A few Foxes and the Hound

by **Adam King** on January 23rd, 2014, 4:17 pm

Adam considered the question for a whole second. He'd have to guess whether being associated with Noven would be a good thing or a bad thing in formulating his response. Noven, not Seng', interestingly, was the man's specific question. Why would Noven be the one to ask about? Noven was the one that had met the wolf-girl. Adam too had been impressed with the wolf-girl earlier. This highly suggested that she was indeed somehow to do with the Hound as well. Fray-hat and Wolf-girl. He'd have to get names for these people.

"Myes, Noven is an oft' co-worker and good friend." King's smile extended with an innocent light shrug. "...As friendships go in Sunberth." Rubbing a finger idly against the glass, he went on in another moment. "We find ourselves on jobs together when the tasks involve more subtle or thoughtful or mercantile aspects beyond the mandatory... Well, what they do." King jerked back a thumb in the general direction of the door that the two brawlers had left through.

by **Wrenmae** on January 23rd, 2014, 7:40 pm

38 Winter 513

Nodding, the hypnotist seemed at ease with the answer. Of the three he had seen so far, Adam was by far the more promising. The way he held himself was not a fighter, but a snake. A snake had to be self-aware, always sensing, always adapting and moving. For a small gang with big goals, it couldn't be handled by a brute with an axe to grind, but the fine hands of someone as interested in staying alive as they were of turning a profit.

"I find in Sunberth there are two primary types of people...on one hand we have the predators, men like Noven and Senghor who prey on the weak to subsist." He watched Adam carefully, noting any facial twitches or betrayals of emotion, "And then there are the prey, who allow themselves to be preyed upon. Wolves and gaunt sheep...but among the wolves there are those who prefer to simply wade into the flock and devour, and those who watch, plan, and agonize over the correct way to hunt. To me, you come off as a hunter with a plan...but do not seem possessed of the same claws your friends do."

Clasping his hands together he leaned over the table and smiled at Adam, his dark brown eyes eager, settling on his face as one might fondly eye a purebred steed. Undisguised evaluating, analyzing. At this stage, Wren could afford to be picky, as they grew inevitably they'd attract the weaker that would cling to the coattails of success. But even then, they served their purpose in sheer size, a gambit against the other gangs, insurance...really. The core must be strong or the body will die.

"Why are you here in Sunberth, Mr. King? What is it you hope to find? And..." he sat back and patted the sheathed dagger at his waist, "How do you respond to the sort of violent and forward wolves in this city?"

Common
Thought
"Speech"
Zan

by **Adam King** on January 23rd, 2014, 9:24 pm

Fray-hat spoke knowingly. Adam couldn't yet tell if the insight was born of experience or deductive wisdom, but knew that this man couldn't be too many rings down from the Hound, perhaps a direct liutentant. It was unlikely that this was the savage killer that had pulled off the shock-slaying, but this was someone who spoke the same "language" as Adam, a language in which each choice of word meant more than the information it directly conveyed.

"Subsist" was how this man characterised the brawler's preying. Ironically, though Adam probably made a bit less than the two, he did agree and even smiled a microexpression when the word came. To need to risk all of your hide each time you go to work is subsistence, no matter the pay. And so the metaphporical analysis came to Adam. Less clawed shadow planner. Almost flattering, Adam felt, though the 'clawless' remark shouldn't be taken as a welcome lack. Savagery, well controlled, was a valuable comodity.

Why was Adam in Sunberth and what was he hoping to find in fact? He'd never been elsewhere for more than a week and never considered a different lifestyle. But he knew why. And what do we do about "mad dogs", Adam, hm? Fray-hat and his knife want to know. This is an interview. And it's an interview with the people that did -that- to the Daggerhand petcher. Start talking. Nov' and Seng' can come back dragging bodies, your demonstration is here and now.

Adam's open-hand gestures continued to be ample along with his speech, but with his own inspection of the physical elements visible on the man completed, the gaze locked onto the eyes inspecting back from beneath the hat.

"Well. I... am Sunberth. It's here, because this is the only place where you make your own freedom. The first thing I hope to find, is nobody stepping into my way and telling me what I can't do because it doesn't fit their idea of a good world. God or king or knight or Daggerhand. And, what's worse, telling me all that without my everhaving accepted their rules. I just want to expand my autonomy, and to do that, well -one has to..." Fangs showed proudly off of the thin smile full of meaning. "...seize openings, I hear."

A pause and King sipped from his drink, wording the next answer in his head.

"As for the "mad wolves" and their constant ego-driven pursuit for physical and intimidating domination, I find there are generally five things to do for a ... prowler-planner such as I." Adam's closed left hand extended out agaist the table counting. With each method he announced a new finger opened up to mark the number.

"One is the easy-to-say-hard-to-do "out-think" them. This, other than fast-talking your way through social pressure or plain hiding well means taking your petching time and swallowing your pride until the perfect time to strike back has arrived or preferably has been crafted into being by pulling the right strings. Always hit back, no matter how long it takes."

"Two is you become profitable to the mad wolves. Their life is better with you making them money and making their life easy while doing the same for yourself."

"Three is you surround yourself with your own mad pack." Adam nodded in a small gesture back towards the door once more the same as he did when speaking about the two departed patrons around the table earlier. "They know your pack is behind you, sooner or later. And they can understand that threat, even when pride and dumb instinct is sending them to bite."

"Four is you just bite the bullet and cash in accumulated resources to have them hit. It's a last resort, and has attatched dangers, but it's better than having your reputation weakened. Reputation can protect you a lot better than steel."

"The fifth one is rather hardest, and takes a lot, but it's esentially sending the mad wolves the message that if push comes to shove and they're coming at you to kill, well - " Adam's last finger had already extended upon the count of the fifth method when, in a sudden and decisive gesture, his right hand pulled the punchknife out of his boot and then came flying down for the table, impaling with a spurt of blood into his own left hand. The blade went through the web of the hand before sticking hard into the wood. The site of the stab was away from bone and major vessels, and the angle, while cutting clean through the webbing, hadn't severed it but instead cut along. A few patron's heads turned and Adam had a hard time holding back wincing in pain too much for a good number of seconds. When his voice came back, it had a darker tint, lower and a bit raspier, without the eager analitical cheer of earlier. " -well, you're just as mad as they are." The right hand let go of the knife's handle and slid down along-side the leather coat. Huh, you've nailed yourself to the table you silly bunny, you, came a thought. Now he just stared, eyes back up from the hand to the man's eyes. The pain was already focusing his attention more than distrupting it.

It was only fair and lucrative to let them know 'Mad Adam' existed in there, if ever truly needed. But 'Mad Adam' scared him because he was the side of Sunberth that Adam hated and feared. A drop of blood slivered off of the table and onto the floor.

by **Wrenmae** on January 23rd, 2014, 9:43 pm

Admittedly, Wren had to steel himself from jumping when the wily King produced a punch dagger, driving it down between his fingers with a thud and a spray of crimson blood. Instead Wren narrowed his eyes, not bothering to look at the wandering gaze of the other guests. Instead he held Adam's gaze with his own, noting the contraction of pain, and yet that mad determination to make a point, at whatever cost that point had to come at.

Brave man. Foolish man, petched, obviously, but with the kind of wheel-spinning mind Wren had hoped his little antics would drag out of the woodwork. Quietly they regarded each other, at least until the weight of gaze left them...folks returning to their drinks or lost in the mutter-mix of conversation. Nodding, slowly, Wren brought his hands together again and took a breath, unaware that he'd been holding it till now.

"Illuminating demonstration, Mr. King," Wren said first, tapping two fingers together, pad to pad, "Hound, no doubt, would be interested in your talents." For a moment his eyes darted to either side of him, returning to King only after he was confident no one was in listening distance.

"The Hound aims to form a gang, The Scars, to take the Daggerhand's territory and usurp their position as a power in Sunberth. Now, obviously that's an ambitious goal. The Daggerhand still have numbers on us, easily, but we both know that a numbers game is never a smart way to approach a tactical win. We need misinformation, we need subterfuge, we need coercion. Now, Mr. King, we can go about this in a number of ways. Hound isn't in the business of employing cowards, or those who can talk themselves up. We require a little demonstration of your talents before we make this official. We're starting small, but intend to hit them hard, stepping out of the shadow only when we're ready. Your first task is to spread misinformation. I want rumors that the NightEyes hires an outside killer to take down Robern's legacy. I want a rumor that the Sun's Berth found a killer-for-hire and look to expand their territory. I want a rumor that the dead man might have petched with the wrong guy and that's all there is to it...I want rumors, misinformation. Who is the Hound? Maybe the Hound is a woman. Maybe the Hound is a Ghost...maybe a god. You're a talker, talk to the right ears...the ones with the loosest mouths."

Settling back in his chair, Wren reached up and pushed his mop of unruly hair away from his eyes, "I need the Daggerhands so petching confused they'll string up any shyke that LOOKS at them funny. Then I need the word put out to the gangs, the lower ones, hungry small-fish looking for a bit of the top. Tell them to find the man in the wide-brimmed hat, but use discretion...feel free to spread misinformation as well. The woman with the wolf is another. We want to rile up the little guys, give them something to feed on. We grow, they shrink, we come into power. Once I start hearing those rumors around town, I'll know you're worth your word."

He held out a hand toward Adam, an invitation, "Smart men avoid big conflicts like this. Gotta be a little petching crazy to shake up a city like this. That's the kind of men we need, a little petched up...just enough to have ambitions beyond keeping their head above water. You take what you get, we share the profits. We start small so we can build a strong core. What do you say?"

by **Adam King** on January 23rd, 2014, 10:10 pm

While the fray-hat instructed, Adam slowly pulled out the blade, biting down on pain and wrapping his hand in the ragged cloth strip he often had on him, after dousing the area stabbed with the remains of his liquor glass. By the time the hand became extended towards him, he was able to shake it lightly without smearing blood on the man's hand, in the same movement as getting up.

"Wonderful then. See you in a couple of days, I trust."

He began to head towards the corner of the room where Thomis usually was, his mind plotting. He only grinned once his back was turned. So many places to go, so many people to see, so many smart lies to send out, in so many forms. He felt wrong for being so exhilarated with the task. But only for a second.

The bullshyke will spread like wildfire in summer.

by **Zandelia** on May 15th, 2014, 2:20 pm

Adam :

Noven :

Senghor :

Wrenmae :

Notes :

Any problems with my grade? Please me at any time. Keep Writing!

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