Completed Pinched!(Brandon)

[Chari]

 

 

4th Fall 513AV

The red haired Kelvic made her way off the Plaza and into the Azure Market. It was so nice to be out in the large space, open to the sky. She could never get over the idea of having shops outdoors, or having anything outside for that matter. She'd grown up in Wind Reach, spent four years there before coming to Lhavit. Admittedly the market had been held outside in the mountain city for much of the year but it wasn't the same as the market and shops in Lhavit. They were a permanent fixture, no matter the season, and it was nice to have so much space compared to being inside of a mountain.

The city was truly more free than her home city or more ways than just space. Here she wasn't watched warily or used by her fellow citizens because of her Kelvic nature. She could run around freely here without fear of being attacked for chasing birds. It was wonderful and she still wasn't used to it despite living in the city for the past two years.

Today she was just going to have a nice outing. She'd wander round the shops for awhile, maybe buy herself some new clothes or dine out and perhaps go out for a run later, just to make the day complete. Chari had nothing to worry about today, nothing at all and she had plenty of money to burn, coins jingling in her purse hanging at her hip. It was clear to see but she wasn't afraid of being robbed or anything, this was Lhavit after all and such things were against the rules and so were punished, sometimes severely.

The young woman paused, trying to decide if she would shop for some food or if she'd have a look around a clothes shop. She stood in the middle of the street, glancing from one shop to the other, just thinking when she felt someone brush past her. Frowning because there was plenty of space to walk around her, her head turned in the direction of the person who'd so rudely pushed past her, intending to give them a good scolding.

x

[Brandon Blackwing]

The Azure was brimming with life, all sorts of folks gathered on the square. Some were buying, some selling, while others were just taking a peek at the small stands scattered across the market area. Brandon would be included in the last group, if not for his actions. He was indeed taking a good look, but not at the products the traders had brought to sell. No, he was examining the people. Inquiring information about them. Their behavior, the state of vigilance they were in and more importantly the location of their wallets. Every time he spotted a potential victim, he followed them a while, trying to figure out not only the whereabouts of the wallets, but their fullness as well. It was an easy thing to do. One kept an eye on the target, staying somewhat behind and observing them. Every once in a while the target wanted to buy something, an arm revealed the hiding place of the purse. He’d take a mental note of the position of it and cock his ears, hoping the tingling of the coins would tell him how numerous they were. Then he’d wait until the perfect opportunity presented itself, after which he’d make his move, ridding his target of their wallet. That pretty much summed up what he’d been doing today. Even though the bat preferred burglary, pickpocketing wasn’t half bad. The only problem was that he had with it was that he couldn’t pickpocket as many people as he wanted. If he did, it would probably catch the attention of the Shinya and that was the last thing he wanted. He’d rather not have himself imprisoned or worse… Which was why Brandon only robbed the normal people. Not too rich, but not poor either. He disliked stealing from those normal people though. He’d rather thieve from the rich……because they had more money. Today’s loot was quite scanty, he’d pickpocketed three people thus far and their purses were on the light side. Probably five kina each. He sighed. Well, it was better than naught. Now that he thought about it, it wasn’t that bad that the wallets were light. If they’d been heavier it would have limited his speed and agility, two important aspects of being a pickpocket. And they might cause some serious strain on his belt. Lighter was better, he decided and casually took a bite from an apple his hand had stolen from a basket some chimes ago. Still, he wanted to steal one more coin pouch before calling it a day. He wandered around the Azure aimlessly, his dark orbs scanning the masses for a suitable victim for his quick fingers. It hadn’t been long before he found one. A young woman with orange colored hair. She was strolling down the market, stopping at certain stands here and there. Gawking at the small shops she didn’t pay any attention to her environment. A large purse swayed at her hip, the chinking of the coins inside calling out to the bat, wanting him to take them away. Of course he followed her, she was the perfect target. He kept a small distance between the two of them, that could be crossed in mere ticks. He waited patiently for the right moment to strike. It appeared when the woman stopped in the middle of the street, interestedly gazing at some of the stands. She was looking at the items in the stalls so intensely, Brandon probably wouldn’t even need to distract her, but he would anyway, just to play safe. Taking a step forward, the thief made his move. He bumped into the woman, rudely pushing past her while his fingers quickly untied the cord with which the purse hung at her hip. Vast amounts of practice made this an easy task for his trained fingertips. A grin showed on his face when the bat felt the weight of the coin pouch falling in his hand. He walked on like nothing happened while tying the woman’s wallet on his belt, next to the three other ones he’d stolen.

[Chari]

Frowning after the retreating back of the man, the Kelvic wondered what his problem was. He was already moving away from her without so much as a backwards glance. He was too busy fiddling with his coin pouch at his belt. But how rude! She placed her hands on her hips as she glared after him as if that would do anything at all. Something registered in her brain as not being quite right but she couldn't work out what. She was definitely missing something here because warning bells were going off in her head. She glanced back once more at the rude man before drifting to a clothing stall, her mind still working away. A beautiful green dress had caught her eye and she just had to have it.

"How much for this dress?" she asked the vendor as she stroked the soft material. It was really beautiful. Chari could imagine herself wearing it, the green going well with her hair colour. She glanced questioningly at the man.

"100 Kina," he told her, his tone suggesting that the price was set. The woman snorted.

"It isn't worth anywhere near that much. I'll give you...70 for it."

"You'd rob me of my livelihood? I can give it to you for 90." Something about that was bugging her.

"I can't possibly take it for anymore than 75. Sorry but I'll take my business elsewhere. I'm sure somewhere has a better dress than that," Chari sighed, beginning to walk away.

"Hey! Wait! You can have it for 80 Kina but that's as low as I'll go. That's a real steal!"

Rob. Steal. It finally clicked in her brain as she was reaching for her money. The pouch. Gone. Stolen. That's what had been nagging at her, the thing that was missing. The man had been fiddling with a money pouch at his belt after he'd bumped into her. Her pouch!

"Keep that dress for me. I'll be back for it," Chari called as she set off running in the direction the man had gone in, her eyes searching for the shady figure. The Kelvic darted behind a stand of a woman selling cloth which earned a shout of protest but she ignored her, instead quickly undressing.

"Mind these for me," she ordered, placing her clothes on the ground before dissolving in glowing lights and reforming as a long haired hound. The dog Chari sniffed the clothes with interest before running off to follow the direction her nose brought her in, pursuing the thief.

x

[Brandon Blackwing]

Grinning like crazy, the thief turned left, heading into a small, dark alleyway. He could imagine her confusion and desperation when his last victim would discover that her purse was gone. He’d like to see that look on her face. He loved to see that look. Unfortunately he couldn’t stay, the risk of being recognized by the woman would be too big. He wouldn’t have to worry about that when there were a lot of other people around, he’d just blend in the crowd, invisible. Come to think of it, he’d taken quite a great risk by robbing her with so few people around. There was a real possibility she’d noticed him after he bumped into her. He quickened his pace, the feeling of unease getting larger by the chime. What if she had remembered his appearance? He might get in trouble. He shook his head, his hair violently swaying to and fro. A weird sensation spread throughout his body. He knew this feeling. It was excitement mixed with fear. Giving in to the feeling, he masked the features below his eyes with his scarf and pulled the hood of his cape over his head. Shadows covered his orbs, changing his identity into anonymousness. An imaginary aura of mysteriousness enveloped him. He smiled underneath his mask. There was a curious thing about hiding your identity in crowded places. In return for not being recognizable, you caught the attention of each and every person in that place. They watched you warily and avoided you, making it impossible to come close to your target without them noticing. Your every action was viewed upon with suspicious glances. The best way not to be noticed in those situations was by letting people notice you. A nifty trick, but it had a downside as well. If you were caught red-handed in an attempt to pick someone’s pockets, you were more likely be recognized and risked a greater possibility to get arrested by enforcers of the law. However, this also brought a lot of thrill with it, which was the reason Brandon chose for this way of living. So, upon feeling the fear of being caught his guts twisted and his mind rejoiced. Speeding up his pace even more, zigzagging trough small alleys and streets, a wide smile beaming from underneath the scarf. His cape swaying heavy from side to side. He was waiting for them to come, to confront him, threaten him and he’d flee. Pumping adrenaline trough his veins, enhancing his muscles, desperately trying to get away. The thrill of being chased, maybe they’d even be able to corner him. He could feel it already. He licked his lips, forgetting he wore a mask. His tongue got a taste of cloth, he shivered. He was starting to think that they wouldn’t come after all. He’d been walking for several chimes now, taking a detour home. It would be stupid heading straight home when there was a possibility of being followed. He took a peek over his shoulder, hoping he’d see an angry figure sprinting towards him, calling out to him. Ordering him to stop walking. He didn’t see anyone. Maybe they were still too far away? He focused on his hearing. Nothing. He sighed. He’d been too fast for them to follow. The tension slowly unknotted his insides. How disappointing. He started to slouch. Kicking angrily at some debris. He didn’t lower his guard however, still hoping he’d hear the lovely sound of running boots, stomping the floor in a fast rhythm.

[Chari]

The sense of smell of a human is terrible compared to that of a dog. Chari was always amazed at the change, how a relatively odourless place to a human was a olfactory explosion to a dog. Scents were everywhere, her sense of smell overwhelmed as each one assaulted her nose. They were so strong that she could almost see them, they should have been tangible but they weren't. When she was a human, she always imagined that different smells were different colours and that they left vibrant trails behind them. It was the only way she could make sense of how her nose worked. As a dog that was a stupid concept; you just knew.

The smell of the thief was strong on the clothes, easily discerned from her own human scent but out in the street it was hard to pick up over all the other trails left by people who'd been walking back and forth since her robbery. Thankfully there weren't too many people about or else she would have gone into olfactory overload. The Kelvic directed her dog form to the roughly the place the robbery had taken place and allowed her canine senses to take over. Nose close to the ground, she sniffed out the route the robber had taken, ignoring the older trails and separating the new ones from the one she wanted.

The hound retraced the thief's route into an alleyway on the left and her life became a lot easier. Far fewer people had been down here recently and none more recently than the man she pursued. Chari lifted her nose from the ground, able to discern the clearer trail from the air in front of her. She trotted along, her nails clicking on the ground beneath her as she followed the route the man had taken.

He'd taken a roundabout way, doubling back to throw off pursuers but it didn't stop the canine. She only got confused when his smell was crisscrossed by fresher scents in her path but the dog managed especially as his scent had grown stronger than before. He'd been scared. She could smell it clearly, the way his fear had amplified his scent making it stand out. The man had made her job easier and he didn't even know it.

The Kelvic was beginning to lose all hope of ever catching up to the thief before he reached a more populated area. If that happened then she'd lose him for sure. A clattering sound somewhere ahead made her prick up her ears and she found herself galloping towards the sound, her nails clattering on the street. There was a man ahead. He was wearing a cape (something she remembered seeing from earlier) and the smell was much stronger now that she was near him, so strong that she very nearly could see it.

Barking loudly at the man, she ran up behind him and skidded to a halt behind him. Her hackles rose as she growled menacingly at him. If he ran, then she'd give chase but if he didn't then Chari would have him cornered and could get her money back.

OOCNow you have your chance to run. Please do. Then Chari can have some fun

x

[Brandon Blackwing]

OOCWhat, did you really think I'd give up now? The chase hasn't even started yet! And I'm not planning to give you your money back without putting up a fight His ears picked up faraway sounds. Clicking of nails on the road, heavy breaths. Oh? So the Shinya have sent the hounds after me huh? I didn’t even know they had hounds. He listened again. The rhythm of the paw steps told him there was only one dog. Only one? Wow, they don’t think highly of me, do they? Still, one dog was better than nothing at all. He was getting excited again. His heart started beating faster, his guts tying itself in a knot. Tension built in his chest. His breathing quickened. He cocked his ears once more. How long until the animal caught up with him? The rhythmic clicking on the street was getting louder with every tick. It wouldn’t take much longer, maybe half a chime. Tops. He straightened his back and stopped slouching. His eyes lit up, his smile returned. About twenty ticks left. The tension in his chest multiplied a hundredfold, his knotted insides twisted in anticipation. YES! This was the feeling he craved, this was how it felt to be alive! He slowed down the pace, forcing his excitement to increase. His body urged him to get away, to flee this instant, but he refused to do so. He didn’t want to run yet. He wanted to face his pursuer -even though it was just a dog- first. The rhythm of the claws closed in on him. The thief’s dark orbs shifted from left to right, scanning the small alley. He nodded slightly. This was a good place. He stopped, his instinct was going crazy, screaming and shouting, ordering him to flee while he still could. He answered with a huge grin. The bat was greeted by a loud barking. Clenching the muscles in his legs, Brandon was getting ready to make a run for it. He’d wait until the dog made an attempt to take a taste of his calf, to taunt the creature a bit. His face rippled in confusion under his mask when the dog skidded to a stop. A non-aggressive hound? That’s a first. He turned around, locking eyes with the beast. The creature growled threateningly, baring it’s fangs. It’s liquid eyes burned into his, daring him to run. He laughed. Not bad, not bad at all! The dog seemed to know that trying to escape would be futile. It’d catch up immediately if he tried. Those Shinya! They knew how to make things interesting. Giving him a slight chance to get away. If they’d sent a pack after him, he wouldn’t have stood a chance. If this was an ordinary hound, he wouldn’t have had one either. But this one… this intelligent creature didn’t just attack him, no, it gave him a choice. Give up, or try to get away. The first option wasn’t the one he’d pick, that would be no fun. “Hahahahahaha! Splendid!” he said to no-one in particular. “A wonderful plan! Challenging me to flee, giving me an opportunity to get away, knowing that outrunning a dog would be a hard task to accomplish.” “BUT!!!!” He yelled, while pointing his index finger at his hairy pursuer in a theatrical manner. A shark-ish, mischievous grin appeared on his features. Too bad it wasn’t visible from underneath the mask. “You forgot to take one thing into account when you set up your plan:…” He leapt to the left, towards the left wall. Folding his legs back under his body, he shifted his position to a horizontal one, hitting the wall with his hands and feet first. Sitting on it like a gravity-defying frog for a split-tick, he bounced of to the other side. By repeating this process a few times. He managed to climb up in mere ticks. Grabbing the edge of the roof, he hauled himself up with a grunt. Standing on the border of the roof, he looked down over his shoulder. The wind grabbed his cape, lifting it slowly a bit in the air, making the thief’s pose look as dramatic as he intended to. “…Dogs can’t fly!!!” he shouted down.

[Chari]

The man's scent seemed to increase as adrenaline did. There was something in his eyes that seemed to suggest that he was exhilarated by the encounter. That made no sense to Chari, he was supposed to be scared. The dog felt like sitting back on her haunches and huffing. She was supposed to be all scary with her big teeth and he was supposed to be frightened that she'd take a chunk out of his leg but the man seemed too pleased. He was even laughing!

Stopping her growling, the hound tilted her head to one side and made a confused sound as the thief talked. He was obviously one of those people who loved danger, something that'd make him fit in with the dare devil Inartans back home. But this man was still an idiot if he thought he was going to get out of this without her getting her pound of flesh in return for stealing her money. Maybe if he'd just handed it over she could have given him another chance but he had to scale the wall and escape onto the roof. This meant that he was going down.

The canine barked in protest, unable to scale the wall in this form. Well he didn't know what she was so Chari would have to educate him. Dissolving and reforming into her naked, human form, she crossed her arms and glared up at him, trying to assess the best way to pursue him.

"I'm not a petching dog and I don't need to fly, I can climb. Opposable thumbs!" she called up to him, wiggling the appendages in question to make her point. "I just want my purse back. Don't make me come up there or I'm going to get mad. You won't like me when I'm mad especially not when I sink my teeth into you. There's no point trying to get away from me either. I have your scent now so I can track you down." She waited patiently for him to comply, ready to pursue him at any second.

He's not going to come down though, is he? the Kelvic thought as she gazed up at him. He wants the thrill of the chase.

x

[Brandon Blackwing]

He had already started to walk away when a female voice called out to him from below. Something about not being a dog and opposable thumbs. He stepped back on the border and glanced at the street. There she was, naked. The russet colored hair looked familiar. Ah, she was that girl he robbed just now. Made sense. Assuming that she indeed was that dog from a chime ago, he putted the pieces of the puzzle together. She was a Kelvic. He had no other explanation for the fact that a dog just turned into that young woman from before. That would also explain why the Shinya weren’t showing up. They didn’t even know about him! So, this girl had noticed him stealing her purse, like he expected she’d also remembered his appearance. Good thing he’d covered his face. She wanted her purse back? He didn’t have it. All the purses hanging on his belt were his. He’d let her know. There was no need for her to chase after him, he didn’t have her purse. Besides, what could this girl do? His excitement was already vanishing. Maybe if she was persistent enough it would come back, but it would be better for her to be terrifying. Oh, he’d love that! “I don’t have you’re your purse!” he replied “But if this is the one you’re looking for, then you can’t have it. It’s mine you see.” Oh? She was going to get mad? He wouldn’t like to see her like that? It was exactly the opposite. He’d really like to see the fury raging in her eyes, but she’d just grab his coin pouch and run, he wouldn’t even get a good look. Wait what? What did she just say? He replayed the line in his head. “There's no point trying to get away from me either. I have your scent now so I can track you down.” A challenge? Alright! He accepted! Even though this was just going to be a mixture of a game of tag and hide and seek, the thrill of being chased would be present. Come to think of it, hadn’t every time he’d been chased –be it by dogs, angry victims, or guards- been a game to him? He shrugged, it was highly possible. But that wasn’t something he wanted or needed to think about. He rubbed his hands against each other. “I accept your challenge! Catch me if you can!” he smirked. He enjoyed it already. Turning away from the edge of the roof, he bended a little through his knees. He’d seen that the girl was searching for a way to get up here, but had been unsuccessful. Well, he wasn’t going to wait for her. She shouldn’t have suggested this game if she couldn’t even get up here. It was clear that she wasn’t much of an acrobat like him. He seriously doubted her catching up with him leaping from rooftop to rooftop. If it was just a sprint, she had the advantage with her dog form, but not on the roofs. He almost forgot that it wasn’t a race. It was hide and seek, tag version. Oh well, it didn’t really matter. “Ready? Set. GO!” the bat yelled before he dashed off. He’d reached the edge of this canopy already and took a huge jump, launching himself over the street, chaining a forward roll to his landing on the other side. This was going to be easy. She could track him everywhere? He’d prove her wrong, he had a plan…

[Chari]

He claimed he didn't have her purse yet openly flaunted it. The Kelvic wanted to scream in frustration, to grab him and scratch and bite and kick, to tear that scarf away from his face and memorise his features. But she couldn't. He was out of reach, totally unattainable. There was no way she could climb up to that rooftop without doing herself an injury, something she wasn't going to do. Huffing in annoyance, she wondered if there was another way up if she circled the building but Chari didn't want to risk the man leaving her sight.

"I accept your challenge." The words made her stare at the thief in shock and horror. Did he think this was some sort of a game? She'd hoped that her ability to track him would frighten him into submission but no, he saw it as a chase, something fun, she could see it in his eyes. The girl stamped her foot.

"Don't you dare run, do you hear me? If you- Petching bastard!" she screamed at him, her rage coming out in her voice as he ran off. Shrieking in rage, she returned to her canine form and ran around the building, seeing the man jump across from one rooftop to another. There was no way to get up to the rooftop and Chari wouldn't be able to keep up the chase. Her dog form was more suited to tracking, not running. She wasn't designed to chase anything! The thief was at an advantage and he knew it.

There had to be a way, any way onto the roofs. The dog looped around, still trying to keep the place where the thief was in sight. There was a lucky break for the Kelvic as not too far away. Someone had propped a ladder against the wall of a building, apparently they'd been painting the walls. The hound bolted for the ladder, switching form so that she could clamber upwards. The roof was just a little out of reach. Placing her foot on a window sill, she leaned out for the roof edge, her limbs trembling with the effort. Her breathing increased rapidly as she readied herself to leap. Throwing herself sideways, she whimpered fearfully as she scrabbled for some sort of handhold. She crawled her way onto the roof, panting with fear and effort and switched back to her dog form.

Stepping backwards so that she'd have a bit of a run-up, the canine ran and propelled herself at a rooftop, landing a little clumsily but now Chari was getting somewhere. Sprinting, she set off in pursuit of the robber.

x

[Brandon Blackwing]

OOCI kinda let myself write whatever flowed into my fingers during the seventh alinea. If you don't like it, I will edit it, just send a pm, 'kay? Running. Drumming boots were heard on the rooftops of Lhavit. Flying over streets. A wavering cape accentuated his speed. Panting breaths. Blood was violently pumped through his body, bringing fresh oxygen to his muscles. Enabling him to use the full potential of his legs. The thief shot a quick glance behind him. A big hound ran over the rooftops, trying to catch up to him. It jumped over the gaps between the houses, landing clumsily. The bat chuckled. It was amusing to watch. “You’re chasing me like a three-legged pup!” he taunted. “I thought you wanted to play tag? You’re it, in case you hadn’t noticed yet!” A mad laughter rolled over his tongue. Again. He’d been having so much fun today, it was hard to stop laughing, or smiling for that matter. He turned his head back to it’s original position. The end of the roof was close by. He leapt over the canyon that was the street, landing on his feet. Swiftly regaining his balance, his legs did not cease moving back and forth. His eyes wandered, drifting to and fro, taking in the environment. It wasn’t far anymore. He made a turn to the right on the next roof. His plan was simple, and given some thought, pretty easy to figure out by his opponent. Since he actually wanted to know if the dog really could track him down where-ever he fled to, he wanted to shake her first. In order to do so, he was heading back to the Azure. He’d mix his scent with the one of the crowd. She wouldn’t find him as fast as before if he did. Or so he hoped anyway. The Azure started here. Standing on the border of the canopy, he scanned the square for something he could jump down on. Preferably without getting hurt too much. This house was pretty high after all. He noticed a stand surrounded by four poles holding a large cloth, protecting the wares and the merchant from the sun’s rays. It looked pretty sturdy. That would do. However, if he’d just jump down on it, ruining the shop, he’d get a bunch of cranky traders after him too. He needed an excuse. He turned around. The hound had almost closed the gap between them. That persistent girl, she probably wanted him dead by now. Wait, dead? A marvellous plan came together in his mind. It required only four things; a bit of taunting, a stroke of luck, and a great deal of timing and daring. Let’s get this show on the roll. He brought his hands to his face, revealing his features by pulling down the scarf and pushing back the hood. Step one, clear. Still wearing his mischievous grin, he observed how the dog propelled itself on the same roof he was standing on. It’s eyes filled with triumph, growling menacingly. She probably thought she’d cornered him, that he couldn’t get away. He smiled his shark-ish smile. He pitied the girl, because if his plan succeeded, she was going to face harsh times. Now, for the second part; the taunting. “Well, well, look who’s here, it’s the dog-girl! I believed you would haunt poor me, “ Hmmm, bad pun. “but you seeing you weren’t able to keep up with me, I decided to wait here for a bell or so, until you’d show your face.” He pointed at one of the pouches dangling on his belt. “I recall you wanted this, right? Now, why don’t you come and get it~?” The hardest part started now. He had only one chance. And there were three possible actions the girl could do. The outcome would be the same though. Assuming everything went according to plan, that is. Option number one: She’d charge and try to take a bite out of his leg. Two: She’d change into her human form and try to grab ‘her’ purse. Three: She’d do nothing. He seriously doubted the last one would happen. It didn’t matter what other choice she’d make, he’d dodge her with a backward hop, and if he applied the right amount of force, he’d land on the cloth of the small stand. If things went wrong, well, he had a plan B ready. He didn’t want to use it though, it wouldn’t be comfortable, not at all.