Ted's Fuel Stop

[Giichi Twinkieland]

As Terra slipped out of his armor, the thief got a distinctive "deflating" feeling from the rocks beneath him, as if the body inside had shrunk. The thief found this rather odd, but started trying to plunge his dagger into gaps in the armor. He found himself rather confused though, as the dagger plunged in very easily. Too easily in fact...like there was no flesh resisting his force.

Then he realized what had happened, and started looking around for where Terra might appear next. Since he'd lost track of Terra in the smoke, he decided to maneuver to the nearest wall so that he could not be surprised from behind.

---

Meanwhile, Giichi drew out his second sai, so that he now had weapons in both hands. As his attacker recovered from the force, he snarled at what the cat had done to his throat. Giichi caught sight of his mouth moving under the rag mask, but the thief didn't appear capable of forming words right now as he kind of uttered guttural cries.

Grunting in frustration, he picked the knife back up out of the floorboard and launched himself at Giichi again. But this time Giichi was ready and rolled off to the side. The cat really didn't know what to do now. Fighting in such a confined space wasn't to his advantage.

As he thought about this, he couldn't help but wonder if these bandits were members of the Guild too. Maybe they'd listen if he showed his affiliation?

"Hey! Are you two Guild members?!"

"What's it to you?!" his attacker growled out, quickly homing in on the sound of Giichi's voice. Giichi took that as a queue to run for the exit, but accidentally slammed right into Terra since he couldn't see through the smoke. Giichi went tumbling, and Terra most likely would too.

[Terrador Bellator]

Terra watched his masked attacker as if he was his prey. He hand slight hunting skills and was using them to his fullest. He saw a perfect opportunity as the man pressed his back against the wall. The second he moved in to attack something toppled him over. He laid flat on his back and looked over to see a tan blur. He was relived it was Giichi, originally thinking he had been tackled by the attackers.

"You should watch where you're going." he growled getting to his feet. This had deprived him of any attempts of sneaking around and the only other option was to run.

"Let's go." he continued running to where he thought the exit was. Nothing could be seen through this smoke and he had no idea where he was going.

[Giichi Twinkieland]

Before long, the two of them would be standing outside the station in the cool night air. Giichi quickly whirled around, and saw the thieves had followed after them. They stood silently in the darkness, with their knives glinting in the moonlight. Rags covered their faces and they were clothed in ragged tunics.

Yeah...definitely Guild. Especially with the masks and the tunics like me. Let me try this again.

"Like I said before. Are you Guild? I'm in the Guild too."

Now that the thieves could get a clear look at Giichi, they saw he wore similar clothes too. One of them relaxed his stance, although he didn't put the knife away.

"So that's why you were asking."

Giichi let out a big sigh. He thought retrieving his car from Robotropolis was going to be a much, much simpler affair than this.

"Look, it's been a long day and we're all Guild here. Why don't you just let us go on?"

"What about your friend? He doesn't look Guild." The thief pointed at Terra with the tip of his knife. Giichi gulped, as he looked at his echidna friend. This looked like it was about to get ugly again.

[Terrador Bellator]

Terra listened to the conversation a bit uneasy things would get out of control. He wasn't too fond of verbal confrontations and was glad it was directed to Giichi. As things went against his favor he made deep eye contact with the more relaxed one. Could he perhaps lie and say he was Guild? His attire would give him away however, but he had to give something a try.

"I know of the Guild and despite the fact I am not a member I share the same purpose of survival. I seek information for my own intentions, so just go about your own business." he replied as calmly as he can.

[Giichi Twinkieland]

Giichi winced a little at the first part of what Terra said.

You shouldn't have said you know about the Guild. Remember we're trying to live in shadow.

The relaxed thief visibly tightened his grip on his knife.

"Oh? So what do you know about the Guild? I hate to say it, but you may have just made it our business again by saying that."

[Terrador Bellator]

Terra cringed slightly. His information of the Guild was rather vague. He had thought that was the proper thing to say, but he found he got himself deeper in this predicament. Seeing Giichi's reaction through his peripherals didn't make him feel any better.

"I don't know much of the Guild, I have only heard things every now and then from our parents. You're not a threat to me and I'm not a threat to you so can we just go our separate ways?" he asked completely unaware he could have made things worst.

[Giichi Twinkieland]

The thieves paused for a moment, seeming to think over what Terra had to say. Truthfully, their faces hadn't been seen yet by either of these two since they wore masks and all. Not to mention, Giichi trusted him, so perhaps he wouldn't turn on them after all. One of them sheathed his knife, and pat the other on the shoulder.

"Come on. He's right. He's not a threat."

The other thief let out a sigh as he put away his knife. The two of them walked off into the darkness, not bothering with pleasantries or saying goodbye. In fact, they didn't even bother hiding the conversation between themselves.

"I'm just so disappointed we don't get to plunder these guys. When I saw that red Ferrari I figured they'd be tourists ripe for the picking."

"I know. Haven't seen anything like that for days now. But come on...maybe we should just head off and try our luck at a different spot."

Soon after disappearing into the grass, Giichi and Terra would hear a low hum, followed by two black shadows darting out from behind a bush and onto the abandoned highway. The quick eye would see they had the silhouette of sleek hoverbikes. It looked like they'd been modified to run quietly. That would be how they followed Giichi's car without being noticed.

"Glad that's over..." Giichi muttered. He looked over to the east, and saw the sky lightening in that direction. He yawned and stretched his arms. It would be dawn soon, so he looked back over to Terra to make a proposition. "Maybe we should get back on the road again. I don't think I'm going to be able to go back to sleep, and morning's almost here anyway. What do you think?"

[Terrador Bellator]

Terra sighed deeply in relief. His words prevented any fights in which he wouldn't be able to survive for long. He peered over at the sand cat as he spoke, nodding in agreement for he too was satisfied with the thieves departure.

"That sounds like a wise choice." he replied as he made his way to the car. After all the insanity that ensued it was now he realized how sleep deprived he was considering he stayed up the entire night. As he approached the crimson Ferrari his legs felt weak and he stumbled over, catching himself by latching on the car door.

"You don't mind if I take a small nap along the way?" he asked with a snicker as he got himself to his feet.

[Giichi Twinkieland]

[That earth barrier over the garage door's actually still in the way, but oh well, I'll just assume your character moves it so we can save a posting round.]

"That's okay..." Giichi said, trying to suppress a yawn. He rolled up the garage's door, buckled in, and edged backwards out of the building after Terra was safely buckled in. Before long they were back on the road, leaving their temporary shelter behind. It wouldn't be long before Giichi spied a familiar shoreline up ahead.

[To Twisting Pavement, Soleanna]

[Terrador Bellator]

(Well after nearly a month of unexpected inactivity I kinda forgot XD, anyways, onto the next thread)