Figuring Out This Mess {See: figuring out this mess} (Dated)

(( 'Tis a new day, the sun shines over the industrial district with the light of morning, though two hours distant from midday. A long dirt road pulled the length of the street, stone sidewalks flanked it on either sides, and multiple square buildings made up the structures of the road. mostly office buildings, though a few old factories dotted the scene here and there. Everything about the area screamed "war-torn" or "abandoned," broken windows and missing segments from the side walk, some buildings couldn't even be called buildings, as their supports may have crippled to time and lack of maintenance. Dust filled what buildings had remained somewhat intact.

In the middle of the road lay a female Griffin; her features mostly hidden by her imperial Griffin armor, but one could tell by her size that she lacked the masculine build of a male. Dead. both of her front legs were clearly broken, bones sticking out from the joints at her legs. that could only happen if the winged creature somehow managed to "fall" from a great height, and land legs first.

To one side of the street, a multi-storied building survived most of the test of time; a door remained in tact for use, but one would soon discover the right in its lobby, another dead griffin would be found, his helmet removed, revealing a teal head with a grey beak. from between the plates on his neck-protecting armor, dried blood had seeped out.

On the other side of the street stood a less durable building; multi-storied as well, but it's door had been ripped of its hinges, lying on the sidewalk beside it. a crack lay on the wall between the empty doorframe and a large, wide broken glass window, and beneath it, another male griffin. A very fat large male gigas-mcgriffey male griffin, at that. Far too large to match the crack in the wall. his helmet was missing as well, tossed aside in the middle of the road. His dark red head failed to camouflage the crimson fluid that had dried at the back of his head as well.

three floors up, and another wide-and-broken window could be spotted. If one's eyes are sharp, they'd notice the broken glass on the street in one "group," and a separate pile of glass lay within the interiors of the lower window. if one's eyes are not sharp, they'd find their feet/hooves/claws/paws sharper, after stepping it bare foot/hoof/claw/pawed. A fourth and final Griffin lay lifeless in this third floor, one claw covered his eyes, while he lay with his throat cut open. nearby him, a closet large enough to fit three ponies had lay open, and hoofprints among the dust on the floor would suggest a stallion had made his way towards the broken window.

...====Fillies and gentlecolts, griffbutts and griffonettes, timetravellers, Gary, and espers of all ages! The stage is set, and the cards are shuffled... pick your pieces; let the game begin.====))

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Scintillance trotted up the road, making his way towards he Griffoness who lay in the middle of the road. he eyed her injuries, and his mind flashed memories at him. He could see her falling. he could hear her scream, as the bones under her weight...no, their combined weight... made an unnatural cracking sound. before flashing back to reality, the scene repeated itself within his mind once more, but instead of a griffin, a Pegasus filly, her scream...

Lance was knocked back into the moment, panting heavily, unused to such mind-troubling sensations. Or at least, not in the form of a flashback. His face was pale, but he shook it off and returned his attention to the griffin. He figured it would be initially best that he wouldn't leave the dead griffins outside, so plainly like that. He physically dragged her into the building with the broken windows, leaving a trail in the dirt of the road. he remembered the location of his first light trap, apparently set off by the previous night. he levitated a sticky note off the door frame, and shoved it into one of his pockets, before starting to attempting to drag the fat griffin in as well. No such luck. He left him outside, for the time being, and with the help of levitation, though not enough to truly float over the stairs, began pulling the giffoness' body up to the higher floors of the five story building.[left]

Sten... ambled. It paid to amble in this city, especially in the industrial district. Get somewhere too fast and you might meet trouble coming the other way. That was why he ambled now, because a lone griffon walking these streets was a magnet for trouble regardless of how fast you moved. A squad would have been nice, but command were insistent. It was almost as if they wanted him dead.

Which they probably did.

Anyway. The griffons had been seen in this neighbourhood last, so Sten was slowly making his rounds trying to find them. Unlikely, though. If they hadn't been stripped to the bone and eaten or skinned or otherwise disposed of, the bodies were probably lost by now. And they WOULD be bodies by now.

He was a little surprised, therefore, to see a griffon body lying in the street. He'd just turned the corner and there it was. A fat bastard by the look of him, and against all precedent, still armoured. Broken glass lay in the street, and a lot of the damage locally looked recent.

Sten quickened his pace, his talons clacking on the cobbles.

Normally, Shade was quick.
Normally, she would have attempted to arrive first.
Normally, no doubt would have bothered her.
This wasn't normal.

The unicorn carefully peeked out of the window and up the road. She and Scrapper were coming close to the scene now, after being excessively cautious at moving through clearly empty buildings. True, Shade always was cautious, but she knew when she should give speed the advantage, now was such a case. Still, the first griffon already had disappeared from the street, and another one had arrived when the two ponies were near enough to watch, they had been relatively slow. Truth was, some part of her still didn't want to bother, didn't want Scintillance anywhere near, and certainly didn't want to see this one griffon again... She tried her best to focus on the task, but couldn't silence her subconsciousness as completely as she was used to. At least it wasn't as bad as last night, to the outside she still seemed to have full control.
Alright, one living griffon so far, Lance probably is in one of those two buildings, she said, moving away from the window again. Of course, her face still was covered by her hood and unnatural shadows, her facial expressions were mostly hidden and her voice was back to emotionless. I suppose he has chosen the one with the light traps. Before we join the action: Moving silently, tinkering weapons out of crap, anything else you can do that could be useful?

Scrapper hates saying what he is capable of, He felt like it was boasting, like he was just showing off. But this was different, it was Shade trying to see what use he could be. He made the exception this time around.

Well Las, You haven't seen any of it yet, but I am Very bloody fast. I can also climb pretty well. Parkour, in another word. Now that he thought about it, He had seen a lot of ponies and griffons look at him, with fear in their eyes. I guess my looks make people a bit scared aswell. No count on it though.

And... I love annoying Griffons. Might make for a good distraction. It has in the past because I move so quickly. It wasn't a great skill, But it was true. He enjoyed the thrill of being chased. It was a game for him. Although he never see's it like that, He did enjoy it. Making fun of Griffons that couldn't catch him always made his day. Thinking of it made him smirk every time. Hehe.. They're so cute when their angry.

Slightly exhausted by the mental challenge, Scintillance finally reached the topmost floor of the building, and entered a square room, dragging his griffin luggage near an unusually large clock, oblivious to the griffin outside. Lance pushed the clock aside, revealing a well hidden fireplace, holding two bags worth of foodstuffs. Scintillance levitated the nourishment bags out, and moved as much of the griffoness' corpse as he could force in their place. Rest in peace. I barely know you, and heck I killed you, but the least I can do is grant a near decent cremation, and have your ashes burried.
after sliding a rusty old metal plate to collect the ashes, Lance lit a few logs and looked away from the somewhat revolting scene of a skin and feathers melting and burning at the presence of flame. He started making his way down to retrieve the griffin on the third floor

Sten reached the body in the street rather sooner than he'd have liked. Its was helmet off and it was surrounded by spilt claret. Nothing he hadn't seen before, he told himself.

He skirted around the body, and had a glance into the buildings on either side and lo' and behold, saw another body, also bloody and helmetless. Well, that was one mystery solved. Squad indisposed for reason of terminal death. He'd only found two members, but two out of three wasn't bad.

The buildings looked like trouble. Small spaces built for ponies gave Sten the willies, so investigate he would not. He glanced back at the roadsign to give him a place. They'd send a larger, better armed squad down later to shake the area up, no doubt, but by then, it would definitely be Not His Problem.

Shade nodded. Promising indeed, definitely already better than that walking light bulb, she said, annoyance creeping into her voice towards the end of the sentence, though it quickly vanished again as she began giving intructions. Anyway, let's go find him. Should the griffon enter the building, stay hidden. Reveal yourself only when absolutely necessary, I'll see that he's put out of action as quickly as possible then.
She levitated one of her shurikens out of her cloak again and held it in front of Scrapper.
Carry it with you. When I move it, get his attention. If you need help, ram it into the next wall, I'll most likely notice that. Don't ask why.
After he had taken the star, the blue glow vanished and Shade turned to continue the way. They would have to go through one more building before reaching Scintillance's old hideout, and this time cautiousness was a good advise, for they had enemy eyes nearby. They would have to go out on the street for a brief moment, to pass the distance between the last window of the current building and the first window of the next one. Peeking out of the window again, Shade waited for the right moment, when the griffon didn't look her way, then jumped out and ran. After not even three seconds, she was out of sight again.

Scrapper took Shade's weapon and watched her jump out the window.

Oh, well. Great, first thing I get to do is goin' be fun. Scrapper pulled his goggles down and jumped out after Shade, It took him half of a second to figure out where Shade went, thanks to his keen eye, and quickly tailed her. This wasn't the first time he worked as a team with another, He preffered to work alone. But the difference now is his team member was just as into secrecy as he was. Probably More into it.

Lance reached the third floor, where another griffin lay, male, heavier than the female he dragged up earlier. who couldn't help the feeling that something was amiss, and would certainly go wrong He checked the closet, and found nothing, mentally slapping himself for assuming there were monsters in the closet. He trotted near the window to peak into the street bellow; best make sure no griffin patrols are coming by, right? right. there was a griffin. down south. well not south, something like in the direction gravity would pull him if he jumped out the window. what a silly idea to cross his mind. whatever. he immediately pulled his head back inside, somewhat concerned. maybe this was a bad idea.

Lance knew, though, that he was here for a reason. no, no that reason's gone now; covering their tracks. making sure the griffins had nothing to trace them by... well, there's a live griffin, right there. if he were to 'disappear' as well, then surely the Griffin Empire would have the area searched thoroughly, so taking him out wasn't a smart option. Lance considered what options he did have: he still had to take his supplies and leave, that would hide traces of anypony using the area as a residence. that's it, that's what he needed to do.

He rushed back upstairs, and set off two traps he had set up; in broad daylight, the effects wouldn't be as obvious as at night, much less likely seen since he was now five stories above the other griffin-he hoped- and that the light shouldn't be carried out so far as to give clear since of life within the slaughterhouse. He levitated his food bags to keep them near, and noticed the cot he used to sleep on had an indentation in it. he briskly tossed it aside and stuffed it in a nearby drawer. he looked to the still burning griffoness, and recalled what he had started. He pulled out a sticky note, and a small pen he kept handy, and started writing as quickly as he could...

Sten's ears pricked up. He was being watched, or maybe followed. Or both, it didn't quite matter at this juncture. Point was, he was in Trouble, and it deserved the capital T. Experience told him what soft hoofsteps sounded like, and they were coming from behind him.

He turned and faced down the street, eyes on the windows, and backed over the corpse. If push came to shove, he could probably make it down the street. Probably. Unless they'd surrounded him. Oh hell.

Once inside, Shade ducked down, motioning Scrapper behind her to do likewise and sneaked forward. Her eyes were constantly scanning the windows, though she couldn't see outside without rising her head, regularly she was looking behind her to make sure she wouldn't be surprised by anybody coming from there. What she couldn't see, was for her ears to discover, but all her senses only told her of her partner's presence. Being a little underemployed from the little activity, she thought about the way into the next building, their destination. From memory she knew that they would have to go outside again, the second time they wouldn't be able to avoid the risk. And all because Skylight had found interest in Scintillance's stupidity.

Scrapper would notice that Shade suddenly paused in her otherwise smooth movement, only for a moment, and she didn't give any hint why. She simply continued, making it seem hardly noteworthy. To Shade however, it was more. They were now in the middle of an operation, her mind should have blinded out every bit of emotion by now. Mostly it had done so, but not entirely. Was she risking to end up like last night? She spent a thought on that, it was a possibility and had to be considered, but it was unlikely. Quickly she shoved it away again and concentrated on not letting it happen. She would have to concentrate, and everything should be alright.

They reached the other end of the building, a room with windows on the two outer walls. There was a relatively shadowy side alley between them and the building they wanted to enter, but it was still was way to bright for her to use her shadow spell in it. She might be able to cover herself and Scrapper in enough darkness to be not recognizable in any way, but unnatural - even moving - darkness was no way to stay hidden. Besides, she didn't trust the earth pony behind her enough to really show him that spell yet, that would need time. It didn't help, she needed to take a look again. The cloaked unicorn motioned Scrapper to move to where he could quickly exit, cross the road, and enter on the other side, whispering to him has he passed her. On my sign
She ducked below a window to the big street with the griffons on it, and when Scrapper was ready she took a careful peek outside, immediately retreating again if she found the living bird looking remotely into their direction, slowly shaking her head to inform her partner about the bad situation, then going to another window in case she had been spotted, though she didn't leave the room. If nothing happened, she would repeat the procedure after a pause of almost two minutes, hoping for a better result.

Kira might have been new to this city and new to both the ponies and gryphon that made it their home, also new was she to this struggle and the hatred the ponies showed the gryphons but this even if she was new to all this did that not made her stupid. Naive yes, but not stupid. So when she choose to explore the city she knew she had to take care as the few ponies she meet had shy away from her or been very rude to her just because she was born a gryphon.

This industrial wasteland was such a thing that made Kira nervous, normally she would have enjoyed the beauty of the decaying building but there was something wrong with the air as the smell of death hung in the air. She walked after the side walk looking around half expecting to have something jump out at her and the other half telling her she was being paranoid about it. Why would she have to leave her airship to take a work just because she wanted to explore the city.

Following orders wasn't Scrappers thing. But when It came to it, Shade was better at sneaking than him. Which means he was better off listening to her. He hadn't said anything. Not a word. Not since they left the last building, when Shade asked him what else he can do. It wasn't the greatest idea to talk. Body language and signals were to best way to communicate in situations like this.

He followed his orders. Like a "Good dog"
Sometimes, he seemed like a born soldier. Following orders without question, and very capable of killing something and living with it. He sighed loudly and said to himself, Unfortunately, killing is just one of those things that gets easier the more you do it...
He can understand wars, and conflicts. Its probably why he's not insane by now, but he had to carry on. Shade would have heard him speak no doubt, he was most likely going to be chewed off for it. But he can handle it.

Lance finished writing onto the single note, and posted it next to the fireplace. He believed he had collected every light trap in the building, erased any sign of habitation, and gathered whatever supplies he had stowed. checking back to make sure his 'groceries' were still there Lance levitated the bags and started to think of the best way to leave the building. most importantly, without being spotted, he was here to cover his tracks, not leave any more.

scale the building? can't climb for apples. scale the building... with a conjured construct? of course, a glowing buzzing ladder sticking out from the side of the building while an obvious brown unicorn climbs down it is a brilliant stealth plan. Front door? ... front door it is.

Lance proceeded by making his way down to the third floor again. Should the griffin leave to contact his superiors, Lance would be able to leave the building safely. if this griffin chooses to explore the building more intently, Lance could hide in the wardrobe as he did the previous night, wait for the griffin to climb to a higher floor, and sneak his way down. hopefully. at least he'd try to be quiet. Lance risked a peek over the edge once more, to see the griffin bellow.

his thoughts went back to the message he'd left on the note upstairs,

"Dear Whoever,

the plate in the fireplace hold the ashes of the female griffin of the patrol group that... disappeared. I couldn't finish the cremating job, but would whoever read this go ahead and finish for me? You know, bury those lads?"

Sten glanced over his shoulder and wouldn't you know it! Who should be walking across the end of the street but that dear darling debutante!

"Alright!" he called out, smiling as broadly as he could. Of course, that meant he had his back to the suspicious end of the street, but he was just happy to see a friendly face

In a pinch, two always beat one. Mind you, he didn't know how many scrubs were lurking in this particular street, but any kind of help would be the difference between life and death in a street like this. He could feel the hammer waiting for the opportunity to come down.

Shade was a little confused and slightly irritated by Scrappers comment. Where had THAT come from? Didn't matter, it had been silent enough to be not audible outside on the street, and so the shadow hued unicorn concentrated on the griffon, who unexpectedly had turned away when she looked the second time. The distraction wasn't visible from Shade's position, she would have needed to stick her head out and look up the road, but that was enough for her: It ment that the distraction wouldn't be able to look into the side alley they needed to cross, what- or whoever it was. Quickly she motioned with her hoof that Scrapper should move out, and after having the feeling that the griffon wouldn't turn around right away again, followed the earth pony.

Kira managed to smile as she heard an slightly familiar voice in the distance and as she looked down the street to see the familiar gryphon she had shared a drink with not that long ago. She started to walked more quickly down the street over to the familiar gryphon happy that she had at least one friendly face among this ruined industrial wasteland.

It was only as she walked up to him she first notice the dead gryphoness and soon there after the fat dead gryphon, both of them part of the occupation forces. She shuttered some as she thought about their deaths especially the females death as she knew how it was to fall out of the sky. But still seeing these did confirm her suspicions about this area, there was something very wrong in the air indeed.

Scrapper moved towards the building were the light trap hit him, assuming it was the one that Scintillance used as a hideout. He checked every inch of his surroundings as he moved and stopped if it didn't feel safe.

He made his way to the buildings wall and saw a window that he can easily reach. He stepped back to get a running start, double checked his Hoof-Claws then ran towards the wall with unnatural speed. When he reached the wall he ran up it for a couple of seconds using his back legs, he then kicked off the wall and jumped upwards to grab the window. He quickly climbed in, the room was completely empty, with no door to it either.

Unless Shade could do exactly what he just did she wouldn't be able to reach the window without his help. His vision pulsed red, and blurred for a second. His head began to hurt slightly as well. He knew what it was. Ah, bloody hell not now...

After a few seconds he moved to the window to wait for Shade. The window was very high up from the ground, his wall running and jumping gave him the boost he needed, but that is a skill that very few posses. And you needed a lot of speed to do it.

Lance poked his head back in through the window. Two griffins, now. two. trouble. it would've been easier to sneak past one, but, two? Lance honestly believed even one was a risk. he couldn't stay in the building, or maybe he could, but it wasn't a good idea in his now frantic mind. Shade is going to KILL him for getting into any trouble.

He scampered 'round the rooms of the current floor, searching for a safe way to scale the building, hopefully, a safer risk. through one window was an adjacent build, he might be able to make the jump, but through another, he noticed a green area, perhaps an old garden. near enough to the building, a dirt mound lay, appearing to be of soft earth. Lance might be able to jump out of the building, a leap of faith, and land in it safely. Lance took a step back, adrenaline fueling his every motion, sweat down his neck, fear through his soul, ringing in his ear, heavy panting through his lungs, and then nothing. it all stopped.
no sense to sound, to feel to anything. Lance took a slow start, and the pulled into a full gallop before leaping out the window. His eyes closed. Time slowed, to him. words, rung through his mind. I am Scintillance Di-Canterlot, and I, am going to bucking kill myself. after the thought finished, his eyes opened. time seemed to have returned to normal, and Lance could feel the impact on his back. but truly, it couldn't even be called an impact, the dirt mound simply gave way to his weight.

Scintillance looked up to the sky, his eyes widened and his pupils shrunk, and his lungs flamed as his voice had screamed. he was still falling. deep into the underground, apparently a tunnel of a vertical drop, and not a two story drop ha had been expecting. He fearfully watched as the light above him closed in, and the earth collided in on itself. In darkness now, Lance turned his head to what he believed was "down," and one last thought rung through his mind. Bloody Brilliant.

anypony/griffin on the surface would have heard his echoing scream, and if they'd check, there would be a visible dirt mound on the other side of the building, not a gaping hole, as the earth closed in on itself; an earth trap, designed and still used by, Diamond Dogs.

Sten was on the verge of greeting the dear old aristo, asking her how she'd been, what she'd been up to etc, when all of a sudden, something screamed close by. He didn't realise how tense he'd been until then, because he shrieked and leapt in surprise.

"What was that?" he said, looking back over his shoulder in shock, his face a picture.

It sounded like it came from behind the building. Like it or not, he'd have to head in and take a look.

Shade jumped out of the window, and realized a grave mistake. There wasn't a way into the next building on ground level. Shouldn't she... no, she HAD known it, she had checked the area the night before the fight. Then why the heck had she chosen this path? Was her concentration so heavily compromised that she missed something like this? Damn you, Scintillance, she thought while she searched the wall before her for small cracks, and found one in suitable height. One of her shurikens shot out from under her cloak and towards the crack, the unicorn closely following. The makeshift step would allow her to get a little higher up, but if it would be enough... Unlikely, the star wouldn't be stuck well enough to allow a full jump from it, but she still had to try. The shuriken took its place; Shade felt it getting stuck and pushed her front body up, only centimeters before the wall. One hind hoof followed, finding at least some hold on the small weapon, and then she jumped. The load had almost been too much, the shuriken almost slipped out of the crack, but even though it didn't, Shade couldn't reach high enough. She realized that right in the moment a scream from behind the building could be heard. That was Scintillance voice, and he probably had just drawn all attention in the wrong direction: The griffon - and possibly also his distraction - would now look this way for sure. Anger surged through her mind as she fell back to the ground and landed securely, but it only lasted for a moment. After a short look towards the griffon she turned to that window again and saw Scrapper now waiting for her. With his help, she could probably do it and repeated the procedure.

Shade's first attempt at getting up failed as expected, but then she started repeating the steps she took at trying to get up again. The first time, she didn't make it. But she might be catchable this time if he grabbed her and pulled her in.

He watched as Shade repeated her previous actions. When she jumped up, Scrapper quickly leaned out the window and grabbed hold of her hoof, thanks to the aid of his Hoof-Claws. Don't worry Las, I got you. Don't want you goin' off and hurting yourself. Scrapper pulled Shade up to the window and helped her climb in.

His headache surged for a second and he stumbled next to a wall and leaned against it. Ahh, damn... His headache was getting worse, slowly but surely. He was unaware that his eye's dimly glowed through his goggle's. Thank's to his problem no doubt. No one was ever around to tell him about any outside effects, Shade will no doubt spot it. He will need to tell Shade about his "Problem" at some point. It was his worst weakness. Incapacitating pain from simply being reminded of his own past. A past that he CAN'T remember. But whatever happened, It makes his mind unstable in a way. But this is not the best time to explain it. His objective was to help Shade find Scintillance.

(Sorry to be the thick one, but which face of the building are your climbing?)

Sten lurched into action. He followed Kira around the side through the alley, when something scrabbled above him. He glanced up and saw a pony's back legs dissappear into the window. He stopped and looked at the window. There was a line of shurikens stuck into the wall, just below the frame.

"OI!" he shouted up. "Who's there?"

Because, let's not forget, vicious weapons made vicious wounds.

(( Pure OOC post

Since this apparently is causing confusion (not only one player had trouble), I drew a map. Don't expect a masterwork, except when you consider trash as masterwork xD

The red lines show the paths of the griffons.

Map:

And somebody's supposed to see Shade, it's quite possible thanks to her failed attempt^^

Edit: Shade's the nameless blue ellipse, as can be guessed. Forgot to label her.
))

Shade grapped Scrapper's hoof and with his help quickly disappeared in the window. But it was already too late. Everything seemed to go wrong today. Not only had her failed attempt caused Shade to be seen, now Scrapper had some kind of... Shade actually didn't know what it was. He was obviously in pain, but what was more worrying were his eyes. What could cause that glow? No time to think about it, they had to hide. The unicorn hoped that her companion wasn't too disabled to walk - quickly - at the moment and supported him as she dragged him through the permanently open doorway and out to a corridor. With no time to think much she randomly chose the third room to the right and hoped that there was either a good place to hide or a way to go on. All the while, no sound escaped her.