originally posted in:The New Dojo
[b][i][u]Chapter One: The City of Eternal Starlight[/u][/i][/b]
[url=http://example.com]Outer Sector, Starlight City, Midnight[/url]
And so it began.
After losing an artifact, and gaining a few... acquaintances, she found herself walking in a dirty alley in a city she hadn't been to in years. It had become dangerous, the place, so much in fact that it wasn't even safe to walk on the streets. Yet now, in the shadows of a great city, she had found a little hope. An old friend. Even if it did come at a price.
It was raining, heavily in fact, as Sarah propped herself up against the brick wall of the building beside her. She got her phone out of her raincoat, dialed a number, and when no one answered, placed a message.
"Jason is it? Sarah. Sorry I left in such a rush. Just... you know. Got into a little mess. There's a friend of mine that's supposed to be just outside the Dojo in a few minutes. Meet up with him if you're interested."
[spoiler]Open for Driz. If you still wanted to do it. You be on a separate questline for the first few chapters then you'll merge in. It's not less in any way.[/spoiler]
She hung up, put down the phone, and resigned herself to wait. If Gabriel would actually show up, it would be interesting to see where this meeting would take them.
[spoiler]Open for Royal. The plot will become open to everyone again later on, if anyone wants to do it.[/spoiler]
English
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Jace would show up at the meeting spot wearing his normal brown jacket and black pants, the light in his metal arm gives off a faint blue glow in the darkness. “Hello there”, he says.
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A [url=https://imgur.com/6doIUJh]woman[/url], dressed in casual street clothing, was leaning against the wall. When she heard him, she put down her cigarette and touched a device on her arm. "You Jason?" She asked, inspecting him.
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“The names Jase, the better question is what’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?”
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"That your catchphrase or something?" She said, her English accent becoming more apparent, "Name's Blackhawk, officially anyway. Sarah told me to meet up with you. Says you're interested in a thing of hers."
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[spoiler] Completely forgot I said that last time.[/spoiler]
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[spoiler]Nah it's fine. Just joking around.[/spoiler]
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Jace pulls his pistol out of its holster spins it in his hand and puts it back. “Yes I am curious about something, what that thing is I don’t know I was just told to go here.”
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[spoiler]i read the words city of starlight and I was like, cool. I read that it was only for drizt and royal. 😿 I guess I have to wait for it to be open to everyone [/spoiler]
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[spoiler]Bah. Nonsense. I can let you join up next chapter. Few chapters before it becomes open.[/spoiler]
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Gabriel did, in fact, show up. The British man with the false cowboy accent showed up holding a black umbrella, the rain patterning against it. "So." Gabriel said, that blasted smile still on his damned face. "What's the plan?"
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"Well," Sarah said, her rain jacket keeping her from getting completely wet. "For starters, we're about to walk into one of the most infamous hideouts into the entire city, with no idea as to what we are going to find. Hopefully, it's the same as it was when I left it. My advice; play along." She turned to a section of the building's brick wall, ran her hand over it, and pushed down onto a brick. With a slight rumble, part of the wall parted, revealing a strange scanner and a dormant keypad. "Here goes nothing" She put her hand in, and waited, as it scanned. Sarah was apparently still in the facility's systems, as the keypad soon activated. "Hmm. What was the password?" She said, typing in a combination. [i]Two attempts remaining.[/i] "Son of a bitch. Let's see." After typing another in, the pad beeped, accepting it. The brick rumbled open to reveal a large metal door.
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"This all so... Ominous and weird. I love it." Gabriel sounded almost... Giddy at everything that was going on. Like a little kid in a candy store almost. "So who did you work for? Before you became this crazy infamous treasure hunter and all?"
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"Well, that's kind of an interesting story." Sarah said, inspecting the door. "You see, me and my brother grew up in this city. Few years after business split up the city. We were poor, and didn't have anyone else to rely on." The door opened, revealing a dark, steel elevator. "We were scumbags. Punks. But we made it through. For years, we worked, going from place to place." She stepped in. "When we got to the top, we saw what the city was doing. What it was doing to the people. Bloody hell it was awful. But I guess it gave us a purpose." Then the elevator began to travel down.
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"That doesn't answer my question, ya know." Gabriel said with a soft chuckle escaping his lips. He leaned against the wall of the elevator, his eyes going over Sarah.
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"Wait a minute, I was getting there." She said, smiling. "So we ended up creating a group that would fight against them. It was childish. Foolish. We thought we could make a difference, but in the end it's killed more people than it's saved. My brother still believes in it though. Almost a shame..." She looked around, then at Gabriel. "What I'm saying is, I built this place. Hell, I made this city what it is today. Then I left. Because I realized that it was almost pointless. And that treasure hunting was much more profitable." The last part she said practically in jest, as if there was a deeper reason behind it. Yet it seemed that she was sensitive on the topic. "Let's just hope that they won't treat us like shit when we get down there. I didn't exactly leave on the best of terms."
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"What did you do? When you left, I mean? Surely, your brother would be ecstatic to see you more than anything else..." Gabriel looked at the elevator doors, closing the umbrella as he did so.
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"It's not him I'm worried about." Sarah said, staring off into space, "It's the others. I... I'd rather not talk about it, if that's okay with you." The elevator came to a halt, its doors opening to reveal a small, metal corridor.
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"Of course. Sorry for prying..." Gabriel gave a sad smile, clearly understanding where she was coming from with this.
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She moved to the closed metal door, and put her ear to it. Inside she heard... music. This was definitely the same place. "Sarah Cross, isn't it? Well..." A voice said over an intercom. "Welcome home. Nice to have you back here. Been a little... boring without you here." "Yeah well, it's been interesting." Sarah responded, looking about. "Johnathan's waiting inside. We're happy to see you, as always. But the crew is a little more... apprehensive." "Yeah I know." The door slide open, revealing a very interesting "tech-noir" style bar. It was bustling with activity, different races and species conversing and drinking. Yet it seemed that they were brothers and sisters in a way. Like they were a part of something.
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"Secret organizations, Mysterious voices over the speakers, tech noir bars... Where do I sign up?" Gabriel asked with a loud laugh, stepping off the elevator and looking around quickly.
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He would soon spot a man, with blond-ish brown hair and blue eyes that suggested cybernetics. Dressed in a finely tailed suit, he moved over to the pair. "Sarah?" He said, his face in surprise even though he had invited her here. "Oh my god." "Johnathan!" She exclaimed, rushing over to him and giving him a hug. "It's been so long. How you holding up these days?" "You know, the usual." "Still chasing that artifact of yours?" "Yeah. Wait." She let go of him, turning to Gabriel. "This a Gabriel. The guy I got to do the hunt with me. Gabriel, this is my brother. Johnathan Cross."
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"Pleasure to meet you." Gabriel extended a hand to Johnathan, giving a warm smile. "Your sister speaks highly of you." A little exaggerated on Gabe's part, but hopefully it would go unnoticed.
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He chuckled, looking over to Sarah then back to Gabriel. "No need for pleasantries my friend." Johnathan said smiling, "Take a look around. We're the outcasts. The punks. The rebels. You know. Nobody cares."
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"Best kind of life to live. The one where nobody cares about you or anything you might do in life." Gabriel chuckled again, clearly finding some solace in that fact. He could relate, in a sense. Monster hunting was a dirty job. One that never yielded many allies or friends. Only employees and employers...
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"In a way, yeah." Johnathan said, casually agreeing. "Let's have a drink, shall we?" He gestured for them to follow, moving to a large booth not too far from the performance stage. An almost jazzy, classic noir type band was playing, and it really gave the place an atmosphere.