Afternoon commotion

[Street]

The sun was out and beaming warmly on the clay shingled roof where Street was laying shirtless with his arms under his head, watching all the people going about their business at the markets. The roof was only two floors above the cobbled town square and was one that formed the perimeter of the markets. It was late afternoon and Savage was enjoying the warmth as he looked around and thought of what to do for the evening's entertainment. He had a couple coins in his pouch from winning a fight the last night; enough for a warm stew and some mead at the tavern – there was always fun to be had there – he decided perhaps he would go for a drink when twilight set in.

Street began to close his eyes and almost dozed off before he heard some notable commotion from the near side of the market. Looking down, he quickly saw there was a stir around one of the smaller tent shops and he knew it well; Mr. Todd sold Street any of the wares he needed – like his razor and cloths - at very good rates. Street swiftly hopped onto his feet and got moving in closer to get a better look.

By the time he had hopped down onto the lower roof beside the one he had been laying on and ran to the far edge of it, Street saw a couple young men trying to scurry away from the shop as Mr. Todd shouted after them. He had been robbed it seemed, and no one in the crowd was doing much about it. Street leapt off the roof and rolled onto his feet along side the wall, hitting the ground running in their direction. Street slowed his pace to a casual walk as he approached the robbers who were moving in his direction. Keeping an eye on the men - Mr. Todd scrambling after them - Street lined himself up with the most forward of the robbers and hastened to a bolder stride, raised his gait and collided with him.

The robber recoiled and fell backwards to the cobbled ground, dropping a sack beside him. Street leaned over the other man, holding one arm out and pushed the man against the ground while picking up the sack with his other hand and tossing it through the crowd to Mr Todd. By the time Street went to stand up, the other robber stopped startled a pace away from him and shoved Street before he was upright. Street fell back a couple paces and bumped into a woman in the crowd. He moved forward again quickly and shoved the robber back, and into another man in the crowd. This second robber seemed to also have a sac in his hand, so Street stepped towards him again; Mr. Todd wasn't some wealthy man who could afford to lose a sac of wares – that could easily cost the old man food for his family.

Before Savage could reach the second burglar, the first had gotten up and dove to tackle him. The two fell through the crowd and hit the cobbled ground – Savage first, breaking the other's fall. Savage rolled backwards and threw the man off, thrusting upwards with his legs. He continued the back roll and landed standing on the stone ground, his back to the fallen robber and saw the other pushing through the crowd that had opened around the scene. Street took off after him, though it was hard to tell anymore where exactly the man was in the crowd.

The crowd was thick, so Street leapt over merchant tables like hurdles in the direction he'd seen the man run. Nearer the centre of the square, the crowd thinned and Street jumped over the water and scaled the fountain for a quick view; it took a mere moment to see the man running south by Main street and Savage was through the air off the fountain in pursuit again. The crowd was thinner there and Street was able to really run, keeping the robber in his sights and quickly gaining on him. Out of the square, the buildings were closer together, leaving Street with a more versatile terrain. It wasn't far along the road that Street could tell the man was eyeing a turn into the nearest alley to the right, behind a patio diner. Street moved closer to the right, ran up the nearest patio table and leapt from one to the other before hoisting himself feet over fist onto the low roof at the corner. With two feet landing on the roof of the cellar entrance, Savage thrust himself off and tackled the fleeing man as he made the corner into the alley, slamming him face first into the concrete alley wall. Street landed on his feet, kneeled over the fallen robber and began to throw fist after fist into the man's face. The sac of wares lay on the ground beside them, and it wasn't long before a pair of guards were over them.

The guards drew their swords and one commanded “Halt now!” Savage stood without hesitation picking up the sac as he did, though the other man was in no position to do so. Often enough, Street would run from guards as his walk in life wasn't very favoured by the law, but this time he hadn't any reason to flee. “Hand that over.” one guard demanded, eyeing the sac while holding his sword at Street and moving around to corner him. Street handed the sac over and the guard took it quickly, still holding his sword at him. “You're under arrest,” the guard proclaimed, “both of you.”

“What?” Street exclaimed in surprise, “I just caught this crook – I did your damn job for you – you should be paying me for this.”

“Likely story, street rat.” The guard responded snidely, “We know your kind – always skulking about, stealing what you want and fighting amongst yourselves. You're nothing but filth; riff raff – you're coming with us – if for nothing else than beating this guy senseless; we'll have to bring the surgeon in to the dungeon to patch him up.”

For the first time in his life, Savage Street had nowhere to run. Go figure it would be his own fault for not running when he had the chance; he could have been down the alley and over the walls before those guards caught him. He should have known no good deed goes unpunished.

[Kaye]

Kaye was just explaining to the man behind the counter at her fathers shop that he needed to be more polite to the customers and how it was that her father would hear of his mannerisms. She was a firm believer in making their customers happy because happy customers tend to come back. There was commotion outside on the street, somewhere near the line of tents and so, giving the other man a stern look, she turned on her heal and walked outside to see what was going on.

The light outside was bright, the sun warm on her face was pleasant but it took her a few moments to adjust her vision from the inside of the shop to the light of the sunny day out here. Once her eyes adjusted, she witnessed two men running away from the tent belonging to one of the, less than profitable, merchants in the square. Regardless of the fact that she had to adjust her eyes to the light, she still got a good look at the both of them as they ran directly toward her before taking a turn and headed down the street next to her dads' shop. Kaye instantly took off around the corner as to keep an eye on where these guys would go when another guy popped into the fray taking down one of the men and then tossing the stolen sack back to the nice vender before she found herself being knocked on her ass by something solid and then realized it was the third man that was obviously helping to reclaim the stolen goods for the poor merchant. Mr. Todd she believed was his name.

Kaye shot back to her feet quickly and watched as the other two men went zipping down the square. There was no possible way she would have ever been able to catch up to them but she still took up a chase.

”Man that guy can move...” She thought as she watched the third guy jump off the fountain and hit the ground running. She continued to run after the guys and out of the corner of her eye she saw the soldiers coming. ”Crap, that can't be good.” She thought again and picked up her pace, though she hadn't seen him do it, she saw him disappear on the rooftop now and so ran in that direction.

By the time she had reached the alley where they had ended up, the third guy had already beaten the second and handed the sack over to the soldiers who were now in the beginnings of arresting the poor guy for catching the bad guy.

“WAIT..” She exclaimed as she came to a jogging halt just behind the soldiers. “You can't arrest him, he had nothing to do with that robbery.” she began a little out of breath. “I saw the whole thing.” she finished now stepping forward so that the soldiers could get a good look at who she was.

She didn't like to use her family for these things but it certainly didn't hurt in situations like this one. Her family’s wealth and social status put them rubbing elbows with the mayor of the city and were often large contributors to the soldiers fund. So in the end, she was just the person that the third guy would need to get himself out of this mess.

The soldier looked at her and narrowed his gaze in her direction, not recognizing her at first as to her being in such disarray.

“Do you know this street Rat Miss Thorton?” He asked with a raised brow.

“Well, no not really, but what does that matter, he already gave one of the stolen sacks back to Mr. Todd and I am certain that was his plan for the second as well.” She stated as she straightened herself up and stood adjusting her poise so that she took on more of an authority position.

“Just let him go, give me the sack and I will bring it back to Mr. Todd.” She said then, much more confidence in her voice this time, absolutely no hesitation at all.

The soldier looked as though he wanted to ignore her demands but then to her surprise he nodded curtly to the other soldier who had his sword on the third guy. The soldier slowly dropped his stance and then turned his attention to the fallen thief instead.

“Thank You and if you need a statement or anything, you can drop by the house later and I will have one written up for you. Good day.” She stated and then turned her gaze to the third guy and with a quick jerk of her head motioned him to follow her quickly.

She knew these soldiers all too well and she didn't like them anymore than she liked the thief laying on the stone floor of that alley.

[Street]

Street had already relinquished himself to the thought of his first dungeon experience when he realized that someone he didn’t even know was standing up for him. He hadn't expected the girl's defence to be much use for his prejudgement, but somehow it seemed to actually work.

The suspiciously released street rat stood a little perplexed at the guard's lowered sword, unsure how to proceed. He had been watching the girl who seemed by that point to be his liberator, unsure of what influence she was holding over the city guard; he was sure that just any eye witness would not have had the effect she had in his emancipation – surely, given his status with the guards even Mr. Todd would not have been able to free him – Street had heard of others' encounters with the guards.

The girl gave him a signal and he hurried to follow her lead. He had no other plan, so he thought it best to go with hers. Street shuffled past the guards and glanced back to smirk at them as soon as he got a sword's length away. “Good dog.” Street told the guard that released him, then turned forward again to match pace with the girl, and left the two men behind with a suggestive whipping noise.

[Kaye]

She was still reeling over the fact that she had actually gotten away with it. Certainly her family was perhaps the most prominent in the city and all that but those soldiers actually letting this guy go was a miracle in her eyes. ”the jerks She thought to herself as she cringed to the words that came from the third guys mouth just as he followed her quickly away from the soldiers.

After they had gotten out of earshot of the soldiers she stopped and turned to the guy. “Thanks for helping Mr. Todd.” She said to him, giving him a sweet smile.

That smile quickly turned into a scolding look though as she looked him up and down for a moment. “Good dog!” she then stated a bit louder then before. “We were lucky they let you go in the first place and you say Good Dog...” She shook her head and then laughed. “You've got a set, that's for sure.” she shook her head then smiled at him again.

“Name's Kaye, by the way and you're welcome.” She told him as she turned to walk toward the main square again, holding the sack of goods out to him. “Hear you give them back, it was your work that got them back, not mine.” She told him in all honesty. “Wouldn't want to take credit where credit is due or anything” She continued, glancing at him as she waited for him to take the sack again.

[Street]

Street laughed – he couldn't help it. He couldn't help being snide to the guards in the first place and he couldn't help thinking it was fun even after the fact. He got away thanks to her and he wasn't going to pass up rubbing their faces in it. “I could have ran.” he said simply, glancing back at the guards, “and they weren't goin' after you.” he continued looking back at the girl. “I would have gotten away and then gone to find you. Thank you Kaye, I'm Street.”

He looked down and took the sac of wares offered by the girl, “I just know Mr. Todd can't afford to lose any of his stuff.” Street began to explain himself, still looking at the sac of wares all the while. “He's a nice guy – helped me out a bunch – he's got a family to feed you know – he does me solid anyways – he knows I could never afford his wares, so he sells them to me at crazy rates – even trusted me with a tab, even though i can hardly buy bread from the next cart. He's a real good guy.”

Street finally looked up from the sac in his hand. “Really Kaye, thank you.” He smiled at the girl and started to take a step again but didn't. “You did me solid back there – I appreciate it. I was thinkin' about heading over to the Phantom to get a stew and a drink – let me buy you a mead or somethin' after.” Then he took that step and started walking towards Mr. Todd's shop.

[Kaye]

Kaye moved forward as he took the sack from her hands and followed suit with her toward the centre square. She listened as he talked and didn't interrupt him at all. This guy seemed to be very solid in his ways and very confident in his abilities, but from what she saw of him in action today, he had every right to be.

“Ya, well I'm just glad I was able to help. Those soldiers aren't really the most trustworthy men in the first place, that's why I asked to take the goods back myself, I had no reason to think they'd have given them back, would have tried to say something about them being evidence and then by the time they'd be let go, they'd been of no use to the poor guy.” She explained, knowing all too well that was how they handled things around here. “I mean honestly, it's soooo far back to the shops after all don't ya know.” she rolled her eyes and gave a backwards glare before returning her gaze to where they were walking.

She thought about what he was talking about and though she kind of figured this guy wasn't the richest guy in the land, she wouldn't have thought he was that poor. She tried not to let it show that she was taken aback at his situation, but she was all the same. Here he was, probably worse off than those two thieves that had stolen the goods in the first place and he was the one who was there to give back what wasn't theirs. Her entire life had been easy and she knew that, she knew that she was in deed quite spoiled as well, but she wasn't blind to what went on in this city, she did after all spend hours and hours walking the square. There was a lot to this guy and she smiled at his offer for a drink.

“I think that would be great.” She replied to his invite. “But then I get to buy the second round.” She winked and smiled.

[Street]

“Great!” Street responded, happy she accepted his invitation. He glanced up at Kaye walking beside him, “Drinks sounds great.”

He thought a moment on the guards. “I've managed to avoid any run ins with the guards my whole life, until today.” He shook his head a little at the thought. “I've heard plenty of stories from other Rats and know to stay away from them. I guess I just figured I didn't have to worry if I didn't do shit... Is breaking face a crime?” Street started to wonder if he had broken the law when he scrambled that crook's head and pounded his face.

Kaye's sarcasm had been sharp – they were already near Mr. Todd's shop again.

[Kaye]

Kaye sighed. “Not all of the soldiers are jerks, mostly its just the ones who patrol the streets.” she started in a more serious tone this time. “The ones you see on the walls and at the gate, well, they're real guards, real soldiers of the Karadonian army and for the most part... they are true to their profession and don't really judge people. Some of those guys, and girls, have come from the street.” She went on to explain, she wasn't sure if he'd had any time talking to any of them after his statement of avoiding soldiers. “These guys on the streets though...” She rolled her eyes again. “They just apply for the position from whatever station they come from and its more often than not guys who hold a minor station in life, who's parents are rich and their son's are jerks who don't seem to want to do anything else, but a buddy of theirs joins the force and so they follow suit...” She huffed a slight bit. “Disgusting really, I mean I do love Mr. Faldor and all, but sometimes I think his ear is filled with too many lies for him to distinguish between truth and lies.” She finished and then shook her head and took a deep breath to calm herself; she tended to get a bit passionate on the subject sometimes.

She really did love the Mayor and her referring to him as Mr. Instead of Mayor showed that she did spend time with him, a lot of time perhaps. She grew up with the man bouncing her on his knee and he was her godfather after all.

Suddenly she came to an abrupt halt. “Oh NO!” She exclaimed. “I left Bruce tied up outside the shop...” She looked at Street and then over to where you could catch a glimpse of a sleeping lump, a very big, sleeping lump just across the street outside the Biggest shop building in the square.

“I'm going to go retrieve him and bring him home and then I will meet you at the Phantom in an hour or so, cool?” She stated and asked, a warm smile gracing her features once again.

She was excited for a new drinking partner today and her eyes showed it as they sparkled with mirth when she talked about later, though she didn't usually get started this early she figured after what went down, they deserved it though. She was also going to have to get out of her shop clothes before she went out anyway, get into a looser fitting garb or something of that nature.

Kaye turned to leave as her hand instinctively moved to touch his shoulder in parting as though he was just another friend she should be comfortable with.

[Street]

Street was startled by Kaye's sudden concern but quickly relaxed when he realized she just had to go get her dog. “Cool,” he responded simply to her parting words, “I'll see you there.”

Still wondering if beating someone up was a crime, Street strolled the rest of the way back to Mr. Todd's shop to bring him back his wares. By the time he got there, Mr Todd was busy talking with a pair of guards – given his account of the events it seemed. The friendly merchant saw Street coming, but knew he wouldn't want to talk to the guards and refrained from proclaiming gratitude in front of them.

Smiling back at Mr Todd, Street just tossed the sac of goods onto the table as he walked by his tent, then ducked into a thicker crowd and swiftly made his way to the nearest side street. Just a half block from the square, Street picked up his pace and moved against the right side of the street. With a quick hop, he had his right foot for a moment on the ledge of a window before thrusting upwards and grabbing a balcony floor with both hands. He quickly hoisted himself up, reached up with his left hand to the top of the railing, and hoisted himself up again, placing his feet on the railing. With another quick hop, Street grabbed the edge of the building roof and thrust himself upon it.

Street hadn't gone unnoticed, but he didn't care – he was still on the move and had no reason to hide. There was time yet before he planned to meet Kaye at the Phantom for drinks, but he'd need to put a shirt on to get in; he'd have to pick one up from a nap site before heading over.