[center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/m7f08O1.png?1[/img] [b]Mecca, Green Sahara[/b] [sub][@Tenma Tendo][@Renny][/sub] [/center] Nightfall had descended upon the city of Mecca, the sound of animals grunting and groaning as they were carried off by the worried hands of their owners. The sounds gradually went from the grunts of annoyed sheep and camels to a range of screams of pain as the people gathered the creatures into the center of the city, taking shimmering knives to their throats, painting the streets a vibrant crimson as the sacrificed's blood seeped into the sand and between the cracks of the stone. Body upon body tossed upon the stone altars of the Meccan gods, as the people pleaded and begged with their deities for salvation, from protection from the oncoming army of the Axumites. As one of the Meccan men touched a torch to the pile of flesh and blood, lighting the animal carcasses on fire, a plume of smoke rose high into the air, as the ground was filled with the desperate prayers of the Meccans, and the weeping of women and children over the coming battles. From a distance, a group of men stood, looking on from a higher distance. One of them, a fat man with bright red cheeks to match his orange, coppery hair, chuckled slightly at the panic that went on below. "Look at them, throwing their livestock and wealth to the Gods like it will save them." The man standing next to him simply let out a small laugh, "Fear will do strange things to men, like forcing them to give up their food to deities when they would do well to save what little they will have to eat." Another of the men, a rather short man, carrying some noticeable weight on him, with a small boy next to him, spoke up. "Abu al-Hakim, Abu Lahab, I don't think that it is appropriate for us to be mocking the people when they require leadership more than ever." The red-haired man, Abu Lahab, simply sneered and scoffed at the other's objection to his mockery. "It is not our fault if they behave irrationally, Abu Talib, what right do you have to take away the amusement of watching them panic?" The taller of the three men, Abu al-Hakim, raised his hand to silence his companion. "Make no mistake, Abu Talib, we have been taking the necessary steps to ensure that Mecca will be safe in the coming embargo. Negotiations have already been taking place between ourselves and the leaders of the Axumite army to ensure as minimal casualties as possible." Abu Talib frowned at the responses, but he had no reason not to trust what Abu al-Hakim had told him. "Very well, if what you say is true then I suppose there is little more that can be done. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to retire home for the night. Come, Ali." the man said to the young boy by his side, who nodded and followed along with his father. When the two were gone, Abu Lahab spit upon the ground where Abu Talib had stood, cursing him. The man then turned his gaze back to Abu al-Hakim. "You are certain they are coming tonight?" "Absolutely," he responded, "I specified our location, shortly before dusk, while the people are busy with the sacrifices." As if summoned from their words, the two men heard a rustling of plants as two hooded figures made their way into the tent that the men had assembled for this purpose. Abu al-Hakim smiled at the sight of the visitors. "Just as we had planned, come in Gentlemen, allow me to pour you a drink." As cups of wine were poured for the two visitors, the men pulled down their hoods, to reveal the faces of a man of obvious African descent, and another who looked to be more of a Jewish background. "I am always punctual to my appointments, Ibn Hisham" spoke the clear leader of the group, sporting in a blue turban. "Please sir, call me Abu al-Hakim. You have allowed us to call you by your birth name, Malachi." The Jewish man smiled as he took a sip of the wine, "Indeed I have, I suppose it is only fair that I extend the same casualness to yourselves." Abu Lahab slammed a fist against the table, "Cut the shit, Malachi, tell us what you want from us." The darker man fixed his glowing Green Eyes upon Abu Lahab as he went to reach for his sword, only for Malachi to rest a hand on his arm, "Easy, Rago, there is no need for violence. Not yet at least." Abu al-Hakim apologized for his associate's behavior, "Please forgive him, sir, you must understand that we are busy, and would like to end this conflict as soon as possible." Malachi nodded, "My superior intends to devastate this city as an example of what will happen to those who defy him. I'm sure you already know this. But I am willing to give you and your people a chance to avoid that fate, if you are willing to meet my demands." "If you are reasonable, im sure we can accommodate for you." "It simple really, firstly we would like access to your food and water unimpeded when we arrive." The two nodded at the request. "Second, you will be having a visitor to your city, a woman from the west. You will know her by the color of her hair. When she arrives, I expect her to be captured and delivered to me. But I must warn you, she is more dangerous than she looks." Abu al-Hakim chuckled, "I am sure that we can handle one woman, sir." "I should hope so too," Malachi replied. "Those are my demands, once the woman is delivered to me, and we get our supply of food and water, we will leave your city undamaged. If there is no more to say, we will take our leave." With that, Malachi commanded Rago to come with him. Leaving the two men to decide the fate of Mecca for themselves. [center][b]Renovation's Might, Renovation[/b] [sub][@Ryteb Pymeroce][@ShadowVentus][/sub] [/center] Time as a pirate had let Hirutila know when the time was to get out of a situation. And a child screaming roaring flames into existance was absolutely the time for him to get the hell out of there. As soon as the fire was started, he took off running into whatever space would get him away from that whole mess. Hirutila was never good with kids, something he regretted when it came to raising his daughter. But that was a long time ago. Maybe he'd finally learn how to deal with them properly during this little adventure. Until then, the immediate need was to find somewhere he would not burn to death. Quick thinking lead him to leap into the nearest room, not that he had any idea what that room would be. He was quickly met with a very sterile environment, and with a very theatric display as that fox kid was giving off some speech as he was messing around with the body of another one of the recent arrivals, before he saw the arcs of electricity leap from the fox's hands and strike the other, who quickly jumped up, angry and confused. Hirutila just stood there, confused as well, scratching at his head as he looked over at Felix and Asher, no words to say, just a perplexed face that showed how on one hand he wanted to just turn around and leave, but clearly showed that right now it wasn't really and option. [color=f26522][b]"I know what you're thinking, but you don't want to go out there right now."[/b][/color] He managed to stammer out to Asher.