Charger leaned over to the bald man.

'Are we nearly there yet? I start to lose feeling in my legs!'

Kaira just moaned uncomfortable.

>.>

The man from the circus - not the man of whom Roland had spoken, but one of his direct underlings - did not look at Charger, but spoke quietly.
"We'll be there shortly. As a matter of fact ..."
As he spoke they turned a corner near the outskirts of Los Santos. And it was there: An enormous red and yellow tent surrounded by various attractions - a man swallowing flaming swords, a two-headed midget, a man with one leg and a large birdlike beak juggling knives ... it was intense.
As they got closer, Blaze began looking around for signs of a tiger-woman exhibit.
But there were none. Perhaps she was being held on the other side of the tent?
---
Roland dismounted the Eagle and considered the offer.
After a moment he said, "I suppose I can allow you to accompany me a little longer. But be very careful. I am certain that this place is far more dangerous than it looks.
As if to confirm this, two tall figures strode out from an open flap in the tent nearby. They appeared to be humans, dressed in obscenely bright suits with very loud ties ... but their faces looked ... off. Strange. Almost as if they were masks made of skin. Very well crafted masks, but masks nonetheless.
They stopped short upon seeing Roland and Pseok.
One spoke in a buzzy voice that made the gunslinger think of insects. "Gunzlingerrr! Quick! Go tell Fizzer!"
Roland knew that, as one of the "men" turned to run off that he was going to find Fisher, not Fizzer. He drew quickly and fired a shot at the second "man" before it got more than three steps away.
The first "man" was drawing a weapon as well, but it was unlike any gun Roland had ever seen. It had three prongs and no discernable trigger.
Roland raised his gun and aimed. He would have shot, had he not needed to know where Fisher was.
The "man" hesitated, and Roland changed plans. He shot the strange gun out of the thing's hand and steadied his aim again.
"Where's Fisher?
---
Blaze heard a gunshot across the circus, and, several seconds later, there was a second one.
"Oh, hell," he groaned. "We've got a visitor."
As the crowd in the circus began to panic and disperse, the small circus man raised two guns of his own and buried them in the backs of Blaze and Charger.
"Walk slowly and casually forward, beasts," he hissed, with no hint of his former jocularity. "I don't want to have to shoot you and ruin what could be a great show.
---
Post = done.

Silvia continued along the path for some time without event, until the road started to twist and twine up a steep hill. She urged the horse into a trot until they reached the top, then stopped as she saw something a bit furthur on. It looked like a burnt out old shack, but except for being overgrown with weeds from the years, it seemed to be in surprisingly good condition for a building that had apparently burned down.

Silvia sat still for a short time, then slowly dismounted and started walking over to the shack, her horse following of it's own accord. She walked up to the shack and cautiously leaned on one of the walls; it didn't give way. She looked up the way she had come, not really knowing what she was looking for but looking anyway. This place looked very familiar, but she couldn't quite figure out why.

After a little while she decided to pitch camp early, a short distance away from the shack. As she started preparing to set up, she became aware that a headache was starting to form...

ooc: ooh, the plot thickens! Don't forget Kaira Dave, she could wreck everything for the chaps in the circus!


Pseok watched, with some confusion, from one guy the next as guns sung in various directions and one of them whipped out a vary bizarre but unnervingly familiar weapon. He was relieved enough when Roland shot the thing out of his hand to make a sarcastic comment!
Pseok: "Hey, careful my friend, You very nearly made an enemy of these guys." (ooc: post 202)
Pseok grinned to himself. Man, he was so funny. He turned to the guy who'd been holding the odd weapon.
Pseok: "Hey, where'd you get that thing? I don't think a circus guy should be playing with something like that. In fact I knew a scientist who shouldn't have spent so much time playing with things like that. Where'd you buy it?"
Well, seeing one of those again wasn't something he'd expected after so long, let alone held by a circus worker. But if he found out where it came from he might be able to start a little quest of his own. He also had some revenge issues he'd like to get sorted out if the oppertunity arose.

(OOC: I assume they already left the car? Cuz otherwise he would not be able to put the guns at their backs? :P)

Charger had looked the other way for a moment, in the direction of the gunshot.

'It would appear so...' he mumbled. He had a look around the place. Here he was thinking HE was a freak... but seeing all these people in the circus... this made him look like the most normal thing alive.
Then, suddenly, the cold feeling of a gun barrel burried in his back. He didn't even have to think about what it was. He would recognize it instantly. He could feel the cold touch even trough his thick coat of fur. He had a gentle look over his shoulder, but couldn't see what kind of gun it was exactly. Neither could he with Blaze.
He decided not to speak, as the bald man had obviously forgotten about Kaira, who was still back at the car. Charger hoped she would do the right thing and sneak away. He knew her, and she would think before acting. Unfortunatly, the man realized to soon.

(OOC: Gonna take control of your character for a bit, Dave. Hope you don't mind, need to do it to make it work ^^;)

'Where is that white tiger friend of yours by the way?' the man ponderd and turned around to look.
Charger was right, she did the right thing and was making a run for it.

'RUN KAIRA!' he shouted over his shoulder, just to get the gun poked in his side.

'Shut up!' the man hissed, then turned back to Charger and Blaze, gun still pointed. 'No matter... I can get a white tiger easy enough somewhere els... it's you two I'm interested in.'

Charger drew a grin on his face. Good, just like he had hoped, the man just thought Kaira was an ordinary tigress. A stupid animal with no real inteligence. Good thing he knew better.

'I've never been to the circus before...' he said in a humoristic way.

(OOC: If there's is anything you want changed, Dave. Let me know :)).

Drakko was paceing back and forth in the room thinking what he was gonna do..until he had an idea.

Drakko walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him,then went and hid behind the shower curtains.

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

Vladimir and his two bodyguard thugs had finally reached the hotel,they entered and headed straight for the desk.

"Hmm..i haven't seen you around here before"Said Vladimir"Well..i'd like to get the key for my private sweat."

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

Tristen had been following the plane he saw and it lead him to Los Santos..it was here he hoped to find Drakko..and kill him.

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

jax=Dead

(well theres a post for Drakko,Vladimir,a guy i forgot about and jax who was from chapter 2.)

Dave opened the Community RPG thread to read new replies.
Gretin's post didn't pertain to any of his characters, so he didn't reply to it - but he didn't forget about it, either.
Splat's post next... fine. After a moment, he typed a response ...
---
The gunslinger noted his own words being thrown back at him, and dismissed them. Let the Eagle have his fun.
The Eagle was talking now, about seeing those weapons before. He would remember this and ask again later.
When the Eagle finished the not-man took a breath and blew a raspberry at the bird. Roland took a step forward, gun still raised.
"Now, thing," he said. His voice was quiet but solid. "I want to see Fisher. Take me now."
The thing appeared to recognize the gunslinger for who he was - the mask it wore stretched into a shape that would pass for surprise, had it been human, and then it bowed low.
The gunslinger rolled his eyes and kicked at the thing. "Rise, slave, and take me to Fisher."
The gunslinger hoped he would not have to explain to the Eagle. Though in time he might, anyway. That depended on how things played out with the owner of the circus.
---
Dave read Havoc's reply to the Community RPG.
He shrugged.
Dave leaned over and typed: "No big deal, Charger. I didn't forget about Kaira; I intentionally made the circus dude forget. And I don't mind if you move him about, as I didn't give him a profile or even a name, and I feel he is a free-for-all character."
Dave sat back, cracked his knuckles, and began the next part of his post ...
---
Blaze chuckled a bit at this wit from Charger, and was silenced when the gun in his back dug deeper.
"Keep a lid on it. Do not attract attention to yourselves." The small man was quite irritated, to say the least.
---
Dave scrolled down and read through The Brew Master's reply next. After a moment's consideration, he typed a response ...
---
Art was startled to see the man walk in, as he didn't expect anyone so soon. But he was clever enough to hide it.
The man asked for the key to his suite, and Art promptly went to the drawer and reached to the back ... and grabbed the key.
He held it out. "Here you are, sir, enjoy your stay." He had no idea if he was following proper clerk ettiquette, but didn't particularly care just now.
---
Dave sat back and clicked the button that read "Post Quick Reply."

Vladimir gave the clerk an odd stare and took the key from his hands and headed for his room.

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

Drakko heard a door opening and the words "stay here" from a man with a russian accent..Vladimir?

The door closed and there was silence.Drakko slowly opend the door and saw Vladimir standing at the bed side tabe...Dra...*BANG*.

A bullet was shot out from the back off the coat and straight into Drakko's chest,Vladimir knew something was up when the clerk gave him the key from a drawer and not the board behind him and now Drakko was on the floor bleeding to death because of it.

Vladimir kneeld down next to Drakko.

"Drakko..my comrade..my freind..you should have known only death would follow if you took a job from Mario."Said the russian man.

Vladimir raised his gun onto Drakkos head.

"But..i have a proposition for you..if you kill Mario i'll forget any of this happend and you walk away a free man..or you can try to leave Los Santos and i will surely hunt you down."

Drakko spits on Vladimir.

"I see you have made a decision..i will meet you here tommorow in this same room..if you don't show up i will assume you are dead or have left Los Santos"

Vladimir holsterd his firearm,stood up..and just left Drakko there.

Vladimir took the elevator down and as he headed past the receptionist he left the clerk a message.

"Your comrade could use some help." and with that said Vladimir left the building.

Kix and Krishe were hiding in the bushes, when they saw Vladimir leave the building.

"Isn't that?..." Krisha asked,looking at Drakko.

"Well I think it's him... Maybe something went wrong in there. I think we should go check." Kix said.

"Can't YOU just go in, and then i could kill that bastard??" Krisha asked.

"No, something must have went wrong. We gotta see Drakko." Kix said, as she ran towards the entrance.

Krisha sighed, as she followed.

"Guess we'll have to use the window... The door's closed.." Krisha said and climbed the wall to anopen window.

Kix followed, and they began looking for Drakko.

'Gee... isn't attracting attention the reason you're trying to lock us up?' Charger ponderd half to himself and half to the guy, just to anoy him. He knew this guy wouldn't just shoot a perfectly good attraction for his circus. Charger would have to make an escape attempt to let it come that far probably.

They walked past a few cages, it had all kinds of animals in it. Elephants, monkeys, horses. Everything you'd expect to find in a circus. A bit behind them was the freak bunch, swallowing swords, spitting fire and walking on two fingers. The little bald guy lead them to the back of the circus tent where Charger suddenly saw a cage which held another tiger like creature... probably their sister. (OOC: She's gonna be your character, right Dave?)
'Well,' Charger grunted and gave Blaze a sideway stare. 'At least we found our sister...'

---

Kaira had the feeling she had just got past those slo... (OOC: Oh... wait...)...

Kaira had the feeling she was completely out of breath, felt like she ran trough half Los Santo's. While in fact she was just a block or two away from the circus. She could still see it's peak from the fence she was hiding behind. She had found an emtpy ally where she kept hidden untill she would figure out what to do.
What did that guy want from Charger and Blaze anyway. Maybe make them the new circus acts? Yea... that seemed the most logical thing.
She sat there, tugged away in the ally to catch her breath.

Wow, I just spent 20 minutes writing a post just to have it deleted cus the computer i'm using logged me out.:compmad:

Pseok was determinedly confused by what was going on.
Pseok: "All this time you've bee trying to convince me that this is reality and then this happens. You should tell me all about it some time. Preferably before you get your face remade by an RNA gun, which isn't a pleasent feeling, by the way."
THere was something definately odd about this human, especially the way he kept pulling at his skin as if it was on to tight. Pseok hesistated and had a quick change of mind.
Pseok: "Actually, why don't you tell me all about it now before I end up walking into some secret alien palace and being captured and kept in a giant bird cage."


ooc: I'll be away for the weekend, not sure if I'll be able to post or not, so you'll have to bare with me.

OCC:Yeah same here..i've got school camp next week so no posts from me for a bit.)

PAIN...everywhere.

Lights...fading.

Air...decreasing.

Lungs...tightening.

Drakko had lost alot of blood,he tried holding his wound together to no prevail..his eyes were growing heavy and his body was numb..his hand slowly slipped off his wound and his eyes shut.

Pain...subsiding.

Numbness...Rising.

Death...iminent.

By now Drakko should have been dead..he wasn't..and didn't want to be.

Drakko lay there quietly trying to hold in for the last few shivering minutes of his exsistence...

Kix and Krisha had found the room he was in, and when they saw him, they panicked.

"Oh my GOD! What happened??" Krisha asked, frightened, "gotta heal you!!"

She immediatly ran over to him, and tried to ripp out the bullet. After she'd found it, and pulled it out, she touched his wound with her paw. Then evrything became glowing white. His wound would slowly begin to heal, but his blood wouldn't be regenrated.

Kix looked at krisha with her mouth opened.

After the healing was done, Krisha blacked out.

"Oh!!" Kix grunted and checked up on Drakko.

"Drakko wake up! Don't die..." Kix said, and shook him a bit.

Art watched the man go, suddenly very nervous. Something went wrong. And that was not cool.
Art looked around at the empty lobby ... no one here to miss his presence. But he had to remain calm, in case someone saw him and mistook him for an employee.
Art slid out from behind the counter and moved towards the elevators ...
---
Roland began following the thing. It was clear that the Eagle was not comfortable with it around, and likely thought that this was more evidence that he was dreaming.
He felt obligated to tell him something, as the Eagle had flown him here.
As they walked, Roland spoke. "Look, Eagle. This is too complicated to go far into right now, but I'll confirm your suspicions: this man is not human. I believe he is a taheen, a creature with an animal's head and a human's body."
(OOC: I'm going to predict Pseok's reaction, if that's okay, Splat)
Pseok gave him a suspicious look. "Would that mean those tiger-people are taheen, as well?"
Roland shook his head. "The taheen, unlike yon tiger folken, were not born of man and animal. They were born of the darkness under the universe. They hope to live in the worlds above their darkness by imitating humans. Hence the masks."
To Roland, this was enough for now. He had neither the time nor the patience to explain the multitude of worlds hanging in the balance, threatening to collapse into the very Darkness that the taheen were from.
---
The elevator reached the top floor, and Art stepped out. He moved on and into the Suite, and marched in to find Kix and Krisha, worrying about a very hurt Drakko.
"Ah, shit," he mumbled, then moved forward. "Drakko, what happened?" As if he couldn't tell. "How did they do it?" Art realized that Drakko would likely blame him for their failure, and was on his guard.

Drakko had his wound healed but his blood was still all over the floor and wall.

He realised this must of been Art's fault or someone tipped off Vladimir..but he doubted that though.

Drakko would have strangled Art by now if he wasn't still on the floor practically dead..but that would've just caused more problems..problems Drakko and the others didn't need right now.

"Well,something obviously went wrong and Vladimir knew someone was up here."

Drakko pulled himself up into a sitting position and then pushed himself against the wall.

Drakkos limp body just sat there...

lifeless.

OCC:OMG IS TEH DRAKKO DEAD!?!?

ooc: I doubt it TBM.
Dave, that's alright, Pseok (ah, but what did you call him Dave?) isn't excactly a broad thinker and probably wouldn't relate the two, but we all have our moments of insight. It'll be ok.


Pseok tried to comprehend what Roland had just told him, but decided it would be easier if he didn't bother.
Pseok: "So what are we likely to find if we walk into that tent? A huge tar-heen breeding pool? A portal to some other dimention where they all ocme from? A blue police phone booth with an entertaining time-traveling alien who looks suspiiciously human? And is this Fisher guy a Tar-thing?"

OOC: I don't remember if Roland ever learned Pseok's name, and I don't feel like checking. So he calls him Eagle, and thinks of him as the Eagle.
---
Roland listened as the Eagle shot off questions, mispronouncing taheen. He didn't know if he had misheard or was being wise, but it was not important.
Roland: "When we enter the tent, we are likely to see what they want us to see: a circus. But I have a feeling that this is just a cover. As for Fisher, he may be taheen, or he may be ... something else. I have no way of knowing."
The idea that Fisher might be a vampire was something Roland thought the Eagle could go without knowing.
The taheen in the bright and garish suit had now led them into the tent. And Roland was right: It looked, indeed, like a circus. The audience was only half full, likely because the show hadn't started yet - there were no acts in any of the three rings. The only active attractions were all outside.
Roland spoke to the taheen. "Now, where can I find Fisher?"
The taheen began to smile - a cunning, I-fooled-you-and-you-don't-know-it-yet smile. "You won't be zeeing mizter Fizzer in thiz life, gunzzlinger."
And the audience rose, as one, to their feet, and rushed the gunslinger and the Eagle.
Roland quickly drew his revolvers and delivered a single, swift shot to the taheen's head. As he dropped he turned to the eagle.
Roland: "Can you fight? There are at least a hundred of these things, and I doubt that we'll be able to evade them long enough for me to pick them all off."
---
Art looked down at Drakko. He was much larger than himself, but ...
Art was already planning things out in his head. He would ask if the cats could try any more magic, and then ... then, he would have to try and carry Drakko to the elevator. They certainly couldn't call an ambulance. Imagine that conversation: "Hello, 911? Yeah, I have a larger Anthro wolf here with a bullet wound partially healed by magic ... what happened? Well, he came up here to perform a mob hit ...." No. Calling an ambulance would be a disaster.
So Art would have to carry him.
Art: "Kix. Krisha. Do either of you know any more magic that might help?"
---
I feel the need to add some profiles.

NAME: Benvolio (The Circus Guy)
SPECIES: Raven Taheen
OCCUPATION: Ringmaster
AGE: 62
HEIGHT: 4'9"
Other Details: Benvolio works for the elusive Robert Fisher. He is a raven taheen - a creature with the body of a human but the hands and head of a raven. It is a semi-demon who believes that disguising itself as a human, it will eventually become human. He brings rare attractions to the circus, and recruits Breakers (whom Roland will discuss later on).

NAME: Robert Fisher
SPECIES: Possibly a Vampire
OCCUPATION: Owner of Sombra's Travelling Circus, vice president of Sombra Enterprises.
AGE: Ageless. Often takes on the form of someone in their early thirties.
HEIGHT: 6'4"
Other Details: Fisher is a being who, to use words directly from the Dark Tower, darkles and tincts. This means he exists in multiple worlds at multiple times. The fact that he lives as a vampire - not the Hollywood Dracula type of vampire, but a carniverous, cannibalistic beast - is uncertain, but seems likely. He is skilled in the dark arts - nothing like altering landscapes or demon raising; he uses dark magic to, for instance, travel between worlds, change his appearance, see futures, direct the will of others. Though he is high up in rank, he is not on top. He answers to one unknown figurehead.
---
Benvolio pushed onward towards the tent. He was too busy thinking about earning Fisher's favor for bringing in two more anthro tigers to hear their conversation.
That was when he heard the second gunshot, from inside the tent.
The hell?
He prodded the anthros forward and into the tent ... and saw exactly what he knew Fisher would not want.
A gunslinger was at the circus.
No time to lock up the anthros. He raised his guns and slammed the two of them in the back of their heads. They were big, and likely wouldn't stay down long, but if he could even get thirty seconds away to find Fisher ...
No. Fisher likely already knew that that bloody Gunslinger was here. So instead of wasting time going to tell Fisher, Benvolio ran forward, into the onrushing crowd, visions of glory in his head.

ooc: If you check, Dave, you'll notice that you, (not Roland) referred to Pseok as Splat.


Could he fight?
Could he fight?
Actually, yes, he could fight.

In fact, if he got a little to out of control, things tended to get a bit too messy, which was something he didn't particularly want to happen, but as things were starting to look a bit messy anyway he felt that if the worst came to the worst he could probably get away with letting himself go.
Even if Roland did chase him off and leave him to wonder the world alone again. Still, all in a days work.

Pseok, without waiting to give an answer (it was one of those situations where a badly thought out sarcastic comment had to wait) he took off into the air, flew directly towards the crowd, hoped the gunslinger would have the sence not to shoot at the... people he was after, wondered what tar-things tasted like and then swooped down towards the swarm of humans, grabbing a head in one of his claws, squeezed to the point where he felt the skull collapse under the pressure (and a very odd-feeling skull it was, not at all like the last (and first) skull he crushed), let go, swooped up and repeated the process a couple of times before flying back to the gunslinger and letting out the comment he'd been saving especially for a situation like this:
Pseok: "That answer your question?"
He gave a signiture death-glare/grin.

Charger heard the gunshots coming from the tent. He also noticed how the little guy was distracted from what he was doing, and he figured this might be a nice time to make an escape attempt. Unfortunatly... he recieved a gun to his head before putting that plan into action. He had been called hardheaded by Kaira a lot of times... but even Charger wasn't hardheaded enough to stay on his feet after being hit with a gun.
He crashing into the sandy ground, eye's closed, mouth partialy open, and not moving...

---

Kaira could see onto the circus terrain from the ally she was hidding in. She had noticed the Eagle from earlier and the guy who had been chasing Chargers brother, were also there.
She rose on her paws and jumped on a dumpster to have a look over the wooden gate. It was then her ears caught the sound of gunshots.
Her ears flattend and her eye's grew large.

'No! Charger!' she roared out and emediatly leaped over the fence, crossing the short distance of desert before reaching back to the circus terrain.
When she got there, closer to the tent, she saw what was realy going on. It were the eagle and the other guy, mixed up in some big fight. One they would not easily win by the looks of it.
Kaira had a doubt. Should she help them? Charger and Blaze might need their help later. Not to mention Drakko and the gang who went with him...
She decided that mixing in would probably be best, the more people fighting on their side, the better chances of leaving this shithole city all alive.
With that motivation she ran over to the tent, and by the time she got there the fighting was already heavily on it's way.
Both the man and Eagle were fighting countless people... or things... But she didn't stop running. Instead she leaped, as high as she could, jumping over the man she knew only as the gunslinger.
She ended up in the middle of a small crowd of 4 people coming rushing for the eagle. They were all knocked out in an instant. From there it was mindless fighting. Claws, teeth and weight were all used by her to fend off attackers and help out the gunslinger and the eagle...

All that... while Charger was still out cold.

OOC: Oh. Right. :lol: Gotcha.
---
Roland observed the Eagle's acrobatics for a few moments, and was satisfied.
But it was time to shoot.
Roland downed ten more taheen with his remaining eleven shots, and had to retreat to outside the tent flap to reload both guns - a trick that, thanks to years of preactice, he performed in just under fifteen seconds - before running back in.
The first thing he saw was that the audience had moved much closer ... and then, a large tiger - not an anthro, but a true tiger - leapt over him and began a mad attack. Fine. If it was on his side, Roland would have no quarrel. He did not recognize it just then.
Roland raised his guns and picked off his targets with eerie accuracy.

ooc: I'm using possibly the worst keyboard I've ever had to use right now so any missing letters or spaces please excuse. I'm trying to correct as I go along, but writing out this post is taking ages!


Pseok spun round, having heard a roar, to see a rather viscious tiger come leaping towards him. With a yelp he twisted awkwardly away but then the tiger landed on a crowd of people who had evidently been attempting to sneak up on him.
He felt a flickerofannoyance which he surpressed as he shot overhead and went after another of the Tar-guys, catching a raised arm in his claw, swinging him round and battering him into another guy.

A few casualties later and he noticed some guy (possibly Benvolio) at the opposite end of the tent pointing a gun at him.
Pausing for a few seconds to process this unfortunate turn of events, he noted that he was to far away from the guy to attck him without getting shot, so instead he took the best move he could think of.
With a shriek, he dived towards the crowd again, pulling out of the dive before he was low enough to hit anybody and flew upwards in what he thought was a rather impressive display of aerobatics.
Intil he realised he'd ended up flying directly towards the wall of the tent. Reacting quickly he reached forward with his claws and beak, tore a hole in the side of the tent and flopped through as a bullet shot towards him and trimmed the feathers of his tail.

He fell out into daylight, tumbled down the side of the tent and found himself lying awkwardly on his side, very close, he noted, to a cage containing a definately female tiger-person-thing.


ooc: If anybody objects to that I'll change it, otherwise it finally brings Streak into the story.

NAME: Streak
SPECIES: Female Anthro Tiger
AGE: 25
Description: Charger's and Blaze's long lost sister. Has an appearance similar to Charger's, but slimmer and not so tall. Spent much of her life as an attraction at Sombra Circus. Also I highly skilled and important Breaker (more about Breakers when Roland has the time/a reason to go into it).
---
Streak had the day off, and was thus taking a fine nap. And any day not Breaking was a vacation in her book.
She had awakend when the first gunshot was heard. She stood and bolted to the edge of her cage, grabbing the bars and looking around, trying to see where it was coming from. She had suspicions about what it meant, but ...
Nothing.
She began pacing around, and a few minutes later, there was another gunshot, this time from inside the tent. What was going on?
This was followed by an eruption of noise, as though a crowd had begun shouting all at once. The audience inside, she thought. But ... there couldn't be ... not here ...
After a few minutes of pondering, during which more gunshots - and a definate tiger's roar - were heard, Streak heard a loud ripping sound overhead, and looked up to see a hole being torn open high in the tent wall. A largish Eagle tumbled through and toppled to the ground. It took a look at her and seemed to collapse. It didn't look exhausted, just a little ... well, it's feathers were definately ruffled.
Streak: "Oh, goodness! What's going on in there? Who are you? Are you okay?" And, after a moment's hesitation, ".... is there a gunslinger in there?"
---
Roland was hardly watching, but he did notice the Eagle showing off and ultimately taking a dive out the side of the tent. The taheen's numbers were lowering, but there were still a good many of them.
Roland ducked aside and had time to only reload one gun, as he was seized by a taheen whose hand looked more like a talon. Roland, without looking up, fired a shot into it's head, threw him off,and stood. Five shots left, and he was surrounded.
He would have to hope the tiger could cover him ... and that that foolish Eagle would return soon.
---
Blaze's head ached ... he blacked out for a few minutes. He regained himself, feeling quite sore and more than a little nauseous. He sat on his knees and rubbed his forehead.
Noise was coming to him as though from a mile away and underwater. But his eyes told him it was all happening right there.
A crowd of maybe sixty people was rushing in to see something. Blaze stood to try and get a good look.
And he saw that gunslinger guy ... and Kaira! They were surrounded!
Blaze looked down at Charger. Should he try and wake him, or go and help Kaira?
After a moment he decided. If he lingered with Charger, Kaira would likely be overpowered. It was his brother he was thinking about, becuase if Kaira were hurt, Charger would undoubtedly be in agony. The gunslinger, on the other hand ... **** the gunslinger was Blaze's only thought on that matter.
Blaze rushed forward, arms raised parallel to the ground, and crashed into the crowd. He knocked several people aside, and, as he reached for two of them to crash their heads together, he unleashed a very inhuman and quite tigerish roar.
The crowd hesitated a moment, not expecting this turn of events. The gunslinger, who had by now fired his last few shots, used this distraction to reload one gun.
Look who's here, Roland thought briefly.

Pseok struggled to regain his bearings, realised that the world hadn't tipped onto its side be he, in fact, had, and twisted over, trying to climb back onto his feet. He realsied the tiger-woman was talking to him just in time to hear her finish her last question.
Pseok: "Wow, this is wierd. All my life and not a single one and then in 2 days I see three of you tiger-people, not to mention the wolf guy, talking cats and mental cowgirls. And Roland wonders why I think I'm dreaming all this. Are you related to the other two? What are you doing in that cage?" Pseok added 2 and 2 together and got 3. "Oh, are you part of this circus? Like a freakshow? Man, i hate those things! You should get out of here, this circus is being run by some freaky-alien things from some dark world or something, at least thats what Roland said."
He paused, suddenly realising everything had gone quiet inside the tent. "Hey, what's going on?" He had barely finished the sentence when he was interrupted by a load roar. "Heh, sounds like tiger-man has woken up. the real tiger wasn't that loud! What's going on?"
Now rather enjoying himself, Pseok shook his feathers and took off and flew rather unevenly towards the hole he'd made in the tent. Pausing before he got up, he turned back to the tiger-woman and informed her,
Pseok: "That idiot shot me in the tail, I can hardly fly straight! Hey, you want me to let you out? How long have you been a prisoner?"


ooc: He's not intentionally annoying, he's not up to a human level of intelligence and it just seems to happen.

OOC: I wouldn't accuse him of being annoying. Just ... slow.
---
Streak: "Well, I would be out on my own, but they made this cage un-Breakable. And I'm not strong enough to smash it. So ... if you could find a way to do it...."
---
Blaze knocked seven or eight of these people to the ground before the crowd realized that they were surrounded. A tiger and a gunslinger on one side, and a large and very pissed of tiger of a man on the other.
Taheen are not notoriously bright. Instead of dividing themselves, they turned their attention entirely on Blaze. Their numbers had dropped considerably, and the original hundred or so taheen was now at about fifty.
Blaze saw that they were coming, and called to Charger, trying to wake him up. Without waiting to see if Charger would move, he rammed shoulder first into a taheen whose mask was coming loose, knocking him into two more guys.
Meanwhile, Roland had reloaded both guns and picked off another dozen, emptying his guns again.

Kaira had picked off ten to fifteen of these strange things. She had sliced, killed, wounded, bitten heads off and scratched open a few guts before there was an akward pause in the entire fighting. While the gunslinger was reloading his guns, she saw Blaze on the other side of the fight. His roar astounding. Kaira was glad to see him, even better chances of winning. Untill they all turned to Blaze that it. The second they rushed tordwards him, Kaira leaped back into the fight, pouncing on two of them in the back and digging her teeth in their necks, before burrieng her claw in the face of another. She helped Blaze in trying to get Charger to wake up.
'Charger! Wake up!'

---

In the distance Charger could hear his name being called. Along with screaming, hitting and deathscreams. When he opend his eye's, all he saw was blur. His head hurt... what happend?
Slowly he got back on his feet, the blur decreasing a bit but his head still hurting. He tasted blood in his mouth for some reason and spit it out.
'blegh...' he mumbled, sqeezing his eye's to make the blur go away and rubbing the painfull spot on the back of his head. 'Wha happnd...'
He squeezed his eye's a few more times, and his blur was as good as gone. The dizzyness had worn off as well and he was just about to get a good understanding of what was going on when he was knocked over again by a Taheen that came flying his way.
'What the?!' he grunted and threw the thing of him. It looked to be dead, or just unconcious.
When he looked up, he saw where it came from. Blaze and Kaira were doing their best to keep off the strange people.
'About time!' Kaira shouted after she had grabbed another guy in the back of the neck. 'Get over here and help already!'
Charger blinked as he made a quike analysis of the situation.
'Uh... right!'
Still a bit confused he ran over to Blaze and Kaira, knocking off a guy who was about to jump Blaze.
'Anyone mind filling me in here?!'

Blaze had just finished snapping the neck of a maskless taheen, who resembled a weasel. He heard Charger asking for some info.
Blaze: "Not sure. But these things ... they aren't human, and they most definately aren't anthro-anythings. No time. Ask that gunslinger man if you're curious."
The crowd was thinning. Roland thought that they might actually get out of this alive. But he was too busy shooting and reloading to pay much heed to the others just now.

Pseok fluttered down to the cage again, landed on top and proceeded to examine the bars for any bolts or locks.
Pseok: "I wouldn't call it unbreakable. Nothing I've found is unbreakable if you hit it just right."
He spotted a small panel on the side of the cage next to the door and flew down over it. It was a keypad next to a blue panel evidently for reading fingerprints.
Pseok: "This is crazy. First that gun, now this. I new a guy who used stuff just like the guys at this circus have. I was kept in a cage with a lock like this for a few months till I learnt how to get em open. Trial and improvement. Keep ripping the thing open and sooner or later you'll work it out. Helps if you have a mirror too."
He bit at the keys and started yanking them out with his beak. A few seconds later 10 buttons were lying in the grass beside the cage.
Pseok: "Here we go, you press the one thats sparking, then when that stops another starts until you've got the whole combination."
He began jabbing at the panel, every so often wincing as he got a brief electric shock. After a few seconds they stopped showing up.
Pseok: "There ya go, now you just have to jab this fingerprint scanner in the right place." He jabbed it with his beak and after a few seconds the door unlocked and swung open. Pseok glowed with pride. "All's well then. The other tiger people are inside. They were both unconscious when i left but it sounds like they're now live and kicking. I'll go lend em a hand, shall I?" He flapped unsteadily back to his hole, paused at the entrance to say quickly, "The great-and-almighty gunslinger couldn't look after himself for 2 minutes. HEY, ROLAND, AIR PATROL IS BACK!" He flies back into the tent and joins in the fight.

'Welcome onboard the Charger Express!' he called in his usual sadistic and sarcastic self as he grabbed one of the guys at the troat and sent him flying to the other side of the tent.
'That guy and the Eagle are here?' he questioned Blaze as he burried his fist in one of the Taheen's faces. Charger pulled a face when it's mask came partialy off. 'Eww...'

Streak watched the eagle working. She, of course, knew what he meant by "no cage is unbreakable," but she meant she couldn't Break it with her .... talents.
No matter. The eagle looked a little shaken, so she didn't want to upset him any more.
When the entrance finally popped open, she was a little scared to go out.
"All's well then. The other tiger people are inside. They were both unconscious when i left but it sounds like they're now live and kicking. I'll go lend em a hand, shall I?"
Other tiger people? As far as Streak knew, she was the only anthro tiger there was.
---
The taheen's numbers were falling steadily under the combined wrath of the Gunslinger, the Anthros, and the Tigress.
When the Eagle returned, there were a mere fifteen taheen left. Roland shot down twelve of them, and the final three threw up their hands in submission. Blaze noticed with fierce anxiety that one of the men was Benvolio.
"Gunzlinger! Will you grant uzz parole?"
Roland raised his guns, pointing them at the tent roof. "All of you! Stop! These things will take us to Fisher."
A voice spoke up from behind Roland. "Not today, Roland," it tittered.
Roland's eyes widened and he spun around, levelling his guns - in his passion he had neglected to reload them - and dry fired four times at the source of the voice.
He was a tall man, slim, and wore a dark suit with narrow white pinstripes. His shirt was a dark scarlet, and his tie was deep ebony. His face was pleasant, almost sensual. And his eyes ... oh, his eyes. They were a watery, clear blue, and looked lifeless.
The man tittered again and waved a long, slender finger at Roland. "Now, now, that's no way to behave. I think you deserve a bit of a lesson ...."
Roland bared his teeth, and began reloading. "Fisher," he said. "I demand answers! You can't --"
Fisher grinned. "Oh, I can! Goodbye!" And he raised his hands, cocking thumbs and forefingers like a child's imaginary gun, and said, "Bang bang!"
Roland fell forward ... and vanished.

Charger had just picked up another Taheen at the troat when Roland called them to a halt. Charger already had his fist ready and stopped right in the middle a punch, right before the guys face.
'Now what?' he asked anoyed.
'Dunno...' Kaira said as she drew back her paw from her last victem and retracted her claws.
Charger stood staring at the scene that was going on. A light mumble was heard from Charger as Roland discoverd he had empty guns.
'Idiot...'
He was pondering wether he should drop his victim and help out that gunslinger, or stay here and see what would happen. But before he could make a choice, he heard the 'Bang bang' as if he was watching a horror movie. So simple, yet so frightning. And when he saw Roland vanish before his very eye's, his jaw dropped.
'Eh... guys...' he stumbled as he dropped the guy he was holding. 'That gunslinger just disappeard in mid air...'
He swallowed away a bit of fear, then did a step back.
'Kaira...' he whisperd from the corner of his mouth.
Kaira slowly came standing next to him.
'What...'
'Get out of here...' Charger whisperd while keeping his eyes on the new enemy. 'Go find Streak... try to escape with her...'
'Yea but... what about...'
'Don't worry about me... go... now!'
Kaira looked up to Charger with some doubt, but didn't chose to argue. She turned around, using her tigrish stealth to sneak away...

Pseok was unterstandably stunned when Roland just disappeared when the guy appeared to not actually be holding anything. It took him a few seconds to overcome the pure shock, before it turned almost to blind rage. Pseok almost felt his skin burning but he forced himself to stay in control, especially now. Even if this guy did fall the ladt thing he needed was to stay in control.
He'd never admit it but he'd began to feel almost brotherly feelings for Roland, even if he was just a human. Being an animal, Pseok was quick to imprint on those he could trust and those who trusted him back.
At the same time, being an animal meant he couldn't comprehend that Roland was simply dead. Dying left traces, blood and a body. Here there was nothing and though he couldn't understand what had happened, his mind strayed to when he'd seen one of those cats who had been with the tiger-men disappear without a trace and reappear almost instantly inside the plane. If that was the case, the only people he could see to help him were the cats, and he had no idea where they were right now, or the guy, Fisher.

Which was why he wan't about to kill him, no matter how much he wanted to. There was something familiar about him as well, which, if he'd had time to think about it, he might have worked out without much difficulty. As it was, he found only time to call angrilly to the man.
Pseok: "Hey, what did you do to him?"
All that thought and that was the best he could come up with? Mentally kicking himself, Pseok fixed his eyes on the guy to make sure he didn't do the same thing to hi as to Roland, and hoped the guy would answer.


ooc: Come on Dave, don't hold me in suspence! THis is more gripping than most of the fanfiction on the internet!

OOC: Dave is an absolute king when it comes to story lines! And I know thats becouse all those Stephen King novels he reads! XD. Don't keep us in suspence!

OOC: LOL. Gripping,eh?
---
Fisher turned to the eagle. It looked vaguely familiar... no matter just now. He had an audience. Time to entertain.
Fisher: "Don't look so sad, little bird. The gunslinger isn't dead. He's a minor inconvenience to me, and I had to relocate him. He'll soon be meeting someone I think he'll find very interesting .... but chances are he'll come back - his type always does - and try to find me again."
Fisher turned his attention to
blaze and charger said a voice in his mind
the Anthro tigers. He was fully aware that
kaira
the tigress was trying to sneak away, but it suited his purposes to let her go.
"Now, gentlemen," he said, focusing on the antrhos, "I believe my associate here brought you to the circus as an attraction. Is this right?"
"Yes. But what the hell kind of circus is this?" Blaze blurted.
Fisher tittered. "Never mind." He looked at the battle-bloodied Benvolio. "You brought them here ... and are they talented?"
Benvolio's eyes widened. "Uh ... I didn't check ... I just thought, you know, that they would be Breakers, like the other --"
Fisher looked annoyed, and flicked his hand towards Benvolio, who instantly erupted in flames. The other taheen stepped back, so as not to be burnt.
Fisher sighed. "He just thought ... hmmm ... well, no matter. He was a dope anyways."
He looked again at Charger and Blaze. "Now. Are you Breakers? If not, I suppose I can let you go on your way ..." the little voice told him why they were here. "And you'll be leaving Streak with me, of course. She is far too valuable to me, and to my superior."
---
Roland hit the ground. His guns fell out of his hands and skittered away from him.
He scrabbled for them and climbed quickly to his feet.
Damn! To be so close to Fisher only to be shoved aside and into ...
Where was he? It wasn't the circus, and it certainly wasn't the big city he was just in. But ... it certainly was a city of some sort. And it wasn't daytime anymore.
He looked around ... a smallish pond sat on his right, and it reflected a full moon. Across the pond was a tower which, as Roland counted the windows, proved to be twenty seven stories high. Off a ways to his left, across a patch of grass, was a large, intimidating building of interesting construct. There were no windows, and it was made of a grayish cement.
A path was paved along the side of the pond, leading towards the gray building and branching off in several places. People were walking hither and thither on these paths, yet none of them seemed to be surprised by his sudden appearance.
He sighed, finished reloading his guns, holstered them, and began to walk up the path.
Roland soon saw a tallish man with a mop of dark hair and vivid blue eyes. A sloppy goatee sprouted from his chin, and patches of hair grew in under his jaw in an embarrassing attempt at a beard. The man was a little husky, and was dressed in blue jeans, a denim jacket, and a black t-shirt with a white stick figure falling down (the caption read "I do all my own stunts"). He limped slightly, hinting at a leg injury. Over his right shoulder was a blue and black bookbag.
At first the man didn't notice the gunslinger. He assumed it was just another college student dressed funny: long dark trenchcoat, wide brimmed hat, the usual. He had seen them around, and learned not to be too freaked by it. But as he got closer ... he noticed the guy had guns strapped to his waist.
The gunslinger would have kept moving, but the man stopped him. "Hey! Uh ... your ... you wouldn't happen to be named Roland, would you?"
Roland stopped. "Yes. Why?"
The man blinked in surprise. This is it, he thought. I'm having a breakdown. College finally got to me.
"Well," he said. "Do ... uh, did you ever meet a guy who looks like ... a tiger? Like, a half-tiger, half-man?"
Roland looked impatient. "Yes. Who are you?"
The man swallowed hard. God, but was this weird. "Well .... uh, my name is Dave. I think I've been writing about you."
---
The real Dave - not the fictional version of himself that he just finished writing about - was nervous about introducing himself as a character. He typed out a little blurb expressing this to his fellow RPers.
"I don't know what you guys'll think about it," he began, "but there was, as far as I remember, never a rule against using yourself as a character. But this is part of a plan I have that will affect Roland's own quest, and Fisher's story, as well. And even, to an extent, Streak. So I feel it fits. If you guys think it's way out there, I will happily rewrite this part."
Dave supposed this would have to do. He clicked "Post Quick Reply."
---
Several minutes later, after rereading his post, Dave clicked the little link that read "Edit." He began typing.
"I also think I might need to say that my character, Roland, is based on the character of Roland in Stephen King's books. I am using his name and the fact that he is a gunslinger on a quest, similar to King's Roland, but I am not trying to tell King's story. I am using elements from it to tell a new story. Much of it is similar - multiple worlds and Breakers working to knock them all into Chaos - but the fact that there are so many other characters in this story makes it different. Roland's story is meant to be secondary to that of Charger - who, I feel, is the true Protagonist in this whole story."
Dave was unsure of how to continue. So, he simply reread what he had typed, made some changes, and hit "Save Changes."

OOC: D'oh! *Falls over in a true anime way...* You had me laughing for a full three minutes when you introduced yourself there, Dave XD. Nice call. I have no problems with it, you can't stop to amaze me with story twists and great ideas. Keep it up, like I said before; You're a great asset to this RP.

---

Charger had noted how all the fighting stopped in an instant when this strange guy had shown up. His appearance, his powers, it was unlike anything Charger had ever seen before. And he saw a lot back at The Community (OOC: When we hit part 5, we realy need a new name for this thing... <.<). Everything from demons, to ninja's, to magic cats and... Drakko's wife and kids...
But even the Demons he saw back there were nothing compared to this guy. Who knew where he sent that gunslinger and who knew what other kind of powers this thing had!
When it asked them wether or not they were Breakers, Charger eyed Blaze.
'Uhm... Are we... Breakers... bro?' he asked, not even knowing what a Breaker was.
The only thing he wanted to do was buy time. Obviously this thing had noted Kaira slipped away, but maybe not why she slipped away. If Blaze and Charger managed to buy her enough time, and with a little luck, she might just be able to get Streak to savety.

---

Kaira snuck back as carefull as possible, not realizing that guy had seen her long ago. In any case she eventualy managed to get out of sight from the circus arena and ran up to the cage where Streak was held.
'Hey!' she yelled as she saw a distinctive tiger figure standing there. 'Are you Streak? Ofcourse you are, stupid question. Follow me, I'm getting you out of here!'

Streak turned at the sound of the voice. She was confused when she saw only a tiger, staring at her. Then, it hit her. The tiger had spoken.
"Uh, sure, I'm Streak. Where are we going? And ..." she hesitated. "Uh, do you know about other tiger people that might be here? There was this bird who told me that there were some around."
---
Blaze turned to Charger. "I don't even know what the hell a Breaker is!" Then something hit him. "But maybe Streak is. That might be why he asked if we are ...."
---
Why not?
NAME: Dave
RACE: Human
OCCUPATION: Student, Dishroom Attendant
AGE: 17
Other Details: Dave is a college student who, between work, classes, and his girlfriend, spends much time on the internet. He visits sites like White Ninja Comics, Bob and George, and Oddworld Forums. He is currently writing an Oddworld fanfic, and is responsible for several important characters in an rpg called The Community RPG. The real person Dave is being used quite fictitiously.
---
Roland did not seem fazed to meet this guy Dave. He had encountered strangeness before. Someone turning up to tell him he was, essentially, the author of his existance, was not surprising. The surprise would be if it were true.
But then, how did this kid know his name? And about Charger?
Roland: "Writing about me, eh? So are you saying you 'created' me?"
Dave immediately shook his head. "Nuh-uh, not me. I'd never be able to create a character like you. Not on my own, that is. You were heavily inspired by a character I read about. You've got the same name and the same guns and stuff, too. I guess I liked the character so much I wanted to write him some adventures of my own."
Roland finally looked upset. "What does this mean? That my entire destiny is in your hands?"
Dave appeared to think about this. "No, not quite," he said finally. "I'm using your character in a role playing game. Many of the other people you've met are not my creations. Like Charger, a guy who calls himself Havoc made him up. And that Eagle, Pseok-"
"That is the eagle's name?" the gunslinger interrupted.
"Yeah, didn't you .... no. I don't think you did. Well, now you know." Dave shrugged. "Anyhow, Pseok belongs to this guy Splat. That wolf-guy, Drakko, he was -"
"Shut up. This is not of any importance." Roland's tone was quite sharp. "What you're telling me is that you and these others are directing what I and the others I have met are doing?"
Dave nodded. "Sure. Online."
Roland looked confused. "Online?"
Dave rolled his eyes. "Computers? Internet ... oh. I don't think I ... hmm. You don't know anyhing about computers."
Roland shook his head. "I know that there was a race of people long ago - at least in my home world - that used such things." After a moment's thought, he said, "I would see this internet. And I would know who I know that you are controlling."
Dave looked alarmed. What would his roommate think if he brought the gunslinger back to the room? His roommate was as big a fan of The Dark Tower as he was, and might have a heart attack if he saw Roland Deschain sitting on the futon.
He would have to hope Brian was out at dinner.
"Come on," Dave said. "And would you hide those guns?!"
Roland did so, and they began walking along the path towards the gray building. "Tell me. Who else are you ... responsible for?"
Dave coughed loudly, realizing what he was about to say. "Uh, well ... you, and Blaze, the tiger-man you were chasing, and the wimpy bounty-hunter guy, Art, and a Breaker named Streak - another Anthro tiger .... and ...."
Roland had filed these names away, making a special note of Streak, the Breaker. "And who? Is there another?"
Dave swallowed. "Ever meet Robert Fisher?"
Roland stumbled, but otherwise his fury was masked. To know that one mind could contain the lives of both he and his quarry .... maddening.
And this Dave could have made Roland have one shot left with which to incapacitate Fisher! And he could have kept Fisher from sending him here!
And he could have done all manner of things to keep you from ever hearing of Fisher in the first place, came a voice. It sounded like Roland's father. Stop your puling and put it behind you.
Roland took a deep breath. "Yes. I have met him. And why, pray tell, did you send me away from him when I caught up?"
Dave looked puzzled. They took a path to the right, which led away from the windowless gray building and around it. "Did you catch up with him? I haven't written that yet. Is it in the circus tent?"
Roland nodded.
"Hm. Well, I'll let you in on a secret. I don't plan out what I write. Mostly ideas come to me and I think, 'Hey, that sounds good. Let's use it.' You know? I just ... type. But now that I know what's happened ...."
Roland stopped him. "Now that you know, you can change it! You can send me back to the tent! It is in your power!"
Dave looked at him seriously. "Do you think so? I could write it, but would that make it happen? I doubt very much that your life has felt scripted. I bet that to you, life has always felt like you were always making decisions on your own, living your own life. Is that right?"
The gunslinger realized he was right. Yes. His whole life he had been in control. To think now that it was some kid writing a story was ridiculous. He was a real person, dammit!
Roland looked at Dave, and they began walking a bit. Slower than the gunslinger would have liked; he noted that Dave limped, and it was slowing him down. He guessed there had been an injury, but felt it would be pointless to ask about it.
Instead, he said: "So let us see this inner-net-"
"Internet." Dave corrected.
"Fine. Let us see it, and you can write my story a little farther."
---
Dave felt bad for making such a long post. And he felt worse for going back to edit and make it longer. But he reread it and decided he should clarify one thing. This encounter between Roland and Dave takes place shortly before he wrote Post 309 in The Community RPG, meaning not only did Roland move through realities, but also through time.

OOC: This... should be very interesting :P. I'm gonna make my next post tommorow, I want to give T-nex and Brewy some time to expand their side of the story line a little.

As the guy's attention was turned away from him, Pseok took the oppertunity to process events in his mind. He couldn't comprehend how Roland had just disappeared.
Pseok: "Hey, where did you send him?" If he could work that out then he could start looking for him and leave the tigers to their own problems. Right now he had to find Roland and bring him back here!

Roland and Dave reached Dave's building. It wasn't 8 yet, so thankfully Dave didn't have to register Roland as a guest.
Dave took Roland up to his dorm and found, much to Dave's chagrin, that his roommate was in.
"Hey," said Brian. He was chatting on his laptop with his girlfried.
"What's up, playa?" Dave replied, then took a deep breath. "Uh, I guess there's no hiding it. I've got a visitor."
"Hi, Sarah," Brian said without looking up.
The gunslinger stepped in. "Who is Sarah?"
Brian's head snapped up. He saw the gunslinger and for a terrifying moment Dave thought Brian would scream. Then ... "Oh, hey. Nice clothes. You look kinda like ... a character in a book I've read."
Dave looked at Roland, hoping he wouldn't slip. "Yes," said the gunslinger. "I've always liked that story, and that character in particular. My name is .... Robert."
Dave loosened up a bit. "Okay. Well, uh, Rob, this is Brian."
They shook hands. Brian stood. "Yeah. I think I'm gonna go get some dinner, if that's cool. Robert, you can help yourself to some soda or whatever."
Roland nodded. "Thankee-sai."
Brian laughed. "You even talk like Roland. Anyhow, see you guys later." And he left.
Dave heaved a sigh. "That was close." He sat on the futon and picked up his laptop.
Roland sat next to him and watched the screen. He marveled at how when Dave moved his finger across a grey square at the base of the computer, an arrow moved correspondingly on the screen.
Dave clicked on a small blue and orange icon with the nonsense words "Mozilla Firefox" underneath it. Roland watched as Dave navigated to a screen with the words "Oddworld Forums" across the top.
"Okay, now I'm going to open your story...."
Dave clicked on the words "The Community RPG." The screen changed again, this time to a box of text headed by the words "Splat Slig Armored Popper."
Dave summarized the last few posts for Roland. "This is from just about the time Fisher arrived, right?" he ended.
Roland nodded. "Yes. Write of our encounter."
Dave wrote what would soon become the 309th post in the thread.
"Now what?" Roland asked anxiously. "Write more!"
Dave shook his head. "It doesn't work that way. I have to let everyone respond to this first."
---
Fisher had grown impatient with the anthro tigers. They obviously weren't Breakers; they would have been able to prod his mind and figure out what Breakers were if they were.
So he turned to the Eagle, Pseok. "I sent him to a little college town in Massachusetts. But you wouldn't be able to find him if you flew there - he's in a different version of Massachusetts. Please don't tempt me to send you somewhere less pleasant."

OOC: Now THAT was an interesting twist, Dave. :D

IC:
Silvia finished setting up the camp and decided to have a look around on foot, so she tied the horse up to a nearby tree. If anything wanted to let her horse free this time, she didn't think there'd be much chance of anything pulling the TREE out! Even so, there were other ways for it to get away, so she decided not to go too far.
She walked up to the entrance of the shack and cautiously pushed what was left of the door. For a moment it didn't budge, then it suddenly swung inward with a loud squawk of old hinges. She stood for a moment, just looking around the single room that was in here, or what was left of it at least. She could see what must have once been a bunk in one corner, and there were burnt out and partly rotted wooden cupboards along one wall.
Then she started walking around the room, opening the empty cupboards and generally checking everything out. A few minutes later she heard a strange sound come from outside, so she quickly ran out and looked over at the tree.
The horse was gone; rope and all. Silvia silently cursed, thinking, "Great, not AGAIN!" Then she heard a laugh from behind her. She spun round instantly to see a man standing next to the shack, hands on hips, laughing. He was dressed all in black, save for an orange pentagonal star on his front, and he had dark brown hair.

He stood for a few minutes in this pose then, as neither had moved, he spoke, "Well, well, fancy seeing you here," then laughed.
Silvia narrowed her eyes, "Just who are you?"
He looked at her in surprise, "You mean you've forgotten me already? Perhaps this will jog your memory..."

He held out his hands and flames started curling around in mid-air above them. A solid shape was materializing in his hands inside the flames, but its identity was concealed by them. Then, all at once, the flames vanished, revealing a large black bow in the hands of the man. An arrow materialized on the bowstring in the same manner, and he immediately let it fly. The arrow itself burst into flame and flew into the tree behind Silvia, where the horse had previously been tied. She expected the tree to start burning, but the fire disappeared a few seconds after the arrow embedded itself in the wood.

But jog her memory it had; she turned back to him and said, "The 'Flaming Arrow'?"
He laughed, "One and the same. And what crazy idea made you think you could come back here, Silvia? You think cutting and dying your hair made you unrecognizable?"
She scowled at him, but didn't answer. She was longing to reach for her gun, but something made her reluctant to do it. At last she spoke, "What do you want with me?"
He sobered at this, "If I was to have my way, you'd be dead by now. But it's not for me to decide..." his voice drifted off for a few moments, then he spoke again, "You will follow me. There's... someone I'd like you to meet!" he grinned.
Silvia stood obstinately, "Why should I? And what did you do with my horse?"

"Let's just say he's gone to a better place... and you'll follow him there if you don't do as I say!"
Silvia stood scowling for a moment, then quickly reached for her gun and, bringing it up before he could move, she pulled the trigger. *click*
She looked at in surprise. It couldn't possibly be empty, she was sure it had been fully loaded before! She lifted it up and examined it closer, and sure enough, it was loaded.
The "Flaming Arrow" laughed again, "Your gun won't be much use on me anymore, Silvia. You might as well give up, you're coming with me whether you like it or not."

He turned and started walking down the road. Silvia stood for a few seconds, but much as she hated to admit it, there was no choice. She started walking after him, heading towards what she now remembered was the way to Los Santos. She'd have to find some way to get away from him, but for now she'd have to do as he said.

OOC: The new character is going to have a profile, but I don't have time to make it right now so I'll put it in my next post. Sorry about going on a bit of a solo-thing for a bit, but I can't really interact with anyone at this stage.

OOC: No problem Gretin :).