Temaria

Piper couldn't help but feel incredibly confused. There wasn't a curfew? Nothing to keep them safe after dark? The concept of being able to legally go wherever she wanted after 10:00 PM baffled her. Breaching curfew where she lived could have led to an arrest or possibly a fine.. why wasn't there one here?

She couldn't dwell on it long enough though. She had to focus on mustering the willpower not to headbutt Simon's arrogant face for his inane comments. She swore she could have felt her head leaning back to do it too. "Perhaps," She grumbled, "we're lucky that your idiotic plans and fragile sense of command didn't get us in deeper shit."

Though she had begun to ponder what Axel had said. Did they have what it took to be a proper gang? Surely not, they were too young and too weak to actually gain control over any areas. Recruiting members would be difficult for that reason, and... Piper couldn't really see herself as an actual gang member. She'd been deadset on being a pilot or scientist her entire life. Throwing that away was almost akin to suicide in her eyes. But then again, she'd never really had people to talk to either... despite how much they aggravated her, it was still nice.

"Maybe.." She mumbled in reply.

Axel pondered Simon's words, it was true, they would need a lot more members if they wanted to take over. And that would mean more Humans and Aerians, not just Elementals. Axel couldn't help but admit, they were't as bad as people said they were. Sure he still hated them, though he couldn't say the idea that actually starting a gang with them wasn't too far from his mind. A smirk came over Axel's face.

"What the hell would we even call ourselves..?"

Simon just chuckled at Piper's rebuttal. She looked like she wanted to punch his grin off his face, and Simon couldn't help but find it funny. He took some pleasure in knowing that he seemed to get to her just as much as she got to him. It was petty, sure, but that's just the kid of person Simon Redcaster is.

"I don't care what we call ourselves, honestly, so long as its something people can respect..." He said, shoving the responsibility of naming a gang off onto someone else, "Like... Warehouse Weasels or something..."

"Ah. So while we're doing our best to make our gang sound gross and feeble, why don't we just stay on the topic of generally small, slinky animals?" Piper had rolled her eyes, but there was a small smile on her face before she seemed to genuinely think about this. "Small... generally unintimidating animals that need to scavenge for food and run around in small packs..." she mused, letting herself trail off entirely.

Axel nodded, gaining inspiration from both of his ideas as he furrowed his brow his mind doing the ultimate brainstorm all together. The words Piper said fueled his mind even more until he got it, snapping and jumping into the air with a wide grin on his face. "I GOT IT!" He then looked at them nodding slowly "The Lion cats." He said slowly and graciously as he kept glancing between either of them waiting for their cheers and praise.

"... Okay, that's an awful suggestion," Simon deadpanned, shaking his head at Axel's gang name, "Okay, Pipes, you're in charge of the name since I don't care enough to want to help and Axel's ideas are likely to be bad."

Now that Simon's shoved responsibility of naming the group even further off of him, he quickens his pace, walking ahead of the other two. By now the Gambling District was in view, many multi-storied buildings with intricate decorations strung up to catch the eye and lure people in. Though the district wasn't as popular or glamorous as it would be come night time, there were still a good amount of people weaving through the street and disappearing into some of the gambling dens or clubs.

"Alright, we're almost there, enough goofing around," Simon shouts back to them, "We need to learn as much as we can about these gangs, alright?"

Piper gave a sigh in response, pinching the bridge of her nose. "We'll name ourselves after we do something other than get in trouble with the... 'top dogs'..." She'd mumbled, following after him with Axel at her side. She had to admit, the buildings did look nice... the Aeolus Isle didn't really have anything like gambling dens. At least none she knew about.

"Sure!" She called back with partial enthusiasm, hoping that they wouldn't get thrown out after a couple seconds for being too young. "Lead the way, Redcaster."

Axel scoffed as Simon deaded his name before it even had five seconds to live. "I wouldn't expect a Human to understand how great that name was." He said folding his arms. Usually he would have spent the rest of the day pouting and angry that an Aerian had gained the responsibility of naming their group. Though as his eyes caught glimpse of the many buildings and the intricate designs they beheld, he couldn't help but look in awe. It was different in part from the architecture of Illmori, yet it had it's own allure.

Axel stiffened up behind him as Simon called out, if it was time to get serious it was time to get serious. He walked closely behind him, standing tall over the two with a scowl that meant business. When secretly inside he was jumping in joy with all smiles as he felt like he was some sort of powerful guardian, walking through the gambling district with these two. He glanced from his left to his right, the sights he were seeing making him slowly fall in love with the place more. It wasn't as packed as he would have expected, probably because of how early it was, though there were still people and people to be met.

Axel found himself giving a curt nod to anyone he made eye contact with, though he kept that scowl as they walked. Axel cleared his throat behind them and spoke up "Where are we going too first.. I'm enjoying this place and we haven't even taken five steps."

Simon turned opened his mouth to answer Axel's question, only to be cut off by a sudden shout in the crowd behind them, then followed by the sounds of many people moving at once and a scuffle. Simon quickly whipped his head towards the sound to understand what was going on. The crowd of people suddenly separated, those not wanting to take part in the fight giving room to those who are.

Six people remained, and they were all clearly gang members. Three of them had the distinguishing yellow article of clothing to identify themselves as members of Val's Wasps, while the other three were of another gang. The three that were fighting the wasps wore dull, worn out red jackets, their faces all smudged with what seemed to be oil. The two sides traded blows, either swinging with their fists or with any blunt weapons they brought with. The crowd formed a circle around the six fighters, not wanting to get too close but not wanting to stop watching either. In doing this, they've also now cut off the kid's view of the fight for the most part, only able to get a few glimpses through the crowd. Simon turned back to Axel and Piper, his eyes lit up with excitement.

"Work your way through this crowd and watch this fight," He said, already backing away from them to get into the crowd, "Find out what gang is fighting the Wasps, and if they're one of the big three."

And with that, Simon disappeared into the crowd of people, not waiting up for the other two.

Piper grit her teeth as her eyes narrowed into a hard glare. "You think I'm going to get anywhere close to that fight just because you--"

But he was already gone, and Piper was grumbling at thin air. There was an overwhelming urge to follow after him, to disobey his orders out of nothing but spite. Fuck Simon Redcaster, but even more so, fuck her own curiosity for getting the better of her. As she made her way through the crowd, weaving through strangers, she continued reminding herself that she was doing this for herself, not because Simon ordered her to. Fuck him, she would find out what was going on because she was genuinely curious about it.

Though she already had an inkling about what was going on... Lying to the leader of that gang the previous night was probably not the best idea, and it led Piper to believe that they may have accidentally started a gang war.

The sound of insults being thrown and fists connecting to flesh caused his ears to perk up as a small smile crept on to his lips. Simon didn't even have to finish what he was saying before Axel began to force his way through the crowd, returning the angered glares with another menacing one, his hair lightly ablaze. It took his slow mind a moment to process what was going on, though as he got nearer he decided to stop in the crowd just at this point. One, because he was tall enough that he didn't need to move through more people. And two, he sure as hell didn't want any of those yellow wearing cunts to notice his face and call him out.

Axel watched as the two gangs traded punches, admiring some of the fighting as he looked generally entertained. He couldn't even help but chant out "Bash his head in!" or "Stomp on his soul!" occasionally whenever the fighters would get entangled again. From what he remembered from the previous night, the yellow gang was the wasps and the red gang who he had guessed were the hounds.

After watching someone get their head smashed to the side with a blunt weapon, Axel tried to pan his eyes around the crowd to catch where Simon and Piper had went off to. He used his height as an advantage though still went on the tips of his toes to get a better look. He spotted what he thought was Piper, that scowl on her face confirming it was her, though he couldn't find Simon. He cursed silently under his breath and dropped back down flat footed. He glanced to the side of him at a stubby man who was also watching the fight. "Oy.. These hounds back it again eh? Why don't they pick a fight with that other gang... What was their name again?" Axel asked as if he had such a bad memory he couldn't remember one of the top dogs names. He didn't think further about how this man would react, his only hope was to get more information on the gangs here at Tineburgh.

The stubby man Axel spoke to turned to him. The man looked rather excited at the action he was watching, giving a soft smirk before answering, "You thinking of the Alley Sharks? Nobody fights the Alley Sharks, not the Theater Wasps, not the Hell Hounds, not anyone."

The fighters in the ring of people continued their brawl, bashing on each other with reckless abandon. The Wasps seemed to have the advantage in the fight, having been the ones to start the fight in the first place. The Hounds, however, were clearly able to hold their own. Both sides had suffered their own injuries at this point, but neither seemed willing to back down. The stubby man looked to Axel again, now seeing him as a partner for conversation.

"Word on the street is that the Hounds stole some money from the Wasps," He said, leaning close to Axel, as if what he was telling was some secret, "The Hounds make enough money on their own, so they'd only steal from the Wasps if they wanted to stir up trouble."

As Axel chatted up his new friend, Simon made his way to the inner ring. If either Piper or Axel were to scan the crowd again for him, they'd see him clearly in the front of the crowd, watching the fight as up close as he can get. He leaned over and whispered to any of the people around him, getting small tidbits of information from them, similar to what Axel was getting from the man. These were the Hell Hounds, the rumor is they stole money, and this could mean war. Simon smirked, continuing to watch the fight with interest.

Piper had been pointedly glaring at Simon the second he came into view. What in the ever-loving fuck was he doing, getting close to the fight? Surely the Wasp member would see him at some point and hell, if the two top dogs both figured out what 'his' little gang had done, she figured there was a good chance they'd make amends over his dead body.

She tried to gesture to him to move back, move back! But had to stop whenever it seemed like she was drawing attention to herself. Lucky for her, she wasn't really unique appearance-wise aside from the goggles, and she didn't figure many would remember her face.

Curiosity itched at her, but it seemed like the other two were already getting information, and she could gauge what had caused this fight on her own. Now she just had to wait for their next move..

Axel scoffed at the name Alley sharks chewing on the inside of his lip in anger at how cool these fools had made their gangs sound. "Oh yeah.. I almost forgot those sharks aren't to be fucked with." He said already losing interest in the conversation with the man, though his ears perked up to listen to facts that he slightly already knew. He folded his arms looking towards the man a smirk on his face. "Well maybe the Hounds are fed up with sharing this damn city eh?" He said "Maybe they are trying to push their territory further."

Axel then rolled out his shoulders as he observed, now catching a glimpse of Simon at the front of the crowd. He shook his head at the sight of him, though didn't register in his mind yet the fact that one of the Wasps could remember him from yesterday. He then turned back to the man "Val.. I wouldn't want her as my enemy would you?" He asked the man "Between her and the leader of the hounds? I'd say she's worse. Then again I don't know much about the leader of the hounds.. What do you think?"

The man chuckled softly, reacting as if Axel had just told a solid joke. He was clearly amused by the conversation, his attention split between watching the fight and answering Axel's questions, "Between Val and Quinn, I would certainly say she's the one you should look out for. However, I'd rather piss both of them off then piss ol' Volner off. Those Alley Sharks know a thing or two about fighting."

Meanwhile, Simon hadn't moved from his spot at the front of the crowd. He caught Piper's eye through the crowd as she waved him down, giving her a smirk and a roll of his eyes. He understood what she was trying to warn him of, being that he shouldn't be so close to the fight, but he had his reasons for being here. Firstly, in the heat of battle he doubted that any of the Wasps would be scanning the crowd for familiar faces, so Simon just had to make sure to slide back into the crowd some time before the fight ended. Secondly, he wanted to be close to this. He didn't want to miss any of this fight, and since he couldn't just tower over the crowd like Axel he had to be close to see it. And lastly, he took some enjoyment out of how Piper was so openly furious at him being this close. Yes, Simon didn't plan on moving from this spot for a bit.

As for the fighters, one of the Hounds was on the ground after a particularly clean hit to the side of their head by one of the Wasps. Now it was three on two, but the Wasps looked worn out themselves. Regardless, they continued to swing at one another and dodge around the others' blows.

Piper almost felt bad for the fight her group had caused. She didn't know much about the other two gangs, but surely this wasn't necessary... right? Then again, there wasn't any way to fix it without just ousting herself and the rest of her little 'group' from the safe spot they'd created for themselves.

Simon refused to move from his spot, and in reply she decided to give him the nastiest glare she could muster. In her mind, she looked intimidating and probably someone who should be listened to; in reality, she just looked a lot angrier than she was five minutes prior.

"Insufferable prick.." She grumbled as she shoved her clenched fists into the pockets of her jacket and continued to watch the fight.

Axel nodded, now listening to every word the man had to say. This was valuable information to bring back to the group, and the fight at hand was starting to bore him. Human fights were always so dull, they lacked fire... And ice, and earth, and wind.. Basically they lacked the spirit of an elemental. He had to admit though as he watched a wasp eliminate another hound, these yellow jacketed cunts did appear dangerous. And through the words the man was saying, he didn't want to know what the sharks could bring to the table if it ever came down to a scuffle with one of them. Suddenly thoughts of the group taking over Tineburgh themselves seemed a little more impossible. But then again, that thought only lasted for seconds in his small mind.

Axel rubbed his jaw, nodding slowly as he returned his gaze back to the man. "I agree with you on that.. Three Alley sharks tried to rob me once.. Of course they were no match for I, I took them out with ease.. But they did put up a half decent fight." Axel boasted with his fake story, before sighing and patting the man on the shoulder. "May your days be free of robbery little man." he said as if this was a normal parting before he turned away from the man and waded deeper into the crowd. He had to find Piper and Simon.

The man Axel was speaking with would just chuckle more, giving the boy a friendly wave as he leaves, "And yours as well, kid. Keep your nose out of trouble!"

By now, the fight in the middle had a clear winner. Another one of the Hounds had gone down to the Wasps, making it a three on one situation. However, the remaining Hound didn't seem to have any intentions of turning and running, and they kept swinging at the Wasps as they approached. The crowd, on the other hand, seemed to be getting anxious. It had grown largely in size since the three kids had first come across it, as people had come out of the clubs surrounding them at the news of a fight. Now, a warning spread throughout the crowd, but before it could reach any of the kids it was too late. A sharp whistle pierced through the noise of the fight, the entire crowd turning their heads in the direction it came from. Standing there was a group of Constables from the City Watch. Obviously news of the fight in the streets had reached them, and they came to break up whatever remained. Upon seeing the Watch, the crowd erupted into chaos, everyone pushing past each other to get out of the way and avoid the possibility of arrest. People in Tineburgh knew not to get in the way of the Gangs, and the Watch was essentially just another gang here. Only difference being it was funded by the city.

As the crowd of people broke apart, Simon pushed his way through the flow of people, looking for Piper or Axel in the crowd. As he had locked eyes with Piper, he knew roughly where she had been and was able to find her quickly. Once he was close, he lashed out and closed his hand around her wrist tightly, not wanting to lose each other in the mayhem. He scowled at her, seeming not too pleased at what's happening around them.

"Where is Axel?" He asked, already whipping his head around to look for the big guy, but finding it difficult among all these swarming adults, "I want to get out of here, maybe into one of the clubs or an alleyway. Anywhere to disappear."

Simon's hasty grip couldn't have come at a better time. As soon as the Watch had arrived, Piper had begun to visibly panic. Violent fear struck deep in her as well as a screaming sense of "I told you so" that echoed in verbatim throughout her entire being. She'd essentially froze on the spot, unmoving for a few moments before everyone had gone into a full-blown panic. She feared being knocked over, trampled, condemned to an early death.

But then came the hand of some benevolent deity to-- No. Scratch that. As she genuinely focused on her surroundings she found that it was actually just the trashy snark boy to grab her by the wrist.

He said something she could barely hear above the crowd, but she recognized 'Axel', 'out', 'club', and 'alley.' She could generally piece together what he wanted. He wanted to find Axel and go out to a club near an alley. Most likely. Probably. Who cares, fuck it.

She twisted her wrist out of his grasp, grabbing him hastily by the hand as she began to duck and weave in the direction of the crowd. After a few moments, she spotted it; the distinctive (and slightly smoked) top of his head further away in a crowd. "Axel!" She called out, though her voice was lost in the clamor, along with the Elemental's figure.

This called for drastic measures. She tried again, yelling at the top of her lungs in a piercing shriek what she hoped and prayed would reach Axel's ears and prompt him to react.

"AXEL BOWYER IS A COWARDLY WEAKLING WHO FOLLOWS FALSE GODS!"

The chaos erupting around Axel only seemed to fuel his excitement. He felt himself forcefully shoving through people that where also shoving through people themselves just for fun, his mind had briefly lost the concern of finding Piper and Simon. That was until, a man of the watch had set his eyes on Axel. With shouts for him to stop, Axel began to barrel through the crowd. The tall Elemental boy lowered his shoulder and plowed through like a ram, not giving a care to who his shoulder caught on to, and they had a flaming head to respond to.

He searched through the crowd but couldn't seem to find the two filthy Aerians. And this is exactly why Aerian's were good for nothing. He stood there in the midst of the chaos, people rushing around him as the watchmen kept shouting out to him. And then he heard it. The annoying shrill voice that seemed to pierce through the sky and noise and pop a hole straight through his eardrum. The sound of the Aer girl saying words that he was surely going to kill her for now.


With the sound of that, his head snapped towards her direction, before even more forcefully then before he rushed through the crowd. In moments the flaming head of the elemental boy was beside Piper and Simon, firey eyes glaring down at the Aerian girl. "You filthy.. No parent.. Machine lovi-" His angry rant of insults were cut short by the sound of the watchmen again. He growled, blinking down to the both of them with the fire still in his eyes "We gotta go!"

Once Axel broke through the crowd and appeared before the two of them, Simon yanked his hand free from Piper's grip, giving her another scowl. He knew it was to keep them from getting separated, but he could do without the hand-holding. He shook his head quickly, collecting his thoughts and returning focus to the situation at hand.

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Axel," He said, quickly giving the area another scan. Of course Axel would draw attention from the Watch, being the big, smoking elemental that he is. A few of the men of the Watch had shoved their way towards the gang members that had collapsed on the ground, the ones that were still standing having already fled the scene. The remaining constables had practically formed a line, cutting off the main street back the way they came. Simon groaned, turning away and pointing down the opposite side of the street, further into the club district, "Let's head down this way and find somewhere to duck into till the Watch clears out. A club, an alleyway... hell, I'll take the sewers at this point, just as long as it isn't here."

"Ah. There he is." She'd replied after seeing the angry elemental return from the depths of the crowd, though the idea of her own death kind of slowed any urge to shake her fist triumphantly in the air as a result of the glorious victory. Axel could very well kill her if he wanted to. However, a much worse fate would befall her if they allowed themselves to be caught and arrested.

She took a breath in to focus, trying to ignore the physical embodiment of flame and destruction looming just above her. Simon suggested something that prompted her to roll her eyes, muttering "Sewer rat..." under her breath. He'd wrenched his hand from her grasp, though she responded with a roll of her eyes and grabbed his wrist instead to stay together as she began hastily moving (likely) in the opposite direction of the mob to get to the alleyways and praying that she wouldn't be trampled.

Axel followed closely behind the pair in front of him, the chaos around him only fueling the flames on his head and the excitement boiling inside of him. There was no way to keep Axel calm with this much going on around him, he was practically bouncing with each step he took, and that wasn't the best way to hide from pursuing watchmen.

"Faster filthy Aerians!" He shouted out over the clamor of the crowd, his head flaring in flames once more as they rushed towards the alley, before an escaping man bashed into Axel's side. Axel stumbled almost losing sight of the pair as the large man bull rushed through him. Axel's head seemed to explode in a flare as he bore his eyes into the back of the rushing mans skull.

"I'LL RIP YOUR SPINE FROM YO-" He began to shout before he was yanked roughly into an Alley by who's hands his anger didn't have time to identify. He spat on the floor glaring at the two, the rush of fury still bubbling inside of him as he almost nearly pushed it on to them. "DID YOU NOT SEE THAT CLUMSY SKAH HEAD BASH INTO MY SIDE! ALL YOU AERIANS DO IS RUN HUH? I MUST SLAUGHTER HIM AND THE MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY FOR THE DISRESPECT HE PUT UPON ME! GUIDE MY HAND IVTRIS!" He began shouting, the loud elemental a hazard to the group that was trying to hide in this alley from the pursuing watchmen. Axel seemed to have already grown oblivious of this fact, his small brain now wired on revenge as he paced back and forth with a flaming step.

Once they had put some distance between themselves and the majority of the chaos and found an alleyway, Simon took a deep, steadying breath as he leaned against the walls of the alley. They alley they had stepped into was the space between two club buildings, back entrances to those clubs found here. Lucky for them, the sun wasn't in a position to light the space up completely, meaning they were at least harder to see than if they were in the streets, even with Axel's head practically being a camp fire. He ran a hand through his hair, letting Axel just scream for now. It's probably good for him to get it out of his system, and Simon was just happy it wasn't entirely directed at him. His mind raced with thought, putting together everything that happened in an attempt to decide how to act. After a few moments of thought, Simon finally snapped his fingers in the midst of Axel's ranting.

"Axel, stuff it. We're here to hide, not to invite the entire watch to beat us up in an alleyway," He said, pushing himself off the wall he leaned on, "Okay, we should be fine here, for now. Let's just not go into the streets for a bit. What'd you guys hear from the crowd? All I got was that the Wasps and the Hounds are fighting because of our lie."

He said the last part with a barely subdued smirk, clearly very amused with the fact that they had managed to stir up this much trouble. He knows he probably shouldn't feel so proud, because if it's revealed that they lied in the first place there'll be hell to pay from both gangs, but for now he was just swimming in cocky satisfaction.

Piper had pinched the bridge of her nose, gritting her teeth in an effort to keep herself from joining in an argument with the literally hot-headed Elemental. You won't win the fight, she told herself stubbornly. You won't win. Don't bother. Just let him cool off.

She'd come so close to letting out another cutting remark about his fanatic religion. 'Guide my hand Ivtris' indeed. Luckily, Simon had pumped out his own response, but it also got her thinking. What would the Hounds and Wasps do to them once they were found out? Maybe she could plead innocence and let the other two take their punishment for pitting two of the 'top dog' gangs against each other.

Simon, on the other hand, didn't seem worried. Why would he? It took half a brain to consider the dangers of this situation, and clearly he didn't have that.

"I hope you're just as amused after getting your face beat in for this..." She muttered under her breath before glancing around to try and find some exit, some safe spot away from the Watch.