Before taking two steps he turned back to Mundug, “Oh, just in case the Prince’s minions make quick work of the idiots, you may want to make yourself unavailable. I will only be a few minutes as my destination is close by, but to be safe . . . “

“I will be fine.”

Sage looked over the old Gangrel for a second. “Yeah okay.” Sage answered as he turned heal and headed north mumbling under his breath [i:26eb97f66b]I don’t listen? I heard you just fine . . . . [/i:26eb97f66b]

His destination was a body shop called ‘Body by Design’ that just happened to be a front for a chop shop. The one good thing about being who he was in this city was knowing all the places to get anything that wouldn’t be missed or able to be reported missing. When he arrived he made quick work of the lock at the front gate and even stopped for a second to pet the 2 Rottweilers that patrolled the premises. Making a quick scan of the area, he spotted a black 1998 Lexus tagged 11285 that was being held as turnover and quickly checked to make sure it was an automatic. Mundug may be able to drive a stick, but Sage could not. The next step was to find the paperwork and keys. Once in the office he quickly spotted the box that held all the ‘fake’ keys attached to a file cabinet that assuredly held all the paperwork. After matching numbers he was soon driving back to Mundug.

While Sage was on his way to fix the transportation problem, all Mundug had to do was wait and make sure to stay out of the sight of any other flunkies of the prince. That didn't seem to be a problem as from the noise he could hear in the distance, the assault Sage had somehow staged was just about to reach its climax.

Jerry yawned and Mundug agreed with him that the wait was rather boring. He had just finished inspecting his lugage for the fourth time when the old and dirty motorcycle that Sage had left behind, caught his attention. "Indian" the logo on it read and a native american tribesman featuring a many-feathered head ornament was depicted on it. The Chinook warrior shook his head, as far as he knew, Native Americans were as much related to motorcycles as swords were related to eskimos. Mundug scratched his hair and looked at the saddlebags. Indeed, like Sage had said, they did seem large enough for Jerry to be comfortable in for a longer journey on the road. The Gangrel, barely familiar with cars, had never riden a motorcycle, but he knew there had to be a first time for everything, especially if he wanted to keep up with the ways of the modern world.

Reluctantly, he placed himself on the worn leather seat of the bike, noticing the key was still on the ignition. The long moose-fur coat he was wearing almost made him fall off as he turned himself around to open a saddlebag for his companion. Jerry, not too sure of what his two-legged friend was getting himself into, protested, but finally jumped on the old bike and climbed in the spacious bag.

"Sage will have to put my bag in his car and then we're off.", Mundug explained to Jerry who was purring.

Finally, Sage arrived in the black Lexus and Mundug turned the key and started looking for that metal thing he knew he had to kick in order to start the engine...

Sage drove up carrying a satisfied grin on his face. Looking up he noticed that the old Gangrel wasn’t sitting on the rock as he had been when he left. “Where did you . . . “ The satisfied grin was soon washed over by panic. “Oh hell no!” Sage quickly jumped out of the Lexus and attempted to calmly walk over to where Darla was being prodded by this new stranger. “It’s an automatic transmission . . . . “

“The bike?” Mundug questioned looking up at Sage.

“No . . . your car! It’s nothing fancy but it wont get attention either.”

“That is good.” Mundug stated as he reached back, grabbed his pack, and held it at Sage, “Put this in the car.”

Sage let out a sigh of relief, “Sure. You know . . . “ he started as he turned back to the Lexus with Mundug’s bag, “I almost thought you were going to try and take Darla.”

“Darla?” Mundug asked still looking for the kick-start.

Sage opened the driver door, leaned in and carefully placed the bag that he assumed held the cat in the backseat, “Yeah that’s the name I gave her when . . . “ Suddenly Darla roared to life.

“Ah, there we go!” Mundug exclaimed, pleased with himself.

“What the fuck!” Looking through the window, Sage could see Mundug checking the gears and then the rearview mirrors. As he did, a small feline head poked out of the saddlebag. “Oh my god . . . . “ Sage quickly extracted himself from between the seats and exited the car just in time to see his Darla begin to pull away.

“Let’s go!” Mundug yelled back at Sage.

Sage jumped back into the Lexus while cursing every curse word he could think of.

Pepper leaned against a dark corner of the alley, the ember of her cigarette systematically flaring every few seconds. She didn’t need to smoke, the effects of smoking did her no good. Or harm for that matter. She watched with her keen eyes the scene unfolding before her.

Minutes before, a man and a woman had come bursting out of the bar door, laughing, loudly carrying on, obviously drunk to anyone who noticed. Well, the woman was drunk, that was evident. Pepper could smell the faint, sour smell of the woman’s blood. Johnny Walker Red, she guessed.

The man however, although acting no less inebriated, was performing a little show for his companion, and anyone else who happened by. He slammed the girl against the wall, not violently, but deliberately, and started sloppily kissing her. She was too wasted to really care, Pepper guessed, because she wasn’t fighting him off. “Yeah, that’s how I want to spend my existence,” Pepper thought, “with my panties down around my ankles, getting worked on by some slime who I just met in a bar.” Fucking juicebags, no self respect.

The act itself was over in less than three minutes. The frantic, physical activity, left the woman spent, as she slid to the ground, leaning against the wall for support, panties still around her ankles. The guy quickly buttoned up his levis, and unceremoniously left the girl to go back into the club.

Pepper thought for a moment, wondering if she should help this pathetic girl, who obviously didn’t have enough self-respect to keep herself in check. She dropped the cigarette on the ground and tamped it out with the heel of her boot. Fuck em, she thought, wasn’t her problem. She may be damned, but she sure as fuck wasn’t doomed. She couldn’t say the same about the life she observed every night in this city.

Almost as soon as she made her decision to leave, like a Scorsese movie, the two thugs came out of the shadows. Pepper seemed to fade into the shadows even more, watching the scene. They honed in on the girl, still sitting semi-unconscious on the ground, and slowly made their way over to her.

This poor stupid girl was gonna get raped, Pepper thought. She just knew it. Not that she cared. Juicebags were nothing more than sustenance for her, she didn’t give a flying fuck what else occurred in their lame existence.

Her keen sense of smell interrupted her thought. She centered herself to really study the two thugs. Kindred! What the fuck were they doing? Pepper couldn’t believe they were contemplating anything supernatural. Even though the alley wasn’t a main thoroughfare, anyone could walk out of the club or turn down the alley at any time.

The first one reached down to the girl. He patted her on the cheek, and was obviously murmuring some form of comfort to her. The second stood, surreptitiously looking around, the first ones little watchdog. Fucking noobs, she thought. Any lick worth his salt should have been able to detect something amiss in the alley, namely Pepper. Although she was quite able to make herself so still and serene that a mortal could walk right by her and look in her eyes and not see her, she didn’t have that same advantage with her brethren. At least, not always.

The first one was in motion again, helping the girl up to her unsteady feet. Pepper attuned herself with her surroundings in the alley, trying to gauge what these fucks had in mind. It was difficult, urban areas always managed to throw her off at first, but with some effort, she was able to size the situation up.

The first one began kissing her neck, her shoulders, her face, with less grace than her date rape pick up inside. The second one was shifting from foot to foot, seemingly overly excited.

This was strange, she thought. Kindred were solitary feeders. What the hell was going on?

As the first one raised his head up from his soulless seduction, Pepper saw his canines protract. He looked around, mouth agape, and Pepper cursed. Why not just print out a billboard saying ‘COME LOOK AT THE VAMPIRE’! Fuck it, her anger was rising at these two nooblets who were impugning on her little slice of the world.

She quickly looked around, trying to decide how to get rid of them. As she spied a thick hairless tail, she smiled inwardly. Let’s see how you like this.

She commanded the rat to go to the three figures, squealing and angry. It was just enough to distract the second one, who looked down in disgust. Looking down was just as well, that way he didn’t see the parade of about a dozen others coming from the other direction. They crawled on him, nibbling and squealing, not lethal by any means, but if these two noobs were as young as she figured they were, enough to freak the shit right out of them.

She was right, the second one started shaking frantically, trying to get them off his legs. The ones that were determined to hang on, thanks to her direction, he frantically started pulling off his body. He completely lost his composure, and started yelling. It was the little things in unlife that gave so much joy to Pepper. The second one had now completely abandoned the girl, trying to help his companion. The girl stood in horror, and then fainted. Humans, Pepper thought, so squeamish at the sight of a few vermin.

Pepper stepped out of the shadows. She was an extraordinarily beautiful vampire. The other two barely noticed her, so intent they were on stopping this attack of rats.

Okay, she was done with her fun. She called the rats off, and as quickly as they had descended on their prey, they retreated back into shadow. The two young kindred looked at her, shaken and confused.

“Smarten up you assholes. I better never see your ugly faces around here again, or the next time, I’ll let them finish dinner. Got it?”

The two looked at her mutely. They really were noobs, Pepper thought. Their sires should know better than to let the kids out after midnight. It’s a bad neighborhood.

“You got a problem understanding directions, nooblet? When I say I don’t want to see your ugly faces, that request is starting NOW!” Pepper took one more step toward them.

Fortunately the fight or flight instinct took over in the two neonates, and they scrambled away, tripping over their own feet in order to get away from the more powerful vampire.

Pepper stared for a moment, making certain they were gone. Well, at least it went well, no bloodshed tonight. Not that she would have minded. She knew she could have handled the two noobs easily. She just wasn’t in the mood.

She looked down at the prone form. Poor stupid girl, she thought. She glanced around seeing the alleyway empty. To any passerby, the next 30 seconds would have looked erotic and embarrassing. As much as anyone wanted to see two girls making out, they would still look away.

Once Pepper had finished her feeding, she licked the girls wound, knowing she wouldn’t remember most of this evening when she sobered up.

She reached into her pocket, pulled out her cell and dialed 9-1-1. “911 what is your emergency?” came the crackly dispatch voice.

“I’m at the back entrance to Vibe, on main. There is a girl here unconscious, and it looks like she may have been assaulted.” “We’re sending a unit out now ma’am., may I have your name?” Pepper clicked the phone closed.

She waited about 30 more seconds, and once she heard the sirens off in the distance, she felt sure her temporary charge was safe, and slipped off into the night.

((Fantastic Pepper!

((Can't wait to see how our paths cross Pepper!

NS!! ::drools::

Without any further delay, the two Gangrels left the city center and were on their ways eastbound, to a city called Cascadia.

Initially Mundug was a bit clumsy one the large bike, but soon enough he got the hang of it and even somewhat started to enjoy the feeling of his hair and long coat behind him, fluttering in the wind. Jerry on the other hand seemed to get more pleasure out of staring at the driver in the black Lexus that was driving closely on their tails.

Sage, clearly not happy with the situation, kept a close eye on his precious Darla while trying to avoid the mischievious expression on the cat's face. His annoyance only grew more when a leather and chrome bikergang passed on his left side and signaled a greeting to the native american, who clearly not understanding what was going on greeted them back, by mimicing their pinky and index finger signal. Sage grumbled and rolled his eyes, seeking a distraction from the scene in front of him, he turned on the radio.

[i:25a0b1826f][b:25a0b1826f][size=18:25a0b1826f]"...YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMIN'..."[/size:25a0b1826f][/b:25a0b1826f][/i:25a0b1826f]

As if to make things worse, Judas Priest's heavy metal hit pounded in his face. Quickly Sage changed channels, till he heard the news bulletin about the assault in Denver that seemed to quickly have come to and end and for the moment was categorized as organized crime related violence.

...

Pepper awoke with a start. Long ago did she give up the nightmares of her mortal life, but tonight they closed in on her as though the horrors she endured were only yesterday. Well this was a shitty way to start a night. She listened carefully for signs of any life out near where she had bedded herself down in the earth, and discerning no human presence, she slowly emerged from the moist earth.

A quick dust off, and she was as good as new. It was amazing, even after 281 years, she never failed to marvel at how every night when her skin touched the cool air, she was rejuvenated, cleansed, and exactly as she had been the night her mortality was drained from her.

She tromped off to the small hill overlooking the city. She actually liked Cascadia very much. Nothing too exciting happened her, which she also liked. It gave her the opportunity to create her own excitement, within her own controlled environment. This sleepy little promontory was perfect. Close enough to wildlands, yet urban enough to provide her the sustenance she craved.

Sure, she had heard of the massive Garou uprising. People still spoke of it in hushed tones, in decorous parlors. Pepper only went to Elysium when she absolutely HAD to, she really hated pompous fucks, especially the Ventrue. To think they looked down their nose at her. It was too much of a reminder of her mortal life, and caused her to think of things best left forgotten.

“Ah fuck it”, she said, trying desperately to shrug off the doom and gloom from her rude awakening. She lit a cigarette, being superbly careful about embers and heated sulfur. She was way beyond the “Rottschrek” reaction most Kindred had to fire, but she didn’t want to take a chance of destroying any of the beauty that surrounded her.

She took a long stretch, as though to work out kinks in her back, although it was a mortal reaction, not a vampiric one. Her body was pristine physically, preserved that way for all time by her sire, Angelus.

She figured it would be another lay low kind of night, Aside from the occasional mortal shenanigans, like the one she witnessed the night before, nothing ever happened in Cascadia to ruffle her feathers, so to speak. And she figured nothing ever would. She liked it that way.

She had no idea that things were about to change……

[i:e7248f3830]The hundreds of trains, riverboats and greyhounds that enter the catacombs of the city, bring with them a vibrancy.

A rhythm that pulses with life up through the veins of alleys, echoing along massive structures of glass and steel that form the skeleton of the metropolis. Lights flicker and shimmer for hundreds of square miles, traces of the journeys the thousands of commuters make every day.

No-one seems to remember. Or more likely they choose to forget the carnage that took place here a few short years ago. Only the still ruined buildings on the East side, adorned with the glyphs and sigils of street gangs, junkies and things far darker and more elusive, bear homage to those troubled nights.[/i:e7248f3830]

Finn rode the crooked train from Los Angeles, feeling himself sink ever further as he went from the warm balmy nights of California, to the clammy, cool, tenebrous sunsets of Cascadia.

He watched his reflection being distorted time and again as the rattling worm-like train passed under bridges and through tunnels. The changes in light bounced off his eyes as he peered into the blackness beyond the glittering glass of his window. He could make out a few lit offices, probably some desperate kine trying to earn a few extra pennies. He felt something then. Longing perhaps? He wasn’t sure. So he suppressed whatever it was and thought of the nights ahead.

His thoughts betrayed him again however, taking him back to the time of his Embrace. The mentor he thought he’d found in Porter....

...he held in a grunt at the thought of his Sire’s name....

As the train unloaded its passengers, he stepped onto the wind scarred platform. mindful of the gap as the announcements always warned. A drunk sat muttering obscenities into his raggedy arsed coat, turning the air into a pungent smelling effluent as he spoke. Finn shot him a glance, darker than he intended and watched the drunk’s face wither with fright as though seeing something unnatural.

He hailed a cab, asking the driver to take him to Perdition, Cascadia’s oldest surviving club.

As the cab rolled forward he looked out of the window. And saw her.

She didn’t look any different. Still achingly beautiful. Still smoking like the proverbial. And still as sour-faced as ever.

----------

Pepper saw him come out of the station. Her jaw dropping as he hailed a cab. True enough he looked a little different. His chest was a little too broad, his eyes looked older. Like they’d lost the innocence he once had.

----------

[i:e7248f3830]“Stop the car.”

“What?”

“I said stop the fucking car!” [/i:e7248f3830]

Climbing out he gave Pepper an urban nod and called out.

[i:e7248f3830]“Pepper-corn!”[/i:e7248f3830]

The road stretched out in front of them as it had for the past several hours. [i:d71f9b0096]‘This part of the country is amazingly flat’[/i:d71f9b0096] Sage thought to himself. The radio had been the only thing keeping his mind occupied until it turned to static about a half hour ago leaving it free to wander. Sage was normally not the type to ever regret the past nor worry too much about the future; but now he found himself doing both. Occasionally he would shake his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts and then give some rational as to why he was feeling as he was. His latest reasoning was claustrophobia from being stuck in the car. He missed the sensation of the air caressing his face and combing his hair as Darla rumbled underneath.

[b:d71f9b0096]REST AREA – KOA – GAS – NEXT EXIT[/b:d71f9b0096]

Sage flashed his lights and turned his signal on in hopes to catch Mundug’s attention. It was going to be dawn soon and they needed to find a place to rest for the day. He was also feeling a bit woozy from the lack of sustenance and there was no doubt Darla was getting low of fuel. Ahead of him the old Gangrel motioned in acknowledgement.

The rest stop was a large oasis of trees and grass that stuck out like a sore thumb in the flat farmland that surrounded them for as far as the eye could see. They pulled in and passed the first small section that was obviously created for the short-term visitor who just needed to stretch or use the restroom, and pulled into the campgrounds that were placed farther back off the main road.

Sage parked next to Darla, cut the engine, and slowly stepped out of the Lexus. “You can’t just go and take other . . .” Sage was cut short as Mundug threw Darla’s keys at him.

“Thank you.” Mundug stated patting Sage on the shoulder and taking a quick scan of the area.

Rubbing his face in frustration, Sage simply responded, “You’re welcome.”

By the amount of cars located on the parking, The Kampgrounds of America location didn't seem to be too populated that night. There were visitors in the small amount of RVs, some in tents and probably some in the log cabins. No doubt most of them would leave and continue their journey at day break.

Jerry hopped out of the confinement of the saddlebag, glad to be able to stretch his legs. Hopefully the new companion of his two-legged friend wouldn't be too angry with the little present he left for him. While both of the two-leggers might be vampires, he was only a cat and cats still had to obey nature.

Mundug took a moment to oversee the campground and then seemingly satisfied he turned to Sage.

"This place looks adequate enough to spend the day. You should fuel up the vehicles and get a cabin for the day. I assume your amaranth has satisfied your hunger for tonight, if not, you should try feeding some more before resting. I will be feeding and then I will be looking for a place to spend the day. I will see you again at the parking lot after sunset, when we shall continue our journey. Don't sleep too tight."

"Hmmm, but why...alright.", Sage replied, seeing that Mundug was already on his way and wasn't listening anymore anyway.

"Yeah...okay...whatever makes you happy. What's wrong with you anyway? Sage, mumbled to himself, walking towards the vehicles.

Fueling up Darla didn't take much time, but discovering that the leather saddlebag was soaked wet in urine, almost made the Gangrel frenzy on the spot. Only with extreme efforts of self-control could he convert it to a waterfall of curses and the Niagara Falls were small compared to this one.

After the bike came the Lexus, the guzzling 4-liter engine had almost drained the tank of every drop of gasoline. Gas/mileage was not something Sage concerned himself with at the moment, though.

Finished with the job and slamming the door shut, Sage noticed Mundug's bag, still on the backseat. Sage kept staring at it for a full half minute. Maybe the contents of that bag might give him more insight in who its owner was, he kept thinking. He sure was curious about this native american Gangrel and gaining more knowledge when he could was something...he had a hard time resisting. On the other hand, risking to get on the bad site of this elder kindred was not something he was looking forward to. Besides, it might be some sort of lame test, Sage would definitely not put something like that beyond Mundug's nature. Sage looked around him, there was no sight of the native, nor could he see his obnoxious cat. Of course, he realized, that was no guarantee at all...

Meanwhile, Mundug had fed on some camper that needed take a late night slash at the common latrines. At that point sunrise was only an estimated hour and a half away, most of that time, he spent running through the flat landscape beyond the campground till almost ten miles further, he found a suitable place where protected from the sun, he could spend the day without getting bothered.

[i:09a93f66c0]"Really ladies and gents, I think it's a pretty standard proposal."[/i:09a93f66c0] Tyler flicked the binder onto the large mahogany desk that comprised the bulk of the conference room's furniture. The binder spun momentarily on it's pleather face before falling to rest near the center of the massive table.

His eyes ran over the faces of the city zoning board's faces as they scrutinized their own identical copies of the packet, trying to appear as though they were still deciphering factoids that may influence their decisions. They, as well as Tyler, all knew that their minds had been made up long before the Kindred's little presentation.

The fledgling Ventrue smiled and crossed his arms like an emperor ready to inspect his spoils of war. Seat by seat, the members set their papers down, exchanging furtive glances of doubt. Finally, a stuffy bald figure near the end of the table spoke up in a tinny voice.

[i:09a93f66c0]"While Mississippi Trading Co. has always been a valuable asset to Cascadian economy, I must confess I see very few advantages to zoning this particular tract of land as a heavy industrial zone. In fact,"[/i:09a93f66c0] he glanced around at his peers, garnering support, [i:09a93f66c0]"I believe I can safely speak for this board when I say it would be a greivous act towards the citizens of Cascadia to erect such heavy industry near such a populated zone."[/i:09a93f66c0]

There were several affirmations of Councilman Greene's opinion, and Tyler sat silently through all of them. He nodded occasionally and kept a wry grin upon his boyish lips. As the cards stacked against him, he played his ace in the hole. His steelen eyes fell upon Councilman Witherspoone. The once formidable man shrunk under his gaze.

Witherspoone had a long political history in Cascadia. His powerfully set features barely seemed touched by over a half a century spent on Earth. A great mane of silver hair gave him a touch of regality. Well read and tailored, he was a charismatic figure. But all those qualities accounted for little against video surveillance of the good councilman screwing a hooker in the hallway of Casino Gabriella, which was at current time sitting several city blocks away in Tyler's personal vault.

True, perhaps the hooker had been drugged, and the councilman's drink spiked, but none of that would matter to the public. The crescendo came at the end of the three minute tape, when the hooker had luckily enough died from an overdose, and the councilman fled the scene. Blackmail was an old hat, but one that Tyler wore happily. Retro fit him well.

[i:09a93f66c0]"I'll have to disagree with the board here. I think that the proposed industrial park could have long term benefits for Cascadia..."[/i:09a93f66c0] as Witherspoone began to drone on about possible fiscal good tidings, Tyler merely smiled at how these things had a way of working themselves. For as much dirt as the young Ventrue had on Witherspoone, the councilman himself had even more on his fellow board members. They would comply with his wishes.

And so, half an hour later, when Tyler stepped into the evening air with the distinct air of victory about him, he was in tremendous spirits.

Shifting the review mirror, Sage once again studied the bag in the back seat. “He’s an ass.” He spoke aloud to himself, “I went from working for ass’s and learning something to following an ass and getting nothing.” He started the Lexus and pulled it back around to park it again. “Of course I haven’t really asked nor have I stood up to him. He’s an elder and a loner. He’s probably not used to having someone else around.” He threw the car in park and shut it off. “Now . . . I’m freakin’ talking to myself.” After a short time of thought, Sage decided to leave the bag alone. If he had questions he would ask them himself.

Sage moved Darla out of sight and slowly walked through the campsites into a thick area of trees at the far end of the lot. He had felt woozy earlier, and thought it was hunger, but it had passed. He figured it was from his deed earlier that night, a side effect of some kind; but as it was now, he was fine. It was time for rest. Finding a good tree that was well out of sight of the camps, he curled up under the ground amongst its roots and slept.

Drain sat in his office going over many reports, and phone call lists.

one report caught his eye.. an ambulance was sent to a bar in the east end of town.. a rather hard bar where fights were not uncommon amung mortals.. but this one was odd because its time coincided with a report about a pack of savage rats.

Damn this report is a day old