Fox at Play

[DanteMGalileo]

"Can you let me go? I've got a date with Flint, y'know?" Obsidian said, making big puppy-dog eyes.

"You can let her go. She's unable to do much in this form. I doubt she'll be able to transform back. I'll make sure of it..." Percy replies, trying desperately to find something to keep his eyes off the fox woman. Oh, hey, that can's suddenly interesting.

"Yeah! Pelts can't use magic or nothing! Also, um, I think I might be getting flashbacks..." The man chimed in, still shaking but slowly getting to his feet. "T-That woman with a gun might be around here, too, and she seemed mighty eager to shoot something..."

"Just let her go so we can leave. I don't want to deal with an angry Flint nor a trigger-happy Val... I'll explain later."

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Eh, might as well," Tri offered in agreement. "Wouldn't be much fun tossing around a scrawny little girl when she doesn't have the power to match ya."

Unseen from within the shadows, Kelsey shot Tri a deadpan glare.

"Oh, cheer up, will ya? You'll get your chance soon enough."

Kelsey rolled her eyes. She didn't like the sound of that, but she saw no point in arguing. "Fine." Then, with a wave of her hand, the shadows entangling Obsidian dispersed.

Paul let out a stiff exhale, his feelings matching Kelsey's almost to a tee. He looked down at Ranuen as the swordsman shrunk down to his default height, smirking slightly if only for a sense of relief. "Been a pretty exhausting night, hasn't it?"

Then he stood back up and turned to the man, tilting his head at him in curiosity. "Sorry about all that trouble, sir. How're you holding up?"

[ColArana]

Ranuen grinned back at Paul. "Everything's relative." He then addressed the other man-- the one that had been attacked. "So hang on. What's this about a woman with a gun?" He hadn't seen anything like that when he'd come around the corner.... Percy, as usual, seemed to know more about what was going on than he was saying, and Ranuen shot him a look. "Sounds like a plan. Does this have anything to do with recent events, like crazy crowbar? Or is this a completely unrelated coincidence." Ranuen didn't exactly count on coincidences here anymore. Especially not when Lark had been the one that had caused them all to end up here. Something was up, for sure.

[DanteMGalileo]

The fox woman gave a weird sound upon being released from Kelsey's shadow tendrils, before getting up and leaving. On her way out, however, she pointed a finger at Percy. "I'd watch your back, buddy. You smell funny."

When Obsidian left, Percy mumbled something to himself. What was that all about? Oh, right, Raunen had a question. "... Val is one of 'crazy crowbar's' henchmen, and easily the more dangerous of the two. Her brother can transform into a dragon, yes, but she's the brains of the operation... I hate to say it, but she's pretty much a criminal mastermind."

"Oh... That was her name? That's funny... Um, my name is Mallory George. Please don't call me Mal though. I don't think of myself as the bad guy. Just..." The attacked man paused, thinking of a word. "Just a really unlucky dude."

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Nice to meet you, Mallory..." Paul murmured, politely yet warily. "I'm Paul. Glad to see you're... on your feet, at least."

Following Obsidian's disappearance, Kelsey let out a frustrated sigh as she stepped out of the shadows, her eyes dimming from ice blue to their natural cerulean. She came to a halt next to Paul, slumping slightly and rubbing her head with exhaustion. "So to repeat my earlier question, what was fox girl's deal?"

"And should we be concerned about these people's presence?" Paul nervously asked. "I mean, I'm still a pretty concerned about that Seeker guy and what his beef with Lark might lead to..."

Though he didn't say it out loud, something else that Percy had mentioned was making Paul nervous. This Val character certainly sounded dangerous, he wouldn't deny that, but... her brother could turn into a dragon...?

[ColArana]

Ranuen, like the rest of the group, did nothing to impede Obsidian's escape, but he did take note of the warning about Percy. He didn't ask anything about it, as he figured Percy would be evasive or ignorant as to what she meant. But still.... when the supernatural fox monster tells someone they smell funny, that's probably a warning to take note of. But for the moment the danger was passed and he was able to relax his guard. Anyways, Percy was giving some intel. Naturally, it seemed Ranuen's gut instinct was correct. There was at least a connection to the events they'd found themselves embroiled in. So, she worked with old whitey. "I see...." He answered as he considered-- his thoughts interrupted by the attacked man's introduction.

"Why? Does that name mean anything to you?" Ranuen asked innocently, in response to Mr. Mallory's reaction to the woman's name. And though he could clearly understand someone being unlucky, his introduction on the other hand.... "You know, normally people who aren't bad guys don't generally feel the need to tell people they're not a bad guy." He noted, critically, checking Mallory. Not that he expected much from the wounded man. But then he remembered.

"This Val... her brother can turn into a dragon!?" Ranuen's eyes were basically stars of joy. "That sounds awesome." He was giddy at the thought. There were certain beings that could do that in Ranuen's home world but he'd never had the fortune of fighting one of those so-called "Dragon Slayers". "And anyways, Paul's right. I think we've gotten into something... Might be a good idea to start trying to figure out what to do about that." But mostly just to meet and fight a guy that can turn into a dragon.

[DanteMGalileo]

"Obsidian's... deal is that her clan, the fox clan, are notorious maneaters. Literally. She's pretty close to Flint, so you could call her one of Seeker's allies. Yeah, a fox and a dragon in addition to a gunwoman. There's a reason I don't like the prospect of encountering him alone..." Percy said, wincing at the thought. "Although this doesn't explain why she was attacking... Mallory. Of course, I'm not ruling out the prospect of him just being a random victim."

"I was just the guy they sent through an experimental portal. I drew the short straw and I owed everyone at least fifty silver shillings on lunch breaks..." Mallory admitted, looking down. "I didn't ASK to get mauled by a giant fox, y'know."

"I doubt anyone wants to get eaten by a giant fox. Although, from what you've said, it's possible Val might be nearby... Let's see if we can't get her while we've got strength in numbers. Even her cunning can't handle all of us, including several undocumented, at once." As Percy turned to go further into the shady alleyways, he was interuptted when a tall, blue-clad figure crashed into him, back first, from the way he was supposed to go. "Ow! What gives, Will?"

"Ah! Perce! You got everyone back! I didn't expect to find you here, though." The taller one adjusted his now-askew glasses.

"... Dumb question, but what were you doing back there?"

"I was looking for Val. She bought some items and food and managed to give me the slip! But my expert tracking skills lead me here!"

"... And? Did you find any signs of your crush?" Percy added in a teasing tone.

"I do NOT have a crush on Val, sheesh! I just find her highly attractive, and I admire her ability to outwit even me at every turn! ... But no. I haven't seen hide nor hair of her."

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Oh, deep joy..." Kelsey muttered, massaging her temples more forcefully as if she was trying to push all of the frustrations out of her head. "So Seeker has criminals, dragons and man-eating kitsunes on their side. I am now fully convinced of this scenario's insanity, not helped by the fact that the man Seeker's after doesn't seem to be anymore mentally stable from what I've gathered."

Paul just shrugged, still struggling to absorb all the information he had received in just one night. He looked to Percy, then Mallory, then down at Ranuen, then cast an awkward frown at Kelsey. "Personally, I don't know how to feel about this shapeshifting dragon guy. Alliances aside... I don't think I wanna cross paths with him in particular."

"Really?" Kelsey questioned much more coolly. "I would've figured you'd be intrigued by another person with dragon attributes."

"This is different. Kinda. At least it feels different..."

Paul then turned to Percy again as the latter started walking down the alleyway. "Hey, listen, that's a nice idea and all and I'm happy to lend a hand, but I don't really know how useful I would be in a fi-"

Then Percy's friend showed up, at which point Paul opted to drop out of the conversation and leave the two be. He looked at Kelsey again, who shot him a shrug and a nervous grimace in return, neither of them completely certain what to say to the other.

[ColArana]

Ranuen simply grinned at Percy's misgivings. "Nah, now it sounds like a proper adventure!" He replied. Another person had arrived. Someone else Percy seemed to know-- he really seemed to be a hub of attention. Not that Ranuen minded. It made things a lot easier, and learning more about their situation quicker and cleaner. "Another friend of yours, Percy?" Hearing Paul express misgivings, he glanced back. "I mean, if you want to back out, I don't think anyone would stop you. But.... It's useful to have people around. You don't know what you're capable of until you're in a real bind." He replied. "You never know, you could be the factor that shifts the scales in our favor sometime soon. I'm glad to have you around, at least." He mentioned, before focusing back on the conversation.

So the new guy was looking for Val as well. "How recently was Val here then?" Ranuen glanced at Mallory. "You said she was here when you arrived, and judging by the giant fox attacking you, that can't have been too long before we got here, right?" Something suddenly hit Ranuen. "....Hey, Percy? New glasses guy? Does Val have any abilities you know of besides being good with a gun?"

[DanteMGalileo]

At Raunen's comment, Percy and William both shivered at the thought. "No. Val has no powers besides being able to outwit us nine times out of ten and being good with a gun. She doesn't need any kind of superpower to be a pain in our asses."

William seemed to be thinking of something only marginally related to his friend's statement. "Although, I wouldn't consider her a pain in my ass... Just annoyingly attractive and, y'know, an outlaw."

Percy rolled his eyes, and Mallory seemed to blush a bit, pulling his hood over his face. "You're not fooling anyone except yourself, Will."

"Um... Can we get out of here before the fox lady changes her mind or crazy gunner decides she wants to shoot me after all?"

"Yeah, I agree with the new guy. Let's find somewhere where we can discuss our findings in peace..." Percy turned towards Kelsey, Paul, and Raunen. "Do any of you know of such a place?"

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Um..." Kelsey awkwardly scratched her cheek, avoiding eye contact with just about everyone. "I'm... still kinda new to this island, so I don't really know its ins and outs."

"For the sake of inconspicuousness, I'm willing to open up my hotel room," Paul somewhat hastily offered.

Kelsey blinked a few times, facing him with a look of uncertainty. "Whoa, Paul, are you sure about that?"

"I don't see why not..." Paul shrugged. "It's the least I can offer. Besides, if I'm gonna be waist-deep in this lunacy, I feel like Kenny deserves to be brought up to speed somehow for when and if this all comes back to bite me in the tail."

[ColArana]

Ranuen glanced over Mal again. "....Fair enough then. Geeze, you really are unlucky." He admitted. He'd briefly wondered if the convenience of Mal's appearance spoke to shapeshifting abilities on this "Val's" part, but it seemed he was mistaken. Onto the next subject he supposed, which appeared to be finding a place to hunker down and plan. Sadly, Ranuen had nowhere to offer. He had no work (he was a wee bit difficult to employ-- nobody wanted an employee that could only work for an approximate hour at a time), so no money for a place. So he'd settled for simply hiding out anywhere he could find shelter. And while a good sized crack in a wall was fine for him, something told him that he was the only one here that would actually fit into something like that.

Fortunately, Paul offered up his place as their base of operations and Ranuen nodded. "That sounds as good as any. Any objections then?" He asked.