Trash Panda — Roleplayer Guild

As the clouds rolled steadily overhead, the girl quickened her step. She dreaded the thought of getting caught outside in a storm. Hiking up her much-too-long skirt, she broke into a gentle trot. Not too far ahead, she spotted the tenement that was her home. In spite of her parents’ wishes, she had taken a job and purchased a place to call her own. She thought her father too old fashioned, as he had wanted her to go through with an arranged marriage. The girl simpered to herself, holding her head high with pride. Well, she had shown him! She was doing just fine on her own. She didn’t need any man to—

The girl let out a gasp of surprise. A hand darted out from a narrow alleyway and seized her by the arm. She was jerked into the darkness and the grasp of a stranger. She tried to call out in alarm, but the unknown man’s second hand moved swiftly, covering her mouth. She squirmed and tried to get a look at her captor, but his grip held firm.

“Don’t try anything,” he whispered menacingly. The girl trembled as she felt his hot breath on her ear. “If you scream, I’ll kill you.” Even though she hadn’t seen a weapon, the threat was enough to frighten her into silence. The man seemed to sense this. He slowly uncovered her mouth and shoved her roughly against the alley wall.

Oh, father, the girl thought helplessly. How wrong I was! She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the man to attack her further. Instead, she felt the pressure of his grip suddenly cease. Curious, she opened one eye to a narrow slit. Her kidnapper lay on the ground with a new man standing over him. Her apparent “hero” nudged her captor’s body with a boot and gave a soft whistle.

“Oops,” he murmured in an accented voice. “Didn’t mean to hit him that hard. He’s out cold.” He paused, seeming to notice her presence for the first time. He flashed her a warm smile and offered her a hand. “Well hello, love. This brute didn’t hurt you did he? He has a nasty reputation for these sorts of encounters.”

The girl frowned. ‘Encounter’ wasn’t the word she would have chosen for what just took place.

“Who are you?” she queried. “Did you come to save me?” The man seemed to find that amusing. A smirk turned the corner of his lip.

“Sorry to break it to you, love,” he replied. “But I didn’t come here for you. You see, I’m a detective of sorts...” he paused. “I suppose I’m also something of a bounty hunter now.” He reached into his coat pocket and retrieved a crumpled piece of paper, unfolded it, and showed it to her. “Recognize this? You should. You just met him a few minutes ago. Here.” He grabbed her hand and shoved the paper into it.

“What’s this for?” the girl said, cautiously eyeing the wrinkled paper.

“What? It’s not going to come to life and bite you,” the man said with another smirk in her direction. “Think of it as compensation for all your trouble.” He nudged the body with his foot again. “He should stay conked out for a good long while. Just turn him in to the next officer you come across along with that wanted poster. You might want to hurry up, though, love. Looks like there’s a storm coming in.”

“B-but why are you giving it to me?” the girl said in surprise.

The man lifted a finger to his lips in a secretive gesture, “Because I’ve got bigger plans.” And with that, he spun around, leaving the girl standing alone in the alley with a ransom poster in her hand and an unconscious criminal at her feet.

Killian Novak yawned and raised his arms over his head in a luxurious stretch. He’d only been in Paris for five hours, and yet it was already turning out to be an eventful trip. He couldn’t wait to find out exactly what he had been called to do here. He knew some general information but was severely lacking in details. Oh well, this wouldn’t be the first time he was ill-equipped for a job. He would just have to cope. “Adapt, adopt, overcome.” That was his motto in life, and it had served him well over the years.

Up ahead, there was a blocked off road. Supposedly, this was where he was to meet the other explorers who would be accompanying him on his journey down under. Killian just hoped they weren’t all a bunch of oddball scientists. He could only handle so much crazy when trapped beneath layers of rock deep within the Earth.

Killian hopped the barricade in the street and approached what looked like the mouth of a cave. Two other fellow explorers were already loitering around nearby. He did a quick analysis of the two strangers. A man and a woman. They didn’t appear to be lovers of any fashion, judging by the distance between them. Siblings, perhaps? Now to decide what ‘role’ to take… He settled on something not too different from his natural personality –just in case they were together long. It would be difficult to keep up an act over a long duration of time— and yet something just different enough that he wouldn’t reveal anything about himself.

“Hello,” Killian called in greeting. He offered a flourish of a bow. “Fancy meeting you here at the gates to Hell. My name is Killian Novak. And who might you be?

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