FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Tarot Chronicles: A Story of Behemel and Zerrex

By Behemel Fatereaver and Zerrex Narrius

Reading 3: The Temperance-- Moderation; having patience and compromise to find satisfaction. A symbol of balance between light and dark. Bringing oppositions together in perfect harmony. Symbolized as a female who dances the thin line between honor and dishonor.

The reptile yawned a bit as he walked along the street, glancing back and forth before glancing over his shoulder at the lion, regarding him for a few moments before looking skywards. "This is boring. I have no idea what we're doing or where we're going again. I also don't know why we're on the move so much. Why don't we... I dunno. Go fishing. Take a nature hike. Stop in at a strip club. I'll even tip the strippers to put their whatnots on your head, you'll love it."

Behemel grumbled a bit. "We both know you want to do the last option the most. I'm just not comfortable in places like that." he remarked, his head hung low a bit as he walked, "Beside, I thought after depositing all your treasure , you were low on money?"

The reptile grinned a bit at this, looking amusedly over his shoulder at the lion. "I didn't say I'd tip them with money. But not comfortable in places like that, huh? Well, the only way you're going to get comfortable is to get exposed to it some more." He paused, then pointed ahead, adding easily: "Look, there's a brothel ahead. Not quite the same thing but pretty ladies nonetheless, and they'll do nice and nasty things to you as well as strip for you. It'll be a fun time."

Behemel looked at the sleazy building to which Zerrex pointed to, and was grateful for his hood in place, as he blushed. "You know... I remember I had something I gotta do elsewhere..." Behemel trailed off as he tried to slip past Zerrex to get away.

The reptile rolled his eyes, reaching out and grabbing the lion's arm before he could slide away, grinning at him with entertainment. "Don't make me tie you up and carry you in there, now. Because if I have to do that, I'm going to let all those ladies who like their males tied up and helpless have their way with you." He winked, then pulled him easily towards the building, raising a hand to the eager-looking females leaning on the front porch of the building, wearing clothes that flaunted their bodies and eyeing the males appreciatively. "Why, look, they're already all but inviting us in, and I mean that in more than one way!"

"You. Are . Insane. Have you no pride?" he tried to child Zerrex, still resistant.

"Not really." Zerrex shrugged amiably, then he shoved the lion in front of himself and firmly pushed him through the swinging doors and into the smoky interior of the brothel, calling easily: "Two more guests looking for some pretty ladies to spend some time with! And my friend here really needs to relax, so you better bring out some of your more talented ladies, I promise if you can get his pants off it'll be worth it."

"I'm going to get you for this Zerrex..." Behemel growled , but to his surprise, a female cat wrapped her arms around his neck, finding his growl appealing.

"oh my... now he looks like a big one, girls" she childed, causing Behemel to blush even deeper.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure your vengeance will be awful." Zerrex replied mildly, walking across the dusty hardwood floor and glancing absently at the bar that sat the far end of the room, tossing an wave to the bartender working behind the counter. His eyes roved along the faded walls, over the stairs leading to the second floor and likely where all the private rooms for the johns to enjoy themselves in with their lady - or ladies - of the hour, and then he smiled a bit as his eyes settled on the damaged and nicked tables that filled the rest of the long, spacious rectangle of room, walking down to an unoccupied corner table and sitting himself down with a grunt in a back bench, content for the moment to watch things unfold as a smile quirked at his muzzle.

The brothel was filled with a many variety of species, human males as well as human female workers along with many other versions of anthros. Behemel dragged himself over to the same table Zerrex was at, the girls quickly following him, as he needed a drink to relax. All the while the random groups of mingling couples and open lovers activities were making him uncomfortable.

The reptile cocked his head amusedly towards the lion, winking at one of the females and sliding his arm around her as she sat down beside him and purred, automatically cozying herself up to the reptile. "You look a little... awkward. Why don't you take off that hood, that cloak, possibly those pants?" He winked and gestured at one of the other occupied tables, where male was visibly groping one of the brothel's "workers." "There's not exactly a whole lot of need for modesty here. Or, you know, you could take those pretty ladies up to one of the back rooms... or all of them, they don't look like they'd mind sharing."

"I think he needs a drink before living it up" a wolf female on his left brought him a drink of stiff ale, placing it before him. All the while more ladies kept coming over, and stroking him, slowly trying to dislodge his robes and finally freed him from his hood.

Behemel sighed as he lifted his glass. "Well... when in Rome..." he used the old expression as he drank the ale, and the ladies all giggled with glee.

"There we go, that's a little better." Zerrex grinned a bit at this, squeezing the female against his own side a bit closer, and she giggled and tickled along his broad chest before grabbing at his waistband, half-lidding her eyes. The reptile looked at her with entertainment, and then he returned his gaze to Behemel. "Now let's see how many drinks and how many girls it takes to get you to loosen up and have some good fun. Don't want to disappoint all these pretty girls after all, do you?"

The drinks kept coming and the loser Behemel and Zerrex got , and there they stayed for the rest of the night. All the while they fell deeper and deeper into orgy-like pleasures, ending up in tangled heaps of females exhausted before them. A well night spent till the morning arrived.

Zerrex yawned a bit as he woke up in his own comfortable bed, a pretty young vixen shifting tiredly next to him. Zerrex smiled a bit at her, and then he slipped quietly off the mattress and gathered up his few things, shaking his head a bit as he pulled the door open and made his way to the stairs, figuring it was a night spent in comfort enough. He adjusted his heavy sword against his back as he carried his backpack loosely, heading to the bar and sitting down with a grunt before he dug out the last of his money from the bottom of his backpack, saying absently: "Just some water, thanks. The guy I came in here with should be down here shortly. I'm just hoping he's cheerful and not hung over."

When Behemel had awoke, he was greeted by the sight of 3 ladies upon his bed, using his hard stomach as a pillow and their arms hugging his limbs close. The moment he moved, they stirred like animals awaking from the sheer noise. One was the same cat and wolf, another was a human. Apparently he had made an impression on all of them, for they wouldn't let him leave without another romp with them all, to which he obliged.

When he had finished an hour later, he allowed them to rest, gathered his scattered belongings, and left for the main room. He was thankful his scythe and true valuables were summonable. he feared having anything stolen in a place like this.

He spotted Zerrex at the bar. "Um... hey there Zerrex"

The reptile sipped absently at his glass of water, smiling slightly over at the lion and glancing over him with entertainment. "Well hello there. You look well-rested. Well. In a sense." He winked at him, then nodded to the bartender before he pushed his empty glass away and stood up, absently rolling his shoulders. "So are you ready to go yet? Or did you want to spend some more time trolling dives like this, looking for easy pickings, or perhaps tackle a higher-class kind of place and seduce rich and pretty young ladies to do our bidding?" He paused meditatively. "Or are you just going to lecture me again on how I'm a troublemaker?"

"You ARE a trouble maker." Behemel said plainly, sitting next to the lizard with a sign..."Thought I suppose you were right that it wasn't a bad idea..." he blushed a bit, and quickly pulled up his cowl

Zerrex looked amusedly at the lion as he slipped his backpack on, saying easily: "I'm going to remind you of this one day, that you actually ended up liking one of my ideas. So shall we head out of here, then? I suppose you probably have some. Responsible objective in mind or something. Although I wouldn't mind going to go eat somewhere. Because if I ask to eat something here, well..."

"Do you have any money for breakfast then?" Behemel challenged with a tone of amusement. He watched as Zerrex froze in his tracks at the question.

The lizard rubbed his hands together, and then he cleared his throat. "Well, if you want to keep up this new and exciting trend of doing things my way, we can always eat somewhere and. Not pay."

"Zerrex..." Behemel growled, and face pawed himself. After getting out of his chair, he grabbed Zerrex by the arm and eagerly walked out, leading them back to the main square of the waterside city and to an acceptable tavern for breakfast.

The reptile grumbled as he allowed himself to be pulled along by the lion, saying mildly: "Hey, I'd like to point out this whole brothel event was the first time you listened to me, and it worked out fine. Helping ourselves to a nice meal might just end up working out well too."

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thankfully for Behemel , he was wise to conserve money but he too had ran short due to the excursions from that night. They now sat in a small tavern , of a lighter and more pleasant atmosphere than the brothel . As Behemel ate his meat dish he was looking over what riches he had left that were of value. "Well before we can go anywhere, we are in need of money," Behemel said plainly.

The Drakkaren shrugged amiably at this, tapping his fingers against the table as he looked back and forth around the tavern. "Lots of ways to get money. We could stab someone. Someone bad, of course." Zerrex held up his hands, clearing his throat. "Or you know. I could just. Go over there and intimidate the owner into giving me the money from the safe. Or you could sell your body, I think we'd probably be able to make at least a few dollars that way. Those ladies of the night you had some fun with all seemed pretty excited by you, after all. I'm sure plenty of females and males would pay to have their way with you."

Behemel shot Zerrex a dirty look from under his cowl and dropped his fork at the suggestion. I'll never be able to live that night down now, he thought as he took a moment to compose himself before he wanted to strangle Zerrex. "I was thinking along the lines of ... a job" the lion suggested, this time he was tapping the table with his claws.

"Prostitution is the world's oldest job." Zerrex said blandly, then he glanced over at the waitress, absently patting her arm and getting her attention. "Would you sleep with him for money?" He pointed at Behemel, and the waitress blushed and hugged her serving platter against her chest, giggling awkwardly before hurrying away, and the reptile grinned over at the lion. "See? This plan could definitely work."

"Your relentless..." Behemel groaned, his head sagging a bit. "Listen, there are plenty of people in this city willing to hire warriors for several duties. We just pick one job for the money, then we are done and can move on. You think you can handle a simple job like that?"

"Extra extra! The Temperance strikes again!" a voice from outside called.

"Well, you know me. As long as I can punch something I'm pretty happy." Zerrex shrugged agreeably, and then he glanced up for a moment before shaking his head a bit. "My only concern is, do you really think it's a good idea for me to be working with government authority figures? I might get us thrown in prison."

"This time... try following my lead, my friend" Behemel said as he swallowed the last bit of his breakfast, and waved the waitress over to pay the bill. "Being an abiding citizen has its perks as well," he poked fun at Zerrex.

"Maybe for you." Zerrex snorted in amusement, then he slid his way out of the seat and headed towards the doors, letting himself out and rubbing absently at his right arm as we waited for the lion, frowning a bit at the sight of the crowd and the excited chatter he heard. "A little odd..."

Behemel joined Zerrex after paying the bill and approached the forming crowd with him. "What's going on out here?" One of the city guard posted a wanted poster on a nearby board.

"What did you do this time Zerrex?" Behemel teased with a smirk.

"Nothing yet." Zerrex slipped his hands into his pockets, looking thoughtfully over the crowd. "I think there might actually be someone else in this city who everyone wants dead for once instead of me. It's kind of a nice feeling knowing someone else is more hated than me."

"The infamous Temperance has struck again! This elusive thief has robbed several priceless treasures from the surrounding homes and collections in this region. Anyone with information of this character's whereabouts are encouraged to come forth or aid in capturing her. " a armored wolf barked out aloud to the crowd. The poster was of a blurry character , the body type slim but quick, leaving little chance for a clearer image.

The reptile rubbed his hands together lightly as he glanced over at Behemel, making his way around the edge of the crowd to glance towards one of the posters and grimacing a bit at the fact it was difficult to make out anything, before pausing as his eyes instead settled on the reward amount, and he grinned a bit as he pointed and said mildly to the lion: "That might take care of our money problems for a little while. Well. Your money problems, since. I don't have much of a problem just taking the little food I need and whatnot."

Behemel looked at the reward, then at the picture. The culprit , was nimble to say the least judging from the picture. He looked over at the reward, seeing well over 10, 000 gold . "It does look promising," he commented, he said and turned to Behemel " and trust me sometime soon you'll be treating me for food considering how much I help you" he growled

"Hey, I. Help. Sometimes." Zerrex replied dumbly, holding up a finger, and then he shook his head out a bit before rubbing a hand through his hair. "Well, great and mighty leader, then where exactly do you suggest we start looking, in that case? This Temperance looks good at their job, whoever it is. And generally when thieves are good at their jobs they're hard to track down."

Behemel smirked. "Simple. We plot her next target"

Moments later, Behemel and Zerrex met with the same guard who made the announcement. He then directed them to the head of the city guard. The captain was a large eagle anthro, its wings on its back and arms and talons ahead. Once he heard their offer to help, he was more than willing to accept their help, payment upon success of the Temperance's capture, with minor expenses paid in between for room and board.

The lizard rubbed his hands together, unsure of the lion's plan as he grumbled a bit, disliking the closed quarters and even more, working for the city guard. He grimaced a bit as he rubbed at his arm slowly, clenching his hand into a fist and then relaxing it anxiously as he muttered: "This reminds me of certain places I've spent time in. You know. Small, enclosed places made of really heavy bricks and steel."

"At least they will pay for our food for a bit. We catch Temperance, we get paid. Try focusing on that," Behemel said, holding his scythe Chronos in his paws. That night they were going to guard a rare treasure on display at the local museum. Security had been doubled but this thief was famous for finding ways around them. "

Zerrex rubbed absently at the tattoo on his bicep, and then he sighed a bit and nodded with a grimace as he reached back and squeezed the handle of his sword reassuringly before he began to pace slowly, muttering: "Alright, right. Of course, if this treasure is so valuable, we could always just take it ourselves, you know. Sell it to someone." He paused meditatively. "I really don't like the looks

of these guards. They seem like they're just waiting for us to screw up."

Behemel did agree that the guards looked down on lone travelers and wanderers. But he pushed the thought aside, as he made his scythe vanish with a resolving gesture. "Then lets prove them wrong," he commented, thinking of a plan of his own.

Zerrex grunted, continuing to pace as he swung his arms loosely back and forth, looking absently back and forth before wandering over to a corner to fidget. His emerald eyes closed as his features became tenser, less than worried about the night ahead but distracted by his own inner thoughts and turmoil as he faced the corner, trying to force himself to focus on the task at hand.

That night, those hired and those of the guard were placed at different collector's homes as well as the museums and banks of the city. Behemel and Zerrex were stationed in a museum in the center of the city for their higher caliber. It was now well into midnight6 as they stood guard in a large room, accompanied by several guards . In the center was a glass encased necklace, with large pearls and silver that encircled each rare gem inside.

Behemel remained silent in meditation, preparing for anything. Though the odds of the Temperance showing up here out of any place, was slim .

The reptile lounged about the large room, looking every now and then at the treasure under glass before he returned to one of teh guards, leaning obnoxiously close to him and meeting his eyes, but now the guard only looked away and mumbled vulgarities under his breath before the Drakkaren moved on, the lizard shaking his head and then looking over towards Behemel as he grasped the handle of his sword, saying dryly: "I hate to say this, but it's getting kind of boring here. And these guys are both no fun and not going to do anything but get in our way." He paused and cleared his throat as several of the guards glared at him, holding up his hands. "No offense."

Behemel chuckled at the comment. "They aren't the best caliber, " he said in a whisper to Zerrex, his arms crossed as he observed the treasure around them. Along with the necklace there were many other treasure in there along with the rooms outside. The guard's strategy was indeed weak to catch someone of great skill.

"We will have to improvise," he said to Zerrex, "On a bright side, the more effort we contribute, the more reward we get"

"Yes, assuming we don't get killed at any point during the night, we succeed, and the city guards don't decide to turn on us either." The reptile put his hands into the middle of his back, stretching absently and cracking it loudly before he cleared his throat as one of the soldiers glared at him. "It's rude to listen in on conversations. And again, no offense meant." The guard only grumbled and moved on, however, and the reptile shook his head a bit before he returned his eyes to Behemel. "I still say we should take some of this stuff and sell it. I can think of plenty of people it would be better off in the hands of. Including my own."

Behemel shook his head in grief at Zerrex.

After a while of waiting the silence of night crept into the building. At one point when people would easily had fallen asleep. Then, when no one noticed hours later, a card slipped under one of the doors and slid across the floor. Behemel looked to see it slip across and land on the floor. The card was of a hooded figure with a black cloud around him.

"Wake up now. We have company!" Behemel roared, . At that moment, the card flashed and a huge plume of black smoke filled the room.

Zerrex cursed under his breath as the smoke stung his eyes and his lungs, the reek of it flooding his nose even as his emerald eyes almost glowed and he looked sharply back and forth, staggering towards the center of the room, muttering: "Goddammit, can't see a thing... Behemel!"

Behemel was scattered from Zerrex, the rush of guards in the chaos making it impossible for him to sense Zerrex or anything

Through the smoke, appeared a figure out of the chaos. A robed lithe figure stood before one of the glass cases, having slipped in along with the smoke. The slash of metal on glass echoed through the room, as the character created a hole for which to reach into the display. The figure reached into it, and drew up the necklace, and went to another one swiftly, seeking to grab one more item .

The reptile grimaced as he picked up on the sounds through the smoke, focusing himself and then bad-temperedly swinging his arm out to roughly shove a guard out of the way as he lunged towards one of the displays, shouting irritably: "I swear to gods if the stench of this smog stays in my clothes, I'm going to kick your ass all the harder... so why don't you just surrender now and make it easy on everyone one?" The reptile swept a hand out, and then he grinned as he managed to snag his fingers into the fabric of a cloak.

A feminine shaped hand came out and grabbed Zerrex as he too grabbed her. The figure appeared human but her grip was superiorly stronger than her lithe build allowed. His grip was on her hood while hers was on his wrist. "Not on the first date," she said sensually, as she pulled his hand away, then swept her foot between his and tripped him, flipping him over.

The reptile grunted as he crashed down onto his back with a grunt, shaking his head out before he rolled backwards and only grinned widely, rubbing his hands together almost eagerly. "A lady, huh? And even better, a strong lady. I like a strong lady." He paused as he readied himself, able to make out the outline of her finger through the thinning smog now as his emerald eyes flashed. "But don't think I'm going to be exactly shy about bringing you down if I have to, either. As the lion over there will tell you, I'm a jerk."

Though covered with her hood, she smirked at the cocky lizard. "Why do boys like the sound of their own voices?" she sighed, and with a flick of her wrists, several cards appeared between her fingers, like claws. She lunged towards Zerrex with deadly speed, using the smoke to her advantage, seeing through it with ease . She then feinted and flipped to deliver Zerrex a swift kick in the face with her heeled boot.

The reptile's head snapped backwards at the force of the blow, a bit of blood flying from his muzzle, but then he only reached up and slowly wiped his right forearm across his muzzle with a wide grin, his eyes almost glowing as he looked at the female with entertainment and flexed his right arm, bringing his hands up in a ready position as the tattoo over his bicep seemed to writhe strangely. "Now we're getting somewhere!" With that, he swung his right hand out towards her in a rough punch aimed towards her midsection, his sadomasochistic grin wide and emerald eyes almost gleeful at the challenge.

She flipped out of the way, right before his fist could connect, her daggers at the ready, When she was back on her feet, she lunged again, her daggers ready as she passed his side and dealt a blow to his sides, her tarot cards delivering a slice at his side and thigh in awesome precision.

The reptile snorted in amusement, then, as she began to pass by, he swung his elbow up and outwards, aiming for her head in a rapid clothes-lining movement even as he felt the thin blades slicing against his body and drawing blood through his scales, a growl of both entertainment and pain rising through his body.

Her head met his arm briefly, but she leaned back into it, using his own arm to moment her own flip into the air. She landed on the very ceiling then leapt to a further side of the room. His attack stun but did little to hinder her agile movements. " Well , you definitely are more skilled than these pussies that call themselves guards," she cooed playfully, "If I wasn't in a hurry , id play with you some more"

"What, and leave me here with them?" Zerrex grinned slightly and tilted his head upwards, impressed by her acrobatic display as he took a few steps towards her and spreading his arms. "I didn't even get your name. Mine's Zerrex, by the way. How about you let me walk you home so we can beat on each other some more, I was just starting to have fun! I'll let you keep the trinkets!

What an odd one, she thought, thinking perhaps her charm had struck the reptile harder than most. Either way she had to get out of there. "I'm..." she trailed off , her wrists flicking for another handful of cards. "... out of your league."

She then threw the cards in her hands right at Zerrex. She smirked as they hit their mark as Zerrex was thrown back from the cards catching his body and clothing. Next thing he knew he was stuck against the wall, the cards pinning his limbs immobilized.

The reptile grimaced and brought his arm up automatically, several of the cards catching in this even as he was knocked back with a wince into the wall, and then he snorted in amusement as he rubbed absently at his face before he looked back and forth, calling irritably as he began to wiggle and pry himself free from the wall, seeming not to notice the cards sticking visibly out of his right limb:

"Behemel? I swear to Gods if she knocked you out I'm going to set you on fire while you sleep!"

She smirked at his misfortune and gave him a teasing wink. "Stick around, hun. I haven't even warmed up " she said, and blew Zerrex a kiss in tease before running out of the room.

The reptile snorted in amusement at this, glancing up at her with ire and amusement in his eyes before he braced himself back against the wall and tore himself free, shredding his clothes as he looked down at himself with a grimace, then shook his head and looked back and forth before he headed for the main doors, grumbling under his breath as he absently tore one of the cards out of his right arm and looked down at it with wry amusement, tilting it back and forth in his left hand. "Cute. Real cute."

The mysterious femme fatale had easily evaded the halls and had scaled a window and wall up to the rooftop of the building. Moving swiftly, she leapt across buildings with a smirk on her face , the chase fun. She was enjoying herself till she looked ahead and spotted something that grabbed her attention.

Standing with the moonlight behind him was Behemel, his white hood and robe and his scythe resting leisurely in his paw . He looked like the grim reaper , standing there in front of her , the two on ether sides of the building.

"Well now.... don't you look grim and mysterious," She said teasingly, " I will admit, I like it"

"Do not waste your charm on me, thief, " Behemel growled, his grip tightening on Chronos . "Now return what you have stolen and surrender."

She brushed off his warning. "How did you know I'd be out here?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Smarter to get clear from the chaos and find you at the only logical escape route a thief of your caliber would use," he replied simply.

Zerrex grumbled under his breath as he ran along the street, glancing absently up the rooftops every so often before he felt his instincts whisper to him, and he looked up to see two figures: one he clearly recognized, and which made him glower a bit before he cupped his hands around his muzzle and shouted: "Goddammit, why don't you ever tell me anything?" He grumbled under his breath, then approached a wall and leapt upwards, clawing into the brick wall and carefully beginning to climb his way up to the rooftops behind the female, muttering under his breath, the cards still stuck in his arm glinting in the light cast from the night sky by the twinkling stars and faint moon.

The thief turned as she noticed Zerrex coming up from behind her. " You're like a lost little puppy I can't shake, you know that?" she teased in Zerrex's direction. Then, turning back to Behemel, she grinned. "You however, I like the strong silent type."

"Last chance," Behemel warned with a growl , now lifting his scythe up ready. "Surrender and turn yourself in."

At that moment, the thief removed her cowl and revealed her face. Her appearance was that of a young female human with black raven hair, her features fair but serious, that accented her black and green robed attire. In the moonlight they caught a good look of her robes, slim but revealing her midsection and legs. Her eyes however was an unnatural gleam of emerald green. "Now where is the fun in that? I'm the type of girl who enjoys the thrill of the chase, " she said in challenge, and drew her cards again in ready.

The lizard grumbled under his breath as he managed to grab the edge of the building and hauled himself up onto it, absently cracking his spine and then drawing his eyes along her back as he crossed his strong arms, saying mildly: "While I half-enjoy you kicking me in the face and all, you're cornered and with nowhere to run. And if we do fight then..." The reptile glanced down, grimaced at the sight of his right arm, and he cleared his throat as he pulled one of the remaining metal cards out of it, muttering: "Goddamn these things are sharp." He flicked it lightly at the ground, and snorted in amusement as it sank into the concrete, now grinning a bit again. "Hey, will you aim for the lion's voicebox if you decide to go after him first? 'Cause he scolds me a lot and that's just no fun."

Behemel made the first move, and charged in . Flying across the roof, he delivered his scythe to sweep along to counter her own movements, trying to keep her from escaping. All the while she kept grinning, the battle nothing but a game for her.

She ducked out of the lion's blow but was soon met by his own arm reaching out to grab her. With grace, she dipped low and slipped right between his legs, sliding across the roof. She turned and tossed some of her cards out towards Behemel.

The lion sadly reacted in time and raised his scythe , parrying them in mid air.

The reptile snorted in amusement as he ran towards her, tearing the remaining two metal cards out of his limb in his left hand and tossing them both with a snap of his wrist back towards the female before he put on a burst of speed, curving his path slightly before he leapt forwards and slammed a foot out, aiming for her chest as he grinned widely, his eyes flashing with delight at the challenge.

She was surprised by the use of her own cards against her, and distracted that she didn't see Zerrex's kick. It made contact and sent her backwards. Though with a flip in the air, she landed on another side of the building, and flipped again, aimed to land on another structure before something caught her leg.

Behemel had snagged the thief with the chain whip of his scythe, the chain wrapped snuggly around her and was pulling her back. "You're not gettin away," he growled, his grip and stance tight and firm.

"Oh, now this is getting fun," she purred almost. Once again she extended more cards to her hands and with it, shot them right for the part where her leg was bound to. The cards struck the chain hard, almost shacking Behemel at their strength and caused him to wobble and the chain to loosen.

The reptile grimaced as he ran across the building again, grimacing as he leapt across the space between homes and lunging towards her to grab at her before she could get loose. "Hold still, sweetheart, we're not quite done here yet."

Her movements were quicker than his. Inhumanly quick as she all of a sudden got free and then vanished before Zerrex's eyes, causing him to wobble and fall face first against the tiled roof. She zipped back onto the same rooftop with her cards in hand, kneeling in both a predatory and sensual pose. "Come on boys, you can do better than that. " With that she drew one card, and looked at it lovingly, then to them in challenge.

Zerrex snorted in amusement as he steadied himself and stood, getting to a ready position before he bowed to deeply and gestured outwards with one hand. "Well, we've been the ones throwing ourselves at you all night... why don't you come to us this time, show us just what you've got?" He winked, beckoning her with a slight smile. "Or is this just your way of saying you're the one who can't handle us?" He cocked his head towards her teasingly, tossing a grin and a playful wink over to Behemel. "Isn't this fun?"

"Have it your way," she said and with that threw a tarot card at Zerrex. It slashed through the air ready to strike his chest.

The reptile grinned slightly as he brought his right hand up, the blade sinking into the back of it before he leaned down and licked slowly along the edge of the metal, flexing his fingers eagerly as a bit of blood dribbled down, not from the bloodless wound but a small nick on his tongue. "Much as I love this foreplay... why don't we get to the main event. You can obviously do better than this."

"What makes you think I haven't, sparky?" she quipped, Zerrex unaware that the card in his hand was the card know as the Emperor, a red emperor dragon with a crown surrounded by flames. The ends of the card sparked and Behemel's eyes widen with shock.

Before Behemel could shout, the card exploded with a blast of fire, shaking the roof and casting fire and smoke across the rooftop.

The reptile cursed as he was slammed backwards, snarling as his face was singed and he leaned into the explosion to skid along the rooftop on his feet and then fall to a kneel, agony ripping through his body as his burns scoured his chest, the scales blown off his right limb... and then he only looked up, eyes pulsing emerald before he grinned and rolled his right shoulder slowly, his left hand pressed tightly into the ground before he stood, chunks of not flesh, but corrupt black rock and warped purple metal falling from his arm, cracks here and there in the limb pulsing powerfully with sapphire energy as his hand flexed, a warped, hideous claw that grew in size for a moment before the Drakkaren gritted his teeth and clenched his hand into a fist, and the ugly, rocky metal trembled violently before layering itself into heavy plates and turned to gleaming silver, hideous warped claw forming into a beautiful gauntlet of shining, polished metal as a bit of blood dripped from the reptile's mouth and he spat to the side, flexing his metallic fingers slowly as he glanced down at this. "Now look what you've done! I bet tall, dark, and grim over there is going to spend a whole day yelling at me about this. Thanks a lot, babe, I'm writing you out of my phonebook."

Behemel looked at Zerrex in worry and concern, realizing Zerrex must of been seriously hurt to cause such a transformation. He then charged forth through the smoke.

"Dear me... " she said , half ashamed how much power she put into her attack. "I guess I over did it..." She was suddenly distracted to find Behemel lunge at her, the smoke distracting her as she was face to face , too close to counter as the large lion slammed into her, causing her cards to fall out of her hands. She soon found herself pinned under him.

Behemel huffed in exhaustion as he lent over her. "You just been pinned, Temperance, " he growled, then looked to see where he grabbed. His paw somehow landed on her breast, to which he accidentally pushed against and made it bounce. His face turned red as he hesitated, and backed up briefly. "Gah! I-I didn't mean.." he grumbled, not intending to pin her that way.

The Temperance soon sat up, and smiled at the innocent looking lion behind his grim exterior. "Well now... you never fought a female before, have you?" she cooed at that very moment, she reached to the helm of her top and slowly began to unzip the fly , exposing cleavage slowly. "Makes for a whole new kind of action," she teased till she revealed her cleavage enough to share she had another set of cards against her skin.

A flash shot in his eyes as he caught sight of the cards but was too late. Before he knew it, he felt the sharp edges of the cards catch his clothing and pin him against the rooftop. He struggled to pull free but was unable to grapple himself up, his scythe knocked away from the shock. "Damn.... what a dirty trick--!"

With him pinned, she stood up and knelt down against the large lion. "You stole a feel at me, big boy... now I'm going to steal something from you ," she said hotly, her hands teasing his pinned body as she inched closer and closer.

Temperance then delivered a heated and forceful kiss. Her hands moved over his body, smoothing and grasping at his thigh and crotch in heated desire. Behemel was shocked by her gesture. For a brief moment despite the unusual circumstances, Behemel gave into the kiss, responding to her advance.

Zerrex cleared his throat against his left hand as he walked forwards, metallic arm swinging at his side as he said mildly: "Much as I enjoy watching you molest Behemel, and much as I think he probably needs it, you do realize I'm still standing here, right?" He approached her, rolling his head on his shoulders as he held his hands out, looking at her with entertainment. "And you do realize that I should probably free the lion here from his restraints and we're going to have to stop you one way or another. Apparently it's wrong for me to steal food so we have to actually earn our keep."

Parting her lips from Behemel, she let out a tired sigh at Zerrex's interruption. "Trust me," she said mildly as she slowly pulled away from her captive lion. "You'll have your chance to catch me again...See you next time, boys."

With that she pulled another card from out of nowhere. Another puff of smoke engulfed her body. The next thing they knew, she was gone.

The Drakkaren grimaced and crossed his arms then he absently flexed his right limb, the plate-like steel receding into corruption and warped rock before scales crawled back into place, and then Drakkaren grinned a bit as he rested his hands on his knees and looked amusedly down at the lion. "So, did that go as well as you planned?" He paused meditatively, absently reaching down to fiddle with one of the metallic tarot daggers. "You know, I could just leave you here..."

Behemel responded to Zerrex with a growl, "Will you ... please get me out of this!" he said, his pride wounded just as badly as Zerrex's strange injuries were. To make matters worse, Behemel had been left pinned, a noticeable large erection straining through his robes. "We will talk after that."

The next morning, things could of gone better. Behemel had an earful with the captain of the guard, but not with him. For everyone letting the Temperance slip away. What was left in the casing of what she stole was a single one of her cards. Her signature, The Temperance tarot card as her calling card. Behemel and Zerrex were in the same tavern, mulling over breakfast and the events of last night.

Zerrex sat with a mug of coffee between his hands, still half-full as he sat at the back table, working his fingers slowly against the ceramic. His wounds and bruises had mostly healed, and the fresher scars were lost in the bevy of old that dotted and crossed his body, the lizard glancing absently out over the crowd of the tavern. Word had spread fast... although the reptile was at least glad he was spared the embarrassment of being connected to the events of the night before in any way, shape or form, before he sipped slowly at his coffee. All he was interested in now was getting another shot at the challenger from the darkness: not so much because he cared about the reward or her thievery, but more because it had been an interesting matchup and felt... unfinished, in a word.

"The Temperance..." Behemel murmured. In his paw he fiddled with another of her cards. One she purposely planted in the waist band of his pants when she had fondled him. "Have you heard of her prior to this job Zerrex?"Behemel couldn't help but ask.

The Drakkaren shrugged a bit. "Never heard of her. Fast, though. Damn skilled. Didn't seem like a normal human, that's for sure." He returned his eyes to his coffee, sipping absently at it and swirling it through his muzzle. "Reminded me a little of home. Getting beaten on and all. I kind of enjoyed it."

Behemel gave Zerrex a sour look as he put down his hot chocolate. "Zerrex... I know this might seem harsh but I wont beat around the bush." He put down the tarot card in his paw and looked Zerrex straight in the eye. " We both know what we saw last night. Now considering we are partners , I think I should know.... what was it I saw that grew out of your body like that?"

The reptile sipped absently at his coffee again, swirling slowly around his muzzle before he looked back thoughtfully. "Well, I could tell you that I was a killer robot from the future. But I have no proof to back that up." He paused meditatively. "But it was... my arm. It... does that."

Behemel ignored his dry humor and pressed on. "Why does it do that?" He insisted, "Zerrex I'm not going to run away and tell others. What you tell me right now I keep with confidence, I want to know because it's not natural and I'd like to know why. That regeneration..." Behemel hesitated as the topic reached a sore subject to him.".... it almost seemed demonic."

"You know, does anything about me seem natural? I mean, for all you know, I could make stuff blow up by glaring at it hard enough." Zerrex pointed at his emerald eyes, then he glanced out over the tavern, muttering: "Of course, if I could make stuff blow up with my mind there's a few obnoxious people in here who would be in pieces right now." He paused, grimaced as he realized both that he was deflecting and the lion wasn't likely to drop the subject, and then he shrugged absently as he tapped the fingers of his right hand slowly against the table. "Do you really wanna know, in that case? You've spent enough time snoring on a mat nearby to know that I'm not going to stab you in your sleep. Isn't that enough?"

"Zerrex," Behemel said in a soft growl, one out of concern than anger. "I do trust you, despite your behavior ." he let a soft chuckle escape him. "And that is why I want to know. Out of concern for my ally. Nothing more."

The Drakkaren looked across at him with soft entertainment at this, before he drank quietly from his coffee again and nodded slowly. "Well. I do appreciate that." He glanced down at his right arm, saying softly: "It's a long story, though, and not one meant for public ears. Let's just say that once upon a time, I did something very foolish. Brash and irrational... but that's what I'm good at. So I paid the penalty for it. I spent some years in a place... way down south, until I managed to claw my way up and out. On the way, I made friends and enemies, and one of them gave me something that... fused with me. Changed me a little, gave me a little bit of an extra edge." He squeezed his fingers slowly into a fist, his tattoo twisting slightly as he smiled slightly. "It's nothing harmful, don't worry. Doesn't hurt, doesn't feel... anything, really. I can do some other neat party tricks, too, but I enjoy this. Pretending. Swinging my sword around, pretending." He laughed a bit, then sipped at his coffee before standing, putting his hands in his pockets and glancing away. "Ready to go yet? We've got work to do, don't we?"

"Are you saying your senses are numbed?" Behemel was curious to ask, "Just want to understand that , and then we will drop it "

The reptile grinned a bit at this, then he lightly touched his own chest, saying softly: "All I am is what you see. That's all I ever been, all I'll ever be. Besides, we all got an expiration date. Even me, no matter how much I often seem to get blown up and survive."

Behemel shrugged, understanding he didn't want to push the subject. "Fair enough> just know you can tell me this stuff. And believe me, I am no stranger to coming from a dark place. IF you knew the rumors of me, you'd be surprised." Behemel took a deep breath, and smirked.

The reptile rolled his eyes at this, smiling slightly despite himself as he crossed his arms before he glanced back and forth throughout the tavern. "So where do we go first, then?"

Behemel cleared his throat in a force of habit and returned to the urgent subject at hand as he picked up the Tarot card again. The card's back was uniformed with the others, a blue background with dragons in a design on the back. The Temperance was of a dragoness below a divine goddess with two chalices r pouring into one another through mid air. "Okay, well after our encounter with our friend, early morning I sought out the city archives . The Temperance is worthy of her reputation."

The reptile tilted his head curiously as he looked over at him. "Oh yeah? Do tell more... but we should get out of here, too. A little crowded to be discussing business in, and I'd. Rather not be connected to last night's events by anyone here." The reptile grimaced a bit as he absently rubbed at his arm, heading towards the door leading out.

With a sigh, Behemel packed up, paid the meal and left with Zerrex. They soon came to a abandoned town square, the only people there were the occasional walkers that early in the morning as they sat by a fountain. "Okay, this morning I dug up what I could about The Temperance from records. There were never a confirmed sighting of her but supposedly, she has been doing this on and off for 20 years. Which leads me to a thesis that she isn't the human we saw up on that rooftop."

The reptile tilted his head at this as he reached down into the fountain, picking up a shiny coin from the bottom of it and beginning to roll this back and forth between his fingers as he looked over at the lion. "So what do you think she is, then? Has it been a series of people, or is she something else entirely?" He paused, grimacing a bit as he glanced up at the sky. "It'd explain a lot about her skills and experience, though, if she was something... different."

"The local authorities did consider it the work of crime family for the length of time she has been doing it. However , they didn't see her abilities first hand," Behemel explained, twiddling the Tarot card in his fingers, careful to not cut himself. " First off her skills , both physical and magic were far superior to anything a normal human could do. And considering the length of time between previous robberies, she would easily be in her late 40s or so . A age humans wouldn't be so nimble."

"Or look so hot." Zerrex added helpfully, and then he nodded a bit as he flipped the coin back into the fountain, absently rolling his shoulders. "So okay. But it sounded from what she said like she was almost looking forwards to meeting us again. Meaning that even if we'll be better prepared for her, she'll be better prepared for us, too. Something tells me she probably has enough sources in strange places to be able to track down stuff about us, too." He paused meditatively, putting his hands behind his head. "Not that it's a bad thing, of course. I love a good challenge. Although it seems that if she was interested in anyone, it was definitely you." He paused and grinned down at the lion. "Maybe we should use you as bait next time. See if she kidnaps you. If you want, I won't even stop her and she can take you back to her lair and show you what she does with her trophies."

"Excuse me?" Behemel blurted out, his face feeling hot in embarrassment. "Um... what are you insinuating? She is just using her charm to get what she wants."

"Yeah. Charming you right out of your pants to get all of what she wants. Every last inch of it." The reptile grinned as he reached out and poked the lion in the forehead, and then he laughed and shook his head amusedly, turning around with a wink over his shoulder. "Maybe all we really need to do is leave you alone somewhere. She might show up just to kidnap you and well. I'll wait a few days, and I'm sure at least you'll come back pleased as punch. Maybe you'll even reform her wicked, thieving ways. Or you know, maybe after you have sex with her you'll decide to cut her some slack and we can get out of this crazy town."

Behemel's face was twisted by both embarrassment and distaste at Zerrex's ideas. HE already felt a ting of guilt after being drunk at the brothel . "She is a thief Zerrex. Remind you, we don't catch her, we don't get any reward."

"True, but by now I just want to be on my way." Zerrex continued to look at the sky, fidgeting a bit before he paced to the side of the fountain and looked down into the clear waters for a moment, then grimaced and splashed them, distorting his reflection and quickly leaning away. "Besides, she's a thief, yes, but she's also hot, plenty able to take care of herself, obviously interested in you and who knows? Maybe she's a noble thief. Thieves aren't all bad. I can think of worse ways to make a living."

"I just dislike the idea of someone who could potentially be of a higher race, reduce themselves to stealing from mortals" He grumbled, thinking deeply about it. "anyway back to what I was saying. Reasons why she isn't human, not only was she nimble, she was inhumanly strong and slipped away incredibly fast. As if she blinked through space briefly. Another reason, is that she bothered to show us her 'face'."

"Yeah. We haven't exactly run into much that's put up much of a fight these days, either." Zerrex absently punched his fists together, adding mildly: "So this is really a blessing in disguise: but it does beg the question, what exactly is she? As I've learned there are some things you really shouldn't poke with a stick. Granted, I'm probably going to poke it anyway." He paused and then grinned,

"Well she was unconcerned that we saw her face. So it's very likely that she can glamour herself into different appearances to conceal her true form. Her cowl and outfit, merely for flare " Behemel hesitated at the use of "flare" for she was in fact a flashy type of gal. "Also , there is this" He held up the Tarot card for Zerrex to see.

The reptile cocked his head, looking at the card and then at the lion. "You mean the sharp metal objects she stuck into both of us? What's special about that one, though? Or is it going to come alive and try to eat us or something?"

"Just look at it," Behemel growled, handing over the thin card as it glinted in the sunlight. "Notice anything unusual about her choice of weapons?"

"They're... cards?" Zerrex took it, flicking it absently back and forth. "Obviously well made. Sharp as hell. They can explode? There's nothing usual about these weapons, from what I've seen so far."

"Try bending one, smartass" Behemel growled, rolling his eyes.

The reptile rolled his eyes, but then he did so, tilting his head as he looked down at it curiously before glancing back up at the lion. The material didn't easily yield under his formidable strength: "What the hell... What is this thing made of? Steel?"

"Very sturdy and hard to bend eh?" he commented. "That metal is reinforced orhicalchon. One of the rarest of metals , and used specifically in magic practices. On top of that, they are all sharpened on all sides to a point close to a surgeon needle. Any regular person would be cut with ease with this thing" he explained carefully, pointing out the detail of the metal card in his hand.

"Point is, the person who made this was ether one of the world's expert craftsmen, or perhaps forged the cards through a rare magic that allowed the forging of metal objects. And there is only one race that comes to mind with that kind of power"

"Dwarves?" Zerrex looked up dumbly as he handed the card back to the lion, flicking his fingers absently as if to clean them, then he cleared his throat and held up his hands. "Don't hurt me. I know she's not a dwarf."

Behemel was tempted to smack Zerrex across the head. "NO! I'm talking about dragons. Not dragonkin or anthro dragons. I'm talking about pure blood dragons. Able to live for over a thousand years. The kind that can raze a city in a single night. That kind of dragon. Dragons are hoarders of the rarest of minerals and treasures. They developed magic to find and craft legendary goods. "

The reptile looked dumbly at the male for a few moments, and then he frowned a bit, saying slowly: "You think she was a dragon. But then... why the interest in this stuff? In this city? Is it her territory or something? And why would she be living as a thief?"

"Honestly , my best guess..." Behemel signed at the thought. "For thrills"

"The way she acted, it more like she got off from the simple challenge of the act rather than the goods themselves. And it would also explain her appearance. To blend into society they can easily change their appearance, becoming humanoid, to whatever race suits them. Beside that... there is another reason why I know she is a dragon..." Behemel hesitated a moment and under his hood, his face.

Zerrex cocked an eye at the lion in interest, smirking. "Oh, and what might that be?"

The lion grumbled a bit, unwilling to speak of it out of embarrassment. Despite it, it was a strong reason for his hypothesis. "She... when she kissed me, she slipped me the tongue. Her true tongue, if you follow..."

The lizard snorted amusedly at this, shaking his head a bit. "I like her more and more with each passing moment. But alright, if that's the case... how do we catch a dragon? That obviously puts her on a slightly-higher tier than we expected, among other things. Although I still say we use you as bait. You might not be a virgin sacrifice but she was obviously still plenty interested in you." He grinned over at the lion, winking at him.

Behemel gave a sign as he took the card back from Zerrex. However he held it away in a teasing gesture. "Well you are half right about one thing. She did take an interest in us. She wants a challenge. She wants a fight, and willing to commit these acts to get it. That is why she said she was sticking around." he explained. "And to be honest remember when you said she'd look up on us?"

"Yeah?" Zerrex looked at him mildly, rubbing at his own muzzle slowly as he tilted his head again. "So... you... what? Want to just wait until she comes to us, then?"

"Honestly I think she was just as surprised to run into us as we were into her. She simply was doing another routine run and was pleased to get tangled up with us"

The reptile nodded after a moment, crossing his arms and leaning back a bit. "I see what you mean then, yeah. Well. At least this should prove interesting. But what do we do with her in that case, when we do capture her one way or the other? You do realize they'll probably just execute her out of hand and do gods know what to the corpse, after all, if we hand her over to the guard captain."

"Not possible," Behemel signed, unsure was the thought they would do worse to her if they discovered she was indeed a dragon, or if they could at all capture a dragon. "You would need prime military force to subdue a dragon in a full frenzy. The fact we fought her like this.... she was merely toying with us. There is no way the authorities could handle her. Anyway we don't know enough yet to even consider turning her over to the authorities"

"So then why are we still here?" Zerrex looked thoughtfully at the lion, and then he grinned and crossed his arms. "You like her. This isn't even about the reward at all anymore, but you like her. You totally have a thing for her, don't you?" He reached out and nudged him, then sighed theatrically as he knitted his fingers together beside his face. "I remember when I first fell in love many years

ago now, more than I care to count... oh, how we frolicked on the dirty field together between the gardens of death and the bodies of soldiers..."

Behemel constantly tried to keep his cool but his face felt like it was burning up. "That has nothing to do with it!" he insisted, his tone a bit higher than he intended. "As i said, a being as powerful and mighty as a dragon, using her talents to steal from mere mortals is shameful. Its not something we can just ignore, can we? It isn't right."

The Drakkaren looked amusedly at the male for a few moments, and then he grinned and shook his head slowly, crossing his arms and saying kindly: "Well, if you want, I won't object if you want to go buy some flowers and chocolate for your date tonight with her. Just make sure to be home by midnight, you know how I worry." He laughed, then added meditatively: "Or, considering her tastes, you should check out some of the weapon shops. Buy her something to go along with these gloves, maybe a nice knife, or get your hands on some of that orchi-whatsit. But the gift you make yourself always means more, remember."

Behemel sighed , putting his palm into his face. "Zerrex, it isn't like that. While you'll be happy to know, the reward now means little . Our contract with our employer is not valid anymore. But we cant just leave it alone. "

"Of course it's not." Zerrex put his hands in his pockets, adding mildly: "But you also happened to mention that taking her on would be a uh... a little difficult. What if she does happen to get pissed at us and decides a better use than her entertainment is as her new set of dinner decorations? Do you think we could stop her from making me into a set of cups and you into her bed sheets and possibly some kinky sex toys?"

"I said it was difficult . I never said it was impossible." Behemel corrected. " This is beyond the skills of the authorities but you and I have... unique abilities. But first thing first. We need to find her and confront her first. Understand 100 percent what she is doing here. Otherwise all we just discussed goes right out the window"

"Well, I do love a good fight." Zerrex said musingly, and then he glanced down before nodding a bit as he rubbed his hands together slowly, then flexed his right fingers absently. "Is there anything I should know about dragons or should I just do my usual 'charge in and punch it until it stops moving' routine?"

"I can tell you right now, " Behemel said with upmost confidence, "That your otherwise wing-it approach, will not bring her down. We should be grateful she was otherwise playing with us. As a full dragon, she could of insinuated us with a simple breath. We need strategy to stop her."

The Drakkaren grinned amusedly over at the lion as he winked. "Hey, I got some tricks up my sleeve and friends in... well... places. But alright. What do you suggest them, fearless leader?"

At this Behemel smirked. "Okay, I do think we can stop her, so long if she stays true to her behavior pattern. She wants a fight, we will give her one"

***

The nights were uneventful till after the 3rd night. The thief had become restless with the calm and decided it was her time to venture out again. Once again, the blacked cloaked thief snuck into a heavily secure building. This time she sought out a shiny gemstone the size of her first. With not even a sound, she entered the room with no issue. The gem, lit by a lone light at the top of the room, shined in her eyes. "Hello there, beautiful. Another item for my trove" she almost purred form under her hood. " Carefully she took one of her Temperance Tarot cards, and took grip for the gem in her other hand. Her eyes radiated a serious glare, in reality, her focus on magic as the card glittered.

She then slipped the card in place of the gem, sensing a pressure sensor alarm of some kind. The card mimicked the same weight, as she commanded, as she now walked away with the gem snugly in her hand. The Temperance, securing her latest loot, made her way back to the rooftop, almost sighing in disappointment the extreme lack of guards. Hardly anyone to fight got in her way.

Zerrex yawned a bit as he rolled his shoulders, then he grinned slightly over at Behemel, rubbing his hands together slowly as his sword glinted on his back, crossing his arms across his broad chest. "Well, are you ready for your date? Got your cologne on, all ready for the dance?"

"The only dancing I see, is a fight" he said, growling a bit at Zerrex's cocky attitude. "Just stick to the plan, IF we find her."

"Well, that happens to be my favorite kind of dance." He grinned wider and winked over at him before he nodded a bit, reaching a hand up and squeezing the hilt of his heavy-bladed weapon slowly, adding mildly: "And something tells me that we'll get lucky tonight. Or at least you will. I know, I know. Eyes on the goal."

Behemel gave a sigh , but then his eyes caught something. On a further building he could see the silhouette of someone skimming the rooftops. He could easily see the lithe figure, jump from roof to roof. " Speak of the devil. Remember the plan?"

"My part is easy. Beating on things and making them angry. It's what I specialize in." Zerrex winked over at the lion, and then he cleared his throat as he rose a hand, mock-shouting: "Hey, beautiful! Your date is here! Not me, the lion guy, and by the way he totally has a crush on you!" He paused, then smiled pleased over at Behemel. "See? I'm doing my job already."

"Smartass" Behemel growled, and with that, he took off after her. His speed and agility just as good as her, as he leapt from one rooftop to the next. Zerrex then followed him coming from the ground level and up.

The Temperance continued her run down the building, wondering if she should find another rare item to steal. It would be a bore for her to at least not light a fire under someone that night to get them to chase her. She almost wanted to yawn.

Just then, a flash of silver sliced through the air. The Temperance stopped as the flash of metal shined right in front of her, causing her to skid to a stop. Before her was the end of Behemel's scythe, attached by the chain that connected it. Zipping through the air, using the scythe's chain as a zip line, Behemel had shot himself through the air and swiftly landed on the rooftop, before the thief . He landed swiftly, and then twirled the staff of his scythe, the chain retracting and restored the weapon to its true shape before it vanished in his grip like magic. "Lovely night for a stroll, Temperance?" Behemel asked, mockingly.

Zerrex grumbled as he hopped across to the rooftop a few moments later, pin wheeling his arms a bit and then approaching as he absently rubbed his hands together, glancing at the female thoughtfully before he looked at the lion. "Has he confessed his undying affection for you yet? Or recited you a poem he wrote?" He paused meditatively, then returned his eyes to the female. "Also, on a serious note, care to share with us what you stole this time? I'd normally mean literally share, but I think in this case I'm just supposed to lecture you on how bad stealing is and tell you to go put it back."

The Temperance looked in front of her and back, her expression a bit startled by their sudden appearance. She did not enjoy it when she got the drop on her. After a moment to collect herself, she reached behind her and drew out the gemstone. "Nicked this from the mansion few doors down. It was a bore too. Hardly any real guards to fight through. Was thinking I'd have to burn down a few buildings before I got any real attention to play with"

"Interesting," Behemel commented, his gaze sharp and narrowed at her. "Considering you'd most likely just have to breathe on it to set the town ablaze."

That however caught her attention, her expression surprised. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"He can see into your mind." The lizard nodded a few times, pointing at the lion before he cleared his throat. "Well, actually, he worked it out by all the hints you were dropping. Personally, I'm interested to see whether or not he's right about you being... a little something bigger than the pretty human body you're dressed up as right now." Zerrex grinned slightly as he leaned forwards, rubbing his hands together slowly. "Not many chances a person gets in life to fight something like you, after all, if he is right."

She turned to Zerrex, her gaze slightly irritated at the arrogant lizard. "Just what are you insinuating? " she growled a bit, " Do I look like some kind of monster?" She was clearly acting offended to throw them off.

"Then I will keep it simple." Behemel stated strongly, causing her to turn to him. "As of right now, we just want to talk. I don't want to fight till we know the truth."

"The truth of what?"

His gaze narrowed. "We know you aren't human. That much is obvious. But.... are you in fact a dragon?"

Zerrex crossed his arms, tilting his head curiously as he smiled slightly, but keeping his muzzle shut for now as he focused across on the female, rolling his shoulders slowly. For once, caution and sensibility won out over his usual need to make a smart-ass remark as he sized her up slowly and felt the tenseness of the lion beside him.

Temperance didn't say a word at first. Then slowly , she paced a few feet on the rooftop. "I see... how did you figure it out?" At that moment under the light of the moon, her shadow visible from behind her, began to expand . It stretched out upon the floor, till it took another shape. The shape of a curvy but formidable dragon. green light shined in the shadow where its eyes would be, along with the Temperance's own eyes in unison.

The Drakkaren snorted in amusement at this, gesturing towards the tall male lion. "He did most of the work there, pretty lady. Reasoned it out through a bunch of stuff that went right past my head. As you may have noticed, I'm just the brawn." He winked, putting his hands behind his head as his emerald eyes sharpened slightly. "But thanks for confirming that we were right, at least. Of course, the question remains: why steal this stuff?"

"What? You never heard of dragons who collect treasure? It's what we do," she remarked, self proud as her dragon-like shadow disappeared.

"But you steal it from mere mortals!" Behemel retorted. "Someone of your power and grace... why would you resort to this?"

"Yeah, personally when I want some shiny rocks I go out and pick them up off the ground. Personally I still don't have much of a problem with it but it is admittedly kind of sad to see your obvious talents being wasted on museum runs." Zerrex added, crossing his arms and glancing absently up the sky.

Temperance paused for a moment, and shrugged her shoulder. "Beats the hell out of waiting for knights to try to slay me" she joked mildly. Her gaze coming to Behemel. "The things I steal are of little consequence. I seek challenge, not gems. Though... you can't blame me for picking up things that I find amusing. A dragoness needs her gems," She then gave Zerrex a wink for emphasis.

"Well, if it's a challenge you're after, we're more than glad to give it to you." The reptile grinned slightly as he knitted his fingers together, then cracked them with a wink to her. "Although I hope you haven't gotten rusty with the years you've spent here without anyone around to put up a good fight. Anyway, beautiful, now that we're all getting to know each other better, why don't you do away with that disguise and show us your true face? It seems my friend here with the crush on you wants you to stop stealing, and you're not going to stop stealing unless we make you stop stealing, after all, so let's get right to the good part."

"You realize how much the guards would want to catch you. Doesn't that give you any clue how difficult you made things? Even if you are a dragon, have you no pride?" Behemel asked.

"Hmm... Pride huh? Honor? You want to know something?"

Zerrex tilted his head towards her, frowning a bit as he rested back a bit with his arms crossed. "What?"

"I admit that I am a thief. But I'm not a monster. In everything I stole and toyed with my pursuers, I never killed a single person. You say I have no honor? I may be a thief, but I do what I must to live my life with no regrets. Are you trying to judge me?" She said in a bit of scorn. Behemel remained quiet at her words.

"So now what, fearless leader?" Zerrex glanced dubiously towards the lion, his arms still crossed before they flicked back towards the dragon in disguise. "I also think you may have ruined your chance to go on a date with her. So do we fight her or do we leave her alone?"

Behemel took a deep breath as he addressed the dragon. "I am not judging you. In fact I have nothing but deep respect for a creature of your standing. And yes. I can see how considerate you can be." He turned to Zerrex , his expression a bit pained. "Dragons do operate on another level beyond mortals, you know. So I apologize if we offended you" Behemel made his point making a bow.

The Drakkaren crossed his arms, chewing on his cheek but then grunting and glancing over at him. "People are people, I find. But alright." He paused, looking over at her meditatively. "Wanna spar at all, at least? Gods know I enjoyed our last meeting far too much for my own well-being. I probably mean that in a literal sense. Of course, I'm sure when we report to the guard captain we're not going to be doing this job after all they'll want to pan-fry us, so maybe I should save my strength..."

The Temperance shrugged her shoulders, trying to hide her surprise at Behemel's humble gesture. "No offence taken. As you say, we operate very differently. Besides," she turned to Zerrex. "You seem to be the one who is flapping his lips more than anyone else here." She then grinned, "After all, in the end all I do want is a good fight. It excites me as much as anything else."

"It's a bad habit I picked up from Cherry, I do it whenever I'm bored. But we're not so different then, if that's all you're after." Zerrex smiled slightly towards her, crossing his arms and glancing over the female slowly.

"Just a couple more questions, Temperance" He requested. "So all of this, this act, is merely for you to obtain a thrill and gather treasure? You aren't using this for some other nefarious purpose?"

Zerrex snorted in amusement as he glanced over at the lion, crossing his arms and grinning a bit despite himself. "I thought you were the one who told me dragons were almost impossible to subdue. Wouldn't she just. Blow something up if she wanted to blow it up?" He paused, glancing over at her curiously. "Can you just blow stuff up? I'm not as versed on my dragon-lore as he is."

Temperance let out a loud laugh. "Ahahah! A bit over exaggerated but yes, I could if I wished, locks. " she addressed Zerrex with a face. "And no, the treasures I keep are for myself. I don't sell them to the black market . And most of them are owned by overly proud rich men. Please... " she said with scoff. " And as I said, the challenge is all I truly care for."

"If that is what you truly desire, then , Temperance. " Behemel chose his words carefully. "We have a challenge for you."

The reptile grunted thoughtfully at this, nodding slowly before he glanced over at Behemel, then he bowed a bit to the lion, gesturing for him to continue speaking: it was his plan, after all, and the lizard was willing to give his way a shot instead of just charging in headlong.

This caught her interest. "Oh really?" She knew she liked how this lion thought. The tone of his voice and his mysterious allure. "And what is this challenge of yours?"

"A final confrontation" Behemel stated. " If you desire a fight, we will give you one you'll never forget. However the stakes will be high. A worthy condition for the ultimate challenge, don't you say?"

"And after all. It sounds like you'll be a handful even for both of us at once. But we might surprise you ourselves." Zerrex smiled slightly, nodding in agreement with the lion as he glanced over towards him, then returned his calm emerald eyes to the female.

She grew a mischievious grin at the thought. "Very well. Your stakes?" she asked.

"IF we beat you, you turn yourself in. Not that we honor the reward for you, but we did make a commitment to stop your thieving habits " he said in mild seriousness. "However, should you win," Behemel raised up something from his pack,, showing her the new Spirit Arm he acquired. "You get this. A worthy treasure way beyond the stones you been stealing, don't you say?"

"And hell, I'll wager my own sword." Zerrex reached back, grasping the obsidian handle of his blade and pulling it off his back as he spun the heavy blade lightly at his side, then held the flat out towards her, smiling slightly. "Blackheart's been a part of me for years. You can have the satisfaction of whatever coin the metal's worth... but if anything would shut me up, losing this sword would."

"I realize..." she paused, looking at the two, and drawing some cards to look at mildly, "Before we get this party started, I never learned your names. "

"Well, we didn't get yours either." The Drakkaren half-bowed to her as he spun his sword at his side and then slid it back into place on his back, saying courteously. "Zerrex Narrius, at your service."

"Behemel," he answered, "Behemel Fatereaver"

Temperance stopped looking at her cards for a moment to turn to Behemel. "The Behemel? The Beast of Pandemonium?" she said in soft awe. The lion couldn't help but feel a pinch of pain at the reference and bad memory to why he was called that. "Well now... if I knew who you were before hand, I wouldn't of been so rude. Now I'm REALLY interested to fight you."

The lizard glanced over at the lion curiously, and then he shrugged a bit and smiled slightly as his eyes returned to the dragoness, rolling his right shoulder absently. "Well, we're both plenty interested in fighting you as well. Sounds like this'll be fun all around."

At that time, Temperance held her cards tightly, now prepared to end the talking. " Fair enough. My name however, you'll have to earn in our fight, hun." With that she got into a fighting pose, her stance like that of a boxer with the dagger cards. "I have no intention to be held captive by useless mortal guards below. Catch me if you can boys" Her grin was purely teasing , and she winked in Behemel's direction.

"Honestly," Behemel said, "Id regret that option as well, Temperance. Only one way to see how it will end though. " With that, he willed his weapon. Chronos reappeared in his grasp in a dazzle of light, and he raised it ready.

The lizard smiled slightly, grasping his shoulder and taking an easy breath, his emerald eyes almost glowing as he readied himself grinning slightly as his eyes flicked from Behemel to the female. "Do me a favor, babe, and try to keep your hits on the side of my face that's already messed up. I'm ugly enough as it is, huh?" He winked over at her, but his eyes burned with not just confidence, but dark entertainment. "Let's dance."

"Yes, lets," Just then, she vanished in a blur of speed. Next moment, she was high above them. Her form dramatically against the moonlight, as she had her arms out wide. Without ceremony, she threw several of her dagger Tarot cards, towards them.

Zerrex leapt backwards as he rose his right arm protectively in front of himself, grimacing as a dagger sliced through his scales and ricocheted off the not-flesh below before he flexed the limb, scales tearing off it as it transformed into solid metallic plates, the lizard grinning widely up at her as his eyes shone with battle lust.

Behemel darted across the rooftop, his movements swift and agile as he dodged daggers behind him. Those he couldn't he easily batted away with his scythe. He skidded to a stop, and brought his scythe back. With a strong slash, he conjured a crescent wind blade that sliced up towards her.

Temperance began to descend just in time and dodged the blade of air. She grinned, impressed by their unique skills with both weapon, and talents. As she landed, she too sprinted to Behemel, Before he knew it, she was right in his line of sight. inside the range of his scythe, making Behemel's lack of close combat dangerous. " Hello there, handsome."

The reptile charged towards the two, feet pounding against the rooftop before he lunged towards the female as she drew rapidly towards the lion, grinning slightly as he swung his right fist out at her as it gleamed in the moonlight.

Hearing Zerrex coming, she turned to see him charging with his fist now a metallic skin. " well , you got more surprises than I thought, " she quipped, then before he could touch her, grabbed hold of his fist, stopping him affectively.

Thanks to Zerrex's intervention before she did something nasty, Behemel reangled the staff of his Scythe. With a twist of his wrist, he slipped the edge between her legs and tripped her, causing her to lose balance.

Temperance fell backwards, but soon entered a roll, gaining distance away from the pursuing males. She then slipped a card in mid-roll, sliding it to their feet where they stood.

The reptile grunted in surprise as she caught his fist, and then he leapt backwards as Behemel tripped her, putting some space between themselves before he glanced towards the rooftop as something glinted in the moonlight, wincing immediately as he saw the card sliding towards them and rapidly backpedalling as he rose his arm in front of himself. "Oh hell, not again."

"Move!" Behemel roared, and leapt away from it, entering a slide across the rooftop, the card stopping where they were.

"I am!" The reptile snapped back, leaping away from the card as he rose his arm defensively, heading quickly away from the small but dangerous weapon.

The card, Knight of Cups, a dragon holding a shield with a chalice was on the ground. At that moment the card flashed and shot shards of ice across the rooftop.

Seeing the flying shards, Behemel gave another slash of his scythe and charged forward. The slash cleaved a safe path, as he ran at Temperance, as she stood there with her cocky grin. " You'll have to do better than that to stop me!" he roared, , seeing her draw more cards.

The reptile grimaced, half-ducking as he swung his right arm out, pieces of ice shattering against it before he ran towards her, left hand reaching up to grasp the hilt of his sword and squeeze into the handle, eyes locked on the female.

Temperance charged right for Behemel as well, her cards in both hands. She parried the sweep of Behemel's scythe and charged in, but Behemel stepped back and met her blades with the mythril base of his weapon. As she swiped at another angle, he pivoted and blocked her as well. Despite his hood, she could see for a split second his own smile of amusement.

As she heard Zerrex approach, she jumped and charged at Zerrex this time.

The lizard grinned slightly as he swung his arm out towards her at head level the moment she came within range, before he leaned quickly forwards, rolling his left shoulder as he snapped Blackheart off his back with his left hand and slashed it savagely down towards her in a dropping, savage slice, not holding back on his strength as his emerald eyes burned with entertainment.

She immediately brought her daggers up, and to his surprised, she successfully halted the attack, at most causing her to dig her boots into the ground to hold her ground. She grinned up at him. "Oh so you like playing rough, do you? " she grinned, , her accuracy being pin point amazing to block the large sword with just her cards, criss-crossed to keep her safe.

" When this is over, we should have angry sex," she teased, before she sidestepped, causing his sword to slip to her side, and she spun to deliver a slash , but only met his sword. Before Zerrex knew it, he was parrying her dagger strikes.

"Hey, I'm the one who makes the sex jokes here." Zerrex retorted, sword lashing back against her deft movements before he grinned back, flexing his right arm and bringing it back slightly as the silvery plates gleamed before he punched towards her, and in an instant, a three-foot long, elegant silver blade suddenly sprang from the top of his wrist as he shouted cheerfully at the same time: "For example, surprise penetration!"

That stunned her, catching her and sent her skidding backward. "Ugh..." she grunted, feeling the place where the blades caught her skin. Visually there was no scratch but she acted differently. "Now that hurt," she growled.

The Drakkaren grinned slightly as he drew Blackheart back and rested it back on his left shoulder, slowly licking along the silvery blade before he slid the sword onto his back, raising his arms and readying himself, right arm held out in front of him. "Oh, but we're just getting started, beautiful. I wouldn't want to insult you by holding back now."

She clearly underestimated the lizard. and further perking her interest to the two males...

"Don't forget about me!" Behemel roared, as the wind suddenly howled around them. Syeena turned to see the robed lion and his scythe held high. "You wanted a challenge? Careful what you ask for. Your just bit off more than you can chew!" The scythe's blade now hummed with the wind's vibrating.

"Grim Zephyr!!" A massive shockwave ripped the rooftop apart, shooting towards Syeena's direction.

The lizard gritted his teeth, leaping quickly backwards to escape from the path of destruction and tossing a cheerful, short wave to the dragoness with his left hand as he kept his right arm raised in front of himself, grinning slightly even as he felt the powerful force of wind kicking up sharp pieces of debris and shrapnel that bounced against his chiseled frame.

She gritted her teeth as the blast rushed at her. From her side, she drew a card . "Not so fast! " She shouted, and shoved the card in her hands out towards the shockwave. "The Justice! " The card of a dragon head suspended over a set of scales flashed in her hands. . A barrier of yellow energy rose up around her, protecting her from the blast , but it proved even in strength as the shockwave hit. The two powers collided, rocking the foundation. Smoke and debris scattered.

The reptile staggered backwards, covering his eyes with a grimace at the resulting shockwave as the rooftop beneath his feet trembled and cracked, and then he shook his head quickly, frowning a bit at the cloud of smoke as debris hailed down around him, arm still raised defensively before he flexed his fingers slowly, silvery, elegant blade glinting as he muttered: "Why do I get the feeling one of us is about to get hurt?"

An eerie silence followed as the dust started to clear. He almost fear the neighbors and those below would be shrieking in fear from the destruction. As the smoke cleared, the ground was torn asunder, the mild halo that had the least damage, where Temperance's shield was wore out, debris still inside the area. He stood there dumbfounded. "That was... anticlimactic?" he said, slightly unsure.

Zerrex looked hesitantly over towards the lion, but then he grimaced a bit, grasping his right forearm as his eyes narrowed slightly, flicking back and forth before looking up towards the night sky, still alert as he slowly stepped towards the lion, saying quietly: "Well, considering what we know about her, let's make sure the job's been done before we celebrate."

Before Behemel could move, he felt the feel of hands around him, on his chest. "Oh our party isn't over yet." A sensual voice whispered in his ear. The flash of metal glimmered in his eye as he found himself with a handful of those sharp cards right under his chin. Temperance was right behind him, a sensual yet lethal embrace. She had slipped there before ether of them had noticed. Her hold was both sensual and perfectly angle to deliver a kill if she wished. "My my... that move would of easily done damage. Even in my true form, hun. Such a bad boy you are, throwing that kind of power at a girl" she teased , using the cards scratching the edge of his chin fur playfully.

The lizard winced at the sound of the female's voice, turning and staring at the sight of her with Behemel enfolded in her deadly embrace. "Well, that's a point to you, then... but you're not going to kill him out of hand, are you?" The Drakkaren grinned slightly as he half-rose his left hand awkwardly. "By the way, Behemel, uh. If you do die, can I have your stuff?"

"Zerrex!" he growled, more in urgent need than anger.

"I am trying to negotiate for your life here. Besides, you're the... fancy magic guy, I'm the punch stuff and hurt it guy." Zerrex replied mildly, accenting this with a swing of his arm before he paused meditatively. "Can you teach me a spell in like. The fifteen seconds it'll take you to bleed to death after she slices your windpipe that'll help me save your life?"

"Oh will you stop talking," Temperance sneered at Zerrex, her gaze to him for a moment. "Your voice is scrapping at my nerves."

And that is when he struck. With that mild diversion, it allowed him to act. He then gripped her wrist to hold her arm from going any higher, He heard her gasp in surprise, and throwing his strength forward, he flipped her and sent her flying away from him.

I gotta remember to thank Zerrex saving me with his useless chatter, he thought

The Drakkaren immediately seized the opportunity, eyes sharpening as he leapt forwards and snapped his sword off his back as he swung hard outwards with a grunt and a wide grin, throwing his full weight and strength into the attack as he aimed to slice the female into halves in midair, the heavy sword seeming to vibrate as he lashed it towards her.

She cursed herself for letting the lizard get the better of her. He was both annoying and crafty. With a hand full of cards, she cast them in a wide arch, it met the sword and there was a hard clash between them. The whip of cards became like a sword, sturdy and solid against Zerrex's sword and causing them to skid apart.

With a huff , she then flipped through the air to land on a chimney, her descent almost slow as she seemed to levitate to a landing . She landed and looked at them, her expression mixed from irritation and frustration. She clearly wasn't the kind that liked to lose.

The reptile grunted and skidded backwards, but then he threw his head back and laughed, shouldering Blackheart as he flexed his right arm, and the blade withdrew back into it, the lizard's eyes burning as he grinned at her. "I like her. I like her a lot, Behemel. Even if you may not be crazy fond of her right now yourself." He paused meditatively, glancing over at him before he looked back towards the female, winking at her. "Don't worry. I would have shared his stuff with you if you did kill him. Say, you look a little frustrated now: I thought you wanted a good challenge, wasn't that right?"

It was time to move the battlefield. "Now Zerrex, if we fight here it will be our disadvantage," he told him, with a wink.

The reptile glanced over at him, then he returned his gaze towards the female, saying easily: "What, really? And here I was, just starting to have fun. But then again... this has been a little, shall we say... underwhelming." He grinned teasingly over at the female, winking at her. "I haven't even been blown up, yet."

With that, Behemel turned and leapt to the next rooftop. He gave Zerrex a crossed look to follow. He used his scythe to propel himself forward with a blast from his own weapon.

Temperance felt aback and angry at the comment from Zerrex. But Retreating? She felt both disappointed and insulted. "Are you joking! Do you honestly think you can escape a predator like me?" she roared, her dragon nature showing briefly with her tone. Taking a moment to compose herself, she then sprinted forth after them.

"Keep up if you can!" Zerrex winked and raised his hand to the female as he jogged lightly backwards, then he turned and sprinted towards the edge of the rooftop, leaping after the lion and landing heavily on the next roof, sprinting with surprising speed after the male as he kicked off the edge of each building to propel himself wide over alleyways and roads, grimacing a bit at the speed he had to maintain to keep away from the female as he paced behind the lion.

Leaping forth, Behemel could easily sense Temperance behind them. Her appearance was almost ghostlike, Her form blinking from one spot to the next in the air. much like how she evaded major combat with her unreal motion. "We can't shake her!" he said aloud, making sure she heard him as well. "Split up!" he commanded Zerrex, and hoped he would stick to their plan. With that, they separated, Zerrex going one direction, while Behemel kept to the rooftop, leaping for the clock tower in the distance.

The reptile snorted at this, but he finally grumbled as he leapt down to the roadway, slipping into an alley but halting and glancing upwards, half-concealed in the shadows as he made sure the female had chosen to follow the lion. He nodded a bit to himself, then turned and vanished into the darkness, running quickly towards his objective and rolling his shoulders as his arm glinted. "Better work, or I'm going to kick your ass in the afterlife."

Temperance took a moment to consider their action. Running scared perhaps? No... she knew something was up. Despite it, she chose to follow Behemel, out of personal interest. she followed as he swung himself up to the massive tower, and watched as he slipped into one of the crevices into the clock tower. She grinned at the building, "Oh now, don't hide from me hun."

The clock tower's inner workings were dark and dangerous. His eyes could easily make out the moving gears and gadgets that were spread all about the tower. Leaping onto one of the wooden platforms, Behemel stood his ground there. The sound of turning metal and gizmos made it hard to hear her should she approach, but they helped provide better cover.

She entered the tower and looked around as the gears rotated. Just what are you thinking my lovely cat, she thought as she eyed the long room downward. Luckily she spotted him on the middle platform. She grinned as she stepped off the platform and landed on his.

"Oh my , don't tell me you actually tried to hide from me?" she asked aloud, not bothering to sneak up on him.

Behemel turned around, meeting the Temperance's predatory gaze. Her look was both strong, yet alluring. The idea however in his mind was whether or not she really did want to gobble him up. Literally. " Depends, I'm not used to woman making the first move," he teased dryly.

"Goodness me. Shame on them," She said seductively, each step she took closer to him but prolonged. "To let a real treat like you go... what a pity. If I could , id make you my latest steal. Make you all... mine."

"Forgive me if I'm not too flattered," he stated plainly. "Appealing as your idea is, I value my freedom. "

As they talked, Zerrex watched the two with amusement, resting in the hilt of his sword and tempted to just continue to watch how things played out. But finally, he grinned to himself cocking his head thoughtfully to the side as he brought his sword up, then easily swung outwards and slashed a large piston, sending a heavy avalanche of machinery crashing down to rip gears and levers out of place from the side wall, spitting towards the platform the female was on before the lizard leapt straight down towards her as the tsunami of gears and broken machine parts spilled in from the side, hammering his sword down in an overhead blow and grinning as he shouted: "Honey, I'm home!"

The roar of metal rang in her ears as she turned up to see Zerrex in the rain of debris. As Behemel leapt out of the way , she struggled to find a place to dodge, the surroundings claustrophobic for her to escape. She had no choice but jumped right up towards Zerrex directly, despite directly in his range of his sword.

The reptile grunted as he began to slash his sword straight down towards her, before he grinned and suddenly twisted both his legs out, spinning his body violently in midair and bringing the massive blade around in a savage revolving cut instead of a forwards slash, the flat of the blade screaming through the air towards her instead of the edge in a baseball bat strike with the lizard's strength backed by gravity, weight and momentum behind it in one immense, lightning-fast attack as his eyes glowed with battle lust and blue arcs faintly zapped over the heavy sword.

Her eyes widen as the blade's power glowed ablaze and his move surprised her. The blade sliced into her form and she let out a scream of agony.... that is until the image of her form shattered into specks of light and glittery dust. Her vanishing caused Zerrex to gasp in shock to discover she vanished completely.

The lizard had felt the impact - it was hard enough that he had been knocked slightly back upwards by it, the reptile flipping backwards before letting himself freefall and crashing down on a platform that rocked beneath his weight, groaning quietly as the Drakkaren shifted the sword to his left hand and absently brought his left hand up to half-catch and throw away a boulder-sized gear before it could collide with him. Then he winced and quickly looked back and forth, then relaxed slightly, grimacing a bit as he pretended to flick his fingers as if pained, calling: "Behemel? Where the hell are you and where the hell did she go? I didn't hit her so hard she turned into fairy-dust, right?"

As the last of the rubble fell, he joined Zerrex. "I saw it! She wouldn't just..." at that moment he looked to the ground as a card fell from the air. He quickly picked it up and looked at it. The card was the Tarot was The Moon, used to describe misdirection and illusion. "Damn... it was a mirage!" he said, discarding the card.

The sound of clapping caught their attention as they turned to another side of the tower. Temperance stood on the top of a moving gear, it descending slowly like moving stairs. She applaud slowly, her expression amused. "Hehe... not bad. Divide and converge. Not the most original of ideas, but clever all the same" she commended them as she stepped onto the platform gracefully.

"Oh well. At least you're not fairy dust." Zerrex grinned at her lamely, then he rubbed absently at his forehead before rubbing his metal hannds together, looking from the lion to the female mildly. "So, who thinks this has been a great day and we should all go for coffee? Or do we stop playing games and actually try to kill each other?" He smiled over at the female, even as his emerald eyes flashed darkly, with both battlelust as well as eagerness.

"Now why would I want to kill you two?" she grinned teasingly, "You two been the most fun I had in decades. That be no fun." She raised a hand and beckoned a finger for Zerrex to come at her. " Don't tell me your annoyed, or is it your getting your tail handed to you by a girl"

At that moment Behemel smirked. "She's all yours Zerrex, " he whispered,, knowing he knew well to keep her busy. "Give her all she wants."

The Drakkaren huffed at this, putting his hands on his hips as he glared at her and said loudly: "Shows how much you know. I get beaten up by girls all the time." He paused, then stopped, frowning a bit and rubbing at his face slowly. "Wait. Wait, that came out wrong. Can I rephrase that?"

Temperance broke out into a fit of laughter. "Ahaha. " she gasped, as she flicked her wrist and another hand of cards came to her as she prepared her fighting stance. " Most fun night ever. Come on, don't leave me waiting."

Zerrex glowered, then he broke into a sprint, rushing towards her and dropping his shoulder... but at the last moment, the reptile twisted his body as he dropped low, sweeping a leg out in a hard, wide kick aimed at her shins, skidding lightly on his side.

She easily went with the flow and turn her trip into a elegant flip, dancing around his advancing form , just an inch away, in a deadly dance. Preparing for him to swing his sword with mischievous delight.

The reptile shoved himself easily to his feet and rose his hands, narrowing his eyes towards her as he lashed his right arm in a hard forwards jab before he grasped the handle of his blade in his left and shrugged it over his shoulders, tearing it in a downwards arc as he grunted and shifted slightly to the side with a wide grin.

At that moment she acted, With the sword incoming, she ducked as he swung it over her head, As she hoped, he missed and sent the blade into a intertwining gear mechanism. She grinned up at him, the sword now stuck between the two heavy wedges. "Uh oh," she said mockingly, and with a grin she got in close and delivered a mighty kick, sending Zerrex backwards.

The Drakkaren gritted his teeth, then he wheezed a bit as he staggered backwards, wincing at the pain in his chest and grasping at the part she'd kicked before he rose his hands and said quickly: "Wait, obviously, you've disarmed me!" He paused, then grinned as he flicked his right arm out, his hand solidifying as the metal plates rippled visibly before it transformed into a large, heavy spiked ball, the lizard grinning across at her with entertainment as the large thorns over the morning star glinted dangerously in the light. "Or you know. Or not."

"Now that is just cheating if I ever seen it,": she said with a mocking face.

"You call it cheating, I call it being able to exploit little loopholes here and there that allow me to get past certain difficulties." the reptile replied mildly, and then he stepped forwards and swung the spiked ball at the end of his arm out at her almost playfully, grinning slightly as he added: "Unless you're saying you're scared, of course!"

With a jump, she flipped in midair, avoiding the large spike ball and landed in the center of the platform.

"Now Zerrex! Get back!" While Zerrex had been fighting Temperance, all the while he was waiting for the right moment. And now things were set for the final move. He raised Chronos high, waiting for Zerrex to get clear.

The reptile immediately threw himself backwards, throwing himself bodily off the edge of the platform as his morning star hand reshaped itself into a metallic claw, throwing this out to seize into the concrete wall and ripping a hole in it to cling to as he threw a wave to the female with a grin.

With her standing in the center of the array of gears and gyros, he raised up his scythe. The gem on the side of the Scythe's blade lit up brightly with building power as the very air seemed to quiver with power. "Now! Devil's Nightmare!" he cried, and the eye of the scythe released a powerful flash.

Temperance turned to see Behemel roar out his battle cry and was blindsided by the flash.

The space within the clock tower warped, the image of everything becoming negative. The moving clockwork halted, all sound stopped and all movement around Behemel froze . With Chronos' true power released, he quickly acted. He leapt towards Temperance who he could already see her body in a blur, as if she tried to teleport in transaction.

With a slash, he swung his scythe and the blade extended, reaching from a chain and wrapped around a gear's teeth. He then leapt around one of the other gears, and turned . As he leapt around, space sped up around him, his motions becoming faster and faster as he leapt from place to place, trailing the chain behind him. Before long he formed an intricate web of silver chains with the Temperance in the very center,

The dazzle of light and flash of movement confused her, but the next thing she knew... Her body was tightly wrapped up in chain. Her arms were pinned tightly to her sides, silver chains hugging tightly to her body, making her unable to move. "Wha-What is this?"

"We caught you" Behemel spoke from behind her. The moment he broke the time freeze, he now stood near her, the staff of his scythe with the chain from it in his paws. He took a moment to admire his handiwork as feint moonlight reflected off the chains.

Temperance at that moment tried to warp out of the chains. As she tried she felt something invisible tighten on her more, as if her whole body was paralyzed whenever she tried. "Impossible?! I'm bound completely??"

Behemel finally allowed himself to chuckle. "Yes," he said. "You see, I found your fatal weakness in that form." He tapped the floor with the staff for emphasis.

Zerrex grunted as he hauled himself upwards, bracing himself against the wall before he shoved himself off and landed on a nearby platform, whistling a bit at the sudden web of chains that had appeared out of seemingly nowhere following the flash. "Damn. That's not a bad trick at all."

"How ?" she gasped, her expression truly surprised.

"A dragon can maintain humanoid form, but you have to consider how they conceal the rest of their naturally larger bodies, " Behemel explained, looking to Zerrex as he came back down to the same platform. " It was most likely you use magic to bend space around you. The organs and larger appendages overlapping to accustom your new shape. But most important, you can alter the space where your true form would of been. You could easily warp the space of your body to where a part of your later self would of been, and appeared to teleport yourself within that vicinity ."

"Huh. Smart." Zerrex rubbed at the underside of his muzzle thoughtfully as he poked a bit at the chains, looking at the female musingly before he glanced back at the lion. "So... what was that now, exactly?"

"You don't get a word I just said, did you?" Behemel asked, wanting to make sure he understood. Like a teacher to a student.

"I... Kind of do." The Drakkaren cleared his throat a bit, gesturing towards the female. "But with her little habit of escaping, I. Want to know what we do with her first and foremost. You know. So she doesn't attempt to blow us up. Although you may have at least earned a congratulatory kiss." Zerrex nodded seriously, then he paused. "Not. Not from me, by the way. You got that part, right?"

"Depends on what she does first. but to simplify things for you Zerrex, its solving the mystery. For lack of better examples. She would transform into her true form for a split second. She'd change so fast it was undetectable to the naked eye, and rematerialize into her other form, faking the illusion of teleportation, and thus able for her to escape physical traps like before."

The thief snarled in a almost inhuman way, sharper canine teeth showing. "But how?! How did you manage to contain me!!" she demanded, her body attempting to pull free from the chains. "Mortal bindings cant contain me! So how did you?!"

Behemel remained calm at her reaction. "It's my Spirit Arm. Chronos' power is able to stop and manipulate time itself. While I weaved my web of chains, it still contains a charge of temporal energy, restraining the space trapped within it and preventing even you from slipping out of my trap."

Temperance was quiet for a bit. Then after a sigh, she nodded her head. " I can't believe you figured out my little tricks. Truly admirable of you Behemel." With that, her form seemed to melt briefly. A smoke appeared and made her form blurry, but soon cleared to reveal her in a half dragon-anthro form. Tied in the same position, she now lost her hood, revealing a green dragoness with horns and elegant female features, her hands- claws, and a tail now present through her black and green thief robes. Her wings draped on her back, making the illusion of her cloak.

"You won. " she said somewhat sadly. "It's staggering... I never lost before ... never been caught before."

The reptile looked over at the female, glancing along her before he grinned a bit, resting his hands on his hips. "Damn. You're much prettier now, you know." He paused meditatively, then looked over at the lion, saying mildly: "We did win, too, didn't we? Guess I get to keep my sword, and you get to keep your jewel. And she... well..." He looked musingly at her. "She should buy us some goddamn coffee and a good meal for our victory. And tell us we're awesome. And then I'll be satisfied and we can run like hell out of here before the Captain of the Guard has us all decapitated."

She cast a growl at Zerrex, irritated. " Don't mock me, cur! " She spat, then after a moment, looked sad. "... Sorry, I'm not exactly a graceful loser"

"'I'd imagine for a dragon, no, " Behemel commented as he approached the bound dragoness. "What about an honorable one. We had an agreement now , didn't we?"

"Yes I know..." she said sadly, she wanting to bite her own tongue. " You're going to turn me in now , right?"

"Are we going to turn her in? Because I was actually serious about the food. All I really want is a good meal for her to admit that we actually held up well in battle." Zerrex said mildly over to the lion, shrugging a bit as he crossed his arms, then he returned his gaze to her with a slight grin. "And. You know. The promise of a rematch one day. A good fight to keep us both limber. Bloody, but limber."

Behemel didn't answer for a moment as he slowly approached the bound Temperance. Her gaze was cast down, till he hooked her chin with his paw and lift her gaze to his. " Temperance the human is the wanted culprit here, not Temperance the dragon. Correct?" Behemel asked, a sly look in his eye.

Temperance looked at him with surprise, her heart skipping a beat for a moment.

Zerrex grunted, smiling slightly despite himself over at the male. "You know, for once I'm glad we're thinking on the same wavelength. Usually we only do when something's about to kill us."

Behemel only grinned at Zerrex and turned back to Temperance. " You appear the same the guards see you as, a human. They will treat you as a common human thief. First chance you get in their custody, you could easily slip out at your whim. Somehow I doubt they have a cell that can hold a deadly beauty like you," he couldn't help but commented, scratching her chin playfully. Teasing her as she did them.

She blinked in surprise, " You're ... practically letting me go."

"As I said, " he said, "this job was a matter of principal. Though should you try to do something stupid like this again, I might just have to hunt you down and play this game all over again."

"Some of us might enjoy that." Zerrex said mildly, and then he glanced back and forth before wandering away from the two, heading towards where his sword was still buried between the gears and grimacing a bit before he grasped it tightly, yanking it slowly free with a screech of metal as blue arcs zapped along the blade and he winced a bit, muttering: "Oh stop that, you don't get treated that badly. So I miss one good swing and now here you are complaining."

Behemel chuckled as he talked to his sword. "Anyway, you can easily escape their cells. Beside, I think the challenge of a jail break might excite you as well," he said, his eyes on hers.

"What a curious lion you are Behemel," she said amused, her sad look gone and replaced with a smirk. "I do like this side of you." She then leaned forward, hoping to plant a kiss but was unable to move to do so.

"Flattery won't make me loosen your shackles, Temperance." he said teasingly, playing dumb to her charms.

The reptile slid the sword on his back after grumbling at it for another moment, then he absently rolled his right arm as the metal plates trembled, then shrank and split apart as scales ran down the length of the limb, once more taking on a natural look as he approached and looked thoughtfully at the lion for a moment, then grabbed the back of his head and shoved it forwards a few inches towards the dragoness so he was within range of her.

Temperance only stared at Zerrex unimpressed. " What are you smirking at, smart guy?" she scoffed, her tail flicking irritated.

The reptile snorted in amusement, jerking his head towards the lion as he pushed insistently on the back of the other male's head and forced him easily a few feet towards the female. "Your noble warrior is waiting for his reward, beautiful. Me, I just want some food."

The push almost caused Behemel to drop the scythe, almost undoing the chain that wrapped her. He cast a growl at his direction, then turned back to the Temperance. " Just be a bit more considerate with your actions. It's all the reward I ask, " Behemel said, almost sincerely . " Someone as glorious as you, shouldn't result to a life of theft."

"But it's so much fun," she said teasingly, her tail now flicking with entertainment as she leaned in, her snout inches from his . "What can I say. I'm a bad girl..."

The reptile cleared his throat, holding his hands up before he rubbed them together absently. "Well, I do like a bad girl myself. So uh... wait. Does this mean that we are going to get paid after all?"

At that moment, the sound of voices and shouts from outside echoed into the tower. The royal guards were coming, most likely overhearing the action. "Sounds like our friends are coming, " he said, wrapping an arm around the Temperance in her dragon form. " You might want to change back before you start giving the royal guard ideas of your true nature."

Temperance sighed at the end of the pleasant moment. With another slow caress of smoke, her dragonoid form vanished back into human skin and a head full of raven hair. " Boys, you're the only ones who get my true nature ," she said with a wink. " I hope my dragon form was just as appealing to you "

"You are a beautiful creature in any form, Temperance" he said, a growl of allure betraying his calm position. " Now, time to play the part."

The lizard grunted, reaching up and rubbing absently at his shoulder before he glanced down at the soldiers entering into the tower and pushing their way through the debris piled below, before he rose a hand and shouted cheerfully: "Hey, you're a little late, but at least you'll save us a trip! Where's your boss? The lion and I got something for him, assuming he's still got that big bag of money for us!" He paused, then glanced over at the female, adding in a whisper to her: "Believe me, beautiful. To me, you're all the prettier in that other form."

Behemel watched as Temperance put on a pouting face as he strode behind her, With a command of his mind, he forced Chronos to disappear back to his will. The staff in his hand vanished and with it, the web of chains vanished in a dazzle of light. With it, he held on to her wrists and brought them behind her back as gentle but strong as he could.

"Looks like the only card games you'll be playing is solitaire in jail, my dear," he said, in an act to impress the guards as he led her out of the tower.

The reptile followed the lion out as he followed along, wiping absently at the rips in his clothing and the bit of blood still stained over his scales and glancing behind him only to survey the chaos the tower's interior had been left in, whistling a bit at the sight of this. Then he turned his attention back ahead, smiling slightly at the ruse: it felt better to be doing this than any other course of action, however.

Temperance led by Behemel , right out the building and towards the large car to take her away for the time being. She turned to Behemel in mock protest . "I don't suppose you could consider letting me go if I told you I was a cat person?" she teased, leaning against him.

"I think you'd look sexy in stripes, " he teased back handing her over to one of the guards to take her away.

The Drakkaren snorted in amusement, crossing his arms and watching the two with entertainment before he glanced up towards the dark sky, saying mildly: "Alas, the rose doth bloom in the strangest gardens, ere weep the morrow at its imperfect death." He paused meditatively, then looked over the car slowly, muttering: "Damn. And here I am walking everywhere."

With that, Syeena turned one last time and winked at them in goodbye. She was put into the truck with other guards and it drove away, leaving the crime scene.

"I didn't know you knew poetry Zerrex?" he stated, "What does it mean?"

"It means you totally got a crush on her." Zerrex grinned a bit over at the lion, absently polishing his claws against his shirt before he glanced up at the sky with amusement. "And she obviously likes you a little too. We better get our money, though, before the boss of these guys changes his mind about paying us."

"I doubt that," he said, looking at the leaving truck. "We more than earned it. And did the right thing in the process. "

Zerrex grunted, crossing his arms and nodding a bit. "True enough. Still... I'm also eager to get the hell out of this city. All these people everywhere, ugh. Besides, I'm sure there's other things we have to do and other places we have to go, and stuff to grab and see." He paused, adding amusedly: "All without stealing, yes, yes."

Behemel let out a groan at Zerrex's behavior. The lizard was beyond moral.

In the meanwhile, The temperance sat on a hard bench on the bumpy riding car, 3 guards accompanying her. She waited a little while, looking calm and relaxed. "Hey," she said softly to a werewolf guard, and the other wolves around her looked up at her. " It's a bit warm in here, don't you think?"

They didn't answer, only acknowledging her their gaze. She then gave a innocent smile with her human appearance. " I don't suppose ... you could unzip me a little?" she asked. Their eyes widen a bit, in surprise and lust.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

A scream echoed down the far side of town as an explosion rocked the town late at night. Leaving the truck and the guards in a array of confusion with her little lustful and trickery, they revealed the cards from her blouse and made her escape with a fiery display. She smirked in jubilance as she jumped jogged across a nearby rooftop, free once again under the moonlight.

***

Zerrex yawned a bit, resting absently at the counter of the tavern instead of a table, a mug of coffee out in front of him and his backpack on his back with Blackheart. He spun absently in the stool once, then sipped at his coffee again and let out a sigh of relief, saying mildly to the male behind the counter: "Good stuff this morning. Good way to start the day." He grinned, then rolled his eyes as the male simply turned away and headed into the back, sipping slowly at his mug of coffee and muttering: "This is why I don't try to make conversation."

Behemel sat at the table watching Zerrex do his thing. He shook his head, despite the good night they had. "Don't scare them off Zerrex," he called out, eating the eggs the cook prepared.

The reptile rolled his eyes, calling flatly back to him: "Hey, I'm proving that I can talk to people other than you here." He paused, looking fowards at the counter and muttering. "Just... not very well." The reptile absently began to scratch runes into the countertop with one finger, and then he sighed and picked up his mug of coffee, walking over to join the lion and grunting as he sat down.

"So we're leaving here soon, right? Or have you spotted another job for us that looks easy but guarantees we'll be dealing with something like... I dunno... monster unicorns from the seventh dimension that shoot lasers from their horns."

"You are such a joy kill. Can't you enjoy a good breakfast after things ended smoothly? We leave after breakfast, " he said sipping his own coffee as well. " We caught Temperance, got the reward and credit for the capture, despite her little jailbreak in route. " He patted the pouch of coins in emphasis. "You should celebrate. You made those guards look like asses from how we caught her"

"You may not have noticed this, but I make everyone look or feel like an ass. Besides, you admittedly did a lot of the work." The reptile sipped absently at his coffee, adding dryly: "And what can I say? Cities bother me. The fact that every time we take on some simple two-step job it turns into something horrendous bothers me too. Besides, you ever have that feeling you're being followed? I'm getting that feeling right now."

Behemel put down his cup and looked at him. "Somehow I doubt if anyone was you couldn't beat them into a pulp either way," he said, "after all if anyone has enemies it's me more than you, I'd imagine."

At that moment, the sound of steps towards their table interrupted Behemel. Sitting herself into the chair next to Behemel and Zerrex sat Temperance in her dragon-anthro form. Her wings hugged to her shoulders in a cape like fashion, as her robes were the same as last night. She sat there un-ceremonially, "Hello there boys," she charmed in, The two only stared at her in utter silence, as she without asking reached over and took pieces of Behemel's fried potatoes and ate it , one at a time. "Mmmm. This is really good, "she said, her tone like a sensual hum," Like deep-fried crack,"

Behemel sat there stunned a moment as he looked over to Temperance. "Um... what are you doing here?" He asked, hoping she did not come for another fight.

The reptile cleared his throat at this, pointing at her and saying mildly: "See? I'm totally psychic." He paused, glancing over at her and sipping his coffee slowly as he added: "If you want to fight again or something, I'm game, but I need to finish my coffee first, okay? I am not a morning person. Totally not a morning person."

"Oh relax your pretty head, Zerrex" she scoffed, now stealing a strip of his bacon before he could object. " You'll hurt yourself thinking so much. I didn't come here to fight you."

"What? Lame." Zerrex paused, glancing upwards absently as he brushed some of his hair back with his free hand before he leaned towards her, batting his eyes at the female. "Do you really think I'm pretty?"

Behemel rolled his eyes, Zerrex too taken by the temptress dragoness. "Ahem... Temp--" he hesitated , realizing the use of the name was not the best of ideas " Um.. what are you doing here?" he felt nervous by just seeing her so nonchalant in the open while she just escaped the guards.

The reptile leaned back in his chair, saying seriously: "Well if you told me I was pretty more often, maybe I wouldn't argue with you so much, crabby-pants." He paused, then glanced towards the female as he sipped slowly at his coffee again, saying mildly: "Still, my curiosity is peaked. Are you here to steal away the reward money or are you taking him on a date? If so kids, you two have fun and I'll meet you outside the city when you're ready to drop him off."

"Tempting idea, "She said and leered at Behemel as she sat back in her chair . She was always gaining stares around the restaurant from her exotic appearance. " But no... I wanted to ask you something, if you don't mind."

"Do you want a lock of my hair?" Zerrex asked mildly, grinning a bit over at her as he reached up and absently stroked through the ivory locks. "I know, it's weird, right? But okay, okay." Zerrex took a last sip of his coffee, looking over at her with a mix of amusement and seriousness. "What?"

She leaned in close and leered at them. "Take me..." she breathed , and couldn't help but see a glimmer of lust in their eyes. " ... With you, that is, " she said , finishing her teasing sentence.

The reptile grinned expectantly, then it faltered slightly as she finished, before he grinned again, rubbing his hands together slowly. "Well, hey, who am I to refuse a lady's request? But you'll have to ask the lion over there. I'm just the guy who beats on things. My talents lay in other areas apart from administrative work. Although you know, Behemel... this would certainly be a better profession than thievery, right? And plus..." He leered at the dragoness after a moment. "We get to work out better sleeping arrangements."

Behemel stammered a bit, and knew very well the two had liked minds in sensual pleasure "Um... why would you want to come with us? You're a Dragon," he whispered, keeping his voice down. "You can go anywhere you want?"

She smirked as she slowly sat up and began walking towards Zerrex where he sat. "What is the point of living a eon's life if you don't explore. Excitement. Adventure. " she said, her voice trailing as her arms soon wound their way around Zerrex, her claws feeling his muscles through his thin shirt in tease. "Besides, it beats life in a cave all the time, don't you think?"

The lizard grinned a bit, reaching up to rub a hand slowly along her forearm as he said mildly: "See? We're awesome. So we should totally take her with us. Besides, three's better than two, right? Especially if one of them is a very attractive female who can more than take care of herself. And if anyone here's bound to find trouble, well. It's us."

" Oh? and here I thought you were sick and tired of getting into trouble. Its amazing how his attitude changes when a pretty female is involved" Behemel huffed at Zerrex, Syeena too also snickered at the joke.

"Is that so?" she said, her hand moving lower , and soon brushed along his pants and gave a few sensual squeezing gropes at his crotch, " Maybe I am too much for you, hun?"

"Technically, I've been complaining about being in the city, and then I said someone was following us and poof." Zerrex said glibly, and then he grinned amusedly up at the dragoness, winking at her as he slid his arm around her and played his fingers slowly along her back. "Believe me, I think you're just about perfect. Besides, with you along, we're all the better prepared for trouble, right?"

"Oh brother," Behemel grumbled, feeling a tiny bit jealous to see Syeena all over Zerrex and yet, humored by his turn of moods.

The reptile shrugged amiably. "Hey, it's true. Besides, I..." The lizard glanced up and frowned a bit, then he shook his head quickly, disregarding the nervous twitch that ran through him as he returned his eyes to the dragoness with a wink. "I'm just pointing out you were the one who wanted her in a better line of work... and besides, you're the one with the crush on her."

She chuckled and slowly slipped away from Zerrex. With that she strode softly over towards Behemel. " Don't worry hun," she said, and before Behemel could object she sat herself in his lap, causing him to go "oof" . Her tail swept back as she sat in his lap, her rump against him and her body leaning up to him, her face inches from him. " There is plenty of me to go around. Besides, Id very much enjoy your company."

"Um ... I," he hesitated, and she smirked, enjoying his innocent hesitance towards her. " Just trouble tends to find us, lovely,, " he explained. "Don't want you to get hurt. You have the bad habit to bite off more than you can chew."

The reptile coughed into his fist at this remark, looking amusedly across at the lion. "I'm... pretty sure she's going to be able to take care of herself. She gave us more of a run for our money than anything else has this last while, after all."

She grinned, showing her teeth. " In case you didn't notice," she said, pushing her form against his chest . "I enjoy danger. I wouldn't go with you if i thought there would be any less. And I so do love a challenge." With that, she leaned up and finally kissed Behemel again.

He tried to push her back briefly. "Um.. they're watching .." he gasped after a few seconds of the kiss. The eyes of a few eaters looking on, half in interest and half in envy.

"Good," She grinned, "I enjoy putting on a good show," she chuckled before she kissed him deeply again, and this Time Behemel embraced and entered the kiss himself, giving in to his deeper desire.

The lizard snorted in amusement, resting his chin on his hand and leering at the two for a moment as he said teasingly: "Well, at least now he should be less crabby. And has someone else to scold, too, which is extra nice."

The two separated their kiss and Behemel made a face at Zerrex. "Oh shut up you," he growled, and caused Temperance to chuckle, as she slowly slipped around on his lap and stood back up, towards the end of the table.

"So boys," she asked, leaning over the table, "We have a deal?"

The reptile glanced over at the lion, then he grunted and nodded, saying mildly: "Well, you already know my opinion, I'm definitely fine with it. Behemel, what about you?"

Behemel paused, looking at Temperance for a moment, Her eyes looked at him sweetly, he more pausing to get a reaction from her. "Sure. Of course you can join us. " he answered, nodding his head in agreement. "We'd gladly welcome your company. "

"The pleasure is all mine, boys" she said, as she stood up fully, and turned . "Ill be outside when you're done eating. You're going to need your strength" she teased as she walked, causing patrons around her to look on in amusement with her swishing hips and tail.

"Hold on," Behemel called out, causing her to turn around. "We never did catch your name, lovely?"

"Yeah, and I think we've managed to earn at least that. We can't go around calling you the... whatsit anyway." Zerrex added mildly, looking over at her curiously.

She turned her head, her eyes a emerald blaze with mischief and sensuality. "Call me Syeena," she spoke softly, the words rolling off her tongue. "Pleasure to meet you boys," she then left the restaurant, knowing very well they all were looking at her leave in wanting.

The reptile grinned a bit after her, and then he stood up, rubbing absently at the side of his face before he glanced across at the lion as he rested back in his chair, saying mildly: "I like her. She's fun. So are you ready to go yet? I've had my coffee, I'm good."

"Sure," he agreed, eating the last bite of his eggs before he stood up and pushed his chair in. He then left a generous tip from their reward. " Thought I think she is more dangerous than anything you're going to come across" he teased at him with a smirk.

Zerrex smiled wryly at this, rubbing slowly at the scarred side of his face as he stood up as well and followed the lion out, glancing over the tavern before shaking his head a bit as he followed the male out. Once in the sunlight, he glanced up towards the blue sky overhead, breathing softly and closing his eyes as he felt the sun's rays over his face, losing himself in thought for a moment.