Northern Winds [NC-17] (IC)

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog sat back down beside Gar and Styg, and crossing his legs let the others speak. The others had made their opinions known - they saw absolutely no reason why Edge might be a threat at all. Or simply didn't care. It was disconcerting, but then, such was life. Cog wasn't out to argue - he was simply clarifying things. One didn't kill unless one had to, after all. Enemies were filed under a 'had to', however. But it had been made quite clear to him that Edge was not an enemy. And Cog would abide by that. So he sat, and drank, and starting listened to the others talk about what needed doing. From what it sounded like, they were in for an ambush.
Cog liked ambushes. It had been awhile since somebody had tried to kill him with one. But again, they probably hadn't heard of him here...

[Stygian]

The hyena from before, dressed and done properly but with a hint of weariness that could not be made go away, no matter how neatly ordered her hair or how pristine her clothes, still present in her eyes, walked in and passed them on her way into the kitchen. It seemed that she had lost sleep, or was stressed somehow. Stygian didn't pay her any heed though, only ignored her and sighed, looking down.
   "Bring her and get your things together," he said, just a hint of disappointment in his tone. Adventurers, he thought. Some were clever enough, but most seemed to expect things to happen by themselves or drop right into their lap. But, as it were, there were indeed some who mattered, and others who did not. He would focus on those who did.
   "We are going to leave and go into town as soon as we can. Will someone check the car? I can take one on my bike, but if that's wrecked, we're going to be wasting some time."

[Sunblink]

Recalling the way the two had interacted together in battle and how efficiently they had defeated their foes, Keaton walked towards the staircase again. "I'll go fetch her," she volunteered, throwing her hair over her shoulder. "No skin off my back."

Without any further announcements, Keaton walked up the stairs, her combat boots clunking heavily against the wooden floors. She walked down the hallway where everyone's doors were located, searching intently for the specified door leading to Somber's room. Hopefully the hare was completely healed after last night's ordeal and ready to go. If not she was in for a rude awakening.

Keaton leaned against the door, pressing her ear to its surface and tapping her knuckles on it. "Yo! Somber! Time to get going!" No response nor any signs betraying movement from within. Still undaunted, Keaton knocked on the door again, gripping the brass doorknob. "Hello?"

She wasn't intending to stay there all morning trying to awaken Somber, as she wasn't in the mood, didn't possess the attention span, and couldn't keep her traveling companions waiting. "Okay, you've been asking for it. I'm going in." Noticing that the door was unlocked, Keaton twisted the doorknob and all but charged into the room.

Once she skidded to a halt in the middle of the comfortable, tidy room, Keaton realized that there was something greatly amiss.

There was no sign of the lapine Demon.

In the condition she was in Somber wouldn't have had the energy to get up and walk freely around, and if she did someone would've seen her, right? So that meant...

Oh shit.

Keaton turned tail and raced back down the hallway and the stairs, her ears perked and her pierced eyebrow arched. "Guys, I can't find Somber," she said urgently. "She's just... gone."

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha had made it to her room meanwhile, having found that her adventurer clothing had indeed been returned, cleansed of blood and mended back to perfection, as if new again.  As she placed the collar bearing her cape back around her neck, she could hear footsteps going past her door.  The panthress recognized the sound of the boots and the voice as that of Keaton's, as it stopped in front of what apparently was Somber's door further down the hall.

I hope the demon can keep up, she thought to herself while securing her weapons.  The idea still didn't sit well with her to have one in the group, considering her hatred for the race...but this one had fought by their side at least.

Then, just as she turned to open the door, Aisha caught Keaton rushing past, too quickly for her to even call.  Her curiosity quirked, she stole a glance down the direction from whence she came.  Was it something that Somber had done?  She never figured that anything scared the succubus...

Aisha followed after Keaton, taking the stairs two by two and catching up finally when she appeared to have found the others.  The huntress caught her words just as she came up behind her.  "Gone?"  Her head tilted, but not out of concern, just curiosity.  "As in without a trace?"

It was easy to reach the same conclusion.  They would have found her easily if she had only just wandered off.

[Boog]

Richard simply shrugged when he heard Somber was gone.
"All the more fortuitous to say this now then. I went with all this the other night because I panicked. One night and a lot of booze later, it dawns on me that I'm really not involved. This chick's after Styg, not me or Somber, and on the off chance she does hear about our involvement I don't travel in such dangerous circles, so what's there to check out?" He stood up and started for the door, "I'll check on the car, but I'm washing my hands of all this when we get back into town."

[Stygian]

Stygian looked to the undead and nodded shortly.
   "Can't say that I blame you for that. Now, are we..."
   Suddenly, his ears twitched, and swiveled in the direction of the corridor leading to the stairs. He straightened, his face turning into a frown, and then abruptly walked off. He stopped by the stairs, and almost glared at Keaton.
   "What do you mean 'gone'? She may be a demon, but recently healed she..." he said, then stopped and muttered, looking away. He seemed to ponder for a moment, his eyes looking out into emptiness, before he sighed and muttered something under his breath.
   "Please excuse me. And get your things in order. I just have to take a look," he said, and then hastily made his way up the stairs and out of sight.

[Gareeku]

Sitting there for a while longer, Gareeku listened as it became apparent that Somber was missing.
"Great. A missing ally. Just what we need." the wolf muttered sarcastically, before deciding to make his way up to his room, hoping that his normal outift was washed and ready.

Sure enough, when Gareeku stepped into his room, he saw his outfit folded up on his bed. A couple of minutes later, the wolf had the outift on, finishing strapping his sheathed katana to the side of his waist. Leaving a tip on the bedside table as a thank-you for washing his clothes (Gareeku may have been moody, but he knew when thank-yous were deserved), the wolf then made his way back downstairs to where the others were.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel heard the commotion about Somber and felt a moment's guilt about not following up with her on the healing. Then she realized that the woman had disappeared, not died. Everyone was running upstairs to either look at where the rabbit wasn't or to grab their weapons. Since she already had all her stuff with her she wandered outside to see if the demon had taken the vehicle.  When Mel stepped off the outside stairs and faced the parking lot she saw that no one was going to be taking the car anywhere. It had been a casualty of the drama the night before, it's back end crushed. With a scowl she returned to the lobby and went to the courtesy phone she spotted last night. Just as she guessed, the directory outside a bar was already open to cab services. Fishing her own phone from her bag she dialed one of the numbers.

[Tezkat]

The fox shrugged at Stygian's response and followed the Undead out to the car... or whatever was left of it.

"If it makes you feel any better, I can assure you that the people after Stygian place you very low on their priorities list. At the very least, they probably won't pay the next wave of goons any extra to kill you." Edge scanned the landscape. "I wonder if anyone else survived last night..."

Looking back to Richard, he politely changed the subject.

"So... you're a musician, right? Ever played the Red Sands?"

+ + +

The chiropteran Warp-Aci followed Stygian out of the dining area. It flew beside him at around head height.

"If you need new wheels, I could teleport us to a rental place I know of near the docks. Their insurance rates are out of sight, but they're very understanding of the special needs of Adventuring types."

[Boog]

Richard ran his fingers through his white, wispy hair. The freaking car. Right. Of course the cool car. The whole fiasco had started unpleasantly, why not end that way? The great circle of crap was completed. It took some effort to yank himself back to the present, but it would be rude to ignore Edge.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I think..." He remembered telling Edge about his musical career, and his rants the previous night on the subject of goddamn, contract wielding fae bastards, "While ago. Dimitri got a booking there, and while the lot of us got boo'd out as usual they called me in particular back. One of those nice places that don't care if I'm technically breaking my contract by playing there. Nice joint, but I wouldn't go there myself. Kinda sleezy... lets just say I'm not surprised that whatever Styg's up to is bringing him there," he chuckled, "Not all bad though. Say what you will, the audience has good taste. Big on jazz, that sorta stuff."

[Stygian]

"Thanks, but I don't think we need a rental. We can get around without it, and it wouldn't do us much good for just one day. Besides, Mel's already calling," Stygian replied immediately to the little creature, quite aware of the latter thanks to his hearing. "Now, please return to Edge for a while. I'd like to have a look alone." He waved his hand, and quite similar to how he had held the little thing earlier, Ky felt odd and somehow knew that he wouldn't be able to follow after the bat as he walked off, no matter how much he wanted it. It seemed that Stygian wanted privacy.
   After having urged them all to hurry up, it was a bit silly that Stygian didn't come back down until nearly half an hour later. He didn't look ashamed because of it though, just bitter and angry. Unfortunate circumstances were just that, and it was understandable that he should feel aggravated, yet there seemed to be more than just that troubling him. He stalked through the corridors, over to the counter, returned his key and then walked toward the exit, nodding to Mel and stepping out through the door.
   "It doesn't change a thing. We go, with or without her," he said firmly, walking up behind the others. "We've got more important things than the whims of a demon to take regards to."

[Tezkat]

The little bat somehow managed to look relieved and dejected at the same time. It disappeared in a flash of purple energy.

+ + +

You managed to fail as a hostage? I'm impressed.

Ch-Yah! You got me back, didn't you?

+ + +

Edge lounged around making small talk for half an hour. He looked up as Stygian emerged from the lobby.

"Ready to go?" He cocked his head. "So... do you have a plan in mind for when we arrive?"

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel had already paid her bill so she followed Ignatz outside. The cab had arrived and it was a larger vehicle just as she had requested.  No one would need to be cramped on the trip. As she walked down the steps she looked around to see who was around and who might have wandered off. "A good question. What are the goals of this scouting mission?"

[Stygian]

"Very simple and elegant," Stygian stated, walking up to the Art Deco-esque solemn green, long coupe and opening the rear-hinged back door and standing aside, following the obvious 'ladies first' principle. "Ascertain the location, survey activity, locate possible entryways and exits, and plan out how to do what we are going to do as quickly, cleanly and efficiently as possible." That was always the plan, whenever circumstances weren't exceptional. And even if they were in this case, when things were planned out they worked smoothly anyway.
   "It probably won't take long either. A quick execution should always be strived toward," he said, and looked at them seriously. Normally, he'd have been less serious and formal, but now...
   The door opened as the dragon from before walked out, holding a cup and strolling leisurly out over the porch, leaning on the railing and looking at them inquisitively. Stygian looked back at him, meeting his gaze, his face a stony mask.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog sighed, and stood up, some of his joints popping. "It looks like it's time to go, then." he said, leaving his mug and a few coins scattered on the table leaving. He passed by a strange dragon as he left the place, tipping his hat to the fellow as he decended the steps to the car. The snow leopard was also there. So was The Stygian.
He heard them speaking as he walked toward the car, and made as if to circle around and get in. He frowned. The thing still smelled quite strongly of whatever had been thrown up in it last night. He called to the bat. "It all sounds so nice and easy, when you say it like that." he said, making as if to enter the car. "Let's hope it really is, eh?"

[Tezkat]

Edge took one look at the two powerful Creatures and hastily followed the others to the cab. Whatever business Stygian might have had with the Dragon, he certainly had no interest in intervening. He smiled at the cabbie as he inspected the vehicle, curious to know what their driver thought of the situation.

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha had stood back while listening as some of the group scrambled to find Somber, while the others (of which she wouldn't proudly admit that she was a part of) stayed back without much of a care given.  However it was still a curiosity...she was either a runaway or the group's first casualty.  The panther's ears pinned to the back of her skull.  There had better be no more of those.  While Stygian was upstairs, Aisha returned her room key to the front desk as well as her share of pay, which to her wasn't really that much.

Shrugging it off, Aisha made sure to shift her cape to a different color, as she'd probably make a habit to do that every time she went outside.  They had lived during the night, but there was a little room left for caution.  Or paranoia, as some would say...she rolled her eyes to herself as the cloak turned a blue-tinged color, perhaps only a shade lighter than her clothing was, but still dark.  That was when the bat returned and the others made haste outside, with herself tagging along just behind and pulling the cowl back over her head.

Things had been cleaned up moderately outside, she noticed, with quite a few dire stains of red still upon the ground as reminder or clue to what had happened only the night before.  The car they had come in was, as predicted, in shreds.  The spacious cab would do well...whatever it took to just leave the scene behind only to face a new one later.  The dragon owner was outside, and she too nodded in polite farewell and thanks for the hospitality as the conversation and plans caught her ear.

"Careful, you'll jinx us," Aisha smirked as she heard Cogi's remark, coming down to the cab and starting into a seat of her own on the opposite side.  But gods let nothing hinder us, she thought on the side.

[Boog]

Richard simply made for the cab with the others, getting into the back seat and getting himself mostly out of the way (ignoring the cabbie pointedly turning up the air conditioning; he couldn't help smelling like formaldihyde).
"After the rest of 'em get in we're headed for Red Sands, with a stop at Third and Ac'Corris street on the way." He said to the cabbie as he buckled himself in.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel paused and looked back at the inn and it's owner. She bowed her head respectfully but cautiously. The fact that he had addressed her by her actual name the night before without having been told it was worrisome. He might have just researched everyone to find out where to bill the damages, but it still bothered her. She temporarily dismissed it with the thought that all dragons were nosy creatures. The pause was also to allow everyone to get in the car ahead of her as she hated getting stuck in the middle.

[Sunblink]

At hearing that they would be leaving regardless of Somber's absence, Keaton felt her face convult into something akin to a slight, disapproving frown. Nothing over the top to her reasons--she simply felt more comfortable with a fellow shadow-manipulator with her, especially when they fought side-by-side.

Burying her hands in her pockets, Keaton trudged behind the group as they filtered, one by one, into the car. Meanwhile, Stygian glared at the dragon who owned the tavern, much to Keaton's suspicion. Either those two had a history or Stygian was feeling somewhat worrisome after last night's events, although, to Keaton, paranoia certainly didn't seem within his character.

For now Keaton remained where she was, up until she sighed and slid into the car, throwing her bushy tail to the side and leaning against the seat.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

Stygian held the dragon's gaze, his face clear of emotion, for quite a bit, untill nearly all were in the car. The creature turned away, and in turn so did the bat, instead walking over and straddling his motorcycle. He figured that no one would want to ride with him, so he started up and revved low for just a little, kicking off the stand and rolling over next to the car a bit. The driver, a stern-faced lapine in neatly pressed clothes, looked at him with moderate interest and then nodded back to Richard, seemingly unfettered by the smell, even though his nostrils were pinched.

[Tezkat]

The black fox adjusted his suit jacket and ran his fingers through his spiky, violet-tipped hair (didn't it used to be blond?) as he waited politely for everyone to enter the cab. When it became apparent that the leopardess preferred to be last, he stepped inside and made himself comfortable. He pulled his mirror shades up to rest on his forehead.

He raised an eyebrow when Richard gave the driver directions. A subtle illusionary effect muffled sound on its way to the front of the cab. The rabbit looked like a respectable sort, but Edge saw no reason to involve the driver in their conversation.

"I know you guys don't trust me, but I don't think it's a very good idea to waltz up to the front door. The cloaks and swords aren't exactly helping an effort to remain inconspicuous. If this setup really is a trap, then all the muscle in the place will have your descriptions anyway." He looked pensive for a moment. "In fact, one of them might be willing to reveal their standing orders regarding this group if we ask nicely."

The gleam in his eye hinted at what he might think asking nicely constituted.

[Stygian]

Stygian didn't roll his eyes where he sat on his slowly purring motorcycle, but very nearly. It wasn't that Edge's observation was incorrect. But it seemed that he was very much into saying the more obvious things, rather than trying to search for those that weren't.
   "Unless you've been paying attention, they either will be expecting us but won't do anything before they're sure they have us, or they will not expect anything, since the head man hasn't told them anything specific. They want us there, thus they will let us think that we can enter. The trick is to think two steps ahead of that. Now..." he said, looked at the fox meaningfully, and rolled over a bit closer to the door. "You should know by now that I and several of us others are hardly easy to detect. You should also know that you should not be questioning these things, because we know what we are doing. Wait and see, and before that, I suggest you just watch." That might have been sharper than intended, but he really did want the cubi to shut up and stop acting like he knew best all the time.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Seeing that everyone except Gareeku was seated in the vehicle Mel slid into her side and closed that door.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog sat down in the vehicle next to Richard, his sword out of his belt and resting beside him, the bottom next to his feet. He cracked his neck and coughed a second, before realizing he couldn't smell the vomit in the car anymore. Mostly because the smell of formaldehyde was overpowering his sense of smell. He regarded the undead sitting beside him, and shrugged. Better than rot, he supposed.
He flipped one of the vents to blow over his face, and leaned back into the chair. He peered at the undead from the corner of his eye. "So, I hear you're not going to be joining us. A pity. I saw you with that cold magic back there. Still. You want to die, it's your business." he said, looking idly outside the tinted windows. "You're kinda giving us the shaft, though. We're stronger together. And probably the shaft of anyone you know. It's not like they don't know who you are, already. Or won't find out. Still."
He settled back into his seat. "Your business, of course. I understand completely why exiting might be an...enticing option.' he said, his stare drifting over to a certain Bat revving a motorcycle. "Anything The Stygian is involved in is usually worse than it seems..."

[Stygian]

Making a throaty growl and exhaling sharply, Stygian finally made that roll with his eyes and put his face to his palm for a second, clearly expressing his opinion of Cogidubnus' reiteration. He rapped the front window of the car and signed for the driver to go, and then quickly turned away before anyone else could say anything. Then, with a growl from his bike that sounded as irritated as he, he spun off, skidding and drawing a long line of black in the gravel before the snarling machine made its way down the road and out of sight quickly. The lapine driver looked after him with something between confusion and disapproval.

[Gareeku]

Saying nothing, Gareeku followed the others outside, waiting until the others climbed into the taxi before reluctantly getting in himself.

[Stygian]

Finally, as Gareeku lastly made his way into the back of the cab, the bunny looked back to Mel for a second, and then slipped into first gear, rolling off in the bike's trail.
   About five minutes passed as they went down the road, before a white and black car passed them, and the driver slowly brought to a halt. Up ahead one other vehicle was blocking the road, two tall and brusque-looking men who in their dark uniforms could not be anything save police officers standing beside it. One of them waved them in, while the other dropped a cigarette to the ground and adjusted his blue jacket's pinned lapels, leaning against the car, his hand lazily at his side where he most probably had one or two weapons. Of Stygian and his bike, nothing could be seen.

[Boog]

Richard scoffed at Cog's assessment of the situation, "I already died; wanting to has nothing to do with it. Everything I did back there was pure dumb luck; I'm a musician, not an adventurer. And best of all, I'm not involved in anything Styggy's up to nor have I ever been involved in anything similar. What're they gonna do, track some random undead they may have caught a glimpse of in that pandamonium by his band's crappy reviews?" He gave a short, cynical laugh, "You lot are more than able to take care of yourselves. I'm not cut out for this."
Then the car ride came to a halt.
"Eh? What gives?" Richard peered out the window at the two cops.

[Stygian]

The first of the two, the shorter but also half again the broader, and not fat, rapped the cab's window with a knuckle. The back window. The second, a solid-faced German Shepherd, eyed the chauffeur boorishly, still leaning on the car and yet somehow making it very clear they wouldn't get past without his approval.
   "May I please ask you to step out of the vehicle?" said the lynx, more a directive than a question. "We received a call about some disturbance at the tavern."