Street Rats - C [Solo/Job]

Job:

The Gilded Cow was a small tavern south of the Black Temple. Salmont, the tavern-keeper, had taken a liking to Trixie, sneaking her scraps of bacon to her when they visited. Diego was sitting at the bar, eating a concoction of rice and pork while Salmont told a bawdy story to another customer. His tiger was sleeping near the door, keeping a lazy eye towards Diego.

Her ears perked up as the door flew open and a man burst into the room, gasping for air. The man looked around the room, seeming to search for something. His eyes came to Trixie and he pointed at her, "Who owns this tiger?" the man asked in a wheezing voice.

Diego turned around and faced the man with a spoon in his mouth, waving. Swallowing, he raised an eyebrow, "She's actually my friend, I don't ow-" He was cut off as the man spoke over him.

"The Black Fingers! They took over my house in the slums! Please help me!" The man was on his knees, begging.

Diego pointed at himself, "Me, what is a young boy supposed to do about a gang?" He looked at Trixie to see what she thought of the situation. "Mew~" He sighed and cast a side-long glance at the man, "How many of them are there?" It was something he needed to know before he rushed in head-first.

The man paused as he thought, "I saw five of them. They kicked in my door and said it was their house, now." Tears came to his eyes, "They have my wife, too."

Diego nodded and got up, walked up to the man and placed a hand on his shoulder. With a determined look in his eye he spoke in a quiet voice, "Don't worry, Madam Trixie is a Pirate Queen." Without another word he walked out the door with Trixie following behind.

"Wait!' The man shouted and caught up with them, "I didn't' tell you where my house was."

Diego flashed a smile and rubbed the back of his head, "I didn't think about that." He laughed and let the man lead them. "So who are these Black Finger guys?"

"They've been a problem for some time, but the city guard is 'too busy' too handle them." He shook his head in frustration. "They've been breaking into different shops around the slums and causing havoc." They meandered through alleys and side streets as he continued talking. Telling them stories about friend's or neighbor's dealings with the gang. The more and more he said, the angrier Diego got. Trixie noticed the anger and wondered at the source.

They stopped at the corner of the street, peeking out behind a fence to stare at the second house. A teen in black clothes, juggling a couple daggers, sat outside on a stump. He wore a sneer on his face while he watched the street for activity. Diego motioned for Trixie to cross the street and go around the back of the houses down an alley. She rubbed her body along his leg, flickering her heavy tail, as she walked out from behind the fence. The teen noticed and jumped up, staring in disbelief.

He stood, watching her job across the street and disappear behind a fence, scratching head head. "What in the world?" He turned to the house and shouted, "Loddi, I just saw a freakin' tiger out here man!"

An older man came out of the house with a scowling complexion, "What?" He looked around and upon seeing nothing glared at the teen. "Have you been seeing things again?"

The teen threw a dagger towards the door with a growl, "I'm telling you, I saw a tiger!" He pointed where he had seen her, "Come on!" He started walking toward the corner, where Trixe lay in wait behind the fence. As he turned to face her, she leaped up and smacked him with her paw, hard enough to spin him around. He landed on the floor with a heavy thud and sat stood on his back, slobber dripping in his hair as she bared her fags.

The older man jumped back, seeing the teen get knocked off his feet. Unsheathing his short sword, he got in stance with a reverse grip on the handle, the tip pointed behind him. "What in the world? How is a tiger on the loose?" He heard someone shouted to his left and he turned to look.

Diego ran towards the Black Finger's member and leaped in the air, aiming his right foot at the man's head. At the same time, Trixie leaped forward, fangs stretched out reaching for his leg. The thief leaped backwards and slashed horizontally towards Diego. He lost his footing and fell down as Trixie went by, missing his legs, but close enough to flick her long tail at the back of the man's knee.

Landing with a soft thud, Trixie twisted her body, rotating her  body 180 degrees to face the thief. With a small roar, she pounced again, slashing at the thief's throat. The bandit raised his sword, but Trixie batted it away, lightly grazing the man's arm with her claws in the process.

Diego ran up to Trixie and checked her over with a quick glance, making sure she was alright. He twirled his finger in a circle and pointed at the house. Trixie mewed and trotted back around the building. Diego headed to the front door, gripping the knob and opening it as another man opened it at the same time. Diego blinked, dropped to his knees and punched the man straight in the balls.

Diego had to give the guy credit, the giant knot on his head and the fact that he spun back and landed head first on the ground spoke volumes. The man had kneed him in the face, but Diego still landed his punch, briefly. Diego recovered by using the momentum to roll backwards and catch himself on his feet. He saw the man was kneeling on the ground with a dagger in his right hand and his other dagger in his left. They both turned as they heard a piercing cry to the back of the house.

---

Trixie prowled around the fence to find a man-beast standing guard at the back door. He was looking the opposite direction, humming a tune and tapping his foot. The noises allowed her to stealthily slither closer. With a snarl, Trixie leaped upon the man-beast, her claws tore through his clothes and his chest as he turned around.  She gripped his leg between her fangs as he fell to the ground and curled around him, kicking her back legs into his stomach ripping tissue and cutting into the muscle (C-Tier). He let out a piercing cry before going limp from the gut-wrenching pain.

Nudging the crack of the door open with a paw, Trixie creeped inside. She entered a room that smelled of food and sweat. She noticed a female man-beast tied up on the ground, alone. She trotted over and chewed through the ropes. The female panicked at first, until she realized what Trixie was doing and then made encouraging noises. With her hands free, Trixie turned her attention to the next room. She saw a man in the doorway with a dagger. She ran to the doorway to pounce on the man. Mid-leap she felt a sharp pain in her left hind leg, she turned her head her momentum turned, sending her into the door. She heard something metal clatter to the ground. She felt something wet and sticky run down her leg and saw blood. She let out a whimper and was surprised to see a man-beast on the stairs.

---

He saw Trixie's head as she looked to be pouncing towards the man before she disappeared. He heard a thud and a whimper, the sound was a trigger that set him off. He ran towards the man in the doorway and delivered a swift kick to his face. He ran into the room and saw a man walking down the stairs. He turned to see a dagger on the floor and Trixie bleeding to his left. Vision as red as his hair, Diego turned to the man and bolted towards him. With a fistful of the man's shirt, Diego pulled his shirt roughly and spun, hoping to send him flying.

The man grabbed Diego's arm as he fell and pulled the Fanalis with him. Diego kept a tight grip on his shirt and pushed his knees up along the gang member's stomach. They landed with a thud, the force from Diego's knees hitting the man's abdomen with Diego's momentum, as his back took the impact of the fall. The wind was knocked out of the man and he struggled to breath. Diego stood up, taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. He saw Trixie was limping towards him with a determined gleam in her eye, as if she were saying she were alright.

Diego took a few moments to cool off, after giving a final kick to the man. Trixie glared at him and he walked off, sticking his tongue out at her, to see if the man's wife was ok. The men were escorted out by a growling Trixie before Diego and her took off before the guards came. The man had made sure to thank him and Diego had shrugged it off, "No big deal." He said it with a smile and a wave goodbye. A stop for bandages was in store.

[1592/1000] [200/200 stamina]