[0pen] Peace, not in this lifetime.

[Tiberium]

Mitch had been searching out new areas of the town, he was still quite new here. Frankly he was bushed after years of being sleep deprived, and constantly on the move due to perusers he needed a good rest but even that is just hoping. Only days earlier he had spotted an old antiques shop that seemed it was abandon for years called the KingFisher, he approached the old shop and noted one of the windows was broken it was just big enough for his Talisman form.

He approached the hole in the window, and threw his backpack in first before shifting. he jumped up and clawed his way inside, his ribcage scraping a exposed piece of glass, but it didn't break the skin as he landed on a hard tabletop on the other side. Mitch looked down and sniffed at some of the scratch marks that were left behind, from the looks, and smell of some of them multiple animals coming in and out of the hole, different scents tracked to both hunters, Innocents, and others like him had been in and out of the place.

After a few seconds of taking in scents he moved on to the rest of the building. He shifted back into A human as he picked up his backpack and put it back on his back. as he moved he also noted how dark it was getting, dew to lack of sunlight as the sun was beginning to set he pulled out a flashlight and began to search the place, one hand was constantly on one of his guns at his belt at all times. He was the fastest, and most accurate draw, and could down a creature if suddenly attacked before they knew what hit them.

He continued to walk going deeper into the building, old shelves some still had antique valuables while others were bare, he found a several objects that caught his eye. The first objects were a decorated set of 6 titanium throwing knifes with rare diamond bladed edges. The other was a set of 5 throwing stars with very detailed wolves carved directly into each star but they needed to be sharpened due to age. "Wow what a find!" He mused to himself in a surprised tone, he then quickly stashed the throwing knifes, and stars into his backpack. He would put them on his belt later, and start using them to gain practice and get good just like he did with his guns.

After his little treasure hunt Mitch went back and searched the whole building, he was going to make sure it was empty before picking a place to try and rest for tonight. After finding the place deserted he went back to an office he discovered that had carpet. Almost immediately Mitch caught the scent of both hunters and innocents, the scents were old but still there ma-by 4 or 5 days at max and this worried him but he needed rest desperately.

He dismissed the thought of them returning and tried to relax as he pulled out a sleeping bag and unfolded it, after setting it up Mitch pulled out a small hand held radio, a soda, and a bag of spicy deer jerky. He flipped threw the stations looking for his favorite country station 99.5 the wolf, to his surprise he managed to pull in a clear channel and it was playing his favorite song, Life is a highway, by Rascal Flatt's.

After listening to several more songs, he finished off his soda, and ate one last piece of deer jerky before re-closing the bag. Mitch quickly flipped threw stations and found some smooth jazz music before turning it down low and he started to relax. His senses however never let up even after he closed his eyes and dozed off, he was positioned directly in-front of the door so if anybody came in he would be up within seconds. However with the music playing he wouldn't be able to hear what was going on in the rest of the antique store if another person or animal came in.

00C// anybody can join but don't expect a warm welcome at first sight, you can be the judge on what happens it can either be good or bad. However it would be interesting if hunters or innocents tracked him here and tried to force him to join. But also Mitch is looking for Friends if you wish to make one he will be willing.//

[Aras|Ofelia]

In the years she’d been living in Noatak, Katya had walked past the Kingfisher countless times. She had been somewhat confused when she'd noticed that the abandoned store's front-window display had changed every time, but after some thought, she'd figured it was the harmless work of a few pranksters. Though the place was indeed interesting, and both she and her talisman itched to explore, she'd never felt that it was necessary to break in merely to satisfy her curiosity.

Today was different. One of the shop-front windows was broken, leaving jagged edges and pieces of shattered glass littering, oddly enough, the ground outside. Someone had gotten inside—someone with a small talisman, probably, having slipped through the cracks in the foundation—and had been careless, or wanton. No matter how it had happened, Katya couldn’t help but notice how a lynx could easily fit through the hole. The sharp edges didn’t worry her; she trusted her agility enough that she knew there would be room to spare. As long as she wasn’t careless, no-one would notice if she took a quick look around.

With a couple glances up and down the street—fortunately empty, though she’d better make it quick because the sun was beginning to set—she backed up and shifted into her talisman form. A nimble leap, and she was through.

Now that she was inside, the first thing that struck her was that among the myriad scents left by previous explorers, one was noticeably fresher than the others. It smelled of feline, a foreign, dusty, golden-brown she’d picked up a few times in the areas surrounding the town, especially the meadows. Cheetah. And one, the lynx noted, wrinkling its nose, that hadn’t had a proper bath in a while.

The unexpected sound of country music drifted through the building. It was muffled, as if from behind a closed door. The lynx’s ears twitched and swiveled, trying to locate the source. There—from the back of the building. She padded silently towards the sound, head held high to prevent the little clouds of dust kicked up by her paws from getting into her nose. Sneezing would alert everyone within the building of her presence, and she would rather fly under the radar unless she chose to reveal herself.

Stopping in front of the door, she stood and listened to the music for a while. She had to wonder why anyone would choose to come to this shabby old place to listen to the radio. Even if this person didn’t have his own place—some shifters preferred the vagabond lifestyle, she knew—there were certainly better places around town.

Curiosity got the better of her. Transforming once again, Katya waited several seconds for her human eyes to adjust to the dim light. With only the slightest hint of apprehension, she knocked and pushed open the door.

[Tiberium]

Mitch wasn't aware that anybody was in the building till the door to the room he was in was opened, He was immediately awaken from his sleeping state, and cautiously sat up from the sleeping bag. He Then reached over flicking off the radio, After doing that he sat up to a full sitting position as he looked up at the female that entered. "Who may I ask are you? And what side do you reside with?" His voice seemed to have a slightly agitated sound to it, and you could tell Mitch was very tired as he spoke to her.

Once again he put his hand on one of the guns at his belt very slowly, once he figured out who she was only then would he relax but until then he would remain at asomewhatat alert stance as he waited for a reply. By the smell of her scent she was another feline, A lynx’s if he was correct but other than that he knew nothing about this female other than her species.

He waited slightly nerved, but at the same time somwhat calm for any sort of reaction from the fea that stood in the doorway. The room was still getting darker with every passing minute, and with the other free hand he grabbed His flashlight and clicking it on then flipping the beam toward the ceiling so it spread throughout the room.

[Aras|Ofelia]

The music was cut abruptly short the moment she pushed open the door. But even the brief glance she'd gotten was enough to put her and her talisman on guard. There was a near-palpable tension in the young man's voice when he asked who she was. Even in the dimming light, he was visibly tired; it looked like he hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in weeks.

But the thing that put her the most on edge was the way the man's hand crept towards his belt, where, without even having to look, Katya knew he had a gun.

Hand still on the handle, she held the door half-closed so that the thick wood was between her and the stranger. Any person with a weapon was more than enough cause for caution. That this man was clearly lacking sleep presented the distinct danger that his judgment was clouded. The slightest thing could set him off.

With only part of her face visible, her expression was difficult to discern. "Yekaterina Pushkarova. Neutral." If this man had been in Noatak for any length of time, he would recognize the surname--and associate with it the Pushkarov's steadfast neutrality.

She said nothing more, expecting for him to respond in kind.

[Tiberium]

Mitch noted her reaction as she kept the door between her and himself, he relaxed fully when she said she was a Neutral his hand coming off the handle of the gun. It seemed his mood automatically changed and he was a different person his voice seemed calmer and even the tension that was in his voice suddenly disappeared when he spoke

"Please forgive my reactions Yekaterina, but after the hell both the hunter and the Innocents have put me threw, I cant trust anyone unless they haven't been turned or i know them." He said looking at her before taking off his Belt and placing it an arms distance out of reach, once he pulled the belt out from under his jacket it reviled not one weapon but two as he set them down. "Please come sit down, I could use some company, or better yet a Friend." You could tell he was tired, but that didn't stop him from trying to talk slightly kinder than he normally would.

He reached over for his backpack and pulled it toward him, and then with the other free hand he fumbled with his radio for a moment before putting it into the pack, only to have the designed throwing stars to fall out. He quickly picked them up, and put them back in his bag before closing Zipping it back up and leaned it against the wall that was closest to him as he waited for a responce.

[Aras|Ofelia]

Though she was glad that the man had taken his hand off the gun, Katya had to wonder why he was so willing to believe what she was saying. For all he knew, she could be lying, using a well-known name to gain his trust. Perhaps he recognized her from the clinic--though she certainly didn't recognize him. But enough people came and went in a given day that it was more than possible that she could have missed a few faces.

His unusual directness was not enough to make her let down her guard. Furthermore, he was armed to the teeth. Katya wasn't sure whether he still had a trick or two up his sleeves even after he'd disarmed himself. He was clearly trying to make an effort to sound polite, but she declined his offer to sit down with a curt shake of her head. She did, however, open the door enough that he could see the rest of her face.

"What's your name?" Neutral, evidently, and with a story to tell. Katya did not object to being a listening ear, but with an armed stranger like this one, it was probably better to do it from a distance.

[Tiberium]

When she relented to sit next to him he didnt push it further obviously she was like him. "The name is Mitchell but you can call me Mitch." He said his voice calmer than before. "After many years of running it is hard to trust anyone." He said with a very long sad sigh. Mitch missed his family, freinds, relitves, all were dead and gone, "You probably havent had any problems around here since you live here. But Ive been chased, hunted, threatened with death, and even injured." He said looking toward her.

You could tell besides the fact he was tired his anger had all but vanished and it now seemed sad. "For once I wish for a solid nights sleep, a job, new freinds, an area that I wouldnt have to leave. I personally like this town, but im still having problems with both innocents, and hunters. To me this war is no longer good versus Evil, both sides have turned into roving gangs, recruting members any way possible and im sick of it." His words were true but at the same time upset, as he waited for some sort of responce from Yekaterina.

[Aras|Ofelia]

The story told by the stranger--Mitch, though he'd failed to provide a last name--was not an unusual one. A talented Undecided, dead set on remaining neutral, being pursued by Innocents and Hunters alike in an attempt to wear him down until he relented to joining one or the other. Not everyone was as lucky as she'd been. The factions were quite dogged in their recruitment, though Katya found it odd that they would expend so much effort on a single shifter. It certainly explained why he looked so haggard, however.

"Residents have their own problems." If Mitch thought that living her guaranteed a peaceful existence, Katya could assume that he hadn't been in town for very long. She saw more than enough patients to know that the conflict was still very much present in Noatak.

She took another good look at the man. Besides the exhaustion, he didn't appear to be injured. But in the animal world, injury was a sign of weakness. The last thing he would have wanted was to show weakness in front of potential enemies, so he'd likely learned to hide his injuries quite well.

"If you're injured, the clinic treats everyone." Some of the staff might be loyal to a certain faction, but the clinic never turned down anyone who needed medical assistance.

[Fulong|Clara]

It had been some time since Fulong had had cause to explore the Kingfisher again. The book of poetry Jocelyn had discovered on his last visit had kept him occupied for some time. There was something inexplicably relaxing about reading it; it was as if he'd somehow discovered an old friend within its pages. Still, the fact that a book so obscure as that one had been simply lying around in the abandoned antique shop for so many years, untouched, had piqued his curiosity. What else could be in there, he wondered, and were there any clues that might point to the identity of the previous residents of the town? There was only one way to find out.

The window wasn't open this time; instead, there was a gaping hole in the glass. Broken from the outside, from the looks of it, and tufts of fur on the jagged edges left in the frame. Talismans, then. The hole was large enough to accommodate a variety of animals, but he knew at a glance that his wings would only get in the way, and crawling through as a human wasn't worth the scratches he would probably get if he tried. Reaching the window lock through the hole, on the other hand, was a simple affair, even if the latch stuck slightly, and in a few moments he had opened the window from outside and slipped in.

The crane heard the sound of muffled voices before he did, and he paused for a moment. One of them was unfamiliar. The other was recognizable as that of Yekaterina Pushkarova. Curiosity got the better of him; it always had. Silently he made his way to the back of the shop, peering out from behind a shelf. Yekaterina had her back to him, obscuring his view of whoever it was she was speaking to.

There was no particular point in eavesdropping from here. Stepping out from behind the shelf, he approached, mild surprise appearing on his features. "Yekaterina?" he said, a faintly inquisitive tone in his voice. "What are you doing here?"