[Center][h2][color=ed1c24]PEPSI, WARHAND OF PLAZA[/color][/h2][/center]

Pepsi turned at the sound of bootfalls behind him, placing the gore-stained glass around his neck quickly and lifting his hands over his head. He bared his teeth in a wide, mirthless grin at the so-called warriors who had come to investigate the death of their fellow, and the man leading them who spoke with him in a voice so stern, so rich with certainty in its Way. [i]Finally.[/i]

[color=ed1c24]"Alcohol, whose Way is walls and rules and bullets, who would bring order to the mad jungle. Had I known that death would bring me this audience, I would have piled body after body at your feet."[/color] He sniffed at the air, blood running down his face. [color=ed1c24]"You could offer me your thanks. Your guard was disregarding his duty, and I contend that he has been rightly punished for the weakness of his Way."[/color]

He straightened his back and stood to his full, towering height, glancing between the guns drawn on him, the shaky hands, the horrified eyes. Perhaps he had been wrong about this place - perhaps these people would be better crushed beneath Plaza than serving underneath it. But Alcohol was a man of strength - he would serve the sun-priests well, in time.

[color=ed1c24]"Tell the man who circles behind me that if he lays a hand on me, I will rip his throat out with my teeth,"[/color] Pepsi barked, and the boy in question recoiled, obviously convinced he'd been quite discreet in his approach. [color=ed1c24]"There is no reason in his dying today, nor mine. I will walk where you will take me."[/color] In Plaza, an outsider who attacked a Jaguar would be torn apart on the spot, his still-living guts an offering to the sun. But that was not the Way of this place, to gun down a threat in broad view of the people who had cheered for the attack. Time would tell which Way was superior, when one remained and one was ash and blood. The world was beautiful in that simplicity.

He held up his hands higher, still grinning, his gaze fixed on Alcohol. [color=ed1c24]"I am waiting."[/color]