[Redd]

The machine emitted a loud and exuberant ‘ca-ching!’ from it’s speakers and a small flap flipped open, spitting a meagre handful of Keystones out into the tray. Aaron eagerly scooped them up in his claw and counted them; there was only 20 Keystones there. The Chaos Garudor puffed air out in irritation; surely he could do better than three matching pears. He had enough money here to play a few more games. Surely he could do better... much better. He had better luck in the past, why not now? The Garudor inserted 5 more keystones into the machine and pulled on the handle watching in anticipation for the little icons to line themselves up and praying for the jackpot.

A few hours later, with a mocking ‘you lose’ ringing in his ears the Garudor pulled himself to his feet, gathered what few Keystone he had and turned to leave.

“Hey Aaron!” The Garudor flicked his head over to locate source of the greeting. It came from a small original Garudor, Jade who Aaron knew from work and who happened to be a big fan of the slots, like himself. He almost thought she had a romantic interest in him, but he never admitted that to anyone of out sheer embarrassment. Jade fluttered her wings and hopped across the dingy, poorly lit room over Aaron. “Are you leaving now?”

[Redd]

Aaron nodded. “Yeah. I’ve run dry.” He replied simply.

“Oh.” Jade gave him a crestfallen look- her feathers drooped subtly with disappointment; before she perked up with another suggestion. “I can share some keystones with you?”

“Nah, it’s fine. I best be heading on anyway. If it were any earlier, than I’d be fine,” Aaron replied, then quickly adding on, in order to prevent any verbal injury. “Just yeah. I think I can see a bit of sun peeking up outside.”

Jade shook off her deflated look with a quick nod and replied, “Okay then. Well... I’ll see you round at work on Monday?”

“Yeah. See you then mate.” He replied, heading out. Man... why do I bother with woman. They are so confusing.

With that thought, he flipped the door open and stepped out onto the crowded street. People and creatures scurried to and fro to their destinations – most likely home or work as it was the logical place to go at this time of morning. Aaron tucked his head down and set off between the crowd, keeping to himself – as that was the safest way to travel with the current crowd.

[Redd]

The town located in the back alleys of Aldrect had never been any quieter, Aaron mused as he ambled down a familiar alleyway. The clock had just struck past three and the Garudor had spent the night once again gambling his small fortune away, and it was time to head on home.
It never bothered him though; he earned more than enough keystones slaving away as an excavator in the ruins and was paid a hefty sum each week for the dangerous work. The stillness of the streets never bothered him either; he had walked these streets frequently and there hadn’t been a reported incident for months now, plus he knew this city like the back of his talon.

So there was no way in his wildest dreams that he could have anticipated what was about to unfold next; the startled Sulkuhna hadn’t tipped him off, nor had the aggressive bickering of a Lucain and Dalma cast a negative atmosphere over him.

But as he rounded the alleyway –and after a rather awful shock of the aforementioned Kuhna yowling and skittering away – something clicked in his mind. Something was wrong.

[Redd]

That was the last thought in the Garudor’s mind, before a fiery pain ripped down his back. Aaron gasped, writhing and fluttering pathetically on the ground in an attempt to see his aggressor. The Dalma from before stood over the Garudor, an evil leer spreading over his canine features. Aaron let out a pathetic cheep, before the other Lucain smashed a brick over his head and his surroundings flashed to black.



Rally spat in the gutter and surveyed her kill with disgust. The Garudor was so weak and so pathetic – it filled her with disgust that she had to deal with weak scum like this. Killing adversaries who didn’t fear death was far more rewarding – still poaching rare creatures for their fur, feathers or hide paid well enough to live on.

“Rally?” The Dalma watched the Lucain with questioning eyes. “Do you want to start skinning it?”

Rally rolled her eyes at her Dalma partner. “Teekay, are you really so weak as to turn your nose up at skinning a chicken?” She raised one eyebrow and gave the bird an experimental nudge – no movement or life.

[Redd]

Teekay growled his response, but gave no legible words as his answer and stalked off. “I’ll be watching the alley entrance.”

Of course you will. Of course you will. Rally thought irritatedly. I guess I’ll prove once again just how weak that pathetic fool is tonight..

The Lucain pulled a small skinning knife out of a belt strapped around her left leg and got to work, prying the soft fragile skin containing their contractor’s prize – the soft feathers – away from the bloody flesh. It was messy work – one that Teekay couldn’t bear on a normal day – but she took delight in her work and the careful but decisive hands that it required.

[Redd]

Teekay praised her often, saying that if this work ever fell through, the Lucain could have been a surgeon but not so surprisingly she detested the idea of using her skill to save lives, just like Teekay resented the idea of using his skills as a body guard to save any life aside from Rally’s or his own life.

“Teekay, I’m done!” Rally barked. The Dalma whipped his head around - his partner had Garudor blood splattered up her scales, mainly around her legs and face; at her feet lay the twisted corpse of the bird and next to it was a jumbled pile of the birds skin and feathers. “Grab the hide and mind the blood, I don’t want to ruin the feathers.”

Teekay obligingly picked up the hide and with a practised air, tossed it over himself for easy transport and together, the two of them slunk through the dawning city carefully dodging night owls and early birds as they came.

[Redd]

Avarice bent over the hide laid over his desk and played with a few feathers with an idle claw. The two canine stood at attention behind his desk, holding their breath nervously and watching the Paragon. Avarice – if that was his real name - was ruthless and very picky with what he wanted and could, if he wanted too, have the pair killed on the spot by his pair of body guards – one a Baskerville  and the other a Fellox. All it would take was a nod from Avarice and they’d be on the pair.

Avarice revelled in this kind of dominance, he was the kind of animal that looked down on others with contempt and viewed them as tools for his own personal pleasure. Here, in this building he played the role of a god. He lounged around and threw scraps at creatures well below his self assigned rank and watched them fulfil his dirty work. For his own pleasure of course, not that his dirty work actually meant something, aside from the constant reminder that he was superior and he needed some good amusement.
The Frost returned his eyes to the pair, assessing them and watching their body language – they were scared, and scared they should be. He was their judge right this very second, he could kill them on a whim or spare them. Thankfully for them he was pleased with the feathers and he had a second assignment for them – one that would bring him great amusement and actually fulfil one of his few fleeting desires.

[Redd]

“This... is good.” He allowed a brief smile and watched with satisfied amusement as the pair drew their first real breath since they entered the room.  He tossed Rally a bag of gold and blue paws, which the Lucain woman fumbled with nervously, before catching it. “And of course there is the matter of payment, yes? Here you’ve deserved it, however if you check the bag, there’s more than what I offered, no? I have another task for you, and you are going to accept it and the money there should cover the extra expenses.”

Rally widened her eyes, and peered into the bag to confirm what Avarice had said, while Teekay narrowed his eyes dangerously – he was wary now. Avarice made a point of staring at the Dalma, until he averted his eyes submissively. Pleased, the Paragon clasped his paws together and addressed the pair.

[Redd]

“The task is really quite simple and I’ve been pleased by your skills that much so, that I place great trust in letting you deal with a very personal matter to me.” He paused, gauging their responses. Rally was quiet and attentive, while Teekay was wary and on guard. “I want you to level a nearby rival factory. It’s not too hard, you’ve just got to locate suitable sites to place explosives – and of course someone who makes them. The money should cover that. Here... this is where I want you to hit. And I want no workers to survive, especially the managers.”

Avarice handed Teekay an envelope, which the Dalma man took and peered into it suspiciously. Rapture clasped his claws together with a delighted expression – rather like a cat who has found a mouse in a corner. “Now, if you’d kindly leave Teekay, I need a word with your friend.”

Teekay shot Rally a suspicious look and slid a warning glance in at Rapture, before stowing the envelope away and heading out the door.