Big Plans [dead]

[anomaly]

Zared wandered lazily down the street. The past few days in the capital were rainy and cold, but today the sun shone warmly and it was a great day to be alive. Well, except that he had been rejected once again by the beautiful gazelle shape-shifter... what was her name again? Apparently it wasn't going to matter now. Whatever. He and his friends were planning on a major thieving operation, and he really needed to keep his mind on the task at hand. After all, if this went well, he and his friends might go down in history.

Tannoch was conveniently located near the Irin Bay. Ships delivered all sorts of delightful cargo, some of which was stored at the Tannoch Warehouses. Zared knew that a recent delivery of jeweled sabers and specially crafted daggers from the city of Ient were currently stored there. He and his friends intended to...shall we say... remove a few of these items and put them to a more profitable use.

[flippedside]

Jarad hated cities. They were crowded and smelly, and made him feel tense and slightly queasy inside. He hissed softly as he roamed the crowd. Nightfall, the band of mercenaries that he was a part of, was just passing through. Everyone else was excited to be in "civilization" again. Jarad just felt irritated.

He couldn't help but compare the tight back alleys and dirty gutters with the fresh open air and wide spaces of the countryside. His mind was distracted enough by the dirt and the gray building walls and the shoving crowds that he ran into a boy. Jarad cursed and took a second glance. No, not a boy, a young man. The only marker of his age was the short goatee on his chin. Jarad couldn't resist a smirk.

Unfortunately, Jarad also suspected him of being a thief. Jarad knew well that thieves were the ones who grasped and bumped into you a crowd. This was unfortunate for the young man--not Jarad, who immediately grabbed the stranger's shoulder, intent on jerking him back.

Black clouded his thoughts. His disgust with Tannoch mingled with his anger that this boy would dare try to steal from him. One bad habit he had was gambling and any money on him he intended to turn to that purpose. Never mind that Kaye called his version of gambling stealing (he was willing to admit that he cheated)--he won, so what? But this punk was trying to steal his one source on entertainment in this cursed city...

[torch777]

One day Jaden was walking through Tannoch to the bakery to pick up some bread for the lord, when he sees a brooding man staring at who Jaden thought was either a man or a boy,he couldn't tell. But then he saw the short scraggly goatee he figured he was at least 16. Jaden was curious to find out what was going on. Jaden walked over and tapped on the brooding man's shoulder and exclaimed,"What's going on and why are you so angry"
He then waited for the man's reply...

[flippedside]

Jarad spun about, irritated. "Who are you?" he demanded, then realized that he was speaking to a neat well-dressed boy. He relaxed slightly. "Sorry lad, bad day."

It was indeed that. Still, the boy was interrupting his retribution on the thief. A knife flicked expertly into his fingers and was pressed against the thief's throat. "So, thief," he hissed. "Trying to steal from me?"

He was angrier at himself for being conned by mere boy, than he was at the actual thief. He didn't begrudge a thief for stealing for his food--he'd done it himself on a number of occasions. More than that, Tannoch stirred dark memories that he found better left dead and untouched. They mixed fear with biting pain that still writhed in his gut. He wanted the feelings dead and cut out, but had never found a successful means of doing so. On the other hand...this young man with the dark eyes provided the perfect excuse.

Of course, there was the boy watching him, and it was better not to spill blood in a busy street. But he knew many of the dark back alleys of Tannoch and was not bothered by the thought of visiting them. Or of dragging the thief with him into them. He wouldn't necessarily kill the man...Or boy. He still couldn't decide which the thief was.

[anomaly]

Zared was lost in his thoughts, planning the heist that would surely bring him fame, when She walked by. Lovely, graceful, with pale blond hair and the most beautiful blue eyes. You could get lost in eyes like that. Which Zared did...almost. Or more accurately, he lost his balance, as he watched Her go by, and smacked into a stranger.

Before Zared could react, he was swung about and found himself staring into a hardened, scared face.

"Whew", he thought. "Garlic breath".

"So thief", hissed the stranger, "trying to steal from me?"

Zared glanced back over his shoulder, but She had disappeared into the crowd. Zared was sure that he had just lost his only chance to marry a goddess, and he felt his ire flare. How dare this oaf spoil his chances! Couldn't he watch where he was going? Couldn't he recognize a beautiful woman when he saw one? He probably was just a pirate, not even a member of the Thieves Guild! Zared's arms flailed about as he raved.

At the corner of the bakery, two young men stopped and leaned against the wall. One was munching an apple that he had swiped off of a produce cart. The other held a steaming cup of Peppermint Mocha Java with two shots of espresso, soy milk, a dusting of cocoa powder, hold the whipped cream.

"Are you sure about including Zared in this heist? He's one squirrely dude."

"He's good, but a nut case."

"Does he even know that he has a knife to his throat?"

"I'll bet you 10 that he doesn't live long enough to get to the warehouse."

"You don't even have 10, you slummer."

"Who you calling a slummer, you ghetto punk?"

"Yeah? Well your momma wears Monarchist Army boots!"

Meanwhile, Zared had gotten himself so worked up, that he didn't even notice that his tail had appeared and was flipping about over his head. He was equally oblivious to the growing, amused crowd, or the number of people taking bets on the outcome of this one.

[flippedside]

Jarad raised his eyebrows as the boy began railing on him about...women? No, a girl, a goddess...Now he was just lost. What was this nut going on about?

He huffed and then shoved the boy away. Anyone that idiotic was no thief. Couldn't last for two seconds on the street, ranting about gorgeous girls. The boy needed an insane asylum. Jarad was rather fascinated by now, though, watching as the stranger waved his hands dramatically, his tuft of hair flicking about. He had to fight to keep the smile in line that kept twitching at the corners of his mouth. Well, the kid definitely made for an excellent street performer. He slid his knife back into a hidden pocket in his clothes, crossing his arms in amusement as he glanced about at the growing crowd.

He turned back to the other boy. "Sure get some crazies in the city, hey?" He shook his head and rolled his eyes dramatically. "And I thought I was insane. I'm Jarad, nice to meet you, lad." He put his hand out for Jaden to shake, waiting for the boy to introduce himself. "Don't know who this nut is, though." He jerked his hand at Zared, who was still ranting.

His interest was suddenly grabbed when he saw the tail flicking about the boy's head. His pupils dilated slightly, watching with far too much interest as the squirrel tail twitched and flicked in all directions. His hawk half was suddenly very eager for a squirrel dinner. He felt his skin practically crawling, demanding him to change and a catch a fat...err, skinny squirrel dinner...He had to fight to control his hunting instincts. Squirrels were the natural dinner of red-shouldered hawks, but this one, with his tail dancing about his head, looked especially enticing. It was very wrong to eat another shape-shifter...especially in a city...but...

He solved the problem by aiming a punch squarely on Zared's jaw. That ought to knock him out, he thought with some interest. Maybe the squirrel would fight back. He might be able to claim the boy as a fair dinner, then...

[horsedancer]

Snake Eyes was in a extremely bad mood from being in such a crowded city. She felt as if she had to run or she would scream! She realized that she had let her mind wander when she ran into a peasant boy. "Get out of my way, boy!" She waited for a reply...