RP:The Bandit's Demise
Part of the Tales from the Row Arc
Synopsis: The first ripples of awareness of the death of the Razor reach the port city of Rynvale, those with empathic ability dealing with the bombardment of emotion as an entire city grieves or celebrates the downfall of the people’s hero.
Characters: Finn, Terra, Hanan, Faramond, Ilanad.
Location: Rynvale; The Kraken’s Lair Saloon
The Fall of the people’s hero.
http://www.hollowgame.com/wiki/Duel:Grot_v_Satoshi
Later that day, across the water in Rynvale…
Finn glanced up from his near silent vigil, eyes softening slightly at witness of her approach.. before it flickered to the hellcat. Company, might not be such a bad thing. He couldn't shake the feeling. As Terra had intoned, sorrow was in the water..everywhere. He reached up, fingers settling around her hip drawing her down into his lap. He needed her close.
Faramond shook his head, "I said that, Captain, cause if you'll recall.." He cleared his throat, as if recalling her exactly, "Hell, Fara, I bet I make 'em happier than you… Or maybe you want me to talk about how my tongue is plated, huh?" His cigarette tapped down again, he sure was going through it fast, "Never match your record… Any of those sound familiar captain? I'm pretty sure that's provokin'. Hell, I try to put it down, I offer you a drink, you offered snide insults… We both know what you mean, bringing disrespect… My ass, ya windbag." He turned back towards his drink, attempting to polish off the cigarette as Terra and red for the most part were ignored, grumbling on to himself.
Hanan wanted Grot. Wanted him more than she had in a long time. There was a man who'd give her a hug and something to smile over. Sure he was a damned protective sexist but it'd be easy for her to dodge that, better a protector than a bastard. And he'd be good to her, if she wasn't... what she was. She'd waited too long. She had to get over there, maybe bring him an expensive bottle. Convince him that she wouldn't hurt him. Win him back. Hell... maybe she could even give it an honest go. He was probably the only man on either shore who'd ever offer her that. Her shoulders stiffened at Faramond's words, more hopeful thoughts interrupted. She didn't turn to face him. "If you'd recall... I was jokin'. And you're the one who started talkin' about tongues. I was ruttin' flirtin' with you, you were crossin' the line. I wanted clever, you talked to me like I was stupid enough to need a anatomy chart. I'm done. Leave me be when I ask you to leave me be." She found a chair by the hearth and settled down in it without looking at him.
Terra immersed herself in trying to uncover why there was this feeling of despair, thick and heavy. It's far more suffocating than the anger that came in red waves from both Faramond and Hanan, both of which are ignored for the time-being as she allowed herself to be drawn in towards Finn but the touch is distracting, muddled what progress she had made and she frowned, leaned forward and stilled. "Mourning..." Who? Who was mourning and what? Her leg jumped from restless inactivity and she found herself staring again, unable to work it out, just yet. Mmm, there's longing... and she found herself looking towards Hanan, found the captain to be distracted and it didn't take a genius to realize her train of thought. This does nothing to ease the sorrow, the tightening in her chest. "We lost someone."
Finn turned his face into the comfort that was the scent of her hair, even as his arms slid around her waist to draw her closer, into his body which still as she murmured her prediction. “You feel it too..” a statement, more than a question. “Don’t reckon there’s any trouble on the shores.. Xander’s a bad way..but it’s more than that.” Lips pressed softly, distracted onto what bare flesh of her shoulder he could find. “The heat’s on over Cenril way..Shale’s in the city…” His brow furrowed. “You don’t think?..” If he’d sent the elf to her death.. Already he could feel the cold clawing at what was left of his soul.
Hanan ::"I think you're used to women blushin' and tryin' to wish you away, Fara. You won't get that here." And that was all she said to the half elf. She sank back into the cushions, took another sip of her whiskey, she needed it. Her warm chair by the fireplace gave her a good view of Finn and Terra, and she'd heard Terra's words, Finn's response. Not that she was trying to eavesdrop--oh, hell, yes she was--but she couldn't help but reply. "You don't know it's one of us, Terra. Maybe some popular old lady died in town, huh? Someone we don't know and it's bubblin' up here?" She shrugged... cracked a joke. Yeah, that'd get her smirk back. "Maybe Ace fell in a creek, and ruined her dress, and you're pickin' up on her sorrow."
Terra has to focus that much harder and it's a little trouble. Why were there so many that had feelings of remorse or loss? Her eyes sting but she refused to blink, a film having formed over them that threatened to break and expose tears. "Too many." That was a 'no' for Shale, that one she could still feel if she searched hard enough. The elf wasn't entirely pleased about her relocation but still thrived in the Cenril clinics. "It's in the water." She repeated and frowned at Hanan. Did she not feel the shift in the air? "It's divided. There's happiness too." And quite suddenly, without warning, she leaned forward again and just barely missed her own shoes as she was sick, a puddle of stomach contents left on the floor and her head still swimming. Patch all but groaned - she didn't have that much to drink, why was she throwing up! By this point it's likely Finn has released her and she'd try to stand and locate something to wash the taste out. "This is ... bad."
Finn had freed her of restraint with that first sensation of resistance against his grip. Worried frown furrowed his brow. He’d never in person seen her in empathic duress for others, but the violence of what shook her made him almost fear for what might lay beyond. Was it the baby? “Vayne?..” His voice was hoarse with bitten back emotion. He’d not seen Miya or her child since they had departed to take the ferry home the previous night. Had there been some other accident? Could the pair have met some ill fated end on the waters? “What do you mean sweetheart..the water?..” a hand was raised, flagging servants in toward the mess. He almost called for water for her..but it seemed somehow unfitting. “Hot chocolate Patch, in a tick..” he clipped toward the bar.
Hanan ::"Shyte." Hanan was on her feet as soon as Terra hurled, she looking quickly to Patch and muttering "Water, damn you," just loud enough for the bartender to hear. Granted it might be 'in the water' but damn her, she had no better ideas. At least until Finn spoke up."Yeah... hot chocolate." She reached out and set her hand on the woman's shoulder, giving it a squeeze of support. "Maybe... we oughta go 'round, check on people. Anyone seen Alaine?" Alaine was popular. "Jolie? Hell..." Hanan looked up at Finn, lowered her voice. "If it's hittin' her this hard..." Hanan had no idea how this stuff worked, but speculation was better than silence,"has to be someone known. Nobody knows your..." Pause. "The kid." A sudden grin, then; an idea perverse enough to lighten her. "Maybe Yasmine got run over by a cart. That's the screamin' of a thousand sluts. No wonder you lost your stomach, Terra."
Terra didn't have to go far since all those employed would rather not deal with her making any messes any further from that isolated area so the hot chooclate is shoved in her hands, accepted as she slumped and slid down, back to the wall. She could do this, right? It's fine that she's trying to ignore the wails and cries and cheers and jeers of an entire city, divided in the deaths of both of the crime lords that had once tried to run things. As Hanan starts through the list she searchs for that person, finding some signal of their person at the time and shaking her head. A sip. "Cenril." She clarified at long last, able to pin a better location on her water suggestions. "It's.." Eyes went wide with what she was going to suggest and she was staring intently at Hanan. "Don't ..move out.."
Finn almost relaxed. Cenril? And it wasn’t Shale? Why the hell should he give a rats ass if the whole city population walked through Hades gates? What connection did his people have over the water? None..save.. Eyes flickered to the captain, almost at the same moment as Terra leveled the woman with that look, almost at the same time that the near ominous request. The Hell? Kingsley? Grot the god damned Razor? “Bastard’s too stubborn to die lass..” he murmured almost under his breath. Whether the lass in question was Terra or the erstwhile captain, was anybody’s guess.
Hanan ::"Cenril? Hell... probably the Burnham Boys then, right? Heard they were goin' down." Left and right, with Grot doing the slicing. She hadn't liked what he did to Red's men but the Burnhams probably had it coming. If the city was mourning Burnhams, then she should be over there in Cenril, working her way through the crowd. Maybe Grot would be happy enough to ignore her fangs, maybe he wouldn't mind her on his arm tomorrow. The ferry ran late, maybe she could catch it, be there in the morning. She wasn't catching on to sorrow at all. "What the hell do you mean, move out? Cenril's right over the water. I'd be back." And then she heard Red talk. She blinked. "...no." Another blink, a more lopsided grin. "Ruttin' doubt it, we'd hear, wouldn't we? Burnhams. He told me he was makin' a move, must've paid off."
Ilanad is, at first, denied entrance, a bouncer quickly moving over to block her way fully past the door. She doesn't look the part of the usual clientel, honestly. She'll get hurt, he says, shoving the girl out the door. With a harrumph, she catches her balance and denies the street her face. Get hurt, he says. So he wants to play it like that? Use that as an excuse to keep a newcomer out? Well, it's a multi-story place, and that's something she can work with. Or, at least, after a quick return to her room at the Barrel. Pants. So much easier to climb in than a skirt. Better equipped for her needs, now, she takes a running start at the side of the tavern kept further back from the public eye, scaling the wall to the windows above. Peek. Occupied. Peek. Occupied. Peek. Occu-...Nice timing, sirrah, leaving when you did. Not occupied. She eases the window open, slipping into the room - and shutting the damned portal this time, gods damnit - and quite simply makes her way...well...out of the room. She's not there to steal, after all. For once she's not padding around on bare feet as she descends into the tavern, black slippers on her feet and cotton pants of the same color being the only changes to her usual outfit. A good thing for that, too, she notices as she sees a few particular faces present. It won't seem so out of place. Not that she's likely to be noticed, what with Finn's woman showing everyone what she had for lunch. Or dinner. Or whatever the last meal was. Finn’s attentions was, as correctly assumed, locked on the unfolding scene. The cat had a point. There were no secrets on the shores, enough travel back and forth, and the people knew the players. Hell. Kingsley wasn’t quiet. Had he gone down, they’d be shoutin’ it from the rooftops. Wouldn’t they? Another quick glance Terra’s way, and then eyes on the captain, her half grin returned and a quiet “I’d take her advice darlin’..” What good would it do to enter the mayhem? They were borrowing trouble…it would arrive soon enough if what the elf spoke was true.
Hanan blinked right back at Terra. "Hell are you apologizin' for? We know nothin'. We know you're feelin' queasy. You want me to stay in place and plan a funeral because you've got some vague sense of forbodin'? Hell, maybe Arien wandered over there and had a heart attack. Maybe Eliah fell of a bridge. You don't know a damn thing. You're guessing. And you don't like the bastard to begin with, so it's a damn easy guess for you to make." She saw Ruana walk down the steps--from upstairs? Hell. Well, it was only a matter of time before she took a sample, Hanan supposed--but she was busy. "Red, her advice doesn't make sense. You sent ruttin' Shale over there. Clumsy-ass Shale. If she can handle it, I sure as hell can."
Terra isn't going to argue with Hanan so she just shrugged. "Go over there then. Prove me wrong." It's probably words she's going to come to regret but Grot was the only one who made sense - why they mourned, why some cheered, why the entire city felt the despair of realizing that they no longer had an authority. Chaos, it would be chaos, and she was baiting Hanan to get into the midst of it but she wouldn't argue. "Just go!" If that sounded like frustration, like anger, it's likely because it's a great mix of both. She had no more control over any of this then she did before and the helplessness coupled with Hanan's doubt is quite enough for her.
Ilanad watches the duo around the woman who just recently vomited, listening in as they speak of someone being dead, or not being dead, or that it's this person or that person, and so on. Faramond seems to be the only one not over there trying to argue the whole point, so it's to him that she goes since she doesn't know a damned thing about what's going on. "So apparently someone died," she says to the man, brazenly pulling up a seat by him, "but what exactly is going on?" Go figure, she barely has her eyes on Faramond the whole time she's speaking, instead keeping her confused gaze focused more on the other three. "And what does it have to do with feeling queasy?"
Faramond motioned with a hand moving across his throat that Ilanad should let it drop as he drank, "I don't wanna know, I think... I imagine I might be taking a trip tonight." A shake of his head... What did that even mean?
But Shale didn’t have a soft spot for Grot the god damned Razor. Finn’s gaze may have said it, but his lips would not. “Aye..you’ve a point in that Cat…” he drawled quietly, sitting back finally to lift glass to his lips again. He remembered the man’s face, remembered the ice that had gripped his own heart when they had feared the girls lost to ferry disaster. He had near killed the bastard for saying they were dead. He’d not been willing to believe it without a body..and the thought alone had near choked the life out of him. He’d not waited, or rested a moment until they’d been found. He’d not deny her the satifaction of -doing- something. Other than sitting and waiting. “It’ll be a hot mess over there..keep your head low..and get word back to me when you can aye?..” He’d not take offence at the tone used with Terra in this instance. Besides, the elf could defend herself if it came to that..verbally or otherwise. Circumstances seemed to dictate moderation in responses.
Hanan ::"I ruttin' will, first thing in the morning. I know what this sort of thing's like, they'll be tough to find. Celebratin'." Hanan's jaw had set again; the look she gave the two of them was suddenly distant. What if he was dead? He'd admitted the possibility, given her letters for his family... that's why he'd talked to her, last she saw him, for the letters. "I'll come back with news that Grot's the ruttin' mayor. You'll have to deal with 'im if you want docking privileges. Hell..." Her voice trailed off. "And I'll tell you this much, I won't puke when I see him."
Ilanad drops it. So it's serious, then. And whatever it is, it's provoking Hanan to want to go over to Cenril, the blonde to get frustrated with Hanan, and Finn left somewhere in the middle of the two, it seems. "You're taking a trip?" Seems she's wanting to know what that means, too. At least now her attention is on Fara instead of the trio. Granted, that cigarette has her scrunching her nose. "What do those taste like?" she asks as she points to the cigarette. "They don't really...smell that great."
Faramond glanced up at Ilanad, off the counter he took one, offering the cigarette up to her now, "It's a sweet burn, eh?" A grin came, "Only way to know is to try, eh?"
Ilanad almost glares at the man for that comment. She still remembers the last time they had spoken, and the things he had spoken of. She has a very good idea of what he means by that first bit. But the cigarette is lit, and she has it between her lips. Breathe? Death-stick firmly between her lips, she does just that...and utterly fails at taking a hit of the cigarette. Go figure.
Terra finished off her chocolate and closed her eyes. Would it last all night, their cries? Would their time of mourning be as long as Hanan's own, once she knew for sure? A breath in, it's calming, kept the mug in her hand despite her idea of pitching it across the room. "When you do come back, I'll be here." Granted, it wouldn't be this room that she inhabited since it's apparent she sought to leave since she's pushing to her feet. "Don't get swallowed up in the city." Finn's arm was found and she gave a tug and a look that almost looked pleading. She couldn't stay, not with the number of people in the establishment, even the ones they knew.
Finn didn’t have an answer for her. He’d seen the look in her eyes, just as he’d been able to read the wolf’s body language tonight, and both had communicated the same thing. Words were meaningless. Only action would have outcome that could change anything. And so he’d just nod her way, glass lifted for the contents to be drained before he shifted to push himself to his feet. A quick glance flickered Terrra’s way, noting her own multilayered expression and it was suddenly all a bit much. All this emotion. So much spoken between the lines. He craved a simpler moment. “Gonna check in at the den..” a glance finally offered Fara’s way. “Your night off?.” It was a skeptical drawl, that the man could have earned off nights so early in his tenure. Shoulders were shrugging into his coat before a few steps took him over to where Terra leaned. Fingertips came to rest lightly on her jaw, an offering of silent comfort. “ Don’t stay up too late..” he murmured, before they fell away. “He’d be a while at the parlor..his escape tonight from the sorrow in the air.” And then he was guiding the elf toward the door, pausing only long enough to hear any final commentary passed his way.
Faramond said to Ilanad, "You are doin' it wrong, lass, wrap your lips and suck...."
Ilanad is far too innocent to have taken that the wrong way, and so she does as she's told, getting a decent drag on the cigarette...and hacking up a lung. "Oh gods," she wheezes, holding the cigarette away from her. "Sweet burn my backside."
Hanan ::"I go to the city all the time." She was more than a match for the common thug, and they were mostly common over there. Grot. If she was... no. She wouldn't consider that. Not without proof. The thought put a fist around her heart. And that fist being there in the same room as Ruana added guilt into the mix. She was ready to run off with that bastard. Just run. That'd might be an insult to Ru'. Hanan rolled her shoulders. Her voice was quiet, somehow, even in its loudness as they left. "Terra, you damn well know I'll be back. Red--I'll send word when I know what happened. If I'm not back, I'll send a messenger. So don't worry your little head, Pops." That last dig, she had to put it in, couldn't let herself be cowed. Not by them. Hanan made her own way to the door, with a smile and a wave Ruana's way--and again, she ignored Faramond. Except to make a mental note to ask Ruana later if he'd been good to her, had anything happened. And to kick his ass if he wasn't.
Faramond snickered as he tapped the ash out, "You started it, lass, you gotta finish it... Just take another puff."
Ilanad is between coughs when she spies that wave from Hanan. She can't help but smile at the woman, being oblivious to just what the hells is going on as she is. Wait. What? "I have to..." Oh dear gods. Cringing, she brings the thing back to her lips, only for a repeat of the first hit. "You have to be kidding me," she whimpers, a pained look on her face. Why did she even ask?
Terra does not know what to make of that - 'don't stay up too late'. Was he not going to stay with her during this? Why did she seem surprised? He had a name, a reputation... runner, and he was putting it to use right now, wasn't he? Hanan too. Then again she's no better. It didn't take an empath to realize that she's upset with them both, the entire situation and that's why she's silent as she went through the door held open by Finn and kept her hands in her pockets, a few steps ahead of him until they ended up going their separate ways.