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The Apexes Project - Chapter 1 - A Thief's Big Haul
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ApeXes
ApeXes' Gallery (3)

The Apexes Project - Chapter 2 - Into the Sewers

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Keywords feline 138469, fantasy 24417, adventure 5372, action 4134, multiple genders 271
The city of Rukia was once again bursting with life. Patrons scurrying from place to place. Appointments were to be had and businesses were needed to be tended to. It was nothing out of the ordinary for the city to always be this busy. At least that hadn’t changed.

Katharine, now the age of Thirteen, gave a soft sigh to herself as she overlooked the horizon of the city skyline. While she was still just a kid, she had seemed to gotten used to being on her own. No longer having lived in the old Orphanage, she stuck to her original plan and tried to make a living for herself. Luckily for her, she had managed to strike a deal with one of the local pawn shop owners. She would be able to live with him rent free, so long as she did the various odd-jobs that came through his little network. While she didn’t originally understand what she was doing, Katharine was a pretty sharp knife. She just tended to let her actions and mouth get her into situations that she could have prevented. Yet, she always saw it as a strike of fun. Katharine really enjoyed making people angry.

There was a noise behind the feline and she turned her head. Coming up onto the roof was the pawn owner himself. In his hand, he held two bottles and a book in his arms. Katharine just turned her attention back out to the city as she waited for her friend to come and join her up on the edge of the building.

The owner was a stout man, only standing at five and a half of feet. He was a respected man; in the sense that he could always seem to acquire some of the more rare or harder objects to find. As such, he wore a pair of glasses and was commonly seen wearing a more formal attire of a suit. Though it wouldn’t be a rare sight to see him wearing a pair of overalls and bulkier attire, as he was also a little bit of a gear head. His name was Lance; and his species was that of a Rat.

He grunted as he sat down, setting the bottles down between the two of them. “You’re up early.” he spoke

“Eh, you know.” she just replied.

The girl reached down with one hand and then flicked her wrist, a claw extending out from the tip of her finger. She placed it beneath the steel material and then popped it clean off, catching the flying top with the same hand. She examined the bottle before drinking it; she had to make sure that it wasn’t his. Lance preferred to drink alcoholic beverages, while of course Katharine did not. She did find it funny however that he drank so early in the morning.

After she had taken a sip from the drink, she lowered it down and held it between her legs. “So, what’s the plan today?” she asked

“Well, let’s see…” Lance replied, shifting to the side and opening up the book he had.

Lance’s book was more or less a ledger, yet it held a vast amount of information. While officially, Lance was a pawn shop owner; he was also an information broker. Many of the local and even some of the ‘Grandstanding’ street gangs often came to his shop for these specially procured items or bits of information. In a sense, he was an information broker and he was pretty well off for it. Katharine hadn’t known this when she first met the rat, but she quickly learned of his business practices. Lance was honestly amazed still to this day that a thirteen year old could break into a highly monitored place and get back without being caught. He just considered himself lucky that a gifted thief like herself found her way to him.

Lance made a series of noises as he trailed his finger down the pages of the ledger, clicking his tongue as well. Katharine turned her head as to gaze over the book as best as she could, waiting for her employer to tell her what needed to be done.

“Ah, here we go…” he spoke, tapping his finger on a scribbled mess. “I’ve got an appointment with one of the more…refined, gangs.” he said, tilting his head up. “Heard of the Scarlet Raiders, right?”

“Sure, but I just -love- hearing you talk. So, please.” Katharine said with a light laugh.

Lance gave a roll of his eyes. “The Scarlet Raiders used to be one of the most respected groups in the kingdom. They’re a group that does everything for the sole purpose of generating money, or at the least gaining renown for their actions. They actually weren’t that bad, until just a few years ago.”

“Whatt’ya mean used to be?”

“Well, I’m an old guy. I remember back when they were called the Sanguine Guard. Supposedly, they were the High Kings personal guard; but after a few disputes about leadership, they went their separate ways and have become one of the reigning gangs in the Lower city.”

“Hm. Didn’t know that.” Katharine said, taking another sip of her drink. “So what’s going on?”

“Like I said, I’ve got an appointment with one of the members. Now, I’m lacking a piece of information that I’ve been told I need to have by Friday. That’s, tomorrow by the way.”

Katharine just nodded her head, rolling her other hand as to see if he would get to the point.

Lance sighed. He had forgotten she was an impatient brat sometimes. “The Orion Onyx need you to tail this member of the Raiders back to their hideout and sketch the most important layouts of their hidden base.”

“What am I, a girl scout? I just did that last week!”

“No, you did it for another group, last week. No one has been able to find the Scarlet Raider’s base of operations before.” Lance said, closing the ledger and then opening his own bottle.

“So what makes you think I can find it?”

“Simple.” he said, smacking his lips. “You don’t find it, and I’m out of a payment. No payment for me, means no living space for you.” the Rat spoke, standing up and then walking towards the exist of the roof.

Katharine just sighed and lifted her head up to the rising sun, taking another small sip from her drink. She had even forgotten she finished it. As the rat walked away, Katharine reeled back her arm and tossed the bottle as far as she could. The feline watched it flew through the air and her ears perked up as she heard it shattering on the concrete of the ground below her. She then just placed her hands behind her head, laying back on the shingles of the rooftop. She closed her eyes and gave off a reassuring sigh, taking a light nap before needing to get to work.

—————————

Lance’s pawn shop had been relatively busy through the entire day. Either it was some junkie coming to pawn something in for their latest fix, or it was just someone coming to window shop, the store was filled with people. The rat had often looked to the clock, needing to remember that the one who had made the appointment. It was an odd circumstance that the appointment was made; done via a series of letters. It made it difficult for Lance at first, but he was told to send them at a specified address and he was soon met with a reply. It was clear to him that the Raiders meant business, and the rat loved business.

As the clock struck past noon, Lance reached over and tapped a microphone on his desk. There was a boom through the speakers scattered around the shop.

“Please, if you would all be so kind as to come back at another time. The shop will be closing due to a fumigator needing to cleanse the building. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

There were several sounds of disappointment and annoyance. One by one, the building was cleared out and Lance would move over to the store, swapping the sign from ‘Open’ to ‘Sorry, we’re closed!’ and then walked back to his desk to begin taking inventory. He figured he may as well wait until his appointment arrived. Lance continued to look back to the clock every so often until there was a knocking on the door. He perked his head up and saw a shrouded figure standing at the doorway, in which he beckoned his hand at them.

The figure opened the door and closed it behind him. He then walked in, his hands in his pockets. There was no clear indication of who this was; save for his attire. Lance knew him to be of the Scarlet Raiders because of it. The figure wore a large cowl that was ripped halfway down, covering over the top of his head. Draped around his shoulder was a scarf that flashed the insignia of the Raiders. The part that struck Lance as odd was the fact the figure was wearing a mask of some kind. He did not dare question it however.

“Yes, you must be the one.” Lance said, stepping back and going into the back room.

The figure merely looked around the store, his eyes surveying the place. He didn’t even say a word, just standing there as the rat went about his business.

Lance came back with an object and set it on the desk. The figure would reach out and pick up the object. It seemed to be a motor; at least that was the concept. It was small enough to fit inside a compartment. The figure turned it around, ensuring that it was properly fashioned and had all the parts it would need to operate. Lane just stood with one of his hands behind his back, the other tapping on the desk as the figure analyzed it.

“Oh, I promise you. That is one of the most remarkable orders I’ve made.” the Rat spoke. “Put that baby in one of your bikes, and you’ll be unstoppable on the races.”

The figure didn’t reply. Instead, he reached back into his attire and produced a bag of coins. He set it on the desk and Lance undid the string, a pile of gold coins shining in the light. Having to make sure they were real, Lance produced a small magnifying scope and began to check them, giving a nod of his head. The figure then picked up the object in question, placing it on the inside of his cowl and turning to leave.

“A pleasure doing business with you! Always happy to assist the Raiders!” Lance said, giving a light grumble to himself afterwards, beginning to count over the golden coins.

Meanwhile, Katharine would have just been waking up from her nap. The sound of the booming speaker system in the shop did a fine job about that. She had spent the next minutes after being so rudely waking up, limbering herself. She figured if she was going to tail this figure, whoever and whatever they may be, she may as well not do it so stiff. The girl then leaned down as to ensure her shoes were properly tied, setting her hands then to the side of the roof-top as she easily spotted that shrouded figure walking through the crowd of people in a cool, collected manner.

The Thief couldn’t help but give a light chuckle to herself. “This is gonna be so easy…”

With that being said, Katharine hopped over the side of the building and slid down the rooftop, starting to track this figure as best she could without being seen.

——————

Having run out of roof-top to walk on, Katharine needed to resort to walking on the ground. It became very clear to her how easily for forgotten how annoying it was. She needed to both steer clear of people whom were far too busy in their own personal items, as well as charge through folks that were in her way. Not to mention she needed to not do it so brashly as to cause the figure she was trailing to look behind him. On top of that, she needed to keep him in vision! While from the rooftops, he was easy to see, having been decorated in that crimson cowl, but being on ground level was a lot harder.

Katharine’s feet were starting to hurt with each step that she took. She felt like she had walked for miles; she wasn’t even sure what part of the city was she in. Not to mention, she wasn’t exactly the tallest girl around. That both helped and hampered her, in the sense she was easy to not be seen if the figure decided to gauge his surroundings; but it also meant that she could lose him easily if a crowd of people all massed together and pushed her out of the way.

“C’mon buddy…where’re you going…” she thought to herself.

As if the figure had somehow read her mind, he made an abrupt turn. Katharine made a small sound of annoyance as she made a light dash to keep him in view. She had to stop however, as a stream of people rushed in front of her. She looked through the cracks of their bodies to see that figure getting away. Not wanting to lose him, the girl ran forward and actually jumped on top of the mass crowd of people, getting over them with ease and causing only a mild disturbance. Luckily for her, the figure did not seem to mind. Maybe he just disregarded it as someone stepping on someone’s foot, or knocking them over.

The chase continued on, the young feline growing rather impatient. She had half a mind to outright pounce the figure she was tailing, but knew better than that. The thought had crossed and been crossing her mind multiple times. She just needed to be patient. Unfortunately, Katharine was hardly the patient type.

Eventually however, the Figure she was trailing soon turned into an alleyway. Katharine gave a sound of pleasure, thinking that this was his stop. She quickened her pace, following closer behind the figure now. As she crossed the street, she saw the figure turn into an alleyway. The girl waited for a few seconds and then darted over to the nearby wall, taking cover behind it and slowly peeking her head out from around the corner. Yet she gave a sound of disdain, stepping out completely. The figure had vanished, and she looked everywhere to see where he could go.

“No way!” she said to herself. It was clear that she was upset.

The feline began to look around everywhere. She lifted up various items, expecting to find a hole, yet there was nothing. She even tried to see if the nearby sewer duct would open; but that was pointless. The grating was way too heavy for her to even consider picking up. Katharine folded her arms as her brow furrowed in annoyance. Tapping her fingers on her elbow, the girl began to think on the possibilities of where the figure may have went.

“Let’s see…Lance said that their base was hidden pretty well.” she said, placing a hand on her head as to scratch a sudden itch. “Hm…”

The thief looked around once more and perked up her ears. Besides the ambience of the tram systems and the herds of people darting every which way, she heard something else. It sounded like metal hitting against concrete. She turned and darted over to the opposite end of the alleyway, giving a small pump with her fist.

“Jackpot!”

Just as she heard, there was a construction crew right across the street. Yet that is not what she was excited about. The thing that caught her attention was that there was a large enough hole in the ground, and it would lead right to the sewers. It had to have, at least that’s what Katharine was thinking. She looked both ways of the street before placing her hands and feet on the ground. She’d need to get a running start, and what better way than by utilizing all of your feet to get a start. She gave it a count of three and seemingly pounced out of the alleyway, quickly crossing the street and entering into the construction site.

While she heard people yelling at her, and narrowly having to avoid being stopped by a rather large ursine, she managed to duck right between his legs and slide expertly into the manhole. There was no ladder, however, and she fell down into the abyss of the sewers. Luckily for Katharine, she was a cat, which always land on their feet. At least she had learned that from her last several experiences. The girl stood up and looked above her. The hole seemed to be roughly 6 meters off the ground, so there was no way she was getting out how she came in.

Looking around the area, the girl scratched behind her head, kneeling down and making sure her shoes were properly fastened. She was nervous. She hadn’t even been down here in the sewers. Yet the girl didn’t let that stop her. Her eyes had adjusted well to the darkness, as she was able to see in the dark. All she had to do now was not get lost in this maze-like tunnel system. That, and find a hidden base that no one was able to find in the first place.

“Lucky me.” was all she thought to herself, beginning to take the first steps to her mission.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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by ApeXes
Second Chapter. Yay.

Keywords
feline 138,469, fantasy 24,417, adventure 5,372, action 4,134, multiple genders 271
Details
Type: Writing - Document
Published: 8 years, 3 months ago
Rating: General

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