Totocin

WELCOME! To the city of Totocin! Buildings like shining skyscrapers in the city proper under grey clouds but with the occassional sunny day. Makes it better than some places, let me tell you good sir! Anything your heart desires, you'll find it here! The city is bustling with people from CEOs to junkies and all those in between. Careful who you talk to, but otherwise, enjoy your stay!



The word was foreign and rolled out of his mouth like gravel grinding together startling a human passerby. Peregrine ignored the surprised look it gave him and continued down the sidewalk at a pensive pace, hands in the pockets of his thin black jeans. He only wore dark clothing, the more fitting, the better. He didn't like the bulky items but was unsettled by the pale pink flesh even more. The word he had spoke had been a curse, having seen the humans breeding on a park bench. Their blatant displays of perceived superiority made his stomach churn and he sighed, forcing his glamored skin to stop crawling. Glass vials in his fitted vest clinked together softly, one less than he had left his home with. Humans, always buying. Always consuming. He smiled to himself, remembering how they cowered when he visited their dreams. He was a consumer too. Of fear. Oh how he missed those days... He tilted his head back, letting the dim rays of the sun strike his face, his eyes closed and his dreamy smile still playing with his lips. He supposed they weren't so different.

High heeled boots clicked along the cement as a leggy woman in a trench coat walked long the streets. Clearly she wanted to be kept unnoticed. Jamming her fingerless gloved hands into her pockets, her hood flipped up, the only thing a person could see from her was a set of cheek bones every once in a while when she glanced up. A few blocks down the sounds of shouting could be heard and the woman's pace picked up instantly.

"No! Please, just let me go! All I want to do is go home!" A young woman's voice could be heard through the cries of other voices. There were very few people bothering to stand by and watch but the ones that were didn't help. When the hooded woman drew near she instantly recognized the barely clothed woman in distress.

"Terre..." She whispered softly enough so that no one could hear. She was skin and bones as if she hadn't eaten in weeks. Hurrying around the couple bystanders she removed her trench coat, revealing her weapons underneath which caused an even bigger uproar. Throwing her trench coat over her friend she shook her gently. "Terre, it's me. It's Cat. Look at me." Once she had gotten the Earth Mother's blurred eyed attention, she pulled her to her feet and glanced around. "All of you, get out of here before I call the police!" She felt her friend go limp in her arms and carefully scooped her arm bridal style. "Come on, lets go find somewhere to get some food in you."

"Cat." The word was a whisper but the humans lingering around the two women parted in a move one could only remember as a flinch. Peregrine took no notice as he stepped through them, his eyes pained as he, too, took in the waif she supported, somehow seeming to see the damage through the heavy cloak. The people around them shifted restlessly, unable to find the source of a creeping uneasiness. Certain that Terre was in the best of care with Cat's support, he made an almost imperceptible jerk of his chin, turned, and began to lead the way he had been headed anyway, but no longer with the intent to meet with another client. No, home first, clothing, rest for these dear creatures. He would sooth the roach's petty wrath later.

Cat's head shot up at her name. Her eyes darted in his direction and her features softened considerably. "Pere..." Moving Terre around so she rested more comfortably in Cat's toned arms she followed closely behind him. "We have to move quickly, Pere, I'm revealed here." She hadn't been thinking when she'd wrapped her trench clock around Terre but most every weapon on Cat was in full view of the humans they passed by and most of them took note, staring at her awkwardly.

"Don't worry about that," Pere told her quietly as they walked. Each step increased the growing sense of dread, the prickle up their spines. Each block that passed seemed to have fewer and fewer people on it and the few they passed seemed eager to be on their way. The pressure, the dread, the feeling of fear that made the hair on the back of their necks, the cold chill that made it so you couldn't shake the feeling of someone watching you, of following you increased until there was a general feeling of panic lingering in the very air they breathed. By the time they were a block from his apartment building, the streets were deserted. Inside the lobby was similarly empty except for a very nervous looking desk attendant that looked for all the world they were trying to go unnoticed, avoiding eye contact. Only once they were in the elevator did the feeling vanish, like breaking the surface of water one didn't know they were drowning in. Peregrine merely pushed the button to his penthouse and looked at the two ladies with him as they ascended. "What happened to her?" He bent slightly, trying to get a better look at her face and wounds. She had clearly been beaten, but he wanted to know exactly who and why, just to make sure he killed the right people.

"I'm not exactly sure. But she's filthy and for some reason it looks like she hasn't eaten in days... which doesn't make any sense because she's... what in gods name is she doing in the city!" With each word Cat just grew angrier. "She's an Earth Mother, she's no business being here nor should she be hungry. She lives off the land." The elevator doors slid open, leading the way off Cat found her way to a near by couch and place Terre gently down, her head propped on a pillow. "I'll murder whomever did this to her. A gentle creature like this doesn't deserve such treatment!" Her soft hands brushed Terre hair from her face. One could tell the two knew each other well.

"None of our people do," Peregrine agreed from where he had went to the kitchen. The penthouse was large. Large by all means but the high ceilings only added to it. Huge glass windows made up one entire wall of his living room, letting the light stream in and flood the room. A minute later Peregrine came around the wall partition that separated the kitchen from the living room and carefully handed Cat a bowl of soft fruits. He wandered away to the windows, his words thoughtful. "She must have come looking for someone. If she was held against her will, they probably didn't feed her, or she just couldn't forage in a city. Not like there's a lot of plants here- Ah." He snapped his fingers and quickly strode out of the room. It was a long minute an he returned, a briefcase sized first aid kit in hand. He paused by Cat. "I can do it if you do not want to."

"You know what I mean. The worst she's seen in her life is natural order and brutality." Backing away from the couch and sat on the arm of it, not moving to far away, but making sure she wasn't in Pere's way. "No you go ahead." Propping the bowl on her lap she stared down at Terre and smiled softly at the Earth Mother. She really was a delicate thing.

Pere nodded and knelt by the couch, flipping open the first aid kit. As he worked, it was like his hands found the wounds by magnetic attraction, like he was naturally drawn to points of pain. That was pretty true though. It was over a few hours before the last cut had been disinfected, the worse ones sewn and sealed, body cleaned and, what clothes she had, settled as best he could. Only once his hands seemed uncertain where to go did he stop and rest his back against the front of the couch so Terre lay behind him. He sighed and wiped his filthy hands on a damp cloth, only now looking at Cat with his impossibly black eyes. "Why were you in that park anyway?"

Crossing her arms over her chest, Caitri sighed heavily. "I was following a lead. I heard word of a human who may be draining our people in a near by bar when I came across the scene. I got distracted and lost him in the crowd. I'll try and pick it up again tomorrow." Looking down at Terre she smiled as the woman began to open her eyes.

Terre blinked slowly, glancing around the room. She was no longer outside but inside a strange building. When she saw a familiar face hovering above her, the corners of her mouth twitched upwards. "Caitri..." She whispered softly as she tried to sit up.

"Easy does it, slowly. You don't want to go to fast. You had quite the beating." Cat grabbed a hold of the Earth Mother's shoulders and helped her into a sitting position. "I'll grab her some of my clothes." Brushing a stray lock of hair from Terre's eyes she hurried from the living room and down the hall way to one of the spare rooms where Cat usually stayed, hoping she had something for the other woman to wear. In the dresser she found a tank top and stretchy pants the would suit the women better than any of Cats revealing clothes and hurried back out into the living room. "Here we go, these should do."

"Hello earth mother," Peregrine said softly as Cat went to get clothes. He put a hand on the couch cushion to raise himself from the floor and join her on the seats but something about the way he did it appeared more fluid than his human body should have allowed. He smiled at her fondly, like a sympathetic father. He was only slightly older than Terre, relatively speaking, but he cared for all his subjects with nearly the same level of affection and fierce protectiveness. When Cat returned, he nodded gratefully to her and leaned back on the couch, letting the Druid assist with changing unless he was needed. He was not embarrassed by nudity- it was the natural state of most of his subjects as well as himself- but touching was another matter entirely. "When you are up to it, Terre, I would appreciate hearing what happened to you. Take as much time as you need. You are safe here."



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