Ooc; I'll start if needed, but I don't know which scene I'd need to set. Like, is it day, night wet, sunny, cold? So much... Tetris, it'd probably be best for you to go first.

Alright... finally back from Pennsylvania. Let me reply to this when I get my bearings... right now, I just need sleep. Lots of sleep.

These are mostly all set at night. In the day, the thugs work at jobs, go to school, whatev.

Ooc; I can start then, since I know basically how the scene should be set now.

Tetris, have a good sleep. :)

Bic; Somewhere from the other side of the building, a lone dog howled. The air was chilly, tendrils of mist weaving amongst dumpsters, broken cars and locked alley gates. It was a cold night, threatening to rain, but not quite getting there. Calm, yet restless.

At my feet, Lee - my little Husky puppy who seemed to get bigger every day - howled in response to the other dog. Somewhere to my left, another dog howled. A chain would form, just like every other night and my neighbors would get angry. Seriously though? I didn't care what they thought. The dogs were being dogs and they couldn't stop that.

I made my way along the frosty street, stumbling over my own feet whenever my eyelids began to droop. I would wake up properly sooner or later. It was the drugs kicking in. The bad side effects would wear off and when they did, I'd be happy... Overly happy. I liked to think everybody liked me drug influenced mood, but it hadn't been confirmed yet. It only seemed to annoy Lee. Even though he was just a dog, it seemed like he cared too much.

On that thought, the puppy whined, looking up at me with concerned eyes. I smiled at him sleepily and then looked around at my surroundings. I'd arrived at my destination; one of the busier roads in the city, but not busy enough to scare away my friends. I knew people here.

"Come on, boy." I whispered to Lee groggily, stuffing my hands into my denim capris. "Let's go and find somebody."

My pace was slower now, as I passed the shops lining the street. None of the drunk men or the scantily dressed woman noticed the little dog tagging at my bare feet like some did. No. A poorly dressed teenager walking around with her pet was normal around here. Well, normal enough.

"You watch your back." "I will, dad." "Hit 'em one for me, my boy." His father called after him as Ferdinand Stoker left his home, hastening down the steps and shutting the door behind him. He had every intent of doing just that, and he smiled to himself as he trotted out and down the street. The light was just fading from his world, the middle-class suburbs of town, and he watched it fade from the sky as he strolled towards the center of town. He shoved his hands into his pockets, over the strap of his tattered blue messenger bag. He looked every bit the innocent student, off on some errand or whatnot, but of course his possessions were a bit more menacing than a few textbooks and pens. He ran a hand through his hair, watching idly for any of his comrades- or enemies. Either one seemed appealing at the moment, as Ferdinand was itching for a fight. The streets were weirdly busy, but that might have just been because night hadn't really fallen just yet- they already seemed to be thinning by the second as the more respectable members of society slipped back to their warm, cozy homes. Ferdinand felt his blood rushing without any help tonight; his chronic itchy-trigger-finger condition sinking its electric claws back into his soul, as it did every night, every evening he left his home. He made up his mind that he would "hit 'em one," for his dad. That's moral purpose.

Nikkie had made her way back into an open field, where her father keeps his two valuable horses. She walked up toward her favorite, Tinks, and gave her a carrot. It had nuzzled her, and she giggled. ''Allright, I have to go. Bye Tinks.'' Nikkie said, petting her on her head. She turned around, and ran toward her house. But when she walked in, her father and step-mother were dressed up. ''Where are you going?'' Nikkie asked, grabbing her gray sweater. ''Out to a adult restruant. We wont be back until late tonight.'' Mr. Brinks said, grabbing the keys to his car. ''Yes. So, don't do anything stupid, child. We can't bear to lose another loved one.'' Mrs. Brinks said, fixing the pearl necklace around her neck. Nikkie shot ehr a death stare. ''Yea, like you would care whether I would die or not.'' Nikkie said, folding her arms. ''Oh shut up child, and don't do anything stupid.'' Mrs. Brinks said, slamming the door in Nikkie's face. ''Oh, just shut up woman, nobody cares for you.'' Nikkie said, watching her and her father pull out of the driveway, and down the street. Once they were out of site, Nikkie quickly put on her jacket, and walked out the front door. She sighed while locking the door, and began starting a long walk toward the park, just so she could be alone at peace...

ooc// I forgot to add; most of these gang members communicate by cell phone. It is the electronic age after all.

New character, not part of a gang yet.

Name: Rory Calloway Gender: Female Appearance: Dark hair usually pulled back or pinned up in a loose bun, she has matching dark eyes that can flatten with anger or appear luminously deep. Usually dressed in dark jeans and a t-shirt, she likes to wear darker colours to set off her eyes. Reference image: http://fc04.deviantart.com/fs36/f/2008/248/0/5/yukata_by_tknk.jpg Personality: When bored or tired, as she usually is, she is predictably apathetic. And when apathetic, there is little to be done to remedy it. At those wonderfully fickle times she has no motivation or incentive; she simply lounges about and waves at the days as they pass by. Allowing time to trickle past, she remains in this rut of "everything to do, nothing I want to do" for however long it takes before she can be roused to give a damn. On the other hand, she has bouts of irreverence that border on hysteria. Her existence is defined by "absence of caring"; all that is left to do is to specify whether she is feeling lazy or irreverent. It is at these moments that talking to her proves nigh impossible. She would never stoop to give a straight answer; the perverse and cynical amusement she gets from watching others' reactions gives her a motive to bullshit conversation. Indeed, she rather enjoys playing mind games, leading those she talks to down a deep and slippery slope of discussion, whereupon she delights in seeing the opponent dig himself or herself into a deep hole from which there is no escape. With her somewhat twisted sense of humor, and her casually sardonic way of speaking, she has yet to meet her match in rhetoric. She likes to live on the edge, lingering at the edge of dangerous actions, stalling at the edge of dangerous thoughts. Danger is a "high" that she cannot get anywhere else. While she has no problems about harming others to get what she wants, she will not go out of her way to cause carnage or mayhem when she sees no direct benefit to it. With her fantastic self confidence in herself and her abilities, she is near-impossible to intimidate. Her caustic comments often near inappropriate -- then again, that is most likely the intention. History: Her father is the Democratic Senator of Massachusetts. The man no longer spends much of his time in Boston; he instead spends his days and nights in D.C., with his second wife, her mother. She doesn't really know her father very well. He never spends much time with her. And though her mother calls her frequently on the phone, she hasn't seen the woman very much either. A rather lonely figure, with her older brother regarding her with a mixture of contempt and irritation, she doesn't really like her classmates either. Rather listless and tired of life most of the time, with nothing that she really wants to do, she doesn't even have college to look forwards to. Expected to either go to M.I.T. or Harvard because of her father's pull, she doesn't know what she wants of her life. Weapon: Not applicable.

bic// His cell phone buzzed once, twice, in his pocket, before subsiding quietly. The caller ID said 'Brooks' and he nodded to no one in particularly, grabbing his jacket by the door before starting to go. Made of slick leather, it wasn't so much for show as it was for combat.

The leather was supple and smooth; he oiled it daily. It made him that much harder to grab and hold in a fight. In addition, the deep pockets were able to conceal all manner of items; his chain was around wound about his waist, one end looped through his belt.

At the door, his hand on the knob, a soft pattering of footsteps behind him and a girl's voice strained through.

"Les?" He turned. Rory was standing in the hallway in pajamas, her tousled dark hair his father's. But the dark eyes were her mother's.

Rory was trouble; she followed him out half the nights. She was also hopelessly ill-suited to traveling the dark nights, and far too easily used as a hostage, as a means of distracting him.

"Go to bed."

"I don't want to stay home by myself, Les."

"You can't come with me. You're no good at hiding, you're slow, you'll be left behind. And you have school tomorrow."

"So do you." She glared at him now; he was vaguely certain that his father's secretary could never manage that sort of expression. The stern features and icy coldness of her face were all their father's.

"I don't have classes tomorrow," he clarified. Then wondered why he was arguing with a 16 year old girl. "Stay inside," he snapped sharply, then opened the door and stepped out into the night, ignoring her protests.

He probably wasn't being fair; he had started going into the nights when he was 14. But that was different. He was street-wise, slippery; he trusted no one except for himself. Rory was impressionable and hopelessly oblivious. She trusted him far too much; he could see it.

He had told her before, knowing that sooner or later, the gang life would touch her life, that if pressed she didn't know who he was or what he did. It wasn't going to work. She wasn't a very good liar, unless it suited her purpose.

She's not like her classmates though, he told himself. She never goes over to their houses, never invites them over... but that could also be because her father was never at home and she didn't want them to know that she lived with no parents, only an older brother who was away half the time.

Maybe sometime, then, he'd ask her. It struck him that he didn't know much about her life. He helped her out with her coursework on occasion, but that was about it. He was usually asleep in the mornings when she woke up. Then he'd go to classes. In his second year now at M.I.T., he wasn't required to dorm on campus anymore. So of course he had come home, where it was much easier to move about freely.

In the afternoons and evenings, when she finished with all her activities and came home, he was usually rushing a supper and then leaving for the streets...

Next time, then, he promised himself.

Ooc; So... Were they going to meet somewhere then? ❤️

Bic; "Oh, get over yourself!" I screeched back at the angry Taxi driver. He shouted more profanities at me in a tired, strained voice, but they fell on deaf ears. I was already walking away.

"Stupid girl!"

Lee growled once and then scuttled quickly me. We were heading deeper into the city and walking through traffic lights happened to be one of my forms of transport. It wasn't exactly my fault that the cab driver hadn't seen me until the last minute. He'd been able to break, but I assumed his passengers hadn't been happy.

The mist creeping out of the shadows was getting thicker now and the cold much more obvious. I shivered, cursing silently to myself. Why hadn't I brought my jacket? Sure, the cold didn't bother me too much, but there were some exceptions. The drugs often altered my body temperature dramatically and it seemed absolutely freezing was tonight's temp.

"Let's see if we're heading anywhere tonight, Leelee." I muttered quietly, embarrassed to be seen talking to a puppy, even though the street was empty.

I reached into my denim pockets until I found my phone. It was cheap and crappy. An old version of the flip top phones. As I pressed in the number of the Gang Leader, Les, it emitted short detached blips. I needed a serious upgrade quickly. I had spent most of my money on a laptop.

ANY PLANS 4 2NITE? I pressed in quickly, shuddering against a chilling blast of wind.

Swiftly, I tucked the phone back into my pocket. Up ahead, I spotted a small fast food restaurant. I looked innocent enough, so I quickly ducked through the door, pushing Lee under a booth table before anyone could notice him. He whined quietly but obliged, he knew I was helping him.

ooc// Yeah - in some old bar. They don't have to meet in a set place; it's easier to avoid the cops by moving around. But cells are good for instant communication.

Also, flip top phones are better. > w < Harder to get damaged... walking around with an iPhone is just asking to get it broken.

bic// His phone buzzed against his thigh, once, twice, breaking through his thoughts.

With the tension in the gang recently, he felt like things had to come to a headway soon.

So he was glad the message was from Peach. She reminded him in the oddest ways of Rory. Though much taller than his younger sister, she had the same... inherent goodness.

And at the very least, he could trust her not to stab him in the back. It didn't seem the sort of thing she'd do.

IM ON HOWRD AVE. MEET AT .5 MOON?

Half Moon, the local pub/tavern, didn't only serve alcohols but cooked meals as well.

He took a left; Half Moon was two blocks away from where he was.

And again, Les started to count people, as he'd been doing for the past couple of days in class. He had been unable to pay attention, instead using a microphone to record the lectures to listen to when he could make his mind settle on numbers and figures.

On 'his' side: Brooks, Chad, Xander, Jesse Neutral: Peach, Jamie, George

Of course, his generals were rather discontent lately, but they hadn't united yet. And he wasn't going to give them that opportunity... biting his lip as he rushed along, Les smiled faintly, letting his tension seep out into the night. Closing his hand in his pocket, he felt the rubberized grip of the Bowie knife, ran a finger against the thicker back edge.

If he had to settle this, he wouldn't be able to talk his way out of it. Eloquence might serve him in the classroom, but out here, the right of might was the right of the fist.

Good enough for him.

Ooc; Incredibly sorry if this sucks... My muse just died.

Bic; I'm sitting in a room made up of only big white walls and in the halls there're people looking through... I snatched my phone out of my pants quickly, embarrassed by the loud, fuzzy Paramore ringtone. I thought I'd put my phone on vibrate.

IM ON HOWRD AVE. MEET AT .5 MOON? The message read.

I nodded absentmindedly to myself and pressed in a confirmation, slipping the phone back into my pocket when I was done. Lee licked my hand quickly, whimpering at the lack of attention.

"Let's get out of here." I muttered, scooping him up into my arms. He didn't squirm like most dogs would, but rested his head against my shoulder instead, like a baby. "Good boy."

I made my escape. Jumping out of the booth and running out through the door as quickly as possible. Of course, I wasn't fast enough. Before I was even a meter away, I could hear the high pitched squeals of children as they saw the "fwuffy dawgy" and the gruff call of the manager. I wouldn't be welcomed back for a while.

Half Moon was only a ten minute walk from the restaurant. I smiled at the coincidence of being so close and placed Lee back on the sidewalk, jogging towards my destination to warm myself up. My breath came out in clouds of steam around me.

Finally, I turned to my right, onto the street that the Pub was situated on. I waited on the corner for Lee to catch up. He was still so small and his legs would never be as long as mine. I was a good two hundred meters in front of him.

[[OOC: Sorry, I haven't been on. Internet crashed. XD.]]

EDIT: Nikkie continued to walk toward the park. She had usually done this plenty of times before, only to be caught by her parents. The day was starting to turn into the night. People began going inside. Good, now people don't have to see what stupid things happen in the night. Nikkie thought. People looked at her. Some people knew what happened at night, and where probably worried about. Wow, the first people to actually care for me. Warms my heart. Not. Nikkie thought.

She was about a block or so away from the park, when she noticed how beautiful the sunset was. This was Nikkie's favorite part of the day. If only I had a peice of paper, and pencil. She thought. She continued walking, looking at the sunset, when she bumped into another person. She stumbled backwards, and fell down. Nikkie had always been clumsy. She looked up, only to find that it was Ferdinand she had bumped into. ''My bad, I'm so sorry.'' Nikkie said, trying to get up.....

{ Sorry for the absence, I went on a trip. Just got back yesterday I'll edit this in a bit

actually, shit brb I'm on a sibling's account didn't notice}

{Ugh, back as me. =__=; now I'll edit THIS post in a while. }