The Den

[Armalite_]

Spike stopped dead in his tracks. He noticed the wolf plead for her safety. He wasn't planning on doing the same but who was confronting her? Silently, he moved closer among the cargo to see who had the gun. Turns out, he wasn't alone. There were more people in the warehouse than he originally thought. He cursed his poor decision to take this route home. There was never escaping the madness of the slums, no matter where he went.

The coyote wasn't armed but he had no intentions of getting into a fight tonight. Chances were, he knew who was pointing the gun. If they had ink, it was most likely Spike's. Most militia and armed personnel came to him for tattoo work, not because he was the only tattoo artist in the main square, but because he liked to carry conversation about the old days patrolling with them. But it was dark, and shadows seemed to provide better cover than some of the men who hid within them. Spike knew this all too well.

He inched closer to get a better look as to who it was. He'd heard them mention "DS" and "recruit." His thoughts began to race. Maybe he didn't know this person after all. He didn't have a gun, but they probably didn't know that. Cornered, Spike decided to show himself. Spike walked out from the shadows behind Lucinda. He kept his paws up at shoulder level to show he was unarmed. With this approach, it had it easier to swipe a weapon from someone's hands if they came close enough.

"Don't shoot, remain calm." The coyote took another step closer but remained behind the young wolf, half using her a shield from any stray bullets. "My name is Spike, I'm a veteran of the HORDE armed security force. What the hell are you doing up here?"

[austinm67]

Another wolf would walk out to stand by Murph. "Dont worry, everything is fine spike. We are recrutes and was worried she was apart of DS so my friend here may have gotten a bit carried away but he was worried for our safety." The wolf said calmly his voice carrying just enough for them to here. "My name is Mitch and this is My friend Murph."

[Shadis]

*Shadis assumed nothing would happen, as these two figures seemed non-hostile, but he decided he should prepare himself, just in case they turned out to be hostile after all. Relying on his experience with sneaking to survive, he slipped into the shadows behind the various cargo crates nearby, and proceeded to sneak quietly towards the group. He figured it would be best to have someone hidden within the shadows and ready to act, in case something goes wrong. He moved behind the two unknown strangers as they conversed, hoping his sneaking combined with their being distracted would keep them from noticing him.*

[NautilusWolf]

Murph, now visibly annoyed, turns his attention to Mitch.
"Did you not hear him?!? He's a veteran of security!"
Murph with his hand still on the weapon, and finger on the release button of his kydex holster stares into the coyote's eyes.
"Fine." He gave in, "I trust Mitch as a good judge of character. Come closer please. I just want to do a quick search so I can be at ease. I've spent a good 7+ years with my head in a set of crosshairs."
He said taking his hand completely off the weapon, and showing his hands in a friendly position.

[Armalite_]

The wolf's words clicked in Spike's head. They're recruits!? For Black Paw!? The coyote immediately narrowed his eyes. "I mean no disrespect, but you'll have to remain that way. I don't consent to any searches." He said flatly.

Spike didn't trust these people. He'd dealt with the Black Paw resistance before in early days of his time as a security officer. Black Paw had also been responsible for the death's of his friends in the line of duty. They had only momentarily been pointing a weapon at an unarmed civilian. They were jumpy with their triggers and they were obviously up to something.

"I'm unarmed, I assure you. I don't want any trouble, I'm just passing through." Spike said, his paws still raised at chest level.

The coyote's eyes glanced down at Murph's sidearm that remained holstered, then quickly back at Murph. "Look, I don't know what you're both up to, but I can tell you that security patrols through here on a regular basis. I suggest we all go home before something bad happens."

Spike was emphasizing the word, putting on a spin of generality. The coyote was tense. It was instinctive for him to distrust the resistance. Even he knew better than to believe anything they said to be true. He only could have guessed what they were doing in the warehouse among the important cargo. He half expected for one of them them to detonate right in front of him and kill everyone. The thought almost made him smile. His luck was never that good.

[NautilusWolf]

Murph stopped midway to the coyote. He could tell this man was not the type to mess around.
"fine. If you won't be subject to search, then how about you come into the warehouse, have a nice chat. I will put the gun away, as long as we just sit and chat." Murph had said trying to get the stranger to the warehouse. Murph didn't trust him, and he knew the coyote didn't trust him much either. The conversation had a rocky start at best, but if it were any consolation, it was to have the coyote in for a friendly chat.
"If you come in, we can offer you food, some MRE's. You must know foods getting harder to come by in the lower decks with DS tightening food supply." He said.
 If there was one thing Murph knew, it was that a society works thinks with it's stomach, not its head. This was ever apparent, as the lower decks always focused more on survival, rather than reasoning. Murph wasn't a bad guy, he just couldn't trust that many people in his life. In his own mind, he liked to think everyone as untrustworthy. When they left, it hurt a whole lot less that way.

[Aldrea945]

Lucinda shook violently, even as he took the gun away.  She looked around at all of the canines in shock and terror, stopping at a handsome black wolf for a moment too long.  "I-I'm harmless.  I simply wanted c-company.  It's so lonely down here, and I...  Just please don't shoot me."

[austinm67]

Mitch looked at the girl for a moment. "Dont worry, none of us will harm you. How about we all just go inside and chat, DS will be here soon and id rather not have to deal with them right now." He walked over to the warehouse door opening it hen walking inside. Looking around he noticed shadis was missing. "shade, you in here?"

[Armalite_]

One of Spike's ears perked at the sound of food, he hadn't eaten in a couple of days. Business had been getting slow and there was less and less wholesome meals to come by these days. The coyote turned back to look at the young girl who was now pleading behind him, then back at Murph.

"That may all depend on what we're talking about in there. I don't want to see anyone get hurt."

He had little options at this point. He would have liked to have kept walking to get home but it looked like these canines wanted some information first. They were persistent in getting the coyote to speak to them, he feared they might try to force him somehow, if they could. Spike didn't fear death, but he really didn't enjoy starving to death either. Ideas of what to do bounced around in his head.

He looked back at the young wolf. He knew she couldn't ensure their safety, but maybe they'd be less likely to blow his brains out if she came along to talk as well. She WAS looking for company after all.

The coyote finally dropped his paws. "We can talk. But she's coming too." He said, gesturing back to Lucinda.

[austinm67]

Mitch nodded. "i was referring to everyone. including her, that is if you want to." He was poking his head out of the ware house walking out with some food handing it to the coyote. "You look famished, dont worry i didn't poison it." He then seemed to eat a bit to prove so. "Your the tattoo artist right?"

[NautilusWolf]

Murph walked away to the corner. He sat alone, watching them talk. He unholstered his weapon and unloaded the magazine, while also clearing the chamber of any loaded rounds. Murph stared at the gun with a fond expression. All his life he felt alone and scared. Firearms cleared his mind of such a thought, but he still couldn't help but feel out of place among other people. He began to clean the weapon, muttering to himself. His focus never left his Glock 17. Murph sat in silence cleaning his weapon.

[Armalite_]

Spike took the MRE that Mitch had handed to him. He watched Mitch take the first sample before tearing off the packaging of his own meal. Beans...Nice. Spike thought to himself. He'd never been picky with food, but baked bean MRE's were all security were often given. Sometimes there were chicken sandwiches or ravioli, but half the force knew baked beans would be the death of them.


He had opened a second MRE and handed it over to Lucinda, who quietly stood aside. The coyote was confused as to what she was doing here, but her company was far from unwelcome, atleast to him anyway. The coyote stuffed his face with beans before remembering what Mitch had asked. He looked up

"Yeah, I was discharged after some 'new workplace politics' were put in place. Now I ink people who've got anything worth a trade." He said behind a mouthful of beans. He pointed his plastic spoon at Mitch and Murph.

"You still haven't told me what you're doing down here. Unless your purpose down here is strategic, I suggest we move to safer location to talk." He said, taking another spoonful.

[austinm67]

Mitch nodded. "Good, so my IQ didnt fail me." He said for a moment then pondered something looking around. "Dont worry, we should be fine. DS rarely come through this block its got too many alleyways and cargo crates. The likely hood of an ambush on them is high so in order to reduce casualties they dont patrol down here." He sat down continueing to eat from a small rice ball for a moment. "If you want, we may need someone with an artistic skill set as well as more combat. Would you care to join the black paw to help the den?" He said taking another bite clearly smart enough to tell what may or may not happen next predicting ahead on every last movement around the group.

[Shadis]

*Shadis followed from the shadows as the group moved to the warehouse and began eating. He positioned himself behind cover, keeping an eye out on the path that the two strangers took, in case any Den security were to come through their as well. He was sure to position himself in a spot that Mitch would notice him standing in, so he would no longer wonder where he had gone. Ever now and again, he would glance at the group, keeping a lingering eye on Lucinda the longest, a faint look of compassion in his eyes.*

[austinm67]

"Now, what do you say?" Mitch asked again looking down the docks, a small metal pole drops down out of his sleeve as he leans on it like a cane analyzing something of importance.