[May 20th-30th] Another Cause for Me to Fight (Richmond Territory Claim)

[dirtyredneck]

He'd been sucking it up for months. Holding back waiting to see if Daybreak would get off their ass and do something about the shit that had gone down in their territory since Raymond's rise (which ended promptly with his fall, a thing Daybreak had no hand in). But all they'd done in Richmond was decide to build that eye sore of an insult to all non-witches. 'Center for Magical Innovation'. Bullshit. Center for slavery of non-witches was more accurate. Starting with the fae.

When Faolan had spoken against it, Daryl had hopes that maybe what little loose leadership the clan had might be ready to get up off their ass and do something. But that didn't happen and a month passed while the Center sat there, getting used. It's visitors abusing folks in ways it was hard to get any proof of. Just rumor and small confessions of a few fae who'd been able to slip away. Some of the stray cats in the area talked about it, too. Didn't like how it 'felt'.

Another month had almost passed and Daryl was done with waiting. He'd set up small patrols with others he'd trusted among Hillingdon months ago. Stuff to help protect the residents in the ways that Daybreak had been neglecting to. It wouldn't take much to turn those patrols toward doing something more.

Richmond was basically his territory already. It was time to make it Hillingdon's too.

(Specific prompts in the comments)

Comments

Re: 21-27 May - Delinquents and defacement

[roddy_reinigen]

Roddy was among the delinquents spraying the walls and windows and, judging from the looks of it, he was having a bit of fun doing it, too. Although, it looked like he had a few friends helping him out, as rats swarmed and began chewing on anything they could get their teeth on, from the velvet rope outside, to tearing up the plants and gnawing on the trees, digging holes and dragging things out of the trash and generally making the place look like a filthy mess.

[ghoulaid]

Maybe Ghoul has been assisting in the local destructive efforts. Perhaps he's sprayed a couple walls, or broken the windows of a few nearby witch-owned businesses, or pulled black bags from dumpsters and strewn trash across some vehicles. But no one can say for sure that's what he's done. He just so happens to be coincidentally in areas where things have been wrong a few times, and his fingers being perpetually stained with paints possibly has nothing to do with the graffiti going on lately.

As far as anyone else is concerned, he's been on his best behavior. And being on his best behavior, he's of course very interested in the state of things in Richmond. When he makes another round past the Center, the last thing he expects to see is an army of rats tearing the place apart.

He should probably, like, do something about it since he's still technically allied with Daybreak, but all he can do is laugh. Because this is pretty great.

[roddy_reinigen]

When Roddy hears someone laughing, he turns, grinning, to see who it was.

"Hey, you should join in. This is fun!" And then he realized he recognized the guy. "I know you, you're the guy with the chihuahua!"

The one with the missing owner. Roddy momentarily wondered how that had turned out, but decided he didn't really care all that much.

[ghoulaid]

Oh. That's what he remembers. Of course it is. Ghoul's face twists up distastefully. "It wasn't my fuckin' dog!"

But, look, that's not the point. He moves closer, careful to step around any rats in his path instead of on them. He's not cruel, and besides, they're doing good work. He's happy to let them continue even if he does say, "Ain't supposed to be doin' all that, you know."

[roddy_reinigen]

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

Wasn't supposed to be doing all this? Well, when had that ever stopped anyone?

"Sure, but doesn't a part of you want to let your rebellious side out?"

[ghoulaid]

Ghoul struggles to muffle a snort of laughter. Let his rebellious side out? He's lucky whenever he manages to keep it held in.

He dodges the question, kneeling down and poking his finger in to one of the many rat holes pockmarking the ground. "You really up for gettin' on the bad side of the witches? Samantha don't take stuff gracefully."

[roddy_reinigen]

He thought about that. "Well...my plan was basically not to think about it too much, and then when things get bad, go hide behind the larger, scarier members of Hillingdon."

Don't knock it. It was a good plan.

[ghoulaid]

Okay, no. It's not a good plan, but it is a funny one. "Yeah? Who's that gonna be?" They better have some real impressive shit in Hillingdon. Mammoth shifters, maybe.

"All else fails, you can hide behind me. Me and her never got along, it ain't nothin' new." Ghoul flashes him a wicked grin. He's not exactly large or scary, but he's been itching to take a chunk out of Samantha. Maybe all of this will be enough to draw her out of her cave, and maybe he'll be able to get in one good maul before being magic'd in to sludge.

[roddy_reinigen]

"Dixon." Roddy answered. "He's a bobcat shifter."

And cats were terrifying, don't even try to tell Roddy otherwise. Roddy grinned.

"Although, hiding behind you sounds pretty great, too."

And he seemed to recall Party offering to be someone for him to hide behind as well, in the past, although in that context he was talking about hiding from cats, so he wasn't sure if it applied here.

"Maybe I could get everyone scarier than I am together, and hide behind the whole group."

[bellbound]

It won't be long before the staff at the centre bring in the exterminators to do some pest control. But before they do that, Mogget goes on a little hunt of his own. He kills five rats before they seem to get the message and scurry off. Strange. Their numbers and odd behaviour would certainly seem to indicate interference by a shapeshifter, so he isn't surprised when he comes across a boy who smells a lot like rat.

"Tut tut," he says, blood still on his mouth from the rat kills. "Defacing private property. Why don't you run along back to the sewer with the rest of your foul little friends?"

[roddy_reinigen]

When Roddy saw the blood on the cat's mouth, part of him thought, with a sinking feeling, that that was the danger he was putting the rats in, gathering them all here like this. However, when the he heard the cat's words, he suddenly became angry. It was under the cover of darkness and no one was around, so Roddy did a partial shift in an effort to look more intimidating before taking a step toward the cat.

"You're fae." Or so he'd assume, considering shifters generally could not talk in their animal forms. Not that it was a surprise. This whole thing was because of fae under witch control, so he wasn't surprised that one might be sent to stop him. What did surprise him was the sheer level of rudeness the fae took with him.

"So did your witch command you to act like that, or are you just an asshole on your own?"

[bellbound]

Oh, he's very much his charming self on his own, of course. And rat boy is looking more and more unattractive by the second.

"I'll let you be the judge of that." The cat stops at a safe distance, his eyes gleaming in the dark. He's called for security. If he can keep rat boy talking for just a minute longer, they'll be able to catch him. "You realise you've committed a crime."

[roddy_reinigen]

He knew, of course. Naturally, he knew. However, he'd let his anger get before his common sense when he heard that sewer quip.

"And let me guess. You're going to take me in, now."

Roddy had no doubt that he could, either, as was evidenced by the way Roddy took a step back. Sure, the feline form wasn't the most imposing, but he knew that fae were never what they seemed, and were never harmless. He shifted back to human, because he figured he'd have to run soon, and it wouldn't do to have a rat creature running through the streets.

"The thing is..." he said, taking a few more steps back, "You're going to have to catch me, first!"

And with that, he turned and ran.

[bellbound]

He should have guessed that a rat's instinct would be to run. And what is Mogget's instinct if not to chase? He pursues the boy to the edge of the property and there he stops, watching the shifter's retreating figure. It's enough to chase him off the site. And a few seconds later, when the security guards come, he tells them where to look. With any luck, they'll find him. And if not, well, they've given him a scare. Perhaps he'll realise that it would be unwise to return.

[roddy_reinigen]

Roddy would manage to get away in the end by turning into a rat and losing himself in the swarms of rats that lived in the underground tunnels of the tube, not the sewers, thank you very much. However, the pursuit of the security guards would do their job, and that would be the last time he'd show up there until the time to meet up and keep the witches out came, and then he would mostly feel secure in showing up because he knew he'd have more of Hillingdon there.