4816/Drunkard at the Docks

Drunkard at the Docks
Date of Scene:	04 July 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Black Queen, Zhao Lin

---

Black Queen has posed:
The containers had lots of things in them, from all over the world. Some were being delivered, some were being sorted. In any situation, at this point Selene was present in all her Black Queen glory. Which means a real animal furred coat that looks expensive, a pair of black boyshorts, mostly transulcent leggings going down into fur-rimmed high heeled boots. Down the middle of the coat there was skin exposed, nothing that would make her immodest, but it definitely shows she isn't wearing anything underneath of the coat. Black eyeliner and lipstick are her makeup and otherwise, she's just some fashionista gangsta looking woman though not the one carrying any weapons.

Right now she was walking alone, her compadres were hunting through the loading dock and every container she stops at she places her hand on the container and waits a few moments. It takes a bit to magically scan over the insides of the container, and with a disappointed shake of her head she walks on. Turning a corner she's headed to another container, thus far they are only doing the bottom row and going through the effort of unstacking and re-stacking containers as they go so that Selene can do her thing. Others are actually looking over manifests and seeing what came in. It's clear they knew something was coming in, but not which container exactly. The other part of this whole thing is all of the dock workers who might normally be trying to stop this group are helping them out. So, maybe they aren't as nefarious as they first seem?

Zhao Lin has posed:
    Naturally, every dock has to deal with vagrants wandering on-site now and then, and this one would be no exception. Though Zhao Lin is most often seen around Manhattan, today he's found stumbling into the docks on the south end of Staten Island. The snow leopard man looks like he's already drunk, he smells of booze, and at first glance, he looks like he slept in a gutter somewhere. He stops near the corner of one of the cargo containers, leaning up against it with one hand while the other lifts his gourd canteen to his muzzle. He takes a drink from it, then exhales a sigh as he lowers it before wiping his mouth on his sleeve. Blearing blinking as he looks around, the felinoid man makes his way further into the arrangement of stacked shipping containers and crates, for the moment going unnoticed by the dockworkers. They're paid to do their jobs, keeping vagrants out was security's job. Of course, the security guards that were supposed to keep Zhao Lin out are a little busy taking a nap on the floor of their guard booth at the moment.
    Selene might notice him before any of the others, in fact, as she likely has heightened senses that would take note of his presence. Despite her outward appearance, he doesn't seem concerned as he approaches her like she were any other ordinary, common person. He stumbles up to stand beside her, swaying slightly on his feet. "Busy day today?" he asks her, his speech slurred slightly, which makes his thick Chinese accent even more difficult to understand, "Did you... *hic*... lose something important?" His brow arches slightly, Zhao Lin finally glancing more directly towards her. Whatever else he may be, he's also only a man, and he definitely, obviously checks her out as he stands there beside her, perhaps even leering a little. Though, his gaze lingers on that coat she wears, a brief scowl furrowing his brow before finally he looks away, and tilts his head back to take another drink from his canteen.

Black Queen has posed:
There's certainly a presence disturbing the force that was not supposed to be there. Normally Selene would've even noticed the security guards that she had, only an hour or so earlier, turned into thralls going night night but she was rather busy and focused on these containers. And that's why you have goons and mooks, to keep an eye out when you are doing the real work. A momentary sigh comes from her as she notices the furred man, the first sign that she might be more than human herself is that she doesn't seem at all taken aback by this furry man.

"Busy? Yes." Her voice reeks of wealthy elite, and she smiles gently to the man in front of her, "And you? Having a good day yourself? Full gourd and all that?" The chinese accent is certainly easy for her to understand, she's been around thousands of drunk chinese men in her lifetime, and quite frankly has some of their souls inside of her forever helping to keep her alive. There's a few tilted up, high nosed sniffs into the air, "You certainly smell of a good day."

Zhao Lin has posed:
    Zhao Lin offers her a broad grin, and a low-toned giggle in his throat. "Every day is a good day when you have a gourd full of baijiu," he states, lifting the canteen in something of an uneasy salute before he tips it back for another drink. He certainly reeks of alcohol, and his disheveled clothes probably haven't been washed in several days, at least. Up close, though, she would notice his fur is a lot cleaner than someone in his predicament would likely possess. Being the sinister creature that she is, the thought might even occur that he would make a very handsome throw rug. When at last Zhao Lin lowers the canteen again, he rather nonchalantly offers it to the woman with a friendly smile. He doesn't seem to consider her his enemy, at least, not yet anyway. He may not even know who she is at all, considering how infrequently he mingles with the upper-crust of society.
    "There are always ways to make a day better, though," he states, a low rumbling tone coming from the leopardine man as he grins at her. Whether it's a growl or a purr is difficult to tell, but it's clear that this vagrant man meant that with some kind of innuendo. "What is it that would make your day better, hmm? I am certain there could be some way I could help out." His tail flits behind him a little, twitching almost playfully as he sways on his feet beside her. His eyes shift away from her for a moment though as he, like her, keeps an eye on the men searching the containers for their mutual object of interest. In this instance, an ancient Chinese sword from the Qin dynasty, set with a large piece of hematite in its hilt. It was, in fact, that piece of hematite that both Zhao Lin and Selene were after.

Black Queen has posed:
"Every day is a good day. Though not for the reasons you mentioned." Selene tilts her head a little and just a bit of a wince comes to her from the fumes coming off this man? Animal? She lets a little shrug comes to her shoulders and magically, probably literally, the coat she wears stays in place exactly as it should to keep too much from view. And she saunters forward just a few steps before mentioning, "Though I rarely drink baiju. There was a time, as a saucy wench in an inn, a long time ago." It can't be that long ago, she looks in her early 20s, and she smiles a bit reminisciently, before mentioning, "Better than lighter fluid, really. Though it depends on what you are barbecuing, and for what purpose. The aroma can... cause things to stink."

A soft chuckle comes from her lips before she trails a finger along the nearest container, "I am looking for something in these containers. Something that belongs to me, it is my right. And this will help me acquire it. I cannot imagine that your nose, enhanced as it clearly is, might be able to detect hematite would it? An almost glassy mineral, but with a more metallic edge, like aged blood on a sidewalk. Or... you know, something similar."

Zhao Lin has posed:
    Zhao Lin's ear twitches when she mentions hematite, and his brow arches. He hesitated briefly, in bringing his canteen to his muzzle again, before taking another drink. "I do not think I could smell it among all the cargo containers," he admits, "But I would happily help you look." He flashes her another grin, his tail flicking behind him. He knows, mostly, that he's looking for a container with Chinese markings on it, and little else. It would almost certainly be in there, having been shipped over from Hong Kong. The snow leopard man watches her as she drags a finger over one of the containers, his tail giving a flick behind him. He could feel the hairs on his neck standing on end, and he was wary of the people around him. There were quite a few people around, after all, and he knew he'd probaly have to fight some of them.
    "This... thing you are searching for," he says, "It is significant to you somehow?" His brow arches a bit, and he stumbles forward, walking past her towards one of the crates. He leans his hand against it, leaning over it to inspect the markings. "An heirloom, perhaps?" he inquires, brow arching again as he turns his head once more, looking at Selene from where he's almost falling over against the crate.

Black Queen has posed:
You flick your tail and twitch your ears, and Selene hrms a bit as she thinks about your offer. "You would help me? Search for this item I seek?" SHe questions a bit before adding, "It is designed to fit another piece. Right now it is in a sword, that part inconsequential. Probably worth a great deal, but a rock like few exist forged into this sword, that is mine." She offers, "I commissioned it's creation. And it fits something else entirely."

Walking closer, Selene stops at conversational distance and just wonders, "Why are you willing to help? You are a bit of a strange creature, not overly so, but you act and drink, and drink and act. The drunkard pretending to be the drunkard, a spiral seems to loop down and down." A pause, and she claps her hands off to the side, when she says, "Alright. If you wish to help, take these 6 guards with you to look through the containers. Find it, the sword is yours."

Zhao Lin has posed:
    There's a chuckle from Zhao Lin and he nods his head slowly. "My name is Zhao Lin," he tells her, "And I am nothing more than a humble beggar." He smiles to her, providing a formal, if unsteady bow as he introduces himself. "Hoping for a scrap of food, a cup of drink, or a warm place to stay. If I can give a kindness in helping you find your lost sword, perhaps you will give me a kindness in return?" His brow arches again, and he looks about him at the six men with a grin. They certainly don't seem the jovial type, but he nods his head all the same. "That sounds like an excellent idea," he says, stumbling over to one of the guards, heavily slapping an arm around the man's shoulders to lean heavily against him. Zhao Lin hiccups in the man's face, leaning far too close for comfort, particularly with the way his breath reeks of liquor. "Perhaps we should start in that direction?" he asks, pointing to a stack of containers not yet searched by Selene's minions.

Black Queen has posed:
There's a pause and Selene smiles a bit, "Are you saying that you are pretty above and beyond all?" She questions, finding some manner of humor in your name. If separated, Zhao would be above and beyond all, while lin means pretty. Though the woman chuckles a bit, "Very well, pretty cat, go along and find me what it is I seek."

With that, Selene goes off in a slightly other direction. The man that you put your arm around seems to grimace, but only a little and does little to try and get away from Zhao. Though he says, "You better help you miscreant. We need to find this for Selene. Whoever does will get a wish granted." The man speaks Selene's name with an enamored, maybe enthralled tone.

Zhao Lin has posed:
    The snow leopard flashes a broad grin to Selene. "Close," he says, "But my name was given to me by my Master. Its meaning is closer to that of..." He pauses a moment to think of the English words. "Luminous gem," he finally tells her. There's another grin then, and a flick of his tail. "But you are still welcome to think I am pretty," he says. His attention then shifts to the man that was talking to him, and his brow arches. "Ooh, a wish?" He looks to Selene again, brow arched. "You grant wishes now? How exciting. I will have to think of what I want." His tail swishes again, and Zhao Lin throws back another swig from his canteen before he starts off in the direction of the containers. Despite his drunken demeanor, as he comes to the stack of cargo containers, he begins to climb them! It's fairly easy for him to hop up the short distance to grab hold of the top of one of the shipping containers and haul himself up. "If what you are looking for is particularly old," he says aloud, "It almost certainly comes from China! That is where all of the best old things are from." He stumbles across the top of one of the containers, hops a small gap to another one, before stopping in front of it. "Ah, this one, likely," he says, squinting as he reads what's on it. "Shi Lian Company," he reads aloud, before opening up the container and disappearing inside!

Black Queen has posed:
As Selene listens, she smirks, she was there when Chinese was first being formed, but she nods her head a few times. When there's a question about wishes she calls back as she's touching another container, "I gratn many things. The least of which is wishes." She offers as she shakes her head to that container as well. And then she continues on in her high heeled booted way, with the progression of her steps she rocks back and forth with her hips, and she just finds another one to scan through.

"If you find the sword and it is intact, you may yourself seek a wish. It shall be granted, no matter what it is. Wealth, power, what ever it is that you seek and desire." Then she lets the men go about their looking, this is not a task for her it is too menial. So she stands there, waiting as other cargo containers are being searched elsewhere as well, and even the 6 escorts for Zhao open up one of the ground level containers and start looking through that.

Zhao Lin has posed:
    As tempting as a wish would be for Zhao Lin - and he could think of a few things he would ask Selene for - none of it was as tempting as the promise of not having the world ruined by an ancient Chinese dragon who's hell-bent on the destruction of humankind! In the container above her thralls, the men would be able to hear Zhao Lin tearing open some crates, rummaging through them, things falling and being rattled around. One of the men who are his 'escort' climbs up the container, disappearing into the one with Zhao Lin to make sure he isn't causing any shenanigans. It's only a moment later, though, that there's a loud -CLANG- against the side of the shipping container, and then the guard bursts from the doors, being thrown backwards through them to tumble across the top of the other container, and fall into the gap between them! Zhao lin stumbles out of the container afterwards, holding a Chinese jian sword in his hand. The weapon looks untouched by time, its blade gleaming metal, with a hematite stone set into its pommel just above where two red tassles hang from it. The leopardine man takes another deep drink from his canteen, before calling out to Selene: "I am afraid it is my wish that I keep the sword, instead of you, Selene!"

Black Queen has posed:
The regular person, basically, gets knocked from the container and goes tumbling down, hitting the next one lower and then onto the ground. He's hurting and groaning but still trying to get up. One of them pulls up a radio, "The item is found, some furry guy has it and is not going to give it to our beloved Selene." And then that's when cars and other things are heard starting up from all over the loading docks. Selene seems rather bored about the turn of events and checks her nails, she waves on, "Get him, or suffer death."

Those are her requirements. These people who have been mentally taken over are charged with getting Zhao Lin or dying in the process, or perhaps dying when they've failed. And that's when one of the guys pulls out a gun and will start shooting up at Zhao, meanwhile others are starting to try and climb the containers. Like the three stooges they are all so eager it makes it slower than it would be if they just went 1 stooge at a time.

Zhao Lin has posed:
    As soon as the gun comes out, Zhao Lin's eyes go wide. "Aiyaaa!" he yells, throwing himself backwards off the container just in time to hear a couple bullets whip past where he was only a moment ago! He hits the ground with a heavy thud, but uses the momentum of his fall to roll back to his feet. That leaves him on the side with the three men trying to climb the container, and Zhao Lin is quick to leap up and grab hold of one of them by the back of his shirt collar! The drunken boxer delivers a hard kick to the side of the man's knee, dislodging his leg from where it supports him, and using the guard's own weight for momentum, throws him back to the ground with a heavy thud, before Zhao Lin's body lands on top of him with an elbow aimed for the gut! The leopard hits hard, before rolling off him and back to his feet, stumbling a little as though he were too drunk to stand straight!

Black Queen has posed:
An SUV comes blurring into the scene. Tires screaching and everything as it comes around the corner of one stack of containers and starts speeding up. The SUV is headed straight towards the group of people fighting, it drives so close to Selene that the wind moves some of her hair but she's perfectly safe otherwise.

The guys that Zhao is fighting with and himself are not, however. That SUV is driving ridiculously fast, and some guy leans out the window of the SUV and has an Uzi style weapon and just starts spraying bullets in the general direction. He's not skilled with the weapon, being a thrall does not impart any special skills, but with a spray and pray weapon who cares? Bullets already are tearing up and dropping those that had been requisitioned to watch Zhao, but they are gunning to get that sword back and are being rather serious about it.

Zhao Lin has posed:
    Zhao Lin can do a lot of things, but he's not exactly the most adept at dodging bullets! One of the shots grazes his arm, and while he clenches his teeth and growls, he still has enough foresight to grab hold of one of the thralls and twist his smaller frame behind the larger man, using him as a shield that gets riddled with bullets. While Zhao doesn't really want to kill any of these men, there's not a lot he can do when they're trying so hard to kill -him-. As the SUV rushes towards them, Zhao Lin plants both feet on the back of the man's hips, and launches himself up into the air! The bullet-riddled body of the thrall is hit by the SUV with a sickening crunch, and Zhao Lin lands on the roof of the vehicle with a heavy thud. Before they have an opportunity to start shooting through the roof at him, the silvery blade of the sword pierces through the roof, jamming itself into the steering column! It would seem the gemstone grants the sword the power to cut through most other metals - and Zhao Lin knows this. Holding onto the sword with one hand and clinging to the roof of the speeding SUV with the rest of himself, Zhao Lin -wrenches- it sideways, forcing the steering column to twist, and turn the wheels sharply! The vehicle lurches and rolls, the momentum sending Zhao Lin flying! He slams into one of the cargo containers with a loud clang, leaving a large dent in the side of it, and falls to the ground with another hard thud. He groans, dizzy from the impact, and just lays there a moment, stunned. "Never... doing that... again," he mutters under his breath.

Black Queen has posed:
The SUV is attacked in melee, and has no defense. The guy driving is as stunned as the person who's shooting and just pointing up in the air but no where near fast enough. Then it clickclickclicks as the gun runs out of bullets. As the thrall is no soldier, he fumbles trying to reload the gun and then... in action mayhem style, it turns rolls and comes to a loud clanging, crunching stop. Bodies are littered on the ground from the bullet spree, and crashing from the SUV, and now this particular SUV is just on it's side wheels spinning and no one climbing out.

Selene is still watching and kind of laughs a bit, offering a golf clap. That's when 4 more vehicles start to get on Zhao's radar. They are further away than this SUV was, but they also seem much more packed with people, and they are rushing toward the man. It won't be long before they are on him, if he's going to escape this might just be the time.

Zhao Lin has posed:
    Zhao Lin pushes himself to his feet, though the stagger he gives is more of a real one than the earlier, drunken stumbling he was putting on. He hears the squeal of tires making the sharp turns at high speeds, and looks around him to see the headlights encroaching. Having no other way out, Zhao Lin opens the container behind him and rushes inside. There's the sound of more metal clanging about from within, and when the four vehicles close in on the container, and the men look inside, they would find a clean-cut hole in the back of it, and Zhao Lin nowhere to be found. There's evidence he's bleeding, though, and even as the leopardine man flees from the scene, he's tearing the sleeve from his shirt and using it to apply pressure to the fleshwound to stop the bleeding - if they follow his trail, it disappears a few blocks away when he finally succeeds at that.

Black Queen has posed:
The men do go rushing off as best they can, they aren't skilled hunters either. Just really enthusiastic about their job. Off in the distance are some police lights beginning to be seen and more easily heard. Still a few minutes away. Selene walks up to some of the drops of blood and dabs her fingers in it. Shadowy mist rises up from the two drops of blood and form into two glowing eyes surrounded by misty shadow, "Find him." And the two glowing eyes make no sound, but become a little more like a tennis ball sized shadow wisp and then it leaves, heading off to find it's quarry.