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Post by Dracontiar on Jan 1, 2006 4:14:46 GMT -5
In Rathn, scores of gangs are forced to make their way, stealing and tricking to get what they need to survive. The upper classes (at least compared to these poor, poverty-ravaged kids) see this lifestyle as a cruel one- when they bother to notice. And while it is a hard one, the life these street-mongrels share is the one they know. Many of the 'gangs' are as close as families, whose only objective is to take care fo eachother.
The only trick, in this harsh world, is its male dominance. Many gangs only allow boys and men. Sure, girls are welcome by, but not as a part of the group itself. The groups that do include females among their ranks are known as Rat Gangs. A good portion of the Rat Gangs are still predominantly male, but some are the other way around, and a few are even led by females. The Rats, though, must be very close, because their is hostility coming in from all sides. The upper classes will always look down on them, boy or girl, and many all-men groups disapprove of them (to put it lightly).
It is in this world, where teh only laws are the ones you're willing to force yourself to follow, and the only people you can trust are the ones closest to you, and none others. Alliances form, betrayals are made, and rivalries develop that acn run deep in to the cores of these 'gangs', and the lives of the people in them.
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Post by Dracontiar on Jan 1, 2006 4:26:38 GMT -5
Kat and Kyte both leaned against a wall, throwing small rocks and bits of gravel at the brick wall across the narrow alleyway from them. Both girls were clothed in old shirts and skirts, and went barefoot in the dirty streets. Both left their hair down and pulled up off of their necks. Kyte was the younger one, and the one with the more vicious temper. Her honey-colored hair came down to her shoulders in thick, untamed wavelets. Her eyes, bright orbs of calm green-gray, were half-shut, as she felt boredom overcome her. Her skin was deeply tanned, and her face was more than dusted with freckles and dirt. Kat looked far different from her friend. her coffee-colored skin was as smooth as porclein, under the layer of gritty sweat that all street kids developed. Her dark hair came down past Kyte's, hanging down off of her shoulders in the front in straight, tangled locks. Her fawn-brown eyes were always laughing, even when her face was as placid as her friend's. The two belonged to the Crickets, a tight group, led by a girl, named Lei. Even other Rats were careful of them, in case they aroused some kind of blame by association. Being led by a girl was a sign of trouble, surely, but the Crickets figured they were tight and tough enough to handle everything.
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Post by Aubry The Odd O.o on Jan 5, 2006 22:54:12 GMT -5
Two small children stood infront of the tavern called The Bloody Claw, drunks stumbled out, dropped coins onto the dirty streets. This was a sure-fire way to get money for food. One was a boy about the age of ten, he wore baggy ripped pants and no shirt for he needed none this time of year. The boy had thick black locks that hung to his shoulders, around his feet there were rags tied with cut cloth from his winter shirt. The other was a girl, around the age of nine, she was short for her age and wore a simple dirty tunic that was so large it served as a dress, hanging off her thin frame. Her eyes were a cold brown, not the warmth you would find in most her age, the street life had made her hard. Her hair was brown, or it would have been if it hadn't been caked with dirt and matted horribly, it came to midway down her back. Suddenly a "noble" lord exited the tavern, he saw the two children and began to open his purse, the boy glared at them and hissed, "We don't accept charity." He said flatly. The lord shrugged and walked off, giving his donation to another child he met along the way. These two belonged to a small group of five called by most the Dragon's Bane, in honor of the theives guild where they had met while, ironicly enough, stealing food.
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Post by Aubry The Odd O.o on Jan 5, 2006 22:57:59 GMT -5
((I'm sorry, that was horrible))
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Post by Dracontiar on Jan 6, 2006 0:54:16 GMT -5
Kat bounced ideas off to the blue, while her friend kept sitting and throwing rocks in silence. "We could always go find some food or money." This was met with a slow head shake. "What if we went outside the city for a while?" Another head shake "no". "Window shopping?" she tried, half sarcastic and half desperate. No. "We could always find someone else to hang out with who has better ideas than I do." Kyte looked up, a coy smirk on her dirty face. Kat gave her a reproachful look. "That's just mean," she stated, as the two stood up and brushed dust off of their skirts and legs. Kat tried unsuccessfully to comb out some of the tangles from her hair, while Kyte didn't even bother. Though a few months younger, Kyte stood an inch of so taller than the 16-year-old brunette, and she stood more rigid. Kat had the more relaxed, carefree nature of the two of them, while Kyte was more cautious and mean. Neither of them were altogether serious, and both of them had a good sense of humor, when around the people they could trust.
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Post by Aubry The Odd O.o on Jan 6, 2006 1:08:53 GMT -5
The boy, when a drunken man stumbled out of the tavern, darted forward, snatching his all to obvious penny bag. He retreated down a dark ally, just in case the man wasn't all that drunk, the girl following after him. She eyed him as he peered into the bag, "How'd we do?" She asked, her voice was calm. The boy shook his head as he poured a few coppers and a single silver into his hand. "Not that well, but we'll live off of it for a day or two." He said with a shrug, his dark eye giving no hint of emotion. The girl sighed, "He looked rich the way he was clothed." She said sadly. The girl's job was to pick out the hopefully rich drunks before they left the tavern, when she gave the signal the boy would dart forward, steal the money. The boy nudged the girl with his shoulder. "Nah, don't worry Raven. We'll get through this, The Dragon's bane arnt so easily defeated eh?" He said. The girl looked up with a smile and stretched her wings slightly under her overly large tunic needed to hide them. The boy nodded and ran down the ally with loping grace like one would see in an animal, the girl ran after him, with the clumsiness of a human.
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Post by Dracontiar on Jan 6, 2006 1:26:27 GMT -5
Once they were sure that they were in a hidden corner, away from view, the girls both closed their eyes tight for a second. Without a flash of light or smoke, a hawk and a cat replaced the two girls. The hawk flew up to a precarious perch on a roof edge, preening its golden-cream feathers a few times. The blonde girl's cool green eyes had become a piercing amber, with black rings for pupils. The cat walked in a few circles, flicking her tail. Kat's cocoa-colored complexion remained with her in feline form; the short golden-tan hairs were striped and marbled dark brown and black, and her eyes were now a light gold, a few shades lighter than her honey human ones. This was the secret of the Crickets; every member was granted a magical ability. None of them were mages, save Tace the animal-speaker. They were given a choise between so many magical talismans, given in initiation. Lei never revealed their source, only that each gave a certain skill, and that wearing the talisman as one slept would grant them the ability they chose. Many of the Crickets chose shape-shifting. A strange magic of these things was that the necklaces themselves would chose an animal for you; whichever one suited you best. Kyte was restless and fiery, while Kat was more easy-going and self-assured. It was a closely guarded secret, rarely shared even with their closest allies or other outside friends. Only among the Crickets.
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Post by Aubry The Odd O.o on Jan 6, 2006 1:54:59 GMT -5
The boy stopped and glanced around, seeing no one except a cat and a hawk he moved aside a rock that sealed the enterence into a boarded up house. He crawled inside, Raven looked around then she herself crawled through the small hole. It was dark inside, but the boy's vision was acute and he could see clearly, sadly, Raven's was not, he lit a small lantern and covered the hole with a piece of black cloth. The boy untied the rags that were around his feet, and set them aside. His feet were covered in ebony scales that glittered in the faint light of the lantern, instead of toes he had four long clawed toes and a single shorter one. He wriggled the clawed toes, "It's good to be free." He said, the girl nodded and took off the tunic, underneath was a battered black shirt with the sleeves ripped out. In the back were two raggidly cut holes from which protruded two raven, feathery wings. That is how she got her nickname, Raven.
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Post by Dracontiar on Jan 6, 2006 2:02:15 GMT -5
Both creatures stopped and stared at the two children who had passed by, hardly noticing them, then disappearing. Kat crept closer, the black tip of her tail twitching in curiosity. The cat went up to the dark cloth, sniffing at its edges curiously. With a nod from the hawk before she flew off, the cat sat and started mewing loudly. Kat hoped that the two would accomidate a small animal. They were clearly street kids, though unrecognized.
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Post by Aubry The Odd O.o on Jan 6, 2006 3:03:21 GMT -5
Raven's ears pricked as she heard the mew she looked to the boy nervosly. "Should I Scales?" She asked shakily. He nodded and hid his clawed feet under a ratty blanket as Raven peered out the small opening, her wings folded tightly to her back. She peered out, seeing Kat she cocked a brow. "It's a cat Scales." She said flatly. Scales crept forward and peered out as well, his eye level with Kat's. "That's no cat." He said bluntly as a scrambling was heard further off into the house. Raven looked expectently to a door way lacking a door that led to the rest of the pathetic excuse for a house. The house had been abandoned when its inhabitents were accused of being witches, burned. This city was a very supersticious one. A short scraggly boy stumbled into the room, his hair was red in color and of course, very dirty. The boy sat on the floor and looked at the others. "So, what's up? How'd you do at the tavern?" He asked, his voice quick, speedily tumbling from his lips. "Shut up Pepper." Raven hissed and looked back to Scales who withdrew his head from the hole. "Where's Vix?" He asked, his voice flat. Pepper shrugged and wiped a bit of dirt from his face which was dotted with freckles. "You lost her!?" Scales hissed angrily. Pepper's eyes darted about. "Those other gangs 'll rip her apart!" Scales said coldly. "I told you to show her around, not get her killed."He said, his fists clenched. A small shape darted across the room and infront of Pepper. "No." Said the shape, it was a fox, small and red-orange in coloration. The fox grew larger, into a tall girl, she looked about thirteen, she wore ragged clothes like the others, her hair was black and atop her head sat two red-orange fox ears, she had a fox's tail to match. Her eyes were a vivid emerald. "I left him. I'm sorry." She said softly and shifted back to a fox, curling up in a corner, dissapointed in herself almost. Scales calmed down and uttered an "I'm sorry." The three others nodded and settled back down as well. Pepper was not odd in physical appearence as the other were, but he did have a power, the power to shift, though, it drained him so he used it only in dire emergencies. Scales sighed and leaned against the cold brick wall, forgetting about Kat completly. ((Vix is short for vixin))
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Post by Dracontiar on Jan 6, 2006 18:08:29 GMT -5
Kat slinked underneath the dark cloth, rubbing nonchalantly against the wall. She mewed again, sweetly this time, asking for some milk or a scrap of food. She could see well in the dark room, and her cat eyes nearly glowed with what light there was. She came in sight of a group of people. Four kids, all apparently younger than her. She ntoed with slight amazment that two of them had strange deformations. one, scales. The other, large, dark wings. The tall girl seemed to be the oldest, but Kat didn't feel the leader vibe comign from her. That ws strange, in a group so young.
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Post by Aubry The Odd O.o on Jan 6, 2006 18:13:30 GMT -5
Scales eyed Kat and sniffed experementaly. He shrugged and spoke to Raven. "See what food we have, give it a bit." He said, Raven nodded and walked out of the room, the other's eyes watching her. Scales reached out and petted Kat lightly, his eyes unfocused as if he was deep in thought. Vix stood and walked slowly to Kat, her emerald eyes probing. She, satisfied, crawled back to her corner, and curled up, her bushy tail held against. Raven returned a moment later with a bit of dried fish as well as a small chipped bowl of murky water.
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Post by Dracontiar on Jan 6, 2006 18:24:41 GMT -5
Kat purred gratefully for the food and the petting. It was another aspect of the given ability; the person will become a bit like the animal they transform to, maintaining their reasoning, while gaining the characeteristics of the creature. When she had finished the fish, the feline lapped at the water, still purring, and flicking her tail back and forth. She was listening closely. She wanted to find out what was with these kids. They seemed so... strange, compared to most gangs. Every gang had their secrets, but this one seemed to take the cake. But they were Rats... they at least weren't discriminating.
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Post by Aubry The Odd O.o on Jan 6, 2006 18:35:00 GMT -5
Raven sat down next to Scales and sighed deeply, slumping against the wall. Scales took out a small bag of coins, the ones they had recently stolen, he fiddled with the string idly. A few moments passed before a tall boy entered the room, like Pepper he looked completly normal. His eyes were yellow with slit pupils while his hair was a shaggy black that extended to just below his ears. He looked about twelve of age, the boy was carrying a small bag that was apparently full. He eyed Scales and Kat before seating himself and taking a few things out of the bag, food. The boy handed each child a bit of dried meat and a small waterskin half full. When he was finished distrubuting the food he got out his own food and ate slowly. "Thank you Wolf." Scales said, breaking the silence that pervaded the room. The boy nodded and smiled but did not speak.
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Post by Dracontiar on Jan 6, 2006 22:33:48 GMT -5
Kat stood up, and went to sniff at the boy Wolf. She was eager to find out what she could of these people. Like her, they were given a name, presumably different than the one they were born with. She arched her back, thinking of her full name. Akatia. She agreed to herself that she was much more like a cat, than a tree. ((Acatia tree... hehe)) She didn't find any other hands offering her food, but that hardly surprised her. She was amazed at the handful they had given her. She knew that the Crickets would likely not be so generous. She also knew that the Crickets were far luckier than this small gang or youngsters. Their home was a large, abandoned building, three stories high, with a well-stocked pantry, filled with their day's work.
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