[Jaykobell]

Amongst the torments of his mind, and between the stress of his lost identity, at least the town of Ja'wan seemed to be a safe haven for the time being. The smell of fish pleased him and soothed his nerves - despite his human form, he was still a Kuhna at heart and in soul - and the beach was a quiet, relaxing place for him to try to clear his messy thoughts. At the very least, he was happy to see that some places in Evelon hadn't changed in the time he'd missed.

He was taking a look at a small market, looking over a small selection of fish and other fresh foods. He looked like an average young man, except maybe for his piercing blue eyes that looked just the slightest bit inhuman. Otherwise, his black and grey clothes and black hair didn't bring much attention to him.

He looked a little distant as he looked over the selection, almost daydreaming about other things. Even people who brushed against him or who bumped into him didn't really faze him much at all, he was so lost in his own thoughts.

[Baconwizard]

Lea's footsteps sounded like a cacophony echoing against the tall buildings surrounding the alleyway. She clutched her bag to her chest, one hand stuck inside a pocket and clutching against the knife stashed inside. The sounds of her pursuers followed after her. If she wasn't so busy running, Lea might have thrown up, she was so afraid. She might also have leapt into the air and cheered at herself for actually doing it. She actually stole money from the Standor mafia family. The bag she was carrying was full of neat little bundles of cash. The way Lea saw it, it wasn't stealing if the money was stolen in the first place. It was a fit vengeance on the evil organization.

Cutting across the next alley, Lea headed towards the east marketplace, where she could hopefully find a hiding place. Lea knew the city like the back of her hand, but that didn't mean that she could just find a place. A shout came up behind her, and she sped up, daring a glance over her shoulder to see if the men were catching up to her. Lea hardly had a chance to see anything before she ran right smack into a young man hovering over a stall selling fish. She screamed as she hit the ground hard, the man underneath her, her bag full of stolen money falling a few feet away. Clambering bodily over the boy, she scrambled to get the bag, breathing fast. Her face was flushing with exertion, and her thin blonde hair was probably a rats nest, and her head swiveled around to see if her pursuers were upon her. Even though she hated them, and everything they stood for, Lea did not want to get caught with a bag full of their money. They had guns, and Lea did not. Looking back at the boy with wide eyes, Lea managed to catch her breath. "S-sorry about that. I, uh... yeah, didn't mean to run into you."

[Jaykobell]

The intention had been to consider buying food for tonight, but there were so many choices; so many good, tasty choices. Through the myriad of other things he thought about, at least the thought of food and eating were a lot more relaxing than everything else.

He was about to make a decision when he felt a blow to his side. Out of nowhere, and so suddenly, he found himself getting dragged down to the ground. He was in such a daze when the stranger fell on him that he didn't even gasp, instead just calmly staring as he blinked and tried to allow his brain to catch up on what had just happened.

He certainly hadn't expected that, but from the looks of it, the girl hadn't expected it, either. The way she scrambled about, the way she looked, and the way she spoke; she looked anything but normal, so to speak. He eyed her carefully from shoes to head, and he slowly pulled himself back on his own two feet. "I'm fine," he told her, gingerly brushing the dirt and dust off his clothes.

From the way she acted, though, he looked a little pensive. "Hm. Are you also fine?" he bothered to ask, though his voice was so flat and quiet that he sounded like he was asking just out of courtesy; and not because he cared. To be truthful, he didn't really care that much, but she did look very distressed; and even he had picked up on it.

[Baconwizard]

Lea was getting to her feet, wincing as her hand brushed against a scrape on her knee. Her reward for being so inattentive to where she was going. Her gray eyes snapped up to the stranger, a little confused and surprised by his question. "Huh? Uh, I'm fine. Thanks. Yeah, uh, sorry to bother you," Lea glanced down the street, her heart jumping in her chest. They'd be on her in a heartbeat if she dallied too long. Holding the bag full of stolen money in her arms, Lea's feet slowly inched away from the strange boy with bright blue eyes. "Uh... bye."

As soon as Lea managed to piece together that horrendously awkward farewell, a shout came from the entrance to the alleyway Lea just came from. Two men in dark suits, who were panting just as much as Lea was, glared and pointed at her. A shout came to stop her, and Lea breathed out a curse, taking a step, readying to dash down the street before the two men could come at her.

[Jaykobell]

Everything about this girl indicated that she wasn't fine, despite what she said. He looked pensive as she answered his question, looking nervous and all around ready to make a mad dash for it. He didn't see himself as intimidating, although he did look a little different from the average human. "Ah," was all he said as she insisted that she was fine, and as she bid him goodbye.

He watched her take her leave, but his attention was taken up by the shouts coming from nearby. He turned to see the two men pointing at the girl, because for sure they weren't pointing at him; he didn't know them.

He shot a glance at the girl who'd bumped into him. "You don't look fine," he said as a matter of fact; but not like he wanted to get involved. Whatever trouble she'd gotten herself to wasn't his business. He was a no-name and no-fame guy, just another Joe in the world.

[Baconwizard]

"Yeah, no kidding," Lea breathed, eyes wide. She looked at the men advancing on her, then at the strange boy behind her, and in that moment, she made a really bad decision. Shoving the bag full of stolen money at the boy, she whispered, "Run!" then turned to the men. Giving them a rude hand gesture, Lea began running in the opposite direction of the boy, yelling. "Hey, you stinkweeds! I could smell you coming from here; when have you last taken a shower?!" The men looked confused, looking between Lea and the boy, anger apparent on their thuggish faces. One pointed at the boy, then nodded, and the two split, one going after Lea, and the other after the boy holding the money. Lea let out another curse under her breath, looking a little terrified. That wasn't part of her horrendously bad plan.

[Jaykobell]

He hadn't meant it to be a sign of care, nor a clue that he wanted to help her. His attempt had just being civil had turned against him, however, as the nervous girl shoved a bag right into his hands with instructions to run. "What?" he hissed right after he'd managed to let out a small gasp of surprise. Why was he getting involved?

Despite her trying to divert their attention, the two crooks ended up splitting, with one of them coming straight for him. His mind tried to think fast, but in that moment, he didn't know what to do. Should he hand over the bag and just avoid getting involved altogether? Did this girl have reason to be running? Was she the good guy or the bad guy in this situation? Quite honestly, he didn't even know if he could outrun them.

By the time he was trying to figure out his dilemma, the crook was basically already jumping for him. At that point, he dropped the bag just a few feet away from the man, and he raised his hands just slightly. "Hey, I'm not involved," he told the man running for him, and he took a few steps back. "Take what you want." He didn't know what was in the bag; whether money, or belongings, or whatever else. Even if he could see, he didn't care. This wasn't any of his business, and from the looks of things, he didn't want to get involved in shady or dangerous business. He had enough problems of his own without needing to worry about the problems of others.

[Baconwizard]

Lea could have punched that stupid guy in the face. Granted, that was just her luck for trusting a total stranger, but still. He could have at least helped her out! Ducking away from the thug that was coming at her, Lea ran at the other two. "You traitor!" She gasped, lunging forward and grabbing the bag in the boy's outstretched hands. The thug in sunglasses snarled something at her--probably something insulting, but Lea was too preoccupied with escaping to really hear--and grabbed at her arm. Lea yelled, her arm twisting back, and she kicked wildly at the man's legs and groin in a desperate attempt to escape. The bag slipped from her grasp as Lea grappled with the man. The other thug--buzz cut--had joined them, and was heading towards the bag. Lea's eyes, filled with fear and anger, landed on the boy, and she practically screamed at the top of her lungs. "Help me!"

[Jaykobell]

He had figured he would be able to get away scottfree from this mess - which, if he could say it again, was none of his business - by handing over the bag and letting the man have it. He didn't know what was in there, and he didn't know if he was making the right decision. Regardless, he didn't want to get involved.

He could've told this girl quite a few choice words. All he'd done was to ask her if she was fine, and expressing idle concern, from one stranger to another. He'd never asked for this, and the fact she was still involving him was downright invasive. How could he be a traitor if he didn't know her?

He stepped back when the girl went for the bag, and he watched as the scene unfolded. If he knew what was in the bag, then he could've made a rational decision; but was he supposed to believe the girl had reason to be chased and hunted down; or was he supposed to think those two men were thugs attacking someone smaller than themselves?

"By the Triumvirate..." he hissed under his breath, and he gritted his teeth a little as the situation got all the more out of hand. But with buzz cut heading for the girl, there was little time to think. In and of itself, there wasn't any more time to think.

Of course, he would ask for an explanation, if they got out of this thing alive; but for the time being, he took the leap of faith and headed straight for buzz cut while he was distracted. With enough force, he hoped to push him away and to make him lose his balance; that alone might be enough for the boy to grab the bag. The girl could wrestle with the other one, in the meantime.

[Baconwizard]

Lea was struggling wildly against her captor, and probably giving him more than a few cuts and bruises. Her eyes widened as she saw the boy head towards the other man, and hope lifted up her chest. Oh, thank god, she thought. Maybe she'd be able to get out of this situation without killing herself, after all. The thug--sunglasses--grabbed at her face, and Lea screamed, mostly out of anger than any pain. She bit down on his fingers, making the man yell in real pain, and she kicked and thrashed her way out of his grip. Stumbling forward, Lea grabbed at the bag, holding it close, and spun around to see the stranger still occupying the buzz cut thug. "Hey! Run!" She yelled at him, hoping that he'd get the message. Sunglasses was coming towards her, looking like he meant business. Lea darted away, her heart pounding loud in her ears as she ran at full speed away from the danger.

[she'll meet up with him later and they can actually talk]

[Jaykobell]

He supposed that it was a relief to see the girl making her escape relatively unharmed. That being said, he didn't have to be told twice to run out of this whole mess. He'd managed to distract the other thug just long enough to help the girl escape, and he didn't want to be involved further than that. He truly hoped this whole thing wouldn't get him into trouble of his own, like having the thugs go after him next for getting involved.

The moment he was told to run, he let go of the thug and did just that. He escaped via alleyways and other convoluted passages and turns, hoping to lose the thugs. Hopefully they would run solely after the girl and keep their business to themselves.

As soon as he reached a slightly safer place, he started feeling regrets over helping that girl. He truly hoped those thugs wouldn't come after him, and that his life wouldn't be disturbed due to some girl's spontaneous decision to get him involved.

He remained in a quieter, more unknown part of town for the majority of the day afterwards, as he figured they wouldn't come down that way. Regardless, his time was spent looking over his shoulder and being tense, unable to let his guard down.

[Baconwizard]

Somehow, miraculously, Lea had evaded capture. More of the Standor family were sure to come, of course. Right then, Lea was intent on finding a hideout to wait out the storm. Maybe she would even have to leave town. That would suck, to be sure, but it wasn't impossible. Especially with the amount of money she had stashed in the bottom of her bag. The Standor family had enemies, and there was a fair sized population of citizens that didn't take kindly to the group operating in their city. If Lea knew where to look, she'd be able to find a place to hide herself away. And she did know where to look.

She hid in the entrance of an alleyway, watching the crowds pass with a careful gaze. This was a residential part of town, with it's fair share of stores and restaurants. People were out and about, getting last minute errands and shopping done before the sun set. Lea bit her lip, then stepped out, trying to blend in as much as possible. That lasted for about ten seconds, before she bumped into someone--again. Biting down a yelp of surprise, she turned to face... the same strange guy from before. "It's you!" She gasped, wide-eyed, fighting the urge to point at him in her shock.