A T O N E M E N T

[Clopin]

March 1st | (Closed to Clopin's assassins for now; will open up to the Blackblood Legion later). Plot related thread, regarding King Clopin and his assassins targeting Mortaray.


The soft white light of the full moon draped the buildings of the desert city like a blanket of snow, providing ample light to see everything, from a commoner’s evening stroll to the massive palace of Agrabah itself.

Dark brown eyes scanned the rooftops across the way, and down below, making sure there was no one around. With a gloved hand signal, the gypsy king silently ordered his assassins onto the next rooftop, as they quickly made their way closer to the palace.

It hadn’t been too long after the battle that Clopin and his assassins had discovered who had ordered the Blackbloods to take over the supply lines in Australia. It took some sweet-talking and a slit throat, but eventually, they got their answer out of Sir Brighton: Maleficent. Although she was the main driving force, Mortaray was the army’s main trainer and one of her overseers. To get rid of him would be a substantial blow.

In return for Jenn’s nearly fatal damage, the king had sworn revenge on the Blackblood army, any way he could. He certainly could not go up against Maleficent herself, but an overseer?

An easy target, especially for the seven of them. He had taken a full month to plan out a method of attack, and he was sure that if every one of them could follow his directions religiously, they’d have no issue taking down Mortaray.

“Clopin, shouldn’t we at least wait a little? Aurelio mentioned guards that were posted in all four corners of the palace. And I know that none of us know of any secret entryways, unless your brother kept that as his little secret.” Taylor whispered, as she knelt down next to Clopin, turning her gaze from the palace to him.

The gypsy king rolled his shoulders, and dropped them, with a deep sigh and a nod.

“You’re correct. We only have one chance to do this. One misstep, and this mission will be all for nothing.” he said, looking back to the others. They hadn’t been working together long as a team, but for a united cause, Clopin could only pray to the gods that they would all pitch in.

“Are you all prepared to do this?”

[Shanty]

For once, the Captain is silent. Stunningly so, in fact. It’s not even just her voice, it’s her entire presence. After their little.. adventure with Sir Brighton, Shanty had apparently gone and slowly upgraded herself. While she still clicked and whirred on occasion, it seems most ambient noises could now be muffled.

Illuminating gaze is off on the horizon, a strange, stony expression across Shanty’s face. She hadn’t felt this in months. The calm before the storm. There’s an ache in her systems, like a dog pulling its lead. Whether it be Rogue or Legion, blood was being spilled before the sun rose.

At the question, only Shanty’s eye shifts. There’s no noise from her, just a simple nod.

There was no going back.

[Deleted]

Beside Shanty, Sherekhan is stock still. Every muscle stiffened, and his gaze focused below on the palace grounds. Watching. Waiting. The mission with Sir Brighton had been a learning curve for the old cat, but as always he was quick to adapt and he had learned his listen well enough. He needed to be cautious of what he was doing, this mission depended on it. This blow would be huge for the Blackbloods, sure it wasn't Maleficent but an overseer being killed? Well, that was sure to shake the foundations a bit.

At Clopin's question, just like Shanty, Khan did not move much. The only clear sign that he had heard and agreed was the turn of his golden gaze on the king and then the shuffle of him preparing to leap. He was ready for blood, eager for it in fact. But he would not go a beat before ordered, well unless he saw that sniffling excuse for a tigress again.

[Shenzi]

Shenzi had no real stakes in this war, aside from potentially losing the only powerhouse that would let her and her kind into their ranks. She didn’t particularly care for anyone’s cause. She wasn’t out for revenge. She felt next to no comradely for anyone in the Rogues that wasn’t a part of her clan. Very little on the outside had an effect on her. The only thing the Rogues had going for them was that they, at the very least, weren’t lions. Though, now Shenzi was beginning to doubt the trust she’d put in them to not look down upon her. She wasn’t about to stoop to the level of trying to “prove” her worth to anyone. Now all she cared about at this point was her allies not getting in her way.

So then why did the matriarch sit in the dark alongside the others, motionless as to blend in with the nighttime grey?

Well, she needed to take out her frustrations somehow.

[Amber]

Shadows and silence were the assassin’s best friends, and no one knew this better than the ginger fox as he silently followed after his companions. He’d literally had that lesson beat into him and by this point using those 'friends' to the best of his ability was second nature now. The vulpine landed on all fours as the group leaped to the next rooftop, his form easily adopting the stance of his more feral comrades. He then quickly fell into place behind Clopin and awaited further orders.

A turn of mismatched gold, a flick of a dark-colored ear, and a nod so subtle it might not have even been there were Amber’s response, and agreement, to Clopin’s question. The fox was more than ready: he was eager. Ever since the success of the last mission, he’d been not-so-patiently awaiting the next. This was his element, and he was ready; before the night was over Amber knew that he would feel the sweet sensation of blood on his blade once more.

[Esmeralda]

Aurelio glanced up at Taylor when he heard his name, "No, I wouldn't keep such vital information on a mission as important as this. We have everything I could get. This isn't going to be easy."

Aurelio sat on the edge of the roof. Feet dangling over the edge. He kicked lightly, looking far more casual than he had any right to be in such dire circumstances.

His loose and flowing garb was replaced with slightly tighter clothes. Dark pants tied at the calves, then tucked into tall boots. A long sleeve shirt bound similarly around his wrists. The amount of loose movement limited. The colors dark and muted to match the Arabian night. Aurelio had a pole staff resting idly over his shoulder, arm dangling over it.

He took a deep breath, and then stood up, planting the end of his staff firmly, "I'm ready, Clopin. Lead the way."

[Clopin]

“Magnifique.” Clopin said, as a devilish grin spread across his face. He pulled his scythe close, and began the journey across the rooftops of the city, his eyes on the only thing that was his focus right now: the palace.

__________________________

Taylor mentally cursed at herself as she nearly tripped getting over the wall that shielded the courtyard from the view of the rest of the city. But once they were all down on the ground again, she breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily for them, there only seemed to be a few guards on duty, and so far, they hadn’t been spotted.

Clopin used a few hand signals to usher them into a more secluded spot, so that they could regroup and figure out the best way to get rid of the guards.

“I say we just kill them.” Taylor whispered, with a shrug. At this point for her, a few dead guards were better than a few injured guards who could still give them away.

__________________________

(Open to the Blackblood Legion, but the assassins are still hidden! Please refrain from referring to them before they attack their target! I’ll post another OOC when they can be acknowledged.)

“Dare.”
“I thought you’d ask for a truth.”
“Yeah, I thought one of you guys had at least something interesting to say a truth about.”

The two demons looked down to the Akita that trotted between them, and broke out into a laugh. Alastor then lowered his head down to Sol’s level, his scarlet eyes meeting her blue ones.

But before Alastor could say something back to her, Corson paused in his step, ears perked and alert.

“Corson?”

(anyone can interact with these three)

[Mortaray]

"Excellent idea but we have no idea if someone is lurking right around the corner, or on one of those balcony's just above us." Khan hissed lowly to Taylor. While he agreed a few dead guards were nothing he did not want to take the chance of this whole event going sideways. After all, not even a day ago he had killed one of the Blackblood Legions overseers. It was best that they didn't take more chances then they needed too. His head shook lightly before he moved to lay his body against the ground. Watching, waiting for any sort of trouble to spark.

---

Slow footsteps brought Mortaray out to the three that patrolled the surrounding area of the Palace. His ears tilted forward as he looked the trio over, shifting his form back into that of his human form. His hands dusted down over his clothes before he gave a small incline of his head in greeting. "Alastor, Sol, Corson." The overseer greeted softly. "A set of our guards will be switching out on the Southern post in a few minutes, I want you three to go down there and secure the area until we can get a proper seasoned Ghazi warrior there in place. Once we have one there, the three of you can go back to what you were doing. I hope it isn't too much trouble to ask, I know Nasira assigned you on patrol duty but..." He shook his head lightly, there was an obvious unease about the poor guy. The death of Perthmail had hit Mortaray harder than a ton of bricks and he would not recover from that loss any time soon.

He and Perthmail had their differences in the past but they had also been close friends like he and Facilier were. It was hard on him to think that damn pirate was gone to a sea monster no less and he had no time to properly more. The soldiers needed training, and the Palace needed more security. It was a heavy weight on his chest that he had to put aside for the time being no matter how hard such a blow hurt.

"We don't need any more casualties." He breathed out sharply in an attempt to harden himself back to his proper hierarchal status. "I need everyone on the lookout alright? Our enemy is sure to know we might be struggling at the moment, there's no telling when they'll strike."

[Nasira]

Nasira's mood was as dark as the wine in her hand. The fire from the lanterns shone against the walls of the palace. She idly held up the glass goblet to the gleam of the flickering flames as if to admire the thick glass. Such goblets were rare in Agrabah, and those wealthy enough to afford them swore they sweetened the taste of wine. Nasira lowered the glass to her lips and took a small sip. It did nothing to dispel the monster ravaging her memories.

Mortaray's caramel words ephemerally pulled back the curtains, and the visage of that succubus faded to a spectral though she still lingered.

"...there's no telling when they'll strike."

Nasira smiled wryly and swirled the wine in her glass, seeing blood. The night was young. She set the heavy glass down. The sea monster huffed and stalked off to the far-off reaches of Nasira's mind, leaving her in the present. "I would not put it past them. Go now."

[Shanty]

"At ease," comes Shanty's voice for the first time tonight. It's almost completely silent, barely a whisper on the smoke that passes her lips. A gloved hand carefully shifts, to one of her pockets, and she produces something. Small, metallic... obviously a bit scratched and scuffled, but otherwise still functional: a little silver bird.


"You can thank Mister Khan for this one."


As she speaks, the little creature flits silently into the dark, and Shanty's eyes flicker before seeming to turn off. It seems she's using her little trinket to get an eye in the sky for them, even if it means blinding herself at the time.

"Now let's see what they're hiding..."