The Shadow of the West {Open}

[york]

The day was just like any other as the sun was setting on the city known simply as West City. The city was alive and well as the sounds of the city night life was quickly filling the air and Vash knew what that meant. The night life always bought with it the wildlife of the night. Standing on the edge of the small building where he both worked and lived he watched as people walked by enjoying their lives. The sight actually made him angry every time the saw it! People smiling and enjoying their peace and happiness all because they sold themselves out to the enemy, while others in the world was dying and suffering in slave camps. But there was nothing he could do, not yet always. Turning away from the sigh he would walked to the small table he had place on the roof, there sat his Capsule, a Pistol and his Cell phone. A odd combination of objects to say the least, but they was three things he always had with him.

Pulling on his black and red jacket he would returned to his spot on the roof as he clicked the capsule dropped it off following quickly as he himself jump. A second later the capsule would explode creating as hover bike on which to land on. Quickly starting it up he would shoot off just before hitting the ground, scaring a few people along the drop. Flying through the air Vash would push the bike of his to it limits each and every time he used it, for even if he was to crash it with do little harm to him. Oddly he truly didn't need to bike to fly as he could all on his own, but he learned the hard way that was not the best way to keep a low profile in such a city and flying would just waste Ki. His destination? The dead center of the city. His reason? To simply watch the people of the city.

It's had become something of a habit of his now to sit and watch the people of the night as they went about their lives when he was bored. Landing next to a building that just a week before was a poplar club, but was now just a empty building. With a press of a button the Bike would disappear in a puff of smoke before hopping up for him to catch it with ease. The night was young with the sun turning the sky into twilight as it fell into it bed for the night. Vash red eyes was scan the people as he walked about seeing everything most over looked, Pickpockets , criminals sight most would over look or cared to not see. It's was the world he had grow to know far to well as he rosed his arm and smacked a man on the back of the head causing him to drop the wallet he just stole. Without looking back he continued his walk as he held the yelling from behind him over the stolen object. Stopping on the street corner Vash would place a cigarette in his mouth, lighting it up before taking in the poison goodness. From here he could see the few shops here and there as well as the nights hot spots on the left side and to his right would be the city park. Moving his hand through his reddish black hair he would just stand and watch. Could tonight bring anything interesting?

[Lucas D. Hargrave]

Lucas was lost.

Having been able to navigate a broken, rundown, war ravaged East City when he had been a number of heads shorter, Lucas was understandably distraught.

No, no, distraught was too shallow a word for what he was feeling. What he was feeling was - ah yes, that was the word for it - hate.

"Darn map," Lucas muttered. A feeble attempt at profanity but he was almost an... older uncle to many young children and profanity for him had never been about the word itself but more the content. He was more than willing to pretend - for all involved - that his choice of words was more important than the fact that he was absolutely willing to murder the mapmaker. For a fraction of his usual fee. "How does this make any-"

Lucas paused. Took a deep breath. This made perfect sense to someone. Actually, given the number of people who used this map, it must have made sense to most people. Therefore, all he had to do, was try to think like that person. Persons. These squiggles and lines and words and colors made perfect sense. He just needed to look at it right.

There was something profoundly annoying about being aware that if there was a war going on he'd be able to get where he needed to be within the time it took him to walk there. Some sort of intuitive aptitude that was a great deal of help most of the time. But in absence of that war...

"Bother," Lucas muttered as he continued pondering his map. He considered asking someone for help but wasn't sure if that would make him stand out or not. And besides, it wasn't like Cecilia hadn't already tried to explain this to him several dozen times already. Asking every bystander to point him along a line until he hit his target probably was not going to be the best and most covert way of going about his assignment. And his assignment certainly stressed the supposed importance of secrecy.

[york]

Standing on his so called street corner would watch the people live their lives this night. It's seemed so odd how they could be so happy, so calm with how the world was outside their own sights. Shaking his head Vash would take in the last of his cigarette, holding it in for a few seconds before releasing it out his noise. Wrapping his fist around the cigarette butt Vash would quickly gather a small amount of Ki to vaporize it without allowing other to see before beginning to walk again. With new face he pasted he could see a little of their story's that was hidden behind each and every smile, but those story's was always the boring ones... most of the time. However the ones Vash found interesting was those who did not hide behind the smiles.

As he walked Vash would side step and slip in and out as the moved through the people of the streets walking to who knows where. However one person did catch his eye, or more like his third eye as he felt a bit of is power. The man seemed to be studying a mad in great details, to the point is was almost obvious he was lost. Taking out another cigarette Vash would place in the corner of his mouth however he did not light this one just yet, but instead walked over the man be sure to walk toward from the front. Stopping about two feet from him as he looked a bit at the map, but mostly looking around the area before turning back to the man. "You know... if you stare any harder the paper might catch fire. Need any help." Vash didn't look directly at the man, but stood where his eyes could still see him.

[Lucas D. Hargrave]

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[atrb=background,http://i41.tinypic.com/25qq3gn.jpg] "Old Mombasa is here," Lucas muttered to himself, barely audible as he did his best to concentrate on the map. The letters kept sliding in out of his focus, whimsical and almost snakelike. He was using his index finger to keep track of where he was pretty sure he was currently at but it wasn't easy. At one point he had apparently wandered into the middle of a lake. "And Tiro is there, and I am... here, so that means..." ""You know... if you stare any harder the paper might catch fire. Need any help?" Lucas slowly, almost lazily lifted his eyes from the map. It wasn't a pointless affectation: as concentrated as he was on this particular task, any sudden change from the abstract to the concrete would likely result in a surge of - ah - what might be colloquially called 'fighting spirit.' The Hargrave family, probably more accurately, referred to it as a form of psychosis. Lucas, as it were, was bad with not killing people. It was not something that came naturally to him. And inside East City, with the number of people capable of detecting ki by skill or by technology... well, better safe than sorry. The tophat on his head inched back slightly as he finally made eye contact (or something close to that, the... person talking to him was not looking at him directly) with the individual. Said individual was a young man, anywhere between sixteen and twenty. Although the majority of the young man's outfit was unremarkable, gloves and a T-shirt, the gloves seemed slightly out of place. An idiosyncratic touch, perhaps. Then again, the fur and leather was not exactly routine either. Gang, perhaps? "I do not require help," Lucas informed the other person coldly. "I am perfectly," his hands idly turned the map upside down, clearly refuting his statement, "capable of reading a simple map. I am merely a little confused. That is all. But if you wish to help, that is your decision." Lucas, sadly, on top of his maybe-psychological-disorder, was not a people person.

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[york]

Without ever really looking at the man in the eyes Vash would study the man bit by bit as he talked. A odd man if anything looking over the suit and wavy mess of hair of the man. Allowing for the first time for their eyes to meet, Vash red eyes would soon move to the map. Quickly taking out a lighter he would light the cigarette before snatching the map away. Turning away and walking a few feet before stopping and turning back to the man, the whole time he would be studying the object. For the most part it's appear to be a map of the city with a few marks here and there. "This is... a map of the city?" Vash asked as he looked up. Was this man lose in the middle of the city? Not a real easy thing to do, but what was these marks here and there. Walking back to his first spot as he looked back to the strange man holding the map out in case if the man wanted it back. "Well if you trying to get to these place I can show you how." Vash would say with almost blank face. Normally he would have tossed the paper back to the person after looking over it, but this time something seemed off with this guy, or maybe on depending on how you looked at it.

[Lucas D. Hargrave]

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[atrb=background,http://i41.tinypic.com/25qq3gn.jpg] As the young man lit his cigarette, Lucas' eyes drifted. Perhaps he should buy a few while he was here: the old man was trying to kick the habit but in East City tobacco was something of a luxury good. Along with coffee and other such addictive substances. Hm. Perhaps he'd go grocery shopping after all this was over. The children probably wanted sweets and pastries. Maybe toys, not that he was entirely sure what they would like. Ponies were popular, right? "This is... a map of the city?" The young man asked, snatching away the map after taking the first drag from his cigarette. Lucas narrowed his eyes. That had been a rather... fast motion. Not entirely out of the ordinary but not precisely average. More importantly though, was his map illiteracy catching? "Yes," he answered. Walking to and fro, embers at the end of his cigarette standing out against the encroaching dark, the young man finally handed the map back. "Well if you trying to get to these place I can show you how." Lucas had to admit, having someone show him the way to his assigned areas was about as foolproof a method as existed to make sure he wouldn't get lost. Even he couldn't get lost with a guide there to correct his mistakes. Or so he hoped. Although he couldn't imagine a set of circumstances where that could happen that was not the same as saying it was impossible. For instance, the young man could be setting up an ambush so that his fellows could mug him. "That would be," he paused uncertain of how this usually went. How did one convey thanks in a situation like this? "That would be... great," he said stoically. An ordinary person would have probably asked for names and introductions and such. Hargrave had no such irrational impulses.

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[york]

Looking back the blank face of Vash would have changed to bit of a grin about the possibly of learning the story of this new stranger. With a simpler spin and a wave of his hand Vash would began to lead the man to his destination. Taking the cigarette out of his mouth he would tap it bit to knock the ashes off and into the air as he walked just realizing the rude action. Quickly placing the cigarette back into his mouth Vash would reach into his jacket pocket and looking back the man over his shoulder as he held a cigarette pack in sight. "Smoke?" would all he would ask as he offer the man one, shaking the pack making one hang out. If the man would take one he would offer his lighter to him and if not he would only place it back into his jacket.

This was where many on the world normal people would began to try and force small talk into the little trip, but Vash wasn't much for beating around the bush and chose to ask his question. "I guess it wouldn't be that hard to guess your not from around here are you? So what brings you to this side of hell? Business or pleasure." he asked without looking back and continuing to walk placing both hands into his pants pockets rather then his jackets. The main reason was it allowed faster reaction time for reaching for his Pistol hidden on his lower back, cover by his jacket. It's wasn't the man that he felt he might need to gun for, but for where they was heading as it wasn't the best part of the city.

But he was curious what someone would want for this part of time as he turned back to the man with the top hat allowing his body weight to sit on one leg as he leaned a bit. "You can relaxes pops. If I was planning anything... Underhanded I would done it already and anyways we're almost there. Looking for anything particular?"

[Lucas D. Hargrave]

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[atrb=background,http://i41.tinypic.com/25qq3gn.jpg] Lucas hesitated before shaking his head at the offer of a smoke. Although it might help him look 'native' he was not in the business of lowering his peak efficiency for the sake of appearances. Still, the offer was a generous one. How... odd. It took Lucas a moment to realize that the young man had actually turned his back to him and couldn't see the gesture and managed to cough out a simple 'no, thank you.' Thank you was a basic courtesy that had been well drilled into his head. Lucas still wasn't absolutely sure he had applied it correctly but gave it two to one odds. Hard to go wrong with 'thank you.' The same held true for 'sorry.' They were like social grease, they made conversations run more smoothly. Pity he couldn't be bothered to remember that more often. The young man spoke more. Another set of questions. Lucas listened, absorbing the implicit criticisms being offered. He was still, so it appeared, 'standing out' too much. Not exactly news but certainly useful. He filed the thought away for later, reviewing his appearance and body language during an assignment dulled his edge. And in this bizarrely intact city he would obviously need that edge. To the young man's last observation... well, Lucas would welcome the attempt of something underhanded. He hadn't trained his senses on the young man, to do so would be to send his thoughts into... unproductive realms. It was hard enough to reign in his usual urge to calculate battle outcomes without the knowledge relative power levels provided. "A business meeting," Lucas replied. "I am supposed to be meeting someone." Why at night and why so far away from where he was originally from were obvious questions but Lucas was uninterested in answering them. Perhaps it was time that he start asking some questions of his own, if for no other reason than to distract attention away from the obvious questions. "Is everyone in West City as..." he hesitated over his word choice, eventually settling for: "helpful as you are?"

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[york]

Ho Ho so the man spoke Vash would think to himself inside his head as the simple smile would turned to a grin at the odd man question. Flicking the now cigarette butt away into the street Vash would close his eyes thinking about the right way to answer the question. So this man was in West City for just a meeting, but feeling a bit of his power himself something told him there might be more to the story, but he didn't have enough to go on...Yet. He almost reached for another cigarette but stopped himself as he didn't need to waste anymore this day. "Helpful might not be the right word." he would say with a bit of a laugh.

"I would place it more up to a luck of the draw... and also that mask you where there." the grin would disappear from Vash face as he pointed at himself but continued to stand. "There are to many people here hiding behind their smiling masks as the rest of the world is in chaos, but you! Your mask said something different about you." Turning back to his walk and giving a wave for the top hat to fallow him. They was lest then a block away now from the man destination and would reach it in a few minutes. "Let's just say I like helping those few I met from out of town."

[Lucas D. Hargrave]

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[atrb=background,http://i41.tinypic.com/25qq3gn.jpg] Masks? Lucas was never very good at figures of speech and for a moment of irrationality he considered the possibility that he had somehow forgotten to remove the bull costume that he had worn for las dias de los muertos but no, obviously that couldn't be it. Masks, masks, masks... Did the young man mean body language? An interesting point of view, Lucas admitted. But it assumed that there was something beneath the 'mask' in the first place, a notion that Lucas considered at best a semantic concern. Speech and body language were tools in a fight, perhaps of less obvious potency than a gun but they still had their uses. Feints, tricks, predictions, bluffs - all could be created upon a suggestion of posture, a movement of the eyebrow, a hastily or languidly said word. Huh. That had been an oddly philosophical moment. Perhaps it would be worth pursuing this line of inquiry. "What do you think my 'mask' is hiding, then?"

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[york]

Stopping in his tracks Vash would turn and look back at the man almost as if surprised. Not many people ever asked a following up question on Vash remarks about masks before, he had guessed it made some feel uncomfortable or others just didn't want to think about what it really meant. But this man seemed interested and maybe he had guessed what the masked comments meant. "Hmm Your mask... I must say yours is one of the best hidden ones I have seen in my days." Vash would began a little walk around Mr. Tophats as he place a hand on his chin to think. His cold red eyes would narrowed almost giving a glowing appearance as he looked over the man. "Your someone who have seen many a things... things other could never dream of. But yet it's something you must hide.

Stopping again at where he began Vash would lose his smile and become serious, if only for a second. He knew the next words out his mouth might surprised the man, or maybe it wouldn't! Who knows right? That was to fun part about things such as this he thought to himself as small but define grin returned. "The thing that your mask hides is that you, Mr. Tophats, am a Killer, No?!" he would ask the man almost like it was nothing more then a simple question.

[Lucas D. Hargrave]

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[atrb=background,http://i41.tinypic.com/25qq3gn.jpg] Having long ago discovered that it was 'impolite' to discuss who and who clearly had the body language of a trained killer, regardless how accurate one was, Lucas found the young man refreshingly direct. Still. He was supposed to be discreet, at least for this mission. Prevarication, unnatural as it came, seemed to be necessary. "An interesting answer," Lucas hedged, unwilling to just kill his guide for the sake of secrecy (more than the inconvenience that would present, this form of dialogue seemed to stimulate his brain in ways that he was unused to but were surely welcome). He saw no reason to lie though: everyone who survived in East City was a killer of some form or another, they just preferred not to call themselves such. And for some reason found those who did distasteful rather than honest. "Does no one kill in this city?" Although they had talked the entire way, Lucas was fairly certain they were nearing their destination.

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[york]

Smiling at the man question before beginning the walking again placing his hands back in his pockets. Deciding to keep the conversation going as they was almost finish this delightful little walk. The man didn't give him a straight answer to his question, but then again he didn't deny it ether making the outcome somewhat in this first choice flavor. But Vash was satisfied with it as pushing it anymore would most likely take this conversation he rather it didn't and focused his attention on more of his question. Do people not kill here in West city? Hmm a good question to ask, but Vash wounder if he was the right one to answer such a thing. No he wasn't, however Shadow was.

"If you can show me a city in this world that do not have killing it then I will show the perfect man. With that being said yes there are death and murders here, but on many levels beside life and death!" The smile would disappear here with this as he thought about how to saw it all just right. "It's more of like the souls of the people are being killed here then anything each. You can almost feel it in the air... He would suddenly start laughing in a low tone before turning back to the tophats "Sorry about all that, got a little carry away with life and death there. Most people find my way of thinking to be at best odd. Anyways we're here." He would say as he held his hand out to show the beginning of the street. He had done like he had promise, but he had planed on hitting the man up for some kind of reward for this little trip but for some reason felt it was no longer needed. Vash simple stood waiting to see if the man needed any other help this interesting night.

[Lucas D. Hargrave]

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[atrb=background,http://i41.tinypic.com/25qq3gn.jpg] A world with no killing? Ah, then a man like Lucas would be an unwelcome aberration, no doubt. It wasn't that he couldn't imagine it, he couldn't even begin to grasp an idea of it. Thought for another day. The soul bit was slightly abstract, admittedly. Lucas, of course, had heard of the stories where dragons granted wishes that could revive the dead but for every death that Lucas had dealt, he had never once seen a hint of a soul. Could souls die? Could they live? Did they even exist? And if they did, could he kill it? Lucas paused at the street, nodding. He had been shown pictures of this street. And he was here early too: a definite bonus. "This is," he told the young man, "the location." And as was customary, he took out a clip of ammo, the only real currency in the broken down parts of the East, and offered it to the young man.

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[york]

Standing with his arms cross Vash simply enjoyed the night air as a light wind would blow through the city streets. This had turned into quite the philosophical night this day he thought to himself. If anything it was a interesting walk he had with Mr. Tophats this night. He soon heard the words from the man he was expecting marking the possibler end of this walk. After taking a long look at the street trying to see any real significance before turning back to the man. Noticing the object in his hand Vash would rise a eyebrow to it before smiling a bit at this. Reaching out Vash would shake the man hand as he slipped the ammo clip up his sleeve with ease.

"Well Mr. Tophat unless you help with anything each on this lovely evening I guess this is where our paths end." Quickly placing his hands into his jacket pockets allowing the clip to slide into it and remain hidden.

(kinda short lol)