[h1][color=red]Aardvale Cleaver-Men[/color][/h1]
[hr]
The Cleaver-Men ignored Cia entirely. With their weapons drawn, they crept closer towards the trio, some of them barking like dogs, ravenous.

"HOLD IT, BOYS."

They all stopped and turned their heads. Behind the crowd, which split in two, walked up a towering, gangly man. Black, formal attire that had become tattered and stained. A black hat with a wide brim. Dark, unkempt hair, with a hefty beard. Pale skin, with veins pumping a dark fluid all along his hands and face. A toothy grin and one blank, glassy eye completed his ensemble.

"JUST... hold it." He said, with quite a few breaths in between his words, "What... have I TOLD you boys... about practicing your... your manners?" He gazed around at the Cleaver-Men surrounding him, then turned his gaze towards Gerald, Saaria, and Cia. "Which... which one of you's got the..."

He raised his finger at them before settling its direction on Gerald's skull. "Ah!" He said, smiling, "Yeah, you... the dead man walking..." He lowered his finger and turned his attention towards the women.

"I... [i]apologize[/i] for the boys' behavior..." He said, half-heartedly, "The name's uh, Jolly Gutters... and these are my fellow Cleaver-Men. See, we don't... get a lot of visitors... and we make short work of... of the [i]marked[/i] ones, so... here's the deal. You... hand [i]him[/i] over..."

He pointed towards Gerald once again.

"And you two girls can walk away... untouched. After all... natives gotta, look out for each other, yeah? Yeah... I can just [i]tell[/i] you two are from 'round here... just like us... whaddya say?"

The Cleaver-Men stood poised, awaiting action from the trio.

And for once, Gerald was silent.

[@Cuccoruler]
[@luclovers]