Kaden King's Story

Where the hell was-oh shit.

Rayan had what could be referred to as a seventh sense for shit about to hit the fan. The guy he was supposed to meet hadn't showed up yet, so he figured he was waiting upstairs. It was literally never these people were late. He just hoped he wouldn't have to pay for the lost time himself. No sooner had he clomped a combat boot down on the upper decks when a congregation formed not too far off, and ooooh was it hostile.

He recognized two of the group. Local troublemakers. It seemed they had taken up with some other ruffians and were now bothering a he could not believe his eyes. Pointed ears. Blue skin. Rayan didn't give a shit but he knew a lot of folks around here did.

Trying to be nonchalant in his flashy leather jacket, Rayan slid through the crowd. A white cat followed him with her eyes from where she perched in the shadows, atop the head of a statue of a dragon. Rayan arrived just in time as another had caught on to what was going on, and had pretty much the same idea.

"This ain't your turf, scrub," Rayan growled down the neck of Dumbass Number One, cracking his knuckles.

The dumbass grunt held his head in pain briefly as he was taken aback from the blow. As he stumbled back he found himself backed against another gentleman, growling down his neck. The grunt was quick to turn around defensively to see what was giving off such an ominous aura as the other male told the others to back off with a threat. But since he was a dumbass...

"Hah! You think you guys can just get yaself involved in our business? You don't know who you're messing with!" He spat with bawled fists, ready to fight the two men.

However the smarter one of the group recognised these two. They both had a reputation, especially amongst the group he followed under. His brow furrowed in annoyance, knowing they could not win this battle.
Grabbing holding the the cocky grunt's shirt, he tugged him back. "Shut your uneducated mouth and think for once. These guys... We're aren't prepared for this kind of fight."

"The fuck do you mean?! I'm always ready!" The other two men who were more alien than human sighed as they could sense the smarter one's annoyance and see his patience slowly slipping away.

"Let's go." He replied bluntly, glaring at the idiot before ushering the two aliens two drag him away. But this guy. Was far too persistent.

"I'll show you who you're dealing with!!" He exclaimed, completely ignoring his orders and charged straight for Rayan with a knife on hand. At this point the others were both shocked and lost hope on the man.

Before the aliens could step in to help, he stopped them with an out stretched arm. "He's not worth it." And with that said, he turned around and left, heading back to find their leader. The other two following behind as the idiot grunt was left blinded by his own rage.

Riska was alarmed at this point still. Ready to put up a fight. She knew she couldn't use her voice here as it would hinder a lot more people than wanted. However despite the two gentlemen here to, potentially help her. She couldn't trust them. They might be part of another organisation with similar intentions. She just could not tell. This made her skittish as he crimson eyes darted around from person to person. She felt exposed without her helmet. Perhaps wanting freedom to explore outside her home was a bad idea after all.

Kaden was suddenly focused, his unnaturally blue eyes honed in on the thug charging towards Rayan with a knife. Almost immediately he withdrew his handgun from his holster and raised his arm as his fingers tightened around the grip. To others, it would be an immediate, almost reflexively quick action, but to Kaden the whole thing might as well have been in slow motion.

So many variables were taken into account. The speed and arc of his arm raise, the angle of his aim, the exact position of the hostile's individual body parts as well as the speed of his movement... Where his knife was, where his knife was going to be in the exact amount of time it would take Kaden to squeeze the trigger and send a bullet flying towards it faster than the eye could perceive. The slightest breeze and how it could push an in-flight projectile a minute and inconsequential distance. It all played out in his head before he had time to blink, then it played out in reality.

He aimed, then pulled the trigger almost as fast as one could think, the bullet blasting out with unnatural precision with the goal of hitting the thug's knife and knocking it right out of his hand. Of course, nothing was ever completely guaranteed... But Kaden had probably already taken that into account.

Rayan folded his arms as the lesser thugs made their departure- but was admittedly taken by surprise as one of them drew a knife at him. Small time shit, but in a crowd like this? The white cat hopped down from the dragon head on to the back of an oversized blue crystal unicorn.

He didn't catch the other guy draw and fire his gun, but Rayan did drop to the ground and shoot out a solid kick at the guy, with enough force to break a kneecap. The Fuck?!

The gun fire made Riska instinctively cover her ears, as everything began to unfold before her. Things were happening so quickly; her attention mainly on the grunt as she watched him with the knife. Not for long though as it was somehow shot from his hand, causing the man to lose a finger in the process. Blood. Then a loud cry of agony as the dumbass was now falling to the ground, unfortunately towards Riska herself.

In a bit of a hasty panic she quickly shot a punch, connecting with the guy's jaw to avoid him falling anywhere near her. This guy was a human punching bag at this point, flung in multiple directions from attacks at different angles.

Riska took a step back as the grunt groaned and yelped in pain, attempting to hold his now broken kneecap and bleeding hand. Her eyes darted towards the other two gentlemen. Not entirely sure what should be said? "Sorry." Was all she managed to say at that moment. Feeling like all this trouble was due to herself. It was quite frustrating. Freedom being restricted due to cases like these. She's was beginning to understand her peoples customs a bit better now.

The exchange seemed to be over, the thug a broken and bloody mess almost as soon as soon as he had tried to attack. Now there were other problems to deal with, and Kaden looked around at commotion they had caused in the crowd behind them. There were quite a few people wondering what had just happened and a few more whose shocked screams would no doubt bring even more trouble from the local law or anyone who fancied themselves a hunter.

Kaden's gun was quickly holstered and he covered it with his cloak. The smart thing to do now would be to disappear into the crowd and take the next shuttle off world, but the thought of doing so seemed ignominious. While the other figure who came to the blue woman's aid seemed able to handle his or herself, the woman herself seemed far more vulnerable. Could she fight? Certainly, but if Kaden and Rayan hadn't shown up to aid her who knows what would have happened?

"We need to leave now."

Kaden's harsh whisper was meant to shock them into action, while not being overheard by those nearby. He urged them both to follow with a hand gesture, then turned and began to maneuver himself through the crowd and away from the situation.

A woman cried out in unnecessary anguish as someone in the crowd elbowed her aside in the fray, on which note all hell broke loose. Rayan scrambled up to their feet cursing about blood on their new leather. They shook the ringing from the gunshot out of their ear and gave a nod to Riska. They didn't have time for Rayan to properly shirk off a thank you as the crowd really started to churn.

Rayan stuck a cold hand out for Riska to grab before starting after Kaden.

Scream of a woman brought Riska back to reality. As if all the sounds, sights and smells around her weren't on pause anymore. Adrenaline kicking in as she looked to Kaden, urging them to leave, he began maneuvering through the crowd. An outstretched hand caught her attention from the corner of her eye as she turned to Rayan and gripped his hand tightly like a lifeline without hesitation. She didn't have a choice right now. And she had to admit, he was quite pretty; yet handsome at the same time? Would it be rude to assume he was a he? Well, she'd surely be corrected later, not that gender bothered her. The other gentleman had more masculine features; he had the look to him that showed he could handle himself well and had possibly been through some shit. An attractive male as well. But these were thoughts she'd possibly consider when she didn't feel like he life was being threatened despite the situation probably not being as bad as she thought.

Brow furrowed, crimson orbs alert and darting around cautiously as she followed the two through the crowds. She didn't look back. She just wanted to get the hell out of here. And apologise as well as thank the two properly later.

Where should they go? Kaden was leading, but he had no real destination in mind. He hadn't been on Port Kanderdam more than a few hours and had no idea where they could safely take shelter. The local law enforcement office? Even if the Philosopher King miraculously stayed blind to the fact Kaden was in such a place, he would bet a finger that either the biker or the blue woman had some sort of criminal charge on them. Perhaps a small, sleazy bar? Almost certainly connected to criminal gangs, but perhaps they could find one that wasn't connected to the thugs they just had a run-in with.

It was risky, but it would give them a place to lay low long enough to think of a better solution if no-one in it would turn them in for cash, and such places tended to have shoddy and broken surveillance equipment. In fact...

Kaden led them into a quiet street, around a corner from any prying eyes. He then turned to Rayan, his eyes reading. "We need to find a place to lay low for a while. Something tells me you might know of a place?"

Rayan nodded once and popped the leather collar of his jacket up, "Yeah I know a spot. Turf, so it's cool." He peered around the corner to check to see if they were being followed. So far so good. He didn't notice the glimmer of white as it assembled into the form of a cat high on a building edge above, nor did he notice the cat disappear once their destination was set.

"S'Called Saphira's Speakeasy, it's right up on Besteden," This time Rayan flashed Riska a grin, "You'll slip under the radar fersure."

Riska had no idea where the two were leading her, and the more off road it felt, the more on edge she became. Her red hues darting from Rayan to Kaden, constantly looking back and forth, at all directions. Riska still felt exposed and couldn't shake the anxious feeling that someone was about to jump them at any moment. The idea of trusting complete strangers was something that never came to mind before venturing to this place.

The female thought she saw a glimmer of white; squinting for a moment until the male she held onto spoke. Her lips pursed together, bottom lip tucking in slightly as she was a bit taken aback by the man's confidence shown by that grin. He knew what he was doing. They both seemed to, and Riska couldn't help but envy that. She simply gave him an attempted confident nod in return as they finally arrived at what she hoped to be a safe place to catch her breath from the previous events.

"Can you lead us there? I don't know enough about this place," Kaden asked while peering around cautiously. He was still a little on edge, but perhaps it was best to be. He could tell that Riska was too, though he couldn't get quite as good a read on Rayan to tell either way. Still, the adrenaline would help their reaction time and a little fear would keep them alive.

Should they set off, Kaden would follow them and maintain a position at the rear. It was the most dangerous position, but with Rayan needing to lead from the front it was also the best for him to take. "Hopefully no-one cares enough about that thug to come after us," he said to the two of them, his attempt at reassurance. "And plus, his allies didn't seem to want to attack us with just themselves there. If they do come after us again, I don't think it will be yet."

Of course, when and if they eventually did, it would be a much more difficult fight to deal with.

"Nah, they scrubs," Rayan shot over a shoulder, giving Riska's hand a squeeze. They just hoped nobody noticed that Rayan in the flesh got into the scuffle. Rayan was supposed to be keeping their proverbial nose clean.

"That's true.." The blue skinned female finally spoke up in response to Kaden. Why didn't the others try and help the grunt that tried to take them on alone? Were they scared of Kaden and Rayan? Should she be scared of them too? Too many questions and curiosities flooded her mind. All interrupted by the firm squeeze on her hand followed by Rayan's response. Was he trying to reassure her? Or hide the truth? Perhaps she should try and have some faith in the one's who saved her ass. Riska smiled softly to show some form of understanding as they headed north into Besteden Boulevard.

Kaden kept quiet as he followed the two, his concentration instead on the possibility of an ambush. It was unlikely, but there was still a chance - and Kaden needed to make sure he was ready. On top of that he had little to say to either Rayan or Riska. He had gotten involved because of a sense of duty, but other than their predicament he knew nothing about either of them. It was probably safer if none of them talked about themselves - especially for them.

When they finally stopped at the sapphire building, he took one last look around and then followed the two of them inside.

Rayan slinked their way in, going beyond the hostess to a high-walled circular booth. It was one of many, intimately lit by a glowing blue crystal in the center of the table. They motioned Riska to slide her way in.

"Safe here. Turf," Rayan nodded to Kaden. The owner of this establishment was very high up in hi affiliations.b

Riska felt she could relax even just a little now that they had reached a safer location. Slinking down into the booth, her shoulders rolling back with a sigh of relief. Her crimson orbs looking to Rayan and Kaden, before looking aroudn the establishment curiously. One might think she was acting child like by how fidgety she was from trying to see strange and unfamiliar items at different angles. Everything here was so foreign. Riska still couldn't help but like this strange feeling. A mixture of excitement and anxiety. Her stomach knotting uncomfortably while her heart fluttered uncontrollably. The Ciguapa still had a lot to adjust to, it was a lot to take in.

"Safe here. Turf." Her eyes darted back to the two men and she calmed herself a little, as best she could. Riska thought she was familiar with modern technology. But the technology back in the mountains wasn't anything like what she saw here. Her red hues fixated on the glowing sapphire crystal in the middle of their table, watching it's glow dance against the objects around it. One might by able to finally notice more details on the Ciguapa. Like the strange swirls of black, tattoo like markings, that crept down from her neck to her shoulders, drapping down her chest and back. These markings played an important part of her peoples lives, they helped with their abilities and were a significant custom and symbol of their people. "What is this place exactly?" She finally spoke up, uncertain of the kind of building they had just entered.

Kaden sat down with them, suddenly bathed in the warm blue glow as he took a moment to examine his new companions. Rayan's feminine features seemed all the more central suddenly, and though Kaden was reasonably sure that Rayan was a male... He wasn't certain by any means. Kaden wasn't usually one to dwell on or care about such things and he didn't, except for the realization that perhaps he should be careful with how he addressed the biker-looking stranger.

He examined Riska next. The blue light accented the colour of her skin, reminding him somehow of art, and making her look like she belonged comfortably under that light far more than Rayan or Kaden ever would. Her crimson eyes stood out, so boldly that he was sure he would still see them even if he was to close his own - which were a deep, unnatural, supernatural blue. A thick ocean covering a void, and the opposite of hers.

Eventually he spoke up, following with his own question. "Who runs this place? Are we actually safe here?"

Before Rayan could provide an answer, a blue stiletto clicked down on the floor at the mouth of their booth. Immediately followed was a beautiful woman with long blue hair, in a deep blue velvet dress. Her dark bronze skin shimmered when it caught the light. She slowly postured her hands on her hips and slung a coy smile at Rayan before aiming it at Kaden.

"You're lookin' at her, honey! Now, what do these new friends of yours prefer to drink on?" Saphira looked from Kaden to Riska. Her smile turned a little tight lipped, but business was business. Saphira was all aware of the stigmas. She didn't agree with them, but had to secure her money in the same respect. Something about the color blue really had people in Kanderdam feeling one type of way or another. Saphira blamed the crystals.

Saphira was prepared to take their drink orders. She leaned up against the table a little too close to Rayan. Rayan finessed away the minuscule scroll she dropped in their lap. Why did she have to communicate like that, all fancy and complex? No matter that they were all secure beyond measure. Rayan rolled their eyes and excused themselves.

"Yeah, throw it on my tab- I gotta piss," As Rayan walked towards the bathrooms a rock hit their gut. The Package. The Errand. The job jacket reputation and that beautiful head Rayan had between the shoulders! He was in deep shit.