Subterranean [Finished]

[Masquerade]

Shrapnel picked her way over the remains of a toll station, the hard bottoms of her boots crunching loudly on the bits of broken safety glass that lay everywhere. The hood on her large sweatshirt was pulled up over her head, and the sleeves were pulled down past her hands, effectively cutting off any Tribe or gender identifiers anyone watching her might be on the look out for.

She had a decent sized hunting knife shoved down the back of her cargos, and the feel of the cold handle against the small of her back was comforting. In the subway, she was never sure what she was going to run into.

[Rico Brooks]

Rico had found an old cd player that actually had working batteries in it, it was alittle fuzzy because of the dented speaker but you could hear the song perfectly, it was blasting out Tarantula by Pendulum ( awesome song if you wanna check it out ) and Rico bopped his head to it, he had lit a fire in an old barrel he'd found and sat himself on a tipped train carriage, The light illuminated the whole place, he tapped his metal capped boot agaisnt the dented worn steel of the train and sung out the lyrics in his gruff english voice

" Shotter, hitter, serial killer
Go-a your funeral and all drink out your liquor
When you are bury we a-stand next to the vicar
Fling on some dirt and make your bury a little quicker
Shouldn’t test the youth them in the Tommy Hilfiger
Hug up ya mama, say sorry to ya poppa
All-a get number for ya little sister
It true we cold like alaska, freezer "

He took a deep breath and fell backwards on the train top, panting slightly from rapping the words as fast as he could, trying to keep up with the CD. He carried on bopping his head, the music obscuring any sound of approaching tribe members, but Rico didn't care, he was more than able to handle himself.

[Masquerade]

[XD thank you to whichever admin corrected my mangled spelling!]

The sound of tapping and singing made Shrapnel perk up and reach for her weapon. In the subway system you found all sorts, Loners, Outcasts, Cigarettes, Wildcats, Wharf Rats... even the occasional Vampire. The last possibility made her fingers twitch all the closer to the knifes hilt. There was way too much bad blood between the Cigarettes and the Vampires for there to be any chance of encountering one and walking away unscathed.

Sliding down into the track bed, she snuck along the wall towards the source of the noise. As it got louder, she rounded the next bend in the track and discovered the source of the noise; a train car, overturned on the track, with a young man perched atop it with... was that a walkman?!

A combination of envy and curiousity over took whatever common-sense she had remaining, and the drab dun form of Shrapnel was soon able to be seen cautiously approaching the stranger.

"Hey."

[Rico Brooks]

Rico was up , his steel glinted in the fire light, the long serrated blade flashed. He sniffed at the air lightly and slid the knife back into his hip holster, propping himself down on one elbow he saw the kid before him posing no threat.

Nodding he smiled gently, still bopping his head

"...Easy..What brings you all the way down ere' ?"

[Masquerade]

Shrapnel froze in place when the man moved, her left hand already behind her back and wrapping around the rubberized grip by the time he addressed her. Stormy eyes narrowed warily, the Cigarette's posture remained stiff and ready to move if he tried anything.

"I could ask the same thing, y'know." she said gruffly, her fingers tensing around the hilt behind her. Without answering the question, she continued on, spitting out each word like it left a bad taste in her mouth.

"You gotta name?"

[Rico Brooks]

Rico split his face into a wide grin and shrugged gently, his tone well humoured

".. You can slip your fingers away from your steel little girlie. I ain't gonna do you no harm. Unlike other's round ere' I can keep my word. Name's Rico...or Nail's if you prefer....Yourself ? " he kept her movements pinned with his eyes, readying to pull his blade again if needed.

[Masquerade]

Oh, if looks could kill, the one Shrapnel was currently giving the man could flay the hide off a cow at twenty paces.

"Shrapnel." she said bluntly, her fingers still on the hilt but now not in such a white-knuckled grip. For all his disarming smiles and cheerful actions, Shrapnel didn't trust him. But then again, Shrapnel didn't really trust anyone any more. Not since she'd come through the fence.

Sneering slightly - any real snarls or grimaces made her scars ache fiercely - she ventured a few steps forward, the going slow as she kept her eyes on the Wildcat (she could finally make out his face paint) and nothing else.

[Rico Brooks]

Rico pushed himself up and swung his legs around, the song dying on the Stereo he'd found, only to cut in on repeat again, he grinned and patted the Train side he was sat on at her

".. I like the song...Listen i'm not gonna get my claws out, have a seat. "

[Masquerade]

"Cut the cat talk. It's cheesy." Shrapnel spat, finally letting her hand drop away from her back. Instead her fingers worried at the edges of her hoodie sleeve, resisting the urge to slide up into where a thin stilleto blade had been hidden against her forearm.

Still keeping both eyes trained on the Wildcat, she picked her way up onto the tunnel ledge, grabbing onto the bars that lined the maintinence pathways as she hauled herself up. She sat on the horizontal hand-rail, stareing at Rico like she expected him to lunge at her any second.

[Rico Brooks]

Rico's face flickered with a firey rage for a second but it soon quelled as quick as it came, leaning back as she moved he laid back upon the traintop, his hands behind his head

"...Listen i'm not going to bloody go for you so just chill will you..." his voice was not stern or demanding but more dissapointed that no one had the sense of neutrality he had, if he was on WildCat turf he was home and he was defensive, if he was on anyone elses turf he was a hunter and was on the offense, but if on neutral territory he was like anyone else, just a kid

[Masquerade]

Shrapnel sniffed dryly, still stareing at the Wildcat suspiciously from under her hood. She hadn't seen or heard signs of anyone else around since she'd entered the subway tunnels, which significantly narrowed the chance of an ambush or other such ruse.

Maybe 'Nails' was genuine, maybe he wasn't. In New Pork, you never really knew; especially when the individual in question was a member of a rival Tribe.

"You'll have to excuse me if I don't exactally jump into your arms giggling." she huffed, her voice sarcastic, "But, unless you've forgotten, this is New Pork."

[Rico Brooks]

Rico closed his eyes momentairly and had a painful memory clasp its icy cold hands around his throat causing him to swallow. He spoke to her with a flat toneless voice

"...There's nothing to giggle about when it comes to thinking about this place. " He wondered if anyone had broken into the garage yet. If not he might go back one day when he had the nerve and grab the shotguns if they were still there or if they worked. There had to be some shells in this god forsaken city.

[Masquerade]

"Being a cocky shi.t isn't the best method of self-preservation, especially when four of five people you meet want you dead or screaming in whatever their Tribe uses as a prison." Shrapnel muttered, more to herself than to Nails.

"And sittin' around in neutral territory with a bit of kit in neutral territory, where anyone can wander buy, is a real nice way to get killed." she said blandly, the malice finally starting to fade from her voice. Just a little.

[Rico Brooks]

Rico raised his eyebrows at her and lifted his head

"...Yeah my piece of kit...You think I'm gonna let some scrap head take it without a fight...side's the knife ain't all I got round ere' " he leant down behind him and pulled a long metal pole with a diagonal cut tip to it he waggled it abit then slid it back into the mislodged plate on the top of the train.

"...Get yourself in a pit then or ? "

[Masquerade]

"Not yet, and I'm hoping never to." she said bitterly. Getting killed was one thing, but taken prisoner... Not an option.

Shrapnel wasn't all that impressed when he showed off a sharpened pole, having suspected as much all along. No one, especially Wildcats, went unarmed; if someone revealed a weapon to you, they tended to have at least one more stashed away out of sight.

"'N besides, shouldn't you be out scavenging for junk or patrolling or whatever t' hell you guys do?"

[Rico Brooks]

Rico sighed alittle and leant up into a sitting position again, looking at her face, he let his eyes linger upon the scars limunated in the firelight before awnsering her

"...I dont scavange for stuff thats the commoners work...I dont patrol...I hunt. I fight for whats either mine or the Wildcats...but right now it's me time...everyone needs their escape...what about you ...why you wondering around ? " he raised an eyebrow, alittle miffed that she still held a defense but then again he was a Wildcat and big , if not in his past experience with the other Tribes alittle more than threatening.

[Masquerade]

Shrapnel shrunk back into her hood, her eyes hard as Nails* seemed to scan her scars.

"I'm looking for whatever might be useful. Foods all been taken down here, but there are still bits and pieces that can be salvaged if you look hard enough." she said flately, starting to wish that she hadn't come down into the subway alone.

She shouldn't've been talking with him at all. They weren't being friendly, but he was competition in the Conrete Jungle. Kill or be killed, that shi.t.

[Rico Brooks]

Rico brightened up abit

" ...If food's what you want I can help you out there love.." he leant down back to the mislodged panel and pulled out a small box of plain chocolate bars. There was a decent number in there, he pulled up a can of coke and placed it down beside her

"..Help ya self...pulled em out of a Vamp's hand's after he tried to knife me..."

[Masquerade]

Shrapnel's right eye twitched slightly, but she relaxed at the sight of food.

"Call me 'love' again and I'll gut you, Wildcat."she muttered, he tone slightly less aggresive upon the appearance of chocolate. And coke. Oh god, how long had it been since her last forking coke?!

Snatching at the can, running her fingers over the smooth aluminium as if to reassure herself that it was really there, she stared at Nails.

"First of all, where'd you find all this? Second, why the hell are you shareing with me?"

[Rico Brooks]

Rico laughed and gave a smug grin at her fumbling over the can

"..Ain't the first an' last time i'm gonna hear that threat....I dashed a few Vamp's who were looting a shop I had marked. They stepped on Wildcat territory so I broke a head or two and napped this as some snacks...and why shouldn't I share it to you ? I know there's friction between the Tribes but it don't hurt to be Civil let alone Friendly sometimes does it. " he spoke this more as a statement than a question.