WELCOME TO THE FREE CITIES!

[abraxasmods]

WELCOME TO THE FREE CITIES!

Welcome to The Free Cities! The portal exits outside the capital city of Cadens. The first impression of the city is its sheer size. It sprawls out across the landscape like a great hulking beast at rest. The wall that encircles it barely contains it, the buildings of Cadens practically bulging against its restraint.

The air here seems thicker somehow, tinged with a scent that’s acrid and smoky. Smog hangs high over the city, belched out by smokestacks that tower over the industrial district. The desert stretches out behind it, dotted with towers and dust clouds that disappear into the horizon. Multiple gates lead inside and each is staffed by soldiers in unfamiliar uniforms that wave a steady stream of people through without appearing to pay much attention. People are coming and going almost all of the time, to and from the outposts and areas of activity around the city proper. It’s difficult to tell just what’s out there beyond the impression of tall metal structures and a great deal of labor. Wagons carrying travelers to Libertas and Aquila roll out from the Travel Post outside the city wall.

Anyone who can sense magic will notice a much lower concentration here. No one will be stopped or questioned at the gate, even if the soldiers seem to take note of the fugitives from Thorne.

The activity and sheer number of citizens can be overwhelming. It’s crowded and loud and feels constantly in motion with everyone talking and yelling over each other. It’s easy to get swept up in the ever-moving throng or find oneself ducking into the mouth of a narrow alley just to breathe.

Anyone who’s willing to make their way to the northern part of the city and Portham Hall will find Prime Minister Marlo Reiner available to receive them.

Comments

Coraline Finch | Changeling: The Lost | Tower

[not_caroline]

Freedom (Closed to Jon and Kiryu)

It's infuriating how close to the mark it felt, the three of them finally leaving - in truth it had been something close to forty minutes spent there, and the entirety of it was far too long for Coraline's liking. On finally stepping through, however, she isn't expecting the wind that slams into her and her companions to be hot and acrid, and the suddenness of it makes her leafy hair shrivel slightly as she winces.

She turns her gaze back to Jon, his wrist still gripped tight in her hand, and Kiryu behind them - and blinks at the lack of portal behind them.

"It's gone." Her voice is smaller than she'd like, and she immediately bristles, pulling herself to stand straighter and ignore the tightness in her chest.

Pickpocketeer

It's a tricky game, learning the subtle art of exactly how to steal from someone and get away with it. Coraline's never really had to do it before (got screamed at so hard she nearly vomited from anxiety, once) but with a lack of better options currently, she's going to try.

She starts small: change from someone's order while the customer and server are both distracted; a shirt, or coat, or some fresh underwear from a clothesline - never all from the one, never from the same street in Cadens at the same time; food from a market stall, an apple or loaf of bread. Her movements are measured, her pace is casual, and she's not strictly skilled yet but she's subtle, and better yet, fast. And so far, the locals have yet to catch her.

But there are some close calls; a stall owner yells at her retreating back and she vanishes into nothing as she walks through a beam of dirty sunlight, reappearing the next block over and very nearly crashes into someone. "Sorry, I was- sorry!"

Wildcard!

She's very quickly equipped with a new set of clothes, at least - she even manages to trade her old set of silks for a few coin - but no identifying mark as to her Arcana. And she's not stealing all the time, or she'd definitely get caught: instead she spends most of her time exploring. The museums are fascinating, in their way (but also much, much cooler than the uncomfortably oven-like outside. It's not hard for her to sneak into taverns, but for the most part they don't ask, just side-eye her as she sits at the bar like she belongs there. She's not so brazen that she'll try and steal weapons but whenever she has one hand free, she's idly twirling a pair of pebbles around each other as she watches the world with eyes far too sharp for such a young face.

Freedom

[the_archive]

Jon turns, stopping, and stares back into the desert, his narrow shoulders sinking. Too many one-way doors in this world. One-way decisions. And Martin a world away.

He shields his eyes - his own eyes - with his free hand as he looks back towards the city sprawled ahead of them. “Let’s find some shade,” he says tersely, forcing himself to start moving again. The limp is nearly gone, his knee moving more freely than before.

[lone_horse]

Kiryu winces at the tone in Coraline's voice, the harder one in Jon's. This isn't a good position, but it's not the worst one there is. They're free, no longer under Ambrose's power, and none of them is about to be executed. Majima was free, and they were going to meet up in the Free Cities, and he'd worry about that if he didn't have a sixth sense for finding the man and vice versa.

"I have a little money from doing tasks for people," he says quietly as they keep walking, "though not much. Enough to get us food and a room for the night. If this city is like any other, it shouldn't be hard to find work."

He sounds like it's just a matter of doing; not so much overconfident as laying out a simple plan that they just need to walk through the steps of.

[not_caroline]

She feels Jon's movement tug on her grip, but she releases instead, still staring back at the spot they came from for a moment, before she turns to catch up and walk beside Kiryu, folding her arms across her chest instead so she can grip her sleeves tightly, feeling the silk catch on her rough bark. "I'm used to roughing it," she says simply, her casualness uncomfortable and forced.

Deja vu, she knows is the phrase: feeling like you'd done something before. Rushing through a portal to the other side of the country, self-declared guardian beating up everything in their path until they're out, and Coraline bites down on her lip as she unfolds her arms to try and force herself to relax.

It's not really working.

[the_archive]

Jon pulls his hair off the back of his neck as he walks, making a face at the feel of it. A month in a cell hasn't been the tidiest of situations. Maybe he'll cut it off.

"I don't have any money, but I think Coraline has something of mine we can sell."

[not_caroline]

Well that makes her uncomfortably aware of the weight of the tape recorder in her jacket's shoddily-made pocket, and she hugs the weight of it to her chest. It's cold and angular against her ribs, and she's acutely aware of its contents all of a sudden.

"Right."

Her pace stays even, she's not reacting to the item otherwise - but behind the lot of them, two pairs of glowing eyes appear, leaving slight pawprints in the dirt as they pace evenly after the group.

...I hate when there's no notif.

[lone_horse]

"Or I walk around for a while, see if anyone decides to try and mug me," he offers, because that is... that is a perfectly valid way to make money, in his life. And in his books. You attack him, trying to steal from him? You pay the price. He wouldn't attack you but, if you start the fight?

This is mad late, I'm so sorry.

[the_archive]

He shoots Kiryu a look. "And... what, you'll mug them back?"

He firmly believes the man can do it, it just seems like an odd thing to rely on.

Pickpocketer

[productid4]

It takes Louis a moment to process what he's just seen, someone stepping out of sunlight, but he recognizes Coraline quickly as she almost crashes into him. He claps his hands on her shoulders to stop her from hitting him, letting her go and putting his hands in his pockets as he realizes who it is. He has mace in his pocket, just in case, while he still hasn't gathered enough money to get a proper gun.

He hasn't gotten this far without being able to recognize someone looking guilty. She just stepped out of sunlight with a loaf of bread, and his ear twitches as a commotion starts somewhere far off. Maybe a block off.

"Making friends, I see?" he says dryly.

[not_caroline]

Being caught is literally the Worst Case Scenario, so when the figure's hands grab her shoulders she's already wiggling free and back, looking up at him with startled eyes until she realises that she recognises the deer.

And immediately her attitude shifts - she flicks her hair back with a snap of her head, making the thick curls tousle loose from their relaxed ponytail, stands a little straighter with her weight on one leg, and suddenly you'd never be able to guess she'd been panicking not five seconds earlier, as she casually stows her ill-gotten bread in a satchel over her shoulder.

"Hey to you too, weirdo," she comments flatly, giving him a raised eyebrow with her once-over. "I could ask you the same thing."

[productid4]

"You say that like I'm the one caught causing trouble."

Today, he stands on two legs, and his pants are long enough that his temporary prosthetic leg isn't readily visible. He's actually in a lot of pain because the temporary prosthetic was meant to be temporary and it's really wearing into his leg, but he's never going to show that outwardly. Instead, he just looks down at her, almost looking bored.

"I must say, it's a little disappointing. I would have thought you'd find more productive ways to apply your particular talents."

[not_caroline]

She gives him a slight smirk. "I'm not caught."

She's fine to ignore that, otherwise, because it's simply not true. The accusation that she's wasting her talents on this gets her to bristle a little, though, and her smile turns into more of a grimace.

"And I'm sure I remember asking for your opinion on that, right? Oh, wait." She looks away, instead staring intently into the crowd to try and ignore how this is the second time she's heard that from people. That she needs to be better with what she has and too frustrated to admit she doesn't quite know how.

[productid4]

Louis looks down at her. His nose wrinkles a little, the gesture more obvious with the long muzzle.

"I've met so many people like you. People with so much natural power, and neither the creativity nor the integrity to use it." Like most of his carnivorous classmates. People with the power to see in the dark, or take down whole gangs nearly single-handedly, or lift whole cars--all wasted potential and nothing more. "If you care so little for my opinion, then go run away in your sunlight and keep up your meager living with stolen bread, then. You wouldn't be the first to waste their potential."

[not_caroline]

The problem with wanting to hear more about his thoughts on her powers is one, admitting her extensive list of powers, and two, telling this smug fuck that she wants to hear his opinion.

Which she doesn't. But. She's a little curious.

So she gives him a narrow side-eye, without moving her head to look at him. "And I'm sure you've already fully planned out what to use my potential for, right?"

[productid4]

Louis lets out a huff, crossing his arms. "You think I have enough spare time to plan your life path for you? Please."

He tosses his head, staring down his nose at her. "You can jump through sunlight. You can draw weapons out of the shadows. You could easily break into the Prime Minister's office and steal documents that would tell us all more about the Singularity and the conflict with Thorne. You could find a wealthy landlord, break into his home, and find blackmail material that would give you your own home. Or you could be honest, and work in delivery, or as a messenger, or volunteer your services as a spy to any of the three factions..."

He shakes his head. "The possibilities are endless if you'd spend a moment to think about it."

[not_caroline]

...she's so mad at how cool all of those ideas are. She knows she'd be good at them too; as much as she likes fighting, she knows that her real advantage lies in being unnoticed. It's quite literally how she's survived for this long, and she's only gotten better since she started practising here.

That all is very much food for thought. Not that she'll let him know it.

"So what's a furry like you doing, then? Anyone who sees you is gonna make a point of remembering it. You don't get to be subtle."

[productid4]

Louis can be accused of many things, but a lack of creativity or insight into people's individual skill sets? Not one of them.

"And who said I'm trying to be? I'm well aware of my circumstances in this world, I assure you." He is distinct beyond compare. Impossible to not notice, and impossible to forget. These things don't have to be a bad thing, though. Memorability makes building a reputation a lot easier, after all. "No, I'm not trying to be subtle. I've chosen to work for a local politician. We'll see how things turn out from there."

He won't tell her which politician. He knows she's prone to mischief, and he has no intention of giving her an opening to mess with him. Hopefully, she'll be too busy causing mayhem with the ideas he gave her already.

pickpocketeer with a side of wildcard

[sunshinehan]

It wasn't as if he was keeping an eye on certain people. That was definitely not his style. (Spoiler: it was entirely his style.) It just so happened that they were in the same city at the same time and wandered onto the same street at the same time. Truly.

Except it wasn't the city street that Majima met Coraline. Instead, he had stepped into a side alley as he saw her get caught at trying to pick someone's pocket. He kept a close eye on her progress, guessed her path, and stepped out of the shadows after she ran past him, blocking the way of the would-be chaser. He purposefully ran his shoulder into the other person and without flinching stood perfectly balanced as the other man dropped to the ground like a stone.

"Excuse you. Ya tryin' to get past in a hurry? Might wanna be careful there, buddy. Never know what kinda guy ya might run into if yer in too much'a hurry."

[not_caroline]

Coraline can't not recognise Majima immediately when her path takes her directly past him, and he might get a glimpse of her eyes widening in surprise even as she doesn't break stride rushing along.

Her hapless victim isn't so lucky, and the older, wealthy-looking man is quickly scrambling back to his feet after his ineffective slam into Majima, glowering heavily. "Out of my way, you stupid thug, that brat just stole from me!"

[sunshinehan]

"That brat's on my payroll so ya better think carefully before ya chose yer next words, butterball."

Of course, she wasn't. But the dumb old man didn't need to know that.

Majima craned his neck to one side and the crack of it popping was enough to make the old man flinch. He was an imposing figure when he wanted to be. The readying of his hands into fists probably lent to that depiction.

[not_caroline]

The man indeed flinches, even taking a sharp step back when he sees those fists curling, but his scowl just deepens.

"If I catch your brat again, you'll be seeing 'em next on the other side of a guard's cell, if you're lucky," he growls, but he's backing up as he says it, only turning to leave when he's fully out of the alley, in case Majima makes another move.

[sunshinehan]

It was a good thing that Majima didn't actually care what the other man said--it was all just words to him--or else he might have thrown a punch at the old man's face. He could easily break the old idiot's nose, he knew it. But that wasn't really the point here. It wasn't necessary. He knew he'd won the moment the guy took a step backwards.

Some people just needed a little warning. Others a bit more roughing up to get the message. This old man was the former for once and Majima didn't have to back up his words with his fists. He'd think it a pity but it wouldn't have been any fun to beat up an old man anyway.

He watched the old man turn and leave, and after a few seconds passed by to insure that the old man was truly gone, Majima turned back around. He walked leisurely down the alley with his hands tucked into his pockets as if he was just out for a stroll. His eye, however, kept a steady look-out for Coraline. She was smart enough to just keep running but he figured he'd eventually run into her again.

[not_caroline]

The alley is definitely empty when he turns away from the main street and wanders down it. Not a Coraline to be seen.

And yet, when he gets to the end of the alley:

"You didn't need to do that."

Her voice isn't as indignant as it could be, as she steps out of the shadow an overhanging ledge had left against a wall - quite literally, out of the shadow, like she's moving out from behind a shroud, and not the shaded space itself. In one hand she's nursing a heavy-looking, embroidered purse. "I had it under control."

[sunshinehan]

He stopped and just as casually looked towards where her voice came from. Then blinked once hard. A small slip from the casual demeanor as he noticed her trick with surprise. He hadn't seen (much) magic up close before. It was a little startling.

He jumped right back to it though and kept his voice on the lower edge to hide his surprise. "Weren't no reason for me not to, either."

Easier (and cooler sounding) to say than 'it's what I usually do' for other people. Help them out with little reason other than curiosity for what would happen. In this case though he knew the victim and had some attachment. And he was a sucker for such things despite pretending otherwise. Hopefully she'd be nice enough not to call him out on it, but she'd probably already figured him out anyway.

[not_caroline]

The little smile playing across her face suggests she doesn't buy his reasoning - he did say out loud that she's his brat not a minute earlier, and that amuses her a bit too much. "Of course not."

She bounces up to his side, though, falling into pace as she swings her satchel in front of herself so she can empty the purse into it. Mostly coppers, but there's more than a few silver there, and she makes a small noise of delight when a pair of gold pieces fall into her palm.

"Here." She throws the empty purse aside so she can take Majima's hand and press the coins into it. "As thanks, for the help."