Not So Lazy (Open)

On his free days, Aiden was often glad to be wandering Felici. He once went to school in this city before his family moved and even thought more about coming back after almost dying in Dagos. Of all places, the Hunter's Guild having their main headquarters in this city put him on constant edge even though he now had an ally that would help him keep a secret presence in the heart of the Guild's power.

He clenched his prosthetic hand into a fist. That he was there at all was by no small effort and had taken a lot of time and planning on his part. Embry, the embattled politician, provided him with a place he could bunker down, but he still needed to keep tabs on the guild and update his information. He needed to keep busy in order to stay one step ahead of anyone who would suspect he was in this city. It was also up to him to gather information on the Guild's dirty dealings. Aiden knew all too well how corrupt this city was, but that also served to his advantage in this case. Not only had he secured a lifeline in enemy territory, but the element of surprise now was his.

Still though, going out in public remained a challenge. Everyday Hunters roamed the streets so it was crucial that he never attract too much attention or remain in a highly-populated place for too long. He kept to cargo pants and other street clothes with the black hoodie over his head. As the overcast skies hovered and varied between sunny and gray, Aiden nonchalantly started walking against the very slight gust of wind that blew every so often on that blustery day. On this particular occasion, the silver-haired vagabond had decided to stake out a prominent downtown area that served for relaxing.

Though no one specifically knew who he was, the entry incident from a while back had put plenty of people on high alert. In order to get through the gates undetected, he had paired up with several Magi who heavily damaged government buildings while he had stalled for time. The attack was a blow, but the result was touch-and-go for the most part. As he reminisced, a wary eye was kept on most of the passing blocks. He was walking on the pavement, keeping the hood tucked over his head and mouth to obscure his identity and warm himself as the breeze came in. Within a few minutes of keeping himself on-guard, Aiden came across the very homely sweet shop.

Nothing was very special about it and for the most part, he had seen it about a dozen times. It was usually a good spot to grab coffee or hot chocolate and to sit down for a moment. That was usually what his intended plan was since he also had a bit of a sweet tooth he needed to satisfy on occasion. Brownies and cookies weren't on his normal fare, though he could honestly say that he looked forward to treating himself.

He walked in through the door and started to get in the line that was steadily forming and passed the time just by staring off into space or glancing around at some of the sweet street decor. With the weather steadily chilling, it was probably a good idea for the owners to start turning around from Summertime, he thought.

This once though, Aiden took a glance at the outer sitting area and honestly froze in mid-step inside the line as just outside past where the few baked goods were on display. From Aiden's perspective, the man was little younger then him and seemingly borne quite a few more of the sharper male traits. His hair was contrast to Aiden's own, a stark black color opposed to his own silver and snowbound white. His state of dress was quite unfitting, but that wasn't quite what garnered Aiden's attention. He peaked and noted the dexterity with which he was twirling the short batons in his hands with relative ease and rhythm while walking along up to the counter.

Among the few sitting out around the sweet shop, Aiden scrutinized him particularly. Not that Aiden could gain anything from a glance through an open window, but something seemed curious about him. His attentions rapidly turned to another brown-haired man sitting two tables away on his second glare. The dark-haired man looked skilled and prepared while the other one looked like he was up to something in earnest. On top of that, Aiden had a weird sensation in the bottom of his gut. Maybe he was being paranoid, but the glass-eyed middle-aged man with the goatee looked familiar to him as well, though both of them he couldn't place immediately.

At that point, it was his turn to grab his snack, though the two suspects remained at the forefront of his mind. "I'll take an espresso and a batch of cookies please" he asked politely at the counter before moving off to the side until his order arrived. The clerk thanked him and Aiden reciprocated before moving on and out the door, moving around the building so he was positioned behind both of his subjects at their respective tables. He kept a watchful, suspicious eye on the one wearing the tan trench coat for a few moments before eyeing the other.

He was currently flipping his batons up and about without a care in the world and was actually pretty good at it. The flipping took on a musical rhythm to it that seemed to entertain as well as exercise. Soon after, Aiden took a sip of his espresso and got out his knives to lightly bang on the pipe next to him to go along with the pace and rhythm. He would take the hilt of his saxe knife and discretely tap the flat edge of the blade against the pipe at the appropriate time. The hollow piping had good vibration and Aiden began to more aggressively play along with the tune while faithfully remaining vigilant.

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Note: Tuturu!

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The snow-haired man's eyes were unceasingly observant of both potential suspects that were equal as prey. One played with his batons without a care in the world while the other seemed rooted and rather unaware of the moment, except for when Aiden happened to catch both men stuck on staring at one particular pair in the crowd. Ordinarily, Aiden might have been nonchalant and dismissed the gaze as enigma, but then that something struck him immediately.

In the crowd farther down, the dishonored hunter easily recognized the woman and child. When he did, a momentary sigh of relief escaped his lungs. When he had first entered the city, he had caused quite a stir with the government buildings. To enter undetected, he had needed to partner up with several Fire Magi who also had an agenda of blowing up Government buildings. That mother and child, Sasha and Adrian, were two quite proficient Fire Magi.

From beneath his fraying hood, Aiden let loose a snarky little grin. No way was he going to allow their lives to be taken now. The man wielding the batons had clearly gotten curious by the banging of his knives and leveled a slick glance and head-tilt at him that gave him the appearance of acting coy in Aiden's eye. Aiden's grin lit up; plainly visible as well as arrogantly taunting in its overture message a moment before putting the knife away.

It eased the burden on his heart, knowing that those two had gotten away and were still undetected, but the fact they were here now set his own alarms ringing. There was almost nothing he saw from one of them, but he could easily distinguish that the dark-haired man had noticed the pair. The other man was far less subtle about it, even from behind it was plain and obvious. In fact, it seemed like their cover was blown already. His second suspect, seemingly was going to rise from his chair from anger.

The playing with his knives ceased and Aiden quickly rolled one up under his sleeves. The mysterious hunter, whatever his name was, quickly began to speed-walk out of the sweet shop and that was when time seemed to jumble for Aiden. He leaped out of his seat, breaking into a fast sprint and drawing one of his knives from his pocket with only one singular purpose. It was plainly obvious that his hunch, at least on one of them, had been correct and now his target had been confirmed.

He knew that Aiden was coming only milliseconds before the knife slithered out. With a single thrust of the blade, Aiden stabbed for the man's back. Aiden's prey heard the resounding of heavy footfalls, but he had been caught up in catching up with the terrorist mother and son that he knew and only heard them as background noise in his mind. As he turned around too late, Aiden's blade pierced his throat. Crimson red spurted forth as he withdrew the knife away and then ripped into the next most vital artery that he could remember the position of. At that point, he couldn't possibly do anymore. The first stab startled and confused for a moment, but the second was confirmed murder and started the audience into a flurry of pure panic.

It was lucky that he had dressed for this occasion, keeping most of his face concealed while bolting into the hordes of fleeing people for the back alleys with but one last smirk backwards: "Catch me if you can"

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Note: The thread I'm referencing is this one: Fight the Fire. Aiden partnered up with several Magi to basically damage several buildings and that was how he got into the city. He covered for the Fire Magi's escape while he confronted Archaleos. Let me know if there is anything you'd rather I change :) I liked how River described the disguised Magi though.

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There was a moment when the gauntlet was tossed and both were ready to play ball. That second lasted and then was gone as the whistle coming from the other Hunter sounded off to start running. The crowd frighteningly gave way as few tripped and tried to get away from the murder wearing the hood. A few took pictures with their cellphones, but most others were outright fleeing in the streets and away from the masked murderer.

There weren't many in his way, giving Aiden a wide enough berth to focus on dashing through down the darkening road, though his pursuers were given the same advantage. Aiden craned his neck as the large Doberman was hot on his heels and rapidly gaining ground. He was familiar with many Hunter tactics and the few animals that commonly accompanied them, though the size and speed of the dog came as a bit of a surprise. He ran as fast as he could, dodging, jumping on top of cars, and knocking over trash cans in order to slow the dog down. The only other way for him to escape would be down the narrower back alleys, but that also ran the risk of running into a dead end.

Kicking over a trash can and sending it careening toward the large doberman, Aiden followed up quickly by spinning around and tossing two of his throwing knives back at the Doberman in a split-second test of judgement and skill. His left foot was off the ground when the ex-hunter kicked off a nearby waiting shed on the street corner and rolled on a ledge that was suspended above a sign for a motel. Built into the variety of shops littering the streets, the sign gave him just enough leverage to shimmy along the side and begin climbing a ways up the wall before vanishing into an open window.

From there on, Aiden didn't pause to take a breather. He shut the window and continued charging ahead. The second floor of the motel was rather spacious, though the people and luggage took up grand part of it. There was shouting and yelps of surprise, but his adrenaline was beating at rapid pace through his veins. He ran out the nearest door and into a corridor that was running away from the main street. He needed to get away from the main highway where the majority of people were stationed.

The next flight of stairs led to the roof where Aiden hoped to lose his pursuers for good and hopefully get to a place where he could bunker down. He kicked through the door that led topside, eyes flickering at the overreaching view of the street. There was no time to waste though as he immediately began to rush and jump across to the next building over.

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Note: Sorry for the delay. This post got deleted last night and I got too frustrated to rewrite it.

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