[Chloro Smoke]

we are the lost and the silent    tags: Russet Bruin   WHERE THE SKIES END -- STARSET  outfit: As described words: 336/336 It seemed that everyone or at least, almost everyone she knew had motorbikes. They looked good to ride, and whilst she had a ride in Asterion's sidecar, she felt a yerning for one of her own. Even if she didn't know how to ride one, she wanted one. A single person bike that could take her further than her stick legs could. The possibilities were endless, and whilst it did clash with her sneaky lifestyle, it could make for a perfect getaway vehicle if need be. So, she figured it was time to claim a bike for her own, and what better place than checking the Ground District. It was a den of delinquents so it was perfect. The streets of the ground levels did reward with many opportunities for claims, although she did have a thought along her way. Whilst yes, she needed a bike to learn to ride it, what if it got damaged? She didn't know what the insides of motorbikes were like, so what better experience than tinkering? Luckily she had brought her tools as she keeps them on her person permanently ever since beginning to learn engineering. Down one alleyway created the perfect opportunity, no one in sight and a relatively beatup motorbike was resting against the wall. A smile formed across her face as she slipped in some earbuds, slapping on a banger of a song and whipped out her tinkers tools, before going to work. The song was on repeat, and caused endless humming from the otherwise mute girl. Yes, she was mute but that was due to injuries to her voicebox, she could still MAKE noises with it, but if it was anything else but the calm humming, it would be extremely painful. The music drowned out all noise, including the ones she made as she slowly but surely began taking apart this motorbike, oil beginning to line her arms as she wore her sleeveless turtleneck and black jeans with combat boots. Her arms were bandageless today too. ♚ Made by SYLVIA of SA and GS ♚

[Russet Bruin]

Aw yeah, that hit the spot.

She wiped her face with her sleeve, giving a satisfied burp and a lazy smile as she leaned back in her seat, staring up at the ceiling for a second in appreciation of the perfect-ass burger she'd just scarfed down like a starving bear. "Whew... Hell yeah, that hit the spot... Hey, waiter! Lemme get two more'a those to go!!" She shot the busboy a grin from across the restaurant, as he went about clearing tables. He sighed, and went to go run the order back to the kitchen, despite that not being his job. Hopefully she'd at least tip well.

She didn't.

But she did get her burgers, and tossed them into her bag as she headed back to her bike, hands in the pockets of her jeans. It was a pretty good day! Got some good-ass grub for once, which was a damn sight better than the shit they fed her in the hole, and literally every meal she'd had since getting out was the best meal of her life.

Speaking of which, she was fucking LOVING her freedom!

Joining up with the Kozaks was awesome! She got all the benefits of being with a big-ass gang, except instead of fucking people over and shitting on the little guys, she was fixing homelessness by making other people join up like she did! And she had a place to crash! Because someone else recruited her! It was a wild-ass system that worked, fuck yeah.

Plus, now that she was out, she could go riding whenever she wanted to.

Which she was about to do, as she rounded the corner to where she parked her Harley, her pride and joy.

...

And found some chick with a goddamn deathwish chopping her chopper up in the middle of the alley. "Oh hell no..." Her good mood was gone instantly, as she reached behind her back where her P90 was holstered, training it on the wannabe mechanic as she tinkered away. Seemed like she might not have noticed the redhead's approach, so she made sure to make her presence known, shouting with absolutely no regard for who the fuck heard her. Seemed like the girl had headphones in, so she shouted a little louder, even.

"Hands in the fucking air, or brains on the fucking wall, take your pick!" She was quick enough to clear the distance between them if the other girl pulled a piece or tried to make a run for it, but if Chloro stayed where she was, Russet would just continue her leisurely walk over to her, though without ever moving her sights off of the thief's head.

Assuming she got her attention the first time, she'd continue talking, but if she hadn't, she'd repeat herself again, and if needed, she'd try to give her a hard kick in the side and repeat herself a third time, but hopefully she'd pay attention before then.

She was a new woman! Turned over a new leaf! Didn't wanna fuck up anyone's day, but goddammit, she was about to.

She gestured with her gun to the bike, before returning it to its target, as soon as she had the other girl's attention. "You got ten seconds to tell me what kind of crazy-ass fake-ass Grimm possessed you, and compelled you to swipe my ride, bitch. And I ain't too good at counting either."

"Three... Twooo..."

AURA: 100% // WC: 569 // TWC: 569

[Chloro Smoke]

we are the lost and the silent    tags: Russet Bruin   WHERE THE SKIES END -- STARSET  outfit: As described words: 456/762 She was making some good progress in her swift learning. Having taken apart some of the key major parts, giving a clean with her rags and shirt before working them back in. Whilst the bike initially looked like some grungy piece of shit, the more she worked on it, the more she was impressed by it. Very interesting style, not one she enjoyed as the more dirtbike aesthetic she's seen works, or the more superbike ones. Either or, not these sit-back low rider ones. She did make drafts on some large sheets of paper of the inner workings of the bike, using a nearby wall as her rough and shit desk. But the bliss of dismantling and repairing was short lived. As she was taking off one of the wheels and cleaning it, she heard some shouting from past her music which she initially paid no attention to, before the same shouting was louder. Socketing the wheel back into it's original place, the Harley was near enough clean, or at least cleaner than it was. She just needed to sort the rear wheel out, but when she stood up to move, she thought to investigate the earlier shouting. Turning her body to almost immediately be met with the barrel of a bullpup subby was the last thing she'd expect. To say her face was shocked was an understatement, which led to her unplugging her earpods out and hearing the girl out. So this was her bike, and the state of the bikes quality and the subby that was pointed at her made more sense now for the Ground district. Reluctantly, she let out a silent sigh before kneeling to grab her pencil and notepad, keeping her longsword on the floor as well as her crossbow on a nearby trashcan, and began scribbling and writing, her head looking up at the girl occasionaly before returning to the writing task at hand. She did occasionally hold a finger out, as if to say "Hold on." as she wrote, before finally finishing and standing, giving an underarm sling of her notepad to the girl to catch. Written, was alot of words. "Bike didn't look like it had an owner when I started. Looked abandoned and with the shade, pretty shitty. Do apologise, thought it would be good practice for whenever I get a bike of my own, cleaned it up too. Now I'd rather you put that gun down, otherwise it could get a bit shitty for the both of us, you did shout rather loud so no doubt people are coming. We'll start this little friendly, or not-so friendly encounter of course depending how you take this, encounter with some names. Chloro, local not-so homeless as of recent." ♚ Made by SYLVIA of SA and GS ♚

[Russet Bruin]

She wasn't really going to turn this girl into swiss cheese.

No matter how badly she wanted to. She remembered that she had made a pledge to better herself, and repent from her criminal past. And that meant not shooting people, even people who stole her bike. Which was painful as fuck to watch- every second that she had to stand there, and see her baby laying in pieces, was a second that she wanted to rip the girl's head off and use it as a hood ornament.

Only problem was that if she did that, she had no means of repairing her own bike... She was pretty handy with a hell of a lot of tools, but she'd just never managed to take up being a mechanic in addition to her plethora of other skills. Which meant that, if she did kill this dumbass, she'd have to drag her bike to someone who actually could fix it... And while she knew someone who could, she was pretty sure she would be displeased to find a severed head attached to the handlebars. To say the least.

The girl knelt to grab something just as she started her countdown, though, which prompted Russet to react pretty damn fast.

She jumped back a few feet, keeping her gun level on the strange bike thief, as her eyes widened and darted to the sides to find the best vantage points and escape routes if things inevitably went south. She could pretty easily make it up the walls and onto the rooftops well before her Aura broke, unless she'd just picked a fight with one of those psychos from the Academy.

Then again, what the fuck would an Academy psycho be doing lifting an old chopper in the Ground District?

Nah, this chick looked broke as hell. Probably a junkie trying to get her next fix, or maybe even a rookie chopshopper. It almost brought a tear of pride to her eyes, knowing someone was out there continuing her old line of work.

Even though she clearly fucking sucked at it.

She didn't park her bike in back alleys without reason- Russet liked fighting, and was looking for a scrap when someone inevitably came by to start her up and take her for a spin. She'd have heard the engine rev, and she could have caught the thief pretty easily by surprise during the getaway. It was a trap, but by all logic, it was an easy steal.

Kid could have hopped on and driven off with it. Would've still got caught, but she had no way of knowing that.

But this...

This was fucking sloppy! And completely disrespectful, and also impractical. How the fuck did she plan on getting all those parts out of here, without being noticed? Maybe she had a crew, with a van, nearby- if that was the case, Russet was half-tempted to cut her losses and dip. She could track down the pieces later, and with her influence in the market, she could have this chick and her buddies blacklisted by their fences, maybe. At the very least, she could go in and make a big enough stir that they wouldn't want to do business with an amateur like this anymore.

"Yo! Hands in the air, fucker, hands in th-"

Oh.

A notepad?

What, was she about to take Russet's order at a fancy restaurant? Waitress-lookin-ass...

Things started making sense as she started scribbling on her paper, though not a whole lot more sense, and the biker was noticeably growing more impatient as time went on.

"Whatever you're doing, hurry it the fuck up, and start putting my shit back together."

Ugh. She felt like snapping off the girl's "one more minute" finger, every time she saw it come up. Finally, she had her answer written out, though, and Russet snatched the paper from her, so she could read it, still aiming at Chloro with her gun as she side-eyed her from behind the page.

Hmm...

So she wasn't an rookie thief for hire... Just a fucking idiot.

Ah fuck, she did have a good point about the shouting at least. Not that Russet figured anyone important would care- but she'd rather not draw too much attention to herself, now that she was with the Kozaks. Didn't wanna make them look bad, after all.

She lowered her bullpup, but absolutely made no effort to put it away completely. She wasn't that dumb.

"Chloro, huh? You got some damn nerve looking at this treasure and sayin' she looks shitty... That's part of the aesthetic! Battle scars, she's a goddamn warrior's bike! Thanks for cleaning her, I guess, but damn... You're one rude-ass bike thief, y'know? And you fucking suck at it too. For one thing- don't pick a mark in a secluded spot like this, the owner's probably just around the corner. Case in point."

She held up two fingers, to emphasize her impromptu lecture. "Number two! Why the fuck aren't you putting my bike back together yet? Hop to it, kid. Number three! Never chop in the same spot. If you're gonna take it apart, have the damn decency to take it somewhere else first, dumbass. For fuck's sake, that's like, not even rookie shit, that's just normal-ass common sense. You said you're local? 'Cus you sure as hell don't act like you've been down here before, damn."

She shook her head, with a tsk tsk as she judged the shit out of Chloro's very clear lack of any appreciable street smarts.

It did raise some questions, though- she doubted she was actually lying, because nobody would claim to be from the Ground District unless they actually were, but if she was local and homeless, she wondered if the girl was part of any gangs or anything. Could probably use a place to crash, if not, and if she was, then she could probably use a better place to crash.

"Number four! Don't ever let me catch you stealing from us Grounders again. That's fuckin' social cannibalism, shit-for-brains, you're stealing from other broke motherfuckers, what's wrong with you? Do what the rest of us do and steal from the Cloud or at least the Wind, fuck. And lastly!! As soon as you get my bike going again..." She tossed Chloro a wicked mischievous grin, and gestured with her thumb, up towards the Wind District, and the Cloud, beyond.

"Tag along with me, and we can find you a bike to call your very own. I've been doing this shit since I was a hell of a lot younger than you, least I can do's show you the ropes, yeah? Name's Russet, by the way."

AURA: 100% // WC: 1115 // TWC: 1684

[Chloro Smoke]

we are the lost and the silent    tags: Russet Bruin   WHERE THE SKIES END -- STARSET  outfit: As described words: 468/1230 She paid absent mind to the threats of the armed girl as she was writing, wanting to get her message across quickly before this became a firefight, and a firefight she would begin with the disadvantage. But thankfully, the girl didn't open fire and seemed to get the hint about de-escalating the situation. This was a good start. Although, the assumptions about being a bike thief was far from the truth and it made her smirk to herself as she proceeded to get to work repairing the bike as the girl ranted on. More talk about the social cannibalism of the Ground District, which she could have contributed to but she had bigger concerns during her time in the district itself. However, the final statement made her crook an eyebrow, looking back at the grin she gave. It was one of mischief and she could sense that she could be telling the truth. Potential of getting herself a ride of her own? Not a bad shout. Even if she should be keeping her crimes on the downlow whilst at the Academy, but that Academy was becoming more and more hazardous and... not so great looking as of recent events. An oddity in her mind, but there was potential for new and better opportunities. She did promise she would help the homeless here as much as she could after all... Once she put the finishing touches on the bike, she gave it a few more once overs and marked down more notes on some of the pages she had writen on before rolling them up and bagging them with her tools, turning back to the girl who introduced herself as Russet. She approached and held out her hand for the notepad back, which even if it wasn't given back, she would take it and begin writing again. "Frankly, chopshopping wasn't my speciality when I was homeless. Pickpocketing, breaking and entering and general burglery was my skill. This is all new and I was simply going to take it apart, learn what I could and repair it again. I believe if I can get more understanding of mechanics, engineering and electrical studies, I can develop my semblance to do more. As for stealing from other broke people, sometimes they deserve it. Racism is pretty high and should be dealt with. I apologise for the strange communication method but see, someone ripped my voicebox and broke it when I was young. It's a bit of a bastard but let's go lift a bike. Liberate one from someone who doesn't need it." She'd hand the notepad over before retrieving her longsword and sheathing it, as well as placing the crossbow on her hip holster, ready to mount up and go. Chloro liked this Russet girl, she could get along with her well. ♚ Made by SYLVIA of SA and GS ♚

[Russet Bruin]

Damn...

This chick was kinda annoying with the whole not-talking deal. Fuck, man.

Russet was a little unsure of what to do, as she just sort of stood there, waiting for Chloro to finish fixing her bike so she could get at least some kind of response, other than just a facial expression. Although, at the least, the facial expression she did get was a pretty agreeable one, if surprised at first. Meant the girl was probably interested in having a little fun. And Russet was always looking to have some fun.

Especially the reckless and less than legitimate sort.

She finally finished up, and came over, holding her hand out, which Russet initially assumed was for some kind of payment, so she just gave the greedy fucker an especially incredulous look, cocking an eyebrow and staring down at the hand. Like she was really going to fork over her hard-earned cash for a bike thief's hasty-ass repairs...

...

Oh.

Her notepad. She'd kinda forgotten she was holding it, until Chloro just reached for it and grabbed it out of her hand, at which point the face Russ was making shifted to one of realization, and she laughed, before stepping behind the Faunus to read over her shoulder.

Huh. So she couldn't talk? Made sense, at least- no one who could would adamantly refuse to, at gunpoint, after all. And she was a Faunus, it seemed? She couldn't tell what sort by looking at her, but she was obviously human-passing, so Russet didn't really consider her little remark about racism making stealing okay to be worth much. Far as she was concerned, the girl was as human as she was- she'd grown up around a hell of a lot of kids way worse off than she was.

Try hiding a big-ass lizard tail sometime- now that fucker could get away with using counter-racism as an excuse to fuck over Grounder humans. Which didn't mean Russ wouldn't beat her ass if she tried it- if she was still alive, anyways. She thought she'd seen her at that festival a while back, but could've just been seeing shit.

Then again, she doubted Bianca was the type to go fucking over her fellow Grounders. Not unless a hell of a lot had changed in two years, anyways.

Either way, she was pretty sure she'd have to explain again exactly why stealing from Ground District people was shitty to do, at some point. Maybe do a whole Ghost of Holiday Past or something, take her around the shittier parts of town (where she allegedly lived) and introduce her to Tiny Tim and shit.

But they could do that after she got her wheels back- that was her priority, and as soon as her bike seemed to be in good shape again, she strode over and hopped on, sitting a little forward on the seat, smiling fondly down at the handlebars for a moment, before casting a glance back at Chloro.

"Well, if breaking and entering's your style, I know just the mark we can hit. Old fucker, keeps a ton of rides in his garage. Should be early enough, he's still at his office. Security's not too tight either, because he's a cheap prick who thinks he's bulletproof. Ain't even with the Guilds, though, so I don't know who he thinks he's foolin'. You comin' or not?" She tapped her foot impatiently on the foot peg as she reached to offer Chloro her helmet. Worst comes to worst, she wasn't trying to have some dumbass bike thief's brains splattered on her back tires, and she was confident enough in her Semblance, driving skills, and reflexes, that if she got knocked off her bike, she could catch herself without breaking her Aura.

In theory, anyways.

She waited until the other girl got on the bike behind her, before revving the engine, sending up a sputtering of exhaust, and a loud, rumbly, roar that filled the alley. She tossed a grin back over her shoulder, as she shouted over the noise. "Oh, and you might wanna hold on tight, kid!" She turned to face forward, her grin only broadening as she slammed the accelerator, launching them forward way faster than a bike that old should really be able to move.

"It's gonna be a bumpy ride!"

AURA: 100% // WC: 722 // TWC: 2406

[Chloro Smoke]

we are the lost and the silent    tags: Russet Bruin   WHERE THE SKIES END -- STARSET  outfit: As described words: 264/1394 So that settled it. They were gunna bust into some old guys garage whilst he is working and secure herself a bike. For once, she was stealing for herself. It felt... nice. Like she deserved something for everything she had done up to this point. She gave the bike a quick once over gaze as Russet saddled herself up before accepting the helmet that was offered. Clipping it on, it gave a bit of discomfort around her neck, but outside of that she was all good. With one arm around the girl's waist and the other holding the back of the low-rider, she was absolutely concerned about the level of smoke that spluttered out before they zipped off. And zipped they did. This bike was nothing like she's every seen before. Despite seemingly old and rusty, it was a fucking quick and speedy one. She winced as they turned a few corners, thinking they'd collide into the sides quick swift and deadly force but this Russet was absolutely in control with this beast of a machine. As they crossed from Ground to Wind, she had begun to relax at the back of this bike. She debated what bike she could find and take when they got there. Both dirt bike and super bike seemed really good... plus this opened up many more modification options. Hell, maybe she could learn from Russet as well. Whenever they stopped, Chloro would climb off and survey the surroundings, before taking the scroll out and tapping away. "Show me where I need to go, and I'll be 5 minutes." ♚ Made by SYLVIA of SA and GS ♚

[Russet Bruin]

Hehehe...

This was a more fun afternoon than she'd initially had planned! She'd gotten her burger fix, and she'd have been fine with just going joyriding somewhere, but it had been ages since she'd gotten to pull some shit like this. Plus, as weird and sketchy as this kid was, she seemed to know how to have a good time.

It helped that Russet always enjoyed having a ride-along to show off for, and the arm around her waist was always a satisfying bonus; there was just something about someone clinging on for dear life that made her feel a little bolder, a little more daring. And she wasn't going to pass up on the chance for a little ego trip.

Which meant she was absolutely taking corners fast and whipping around with a sense of carefree recklessness, which stood atop a solid foundation of cool, practiced, experience. She knew how to handle her bike better than anyone else, after all, and every time it seemed like they were going to crash was just a little tightrope-walking for Chloro's entertainment.

Or well, mostly Russet's entertainment. In fact, if Chloro was freaking out, it would have been way funnier. To her credit, though, there wasn't a whole lot of freaking out going down, even as they skidded around a bend so hard, the bike tipped sideways so Chloro could have reached out and touched the ground if she'd wanted to, just before the daredevil righted herself again.

Eventually, though, the first part of their fun came to an end, as Russet slid gracefully into a parking spot along the street in the business side of the Cloud District, outside the Mistral Opera House.

This, of course, was not their target, and hopefully Chloro had enough brains to realize that, as the redhead let her up, before stepping off her bike as well, flipping the ignition off once more.

And sure enough, the other girl whipped her Scroll out again, and turned it to Russet, who snickered in response.

"Five minutes, huh? Cocky little thing, aren't ya? Nah, we're doin' this together. Try and keep up." With a grin, she took to a pretty casual walking pace, arms stretched behind her head as she wandered, seemingly aimlessly, through the District, Chloro in tow. Since the other girl didn't know what she was looking for, she figured she could take her time a bit on the way there. It was a nice walk, anyways, no need to rush- she sure as hell wasn't parking her getaway vehicle that close to her mark's garage.

Eventually, though, they came up to a pathway leading up the mountain a bit, towards a tall structure, about two stories up, with a notable security booth and gate blocking entry, up ahead. She pressed a finger to her lips and glanced at Chloro, seeming to have already forgotten that her companion couldn't speak anyways, and slipped off into the hedges beside the road, crouched down and moving quickly and quietly.

Chloro, on the other hand, disappeared.

Literally, Russet thought, until she saw a bush-colored figure moving alongside her, giving her a hell of a start. What the fuck, she could turn invisible!? That was fucking cheating! But hey, it was useful, at least. She could work with that.

They continued along up towards the gate, where a single guard stood post, watching for any signs of trouble. Fortunately, he didn't get paid enough to check the bushes. As they approached the fence, Russet simply stepped onto it, and continued walking, straight up, until she was about halfway up, before turning and reaching down for Chloro to take her hand, so she could pull her up and over, unless the little chameleon had other tricks up her sleeve instead, before continuing her own way over, simply walking down the other side.

And now they were in.

Gesturing with a silent hand, she pointed towards the side of the building, and flicked her fingers towards the left, indicating they were going around to the back. Backdoor was way easier to crack into, after all. As far as she could tell, there shouldn't be any other guards around... Probably. Which meant they could make it to the back without trouble.

Once there, Russet grinned as she pulled out her tools from one of the pouches at her hip, whispering to Chloro as she sized up the door. "Don't worry kid, I've got thi-" Or not.

She blinked as she watched Chloro do something with the door, all glowy and shit, before just casually swinging it open like it was nothing. Some kind of Semblance? "Damn, girl, you're full of surprises, huh? Don't get cocky yet, still gotta lift your new set of wheels." Which she would handle, of course.

Cracking into the ignition was a little different than just unlocking a door, even if you did need a key for both.

So she'd lead Chloro around the garage for a bit, until the girl found something she liked, at which point Russet would take over. Kid might be faster at picking a lock than she was, but nobody in Mistral was as good at swiping rides as her. And she was going to demonstrate that, loud and clear, for her special little guest. "Take notes."

Cracking her knuckles, she reached for tools again, pulling out a screwdriver and a little hammer, which she used to pop off the ignition cap, with all the ease and confidence of a practiced pro. And from there, it wasn't much more work to just twist the wires and wiggle the screwdriver a bit until the superbike rumbled to a low, pleasant, purr- much softer than her own chopper.

Stepping back, proud of her handiwork, she cracked her neck and tossed Chloro a lopsided grin, scratching her wrist, before gesturing to the bike. "Your chariot awaits, milady."

Now just to get the hell out of there again.

Somehow.

Aura: 98% // WC: 997 // TWC: 3403

[Chloro Smoke]

we are the lost and the silent    tags: Russet Bruin   WHERE THE SKIES END -- STARSET  outfit: As described words: 454/1848 Russet was joining for the occasion, how wonderful. Maybe she won't be as useless as some others who thought they were "stealthy". Honestly some of the school were bulls in china shops. But they seemed to... endlessly wander for a while, just walking. Maybe to throw off their own scent incase we looked out of place? Chloro felt out of place for sure. This Russet girl was absolutely strange, the most reckless, daredevil driver but she definitely had the skills to back her cockiness up with. They tore through the city like it was nothing. As they reached the target destination, she let Russet take point as she let her trait take over, going near on invisible. She watched as Russet seemed to just spiderman over the wall, offering a hand if need be. She took it, and just like that, they were inside the estate. It was huge, and Chloro was baffled by just how much space there was. How did one person need so much? It was baffling. Following the directions of her companion, they reached the backdoor as Chloro demonstrated her own set of skills. Using her semblance and focusing for a moment, she unlocked the door with such ease it should've been harder. Turning visible again, she just stuck her tongue out as she followed the girl inside. The garage in question was just filled with so many different vehicles, it was mind boggling how one person needed so much. Maybe she would've been so much better off if she came to the Cloud District to steal off people during her homeless years instead of the Ground District. So, they wondered the large interior as she looked for a bike she liked. She was... picky. She had set her mind on a superbike more than a dirtbike as it would serve so much better for a getaway vehicle if need be. Now... she needed to find the right one. Shortly after though, she found the perfect one. Very stylish and looked beautiful. A new ride. She tapped Russet's shoulder and pointed at the one she wanted. Letting the jacker take the reigns, she watched as she hotwired the bike, taking mental notes as she proceeded. Once that slow purr of the engine started, she gave a smile to Russet and saddled up. It would take a while to get used to, but for now they just needed to leave. She mulled around some ideas before pulling out her scroll and typing away. "What if I semblance unlock the garage door and we just gun it? If need be I can go distract the guard, open the second gate and you gun it out? I can slip away super easily so." ♚ Made by SYLVIA of SA and GS ♚

[Russet Bruin]

Full of surprises was an understatement, it seemed like.

Russet watched, a little dumbfounded, as the other girl popped into the door like magic. Or well, kinda- she watched the door open by itself, just before Chloro appeared again, fading into existence like a goddamn ghost. It would have been unsettling, if she hadn't seem some crazy shit in her life.

At any rate, the actual process of finding the bike went pretty smoothly. They'd picked one out, and now it was time to ride off into the sunset with Chloro's brand new steel stallion.

Except things rarely went as planned.

Especially for one Russet Bruin.

The engine's purr slowed to a low rumble as Chloro typed out her message, which did make it a little easier to hear their surroundings again. "Hehe. Risky, but I like your style. We're gonna wanna suit up first, though- any cameras, or that guard, seeing our faces won't be good looks." As she spoke, she was already pulling her hair out of its usual braid, before relatively-quickly tossing it up into a tight bun, and tossing a hat over it, which she pulled, crumpled and abused, from her jacket pocket.

Disguising her rather distinctive hair was simple enough, and something she had a bit of practice with. Also helped that she wasn't exactly much of a bombshell in the curves department- less effective, when she was wanting to put the charm on some lovely lady or a fine-ass fella, but it served her well enough when she wanted the cops looking for a dude with short hair, instead of a girl with long hair. And her jacket helped with that, being bulky enough to hide her figure, making her silhouette even less distinct, especially from a distance.

Not that she hoped anyone would see her for long enough to try and figure out what she looked like anyways.

She was reaching for a bandana to wrap around her mouth and nose, when she heard it.

Car.

Coming around the back. Wait... No... Two cars. She froze up, shooting a quick finger over her mouth to Chloro, before whispering to the mute girl.

"Got company. Fuck." Ah hell. This was something she'd hoped wouldn't happen. It hadn't, in fact, the last few times she'd come here. Granted, those were a while back, but still, she had hoped the dude's schedule hadn't changed.

Or maybe it wasn't even him?

"...and then I said to him, 'Well, Mr. Tyrian, this is why you simply can't trust those creatures with your merchandise- they'll take the lot of it, seduce your wife, and turn tail, and run back to that island of theirs!' I assure you, though, he wasn't laughing as hard as I, was, James!" Russet's eyes rolled hard to the back of her skull.

Yeah, no.

It was him.

Rich old cunt, and just as annoying to listen to as she remembered. Not that she'd ever actually encountered him too much. This time was different, though. The garage was big enough that they could maybe hang out for half a minute or so without being heard or seen, unless he came over to where they were, but they'd already started the bike. It would take another minute or so to turn it back on if they killed the ignition, so if they were going to leave with it, it had to be sooner, rather than later.

But now things were dicey.

She'd been expecting the one guard, because that was who usually watched his garage- but she recalled that the man, himself, travelled with a small entourage of bodyguards. Not very good ones- he was still a cheap prick, after all- but they had numbers, and she had no fucking clue if this girl could fight her way out of a situation like this.

She knew damn well that she couldn't, at the very least.

Not without stirring the pot way too much.

The last thing she wanted to do was bring down any heat on the Kozaks. So her priority was getting the hell out of dodge, with or without this chick's new toy. Or the chick, herself, really- though, that also made shit tricky, because she'd already given her her name. Fuck. That meant she had to make sure Chloro got out of this okay too, or she could be risking bringing trouble back home with her.

A quick peek showed the geezer, his buddy (James, presumably), and about eight men in suits getting out of the pair of cars, pulled up to the now-open front door of the garage, plus the sole guard, still sitting in his booth outside.

They were distracted, chattering among themselves, for the moment, and the car engines were still running, so the noise from the bike was muffled a bit. They still had a few options. But not great ones.

"What you thinkin', kid? Turn tail out the back door, hide and wait'em out, or gun it, and pray? If we go, we head straight back to my ride, whatever you pick."

She finished putting on the bandana, and a pair of shades, and looked at Chloro expectantly. This was her bike, so she'd let her call the shots, if she could call them quick enough. Whatever she decided, Russet was confident in her own abilities to get them out of trouble, relatively safely.

Relatively.

WC: 903 // TWC: 4306

[Chloro Smoke]

we are the lost and the silent    tags: Russet Bruin   WHERE THE SKIES END -- STARSET  outfit: As described words: 511/2359 Chloro took the advice of suiting up with a nod of her head and looking around the room before spotting some lockers. Hopping off the ride, she would creep her way over to the lockers in question and open them, locked or not she could bypass whatever system was in place. Inside she found a plethora of helmets and leather jackets it seemed. Taking one that was slightly bigger on her and a helmet that fit her head, she pulled out her ponytail and let it fall down, just past her shoulders and then slapped on the helmet and clipped it on. However, as she pulled the jacket on, she heard the cars too. She was absolutely too close to the end to back off now. Pulling out her scroll, she kept low as she heard the company enter the garage. They had to move quick, and Russet only confirmed the situation. These guys would find that bike turned on sooner or later, and then be all up to hunt them down. This rich guy did sound like a bit of a dick though, so she wasn't opposed to teaching him a lesson. Watching the front door of the garage open, she saw an opportunity to take. With her fingers on the scroll, she typed out her plan with such haste that there were some hastened and shortened words. "We gun n pray. Doors open and gate wont stay up forever. You drive." With that, she pocketed her scroll once more, not to be touched until they escaped. Taking her hand, she crept forward, using the various cars and bikes as cover to give each of them the slip. Despite the fact there was two of them and ten of these others, they were extremely stealthy. Once they reached the bike, she helped Russet climb on quicker before leaping on herself and tapping her, giving the go signal. What she didn't expect is to have her head almost taken clean off. With the signal, Russ took the definition of "Pray and Gun" to a whole new level. This mad woman was definitely a good driver as they stormed out of the garage before any words could be spoken by the guards. Chloro took her seat just before the garage exit and as they sped to the gate to leave as it was closing, the guard there was coming out to try and stop them... but was unfortunate in his attempts. She swung her arm out as they were passing him and clotheslined him HARD. Her arm hurt like a bitch and without her aura, she believed that could've dislocated her arm at the least. However, that was the "hard" part done. With a turn and the close encounter with rough tarmac, they were gone, with the engine roaring as they sped away from the crime scene. It was simple minutes before they arrived back to Russet's ride and once she was on hers, she would take the handlebars and follow the other rider till they stopped, hopefully without anyone tailing them. ♚ Made by SYLVIA of SA and GS ♚

[Russet Bruin]

Gun and pray.

Yeah, this kid was a girl after her own heart, for sure. Just her style. Russet cracked a grin in response to the message on the Scroll. "Hold on tight, then. Gonna be a bumpy ride."

As soon as Chloro gave the signal, Russet gunned it, putting every eye in the room on them immediately. Luckily, their faces were covered- they just looked like any other masked robbers now. Which wasn't entirely the best for their safety, since as everyone knows, faceless mooks in helmets always died first. But better to go out in a blaze of glory, than get caught and arrested later, because she let everyone know who she was...

Revving along, she was out the door fast, and let out a cackling laugh as her understudy decked one of the guards in the throat with a nasty clothesline.

She leaned hard to the side as she whipped around a bend, the men in their dust trail scrambling to get to vehicles. No chance they were catching up any time soon, though- Russet knew the roads like the back of her hand. Easy breezy.

"Don't freak. I'm about to pull some pro shit."

As they approached the drop spot where Russet's bike was sitting in wait, she hit a button on her key fob, starting her bike up with a reluctant groan and a spew of black smoke from the exhaust, before it settled down.

And then, as they grew closer, she grabbed Chloro's hands and shoved them onto the handlebars of the stolen bike, before standing, and leaping over to her own bike, slamming the throttle as soon as she landed in the seat, quickly catching up with her new partner in crime.

Only issue was that the fat cat's goons were out searching now. And while they were pretty far back, Russet could hear them closing in.

She shouted over to Chloro, over the roar of engines. "Meet me in the Ground- you know Old Man Turmeric's?" She sure as hell hoped so- probably the only pharmacy in the slums. The only legally operated one, anyways. It was also towards the outskirts, and smack in the middle of Ravager Patrol territory. While she wasn't one to go fucking around with another gang's turf, she figured any Cloudhead suits would be easy pickings for the thugs hanging around Turmeric's shop.

Which meant one less problem for her.

Zipping off, she split away from Chloro, doubling back towards the goons. Making sure they saw her, she sprayed a round at them with her bullpup, before zooming off down a side road, taking the long way to the Ground District. All she needed to do was pull some of the heat off Chloro. Outrunning some glorified manservants wasn't a big challenge for her, so she didn't mind playing in the hot seat.

She just hoped Chloro would remember that, and her other generous acts of goodwill, when they met up again after shaking the tails off their trail.

WC: 505 // TWC: 4811

[Jay]

XP Distribution:

Russet Bruin: 48
547 + 48 = 595 XP

Chloro Smoke: 23
393 + 23 = 416 XP