Crock Ignitus Dile's Story

Giselle nodded and retreated back into silence when the girl, who latter introduced herself as Jack, was done asking questions. She nearly jumped when Amelia spoke to her and after processing her words she nodded. She would do what the woman asked if the moment presented itself. Her talent was gaining information but never being seen. A woman who spoke rarely generally stayed out of people's curiosity and was rarely questioned. Especially if said woman wore what some would consider gentleman's clothing. Skirts were rubbish around a barn and she had adopted the style she wore now back when she first started working there. She was pulled out of her thoughts when the man suddenly stood and asked if anyone was a Muradnian soldier. An audible growl that had the likeness of a large vicious canine escaped her throat and her ears had elongated and grown black fur before she could stop herself. The question he presented had confirmed that he was not familiar with the Esper and suggested that he could potentially be a threat to those around him if he chose to run and tell the guards about the situation. It was a question that had startled her and caused the growl and partial transformation, yet as quick as her ears had turned they were back to their normal pink skin and round shape.

"Excuse me," she muttered, faking a cough as she took another sip of beer before finally adding, "No soldiers here."

As she sat feeling embarrassed for her sudden outburst she realized that another man had entered the bar and sat not far away. Nearly every hair on her skin was standing on end and her muscles had tensed, yet she did her best to regain her calm demeanor from before. It wasn't that the new addition to the bar was causing her to feel on edge, it was the sudden question that was asked before combined with the room being flooded with people whose alignment with the government were not obvious. After downing the last of her glass she ordered her third, having forgotten her rule of only having two for the night. She comforted herself by patting her shoulder, making sure the pistol she had in her shoulder holster was still there. Feeling the hard weapon she felt a bit of relief and allowed her muscles to ease a bit to resume her silent observation of those around her. She had seen far too many 'Outlaw Roundups' in her time and knew that the one thing that saved her tail was being observant.

Kayne was glad that nothing came of his blunt question, he wasn't in a fighting mood. "Thanks, so I indeed found the Esper." Kayne had finally felt pretty good, having stumbled upon what would end up being his information hub for some time. But the new patron gave him a bad vibe. "A gunslinger..." Kayne new that this guy disliked mages, he could see it in his eyes as the new man looked at Amelia. He leaned over to Jack, motioning her to listen. "Hey, I think we should get out of here... That guy appears to be bad news." He slowly sat back up as to avoid grabbing the guys attention.

Kayne watched as Amelia left to handle something outside and return with a little girl, "Hmm?" Kayne was rather surprised to see someone so dark and mysterious doing something kind. What kind of spells did she use, especially to take some policemen out in a matter of seconds with much ruckus. "Hmm." Again, Kayne was pondering the situation and the stupidity that he used to arrive here. He didn't feel like pestering Jack again, but now he really was getting weary of the new guy. "I'm gonna head out, I'd like you to come with me, please... I'll explain outside." He looked at Jack, giving her a look that said, 'Trust me'. He hopped up off his seat, and motioned for her to follow. "Alright, it's been fun!" He proceeded to walk towards the door, as to exit the Esper.

"I get that, you're just abit confusing." Kayne's smile quickly died when he noticed Amelia had been following them. "When did you..." Kayne stood there with a look of stuper, but recomposing himself pretty quickly. "Alright, well... I think we can handle it, Miss... Silver Hair." Kayne felt stupid not knowing the silver haired girl's name. He looked back down at Jack, all that really mattered was that she stuck with him. He again smiled having seen her smile.

Then, a gun shot rang through the silent air, ringing in Kayne's ears. "The Esper!" Kayne immediately turned to run towards the Esper, but Jack stopped him and ran herself, "You can't," Rather than wasting his time talking, he took after Jack. "Jack!" As soon as he called her name, she turned and fell into his arms. "Did you see him?" Kayne had a serious look in his eyes, his expression almost resembled that of man intending to kill. "I figured, stay close to me." He let go of Jack and ran towards the Gunslinger, but lost track of him. He was hidden among the crowd of fleeing civilians. "Damn, bastard got away." He continued to examine the scene, trying to find a hint of where the gunslinger fled. The crowd was dying down and nothing remained, other than a mysterious hooded mage who was healing the wounded man. "The police are already here, they haven't noticed us, so let's go." He lifted Jack and carried her to the nearby alleyway where Kayne had napped the previous night. "Sorry for the hero act, I can't stand watching people die... but I couldn't risk our capture." He cracked a small, but warm smile, letting Jack down. "So you're ok, right?"

Dallan Magnus; Hightower, Murandia

Just leaving a tacticians meeting with Emperor Erich; Dallan steps out of the tacticians chamber, "Hmph... Things are getting rather dull, I wish something fun would happen." He walked towards the window overlooking the city. He sees the setting sun and how the town square shops are beginning to close. "I wonder where that green haired assassin ran off to." Dallan continues his overlook of the town, noticing how the large crowd in town square was suddenly dispersing. His expression changed from annoyed to intrigued, adding that sort of evil smile that villains have. The delay in sight vs sound became apparent when he just now heard the faint ringing gunshot. "Oh, so there's a gunslinger in our midst. Interesting." Dallan stepped away from the window and found the spiral staircase leading to the main hall. "It's time to start a private investigation." Dallan smiled as he strutted through the main hall, for he was the 3rd Commander of the Muradnian Military.

He exited the Hightower, proceeding through the palace gardens all the way to the main gate. "Let's begin." Dallan became exhilarated, finally having someone to hunt, other than the rogue mage trash that would stumble onto Muradnian soil. He began the rather long trek through the side streets to reach the town square, which lie due west. The darkness had a knack for consuming most side streets as night fell, "Ignitio!" A bright red fireball spawned in Dallan's hand. He smiled when he conjured the fireball, "Ah, much better." He ended up in the town square, which happened to be invested with the police. "Stand aside, Dallan is here!" The police immediately stopped their work and allowed Dallan to approach the dead body. "So, this man indeed was struck by a bullet." He smiled, "Excellent. Clean this up, take the man to the palace infirmary, I will take matters into my own hands." He dismissed the police and walked towards the fountain that laid in the center of town square. He sat on the edge of the fountain, awaiting anyone... or anything that would show up. "A witch, a gunslinger, and a healer... I wonder what other trash will show up." Dallan sat there smiling.

Giselle had been sitting inside when she heard the gunshot and she had a slight feeling as to who it was that had caused all the ruckus. She downed the last of her drink and placed it down on the counter before standing to head out the door.

"Aye, don't do anything stupid." the bartender asked as she reached the door.

"You know very well I can't promise that," Giselle said with a small smile, "Keep my stool open would you?"

She didn't wait for a response as she slipped out the door to be confronted by chaos. She paid no attention to the men swarming about the wounded man, instead she was searching for the one she believed to be the culprit. There, she saw him. The gunslinger was walking away from the scene and she nearly followed him before she remembered that last look he had given her before he left. He would recognize her. Quickly she darted past Amelia and into a nearby alleyway, almost crashing into Jack and Kayne as she did so. She stared at them for a moment, wondering if she should ask them for assistance in following the gunslinger but it happened to be just at that moment when Jack said she didn't ever want to see said gunslinger again. Well, there went that idea. She didn't have time to linger and decided it best to get a move on with her 'chase' after the gunslinger.

"Excuse me," she said as her body shifted once more.

Her clothes were replaced by black fur and her body's bones snapped and cracked as she changed. She had just barely finished changing before she bounded out of the alleyway after the Gunslinger. There was a crowd forming directly in her way and she quickly moved around them only to see a fountain in her way. She didn't slow, jumping onto the fountain's edge and nearly slamming into the man sitting there. She jumped over him at the last minute however, landing back on the ground to continue her sprint. She saw one of the girl's from the pub running quickly towards the fountain and Giselle almost stopped to see what was going on. She quickly reminded herself that the Gunslinger was most important. He knew the location of the Esper and after the commotion he placed outside it she had a feeling he didn't have good plans for the pub or its patrons. She slowed when she neared him, keeping a safe distance back, but she wouldn't be surprised if he noticed her following him. She wasn't trying to be discreet, her plan was to confront him after all.

Giselle managed to follow the Gunslinger to an estate and watched him remove all of his weapons and place them into his coat. For a moment she was confused as to why he was hiding his weapons, but it soon made sense when he raised the gate to the estate and entered. He appeared as though he was like any other man of wealth, and if this estate was indeed his than wealth was something he had. She wondered why a wealthy man as himself would need a disguise, but her thoughts were interrupted as a couple maids exited the estate in haste. She quickly jumped onto the wall surrounding the estate to avoid being trampled by the maids. Now, sitting on the wall, she had a clearer view of the estate and could see the man standing in the doorway looking in her direction. Deciding that it would potentially be better to 'eavesdrop' first before confronting, Giselle faked the 'innocent cat' act and began to lick her paw as if she were any other cat cleansing itself on the wall to a weird man's estate.

Giselle noticed the man's look of distaste at her and rolled her eyes. What was it that people had against cats in this city anyways? She didn't linger on the moment any longer for the man had entered the house. She knew that it wouldn't be very easy to eavesdrop on someone if there was a wall separating her from them. Carefully she jumped down the wall and was about to try and figure out a way inside before she noticed a window cracked open just above her. She considered jumping inside but realized that if the man didn't like cats, he would most certainly not enjoy one inside of his home. Knowing that he had shot a person randomly in the street, she didn't think he would have any qualms about shooting a cat in his home. She considered going in as a mouse, small enough where she wouldn't be noticed easily but too small to defend herself in case she was noticed. After a long debate she settled on turning into a falcon. Many of the rich nobles of the city owned them and it wouldn't be too random for one to 'escape' and end up possibly in another person's house. Well, actually it would be pretty random. Still, it was a long shot and she wasn't about to turn back now.

Her black fur slowly turned to feathers and once again her bones cracked and shifted until soon there stood a white speckled falcon in the cat's place. She stretched out her wings and hobbled on her claws for a moment, mentally cursing as she almost fell over. It had been a long time since she had been a bird. She just hoped she remembered how to fly. She flapped her wings and took off from the ground, circling once lowly before flying through the window. The harsh change in light from outside to inside caused a lag in the adjustment of her vision and before she could properly see inside the room she had already crashed into a large pan that had been sitting on the counter below the window. By the time she realized what she had flown into it was too late and the pan, as well as herself, slid off the counter and onto the ground with a loud clatter. She released a screech of pain, the pan had flipped and somehow had managed to land on her wing. More and more she was beginning to dread her decision to follow the man and began to question the necessity of getting information as she stretched out her injured wing. She let out a series of small chirps as pain flooded her and she decided it best to keep the wing outstretched as she hobbled along the kitchen floor, searching for a place to hide. The man surely heard all of the commotion.

((Hope it's alright she flew into his house. :]))

Giselle realized that her hobbling aimlessly around the room didn't get her anywhere and the man she had been following was standing in the doorway. Better yet, he held a gun. She chirped and did her very best to appear as if she were a simple bird that had managed to fly straight through a window and crash into a pan. It happened every day, right? She was ready to turn into a mouse and run away if the man decided to shoot her, she figured it would be her best bet to avoid a bullet. A mouse was a small target after all. Then again he could step on her too. She hoped that he would fall for the dumb bird act, she didn't know any other wizard or witch who could turn into animals and she had kept her abilities a secret for so long. Giselle, you dumb idiot. You're going to be a fried chicken tonight, was the pessimistic voice at the back of her mind. Still she hoped he wouldn't shoot her at the least.

Giselle observed him closely, not sure whether or not she should trust him. After all, he had been a gunslinger one moment and then playing as a man of wealth the next. She decided that she didn't have much of a choice, as most things seemed to be as of recently.

"I see," she began slowly, adjusting her hurt arm before looking back at him, "If you promise to bring no harm to the Esper then I have seem to have forgotten the incident you speak of. The well being of the Esper and its occupants are the only things that concern me."

As to his different personas she didn't seem to care too much. Yes, it did spark her curiosity but it wasn't enough to land her into even more trouble.

(OOC: I'm tired of waiting for Aixulram... I'm just going to say she fell asleep.)

Kayne suddenly awoke in an ice cold sweat. His heart was racing, his sight blurry, and his breathing staggered. He shakily arose, leaning against the tree and rubbing his face. "Jack!" He moved his hands and found her lying next to him, asleep. "Oh thank god..." He rubbed his face again and pulled out his book from his satchel. He began writing, stopping at about one full page and tearing out the page. He kneeled down and tucked it into Jack's hand making sure she'd find it upon waking up. "Sorry, but there's something I gotta do... Brivara." Kayne had cast a protection spell, knowing that it'd keep Jack safe until she woke. "Alright." He lifted his arm, with his palm facing straight up, "Exec Posit Gunslinger!" A faint aura surrounded Kayne and faded, the same aura appeared just outside Crock's Manor, but this time Kayne appeared. "Phew, I'm guessing it worked..." He walked up to the door and knocked, hoping the gunslinger would answer.