She just didn't get it. She was doing everything right; yet her unlife kept getting worse. Not only was she in boon with the Prince, but now that bastard Seneschal Cammie had her, too. It seemed no matter what she tried, she ended up getting farther and farther away from getting out of this god forsaken city. Fenris had an idea what was happening; Cameron and Therese were doing all they could to lock her into their service. Now she's really stuck being errand girl for the court of the City of Angels.
City of Angels my ass! There's nothing angelic about this burg.
It was now two nights since the attack on the Pit. She was revived that night; thanks to Cameron. She now understood what it was like for Tye when that Assamite staked him before taking out Isaac and framing Damsel; it was Cameron who pulled the stake out that time, too. At the Pit, both Tye and Damsel got hit hard; they were knocked into torpor until earlier this evening. Tyler was in a pretty shitty mood, but otherwise mostly healed up. Damsel was... well Damsel is pretty much always in a shitty mood, so it's hard to tell for sure. One thing is clear, though; she's got a laser focus on tracking down and 'nuking those hunter ass-monkeys into crispy strips of bacon'. Cameron had her watching the Sherriff; so that wasn't anything new. Then quite out of the blue Prince Therese texted her with a special request. Apparently Jeanette wanted to go see the Ravnos Carnival, and now Therese wanted her to monitor her twin sister to make sure she neither caused nor got into any trouble. Fenris found it odd that Therese would text this, but then perhaps she was making an effort to at least seem as progressive as she thought she was.
The Prince outranked the Seneschal, so Cameron could go screw himself if he didn't like that she was pulled off Damsel duty. Besides, she kind of liked the idea of the two of them being at odds with each other. It was a long shot, but maybe she could use that. Fenris now perched in the same spot she did the first time she surveyed the Ravnos camp at Bach Point. This was the last night that Ravnos had reprieve in this Domain. That also made the Gangrel happy; now she could personally tell that scumbag to piss off once his little scam of a show closed up shop. She fully intended to do that anyway no matter what time it was. It could be half an hour before sunrise and the Ravnos would have to leave, as far as Fenris was concerned. Hell, maybe something would happen to him before that; after all, he was merely allowed to operate here temporarily, he was not granted any sort of protection from her highness or the Seneschal...
But that wasn't why she was here; she was here to keep Jeanette from either making a mess or getting herself into one. Tracking and shadowing Jeanette was easy enough, especially since Fenris already knew where she was going. The Gangrel figured that the Malkavian probably already about that; Jeanette might be completely batshit crazy, but she was far from stupid. What did strike Fenris as unusual was the fact that Jeanette chose to go on this excursion alone; neither Marko nor her newest playmate Tabetha (as unlikely as that seemed) were anywhere in sight.
For all appearances, it would seem that the Tremere was finally coming out of shell a little. Personally, Fenris didn't buy that for a second. Tabetha was up to something. Of course she had let Therese know about Jeanette dalliance; not that it was necessary to. Therese was almost as insane as Jeanette, and even farther from being stupid; she immediately regarded the Tremere with even more suspicion than she did Bertram. Fenris had guessed that Therese had someone attempting to monitor Tabetha; possibly Marko. Given the secret that the twins merely staged their rivalry and for the most part got along well enough, chances were good that Jeanette was playing along in order to work out just what Tabetha was playing at.
Fenris scowled internally. She so hated all this drama and intrigue. For now, it was best just to focus on the task at hand. From her vantage point, she scanned the scene. The carnival was doing well; she was sure the Ravnos was turning a very healthy profit. Though she could not actually see Jeanette, she could still detect her unmistakable peppermint scent through all the other smells: Popcorn, caramel, apples, sawdust, oil, and many other things often associated with places like this. There was even a subtle hint of vomitus covered up with bleach and disinfectant. The Gangrel wondered momentarily if Ajax was around somewhere, and quickly dismissed the thought. She had heard through her own connections that Ajax was on some kind of shitlist with the Nosferatu, though she didn't know why; the best she could gather was it had something to do with Daniel Hastings, Prince of Vancouver. She growled quietly at herself top shake off all the thoughts of politics and stupid crap of the city life; she really had to get out, this stuff was creeping into her thoughts whether she wanted them to or not.
Fenris stood up from her perch and changed to bat form so she could sweep the carnival and get a visual of it. From there, she found Jeanette quickly; she was at one of those game booths where one tries to knock down the milk bottles with a baseball in order to win a cheap, poorly made stuffed toy. She was doing quite well at it, too, as far as Fenris could tell. The Carney managing the booth was doing his best to conceal his dismay, even as Janette was putting money down to upgrade her prize. Fenris honestly had no idea which prize the Malkavian was trying for, but if she were to hazard a guess it would be the gigantic clown that roughly the size of a kindergarten child. In her brief glance at it, it seemed to Fenris that it had arms that could be manipulated into poses. She also saw that the owner of this racket – she couldn't remember his name – was nearby watching Jeanette increase her winnings. She flapped and fluttered in the vicinity to monitor the situation, and saw the owner give the booth operator a subtle nod, and the operator continued to let Jeanette play to her hearts' content. Perhaps the son of a bitch knew just who Jeanette was and opted to let the Prince's twin sister clean up at his booth. That would be the wiser course to take; particularly since his little racket looked like it was making more than it was losing anyway. That wasn't a concern; what was a concern was the figure lurking in the shadows less than ten feet away from the owner. He had the stink of those Brightstone assholes on him. Then she noticed him put his hand to his ear and adjust something; probably one of those telephone earpieces or something like that and mutter something she couldn't quite make out. That part didn't matter; what did matter was what it meant. It meant one of two things: either he wasn't alone or he had a contact somewhere else in the city. Actually, it was possible both options were true. Still airborne, Fenris widened her perimeter to search for others like him. Within the actual grounds there were none that were obvious, but just beyond the grounds, in an outcropping of rocks there was a sniper, waiting to get a shot. His vantage point was actually much better than one Fenris initially had; from here he could easily tag either the Ravnos or Jeanette virtually anywhere in the park. The sniper had a scent Fenris knew all too well; but her brain kept telling her that wasn't possible.
This was the guy that X nearly took out. That couldn't be, though; Cameron reported that he died during the course of an interrogation. The Ventrue even produced two fingers from his left hand as proof. Of course, Cammie was a cagey bastard; he could have staged it all for some gain that only a Ventrue would understand.
Still airborne, Fenris circled above the sniper in a wide arc and began to descend upon him even as he made the final preparations to take his shot. Even before she landed she reverted to her humanoid form, landing directly on top of him. By reflex, he pulled the trigger on impact. Peripherally, she saw the shot went wild; but not by much. As the sniper struggled to turn over under her, she could hear a scream in the distance. At this point in the struggle, she could only hope she made the right play by going for the sniper first and that Jeanette could handle herself with the other one for the time being.
Claws popped and sitting on the snipers' chest, Fenris pushed his head back to expose his neck with one hand and reared back the other to slash his throat; she wanted to make quick work of him so she could back to the park, which sounded like pandemonium. The sniper, a lot tougher than a human should be, managed to roll through so that Fenris was on her back with him pinning her. He flicked the wrist of his good hand to reveal a small blade, which he deftly slashed across her throat; which was more a surprise than a damaging blow. Forced to improvise, Fenris boxed his ears. It was enough. The sniper howled and rolled off Fenris clutching his skull and staggering away. By the time Fenris got back to her own feet, the sniper had recovered enough to throw a stake at her, chest level, like a spear. The Gangrel was able to sidestep the stake and charge the sniper, taking care to keep her centre of gravity low on her approach. Once in close enough, she swept her claws up upwards, tearing through his leather jacket and into his flesh. Sensing the advantage, she took another swipe at his throat, which the sniper blocked with his forearm and attempted to counter with a straight punch across her jaw. She grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm, and then with her other arm smashed her forearm into his elbow; snapping it sharply.
The sniper wailed in shock and pain; his knees giving out. Fenris held on to his arm as she swept his legs out from under him and following that up with a kick to the head while simultaneously giving his now broken arm another twist for good measure. His mangled hand flailing uselessly, the sniper tried in vain to gain purchase on some body part of hers, but she kept everything just beyond his reach. She took note that she was probably enjoying this just a little bit too much; that she was letting the beast within have just a little too much fun. It also occurred to her that if her hunch was right about this guy, if he was somewhere on Cammies' payroll, her long road out of the city may very well have gotten a whole lot shorter tonight.
It was time to end this. With one quick motion she lunged in and bit into his flesh and began to draw the life from his veins. At first taste she immediately stopped. The sniper was stunned enough that he was virtually motionless. Fenris couldn't believe what her senses were telling her; this was no human at all. Nor was he a ghoul; and certainly had no hint of Damsel in his blood. Her senses were telling her that this... thing was...kindred?
She shook her head in disbelief. Presently she slashed across her quarries' throat to finish him off. Even as he dropped, Fenris turned her attention back to the park. There was no way the sniper could be kindred; he was seen in daylight. She remembered ten years ago there was a few of those thin bloods hiding out in Santa Monica, but even they had to dodge the sun, as far she knew. Whatever he was, he was finished now, so it didn't really matter anymore. What mattered was making sure The Prince's little sister was safe. Again, if this was what she thought it was, she may have an out; that was what mattered most of all.
When she got to the park, it was almost completely deserted. Only the staff, a gibbering hunter, and Jeanette remained; the staff members were all sullen as they looked over the staked and torpid form of their boss and master. She wasn't sure how much the mortal members of the Ravnos' entourage knew, but she could tell that not all of them were ghouls; some of them were clearly human. The Masquerade must be maintained. For now, it had to appear as if the owner of the park was either dead or mortally wounded. In the distance, sirens could be heard. Fenris pulled Jeanette aside and asked her what exactly happened down here. As she did, the younger twin acted as if she believed that the Gangrel was some sort of undercover cop or something like that. In manner of speaking, that wasn't far from true.
"The king of the flying circus got attacked with a pointed stick instead of fresh fruit." Jeanette answered with surprising lucidity- for her, anyway. "Then I must have broken the pointed stick's heart with my smile." She cocked her thumb casually behind her in the general direction of the Brightstone hunter. "And don't worry about the sirens, Muffin. They've all been handpicked for this task."
Fenris nodded, relieved. "That's good news." She said. "Can I ask you to come with me for a second? I need to show you something." Fenris marched as Jeanette skipped along behind her towards the place where the remains of the sniper were. "This one had a sniper rifle trained on you."
"You... you saved my life." Jeanette said with awe. "Thank you; I will be sure to let my sister know what a good job you're doing. I might not tell her how messy your work is, though." She sighed melodramatically. "I suppose I still owe you more than that, though; Kindred economics are so fickle. What more can I do for you; or to you, for that matter?"
Fenris barely concealed her grin. This was starting to work out just as she hoped. "First and this is really a small matter," she began. "Do either you or her highness know who this man is?"
Jeanette regarded the sniper. Finally she shook her head indicating the negative.
Now it was critical that Fenris hide her glee. "That's too bad." She said, doing her best to feign disappointment. "I was hoping to get a bead on his identity. I suspect he might have been a key player."
Jeanette cocked her head slightly, assessing the Gangrel. At last she giggled lightly. "Okay, muffin, you keep your secrets for now. You've earned that much. What's the next part of your request? So far this is much more interesting than I thought it would be."
"I hope this won't disappoint you, then." Fenris replied. "I was hoping maybe you could convince her highness that by saving your life I may have fulfilled my boon to her from a few months back when that Assamite nearly took me out."
She could almost see the wheels of Jeanette's twisted mind turn behind her violet eyes. It was the first time she noticed the Malkavian's eye color. "Oh, this is fun!" she remarked. "You are playing economy. Stand under this, Muffin; I can't promise that, but I can give you my word that I will put that notion forward the next time Therese and dance with each other."
"Thank you, Jeanette." Fenris replied. "That's all I ask."
Jeanette smiled and began to skip back towards the park. "Now I think we both have prizes to collect before the clean up begins." She said.
Once Fenris was sure Jeanette was out of sight, Fenris allowed herself a smile. Even though it was apparent that the Malkavian may well have guessed in her own way the Gangrel was playing at here, it didn't much matter. Still, she had little time to lose. The sirens were much closer now, and she wanted to be clear of the scene entirely by the time the cops and medics got there; some of them might be in Cammie's pocket as well as Therese's. Quickly she grabbed the sniper's sword and set out his mangled hand. Then with as much precision as she could muster, she severed the hand with the missing fingers off at the wrist and stuffed it into the front pocket of her hoodie. She examined the sword and decided to keep it, too. Then she turned herself into mist form and made an exit from the scene. Her next objective would be to pay the Seneschal a little visit...