Encounter the Dragon [Jane Whitfield]

[Nikolae]

The first thing he did was strip his favorite leather jacket off, fold it into a plastic wrap, and then carefully stuff it into the bottom of his canvas backpack. The pack was relatively empty now, but in a few hours it would be full of things he'd picked up while wandering through the caverns. He hadn't been back here in a couple weeks - since he'd realized the foes here weren't nearly as difficult to take down as they'd once been. And fighting things that gave him no trouble wasn't really worth the effort - it didn't help in his determination to become a predator worthy of the mantles he wore; Father of Dragons, leader of Worthingtons, and one day king of a court he hadn't yet put into motion. Tonight, though he anticipated having to fight off some of those inferior enemies, he was here to collect gems. He had some ideas for what to do with them outside of selling them.

Approximately one hour and twenty-seven minutes later he dug into his bag, now overflowing with rubies and emeralds, and retrieved a package of handi-wipes. He used them to wipe the worst of the grime and muck off of himself, not to mention his own blood from when he'd gotten lazy or distracted and let the shamans get a shot at him. He was pretty pissed about the rib that was at least bruised if not fractured. He'd jerked back in time to keep it from breaking outright. He didn't bother with his jacket - not while he still had a few wounds still seeping - and slung the heavy bag over one shoulder. As soon as he was out of the caverns, Nik tossed the wipes into a can marked with a sign about conservation. Snorting, he rolled his eyes and strode back toward the familiar city streets.

He jumped to the side as a blur passed him, and winced as he fell into the side of a building. Golden slit-pupiled eyes traced the path of the creature that had rushed past him, and he inwardly cursed. A rogue - just ******* perfect. The thing disappeared into a warehouse, and Nikolae took a moment to look up at the sky and seriously considered not making it his business. It was definitely feral if it hadn't even attempted to avoid him - Nik might not be the strongest jerk on the street but even he knew his aura all but bled 'stay the **** out of my way unless you want an early death'. Especially in his current mood. The fall against the wall had jarred his injured rib, and now he was even more pissed.

The sounds of screams made up his decision for him, and he bit back a growl as he straightened himself and checked the clip on his gun. Full. A few spares hidden on his body, and even more in his bag. He'd properly cleaned his favorite new blade, so there was no worry of rusting the thing. This area wasn't exactly the slums, so screams like that were bound to cause human attention - maybe even calls to cops. He muttered under his breath and paced after the path the rogue had taken, pausing to draw the shadows to himself before entering the big building. He turned, locking the door - not really sure if it would do any good. It would keep humans from wandering in, at least.

Outfit

[Jane Whitfield (DELETED 5975)]

Jane had a job to do: practice. While she had some familiarity with lock picking, it wasn't something she'd ever had the proper tools for, and she hadn't been very good at it. Whether that was the result of not having the right tools, or just her being bad at it, she was at least able to get into the building she stood in now. She had decided that since she'd already started down the path of living outside the law when she was on the streets, she may as well explore it. She had to be good at something, right?

This way, the voice told her, causing Jane's head to turn automatically in the direction it came from. She moved without thinking, following the instruction. She should have worried about the part of town she was in. She'd seen enough cities to know that the run down area was bad news, but that made it perfect for breaking and entering, didn't it?

She looked around, letting her ratty backpack slip off her shoulder and thump onto the concrete floor of the warehouse. There had to be some useful junk lying around here somewhere, and she was going to find it. Off to her left stood a door marked "Office". Bingo, something of use was bound to be in there, even if it was just dusty, abandoned computer parts. Just because she didn't know anything about them didn't mean someone else wouldn't have a use for them.

Moving to the door, she had juts placed her hand on the knob when she heard a crash. Something collided with her, the wooden barrier breaking behind her body as she was taken to the ground. Mouth opening wide, a scream peeled from Jane's throat.

[Nikolae]

Nik hooked the other side of his backpack over his shoulder, tightened the straps enough that it wouldn't throw off his movements, and crept quietly toward the sound of growling. Definitely a rogue. Inwardly he was ticking off the reasons this was not his business, and where the hell were the people who enjoyed slaughtering their own kind for funses anyways? Not that he considered the slobbering beasts his kind. Far from it. Something had definitely gone wrong when they'd been turned, though he could say that about more than a few 'citizens' of the city. Hell, he'd even housed a psychopath or two within the Dragomir halls. And he was pretty sure the Dragons, in general, were considered civilized sociopaths at best. The thought made him smirk.

He'd made it to the door, now hanging off the top hinge, of an office and was peering inside. There was definitely a scuffle happening, he could see the dust on the floor where a body had slid across it. And hear the sound of a female in terror. An inch into the office and he spotted the hulking rogue pinning her down. It was drooling - why were they always drooling? And had it's fangs fully extended. He grimaced at the stench coming off of it, and the putrid clothing hanging in shreds. Raising his gun, he took aim, let out a breath and rested his finger on the trigger.

The sound of the "My Little Pony" theme song suddenly rang out. Paused. Started again. Nikolae bit back a curse, realizing a second too late that he'd turned his phone back on once his trip to the caverns had ended. And also realizing that his ring-tone had been changed again. He was pretty sure Azariel was behind it. He was pretty sure he needed to kick his psychopathic-childes *** the next time he saw him. Cover blown, Nik was less than surprised when the rogue reeled up and turned to face him, hunkering down over it's fallen prey. Then it growled, and the Dragomir couldn't hold back a sharp laugh. The things were just plain bizarre.

Gun still in hand, Nikolae finally pulled the trigger, aiming for the middle of a skull. The rogue jerked at the last moment though, taking the bullet to a shoulder and barreling forward.

"Sonuva-" Nikolae muttered, an instant before the rogue ran right at him, slamming him into the wall with enough force to shake plaster down on them. He coughed, more instinct than need, and grimaced as his rib throbbed in agony. If it hadn't been broken before, it definitely was now. His knife was already in his other hand, and he jabbed it down repeatedly into the things back until it stumbled away from him.