Hide and Seek (any one person - details inside)

[Euphoria]

OoC: So this is - foremost - an espionage RP. For the most part Winona will be tracking and your character will be taking various steps to shake her. After a while it will all come out in the open and there will probably be a short tussel. I have other stuff planned, but that should keep you busy for now.

IC:

The constant smog that blocked out the sun was more than enough to shroud evil deeds. It was midday, not that anyone could tell. The modernized street-lamps had already been turned on, casting a murky orange glow over everything; not that there was anything to see. The city was built so compactly that there were only dim grey buildings and the shadows cast by them.

It was in one of these buildings that Winona met Derin. Running low on money and provisions, she had taken to performing tasks for anyone who was willing to pay her. Derin was something else, though. His career choice fitted his personality perfectly: sly, merciless and devilishly witty, Derin inspired fear in even Winona. His terrific build and piercing eyes only doubled her terror.

* * * *

“So what can I do for you?” Derin wheezed, a smouldering cigarette in his mouth.

Winona stepped out of the shadowy threshold and into the ominous glow of Derin’s only lamp. She coughed awkwardly and said, “I was wondering if I could provide you with a…service.”

Cassidy purred in agreement.

Derin only laughed, though it sounded more like a roar. “You? A little girl? I hardly think you could cut it.”

Winona felt her hands set alight behind her back. Must she remind every human on earth that she was capable? “I think you will find I am extremely suitable for the job.”

This time Derin only sighed. “Look, missy. I need fearsome assailants for this, not some little idiot that wants to be a spy.”

Winona lost her temper. The fiery hands that she had been surreptitiously concealing burst out from behind her. She heard the searing hiss of burning fabric and skin as she seized Derin’s throat. “Listen here, you idiot.” Suddenly her fear was gone, replaced by misunderstood rage. “I need this money; more than you know.” She let go of the man’s charred collar and waited for a reply.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, a wide smirk spread across Derin’s lips. “So you’re the little witch they’ve been talking about? I suppose I can give you a try then.” He spun around in his chair and dove into a cluttered bag of papers. After a few minutes he turned to face Winona again, slapping a file on the table. “This is your target,” he whispered, suddenly serious. “Find them and trail them; don’t kill until I give you the signal.”

“And what will that be?” the girl interrupted.

“Shut it! You will know when you see the signal. But go now, and find this person.” He slammed the folder into Winona’s quaking arms. “And remember, I don’t take kindly to failure.”

Winona turned around without another word, but inside she was drowning. ”What have we gotten ourselves into, Cassidy?”

OoC: My shortest post in quite a while, but I promise it will get better as we get into the swing of things.

[Daphnes]

OoC: My other battles are going sluggishly slow. So I'll be your bad guy. Character in sig.

Many Humans have problems with Dragomancers. From thinking they're monsters, to freaking out at seeing one kill a Human. The Human Wildfire recently killed was a Dragonslayer, though it wasn't obvious. He wasn't walking around in slayer armor, brandishing a sword as he walked through the city that night. However, Wildfire had been hunting him for a few days.

He disliked cities. The crowded steel buildings, and the unnatural light from the streetlamps. It was also night, which was a time he didn't like being active in. Maybe that's why the slayer's guard was down, and he wasn't wearing anymore than normal clothing.

Wildfire swooped in, and landed within feet of his victim. The Human brought out a knife, but the Dragomancer plunged his claws in the man's chest. He screamed in pain, drawing out a few Human nightwalkers to the scene.

"Die." Wildfire said as he lit up his hand into a fire claw attack, and his victim's chest exploded. The other Humans fled noisely into the darkness as the killer wiped blood off with a cloth. It was time to leave, as Wildfire refused to rest in such a place. Before he could leave the city, though, groups of Humans began converging on him.

They wore the uniforms of law enforcement officials, and didn't seem willing to talk first. Wildfire managed to elude them in the backalleys, but was unwilling to fly for fear of being shot. He needed to get out, and preffered not to kill Humans that weren't Dragonslayers.

"Why do other Humans always have to stick their laws into the ancient war of Dragomancers and Slayers. I'll bet they'd cage me for murder or something for killing that vile Human." Wildfire said as he entered an abandoned building.

OoC: I decided to read your character profile after posting. Is this city in the sky or on the ground?

[Euphoria]

Once outside in the grim daylight, Winona opened the feather-weight folder gingerly. The first page contained various pictures of her target; she was taken aback by the state of him. He could only be described as an awry fusion between man and a terrifying lizard. His black hair hinted towards normality, but was awkwardly put out of place by two short, spiralling horns. His badly concealed skin looked like it had been burnt raw: red and scaly, overlapping at every turn. Perhaps the most shocking thing was the massive set of wings sprawling out of his back, though the sharp, dangerous claws weren’t to be sniffed at either.

Winona quickly turned the page, horrified by the very thought of meeting the man in person. What sort of gruesome character could possibly meet such a distorted body? The Strael visibly shuddered as she looked down at the folder:

Name: Unknown

Profile: Very little is known about this man, only that he is a danger to the entire city and must be taken down at all costs .So far he has only killed a couple of people, but the deaths are some of the most gruesome things ever to unfold in this town. Pay particular attention to his claws; he will no doubt attack with them when threatened Also worth mention are his inhuman strength, agility and durability.. Approach with the utmost caution, only making yourself visible when notified. Do not, under any circumstances, allow him to fly away; not only will this put more citizens in danger, but such a sighting will surely have the world descend into anarchy.

The biography ended abruptly there, leaving Winona’s skin tingling with anxiety and worry. From what she had read, the beast was truly formidable. But maybe it was just the pathetic humans’ spin on things? They had no idea of the power that lay just above their heads, would it be so shocking if the creature turned out to be a magic-dabbling imbecile with a lust for blood?

Cassidy purred in agreement with her last thought, then trundled forward for Winona to follow. “No levitating,” Cassidy warned, “You heard the man; secrecy is top-priority."

Winona reluctantly agreed and set out of the alley on foot.

* * * *

Nothing could have compared them for the steaming bustle of commotion that was the town centre. Fume-exuding automobiles chugged along noisily while angry tourists and locals smacked bonnets in fury as they were nearly felled. There didn’t seem to be one law-enforcer about to make sense of the jumbled mess. “Waste of a good policeman,” Winona said to Cassidy through telepathy. “ It would take a hundred to sort out this mess.”

They kept their heads low, trying not to draw attention to Winona’s ghostly complexion. After a while however, they found the motion superfluous; everyone was far to busy with their own frantic lives to pay any notice. Finding the lizard-man was going to be impossible, no matter how noticeable he was.

OoC: A commotion would be appreciated xD.

[Daphnes]

OoC: A commotion there will be, then.

BiC: Wildfire had slept near a window facing east, so when the sun rose he was awakened by it's warm light. He found his way outside the ramshackle building, and stood basking in the sun. It made him feel a bit more comfortable, and with his eyes closed he could imagine himself in a nice forest, or atop a mountain.

However, the reality was that he was in the middle of a crowded city, with too many tall buildings and possible onlookers for him to truly spread his wings and fly. As durable as his skin was, he didn't like the idea of policemen shooting at him with rifles. He was a hunted Dragomancer now, and until things cooled down he was in danger of being mobbed. Human deaths should be minimized, unless the Human was a Slayer.

His stomach rumbled, and he felt the need to find breakfast. He preferred cooked meat above all else, though a few fruits and vegetables could satiate his Human half. He followed his nose, and it led him to a butcher shop. The back door was locked, but since he didn't have money anyway, he decided to just break the lock.

After the door had been relatively quietly ripped open, he crept into a meat locker and stole a large piece of meat. Someday he may find a way to compensate for the loss, but not until after he escaped.

He found a secluded area, and cooked the meat himself until it was satisfactory. After eating breakfast, he decided he needed to know which way was out. He didn't really pay attention when he first arrived in town, so he wasn't sure where the quickest way out was.

Just then he saw a large canine coming towards him. It started barking, and looking backwards, which gave Wildfire a bad feeling. He ran the other way, but the dog kept coming. Soon he was flying a few feet off the ground, the dog running after him, and he could hear Humans shouting as well. Soon there were Humans in vehicles with sirens wailing, trying to corner him. He flew fast and low, trying to keep his cool.

He blazed past a few Humans who weren't policemen, including a close encounter with something else. It was a pale skinned creature with chestnut hair, accompanied by a cat. He glanced at her as he passed, and she had a very shocked expression on her face. He cut a sharp corner, and flew straight up the wall. This tactic managed to throw the vehicles off his trail, but the dog that tracked him seemingly by scent was a concern.

To Humans, dogs were pets and working animals. To Dragons, they were simply food. Wildfire wasn't sure what he should think about being chased by a dog. He rested on the roof to catch his breath, before figuring out what to do next.

[Euphoria]

OoC: Apologies for the wait. I had no intention of getting mutilated by a basketball.

Sometimes you can find a needle in a haystack, if the needle is laughably conspicuous. Winona had all but given up hope of finding the demon when a searing red figure flashed before her, chased by a madly panting dog. “Did you see that, Cassidy?” she asked, completely forgetting her ploy to remain invisible.

”I sure did.” he replied just a little cynically, “now follow him, quickly!”
Winona didn’t need told twice. In a second she had summoned a disc of air and sped off towards the commotion.

The dog was still barking, although her prey had seemingly vanished. Winona lifted herself on an updraft of air to inspect the big-roofed building he had landed on. It was a chaotic sprawl of bumps and chimneys, with acrid thick smoke being exuded everywhere. Someone – even as big as the lizard – could easily find a good hiding place. Winona hurriedly summoned a gust that ushered away the thick lulls of smoke.

The building was bigger than she thought; a terrace, by the looks of the feeble drops that were characteristic to a slanted row of houses. Finding the dragon-man would be positively hellish.

”Why not flush him out?” Cassidy asked inquisitively. Winona didn’t dare reply, just in case the thing was listening. She silently thanked the heavens for Cassidy’s inability to speak. The girl nodded once and grabbed Cassidy tighter, preparing for a spell. In seconds the inferno was pulsing out of her body, sending ripples along the rapidly heating ground. She allowed a stifled giggle before retaining her dour demeanour.

The seconds passed slowly as they waited for something to happen. When it didn’t there she could think of two explanations: the man had fled long ago, meaning Winona had simply wasted her magic; or, he was resistant to heat and didn’t feel a thing when the flames rushed over him. The first seemed more likely, but Winona wanted to explore some more before abandoning the search.

Winona cleared the fug again with another wisp of air then began her search. Laboriously, she and her cat checked every crevice for a sign of the flaming demon. It was to no avail, until Winona heard the slightest crack of a tile from behind her. She turned around swiftly, just in time to see the demon sprinting toward the building’s edge.

“Stop!” she cried frantically as she reached for her magic. “You are under arrest!”

The man didn’t stop running for the end of the trail; Winona wondered why he didn’t fly away. Did he too wish to remain inconspicuous? The human clothes certainly hinted towards that hypothesis. But Winona discarded the thought, allowing for more important things. She instinctively threw a ball of water at the man, freezing it just as it clasped around his arm. He seemed to struggle as Winona flashed towards him. He was right at the edge, only seconds from escaping her grasp.

Reaching the end of the roof, Winona barely caught a glimpse of the lizard sprinting down an alleyway. ”He has a few tricks up his sleeve, Cassidy,” she commented.

”Shut up and follow!”

She grudgingly obliged.

[Daphnes]

Wildfire now found himself running from a spellcaster that could control water and fire. He had felt the roof area warm up, and was sure it was a low level fire spell. He wondered if she had other spells, since she seemed to be able to get to the roof rather quickly.

The Dragomancer had never been a stealthy person. Sometimes like this, he wished he had some move like a smokescreen or something. However, he'd just have to keep moving. He figured if he went in a somewhat straight line, he'd eventually get to the edge of the city. However, the backalleys were like a maze and he wasn't sure which way he was going. He hated cities.

His large wings made sounds that echoed in the narrow passageways, but he tried to glide often so he could move quietly. Eventually he got out of the backalleys, and made it to a street. Ducking into the nearest door, Wildfire hoped he could lose that spellcaster. It was some sort of furniture store, with huge cabinets, couches, and lines of tables.

Wildfire ducked low, and folded his wings as best he could. This day was getting more and more frustrating by the hour.

[Euphoria]

Stealth was completely abandoned as Winona and Cassidy flew down the disjointed alleyways. The girl produced wave after wave of earthen tremors, on the off-chance that the lizard might be injured. They met few people, and those they did see were too wrapped up in unsavoury deeds to notice. It seemed that they had ended up on the wrong side of town.

“It’s hopeless, Cassidy,” Winona moaned as she fluttered to the ground. The mutant is gone, vanished.

Cassidy screeched a high-pitched hiss. “It’s never over. Why can’t you be positive for once? Just focus on finding that thing.”

The conversation was evidently over. Winona picked Cassidy up and sped down the alley again. She was grateful for the mutant’s size, there were a million and one hiding places in the backstreets for normal humans. Someone like him would need to find somewhere much larger.

An ashen haze enveloped the duo as they found their way onto the street. Everywhere was a hurried throng of automobiles and people. Suddenly finding the beast-man got much harder. Winona glanced at her surroundings: a suave café, unlikely; a few residential buildings, impossible; that left a deserted furniture store. It made sense, seeing how it was the closest building to the alley. She strode in calmly and braced herself for the sickly sweet clerk that would inevitably meet her.

No one came. She began to get worried; had the lizard hurt someone else? In her angst she began generating greater tremors than before, until everything in the shop was in mid-air. She scanned the room repeatedly, finally catching something out of the ordinary.

Pathetic, really. A massive industrialized town and a mighty serial killer hid behind a couch? Winona fought the urge to laugh as she walked over to the man. This time she wasn’t taking any chances. Savouring Cassidy’s presence be her ankle, the girl summoned an enormous earthen cage for the monster. It entrapped him before he had the chance to even think.

“Game, set and match.”

OoC: If you think I've overdone it, say the word and I'll edit.

[Daphnes]

Wildfire was sitting behind a couch trying to remember anything he saw on his way into the city. He was interrupted by tremors, and everything that wasn't bolted down levitated off the floor. Before he turned around, a thick cage of rock surrounded him.

This girl isn't going to let up. Wildfire thought to himself. He emitted an explosive blast that was enough to crumble the cage, but not enough to make the building fall apart."Little sorceress! What is it that drives you to hunt me, even though I can tell my form intimidates you?"

"I'm seeing that you pay for your crime." She said, and the cat hissed.

"I committed no crime." Wildfire said menacingly, and took a step towards her. He was then blasted to the wall with strong wind magic. To counter this, he slammed his fists against the wall and escaped as it crumbled from the force of the blast.

He then took flight, and heard the horn of a train. He jumped on top and let it carry him to another part of the city, hopefully closer to the edge of this place he'd rather leave behind.

[Euphoria]

“Cassidy!”

The command was crisp, but thunderous; the peal of a bell.

“Follow him, quickly! You can relay me directions once you catch up with him.”

The cat did as he was bid, immediately dashing after the serpentine murderer. Winona followed at a much slower pace: she kicked off her sandals and grasped then tightly in her hands, sprinting out of the shop via the shattered remains of the west wall. A crowd was gathering, closing in around Winona. She flashed furious looks at all of them as she unleashed a circle of weak heat around her. The looks on some faces were priceless, but the Strael didn’t stop to enjoy them.

They were gone. Winona couldn’t find the slightest trace of Cassidy or her demonic prey, only wisps of sooty smoke from a fleeing train. “Where are you, Cassidy?” she called shrilly in her mind.

“Busy!”

Winona stamped her bare foot on the ground beside the train-track, ignoring the fearful looks from her growing audience. “What are you looking at?” she screamed. She couldn’t bear the stares; without a cautionary thought the girl glided onto the railway and followed the track.

“The train station! I’m following him, but you need to hurry; he’s trying to leave the city.”

The girl forgot all protocol and threw herself in the air, speeding alongside the railway. The station appeared in seconds, along with a completely different part of town. This place was wealthy, regal. That monster would bring about such screams that Winona wouldn’t need Cassidy to relay information. “Where to from here?”

“Take a right, and you’ll immediately see a huge main road. He’s trying to blend in.”

The girl nodded to herself and branched off, immediately finding the enormous road. There were hundreds of shining automobiles flying up and down the street, which was flanked by two throngs of pulsating crowds. Winona put her hands over her eyes, straining for a better look. She found him immediately. Cassidy didn’t mention the pitiful job he was doing at blending in. With tremendous vigour, the girl dashed across the street, right behind the beast. She kept a low profile while she readied her spell, but the townsfolk had other ideas. With melodramatic severity scores of them let out terrified screams. The monster was doing its best to pay no heed.

The spell was ready. Strike, with enough energy to bowl the thing over three times. Winona struggled to keep it in her hands as she directed the energy, but she managed. “You!” she shouted angrily.

The beast turned round.

“Got you.” The girl unleashed the devastating spell, unbeknownst to onlookers. The creature crumpled under the strength of the spell, dropping on its knees with forced sighs. “Given up yet?” It collapsed completely as the pain pulsed through its veins. “Thought so.”

OoC: Wake up, flee, fight, end =P

[Daphnes]

For a few se3conds Winona thought it was over. She was tired, but she had finally caught up and restrained Wildfire. The crowd, on the other hand, began to think otherwise. With the creature down, their screams of fear began to turn to screams of anger, and they started to crowd Winona and Cassidy.

The Strael drew water from a nearby fountain to push the crowd back, and looked for an opening. Fortunately a delivery truck was seen trying to get through, and she asked the driver to take her and her prisoner to a certain place. The place was a steel building that served as the rendezvous point where her client and a number of guards were.

The guards carried Wildfire in after Winona arrived in the truck. Her client thanked and payed her as the guards began tying Wildfire up. She left the building, looking quite satisfying.

It's over! Other than being tired, I didn't even get hurt.

You're lucky that thing only felt the need to flee, otherwise you might have been in danger. If it had been more aggressive...

That's a moot point now, though.

The two had barely gone around the outside corner of the building, when they were shaken by an explosion as something crashed through the roof of the building. A few seconds later there was another explosion, and the roar of a different beast.

The two dashed back inside, and saw the client and guards knocked to the ground. Small flames dotted the area, and a giant hole was in the ceiling. A full blooded Dragon pulled Wildfire onto its back and spread it's wings to fly.

"No!" Winona yelled, and began chanting an attack.

The creature glanced in her direction, and gave a mighty roar that almost knocked her back just from the force. It lunged towards her, and she had to stop chanting to get out of the way. Zoshonel readied a fire blast, which Winona attempted to block with a column of earth. The blast half melted the column, and knocked her to her knees. She barely had time to look up before the Dragon was almost on top of her, and she made a blast of wind to get herself out of the way.

This is what I meant by aggressive! Cassidy yelled as she bounded to safety.

As suddenly as Zoshonel attacked, he turned and lifted into the sky. Both he and Wildfire were gone in seconds, leaving everyone stunned. Winona gazed into the sky.

"Until next we meet, I suppose."

OoC: The end! I threw Zoshonel in there to rescue Wildfire and make it a little climactic. Zoshonel is of course Wildfire's partner, mentioned in his profile. I don't want anyone thinking I pulled a Dragon out of my butt to save Wildfire.