Peace and Unity March

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It's a glorious hot and sunny evening in London when a ragtag group of supernatural misfits turn up at Leicester Square to wave their placards and begin their march for peace and unity among the city's supernatural communities.

Organised by students at the Redbright Institute, the march begins at 6.30pm and ends at 8.30pm outside the Night Council Headquarters in Whitehall. While the march is open to all, the timing is not vampire-friendly which is not a coincidence; there's a noticeable anti-vampire sentiment amongst the crowd.

The human media pay no attention: they've had the far larger Pride march earlier in the day to report on and this event has been billed as a marine environmental awareness campaign to the outside world. No one cares. But the Night Council do, of course, and accordingly the march is policed by Guardians who are dressed as police community officers. They will intervene if the protest appears to get out of hand and stop anyone who attempts to enter the Night Council HQ.

What's the march about?
The official objective of the Peace and Unity March as posted by the Redbright student organiser is to demonstrate support for a unified supernatural community. Despite the name, it attracts a variety of protesters who all want different things. Those attending or observing the march will see and hear support for the following, in rough order of prominence:

• PEACE AND LOVE. We just want everyone to get along.
• STOP THE FIGHTING. Not just pacifism, there's also a general sense of being sick of losing loved ones and driven out of parts of the city due to fights between factions. Some of the more extreme stances also blame the "monstrous" species for inciting violence i.e. vampires, werewolves, fae.
• WE STAND TOGETHER. A stronger message of solidarity and defiance against the Night Council and its perceived biases.
• REPRESENTATION FOR ALL. Also anti-Night Council. This bleeds into discontent against both vampires and witches.
• VAMPIRES SUCK. The vampires are taking over! This is a disaster for everyone and should be stopped.
• WITCHES SUCK. The witches have been controlling London for years! Down with the witches.

There are likely to be some rather heated debates between the protesters themselves as these varying sentiments contradict each other. Some protesters feel that Sylvia Redbright was unfairly ousted from the Night Council and are vocal in supporting her. Others are just cynical about the Night Council in general.

Route
6.30-6.45pm: Leicester Square
The crowd gathers at Leicester Square where the first fifteen minutes are spent gathering everyone together, waving some placards and generally getting everyone ready to begin the march. At this point the Guardian presence is hardly noticeable, though they are watching as soon as the march begins.

6.45-7.15pm: Victoria Embankment via Trafalgar Square
The crowd walks from Leicester Square to Trafalgar Square, then takes a diversion along the Strand before crossing over to Victoria Embankment. They pause at the Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges to look out across the Thames to Waterloo, which is in Lambeth, a territory controlled by the Islington Nest. A few protesters spit in the river.

7.15-7.30pm: March from Victoria Embankment to Whitehall
From Victoria Embankment it's only a short walk to Whitehall, where the protesters march along the street before eventually coming to a halt outside the Night Council Headquarters.

7.30-8.30pm: Outside Night Council HQ
The remaining hour is spent as a sit-in protest outside the Night Council HQ. There are chants about standing together as one community, about the perceived lack of representation in the Night Council, and about peace not war. A few use loudspeakers to make speeches which are received with varying levels of enthusiasm. A small group even attempt to enter the Night Council HQ but are quickly rebuffed by Guardians who look increasingly menacing as the evening draws on.

At 8.30pm the protesters are ordered to disperse. Anyone who refuses to leave will be swiftly marched off, or even arrested, though for the most part the Guardians are trying to keep the peace.

Late evening: Off to the pub
There's no official gathering after the protest is over, but various groups do disperse to pubs around the central London area to continue the debate and generally have a good time and/or cause trouble. Some of these – the ones that are identified as potential political troublemakers – are quietly followed by undercover Guardians.

Comments

[thelastjoy]

"That's awful depressin'. Makes you wonder what the point of all this is." She gestures out to the crowd.

[knowntohisfriends]

Well, it seems obvious enough to him.

"To be heard."

[thelastjoy]

"Doesn't seem like it matters if no one's really gonna listen." She frowns. "Doesn't sound like anyone in charge is gonna hear much."

[knowntohisfriends]

"Doesn't matter much if people listen, matters that you tried to get heard."

[thelastjoy]

"I don't know about that," she says quietly. "Realizin' people don't care enough to help time and time again has gotta make you tired. Gotta make you think it's better to do something more than talk."

[knowntohisfriends]

"Sometimes, they listen," he offered. He doesn't sound like he's trying to cheer her up, he just sounds... Like he's seen it all too much. Because some times they do listen, so they can seem the more tolerant person, or get the right type of votes... Some times they listened.

[thelastjoy]

Part of her wanted to ask if this was going to be one of those 'sometimes'. She presses her lips into a thin line, looks out over the crowd and instead Girl changes the subject. "All this doesn't really seem like your kinda thing. What are you doing here?"

[knowntohisfriends]

"Got me reasons," the Dodger said. He didn't feel quite right about letting Girl know that his line of work - thieving - worked best at hopeful things like this. Mostly because he had just kind of smashed all her optimism down and... well, it wasn't intentional. Honest.

[thelastjoy]

"Not gonna tell me. Okay, keep being mysterious." She huffs a laugh under her breath. He might have better things to do tonight that listen to her whine about the state of the city. "Am I keeping you from it?"

[knowntohisfriends]

"Nah, done enough fer one night," he told her with a grin. It was true. He'd gotten enough to keep Fagin happy. "Didn't reckon I'd see you round at this."

[thelastjoy]

"Oh? Guess that means I don't got to feel bad about keeping you busy a little longer." She smiles and shrugs. "What, didn't think I was the type? You ain't really wrong. Kinda surprised myself by showing up. Never really liked getting in the middle of these things."

[knowntohisfriends]

"Never think anyone's the type fer these," he admits. "Always seem like too much hassle an' you never know when the cops are gonna come sniffin' around."

[thelastjoy]

"Last thing any of us needs is a stay in a jail cell. 'Lest it ain't a full moon tonight." Her face scrunches up, nose wrinkling. "Didn't think you'd be worried about gettin' caught."

[knowntohisfriends]

"Ain't, normally," because normally Nancy would be there, willing to help him out of a tight spot. "Just ain't in the mood for dealin' with them."

[thelastjoy]

"Normally?" Girl echoes curiously. She shakes her head. "Then what are you in the mood for, huh?"

[knowntohisfriends]

There was a long pause. "A good drink?"

[thelastjoy]

Girl chuckles. That sounds about right. "Sayin' you wanna get out of here? You find us a spot that'll let us in and I'll pay."

[knowntohisfriends]

"You say that like you think I won't find us a place," he grins, and gestures with his head for her to follow.

[thelastjoy]

"You say that like I doubt you," she says, smile cheeky as she follows after him. "I was just sayin' it was on me tonight. Can't let you do all the work."