ToLaD: Chapter 14: Stalking Potential Prey
The Gods have the sickest sense of humour towards him.
He was sent by Ra~id to spy on a certain and certainly familiar black fox for five days. At least he has a new hoodie and coat, signifying his new position. The hoodie was gold and red while the coat itself was white.
The first day was nothing special. Family house, school bus, school, bus to training grounds and car to home.
The most...... boring....... shit....... ever to the albino.
The most exciting bit of that day was the kangaroo in the business suit literally hopping his way in. And it wasn't all that exciting, to be honest. After the boring day, he reported to Ra~id on his less than stellar findings.
It was now the second day, which started out like the first, except for that change around lunch time. It was that chip shop once more. Luckily, he was able to find a spot not too close to arouse suspicion but not too far away to miss anything, soon realising that this was the same table Skye and himself were discussing business at a few weeks ago.
He had his small notepad out, only needed to jot down stuff that would be important for Ra~id to know. Unfortunately, the group that the black fox was with.....
'Arrgh! What was his name again? It started with a B.' Light mused.
Didn't matter. But what did was that they weren't spilling out information. Well..... not yet, anyways.
"So, Braedon......" One of his female friends, a tabby cat, began.
'Shit. That's his name!' Light realised, quickly writing it down. He kept his ear open, peeking out from around his hood's rim.
"How did the tournament go?" She finished.
'Tournament? I'd better listen in further.' Light reinforced himself, taking a chip from his packet and taking a small bite out of it, making himself appear at least more normal.
"Well, Kairi, we actually won the tournament and on our way up the chain." Braedon responded.
The table of friends erupted in cheer, but they quickly calmed down.
"The next tournament for us will be in a few weeks." Braedon continued. "However, our sponsor is getting the team to a movie at the end of the week."
Light quickly noted it down as well. Then the group went back to mindless chatter once more, not giving Light anything else to write down.
However, yet another opportunity revealed itself in the form of a singsong voice.
"Ohh Braeeeedonnnnn!"
Suddenly, the group fell silent and tensed up. They all looked in the same direction, and Light's own eyes followed theirs from underneath his hood. A female lupine jumped into view. Light looked away, not wanting to look any further up the female lupine's mini skirt, and resorted to only hearing.
"Caroline. Go away." He heard Braedon growl.
"Oh, Brae-Brae. Always denying your true feelings for me." The female lupine stated.
'She sure is daft, I'll give her that.' Light remarked in his thoughts.
That is when the red fox, who Light could only guess was the one.... romantically involved with Braedon due to their positions before this lupiness came, stood up and in front of her. Now that what was under the back of her mini skirt wasn't showing to Light, he was brave enough to look over.
"Caroline, I want you to stop this now, please." The red fox pleaded, although his tone was more demanding.
"Pfft. Amato, you are such a bitch. Stealing my Braedon away from me. You barely deserve him." Caroline insulted, although it barely had an effect on the red fox.
"If I don't deserve Braedon, then you most definitely don't either. And you pushed him away, and I never steal."
The lupiness was fuming. "As I said, you're such a bitch."
She pulled her arm and paw back, readying a slap. But Light caught a glint of something else.
Her claws!
Deciding to break his cover for now, Light leapt up from his seat and dashed to in between the two. He caught the lupiness' wrist before her paw and claws could make contact with the red fox's face. All of them at the table and those either side of him were shocked. He then slowly turned his head, making contact with one of his red eyes towards Caroline's. He slowly shook his head, indicating extreme disapproval. She retracted her claws, pulled her wrist away and stormed off.
Light just stood there waiting for her to leave before leaving himself, taking his notepad and packet of chips with him.
Ra~id would be oh-so pleased to hear about what he'd done now.
"Hey, Ambert! Wait up!" He heard a voice from behind him yell out.
He stopped, sneaking the notepad into his coat pocket and turned halfway. He saw Braedon running towards him. When the black fox stopped, he bent over to catch his breath and to cool down.
"What do you want?" Light asked bluntly.
Braedon stood up straight. "Thanks for stopping Caroline from harming Amato. I didn't see the sharpened claws until too late."
"Exactly who is she, anyways?"
"Caroline? My ex-girlfriend, although she really doesn't get the message."
Light smiled, silently agreeing with the black fox.
"Do you want to come back, Ambert? I'm sure that the others would like to talk to you." Braedon asked.
Light shook his head. "I'll pass. Important business."
"Fair enough. See ya."
With that said, Braedon began to run back the way he came. Light watched him go, one thought running through his head.
'Ex-girlfriend, eh? Time for us to get well acquainted, then.' Light thought, eating a chip and smiling at his mini-scheme.
On his way back, he swapped the chip packet for his notepad and pen and wrote the name 'Caroline' onto it. After some thought, he wrote down 'Meet with others' as well. That done, he swapped the two once more, no longer arousing any more suspicion.
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Caroline looked into the mirror, her features pulled tight in anger.
'How dare that albino-?!' She thought.
She pulled her claws out and swiped her paw towards the mirror itself. Not enough to leave a deep scratch, but she scratched it nonetheless.
Still seething with rage and her reflection doing nothing to help, she left the restroom and back out into the mall itself. She sucked a breath of air in and breathed out, hoping to calm herself enough before doing something that will really calm her down.
"Caroline, I presume?" A voice said from behind her.
The lupiness turned at the mention of her name. The sight of the albino fox that stopped her from scratching Amato made her rage skyrocket back up. He was leaning against the wall, both paws in the pockets of his white coat, his red and gold hood covering the back of his head.
"Don't do something you'll regret." The albino continued, motioning his head over to the side, where two security guards currently stood.
Caroline basically forced her rage to subside for the moment.
"What do you want?" She asked.
The albino stood off the wall and walked up to in front of her. Not too close, but not too far away.
"Tell me what you know about Braedon. The one you keep chasing." The albino proposed.
Caroline smirked. "Braedon is someone I know very well. What do you need to know?" She answered.
The albino smiled underneath the hood. 'So very daft.' He thought to himself.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Light was on the edge of snickering.
It was so simple. All he had to do was ask, listen and take notes, hidden in his pocket, of course.
Because of his new position, he was able to use the back entrance to the HQ, one that led straight into the higher members only section of it.
Ra~id met the albino fox just after the entrance, watching Light with his one eye.
"What did you get?" The bear asked.
Light held up his notepad. "A lot more than yesterday and maybe the rest of the week, perhaps." The albino answered, no emotion being expressed across his muzzle.
"How much more, exactly?"
"I'll show you."
Both just walked down the halls, neither talking just yet. When they made it to the room, Light unceremoniously threw the notepad onto the desk that was still covered in other documents.
"Snippets of conversations that I just managed to hear around lunchtime. I can do more to gain information."
"So that's what this 'meet with friends' right there means. You aim to get into the small group. But who is this Caroline?" Ra~id said, tapping a finger on the name.
"Someone who was close to him. Even you would not believe how easy it was to get her to talk about him."
Ra~id laughed. "Try me, pup. I just might believe it."
Light smirked at Ra~id's response. "First off, I had to do was ask her if she could talk about him. And all I had to do afterwards, since she agreed, was ask...." Light began to explain. Both Ra~id and Light had to stifle the laughter within them. "...and she would talk for minutes while I took the notes."
Both just lost it, Light still unable to believe it himself. Once they calmed down enough to talk, they still had the odd quick burst of laughter.
"You're right, kit. I can't believe it." Ra~id admitted, shaking his head and smiling. "Back to business though. It might be best for you to try to get into the friend group. Since you cannot get into the school, do whatever you can to get more information. I will extend it for the next few days."
"I'll also try to get myself one of those phones. It may make me seem more normal."
"Do you have the Fasotae needed?"
"I believe I do. And if I don't, then a loan is in order."
"And Skye's store?"
"Needs to be worked in. That means I cannot do the mission everyday."
"Take the three days off to work at the store. Make sure to get the Fasotae needed. I'll work on a cover for you."
Both assassins nodded and Light left, making sure to take his notepad with him. Ra~id went to work on a nearby computer, spending two hours creating a fair enough profile for the newest member of their small group.