[rayquaza7996]

Might be lying about his name. Don't know. Oh, heck, it's just nice to talk to some rather rude people again. I sure miss my old friends. But, yet again, this is a one-way ticket to medical school. She smiled. "That's a very nice name. And again, my apologies." She chuckled a bit at the joke, taking another bite out of the sandwitch. It was not nearly big enough, she decided, but she was trying to save her money. Soon, she'd be in medical school and then she'd be able to make all the money she wanted. She might never be able to heal the crippled or anything so ridiculous, but she could already at least temporarily heal the blind and could heal via magic or nonmagic. And, of course, she was disease-immune. That was pretty important in a messy slum like this one. Still, she was getting better at scheming and such, pretty important. Hmmm. This fellow really didn't seem like an assassin. If he was, he was a good one, and might be worth fighting with. Still, he probably didn't have 351 keystones, and money was all that mattered.

She turned to her other lunchmate. The artist. Hmm. So he was kind of like her, not yet able to do what he needed to draw at his full potential. Maybe she could try to help him. Favors of the possibly-important were useful, at times. She had learned that well enough from her friends. And she'd possibly get to learn a little bit more about these suspects' pasts. Or suspect. She highly doubted the teigu was anyone special.

"You should try going to an art school. It's a lot cheaper than the Medicai City Medical Institute. I'm not much an artist myself, either. My art comes in the form of making bandages out of nearly everything."

[robopup24]

"... Okay," Cyril answered halfheartedly to Nkosana. He finished the last of his sandwich and reflected on how he should probably get going. His annoying cousin would probably bombard him with all sorts of stupid questions by the time he finally got to his house. The Teigu let out a sigh and leaned back in his seat. Suddenly, he gave a brief smile. Ha, a Mekka, a Teigu, and a Garagnir walk into a store... sounds like the beginning of a bad joke.

"You should try going to an art school. It's a lot cheaper than the Medicai City Medical Institute. I'm not much an artist myself, either. My art comes in the form of making bandages out of nearly everything."

Art school? Cyril thought about it for a minute, then shook his head. "Can't," he said stoutly. "I have no money."

Well, that part was half-true. He just didn't feel like going to an art school. He didn't like to be in a place where people told him how to draw, when all he really wanted to do was to just draw. Cyril didn't want to end up hating his hobby.

"Really? That must come in handy a lot," Cyril said to Silver.

[rayquaza7996]

Silver actually smiled a bit. This fellow reminded her of her crazy friend. The friend with the bird-obsession. "It does come in handy, for when I get into scrapes. I'm smaller than other species. An old friend of mine, a birdwatcher, told me it was probably natural, like my healing. She said she'd seen birds like that before, too, ones that were stark-white and other such things. Funny fellow, though. No money? As I said, that's why I'm here. I'm a mercenary, you see. Medical School is my goal, my number one goal. I want to be able to help others live when they're hurt, but I'm willing to walk a grayer path to get there. Oh well. If you can't or don't want to go to Art School, I might be able to help you a bit." Yes, this Teigu felt important. Anyways, the real basic stuff she knew-drawing little fruits, mostly-was also very practical. "Though I don't know." Something then occured to her. She had explained her motivations quite thouroughly, but he hadn't. Why was he in this dump?

"Why did you come to the Slums? You don't seem like the sort to hang out around in these places. And what about you, Nkosana?"

These fellows were smart. They were good allies to have in her quest. And she felt the teigu could be trusted. Something about his disposition. Not that, given the cash, she wouldn't kill him. Another stepping-stone on her path.

[Feint]

Khamisi's squashed nose twitched from side to side as he quietly sniffed at Silver from afar. She could heal, could she now? He turned his head to hide a small shake of the head and a snort that was more like a silent, spitefully-driven puff of air. From what he deduced, this garagnir couldn't use her healing skills in combat, only when she could get the chance to hide for a moment. "Hide" and "in combat" were two phrases Khamisi never, ever mixed. Once prey was in his sight, it never left it until it was dead and down his gullet. That made Silver's "art" of making bandages, in Khamisi's mind, completely useless as a skill. Watching her brag about something he saw as a shortcoming was simply disgusting. Outright mockery, in fact. He twisted his face into something amiable and turned his head back to the current conversation. Something about medical school. His clipped ears twitched to attention when he caught the garagnir talking about walking a grayer path. His dog-lips parted very, very slightly into a grim smile. If this little medic's path was grey, his was as black as the blackest ink, blacker than blood when it dried on spotted grey fur. His stomach dropped with adrenaline as he felt the sticky weight on his paws as his toes slipped around cold, ashy-colored flesh. A shiver went up his spine, and he quickly turned his head to bite at imaginary fleas dancing on his shoulders and giving him chills. Mentally, he cursed the Silver girl. Must she say such things? Didn't she know how they could excite a fellow? He sent the vicious glare meant for her to the shopkeeper, who was giving the three impatient glances.

Your sandwiches are done--now get out, he seemed to say.

Khamisi darkened his already lethal glare and turned back to his two lunch-mates, expression as cheerful as a puppy. "We're no longer wanted. Let's go soon, but I think we have ten more minutes. What were we sayi--oh, right. I was born here, so what brought me would be loyalty to my hometown. It's a sodden, filthy place, I know, but it is mother to me and my childhood dreams, so here I stay. I'll confess I feel a bit of pride in it, too. The community. On the outside, it looks so full of hate, but in the heart of it all there is a brotherly love that will never die. That's what made me want to join the police force, you know--it's my way of giving back to the community. To protect the loving community--yes, that's why I'm here," he said, paws folded, simply glowing with pride. The visions of doe-eyed orphans huddled together in a dirty alley, two brothers sharing the day's spoils of food scraps, and strangers dragging starving comrades to food lines or traveling hospitals flashed behind his eyes so vividly you could see them on the outside. A soft expression crossed Khamisi's face, and he sighed fondly. It was all feigned, of course, but man, he felt poetic!

"...Sorry, got lost in thought. That reminds me. Cyris, I don't believe you ever answered my question. What are you up to down here?" he asked casually, leaning his scruffy back against a nearby chair.

[robopup24]

Cyris was caught a bit off-guard when Silver said that she was a mercenary. For some reason, mercenary and bandage-maker did not fit in his mind at all. He felt a frown coming onto his face and hastily covered it up with a smile. "Well, everyone has to make their living one way or another," he said. He shifted a bit uncomfortably when Silver asked what he was doing in the Slums. "Well, I--"

Before he could speak, Nkosana spoke. The Teigu glanced over at the shopkeeper, who was giving them a hairy evil eye. "Point taken," he said quietly. Cyris listened somewhat attentively as the Mekka spoke about his childhood and something about love and community. He was about to politely excuse himself when Nkosana's asked him the question.

"What I'm doing here? Hmm, well, I'm just... visiting my cousin. He insisted, really, because I don't visit him enough." Cyris chuckled, rubbing the back of his head in mild embarrassment. "He works at a mechanic shop."

It was a small white lie, but a rather harmless one at that. Besides, it wasn't like Silver or Nkosana would hunt him down or anything, right?

[rayquaza7996]

"You're right," she said at Nkosana, also looking at the Shopkeeper's evil eye. She didn't want to fight, not now. She listened to him spin his tail. She was dubious, of course, because this was a Mekka. Mekkas weren't to be trusted. Ever.

"Intresting tale. Long ago, some human," and at this she scoffed, "caught me, while I was still just a child. They tried to starve me and force me to become small, and I suppose it worked. I lived back in Lambastia. Some black dragon bribed the guy with some keystones, not much, but enough. She taught me to fight and all, and I'll bow to no human. Not ever again. My own powers started to blossom when I actually got more food to eat than your average starving rat. So, anyways," she continued, "I decided to go to medical school. I want to help others like me. I've been healing for people. Dreamy's real worried about me, though. Says I've been walking the Dark Paths." She sighed. "Maybe I have been. Maybe I've done some bad things. But when I'm good enough, I'll heal everyone, far and wide, and make people happy and safe." She checked her small black watch. "Hmm...Well, mind if I tag along with you, Cyris? It's not safe to be out here alone." She was real worried about him. Something told her he was in danger, and frankly, she was getting to like this boy. He was kind.

((yay, character biography exposition))

[Feint]

Khamisi's ears perked with false interest. "Visiting a cousin! How fun is that? Even more since you don't "visit him enough," of course," he said perkily, and gave a fake chuckle. He'd already known that, but he was anxious to learn more about this cousin. If he was known as a mechanic in the field, he was probably some under-cover agent who probably knew how to crack open his minty cousin's cylinder, and was willing to do so. That was probably why the teigu was here--to have this "mechanic" to get at the cylinder's expensive insides. Khamisi doubted the two were even related. His eyes narrowed by half a millimeter at Cyris's innocent-looking face. Things were starting to get complicated.

Khamisi nodded thoughtfully at Silver's quest. "That's nice, very noble," he praised, completely ignoring the tale of her childhood. His own childhood was worse--he'd been thrown into a volcano and managed to save himself by catching onto a thin ledge covered in some kind of heat-resistant moss, though he was left there and had to life half-melted and in agony for almost half a year--so it just didn't occur to him to express pity for her, false or otherwise. He nodded again, still appearing thoughtful, and eyed Silver hopefully. She looked like she wanted to leave, and leave them alone to their game of private eye. Khamisi willed her to leave, to say "Sorry, I have to go," to have a friend meet her at the door and call for her impatiently--Khamisi's ears snapped forward and his eye flashed dangerously. In the blink of an eye, he was again calm. First she interrupts his chase, now she tries to take his prey away entirely? This garagnir was an infuriation! Khamisi restrained the urge to rip her head from her body and instead forced a smile upon his ugly face. "Oh, are you two going? Do you mind if I join you? I don't have anywhere really to be, and you've just been such good company. I might be able to help you get around, I know this city well and I can find you some shortcuts. Only if you want to, of course. I would hate to inconvenience you in any way," he said sweetly and quickly, almost as if begging. He leaned forward towards Cyris, his whole posture in a beg, though his orange eye was as cold as the heart of any mechanical being.

[robopup24]

"Ye-eah, I wouldn't call it fun," Cyris said to Nkosana. "He doesn't really... know me... and I don't really know him."

When Silver finished her story, Cyris blinked. It sounded like some far-fetched tale, a story that his mother would read to him at night. Still, who was he to judge? He didn't go out a lot, anyway. "Really?" Cyris frowned at her. "It's amazing that you managed to survive. I know I wouldn't, heh heh. I'm not really a strong person." He was about to ask her who Dreamy was when she offered to come with him. Cyris tilted his head, thought about it.

"We-ell... I guess so. But I'm not going anywhere special, really. I'm going to visit my cousin tomorrow, so... I'm just going to take a look around and try to find a decent inn. The lodgings in the Slums aren't really nice and all, y'know... a giant cockroach or something crawled on my face the last time I came here. Scared the heck out of me." Cyris shivered at the memory. "Erm... you don't have to come, but if you want, sure."

"Uh..." Cyris leaned back instinctively from the Mekka, tail twitching. He smelled even more repulsive at a close-distance. He resisted the very strong urge to pinch his nose and said, "Well... eh... I don't know, really... I guess... if you want. The more the merrier I guess..." Cyris gave a weak chuckle. "Erm, why don't we go now?"

[rayquaza7996]

Silver smiled at Cyris, her stone teeth gleaming in a nonthreatening manner.

"Really. But I'm fine, now."

Hmm...He was looking for an inn? Awesome. She needed one too, she was starting to get scum in her scales from sleeping in these nasty streets, and she absolutely loathed having to bathe in the filthy water. She blinked, hoping she didn't sound too overeager when she spoke to him. "Great." The Mekka was coming too...she didn't like him. But she wouldn't let that scare her. He seemed to be stalking this fellow, and she found that quite suspicious. Then again, she was stalking him too, right? That was no evidence. She needed evidence.

"Yeah, we can go right away. Frankly, I'm tired of sleeping in the streets, I get scum in my scales and it's nigh on impossible to get out. And I need a bath, maybe the inn will have one. So, you're coming with, Nkosana? Cool! Cyris is right, the more the merrier!" Her voice was loaded with cheer, both real at the thought of a bath and false at the thought of Nkosana.

[.:Random Event 2:.]

As much as the slums had little to offer in the way of inns (well, quality anyway; always the risk of the inn keeper robbing you blind or worse as well) but even the inns were safer then the streets; at least for the most part. Crime was always a problem in a place like this and when the streets become this dangerous the police have usually given up on restoring order, their efforts concentrating on those places that can be saved. With the knowledge of being left to their own devices it was no wonder the slums was the way it was.

(( It's late. Er, basically saying that nobody here found a snicky {Not that you were looking...}. Enjoy your RP! ))

[Feint]

((ooc--that was... erm... unexpected? xD Hallo there, RE2.))

Khamisi nodded and popped to his feet. He was brimming with excitement--all he had to do was be sure he walked next to the alleys, and that Cyris walked next to him. Then he would grab his hip with his strong teeth and throw the unsuspecting teigu into the dark alley, where it would be mere seconds before he was dead. He was likely to have the item with him, having just arrived and all. Khamisi didn't bother resisting a huge grin. He was supposed to be excited, anyway. "Well then, shall we?" he rasped, his voice cracklier than ever in his chipper mood.

(ooc--short post is short. I've been on meds lately (got hit by a car 8D funny story, you can ask if you want. well, maybe not so funny, I can't tell right now X3 ) so I'm a little low on creative juices. I'll do my best, tho.)

[rayquaza7996]

Silver sighed. She had a strong guess that this fellow was her criminal. She fell back beside him, switching to her thought-speak, which she hadn't used in an age.

Are you the criminal I'm supposed to be seeking? Is this Teigu your target? I might be willing to just fly away, or even help, if the price is right.

There, it was out. Silver - mercenary as always - was right there to help anyone, if the coin was in it. She had the size advantage when it came to these two, at twelve or thiirteen feel long, if she found herself cornered, she could probably take on both of them at once. If not, well, they were wingless. She wasn't. For her, there was always an easy other option, for her, there was always raising her silver-and-green wings and leaving this place forever, hopefully with the coin for her medical college. If not, she could take out a couple loans and if needed silence the loangiver. Of course, she'd happily also turn in this Mekka for that coin. Coin was coin, police's or criminal's. She rather liked this no-lose freelance lifestyle. It suited her.

She wrinkled her nose at the stench of the Slums, but she was getting used to it, and at least she was fed. Plenty of people weren't. That gave her fortune, tat knowledge, and faith. She was in a win-win situation. The Mekka and the Teigu were not. And that pleased her, more than anything.

Taking the bag of money that quietly dropped to the floor, her wings beat.

"Adios, amigos! Play safe!"

(Silver's gone. Sorry for godmodding, this seems to be abandoned and Silv needs out.)