A Locke Without a Key

[Saren]

"See ya!"

"After him!"

"Like you bastards will ever catch up with me," came the scoff from the young man as he dashed through the street. The sea of people parted for him, but it didn't close for the four Blues chasing him. Swearing to himself, the man leaped up, swinging himself through a rickety merchant's cart. He spooked the shopkeeper enough to cause her to clutch her merchandise to her chest and shout an angry curse at him. He whipped his head to give her a smirk before he picked up his feet and sped forward again.

"Get back here!" the lead Blue shouted, stabbing forward with his longsword. The thief scrambled to avoid the weapon, but it caught the end of his ragged, black scarf, tearing a hole beside the many others he had. Grunting with effort, the thief shoved the sharp end of the sword away, trying to get them off his tail. They were rather persistent, but he could understand why. In his small bag, he carried a priceless, ivory and gold goblet. Whoever drank the blood of their enemies with that goblet was said to gain magical powers, but he wasn't in it for that. He was in it for the money.

The chase suddenly went cold, and the thief skidded to a halt to find the Blues suddenly gone. He chuckled to himself, hefting the bag over his shoulder. Blues, or Blue Badges, were the police force ruling over the many parts of Icadvia. A technologically powered city, Icadvia had mastered the art of steam-powered devices, giving way to vehicles, both air and ground, and, in some parts, electricity.

None of that concerned the thief. He was just preparing himself to meld into the crowd, face covered in a makeshift hood when a heavy thud sounded on the building above him. He looked up to see several robed figures peering down, studying him.

"Locke. Looks like you're trapped. Now we'll finally get you for stealing from us."

"...Uh-huh. You forgot something."

"And what is that, thief?"

"I'm not trapped." His free hand blurred, and a knife blossomed from one of the figure's legs, and he clutched his limb in pain, screeching. The distraction was enough for Locke to bolt back the way he came. The Blues weren't on him anymore, so it was safe... for the most part. He ran up an old cart, bouncing on the end and jumping toward a balcony on a building. He hauled himself up, skittering to the flat roof so he could see his adversaries. Sure enough, three of them were donning the green robes of the Mage's Order, a powerful and influential guild in Icadvia. However, their companions were armed to the teeth.

"...Huh. They got smart." They were finally sending bounty hunters after them, but Locke had escaped them several times as well. It wasn't until one shot a bolt of lightning from his palm that he realized not only were they armed, they had magical abilities as well.

"Even better."

They picked up their step, and he took that as his cue. They were faster, but they were cheating. He was running on pure muscle and agility, and they were enhancing their strength through magical means. They were going to catch him at some point. Evasion was possible, but only if he ducked and weaved through miles of Icadvian alleyways and buildings. He would tire, and they would not. "Blasted mages," he muttered, leaping to another roof as he ran.

He would escape them. How? He didn't know. Only a miracle or eight perfect bullet shots would save him from his magical pursuers.

 

[GGMara]

Icadvia...​

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One of the world's technologically-powered cities. Intriguing to say the least as she'd not ventured around these parts before. The order had come from the Captain, to stop here, for supplies. It was a bit surprising to her but nevertheless, what the Captain wanted, he got and it would give her a chance to explore this glamorous city.​

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Icadvia...​

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Strange, there was something familiar about this area, at least to her.​

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She, Karma Ordel, stood upon a Weaponry Guild's rooftop, from the Captain rambled on about and some of the crew, this Guild not only sold weapons but allowed patrons to train in a specialized arena with them. It sounded tempting but Karma would only need to make a weapon purchase, training could be done another day, more importantly, on the ship. They needed Food, other necessities should they want to make it beyond the Saralang Marshes on the expected run. The young woman's shoulder-length brown-red hair came to be concealed underneath a light brown top hat Fitted with small goggles. She wore a green-striped somewhat revealing top with a short matching skirt over black tights and tall boots. Karma remained where she was, just a short distance away from the Eve-a steam-powered airship docked. One of the older models, it had become home after all this time, that and, the Captain would never part ways with it or put on new repairs to make it up to par with the newer ones.​

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She closed her light blue eyes as the wind pressed against her Face, a smile touched the young woman's lips. Opening them, she was greeted with the busy nature of the city. An abundance of airships, tall buildings, and of course people like little buzzards trying to get where they needed to go. A small part of her wished they could stay here a little longer, just to look around. Yes....​

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"Karma!"​

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The sudden shout of her name made her turn, to look back at the Eve. The deck. The aging Captain, with a Fiery spirit, held the side railing with one hand and the other gripped tightly black binoculars, their destination, pointed at her. She shook her knowing what he was about to say.​

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"I'm going, I'm going." She called out to him. "Calm down.....(can't I admire something For at least a moment, sheesh, old man) you don't need to worry." Maybe she should've been worried because in the next instant he was letting go of the railing to pull up something. Karma's eyes narrowed. Exactly what was he doing....oh no. Pulling up the combustive gun, a contraption made by Smithy, rather than using bullets, it took explosive pellets, effective.​

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"No!" Karma whirled around completely, her hands shaking Furiously. Too late, the old man was off his rocker. The small silver gun aimed seemingly at her, what would the Weaponry Guild owner think about their roof being damaged? The young woman took a chance to sprint, towards the roof's edge. She heard heard the loud drum-like explosion when obviously the Captain pulled the trigger. Around her Feet the ground imploded, she nearly tripped in the process to grabbing the roof's square edge to swing her body around.​

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"Damn you old man!" She shouted tossing her own Form over the side. Like the other buildings, the Weaponry Guild was quite tall and gray-looking. She retrieved a grappling hook from under her skirt attaching it to the ledges to prevent a most spaghetti result to the ground. Karma swung From ledge to ledge slowly reaching the ground where already a muscular black haired man, with a white apron on, stood. His jaw twitched, brown eyes angry, questionable.​

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Probably the owner. Had no doubt heard and seen the damage while inside his business establishment, how was she going to explain this to him? Luckily, the closer she came to coming down, he didn't see her, what are the chances? He seemed more concerned to peer up, try to, on the roof. Good. He could go up there and have a talk with the Captain, Karma thought as she reached the Final ledge, she withdrew the grappling hook jumping the distance, landing on her Feet. The owner ran back inside upon shouting abusive language, yeah, he was mad.​

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"Move!"​

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Karma was shoved, harshly. It sent her staggering to the side. "Goodness gracious..." She muttered angrily, she tossed her hair over her shoulder to glare at the one responsible. Some individual in a green hooded robe. They wore men's long brown boots under and as they ran, Karma saw them turn their head. It was a man.​

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He only gave her a cold look as he proceeded Forward, right hand angled to something hidden at his side. He was pursuing something or someone, she gathered, it made her mad that he could not even apologize. "Hmprf." She dusted her clothing off jumping a little when a woman's scream sounded.
"He's jumping on the roof! Some shady character! A thief!"
This made the individual in green skid to a halt, his emerald green eyes on the above world now, the buildings, where Locke was leaping. A smile crossed his lips, one sinister. "Got you now you miserable..." He was determined to catch Locke needing no help by his counterparts. Ruse was unaware that he was being watched by Karma, whom wanted to know what was going on. She looked up to, seeing a man crossing the roofs. Trying to escape? She suspected the rude individual perhaps chased him....but why...?
"There is no escape Locke!" Ruse shouted victorious. The hand angled around something now reached to retrieve it. A broad sword with a long black hilt, he retrieved it From it's respective black sheath. "Move!" He shouted to people walking around him. Once they viewed the sword, they ran like roaches, scattering, not sure what he was about to do. Karma watched him, not certain either, though she suspected he would attack the roof jumper. Ruse took a step back, the hood dropping around his shoulder as that white hair came to be exposed, he swung his sword around over his head, flames began to formulate around the weapon.
"A mage..." Karma whispered. She glanced back over her shoulder, to where ever Locke was, from the angle, when Ruse attacked, it was directed to that Weaponry Guild, where the Eve docked. Her people could be hurt. The young woman made a quick decision, whether or not it would be the right one remained to be seen. She threw out her grappling hook, it thrust Forward clocking Ruse in the head and thus preventing him from his attack. He groaned, ground-bound. "Sorry.." She called out.
"Did I do the right thing....?"​