thought about it, there was still that other girl he saw other. What exactly happened to her anyway? He'd have to find that out later, he had to find Danica first. It'd set his mind at ease.

"Danica!" he screamed, pushing further through the mob. Well, Danica was wounded. She seemed a bit off to him, and he didn't think she'd manage herself to the closest hospital. She needed help, most likely, and Relos would be glad to help.

"Listen, it's the kid!" he said, since he didn't think she bothered to remember her name. Everyone kept pushing him, trying to make their way through, reminding him that he was in the way.

Where was she?

[Violet Macar]

Using mostly her right arm, Violet had managed to pull herself away from the central hub of excitement. It seemed like the initial shock of seeing someone with several gunshot wounds had worn off, so instead of worrying about her dying people were craning their necks to see the manhole. Really? Violet though, the voice in her head sounding as pissed off as she was bleeding, Nobody cares that I'm bleeding to death out here? Nobody cares about the kid? They just want to see the guards bring in a couple criminals? God dammit.

All of a sudden she heard someone calling one of her fake names... Well, it wasn't really all of a sudden. She had heard the calls of 'Danica, Danica!' for a bit now. She just hadn't made the connections. Perhaps it was because she was bleeding out, or perhaps it was just because that wasn't one of her main names. Whatever the reason, the moment she realized that her fake name was being called out she tried to duck behind something big. After all, the people who knew her by that name were the ones who had shot her. Then it dawned on her. The sound of the voice, the fact that the bad guys had realized they'd be brought into prison if they were to continue coming after them...

"Kid?" She grabbed a pole, yanking herself up with a groan and whimper of pure agony, and then she set her sights on determining where the kid was. If she could find him, and determine that she had in fact not caused his death, she'd feel a whole lot better about everything. "Kid!" She saw a boy in the crowd, seeming as though he were looking for someone. She assumed it was him - she didn't know him by sight (after all, she had been through a rather distressing time), but she did think that it would be a strange coincidence that out of all of these people trying to get a good look at what was going on, a boy around that age would be looking for someone so frantically.

Despite how certain she was persuading herself to feel, she still would have wanted to cross her fingers if she'd had the energy. You could never pray for what you wanted too much.

[Relos]

Relos' hand hurt like a bitch. Yeah, he'd got shot, and even if he tried to ignore it, it would still hurt, and he thought it wouldn't be the best idea to try and manually get the bullet out himself. The part of his jacket that he'd used to bandage the wound was beginning to seep with his blood, but he figured he'd get to a hospital later to treat the wound. He wanted to make sure Danica was okay. He looked around some more, still pushing a few people here and there out of his way, hoping he could find her. For whatever reason, she wasn't answering, but then he remembered she was in a worse condition than him, so she may have been more focused on her own problems than him. Can't say he didn't blame her.

He saw some of the people had gathered around, trying to getl some girl limping on a pole to move. Honestly, he was trying to find someone else, but he was too curious to see what was going on. He gripped onto his sword, which caused some people to run away, panicking. The rest just yelled at him, warning him that it wouldn't be the best idea if he was planning on pulling something, but he let go of his sword, hoping that would get them to calm down. Just gripping onto his sword hurt his hand, since it felt like he was pushing the bullet in his hand all around. He extended his left hand to the girl, since his right hand was in too much pain and he wasn't planning on getting the blood on this girl.

He examined the girl, and he saw she too had a couple wounds here and there, a few of which he recalled Danica having in the same spots. Was this girl Danica? No, she looked nothing like her, other than the wounds. Then again, Danica had managed to grow wings, so it wasn't hard to believe that she may be a shapeshifter. Maybe it really was her.

"Hey, Danica, is that you?" He was really hoping he was right.

[Violet Macar]

"Yeah, let's get a move-on out of this foxhole, alright? If we don't I might have to start praying and I haven't," She groaned at the pain as she finally pulled herself free and out of the crowd. Without the constant friction that the people around her offered, she crumpled to the icy sidewalk. She let herself stop, taking some deep breaths and trying to force her skin to shift it's way over the wounds - no such luck. She'd have to find some way to make it to Artavia and get the boss-man to fix her up. Wouldn't want any healers asking questions that shouldn't be asked. "I haven't done that in a while," She finished, using a pole to help her up, she got a couple of splinters as she hung onto the wood and then turned to the kid.

"Are you alright kid?" She asked, genuinely concerned about him - or was it her conscience? - but she cut him off before he could answer, "Here, this should help you pay for any bills you might get from the healers..." She reached into her pockets and pulled out some paper money - two thousand, since she was feeling that guilty - and pressed it against his chest. "You should go to some hospital or whatever... Thanks. For the help. I mean, hey, I might be dead if I hadn't... Well, you might not be so hurt, either. So thanks."

(ooc: Sorry about the wait. Had a very busy day on Sunday and Monday)

[Relos]

Relos took the money with gratitude, and yet he felt like it was too much. It dawned on him that the girl he met before Danica may have been the same person as her. It would explain why she suddenly vanished. He didn't want to bother her about that, instead wanting to make sure she was healed. Sure, he'd found her, but she was hurt pretty badly, worse than him, though the bullet lodged in his hand was seriously hurting. Any moment he could die of blood loss, and he was feeling that, biting his lip for ease, but it didn't do much.

He felt bad that he was probably going to leave her alone, but she gave him the money, and the sooner he could be healed the better. "Thanks," he said at last. "You sure you'll be fine on your own?" Before she could answer, he realized that he would just be better off heading to the hospital, and fast. He ran off, heading to the hospital. As much as he wanted to help her, he didn't want to feel like he was being even more of a pest by insisting she should come with him. He'd go look for her again later, if he could.

[Violet Macar]

The boy took the money she gave, and she was glad. Her shoulders felt lighter with the guilt lifted away, and now all she felt was pain running through her body. That was beginning to lessen too. Her hormones were working to take away some of her feeling and shock was beginning to take the place of adrenaline. She would have to go quickly if she wanted to make it back before she was completely immobile.

She pulled herself into an alley, using various buildings and wooden signs to help her get there. She wondered briefly what people would think about her trail of blood, but gave up the idea quickly as she got herself out of sight. She had more important things to think about. She concentrated all the energy she had left on teleporting herself to her office in Artavia. There she could get the bossman's help without dragging in too much attention from anyone else. She didn't need people gossipping about her. She was the rumour mill, the rumour mill wasn't supposed to be the subject. So she would find herself in her office, call out to someone to get bossman and then she would tell him the whole story. He would give her some advice, heal her up, and she would get down to writing what she knew. After all, it wasn't likely she'd be able to weasel her way into either family again. Even with a new face. So she'd just have to make something up.