The Start of Something Small to End Something Big

[Murazar Dauthi]

Murazar wrapped his plain leather jacket around him tighter as he took a seat in one of the booths that was close to the back door, but at an angle and cornered so he could see everything in the room. He was wearing normal khaki pants, plain collared maroon T-shirt, and of course the leather jacket with the hood up to cover his silver hair. He chuckled to himself and settled into his formerly seldom used sarcastic and smartass persona. Which was truth to be told one part of his real personality.

He gripped his mug tightly and sipped his plain whiskey, he savored it for the few moments of peace he was given at the moment. The woman whom had reached his office was wanting information on the Takatori, whom he personally wanted to kill off due to their alignment with his enemies. Which was the main reason he was here in person. That and he needed a break from Briggs to gather his own information on Creta.

Their backstabbing leader couldn't be trusted as far as a dagger would take to reach his heart and throat. Regardless of that he brushed the table and pulled his hand back sharply before sticking his finger in his mouth to pull out a sticker that had got in his finger from that simple movement. He spat it out to the side and settled his free hand onto his lap where his M9 with a supressor on it lay concealed.

He was prepared for anything, at the moment he at best could not afford to let anyone know the Soul Stealer alchemist was in town. That would create many problems if it was known to the wrong people. His ears perked up for a moment when he saw a woman enter the crime and thug infested pub he had settled for the sit down. He glanced over at her and before all else looked her in the eyes and nodded before letting his hood down to reveal his silver hair. That was the only message was to meet the silver haired man in the John's Pot & Kettle He gave a polite smile to her as he took in her whole image.

[Anouk Ueda]

London never was a place she'd liked a lot. It was filthy, for one thing, and everywhere you went the air smelled dank and sooty. While polite, the people weren't the most sincere, leading her to understand that London-Nice meant that people closed their eyes and smiled through their teeth only to hide forked tongues. This wasn't to say that Vegas was perfect and a paradigm of human goodness; far from it. But it was at least a variety of the human element she could generally interpret and handle accordingly... or at least had friends close enough to call on for help in most cases. Most. She'd come to a point in her life where she'd come to understand that her friends couldn't help her anymore, not the way she needed; simply relying on the police and staying home to play the part of the fretting mother just wasn't cutting it for her.

On the bright side, it was rather lucky that the people trying to catch the bastard who destroyed her life were either inept or lazy, unless they weren't tracking the devastated woman since she was doing Creta a favour. If you asked anyone who knew her, nobody would be able to tell you where Anouk Ueda was since she'd left a few weeks ago. She was done sitting in living rooms and having infinite cups of coffee and waiting for phone calls that never came. Things never played out the way people had expected them to because it wasn't the way they thought it was. No phone call demanding ransom was ever made because it wasn't a kidnapping in order to gain money. No suspects were brought together linking it to some forgotten enemy of Ryosuke's or his family's, and no ties to the Yakuza or their enemies were made because there weren't any. There was nothing connecting what happened to Anouk to anything, and all they could do was shrug and insist they'd keep looking. That was kind of like telling her that if you stared at cream long enough it would become butter out of sheer will. Bullshit.

She wasn't a dumb woman by any means, and had been careful, even in her hasty anger. She'd been careful to not leave evidence that it was her, even though one of the rare people with a brain should have been able to put two and two together. But honestly? She'd cross that bridge when she got to it. Until then her goal was to get as much information as she could that would lead her to Takatori, even if it meant carving through his minions like fucking Thanksgiving turkeys. Which she had been. After following up on her last lead, it had lead her to some low-level mook. He was hardly worth the effort, especially since she didn't learn anything from him she didn't already know; Takatori was everywhere and would be a bitch to find. She knew that. But at least it was one less person working for him, knowing that employee would never make it to the next company picnic due to a slight case of death. She hated how easily this was starting to come to her. How little she was starting to care that these filthy bastards died screaming. How pissed off Takatori might become when he realized his men were dying at her hands and that letters of his name were being stabbed into their bodies. She was up to the second “T” in the fucker's name so far, and hoped he called her soon or he might run out of minions.

The door to John's Pot & Kettle opened slightly, just enough to let the woman slip inside before it shut again. She squinted through the smoky haze of the pub, looking for whom she was told would meet her there. A representative of the Black Company was supposed to meet her and see if they could work out an exchange for information about Takatori; if help was needed, deserved, and available. All she wanted was a little hint to go in the right direction, not a fucking magazine interview. That doesn't matter right now. Whatever it takes to get to HIM... Anouk moved her hand up, lightly tucking in a stray lock of auburn behind her ear as violet eyes scanned from table to table. Look for a man with silver hair. Couldn't bee too hard; wasn't exactly a common colour. Find him and sit down and talk to him, and he might help you get information you need or set you up an appointment with Fox. Her hands shoved into the pockets of the faded, rust-coloured coat as she stepped closer. A man in the back booth was looking right at her and had just pulled off his hood. Silver hair.

Quietly and steadily Anouk made her way through the crowded bar to that back table and slid into the seat across from Muraza with a faint sigh. “Mind if I join you?”

[Murazar Dauthi]

Murazar smiled lightly, it wasn't a cheerful smile nor a morbid one. Just polite without a hint of fake to it. He looked her over, it was obvious it wasn't for just checking her attractiveness or to see how she was handling over killing people. All of those were obvious, he was checking for the subtle ticks that might prove his death working with her. He found none.

He spoke softly, the smokey background and ambient noise level obviously not bothering him in the slightest. " I suppose i'll stick with the language of Creta since we are here. My name until provided otherwise is simply, Delta or D if thats too much. We'll stick with the basics, depending on how much information you want or if you require or wish for services I can provide. The costs escalate, I propose beforehand that you take me with you as a partner and let me collect from whatever your targets are to pay for me. It would be cheapest for you and best for me."

He rolled his neck slowly making an audible popping sound.The very way he moved was like a predator in the woods, it was animalistic. As if he was not just a man, but a extremely dangerous one. he second thing that radiated off of him was control, every movement seemed to be picked and chosen for some kind of purpose. Lastly, he was obviously very intelligent with a no-bullshit personality. He came up with the best possible solution for her beforehand and provided it with no questions asked of him beforehand.

He spoke up again and reached across the table with his free right hand and held it out to her, he smiled politely again. " Its a pleasure to make your acquantice, lady." He hadn't quite yet decided whether he would help or not, but he had this strong feeling that urged him to stay close to her. It was a protective feeling, as if he wouldn't want to see her hurt. He didn't know why though.

His sword Gurthang lay on the foor at his feet the blade seethed in his mind, along with all the souls that screamed for him to take another to join their ranks. He didn't think he would bother unless it was takatori himself. Which he doubted would be anytime soon. He knew that as soon as the first target came up they would recognize him by face alone. All of RIOTE Recognized their top enemies and the people who worked with them. He was a priority one target along with briggs after all. Thats why he loved playing the low-level games still.

[Guest]

{BUMP}

[Anouk Ueda]

The man with the pale hair and violet eyes was quiet and set off red flags as Anouk settled into her seat, not relaxing in the slightest. She gave a slight glance around her to the rest of the bar; none of them were lookin their direction in the slightest. Didn't mean nobody was listening, but at this point she'd have to chance that. Talk was already starting about how someone had been carving up seemingly unconnected mooks, and if they were becoming concerned? Good. They hadn't found her yet and she had a number for each of them.

Anouk looked Murazar up and down, letting herself try to get a feel for him. It was very possible that this was not the man she was supposed to meet with and that he was only pretending to be so and was secretly one of Takatori's men. The man in front of her gave off an aura, and it didn't sit wel with her. Like the men who destroyed her family. Something dangerous that she needed to keep her distance from, like an animal not killing you only because you're looking right at it, waiting for the moment you look away or feel the threat is passed. The way he looked at her, the way he held himself. ....He is nothing more than an animal, Anouk growled mentally.

Scum. They all were. "I suppose I'll stick with the language of Creta since we are here. My name until provided otherwise is simply, Delta or D if that's too much. We'll stick with the basics, depending on how much information you want or if you require or wish for services I can provide. The costs escalate, I propose beforehand that you take me with you as a partner and let me collect from whatever your targets are to pay for me. It would be cheapest for you and best for me." Condescending yet polite scum. How nice.

So he wanted to go with her on her next kill so he could collect their money as his fee, like a finder's fee. But that also left her entirely vulnerable to him; if he was working for Takatori, he could just go with her on the hunt, lead her to a pit of vipers and kill her. Or take her to the wrong person or one who didn't matter and be killed. No, no. Taking him with her wouldn't do. Even if he didn't work for Takatori, if that bastard had enough sense to know it was her killing his men and wanted her stopped, he could have hired a killer just as easily as she was talking to one. And she couldn't afford to take that kind of risk. " Its a pleasure to make your acquantice, lady."

"Likewise, D. I appreciate you bringing an offer to the table immediately, but I haven't told you what I wanted yet." The corner of Anouk's mouth moved to create the ghost of a smile, lavender eyes watching the man across from her carefully. An old rule of business was to always know what your customers want before they'd even told you, and that was a key to sales; it applied to everything. But there was only one product she wanted, and one result. She knew better than to trust any of these people she'd talked to. "However, I only want information to help point me to my next target."

[Murazar Dauthi]

Murazar rose an eyebrow, he cosed his eyes for but a moment before chuckling outloud. Between the screaming and Gurthangs incessant rattling she was rather amusing with her caution. He replied sarcastically, "Oh so you have a couple grand for a downpayment in person and are fully prepared to give a full value either all at once or at a two percent interest rate weekly? I doubt that fully, depending on the information depends on the greater the costs to yourself. Secondly you put yourself in danger irregardless if I go with you or not. If you rely on my information at all and you dont trust it. Then whats the point of even trying?"

He leaned back and sipped his straight Whiskey which happened to be the most expensive brand in the room. He obviously wasn't just some cheap thug. He motioned with his glass to her," Also your no professional, so far luck and whatever is left of your heydays of karate class or whatever has got you this far. Otherwise you wouldn't have contacted the Black Company, an outside variant not personally involved for help of some kind."

He sighed and looked at the ceilling fo a moment before his violet eyes seemed to fall instantly back to hers and seemed to look into her very soul. " Lady, seriously reconsider my offer. I am Black Company. I have my own personal vendetta against the Takatori due to their involvement in recent endeavors with groups you've probably never heard of, and you have nothing to lose from my suggestion. If I wanted you dead or tortured it would have already been done right now. "

H leaned forward and sipped from his glass with a slight flair for the elegance," Besides my accent in the cretan language should be obvious as it is that i'm not a Cretan Citizen nor ever was one. If thats not enough should I have come up with some kind of nonsensical password phrase to be ushered as soon as we met? Like the constipated crow flies at midday?" He laughed outloud at the phrase. Hell even Gurthang was laughing with him, those kind of cloak-and-dagger stuff never happened anymore. It was just ridiculous.

[Anouk Ueda]

In the few minutes she had been there, Anouk had said almost nothing; she didn't need to. This mercenary was talking enough for the both of them, and then some. Really, did he always make such broad assumptions? While some assumptions were needed in any line of work, flat-out telling your customer what they wanted, openly admitting a large bucket assumptions made about your customer, telling them they were making the wrong choice when they hadn't even made one yet AND insulting them all in the same few minutes? Dear God. It was a good damn thing he had something she wanted because Anouk was more than ready to take her money and leave. Yes, the Black Company had the best reputation for getting the job done, but their customer service sucked.

Anouk sighed softly through her nose, her left hand raising to tuck a small lock of hair behind her ear as her wedding ring reflected the table's dim light. He tried to look deeply into her own eyes; his seemed to be mechanical, that was interesting. But Anouk's irritability was swallowed with everything else, years of being a bartender having taught her how to put everything away that didn't matter when you were dealing with business. He could look all he wanted; all that would be found from her would be a vague disinterest and slight apathy. She was feeling many things and very deeply, but Anoukd had done business with criminals before over the years; she knew better than to let them be where anyone would see.

”And suppose I have? It's not wise to simply assume I can't afford your services on my own; if you tell your customers that they can't afford what you sell without knowing what they want, you've just talked yourself out of a customer. That's just business.” Anouk smiled faintly, and it was actually a somewhat pleasant look, even if her of fatigue was present in her eyes. Her voice was quiet, not drawing any attention to her and softer than the sounds of the bar around them, but it carried a pleasant, almost teasing tone. ”I may not be a mercenary or seasoned killer, but I am an entrepreneur, and have been working finances and running a business for half my life.”

She glanced at the scotch in D's glass as he laughed at his own ramblings, assuring her he was with the Black Company, as well as a few other things. He asked if he should have made up some dumb code to identify himself when she hadn't asked or mentioned anything of the sort, nor hinted to doubting him in the slightest. Still, for all his credibility, he seemed to lack a lot of sense or tact; loudly proclaiming who you wanted dead generally seemed like a bad idea, even if you were top dog. In anything you were only top dog until someone else took your place. Violet eyes moved back up to D. Something in the farthest recesses of her mind laughed and linked D to a character from a cartoon she saw as a girl while living abroad; his name was Damuramu and he was a warrior much like D, amongst a few other things. That one thought was horribly amusing, but had to be ignored for the moment. ”I never said it was a [i]bad[/b] suggestion, but I'm not about to agree to something when you haven't set a price. Suppose the person has no money on them, what then? You lose out more than I do.”

A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on, and never agree to terms before agreeing to a price on a contract. Ancient rules of business that applied to everything and still held true, no matter what was being exchanged.

[Murazar Dauthi]

He chuckled lightly and raised an eyebrow, she took the hit well enough. She was not his target with his boistrous attitude, the target was a man halfway down to the entrance. A man that he already knew was part of the Takatori, a low-level operational member; still a member however. The man had been following him since he arrived in this blasted city.

The minute he arrived he had spent time to collect on that man and a handful of other low-level operational members, one or two were hitmen. He had their locations, habits, daily life, everything about them in his head. He also knew for a fact that they all carried some kind of cash and had plenty of it in their apartments or little 'safe' houses. Gurthang chuckled grimly Nothings safe, especially from monsters like ourselves.

Murazar's eyes never actually looked the man he was looking for in the eyes. He spoke at a more conversational level where the man couldn't overhear. " For one, like you say yourself you ran a business half your life and your not a seasoned killer or anything of the matter. Two, i'm not customer care or the IT guy in some nonsensical cookie cutter organization. I didn't go to you, you came to my organization. My brotherhood, that doesn't mean I have to be all happy-go-lucky, nice, or tactful since I am taking more risk than benefit by just myself being here. Lastly, you are using what if's and maybes. I wouldn't have agreed to meet with you without doing my own investigations. So lets say I already know that for a fact if we take out however many targets you need help with I'll recieve plenty of repayment from my own suggestion. This isn't my first barbque."

He downed the last of the whiskey and placed the glass upside down to indicate he needed no more refills and he would pay as soon as he stood up and left. He finished his little speech by saying rather simply." Free information for you, at the moment without torture or interrogation or my involvement theres five bottom feeders I have for you. Two are part of this local towns hit squads. I have everything from their daily schedule to locations to what they look like with pictures involved. Each guy at full value of information is worth I would say ten grand. So thats straight off fifty grand right now for all five and after you get what you want I can walk out the door. If you need to work out a percentage plan i've got a cute little calculater on hand to help with that."

The price was a little bit high by a grand or little more, but if she tried to negotiate it down he could keep it where it was at. The alternative was to just gain his help, although he would of course rob the places regardless of whether he was involved or not. He could easily arrive there faster than her and do all the places this very night and leave her to actually kill the guy. He didn't want to do that per se, but it was just something that might need to be done.

[Reila Tsukino]

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[Reila Tsukino]

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