Tamotsu Scanned the alleyways for signs of life. Kyou had informed there was a cop lingering around their hideout. He ordered him to check it out. He didn’t complain because he loves kyou and knows the risks of a cop lingering around. He didn’t see anyone at first. Then he saw movement by some trash bags. A ton of shadow moths flew up in alarm. He spotted Alex hiding behind the trash cans. He didn’t look like a cop. “You shouldn’t linger here at night.. it’s dangerous. Why don’t you stop by our store. We’ve got some rare stuff~” 

Desmond softly padded through the back alleys, occasional light from the street illuminating his ( currently emotionless) face and body. As usual, he didn't make much sound, aside from his breathing that was just slightly labored from the cold night air...
If he wanted to find what he came here for, he'd had to be quiet. He took his time carefully navigating the area, before a shape caught his eye.
It looked like a normal shadow, and the movement was so fleeting that he thought he was hallucinating.

He decided on a whim to chase the shadow, curious to where it might lead him...while at the same time, giving his best effort to make himself seem larger or more intimidating.
It wasn't long before he managed to track down the sound of the noise, small scuffles that reminded him of a rabbit occasionally tipped him off and allowed him to pursue further.

Only when Desmond was absolutely sure that the culprit was behind this turn, did he quickly emerge (jumpscare style), now boasting a lovely smile. "Hey pal!" He grinned, yet his wide-opened eyes weren't smiling. Not one bit, and the light in them was all but dead as he looked at the young vampire rabbit.

"Are you the guy that's selling the stuff I've been hearing about? Someone I know told me to look for ya tonight, right around here... I don't want any trouble..." He purred. "I'll even pay you. What do you say?" He smiled, hands still warily in his pockets, just in case.

v (LMAOOOO this interaction killed me!!! SOBSSSS oh my goddDD LOL )

     "There you are!" gleefully said the king as he leisurely made his way towards Desmond. He wore a bright smile on his face, looking as though he was having a reunion with a long lost friend, even as he waved down the many, many guards that had guns pointed at the rock star. "It took a while to find you! I'm glad I was able to catch you before you left, though I'm lucky that just about all forms of transportation out of the city had a freak shut down." His golden eyes gleamed knowingly.
     "Say," En started as he moved to sit next to Desmond. "You said goodbye to my daughter already, right? Ennette?" He nodded before Desmond could get a word in. "Yes, yes you did. Gave her a gift too. Now aren't you thoughtful." By now his words were oozing with the fakest kindness. "She told me all about it. You know what's strange? She's even listening to this music of yours. What's your band called? Bringing...? Ah." He shook his head an waved his hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter. I've never heard that kind of music, either. It's pretty loud. I'd be very concerned if my daughter went from her classical training to... that." There was an eerie silence over the two for a moment, with En leaning in ever so slightly with his fake smile twitching into the actual frown it was.
     He pat Desmond on the back (though roughly). "Oh well! At least I got to say my goodbye. Maybe this'll be the last time we see each other, huh?"

You can reply to him, his younger self, or his evil self!

(Here we go :3c, Going with evil En this time around)

The undead knight's head is on a swivel as she walks, scanning the dimly lit streets. She really didn't want to be out and about like this but she hadn't had much of a choice. Though she typically didn't need sleep she wasn't prone to dreaming from time to time. It had always left her in a vulnerable state, unable to move until the "dream" was complete. When she'd come to, she'd found that En was missing from the warehouse they'd taken refuge in.

It wasn't an uncommon occurrence for the man to take his leave. After all, he could do whatever he wished with his time. But it had been a day since then and he hadn't returned once. Concern and perhaps a little bit of fear drove the former knight from her hiding place and into the streets to search. 

It had been hours since she first left, and the night was already starting to fall by the time she stumbles on his trail. Though probably not as skilled as the assassin himself, she's able to follow it enough to his hiding place. What he was doing here, she couldn't say.

"En?" her voice is hushed, trying to make sure she's not mistaken. After all, it's difficult to see out of her helm in the dark. The armor clinks as she tilts her head questioningly. "Sorry for intruding, but I began to fear for the worst when you didn't return." 

Illanya turns to look around, and her gaze lands on what she can only guess is why En had hidden here at all. His quarry, a particularly well guarded one at that. It was no wonder he was watching so carefully "Ah, I see now." She pauses for a moment, her gauntleted hands tapping against her arm in thought. "Would perhaps a diversion give you the opening you need?" The undead knight muses, pulling her axe from her belt and running a hand across it's blade.

"I'm sure I can keep them more than occupied for a while." Her words come through the helm muffled, but an eager grin accents her voice, giddy at the idea of action.

(OwO hello SuperAnimeNinja from Toyhouse, how are you on this fine afternoon)

(You already know what it is... It's YA BOY doin a follow up 2 months late, because Corex my beloved)

Corex’s single eye gives him a unique advantage. Being able to identify heat signatures helps weed out the living creatures around him and identify others who are like him, hiding their identity much like he has for the majority of his time active. In his own opinion hiding in plain sight is in fact the most effective way of living to begin with. Especially if you are hiding for a specific reason, like stigma from views of a world that is unkind to the nature of your own body. So when he picks up a lack of heat from an armored individual around his own height, his curiosity is understandably peaked. 

A spark of what he can only describe as excitement enters his processor and the will to act takes over whatever actions he does next. He must speak to this person before he loses them. Corex makes his way through a small crowd of vendors, giving small apologies as he does so simply because he is so intensely focused on his objective. Any disruption along the way that he notices receiving an ‘excuse me’ or ‘my apologies’. When he finally reaches her, he slows as he taps her armor with his gloved hand. As she turns to him he lifts up his hat to her out of politeness.

“Pardon me.” he greets at last, “My name is Corex.” he says as he extends his gloved hand to her for a handshake in greeting. His hand is impossibly still for an organic, however he politely waits for the handshake before going further. He doesn’t continue until he has received his handshake. 

“I don’t mean to interrupt your day like this, but if you could spare a moment, I’d like to speak with you in private.” Corex asks, his single optic blinks as he awaits her answer, “... If you don’t mind, that is.”

( Hello there, Hardylark from Toyhouse -w- )

     "Stupid, drunk grandpa that smells like fish," grumbled Ken as he stormed around. What was up with that guy anyway, huh? Just barging in and demanding to get punched? Weird! Then looking like he wanted a fight? Even more weird! It threw off the star's whole mood. And just for the record, he was NOT running away to look for a place to hide! He was just... l-looking for a place to charge his phone!
      And right there, behind a big pile of boxes, seemed like the perfect charging sta--
     "What the hell?!" Ken practically screamed when a giant, glowing red eye stared at him from the other side of the pile. He fell on his rear and scrambled backwards, but to his surprise, or relief, the creature didn't seem to want to attack him. Rather, he seemed almost apologetic over what happened.
      Taking a moment to recover from his heart attack, Ken ignored the hand held out to him and climbed up to his feet, staring daggers at the... "What are you?!" blurted the pop star. "What the hell are you doing there, huh? What's-What's with all the wraps around you? You trying to hide your face?" Now it made him curious. What was underneath all that? The way that guy was moving, he was almost like a robot! Like a... a cyborg, or something. He was tempted to try and rip it off to see, but what would he do with that information, anyway? Was there someone specifically looking for this guy that necessitated hiding his face... or was this cosplay?
     "You know what? Forget it. If a big weirdo comes by, though, don't tell him I'm here."

Cuddles only wanted to play with the rather red man, but he didn't seem to want to play too. It rather disappointed the beast, because to play was all that it desired. Why everyone always hid away from it was a total mystery to it, so it searched and searched for its missing companions until they could be found. It didn't always find them though, and if it did they didn't always want to play, and both outcomes made Cuddles angry. It made it want to tear something up to get out all of its anger, and that was exactly what it did. The man on its back could attest to that had he still been alive. 

Lowering its large head to the ground, it stood there rather silently for a moment. With both of its front paws firmly pressed to the dirt below, it dug in its pointed back legs, feeling for the vibrations of its companion. If the man was moving at all, Cuddles should be able to feel him, and if not, it would have to detect his body heat instead. But Cuddles didn't like detecting body head. All the creatures that could be around confused the beast, and it overstimulated it. It was an anxiety inducing thing, and it didn't even work for it that well in the first place. No, Cuddles wasn't in the right mood to resort to that. So Cuddles was feeling, the sense that worked for it best. 

It sat as still as a statue, the only thing on it moving being the tip of its gooey tail. After a moment of sitting in this still silence, Cuddles perked up and quickly began to run. Its heavy muscles rippled in its chest as it practically galloped in what it assumed to be the correct direction, its paws and back legs leaving their mark in the dirt. It wasn't long until Cuddles came upon the man who he'd been searching for, and if Cuddles could have smiled it certainly would have. Tilting its head and lowering its upper half, similar to that of a dog wanting to play, its tail swayed back and forth. Now it could only hope that the man would be willing to entertain it, because Cuddles was in a rather good mood that day. 

     Andrina had heard successfully gotten rid of the monster hunters in the area. She noticed a large shadowy shape hiding. “It’s ok there gone, your safe now.” Whispered Andrina softly. She gave the creature time to gather its courage. “I won’t harm you I promise.” She smiled at Cuddles. “Your a fascinating creature!” Andrina made sure the creature wasn’t injured before she left. She hoped the creature wouldn’t run into any more hunters. She was tempted to stay but she had important paper work to fill out.

Maribelle wasn't sure what Andrina was doing. She had been informed of the woman's visit, told that she was an investigator of sorts, but to the child, she thought Andrina was more an eavesdropper -- a spy -- from the way she was skulking about. Maribelle tried to ignore her at first, but over time, and given the space and opportunity to do so, she eventually approached her where she huddled between a cluster of shrubs.

"There aren't any monsters in the hedges." She said, more giving advice than pointing out a fact. If Andrina wanted monsters, then Maribelle would show her the way. The girl lifted her gaze and stared into the woods beyond the garden. She had never been into the forest. It frightened her too much.

And for a supposedly good reason, as she then continued on. "There's something in there. That's what my papa and uncle say." she told Andrina, "He's the tomato thief. He approaches you at night when you go into the woods and he steals your bladder, but you can convince him not to if you have tomatoes. He also eats children, but I think he likes tomatoes more." She shuddered to think of it. She didn't have any tomatoes to give.

"..If you want, you can go in there and find him and tell him to go away." she then added, "Or take him away to your... um, your, uh, la-laboratory, if you have one. I don't like him, anyway, so he needs to go."

Fortunately, the tomato thief did not exist.

     "Little giiirl. :)"

     The pitchfork dragged across the ground, leaving thin trials of blood behind. Noel and Otto were both out with their own work to do, and the few servants in the noble home had already been distracted with the many, many smiley faces surrounding them now.
     All that left was Maribelle.

     Smiley hummed a nursery rhyme as he slowly walked down one of the large hallways. "Little girl, :)" he repeated, "Hide and Seek is so, so much fun, don't you think so? I think so. :) All your friends thought so too! :) You're an excellent hider, too. :) After this, though, let's play another game, okay? :) We could play some tag! :) Would you like to play that? I bet it would be so, so much fun! :) It will, it will! I'm sure, I'm sure. :)"

     He kicked down a door and slumped into one room, tilting his paper bag down to look at a small table. "Or maybe some chess? :)" He sank the pitchfork down on it, then hurled it across the room.

     "But I need to find you first. :)"

N’arfi had retired to an inn room in one of the bigger cities. He sighed slightly after closing the door behind him, taking off some of his heavier equipment. 

Smiley was hiding in the wardrobe, almost too excited to jump out and kill another person, he was breathing heavily, which was a huge mistake.

Being a viera, N’arfi’s ears were essentially made for situations like this. He sighed slightly and walked over to the wardrobe, opening it only to find a tall, lanky man inside and before he knew it, he had been stabbed in the side of his stomach.

“Seven hells!” He groaned.
 N’arfi was both furious and ashamed that he hadn’t been more careful, he responds by kicking Smiley in the stomach and using simple spell, a flashing ball of light. The man had to see through that bag somehow and the sudden heat surprisingly worked as a flashbang too. Smiley was not expecting this and the sudden force made him drop his weapon. 

N’arfi was pretty seriously injured but at this point, his pain tolerance was so high that he could keep going for a few minutes at least. He reached into the wardrobe and grabbed Smiley by his arms. 

N’arfi wasn’t very tall but he had spent his childhood hunting in the mountains and now he was the champion of Eorzea. In other words, he was very athletic.. “I hope you can fly, you piece of shite!”

He promptly used another spell, “ultravibration” to shatter the window, tossing Smiley out of it in one quick motion. Sadly for him, this innroom was high up above ground and what awaited him below was the plaza floor. 

N’arfi wasn’t that worried about the broken window. He had sold enough smoked chicken to make him a gillionare. However, as the adrenaline wore off, he was reminded of the fact that he got stabbed so he quickly tried to get to a conjurer.

Veritas hacked away at the brush around him. Damnable fucking dick head mother fuckin ASS! He could continue with his string of curses to make up a few of his own. But that would just start wasting energy. His trusty hook being his flora clearing device of choice was an absolutely horrible decision. With every slash, he had to put more effort into it with how little area of his weapon the sharp bit was. 

His current target, hired by some sleaze bag noble something bout 'Was a bit too high strong about themselves in front of a king blah blah blah' didn't matter. He was in some serious need of cash. Hadn't had enough money to get to a place to eat or hunt. Hell, he didn't have any money to buy a sewing kit for his coat! Fuck. The bunny-eared target dashed off into the forest and by the look at how they carried themselves when he gave em notice he was gonna be hunting him for a bounty. The kid had a plan 

"cmoooooooooooooooon bunny man! Y'ain't gonna be running from me forever. Cmon help a man out everyone has gotta eat" As he finished this he fully expected silence beside the sounds of birds. Shit he prolly expected some tree branch cracking. But a hug ass circular blade hitting him in the face? Now that he couldn't believe. Pain spiked through his face as his body's curse began to spring into action the wound closing quickly as Veritas ripped the blade from his face "IGHT I SEE HOW IT IS! CMON AN FIGHT ME CAUSE NOW I GOT YOUR DAMN WEAPON BITCH" he prolly had another. But that was for later consideration

------------------------

NP: Expect V to be hiding for an ambush. But he could also be doing a surprise party with homemade cake (Also if his profile is bugging out feel free to use any of my other lads)

The road toward the hamlet was winding and dark; the shadows cast by dead branches overhead reaching toward the serpent like darkened fingers. Quickening her pace, Jordyn drew her sister closer under her cloak, cradling Hel's thin body to shield it from the cold. The chill of the night wind blew against her as if to warn her away, but the former goddess would not be deterred so easily. Pushing on, a feeling began to settle in her gut. It had been a small, nagging voice in the back of her mind for some time, but now her instincts were screaming it at the top of their lungs -- from somewhere nearby, killing intent flooded her senses. Deep in the shadows on the left side of the road, someone's bloodlust raged unchecked. An ambush? To rob them? Kill them? Or worse...? 

Too late to turn back, yet too far from the safety of the hamlet, the serpent chose the only other option; to flee under the cover of the darkened woods.

Knowing their pursuer was on the left, Jordyn walked normally for a few more steps before turning abruptly and sprinting into the treeline on her right, snaking in and around the tangle of underbrush and ducking beneath low hanging branches. How far behind was the one who hunted them? She dared not to look as the sound of heavy footfalls thundered behind her, one step... two steps..? Maybe three?

The serpent was almost out of time when she saw it -- a tiny crack in the bluffs ahead. Shedding her cloak with one hand, the pale lady threw it behind her with the hope of stunning the pursuer, or at the very least buying a few seconds. With both hands, the reborn goddess shoved the shivering form of her sister through the tiny gap, and without the time to feel guilty about the rough handling, moved to slip through herself. Five fingers closed around her wrist, and she felt herself being dragged out from the cover of the cave. Hel grasped at Jordyn's other wrist, her tiny body trying with everything it had to pull the serpent to safety, but the strength of a child was no match for the one who hunted them as the wrist of her eldest sister slipped from between her shaking fingers.

The goddess turned to see her assailant for the first time; a flash of black hair and greedy eyes. As she met his gaze she knew at once that his desperation would not allow her to escape so easily. One of them would shed blood before the day was over; but the serpent would not allow it to be hers. In one fluid motion, her free hand snaked beneath her skirts, in search of a hidden blade. Snapping the handle free of it's leg holster, the pale lady raised it high before bringing it down mercilessly; burying it to the hilt in the hand that held her captive. When the stranger's grip loosened, she stumbled backward - diving through the gap in the rock to take refuge in the darkness of the cave. From beyond the crack in the cliff face, the sound of two sets of retreating footsteps could be heard as the sisters fled further underground.

The thief would walk away with only three things from the encounter; a silver blade, a woolen cloak and a deep wound.

---
(Prompt for the next person; why don't I just continue the above scene? I hope this helps!)
(HAHAHA OMG Schrodinger's kid and danger noodle, those are incredible nicknames. Thank you so much for your reply!! :) it was lovely~)

Many hours had passed since the encounter that left Jordyn daggerless, and the weariness of their journey had begun to set in. The serpent shivered from the cold, feeling the loss of her cloak acutely. At her side, her sister's shallow breathing indicated a restless slumber. Together, the two sat in the darkness of the cave, hiding from sight behind a boulder while they recuperated from the day's events. The reborn goddess quietly hummed a foreign lullaby to the child as they slept; the unusual tune a remnant of a life long past.

    Noomie turned their head from side to side as the surveyed their territory. They smelled an intruder, a possible predator. Mina had the combined scent of human and feline, neither of which were tolerated in noomie’s territory. The slimy four legged creature used its sense of smell to track Mina. She was caught hiding in a bush. Noomie let out a low growl to warm her. It showed off its claws as an intimidation display. Fortunately it worked. Mina hissed and climbed into the tree. She disappeared from the area, much to the relief of Noomie.