[hr][center][h3][b][u][The Den][/u][/b][/h3][/center]
[center][A Sepokku / XianaEvermor Collaboration][/center][hr]

[b][color=#a6a6a6]“Cute kid, reminds me of my sister.”[/color][/b] She could still imagine Luolan’s crying face, like she had left yesterday. The girl was probably old enough to have lost most of the baby-fat around her face by now. Putting both her hands in her pockets, Astrid mused about the Den, found families, and the cost of protecting others as she followed closely behind Wolf. 

[b][color=#7270db]“She is… a handful,”[/color][/b] Wolf murmured, chuckling with a tired note and idly rubbing a hand over the numerous scratches and scars on her cybernetic arm.

Astrid couldn’t help but smile as she thought of the pouting girl Wolf had shooed away, [b][color=#a6a6a6]“On the contrary, I walked into a situation unexpected enough to qualify myself as flummoxed…”[/color][/b] She looked around the room a bit, the well-kept furniture that held the mark of age. How long had these people been hiding out here? How many wanderers had come here seeking respite, and how many had found it? The thought made her almost hesitant to ask for help. They would be taking on risk for her sake, and she wasn’t even sure she could be honest about why. Not that she knew why in Jahannam, JAHANNAM wanted to know about the bombing. 

She gave Wolf another once-over, seeing the stranger in a new light. Good people like her were hard to come by in Titan’s Fall. [b][color=#a6a6a6]“I’m Astrid, Grunewald. Formerly of the Children of the Skye. Some people ‘round here have heard of ‘em.”[/color][/b] Her words slowly lowered to a mumble as she said the last part. [b][color=#a6a6a6]“You know… On second thought, I’m not sure I should be asking you for help. You seem like you have your hands pretty full with…”[/color][/b] Her left arm gestured to everything around them lamely. [b][color=#a6a6a6]“Wouldn’t want the Horde following you back here.”[/color][/b] 

[b][color=#7270db]“Well. Firstly, if you’re going to stay here for any length of time you may wish to pick another name,”[/color][/b] Wolf began. [b][color=#7270db]“I’m… familiar with the Children of the Skye, but who you were in the past isn’t important. The Den is where you come to leave all that behind and start with a clean slate,”[/color][/b] she explained. For a moment Wolf’s eyes flicked up and to the right: [color=8dc73f]HK[/color] had left her in passive recording mode, but there had to be something going on outside since [color=8dc73f]HK[/color] was scrambling the [i]Manta Interceptor[/i] with the Lockdown Suite, and “[i]Black Betty,[/i]” the enormous flying sedan that was basically a gun they'd ripped out of a wrecked A-10 and slapped thrusters on to the catapult. Wolf resisted the urge to run out and check on what was happening. The girls would call her if something got out of hand.

[b][color=#7270db]“As far as Halcyon is concerned, we’re unofficially considered part of ShieldTown. We pay for our part of the tithe in the security and services we provide to our neighbor, if that’s what you’re worried about. They also know better than to come snooping around here or trying to settle old grudges,”[/color][/b] she quipped. Wolf had sent them a pretty clear message and a bill for the damages last time that had happened. The Dragon, of course, wasn’t pleased. The thought brought an amused smile to her face.

[b][color=#a6a6a6]"I'm not, that is to say, I don't-"[/color][/b] A new name did sound nice. Something more refined than the ones she'd haphazardly been stuck with.  She shook her head to dispel the notion before she could succumb to the temptation, [b][color=#a6a6a6]"I just need help getting topside. If you think you can assist me with that, and it won't cause any blow-back on you from the Horde, I'd be very grateful."[/color][/b]

She grew quiet for a moment while she carefully thought of what exactly to say. [b][color=#a6a6a6]"I'm sure you heard about the explosion in Justice Square. The rest of my family is up on the Plates, some of them not far from there; I need to check on them."[/color][/b] None of that had been a lie so far, she nodded slightly before continuing, [b][color=#a6a6a6]"And, if it isn't too much trouble, I was hoping we could arrange to have my bike sent up with me? It was a gift from my sister, and she'd kill me if I showed up without it."[/color][/b] Telling Wolf more would go a long way to cementing trust between the two, but... Her eyes darted about the room, spartan by necessity, refugees only a few rooms away; thoughts of that little girl's golden eyes, and that feeling of something crawling in the back of her mind while she shared that psychic view of the ocean.

There was no reason to divulge further, these people had their own problems. [b][color=#a6a6a6]"I know it's asking a lot, and I don't know when I'd even be back to repay you."[/color][/b] Her right hand anxiously reached behind her back, closing around her left upper arm. [b][color=#a6a6a6]“I could pay; not much, but I have some Clat on me. I can pay more if you accept credits.”[/color][/b] 

Wolf’s chair creaked as she leaned back in it, maintaining eye contact with Astrid. She supported her elbow with one arm and pressed a knuckle to her upper lip in thought. The dimming lights and the resonating *[i]thud[/i]* of the catapult through the bulkheads above them reminded her that [color=8dc73f]HK[/color] was too busy to verify Astrid’s statements. News traveled rapidly in the Undercity, and Astrid’s story tugged on her heartstrings, but was that enough to put herself and her pack at risk for someone she didn’t know? The thought gnawed at her for a solid minute and her cybernetic wolf ears twisted to follow the sound of someone dashing down a hallway in another part of The Den.

[b][color=#7270db]“Well…,”[/color][/b] she muttered uneasily. [b][color=#7270db]“The Lifter won’t breach the surface with your rig.”[/color][/b] Wolf didn’t know Jade either when she shot the two men accosting her and brought JAHANNAM down on the pack. [b][color=#7270db]“Unless you can carry that thing while climbing the crater wall we’re booking a trip on one of the elevators,”[/color][/b] Wolf muttered while staring off into the space between. [color=8dc73f]HK[/color] was busy, so she was queuing intel reports from The Den’s servers manually to her HUD. From what she could tell, [b]Freight[/b] had been hit pretty hard by some unknown masked Deviant followed by the Hunt. They’d missed a scheduled lift trip. Probably scrambling like hell to get it moving again.

[b][color=#7270db]“Someone move the ‘[i]Vulture[/i]’ to the catapult when there’s a spare moment, please,”[/color][/b] Wolf muttered into her sub-vocal vox. The faint sound of a double-click reply was only just lost to the ambient room noise. [b][color=#7270db]“I haven’t pissed off the Dragon in a while… Tell you what: I’ll get you to the surface to check on your family. You bring me back something pretty next time you’re in town and we’ll call it even,”[/color][/b] Wolf smirked.