As the breeze blows...

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"Oh, so your kinda like a vigilante, I can understand that. Alot of the locals would rather handle things themselves being the local authorities were either taking bribes or the cops were only concerned with the tourist in the city than around here."

Finally letting go of Dozer's collar she bent down and whispered in the pits ear.

"Do your job Baby." she said to Dozer in a odd tone.

Dozer instantly went over to the man and begun to sniff him. Slowly he walked around the guy checking every inch he could reach.
 
"To be honest, I'd say more mercenary than vigilante. I'm not exactly local. I came from quite a bit more northwest than here. But yeah, same basic idea."

Darren smiled and held his hand out to the dog to be sniffed, while bending down to allow for a more thorough investigation. He knew better than to do what so many people did and hold his hand palm up. The dog would simply smell whatever the person had been holding last. He held his hand palm down so the canine could smell him. "Very well trained. I'm impressed. Must be handy having him around."

He was really just making casual conversation now. What was really piquing his curiosity was the tiny light on his watch that was letting of a very faint glow. It was another one of his many tools of the trade. Something around here wasn't what it appeared to be. But with all the activity, it was impossible to tell who or what it was. It could be anything from a werewolf or changeling that didn't want to reveal itself to a mage who had yet to discover they had the ability to wield magic. The watch, by itself, was very limited, and more of an alarm tool than anything.

As the dog sniffed him he chuckled a bit and spoke casually at the canine. "Sorry but I don't have any jerky to bribe ya with. Guess you'll just have to take me for what I am."
 
Amos had just stood there and listened, he knew the man had heard him say somethin' 'bout them glowin' pistols but he moved right on past it. The conversation eventually worked its way around enough for Amos the figure somethin' out. And it had, this fella wasnt no Government Man, but he was real close.

The woman watching them had never made a sound, never was even seen but for some reason she did make the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight out. He turned away from the conversation just long enough to look behind him and see the shadow move. His eyes and Darren's would have met on the turn back around.

"Reckon' even the shadows are bouncing tonight. You aint from here, you got a place to stay Darren".

His eyes moved to the faint glow of the watch. This fella just seemed to be a walking glow stick, not as bad as some of those kids down town but all the same.
 
From where she hid she could see that both men strand their eyes to try and see who was lurking about but neither one could get a glimpse of her. Giggling to herself she made sure to stay well hidden....for the time being. It was entertaining to watch those who had no clue of her exsistance think that their eyes were just playing tricks on them. Now as for the pit, she and he already came to an understanding days ago.

This woman who hid in the darkness was only interested in the female. And though some would think she was pure evil for her beliefs, she really didn't mean anyone any harm, unless they deserved it that is.
 
Darkness had finally blanketed the sky so Nalya walked over to what was once the kitchen and from a pantry shelf began to pull out several home made candles that were given to her from the old woman next door. Some what grateful that she was alone as she usually was she rummage through a box which held box and canned goods. She looked back at the two men still chit chattin and asked.....


"So either one of you gentlemen up for some chow? I don't have much but I am sure I can find something here to make us a half way decent meal."

As she waited for a reply she lit the candles and brought them over to a wooden crate which was used as her table. She placed the candle down and went back to grab the other two. Once also placed on the table she looked over to the men.


"Well?"
 
Darren smiled as the dog finished sniffing him and he stood while answering Amos. "I usually manage to find somewhere. I've got a pack of gear hiding nearby with some supplies if I need to make a tent or something like that."

He looked back to the distance briefly. If he were by himself he'd know for certain if something had been there. With as much gear as he carried in pouches, pockets and his belt it would've been no problem at all. Still, not quite everything was as simple to explain as his job. In fact, if one of these two turned out to be a mage that had yet to be awakened, some of it would probably take care of that really quickly with the way it displayed information.

Nalya's invitation for food made him turn his head, again, and he smiled. "That sounds great. If you'd like, I can go grab my pack. I've got a few cans of veggies in there that I'm sick of lugging around."
 
"Well, if you have enough to spare, but I think theres enough here for us to have a halfway decent meal."


Rummaging through the box she pulled out a can of Cambelles mac n cheese, A can of tuna, some fruit cup, and a box of tuna helper.

"Why don't you two wash up if you wish, theres a barrel of rain water around back, just make sure to replace the lid when your done."

Nalya wasn't all that comfy with cooking, if you could call this cooking, but all the same she wasn't comfortable with the idea of cooking.

"Dozer! she called out to her buddy. "Fetch me the can opener baby."

Doing as he was told Dozer trotted over to a wooden box full of odds and ends and did exactly as he was told. Grabbing hold of the can opener he happily brought it over to Nalya.

"Thankyou Bud." She took the opener from him and lovingly patted hin on his head.

"Theres some towels hanging on the clothes line in the back guys, just help yourselves."

Opening the cans she proceeded to dump each one into it's own plastic container and one by one she placed them in a microwave she was luckily to have. She then went to the busted pantry and pulled out some paper dishes and plastic forks and brought them over to the wooden crate she used as her table.

"It's not much but it's what I call home."

There were some large stumps of wood she used to sit on as well as a beat up wooden chair. One by one she removed one container and placed the next into the microwave until al were finally nuked. Finally everything was warmed up and placed on the wood crate.

"Dinner!" She yelled out with almost a cherry tone.

"Nalya......" She jerked her head to the side hearing someone call her name.

"Nalya......" There it was again....................

Confused and unsure if she was actually hearing right she walked over toward the front of the house and looked in the direction in which both men had thought they saw something there just moments earlier.

"What the hell?" Confused and a bit freaked out she stepped down off the foundation of the house and took a few steps into the from yard.

"Is someone out there?"
 
Amos sat aside idle chit chat as he watche Nalya move to the front of the house with a very confused look. Standing he walked to her side and stood for only a moment, before he spoke.

"Somethin' aint right bout the night, I fealt it all right...Whats gotcha bugged?

As he spoke he let his head turn and dropped those too old for his body eyes fall on Darren. The look was meant to convey something wasnt right, as well as, we may be needing those fancy laser guns your packin'. He was pretty sure that this man would see his meaning. Just in case he tugged up the old black t shirt he was wearing just enough to let the USP be seen by Darren, a man that carries guns will always understand gun code.

With a light touch he put his hand on Nalya's shoulder, "You gonna be just fine cher, hear?" a light whistle came from his lips to call Dozer. "Ill be fetchin' things for her tonight boy, you let us know if anyone aint wanted shows up" he tapped the floor with his foot. He knew his dog was still in the back of his pick up, she would stay woke until he came back. He wasnt sure if he should call her in with Dozer being pit and all.
 
Darren was about to go to retrieve his pack, but then Nalya started moving about without even a hint of waiting for the vegetables he'd offered. Darren mumbled in his own mind. He needed that pack. Still, when the food started heating up, and the smell began wafting around the room, he realized how hungry he was.

"Dinner!" He was actually surprised how much that one word made him almost jump for joy. He moved to sit on one of the makeshift chairs, when Nalya stopped. At the same time, his watch gave him a small shock, and she moved outside and began calling into the darkness.

He let Amos do what he was going to do. Darren nodded to the man when he signaled. He moved outside, climbed one of the beat up trees that had obviously been damaged from the storm, and took up a position on part of the roof that would support him. He had a few tools, but if he was going to actually locate anything, he coulnd't do it with what he had on him. He sighed. "I need my pack."

He shook his head and reached into one of his pants' cargo pockets, and retrieved what looked to be a remote control of sorts. He pushed a single button, and the light on the control began to flash blue. He then put the control back in his pocket. "I despise this thing." It was a homing signal. The pack had a type of remote control ATV attached to it, that was programmed to seek out the homing signal of the remote. It was time consuming, because the robot had to problem solve with obstacles, but Darren couldn't leave to get it himself right now. He took his sun glasses off his head and put them in front of his eyes, then hit a button to activate the thermal scanner. "Better not be another leech." He thought.
 
Nalya took a few steps further toward the street......

Bark,...........Bark Bark.

She knew that barking wasn't coming from Dozer, no it was coming from a vehicle parked out on the street.

To Nalya it was a sad bark, much like one of a dog feeling neglected. Over to the pick up she moved to find in the back of it a very sad new friend.

"Oh Baby." She reached her hand over to the wiggling tail waggin dog. She allowed her new friend to sniff her hand which was then greeted with many licks.

"Oh you must be Amos's little friend. Did Daddy leave you here all by your lonesome."


"False alarm guys." She yelled back to her house guests. "We forgot to invite this furry friend for dinner."

Laughing she gave the dog a loving hug but did not invite it to join them unless Amos gave his permission.

"It's ok Baby, I am sure your Daddy will let you join us. Dozer just loves to have company."
 
The woman still hidden within the dense section of trees watched with joy.

"Mmm yes, she does have it. I have finally found her."

Slinking further back she thanked the furry friend for their help then swiftly disappeared from the area.
 
Darren squatted down on the roof where he was and scanned the darkness through the glasses. His ears caught the barking of Amos' dog, but that wasn't the direction Nalya had first looked. Nor was it the direction he and Amos had both thought they saw something previously.

-"False alarm guys."-

Darren wasn't fooled. His watch was a runed relic. It didn't send shocks into his arm for no reason. Something was there, and it was using some type of power. Add to that the alert that caught his attention in the first place, the light on the watch that told him something other than a human or regular animal was nearby, and that slight movement he saw through the glasses, and Darren was on high alert. Still, whoever or whatever it was was moving away.

As the remote controlled ATV attached to his pack slowly climbed the wall of the building and then stopped at his side, he looked down over the edge of the house. "I'll be there in just a sec. I'm gonna check something, first."

Darren put the glasses back on his head and opened one of the compartments in his pack. Quickly, and with a practiced hand, he attached a large ring over the top of his watch, then slid what looked to be nothing more than a clear piece of plastic over the ring. He then removed it and slid another one into place. One by one he repeated this process until he found the one he wanted, as it amplified the dim light from his watch in a very specific pattern.

With that part done, he opened a bottle of liquid with a dropper, and began slowly squeezing one drop, two drops, three, four...eight drops in all. He sighed and looked down over the edge of the roof, again, then put the gear away, hit a button on his watch to turn the light off, and climbed down.

When he went into the house he set the three cans of mixed vegetables on top of the microwave, then took the seat he had previously intended to sit in, and waited for the others. This night was turning out to be far more interesting than he'd planned.
 
"'Mere dog..." two simple words and without hesitation dog was coming his way. She then stopped at the front door and waited to be invited in. That would be Nalya's part in all of this. Good dogs understood who the pack leader was, Dozer and dog both knew who led their packs.

The thing that Nalya would not notice was the slight distress in dogs bark. It was a lonely bark but it was alos a little fearful. She had smelled something out there and it wasnt something she wanted to deal with. Had it been something she could handle the bark would have a bit of a growl to it, this bark had some whine and whimper in it. Its ok, Nalya didnt look the type to send Dozer on the track of wounded hogs and such.

He took notice that Darren had made his exit. That pack must be very important if he needed it now. More important than a few cans of veggies would tell.

Looking out to Nalya he smiled..."She's waitin on you to let her in."
 
Nalya followed the dog back toward the house and reaching the porch she stopped and looked at Dozer.

"Listen young man," she shoke her finger in front of the dog's face. "If you can't play nice then you can head home right now."

She was joking because Dozer didn't have a mean bone in his body, unless his owner Elie instructed otherwise.

"Of course she's welcome in, anyone that knows me knows I could never resist a face like that."

Stepping back into the house she waved the dog on in and headed back to the wood crate where dinner was waiting. Taking Darren's contribution to the meal in her hands she went over to the wood shelf where the microwave sat. Taking the can opener back into her hands she opened both cans, one being a can of green beans and the other a can of corn, opened them and placed both in another plastic bowl and set them in the microwave.

Ding! The microwave stopped and Nalya took the container out and walked them over to the wood crate where the rest of the meal was sitting.

"Well come on u'all, lets eat." It was then when she realized that both men had a peculiar look upon their faces.

"What?" she asked, even though she knew exactly what was on their mind.
 
Darren smiled and shook his head. "I've gotta tell ya, ma'am. You communicate with dogs better than most people I've met. And that's sayin' something. I meet quite a few people." He chuckled and began eating. It had been so long since he'd had anything to eat, that the food hitting his stomach was like a ton of stone hitting bottom. At the same time, the feeling was almost divine. He had to take it slow, however, to avoid making himself sick. There were times when he wished he didn't have this lifestyle. He was typically drawn to areas like this, and the people he usually ran across weren't exactly the friendliest. But then he'd meet someone like Nalya and Amos, and he was reminded that there were positives to everything.

After he finished a couple bites he paused and looked over at the woman. "By the way. I found something on your roof I think you should look at when the meal's over. There's a section that'll still support two people so you don't need to worry about the roof collapsing or anything." He smiled and looked toward the massive hole in the wall. "Last thing you need's another hole."
 
Amos had not eaten kitchen prepared food in quite some time. It was delicious if not a bit rich. Still fork full after fork full he ate.

"Id say you were a white witch the way that dog gets and takes for you", Amos took another bite and smiled at her. "We gonna get them walls fixed also ma'am, Ill make a run at the hardware in the morning and well see what we can do for ya..."

Another fork full and chew. Dog was working on the last of the jerky he had in his pocket and that would keep her for the night, she sat near the front door comfy as a bug in a rug. It was all good to him, actually made him miss having a place of his own instead of his tents and the like. He was living right with Mother though and that was all that mattered to him.
 
"You all are too kind, but I don't expect a hand out or charity. I've grown acustom to living this way. But thank you all the same."

"Hey ya'll!"

Just as all sat down to eat there was a figure at the door who stopped when they saw Dog curled up right smack in the middle of the door way.

"Oh Ms Alba!" Nalya jumped up to greet her. Shuffling quickly over she noticed the old black woman with a toothless smile was holding one of her awesome pies.

"I saws ya had some visitors Nalya so I figured you'd like some of my pies."

The old woman waited for the dog blocking the doorway to move. Now if she were a slim woman she could of easily snuck around it but Ms Alba was anything but slim.

"Ya jus take this Sweet Girl an I be on my ways." Ms Alba handed over the pie to Nalya while tryin to not disturb Dog. "Ya all enjoy now, and Dozer......Ya mind your manners."

Alba let out a jolly laugh, Ms Alba was always jolly even with all the hardship she had endured through out the years.

"Thank you Ms Alba!" Nalya yelled out as her neighbor struggled to get down the two steps of the porch.

With pie in hand Nalya practically skipped back to the table and offered it up to her guests.

"You guys have no idea how happy your mouths are about to be. Ms Alba is one heck of a baker. She's won several 1st place ribbons for her pies."

Nalya's facial expression suddenly changed from happy to sad as she thought back on how life use to be before Katrina. Tears filled her eyes, quickly she placed the pie down and twirled around to face the opposite direction in hopes her guests didn't catch a glimpse of her tears. With the sleeve of her tattered shirt she wiped the tears away then turned back around.

"So who here wants some pie?" Try as she might though she couldn't wipe away the sadness in her eyes.
 
Darren smiled at the woman as she camed and delivered the pie, then promptly left. He turned to Nalya in the midst of her mourning and shook his head as he stood from the table. It had been so long since he'd eaten, his stomach couldn't hold much. He was full. Besides that, he needed to get Nalya away from Amos long enough to ask her a question. He looked over at Amos and simply held up a single finger. He didn't need the man intruding on the conversation that he needed to have with Nalya. That would be more than a little difficult to explain away.

"Nah I'm pretty full already. Give me a little bit to burn some of this off and I may have some room." He walked over to Nalya and gently placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "But hey, why don't we go take a look at that roof of yours. I wouldn't really say that it's house care related, but there really is something up there you should see."
 
Nalya felt his hand rest upon her shoulder, she turned her head some and let her eyes shift in the direction on which his hand laid.



"But hey, why don't we go take a look at that roof of yours. I wouldn't really say that it's house care related, but there really is something up there you should see."

"Very well." Nalya tried to shake off her sadness and attempted to put a smile back on her face.


"Lead the way my new found friend."

She followed behind Darren out the front door and around the back side of the house. "So whats so important up there that it can't wait until morning? Do you even have a flashlight?"

Nalya was now curious as to what could possibly be up there that didn't pertain to house care.

"Don't tell me Santa is stuck in the chimney."


Nalya laughed at her own joke and waited for Darren to lead.

"Incase you need it," she paused for a moment, "unless you can fly us both up there, I do believe theres a ladder over there by the garage."
 
The mysterious woman walked down the the edge of the river, it was a place she felt very much at home. Some time ago she and her husband lived there but then Katrina came a calling. From her pants pocket she removed her phone and fumbled through her contacts. Once finding the number she wanted she pushed the call button and waited for a answer.

"Yes I found her but she's not alone. All in good time, all in good time."

Hitting the end call she placed the phone back in her pocket and made her way along the waters edge. She had no trouble seeing her way along in the dark, in fact she saw much better a night.

She continued walking until she came across a small run down shack with a single light within.

"Home at last she thought." She reached for the knob, turned it and entered.
 
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