Twokinds ARCHIVE Forums

Rane pulled his hood over his head as he walked into the tavern of his latest stop. With the huge price on his head, he needed to be inconspicuous. He walked up to the barkeep and waved his hand. He wore black leather gloves so no one could see his mechanical parts.

"What'll yah have?"
"Something strong. You have black acid?"
"Yeah."

The bartender pulled a dark colored bottle from the shelves and set it on the bar. He pulled a shot glass out and handed it to Rane.

"Thanks."

Rane took the two and walked to the corner and poured himself a shot. He would look at the door every so often. But mostly his attention was on the small picture of him and his family he had in his hand.

a large full length mirror by the bar suddenly started to glow, then crackle. the mirror, instead of reflecting the dim tavern suddenly showed a quiet place that is tranquil. rows upon rows of other full length mirrors dotted the rolling hills and meadows in the image. suddenly an anthro tiger flew out of the mirror and landed with a thud. he got up and dusted himself off. he gave a friendly grin and said, "Hello there." the mirror behind him dimmed and became normal. some of the residents of the bar stared at him in shock while others just continued to gamble and drink. Kage walked over casually to the bar and asked for a schooner of water. when he paid with a small lump of gold, he walked over to Rane and sat accross from him, for there were no other tables around.

"hey there, "Kage said with a grin, what brings a ... ummmm..... person* such as yerself to this place?"

((* Kage doesnt see Rane's face or body. just the cloak and clothing.))

Approx. five minutes earlier- before Rane appeared on the scene
Well, that was easy enough, Tribonius thought. He had drugged the bartender out, and Tribonius had decided to take the shift. The bar had just moved in, so it was perfect. And the booze would sell for a lot more out of borders- maybe even over seas- Ah, wishful thinking, Tribonius thought.

Tribonius quickly threw on the man's garbs, then sprinted outside to the bar.

He'd normally get only pickpockets here, but now things were getting a little more lucritive. Especially at closing hours.

The orders mostly came from only a few drunks. A first new customer came in- hooded and cloaked. Trib could see through that like a window, but played along.

"What'll yah have?" Trib said in a bit of a too strong accent. Luckily, the patron didn't notice.
"Something strong. You have black acid?" He asked.
"Yeah," Trib fibbed. He hoped it was a local thing, and fairly common.

Trib ran his fingers through the bottles, keeping them well hidden. Luckily, he managed to land on the bottle before anyone could notice. He pulled a shotglass down along with it, throwing it to the customer. Then he looked around carefully. Maybe I can get some extra coin from him for this, he thought.



"Why do these things always, always, happen to me?" Trib mumbled with a whine. He'd seen some pretty funky stuff before in his years as a con artist, and that would definately rank as #2. #1...ahh, I'm not going to articulate on that now, Trib thought. Some things were better left forgotten.

The patron had asked for a schooner of water, and Trib was quick to reply. The clink in his pockets was more than necessary, with the current circumstances. New town, new people, need to get money fast.
But then he took a second to realize what he was staring at.
"Oh. My. God."
The...whatever it was shot him a sharp gaze, then returned to its drink.

Just keep quiet, Tribonius thought, and hopefully it won't eat me.

Rane poured himself a glass of the drink and slugged it. He blinked for a moment and stared at the bottle. He shrugged his shoulders and poured himself another glass.

Right as he did the mirror to his right next to the wall shifted to what seemed a landscape of some kind. Rane didn't even flinch as a tiger leapt through it and landed in a heap on the floor. Rane watched it get up, brush itself off and grab a drink.

It came over and sat at Rane's table and drank what looked like water.

"That's a nice trick." Rane said under his breath.
"Hey there." The newcomer said with a smile. "What brings a... ummm... person such as yourself to this place?"
"Alcohol. That and i'm simply passing through. Name's Rane."

Trib decided to keep a close eye on the Anthro, thinking over and over again that the bartender had hit him on the head and he was unconscious in the back of a guard carraige, going to jail for life.

A sudden shattering sound jarred his trance, coming from the backroom. He checked carefully around the door- The bartender had woken up fully, and had a broken gin bottle in his hand.

Trib didn't have time to consolodate- he tumbled over the counter, dodging a thrown object, and managed to knock a gentleman in a hood over, who, when they were both on the floor, grabbed him by the ankle. He seemed to have odd, reptilian eyes, black streaks across his cheeks, and the strangest hair color Tribonius had ever seen. He only caught a glimpse before the stranger pulled the cloak over his head.

Trib struggled to break free, but the stranger had a grip of steel. Literally.

He managed to feel a piece of paper hit his hand as it fluttered from the air. He grabbed it instinctively, tucking it into his sleeve.

The bartender trod up to him, a six-foot-long bludgeon in his hand.
"You've got a lot to answer for. I'll let the local security deal with you. You'll be on the gallows before day after 'morrow, I wot."
The bartender turned to the stranger. "Well done there, stranger."
"No problem, none at all..."
"Hey, have a drink, on the house, whaddaya ya say?"
"I'll vouch for that!"
"He is scamming you," Trib said. The stranger looked at him, puzzled.
"There's a sugar extract in those drinks. Makes it more addictive, keeps people coming. Of course, you'll find that in almost every tavern, good for business. It's illegal, of course, but you'll be hard pressed to find a bar that doesn't do it nowadays-"
The business end of a bludgeon coming to his face was all that Trib could recall.

Trib woke up in a cell. The trial was going to be tomorrow, and he knew pleading innocent wasn't going to help him much.
"Gah, this is my first slip-up in, what, five years? Anyways, what's this?" He said to himself, looking at the paper he had lifted. It seemed to be a small family picture, well drawn for its size.

"Maybe someone'll come looking for this...ah, what am I thinking?" He said, throwing the picture on the ground.

"If there is a god, somewhere, please, please help me...I'll go to a monestary and I'll shave my head and I'll-"
He stopped as he heard footsteps coming from the far end of the hall.
"Hold that thought..." he mumbled.

Kage found the door to the con artist and said. "Yer free to go human i paid off your bail... just dont do somthing like that again." with that, he pulled out a ring of keys and unlocked teh door then waited for Trib to make his appearance.

"Well...I must say, that was...unexpected. I guess I owe you one. So! I tell you what. I'll do whatever I need to do to pay the bail off. After all, I think I may have the funds...right...oh dear..."
His pack had been confiscated- and he had left his coin in there. And, worse than ever, the anthropomorphic before him already had its arms crossed, with a slight nod and grin confirming his worst of fears.
"I'm going to regret saying that, aren't I?" He whimpered.

Before the tender woke up.

"He doesn't even know I've been following him!!" Katrina whispered to herself. She had been sitting at the end of the bar with a hooded cloak on watching Trib since he'd arrived. "That damn stupid theif!" She'd been following him for days waiting for him to screw up.....and this was her chance at the reward!

Just as she started to rise, the excitement building within her, a man in a cloak walked up to the bar and spoke to him. Damn, I can't do it with people watching! she thought and sat back down. The man took his drink and sat down.

Just as she started to rise again the mirror started doing weird things. "What in the hell!" she yelled at the tiger anthro came out. She looked around to make sure nobody was looking at her because of her outcry. "Old girl....you should be used to this stuff by now...."

After everything calmed down she decided it was now or never, she got up and started towards Trib. Just then there was a shattering of glass in the backroom. "Ah, hell!" she whispered harshly to herself, "The tenders going to ruin it!"

Sure enough the tender came out. She watched the struggle and watched the stranger in the cloak get entangled on accident. She saw Trib grab the paper that came out of the strangers cloak, nobody else saw it, but she did. She smiled to herself. This could work to my advantage, she thought and went back to an empty table. I'll just watch for now, when the time is right, I'll tell him."

" well maybe not depending on what you think is fun. the only reason why i came to this world is to search for an ancient magical device that can restore souls to a body or make a body for the trapped soul to enter. i need you to gather information and travel with me as a scout and able companion." You think your up for the job? i can pay you to come with me to pay off your debt and for your own keeping coin.

Kage proceeded to opening the door and said, "by the way, you can call me Kage. as for my sword. if you lay one finger on it......" he left the rest unsaid.

Rane walked into the jailhouse and up to the receptionist.

"Can i help you?"
"I'm looking for a supected con artist. Is he here?"
"His bail was paid. He left a few minutes ago."
"Did he by chance have a slip of paper with him? A picture?"
"It must have been in his pack. We confiscated it."
"Where is it?"
"That would be evidence in case we have more trouble with him."

Rane lifted a hand and a sliver of dark mist-like energy shot out and into the receptionist's eyes.

"Let's try that again. Where is his pack?"
"Down that hall. Second door on the right. Here's the key."
"I don't need it."

Rane walked to the room, popped a small blade from his finger and picked the lock on the door. It was full of articles of all shapes and sizes. Rane sniffed the air, knocked a large box over and pulled the pack from the inside. He quickly closed the door and walked out. Once he got onto the streets he ducked into an alley and opened the pack.

He pulled a large sack of coins out. Along with that he found a large amount of empty wallets and other stolen goods.

"Con artist. Pickpocket. Bartender. He obviously knows how to get around in the world."

Rane didn't find his picture and sighed.

"Great. Now what am i gonna do? First i lose my drink. Now i lost my map. What else could go wrong?"

Rane looked up and his eyes immediately shot to two figures walking down the road. One was the bartender from before.

"Bingo. Better take this with me."

Rane shouldered the pack and moved to follow the two down the road. Making sure to stay out of sight just in case they looked back.

Trib brightened for a bit, readily accepting- he began to spy the sword on the gentleman's hip...



"Oh, of course! No sword, no sword for me, no, nope, no-"
Kage raised an eyebrow.
"Eh...Got it. No sword stealing, scout thing, pay off debt."

Kage gave a mild smirk and a nod, turning his back again.

Okay, he thought, maybe I can get away come night time. By the stars, I might even make off with this crystal he's talking about...could make quite the fortune.
Tribonius made a note to check about any nobles that had lost close relatives recently.

Kage and the con artist traveled from the city into the surrounding flatlands and the first night came. When Kage and the con artist approached an idea camping place, hidden from view from all around, he pulled out his sword and pointed it in the area, which is inf act a depressoin in the ground and said, "wind," a the sword glowed an eerie grey color and a large blast of wind blew dead vegetation and smaller objects from the area. after the travelers ate for the night Kage went to sleep. before sleeping he thrusted his sword deep into earth . without saying anything he casted a powerful wind barrier around camp. keeping things in and out. the sword was glowing again as a small light after the fire was put out and as the channel for the wind spell.

heh. if that theif tries to get away or even touch the sword, the family enchantments should give him a shock. i just hope he doesnt hurt himself.

Alright. Quick recap, Tribonius thought.

Got captured by some kind of tiger thing. Check.
Made my first slip-up in five years. Check.
Saw a demon. Check.
Have some random photograph as my only thing gained out of this- he had been smart enough to pick it up from the cell floor- Check.

Tribonius sighed. The cities orbit would go around the entire province, and as far as Trib knew, he might not be able to show his days for fortnights.

He was more desperate now than ever before. It was like something nearly -he searched for a word- savage had woken inside of him, like an animal trapped in a corner.

And now, he was willing to try anything to get out of here. He knew it- he had gone mad. He wondered how many mad people actually knew they were mad. Certainly not too many. They thought the world around them went mad.

But then, Trib thought, hasn't it? He eyed the sword. There it was, so serene, as if it was calling him, telling him to take it by the hilt and kill the predator before he became the prey.

He was about to grab it- but another instinct, beyond that of a normal human, forged from countless key decisions, called out to him- wait, it said, something's not right.

Trib recoiled his hand. He realized how far he had strayed. He had almost gone from the civilized thief to a murderer.

I need some kind of weaponry, he thought. I just know I do. Or else I'm just a dog on a leash.

patience, he consulted with himself, patience, and you might make it through alive.

Kathrine watched Kage and Trib leave town together. I'll follow, she thought to herself. When the tiger falls asleep I'll take him as swiftly and quietly as possible, and if the theif wakes the tiger with his yells of protest I'll just tell the tiger I was walking past and he attacked me. That should save me, if not.....well, we are not so different, the tiger and I, maybe he will show mercy on me.....

She followed, staying a safe distance away. She saw the stranger in the cloak from the bar following as well. Damn, company. Let's just hope he stays out of my way....although, he could prove useful.

They stopped for the night. Soon! she thought, soon I will have my reward!.....but that's not what really matters now is it...... She shook the thought away. Stay focused Kat....

She watched Kage clear away the brush. And she watched in dismay as he created a sheild around the camp site. Damn! Now what will I do? she thought. She jumped up into a nearby tree. I suppose I'll stay here for the night. I just hope they don't catch me sleeping here.....

Rane scrambled up the tree he was climbing and leapt to the next one. His sharp claws dug deep into the bark. He sniffed the wind again and his eyes narrowed.

"The scent is gone. I sense elemental magic. Can't go too close. Just near enough for them to know somethings out here."

Rane jumped from the highest point of the tall tree and hit the gorund in a three-point stance. The soft soil had easily yielded to his limbs, leaving deep prints in the grass.

He pulled his cloak off and twirled it around him. It evaporated into mist around him and was absorbed into his now visble armor plating. He stared up at the moons and smiled. But he had better things to do than bask in the moonlight. He walked casually over a hill and saw a small camp.

"Wind barrier. Too concentrated to break through without tiring myself out more than i need to."

Rane slid down the side of the hill and stopped at the bottom. He pulled the pack he had taken earlier off his back and opened it.

"Most of this seems to be loot. What is he, a con or an outright thief?"

Rane pulled a small piece of paper out and looked at it. It didn't have any writing on it.

"This had better work."

Rane popped one of his claw-blades out and nicked the side of his face with it. He looked at the blade for a moment before scratching a few words into the stationary.

>You have what's mine. I have what's yours. We can solve this problem very easily.<

He folded the paper up and pulled a dagger from his belt. He stuck the paper into the ground with the dagger and leapt into a tree. He hung his legs over one branch while he rested his back on another. He wave his hand and his cloak reappeared. He floded it up and laid his head on it.

I just have to wait. I can't go any further without the map. I hate waiting.