A Strike at the Gryphons: Atriark's Agenda

Nestled up above the city streets, and atop a buildong lay a small zebra, a runt. Atriark hugged the roof with his body, a grey blanket drapped over his body to blend in with the aged building. He was here to scout the area out, and he had to remind himself that on a few occasions. Across the street was a warehouse Atriark was sure held what he was seeking. For more than an hour the zebra lay, watching. But there were no signs that grypon soldiers were in the area, just ponies milling about.

It appeared as though the warehouse was abandoned, the structure was neglected and most windows were broken. No pony knew if anyone used it; that is, unless you're a certain zebra runt looking at a little light that could only be seen if you were atop a certain building across the way. For just under an hour, Atriark watched that little light, waiting to see what would happen. Just as he was about to give up and call it a day, the light winked out. Atriark nearly jumped up, but he held himself still. A minute or five passed by, the zebra loosing count, without anything. Then a gryphon stepped out of the warehouse and the runt's heart quickened as the gryphon looked left then right.

"Don't move," Atriark whispered harshly to the equine that accompanied him, Jimmy if he recalled correctly

"I wasn't plannin' too," Jimmy commented wryly. Jimmy too hugged the roof, a gray blanket over his body. His pack was on the rim of the roof, hugging the overhang. Jimmy peaked out at the warehouse across the way with a pair of binoculars he'd purloined from some hapless chump.

Jimmy was a young stallion, but large and powerful, a lean sort of power. He had trouble sitting idly like this for hours on end, but he toughed it out. "So, ideas? If there's just that one, we could overpower him easy, the two of us."

"You're right, we could overpower him," Atriark admitted. "But that'd be counter-productive. There are a lot of unknowns. And it would al-" Atriark stopped mid-sentence and quickly layed dowb flat, pressing his head against the building's roof as the gryphon took to the skys, heading to the HQ as swiftly as he could. "It would aleart the gryphons to what we were planing," Atriark finished his now redundant sentence. The zebra crawled away from the edge of the building and sat up. "There are a lot of unknowns Jimmy. We need a team, and we need some better gear."

"We need gear, sure, but do we know what for? Do we even know what's in there? For all we know, it could be rotten fish." Jimmy stood up and began stretching is legs. "I mean, lookin' at what we got here, it's not specially guarded or nothin', and don't look to be valuables. What do you reckon they'd have out here?"

"Your concerns are valid Jimmy," Atriark noted as he began folding up his blanket. "But what is in there is valuable, and I'd bet my right horseshoe that they have a few guards in there. They wouldn't go throufh the trouble to make sure to use a warehouse that looks like it will collapse at any minute if it wasn't hiding something." Atriark drapped the semi-folded blanket across his back. "Jimmy, that wasn't just any gryphon, and that isn't just any warehouse. There is something in there that they think is valuable."

Jimmy grumbled. "Well, that's certainly something. I'mma going to need to pick up a thing or two before we do anything, how about you?" Jimmy slung his sack over his blanket and began glancing over the edge of the roof to see if anyone was down there. He made his way to the exit, and peered back to the Zebra to see what he was going to do.

"As mich as I would hate to admit it Jimmy," Atriark said hurrying after the earth pony. "I might be in need of a weapon. Nothing can be left to chance on this." The zebra pushed the door open for Jimmy. "Ya know anyone who I could procure a spear from?"

Jimmy scowled. "A spear huh. Well if you need something like that, I know a place or two, but nothing topside. Does it got to be a good spear, or will just any ol' stick due?"

Jimmy headed down the stairs, passing by an old blind mare in the stairwell. He got shivers from the look of her and did his best to stay way far away from her.

Atriark followed Jimmy down the stairs. "Something sturdy," he commented then passed what he could have sworn was a blind mare. He was a little unnerved by her glassy eyes and chose to remain silent about anything regarding his plans and need for a weapon.

Jimmy stepped out to the streets below, stretching his legs fully. "I... we need to run." He needed some exercise to shake off the dust in his legs, and desperately wanted to run. He trotted about at a quick pace in circles, waiting for the slow Zebra to get down the stairs. "If we are getting weapons, that's on the other side of town and I want to run there, you down?"

Atriark made it out on the streets and watched Jimmy pace around quickly, acting and.looking very impatient. "Not.particularly Jimmy. I am not a well liked equine by the Gryphons as it is. I. don't want to draw anymore attention to myself as it is. Tell you what, tell.me where in town it is, and I'll meet ya somewhere in there."

Jimmy slowed down and begin thinking. "It's... somewhere in the Downtown, don't know the street name though. Do you know where Main Street merges into the Downtown? That's a good spot to meet up. See you there in... just be there, 'kay?"

Jimmy hardly waited, too eager to begin running there. He galloped off down the road, kicking his legs up with an overeager enthusiasm.

Hanging down from a window sill by her hind legs, Shady silently watched a pair of stallions leaving one of the buildings nearby. She had been keeping a watch on them after hearing what seemed to be some sort of suspicious conversation. A grin appeared on her face, the moonlight gleaming off of a small exposed fang in the corner of her mouth. Raiding a warehouse with just two ponies? A lofty goal, but one that's not even going to come close to going through...

The mare dropped herself off of the ledge and flared her wings to catch the air and silently glide after her new targets.

(((Judging from the way this has resolved, this thread is splintering. The thread where shady is given orders, and the thread where Jimmy and Atriark go to Mega's workshop. The irony here, is now both me and Megs have doubled up our chars for this plot XD)))