Vale Grand Bazaar [Open, Ongoing]

(This takes place during the Sunday of week 7)

The Grand Bazaar, the greatest collection of small shops and merchants in Vale. The voices of merchants advertising their wares can be heard through the streets. As one walks down the road, they can see the variety of different goods that are being sold throughout the massive bazaar. The smell of exotic foods wafts through the air, trying to entice customers. Merchants haggle over prices with customers, and in doing so attract even more attention to their small shops. The streets are narrow, yet crowded with people looking for a deal. In the center of the bazaar, a large ring of shops is built into the wall, and yet another ring of small stands is in the middle, forming a rotary of sorts. One must keep a close eye on their wallet or purse here, as merchants are not the only ones looking to profit. Pickpockets roam the narrow confines of the bazaar, preying on unsuspecting or unprepared shoppers. It is a beautiful place, but not without its dangers.

Kurono walked with the crowd, blending in as if she were another shopper. She made her way to the central rotary, the most crowded place in the bazaar. She walked around the circle once then, seeing nobody tailing her, went to meet with one of the shopkeepers. She walked up to his shop, one built into the wall of the bazaar, and leaned against the counter, placing her forearms down. "I believe you have something for me." She said to the shopkeeper, who had leapt out of his chair to meet her.

The man frowned a moment before a look of realization came across his face, "Ah, yes." He said, turning to rummage around in a crate stored behind him. He pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to her, "This is it." He said, returning to the wooden chair he had been sitting on. Kurono said nothing to the man and placed the paper in her pocket, walking away from the shop nonchalantly.

Vega stands in front of one of the stalls haggling with a vendor. "You must think me insane to pay this much for a box of crickets." The vendor was charging Vega triple the usual amount he normally payed for the same amount of crickets. "These crickets mean the difference between life and death for my specimens and you would charge so much. I don't have the time for such a waste, I'll take my services elsewhere." Vega walks away from the stall checking his pocket watch. "This will end up being a waste of a day."

Cheshire's eyes darted left and right looking out for any familiar faces. The coast appeared clear, though he still remained cautious as he spoke with the vendor, haggling prices like a professional. He goes on listing off an pummeling the vendor with economic information and collector's conditions and flaws in the product to the point where he could practically get the thing for free. After much of the statistical haggling, Cheshire hands a meager amount of lien to the vendor and walks off, carefully sliding the oppai mouse pad featuring anime character voiced by his favorite singer Kara Eberle into his coat inner pocket. Keeping his head bowed he wanders around the bazaar content with browsing the other shops to pass off an otherwise mundane day. If he was lucky, he may be able to find the much sought after comfort pillow featuring the same anime character voiced by Kara Eberle.

Thorn searched aimlessly looking around the bazaar but she couldn't find anything of interest to her. "Huh, too bad I can't find anything here. Might as well leave now..."Rigjt when she says this she notices a stand selling jewellery. The vendor looked a bit off but she walked over anyways. "Selling jewellery I see? What do you had that might interest me?"The old vendor picks up a ring. Not only was it a ring though. It had a secret prick hidden inside. It was basically like a tiny switchblade,but a ring. Thorn took out a ton of lien from her pocket and put it down on the stand. "That enough for ya?"the vendor nodded and she took the ring and walked away putting it on her finger. She poked the ring and the small prick shot out into her finger and she winced a bit.

Argent walked through the bazaar, Agni clinking lightly on concrete; Hima, left at home. What else. What else. He thought, trying to remember his mental shopping list. In hind sight, a mental shopping list probably wasn't the best idea. Spotting a stall selling several kinds of bread, some Argent didn't even know existed, he stops by and pulls his wallet from his vest pocket.

Haggling a bit, they decide on a price. "A bit stale already but I could probably use it in soup or something." He told himself as he put the fist sized loaves in his brown paper bag.

Suddenly finding his arms filled with several bags, a frilly skirt pushing into his face and blocking his view. Running after Jade's voice, he bumps into a couple people, almost losing his grip on his own shopping bag.

"Jade! What's going on?!" Argent yelled in her general direction, his voice slightly muffled. Readjusting his luggage, he finally gets his vision back. Spotting a flash of green hair in a clothing store, he jogs over and walks through the door, the little bell ringing faintly, but can't find her anywhere.

"How do girls do that?"

Kurono found a relatively secluded area with only a few people passing by on their way around the bazaar. She removed the paper from her pocket and unfolded it, revealing the face of a man with golden skin and a long black beard. Under the face, there were a few things that she needed to know, such as where to find the man. Kurono memorized the face before ripping the paper into four pieces and depositing the pieces in a couple different trash bins. She continued walking around the bazaar, taking her time in getting to the target, A public killing, though. That's unfortunate. She thought as she spotted the man's stand down the covered road.

Xarias sat on the ledge of a building, thinking about what else he needed while staring at the multitude of people bustling about. He could see a lot happening down below, mostly trades and sales going on with the occasional pick pocket or two. He managed to buy enough materials to tinker a bit with his weapons and also a slice of pizza he managed to swipe before it got sold out. He took a bite out of the slice while trying to make out any familiar faces, down below he saw Argent with his hands full waiting on a girl with green hair. He decided to drop in on the two so he jumped from his position onto a nearby balcony and then slid down a lamp post near some vendor selling fried food.

That smells good, I guess a little wouldn't hurt

He bought a bucket of the fried stuff and headed down to where Argent was, he entered a clothing store where the girl had apparently ventured into probably to buy a dress. He decided to enjoy his bucket meal and just meet Argent once he was finished shopping, so he took a seat on a bench outside the store while chowing down on a few more pieces of the fried stuff.

Damn this stuff is good, I'm definitely coming back here some other day.

Walking up and down the store's aisles, Argent can't find hair nor hide of the green girl. The store's fairly well packed and gives Argent quite the challenge to keep his bags off the ground.

"Now if I were her, where would I be?" Argent muttered to himself.

"Hold this for me while I go try on that dress okay?" Argent remembered.

It's a start.

A few minutes of searching and Argent finds the row of changing rooms. Not really sure which one to pick, and the fact that he'd probably get arrested if he looked under any of the doors, he picks a random door and knocks, a bit harder than he meant to, with his elbow.

"Jade, you in there?"

Shops, shops everywhere! Wren was taken in so much, she went from place to place with hardly any travel time in between. So many things were being sold, she just didn't know where to begin whatsoever. Having left her weapon at home made mobility all the more easier. The only slightly odd thing was this girl of 15 going from place to place by herself, without a group of friends around her or anything.

As she also went from place to place, it left a wake of upset hagglers behind her, not buying any wares. What could she do though? She didn't have the money necessary, and most of the things she'd see were not needed, just interesting. As she rushed to the next store, an antique collectibles of small things, she started browsing piece by piece, captivated by the luster of polished silver spoons, or brightly gleaming collectible lien, with the shop owner giving history of items.

Kurono spotted her target. The man was at his stand haggling with a customer over some undoubtedly useless trinket. She began her approach, taking a winding and circuitous route. She was in no hurry, the man was not going anywhere anytime soon. She reached behind her and loosened her blade in its sheathe. This kill would be all too easy, although the escape wouldn't be such a walk in the park. Her eyes glanced around, seeking a quick exit. She spotted a stand right beneath one of the covered road's support beams. The support beam was close enough to a window that she could get out through it. Her escape route found, she closed in on her target.

Narrowed voids would be led all across the display surface of one of many booths scattered throughout the area, belonging to a certain lad of crossbreed bloodlines. A hand of his was lifted, its fingers faintly and gently grazing the bottom portion of his chin and jaw. This was one of few things that symbolized his thought-filled trance. While securing this hand within its current action and position he would lift the remaining extremity, closing his secondary set of fingers inwards ever so slightly and grasping the chain of a pendant. A frosted feel would be radiated upon it while he lifted it up, eyes of both a perfected vision and a somewhat blinded one inspecting the accessory.

A moment or so after the search over the necklace the ashen-haired teen would shift his gaze a tad, meeting eye to eye with the shop booth’s. The slightest smile would spread across the student’s lips --- which was quite the rare thing for him to do --- as he lowered the hand closest to his jaw and briefly within one of his coat’s pockets. Seconds later he would reel both his hand and several pieces of currency out, setting them upon a cleared surface of the table while tucking his new piece of jewelry into his jeans’ right pocket.

He spoke a chain of words in thanks before turning around. Both of his hands which, at that moment were free, would become occupied for a few seconds more as he grasped the rim of his second layer’s hood. A pull upwards would be taken, veiling the cloth over his head and casting a shadow across his hair, as well as a portion of his face and eyes. A step would be taken forward...

…though the next would be delayed, for something had caught the chap’s attention.

From the outer areas of his gaze, Haven would catch a sort of scene afar; one worthy of suspicion. Slowly he would turn, directing his attention toward two people in the distance in particular. Azure voids would narrow even further than they already were as he caught the slightest shine of metal, which was covered and shielded seconds later by the flowing current of humanly crowds.

The thought “Maybe I should go check that out,” began crossing within the lad’s intellectual levels, though the freshly-asked inquiry upon himself would be useless. He found himself slowly navigating throughout the sea of shoppers before he even gave himself a chance to argue with himself. Silence and question over distance between himself and his destination were taken well into thought, thus he made sure not to creep too close and increase the probability of detection.

Should the situation suddenly shift and call for a quick action, the sharp-fanged Faunus would be ready. For now, however, he would slink back as he followed, waiting.

Kurono was within yards of her target, but now she waited. The man was selling something to a customer, and she figured it would be rude to interrupt. After a few moments, the customer walked away with a dissatisfied look on his face, most likely being swindled by the merchant. Kurono watched for a moment before looking back to her prey. The man was counting the stack of lien that the man had given him, and she could see why his customer seemed upset. No matter, money was not the point of her mission. She walked towards the man's stand, keeping her face neutral and her pace even.

As she approached the stand, the man looked up in delight, stashing the money away in a drawer built into the back of the stand, "Hello!" He said, "How can I be of service?"

Warning - Violence:

(OOC: TL;DR The guy's dead. Also he's a faunus.)

By now, the crowd had begun screaming in terror, scattering in all directions. The throng of people shoved against each other, all of them desperately trying to get away from the carnage. It certainly wouldn't be easy to get through the crowd, but she didn't need to. She sheathed her blade and leaped up, grabbing the wooden beam above her. She moved along the beam, aiming to escape through the window she had scouted earlier.

Step after step would be taken as Haven slicked through the crowd, his feet moving one after another ever so silently. Left, right…left, right…the regular-stepped pattern would repeat constantly as the lad continued on, frosty eyes locked upon the two individuals before him afar, and his hand continuingly rested upon one of several lighters stored within his coat.

The simulated beat created from the movement of both of his feet would cease only moments later; the rising of animal-like ears would soon follow and would be paired up with a sudden tense stance, as well as a widening of the eyes, as the air had begun to be painted with a sickening splash of crimson.

“Sweet…mother…of Hell…” the hybrid would whisper beneath his breath, staring briefly at the rapid chain of actions that had just occurred before his very eyes. He would stay this way, seemingly oblivious to the sudden uprising of the crowd and shoves toward both shoulders of his soon afterwards --- though only for a moment or two. A more more familiar scowl would soon cross his lips, settling the grin that he had worn a few minutes earlier down, deep within the darkened depths of the realm of forgetting. Fists suddenly clenched --- one by his side and one around a lighter --- he would begin to step forward once more, his stride gradually growing faster and stronger against the current of humans running against him.

Within a mere matter of seconds, the pyromaniac would soon be well engaged into a full, speedy sprint, smoothly and carefully maneuvering through the crowd as he began the chase after the feminine figure. For a brief moment he slid his grasping hand from one of his sources of pyre, instead grasping the handles of both blades of his personally-sacred armament, whipping them out of their sheathes with a sudden flare, and perhaps even a hint of rage. Upon unsheathing he would immediately spin both hilts within his grasp, grasping both weapons of his in a similar fashion that some thieves held their daggers; blade pointed down or sideways, depending on how the grip was placed. As soon as this was done he lifted his upgraded blade so that it struck horizontally across his frontal side for a sort of defense, pointing his gun-blade hybrid down toward the cleared area beneath him all the while. The center button of the same ranged blade would be pressed, charging a strong blast to shoot from the hidden barrel and give him an extra launch as he jumped up. Mid-flight the same sword would begin to shift into its secondary form, an actual gun trigger and handle shifting and forming from parts of the handleguard.

“Where do you think you’re going…?” the ashen-haired Hunter-in-training muttered in a somewhat low, yet somewhat matching harsh tone. Icy voids of an azure hue would hold a rather sparking, wild gaze from within; the rage and anger seeming to closely match the one brought upon by a rampaging flame --- which was both fitting and ironic for him, given his semblance and icy ways.

Soon after he began to feel himself lower from his temporary soar through the air, Haven would land a few feet from the position directly below the beam that he, too, aimed to get to. Seeing as scaling the wall, grasping the beam, and hauling himself up would take just a tad longer than he wished, he decided to go to an alternative solution: to simply break the platform, or at least shake it hard enough for a possible fall. His gun-blade at the ready and advanced blade laid down a tad the Faunus would take a leap at the wall, securing his foot for a mere moment before leaping upwards and at the beam. The grip upon his enhanced blade would falter as he gave a strong heave into the hand that wielded the sniper-blade, sending it bounding skywards and up into the wood above him. Thanks to both his initial physical strength combined with his scientifically-added T-Devil genetics, the strength of the hurl would more than likely shake the beam a great deal, if not completely slice through it altogether, and wouldn't strike a civilian due to the lack of presence all around, yet not specifically in the current area. Dent or slice, however, he would grasp his sniper-sword once more, holding it in a dagger-like fashion to match his second blade as soon as it either sliced through or bounced off of the area above him.

He held a battle stance while gazing up; feet parted a foot or so, knees bent, and blades held before him so that both blade pointed to opposite sides. The stance signaled a readiness for anything; an opportunity to strike, a sudden attack to defend...or, perhaps, to continue a foot-chase, which although he wouldn't entirely mind, didn't want to be the next thing to happen. Long list shortened, however; he was ready for anything at that moment --- especially after seeing the flurry of shadows that aided in the merchant's oh-so-bloody passing.

What the hell is going on?

The onrush of people took Xarias by surprise, some were screaming while others were using the opportunity to steal from some shops. One of the people who ran past him knocked his food out of his hands causing everything to be trampled on by the stampede, a man even slipped on a piece of the fried meat.

Damn it, there goes my lunch.

In the distance, Xarias managed to make out the figure of someone jumping from a beam near a window on the adjacent building. He couldn't quite see what the fuss was about, there were too many people running into him causing him to almost lose balance and get dragged away by the stampede. To get a better view Xarias unbound his rifle and used it's spear from to grapple onto the wall of a building, about 15 feet from the ground. A few meters away the corpse of the headless merchant lay on the ground in a pool of blood, his head a few feet away from the body.

What the? I better investigate, gotta make sure he's the only dead guy around here.

Above the mass of people Xarias split his bi-ended spear and holstered his two gunblades, he zipped above the multitude of people, dodging signs and loose wires, trying to get to the scene of the crime. He landed a few feet from the stand just behind another person who seemed to be more interested in the person on the beam, the crowd starting to dissipate, especially since no one wanted to do anything with a corpse in the middle of the bazaar. Xarias stared at the wounds of the body, a clean stab in several parts of his torso, apparently from his back and his head was cut clean  off his shoulders. He could see the victims tail in the pool of blood, the man was a faunus. There was too little evidence at the moment to determine the motive. The suspect was on the beam and the other person looked like he wanted to knock it over.

Should I intervene? It's not like it's any of my business but there is a dead guy here.

Kurono looked down from the beam with indifference at the raging boy. She moved towards the window, but was stopped when he sliced through the beam, causing it to bend sharply down as Kurono's weight became too much for it. She looked to the window, but the boy was in between her and her escape route. If she jumped towards it, she would certainly be skewered. She rolled off the beam and grabbed it, swinging herself back onto the stand where she slew the merchant. Turning, she eyed the boy critically, yet kept her face neutral. She spoke, her voice cold and remorseless, "And who might you be to try to stop me?" She asked, keeping a grip on her sword. Her stance was relaxed, almost as if she felt no danger from the boy's presence. She simply stood there as if nothing was amiss, blood still dripping from her blade. She saw something was not quite human in his eyes, and figured he was faunus, "A faunus come to avenge his comrade's passing, perhaps?"

Echoes of screams interrupted the salesman to this girl, who both curiously raised their heads and looked down the way. With an influx of people, Wren immediately stepped closer to the stand, though no step was needed given the distance she was from the people. Turning back to the man, Wren bowed her head and said, "I'm sorry sir, I must go now. Thank you for all this wonderful information!" Dropping the spoon she had, she started off into the source of everything.

It was a little bit of a struggle to get through, but she managed to at least catch the reason why people were yelling. A man, seemingly run through with some sort of spear, laid dead on the floor, blood pooling and running down. She didn't even realize she had actually stepped in a trickling stream of it, but immediately stepped out of it with a small yelp. That was when a woman expertly landed on the merchant's stand, a couple feet in front of her. He hands held up to her chest to keep the heart from beating too fast, supposedly, she listened to what the woman said to another person.

Not bothering to inspect the other person, Wren just stared at this girl in front of her, brown hair framing their face. Letting one hand drop, she took a step forward, looking at them, with a hint of confusion in her eyes, asking, "Excuse me... why would you do... something like this?" Her voice carried a hint of sadness, a type of sadness that came as if she actually knew the person. Wren didn't, but perhaps carried some of the last merchant's feelings and thoughts in his job to this now dead corpse.

The sounds of panic and fear echoed the area as many citizens run from the scene of bloodshed. All of this noise fell to deaf ears for Cheshire who stands idly a distance away, his keen eyes seeing every last detail of what had just happened. He saw the shadows that pierced the man, he saw the woman behead him without thought or emotion, and he saw the man's limp tail lying on the ground as his body poured a river of blood onto the stone floor. Cheshire remained silent, still, letting the rushing wave of fearful citizens rush pass him as he stood there watching, waiting.

As the killer was forced to descend and landed on the stand where she killed the faunas merchant, Cheshire's image flickered on and off like a bad projection slide before disappearing and he reappears again in an instant, standing behind the woman just when another girl comes and tries to question her. In a flash of movement, Cheshire drew Vladimir and Elizebeth and swung his weapons around while the faunas took a readied stance. The curved ends of the tiger hook swords hooked around the woman's neck. The curved tips of the blades barely touched her throat just above her windpipe. The blades were close enough to touch the skin without cutting, though the cold steel could be felt like an icy hand.

"Do not make any sudden movement. All I have to do is twitch and off with your head," Cheshire murmurs without emotion in his tone, though there was a sharp edge to his voice. "I should end you right now, but I want to hear your reason for doing this if you please."

Vega had been walking to another stall hoping to find a better deal for the crickets when the people started screaming and running. Now what? As Vega tried to move against the crowd he had a hard time making sure he wasn't caught in the rush of people. "This is getting me nowhere!" Raising his hands over his head in the direction of a nearby rooftop Vega wrapped the wires around the edge of the building and pulled himself from the crowd onto the roof. The entire ordeal left Vega's outfit a bit messy something he didn't like. As he straightened his tie and fixed his glasses Vega scanned the area and notices the people are all running from the center. "I still have to buy the food for my specimens I do not have the time for this." Vega retracts his wires and draws his blade, while walking across the roof toward the center of the bazaar. "Who ever caused all the commotion is getting on my nerves some of us have errands to run and don't have time for this!"

Kurono looked at the children gathered around her, surprised that there were so many that did not run from the scene of the murder. As the boy brought her blades to her neck, she slowly turned her head, sure that the boy wouldn't dare to end her life, "The inquisitive type." She said softly, so only the boy behind her could hear, not a question, a statement of the boy's character, "Noble, but curiosity killed the cat." As she said this, her shadow climbed up her body, enveloping her in what looked like ink. However, when it reached her neck, it pushed the blades outward, away from her body. She then turned to address the others that gathered around the scene, "You should not meddle in affairs that you do not understand." She said, her voice flat and unwavering, "Now I suggest that you leave before you find yourselves embroiled in a fight that is not yours. I do not wish to kill children, but if you delay me further," She looked into each of the children's eyes, her deep purple eyes cold and foreboding, "I will have no choice."