Roleplay

@Teddybears

((I'm subbed, if you have a better title idea, feel free to suggest one xD Image of Finnegan here. Tried to match your post coding Cx))

The icy alleyway was dark, with only a torch for light at the end where a ragged man leaned against the wall with a pipe in his mouth, his shadowed face lit by each puff of flame. Not once did he look in the direction where Finnegan was crouched behind a pile of rotting crates, his frustrated golden eyes watching the guttering ring of light. His black cloak kept the nip of the winter air at bay, but he’d been waiting for several hours now and the man had yet to move.

He’d been trying to bust a child trafficking ring for weeks now and the man standing in the torchlight was supposedly the go between for the circle and their clients. It was late enough that the street beyond the mouth of the alleyway was still and the only noise was the distant sound of piano music from one of the many taverns that filled the poorer district of the city.

Above, small clouds scuttled across a frozen moon where the outlines of the towering palace stood in dark contrast. “Why are you just standing there,” Finnegan hissed under his breath, gloved hands flexing in irritation. His legs were stiff and his back was aching but he hadn’t nearly been stabbed getting the identity of this man just to leave because he couldn’t handle a few hours out in the cold. Was the go between waiting for a late client? Or was he simply watching a man who lingered in dark alleyways just to smoke his pipe?

His hand went to the silver chain around his neck, fingers closing around the ruby amulet that lay hidden beneath his dark tunic. If nothing happened in the next hour, he was going to fly home, cook some food, and crawl into a warm bed.

[size=2] Short, and I apologize! I'll be able to post bigger once interactions happen :p And I hope it's okay that she took it. [columns] [img]https://orig00.deviantart.net/436c/f/2018/166/7/1/5_by_dingyradio-dcegext.png[/img] [nextcol][color=transparent]... [nextcol][color=#000000]The night was cold, but that didn't stop the shadow from moving forwards. Face drenched with the shadows of her hood, she stopped as she saw two figures in the alleyway she was gonna go down. Her hands tightened a bit, was that...? All she needed to see was a glimmer of red to know that she had found her target. Thank the Gods, for sure. Pressing her cheek against the wall and keeping to the shadows... There were two, and she could just tell by looking at the other male that he wasn't a holder of one of the amulets...but the other one, he was definitely it, and she was going for it. The amulet glowed a bright orange as she moved towards them, her shape shifting to one of a fox before she leapt up nimbly onto the shoulder of the male ahead of her. She grasped the chain around his neck and moved to try and take it off before hopping off onto the other guy. Her jaw clenched around the amulet as she hopped off, her tail bushy as she raced forwards.

((It’s fine. My post length fluctuates between two and four paragraphs, sometimes more xD Really just depends.))

It took five seconds for Finnegan to process what had just happened, his fingers tightening over where the ruby of his amulet had been moments ago. The bushy tail of the fox disappearing around the corner moved him into action as he darted past the cursing man who’d dropped his pipe. The trafficking ring would have to wait as that amulet was far more important to him. There was no time for him to try and puzzle out the presence of a fox this deep in the city or why the animal had gone after his amulet. Foxes didn’t eat metal or stones.

Knowing he wouldn’t be able to catch up to it, Finnegan took a different route, the moonlit snow crunching beneath his feet. The fox looked like it was moving with purpose, but it was heading towards an alleyway that stopped at a dead end. His alternate path allowed him to catch a glimpse of orange fur just as the animal vanished into the mouth of that alleyway.

Flicking out the dagger strapped beneath the sleeve of his right arm, he pushed a button on the hilt and the weapon unfolded into a triple-bladed throwing glaive. Holding it at the ready, he eased into the shadows towards the animal, more than ready to throw it at the fox if he had to. But it was a last resort only, if he could just get close enough…

“That’s hardly food for you,” he murmured as he inched closer, the hand not holding the weapon reaching out for the amulet in the fox’s mouth.

It sucked that this wasn't her home town, otherwise she would've been a lot better at navigating through the alleyways. Her paws skidded along the snow as she turned down an alleyway that she believed would work for her escape...only for her to realize too late that it was a dead end.

Her paws skidded along the snow, scrapping the dirt under it, turning. But as she turned, her bright blue eyes widened at the sight of the male ahead of her. How did he manage to catch up to her so quickly...?! The fox's fur bursted up as she growled behind the amulet.

The amulet around her neck started to glow again, but this time the area around her started to heat up. Her fur rose as a warning to get back and away from her as she took a paw step forwards, instantly melting the snow underneath.

The air suddenly turning warmer drew Finnegan’s attention to the orange glow around the fox’s neck where an amulet that looked eerily similar to his own hung. The snow beneath the fox was rapidly melting and when it stepped towards him with raised fur, he used his free hand to snatch his amulet from its mouth and backed away, eyes narrowing as he held his glaive defensively between them.

“You’re not a fox are you?” he asked, putting more space between them. It wasn’t often that he found himself surprised, but as far as he’d been aware; his amulet was unique and to come across another was hardly on his list of things he’d expected to encounter tonight. Clasping it around his neck, he shifted into a white raven with contemplative red eyes, the right of which retained the circular brand scar that marred his human face.

Finnegan fluttered upwards and perched on an icicle bound pipe, head cocking to the side. “I know I can understand people in this shape, but I can’t talk to them, but you’re like me.” He shuffled his wings and readjusted his grip on the pipe, the metal cold against his talons. “Doesn’t mean I’ll play nice if you try and take my amulet again though,” he warned. He cocked his head the other way, trying to get a better angle of view on the fox below.

When the amulet was snatched, the fox let out a whine as it scrapped a crossed her teeth, but growled deeply when she recovered. The heat around her was slowly becoming hotter as she prepared to fight until he shifted into a raven. That took her aback a bit, causing the fox to take a pawstep back and then follow the raven with her head. Her ears lowered to her head as she watched him from the pipe...and she swished her tail along the snow as she watched and contemplated how to get up there.

He spoke to her, speaking knowingly about her actual identity. She snorted loudly, lowering her ears once more. "No, I'm not." she murmured gently, her claws digging into the frozen dirt underpaw. Her voice was quiet, a confused ring to it as she plopped down onto her haunches and stared. "And I thought I was the only one who was able to use these."

He mentioned that he wouldn't play nice if she tried to take it again, which she snorted loudly in response. "...That depends. I need it." she narrowed her eyes, "And if you're working with my enemy, then I have no choice but to fight for it." the mystery girl bared her teeth.

( Sorry it took so long! I had an awful week in terms of scheduling, but it's somewhat back to normal (Aside from a few days that are...less desirable but >> yeah. Ahaha) )

((Life gets busy, it’s all good!))

Finnegan could see in the fox’s eyes that she—judging by the voice—seemed to be deliberating on how to get up to where he was perched. He wasn’t too worried because he’d simply fly away by the time she got up, if she even could. “I work only for myself and on that note, I don’t care if you need it.” He tilted his head in the other direction, regarding the fox with his branded right eye—the scar left it a paler shade of red than the other. “It’s mine and you can’t have it,” he said, clicking his beak at her.

Up until this moment, he’d never heard of similar objects like his amulet and now that he was faced with it meant he would have to keep an eye on any animals who drew near for fear of them being like him. No one was going to sneak up on him again, not a mouse, a rat, and certainly not this fox. “So as much as I would like to help you, you’re out of luck. I’m not a fan of thieves.”

The fox huffed loudly, lowering her head to the ground as she flicked her tail to the side. "Cool. So you would rather help the bad guy with not helping." the mystery girl padded around the ground. She brushed her tail along the ground as she walked. "Fine, fine, it's yours but..." she glanced up towards him and only found herself growling more as he spoke of her...profession. "Listen!" she barked out, "I needed that amulet for what is about to unfold. Do you want a corrupt, evil, person to take that and ruin the world?"

She sighed, glancing to the side before back up towards him. Her form flashed orange as she turned into her human form. The cloak now covering her face, but she slowly pushed it back and revealed her face. She was a young women, probably no more than twenty, but her face was pinned up in a slight scowl.

Finnegan let out a croak that was more a hiss than laughter, such a sound hard to manage as a bird. Now that she was no longer a fox, he couldn’t speak to her since all she would hear were raven croaks and hisses—hardly conductive to a conversation. He hopped from the pipe and onto the roof and released the raven form so that he was now human as he sat on the edge of a red tiled roof touched by moonlight. “Helping the bad guy? That’s a subjective term. For all I know, you could be the bad guy.” He kicked his feet against the side of the building. “After all, instead of talking to me, you just ran off with my amulet… like a bad guy.”

He peered down at her through the white streak of hair that covered his scarred eye. “It’d be just like a thief to spin me some wild tale simply so I’ll give them the thing they want.” He pulled out the red amulet from beneath his tunic and dangled it tauntingly at her. “Still doesn’t change the fact that you can’t have it.”

"You're not helping me in any case." the girl huffed loudly. But as he mentioned her taking the amulet and how it was like a bad guy... the female groaned and stomped her feet as she tried to figure out a way to explain herself to the male. Her eyes cut back over towards him and listened to the rest of what he had to say while he taunted her with the amulet.

"Listen, I'm not gonna say that me stealing it was a good idea. I just can't exactly go up to someone, someone I'm assuming doesn't even know the benefits and the ramifications of owning said piece, and then telling them that they're destined for a quest that will most likely kill them." she threw up her hands. "would you have believed me if I just walked up to you, interrupting whatever you were doing with that one guy, and said that you have to help me find three other of these things?!"

She pushed up her bangs and just sighed out loudly, the air hissing between her teeth. "I just wanted to take the easier route and run away with it. That way I don't have to depend on anyone and I can get the other three and keep them away from the wrong hands." She pointed towards the upper kingdom, and then her hands hooked together and crossed in front of her chest.

"Besides, my profession before I got mine has nothing to do with the fact of if I'm a bad guy or not. A girl's gotta eat."