A Run-in with The Ripper

Lily heaved her body upwards from her cot. Her limbs were stiff as her head swam from the sudden movement. As her vision adjusted to the dim lit room that she resided in, her gaze trailed down to her hands, scowling at the dirt under her nails. She began to pick at them.

Her sleep was anything but restful. Tossing and turning all night long, she wasn't even sure if she really had fallen asleep at all. Her memory of the passing night seemed to blur all together in delirium, stress, anxiety, and worry. Her night was plagued by her now concern, Krass's reputation. It had her and her chosen family tense.

A sigh left her lips, satisfied that her nails had been rid of the stubborn dirt underneath, she got to work on her dusty black boots. her mind trailed towards Lyra and her worsening condition. Krass was correct, the coin gained from the smuggle run could cover the medication needed to halt the worsening condition. But it was not a solution, just a bandaid over a wound, it could only do so much. The solution had to be getting Lyra topside with enough money for a doctor's help.

Getting work topside wouldn't be too hard considering Timothy, Joshua and herself we're as fit as one could be underground. Courier work was hard, it required excellent knowledge of the undercities layout, as well as incredible endurance, and fighting capabilities. It was a death sentence for anyone having any less, afterall the underground was everything but forgiving.

Passing by her coat, she shrugged the thick material over her shoulders, pausing to frown at a new hole in her coat's sleeves. She'd have to ask Lyra to stitch it back together once the day was done. Stopping by the door she plucked her hat from the hook, placing it on her head and moving to open the door. A blue scarf sitting on top of her chested doors next to the room entrance caught her attention.

She pulled away from the door, hand dropping from the handle as she now reached for the soft cotton of her new blue scarf. With gentle hands she wrapped it around her neck once more, taking a few moments to appreciate the rare item, a small smile gracing her face. She started towards the door when the sound of a thump beside her drew her attention.

There on the floor laid a plain black leather bound book. It was creased slightly and its pages bagan to yellow from age as the sides were dappled with stains made long ago. She kneeled down, picking up the object and dusting it off slightly, her face scrunching up as the dust began to assault her nose. The pages crinkled as she gently pried it open, her handwriting greeted her, the cursive she adopted to blend more with the time era seemed sloppy, as if she was first learning to write again. The further she flicked through the dusty pages, the more poised the letters became.

Her gaze found an interesting entry. The nine titans. Her eyes scanned the entry, memories flooding her mind, causing the woman to slam shut the diary and take a breath. The years underground along with all the happenings had caused her memory to begin to fade. She had spent too many days pouring all her knowledge into a jumbled, messy heap in her diary that she could only just piece together thanks to faded memories. She frowned deeply, stashing the leather bound book into a hidden pocket in her coat. Pushing herself off her knees she walked briskly out the door.

The sounds of the creaking old staircase were quickly drowned out by the chatting of loud voices in the lobby. With a curious tilt of her head, Lily peeked around the corner, watching as Joshua had Lyra playfully by the waist, spinning the smaller woman around in the air. Her laughter was contagious as Timothy, who stood leaning against the doorframe of the building let out a low chuckle, a warm smile on his features.

"Put me down Josh!" Lyra's weak attempt at hitting her fists against the board man's chest only served to amuse him more, his deep rumbling laugh echoing throughout the Rest. Lily took this moment to slide up next to Timothy, her expression mirroring his own.

"Where's the magic word!" Joshua teased, his face full of amusement as his strong arms flexed with effort, lifting Lyra slightly higher now, her legs swinging uselessly under her.

"Okay-okay! Please put me down!" Lyra let her fist thump one more time upon Joshua's chest before the larger man placed her gently back on the ground. His hands lingering on her waist a little longer than usual.

"They're absolutely smitten with each other, aren't they?" Timothy had leaned down towards Lily, his voice quiet but not quite whispering as he eyed the couple with amusement.

"Mmmmhmm," Lily hummed in the affirmative, her own smirk widening. "Head. over. heels." The returning sputter from Joshua, as he puffed up, face reddening had the pair bursting into fits of laughter.

"I don't know what the hell you mean." Was Joshua's quick response, as he let go of Lyra's waist, stepping back a reasonable distance. Lyra held a palm up to her face, her own attempt to hide her redding features and quiet giggles.

"Mm- Well, that cute show of affection has us believing otherwise!" Timothy replied, pushing himself off the wall as he stretched a long arm to ruffle the slightly shorter man's dusty brown hair. Joshua swatted the blonde man's hand away, his face pulling into a scowl.

"Alright love birds, I'm off. See you at Lady Caroline's." Timothy gave a lazy wave, chuckling as he left the Rest. Lily's eyes danced between her three friends, amusement clear as day on her face. She walked closer to Joshua, reaching an arm up to rest on his shoulders, too short to copy Timothy's earlier show of affection without error.

"For what it's worth, it is nice to see you both happy. Don't let Tim's teasing get the better of you." She let her hand drop from Joshua's form. Catching the way his shoulders relaxed, Lily flashed him a small smile. Her gaze traveled to Lyra's, her face morphing into a soft tender expression. "Don't let him be too stupid, won't you?"

Lyra let out a huff, rolling her eyes but a look of understanding crossed her face. She knew that was Lily's own way of encouraging and accepting the two's blossoming relationship. Sharing a quick hug with the other woman, and a small wave towards Joshua, Lily departed.

Her steps on the dusty street felt heavier, she tossed one last look behind her. The two were close now, Joshua telling Lyra something that Lily couldn't hear before he gave the dark haired woman a kiss. She pulled her attention forward again, feeling as if she was spying in on a private movement.

The way to Lady Caroline's Tavern was so ingrained that her body moved on autopilot, letting her gaze wander the dirty streets. She was happy for them, truly. But there was a strange feeling in her gut that began to manifest whenever she caught their shy gazes at each other. Jealousy perhaps? No, that didn't sound right. Maybe it was more the fact that she hadn't once considered that for herself since her death and jarring introduction to this world.

A pair of young children dashed in front of her, causing the woman to pause abruptly, else she'd have crashed into them. They paid her no mind as they scampered away into another alley, her gaze trailed after them before she returned to her walking.

In all honesty she hadn't really considered such Luxuries as that for herself in quite some time. It's not that she didn't desire a relationship, but the constant danger that surrounded them, as well as time for moments such as those were nearly impossible for her. She had seemingly taken the role as the impromptu leader. She never asked for the role or intentionally meant to take it but her prior life experiences, paired with her unorthodox foresight to the future events had given her a drive that not many possessed, especially underground. She had every intention to get out of the underground, she could now if she didn't have the desire to bring these people she now called family with her. But that was her choice to make, she'll be damned if she lets herself think that the end justifies the means.

Her foot knocked a pebble to the side, and as she looked up she was startled at how quickly she had arrived at the Tavern's entrance. She had been deeper in thought than she first anticipated. Shrugging to herself she made her way through the Tavern's patrons, electing this time to not bother the seemingly busy Lady Caroline and instead slipped silently into the back room.

Timothy startled as Lily opened the heavy wooden door, peeking her head through the cracked door she gave the lanky man a curious look.

"Sorry, the business with Krass has me on edge.." Timothy rubbed the back of his neck, his light blue orbs cast down towards the floor, his expression unreadable.

"You mean my business with Krass." Lily corrected her stare as firm as her tone. She casted a look over her shoulder, ensuring no one had followed her as she shut the door behind her. Timothy met her gaze, his blue eyes full of guilt. "Whatever happens, it's between me and Krass, I won't let him pull any of you in."

"You can't say that for sure. He's unpredictable at best." Timothy reasoned, his hand dragging through his blonde hair, pulling some strands loose from his bun. The two shared a moment of silence before Lily responded.

"We can't wait any longer." She sighed, sitting down in a chair opposite Timothy, her hand pulling her wide brimmed hat off, placing it gently on the table by her. "I'm going to take Lyra to the markets after my jobs are done today, get her the medicine she needs."

"You want to try and make it topside? Do we even have the money for that yet?" Timothy looked startled again, his gaze locking with Lily's own honey ones.

"No, but I'll make it." Lily's tone was serious. Her golden gaze firm as she held Timothy's stare.

"What are we making?" Joshua's sudden appearance had caused Timothy to jump, almost tumbling out of his chair. Lily twisted in her seat, rounding on Joshua with a tense stare. The board man had just poked his head past the doorway with a curious look, echoing Lily's earlier actions. With a quick gesture, Joshua entered the room and lent against the table, tossing the two curious looks.

"Lily wants to make a break for it." Timothy started, the words tumbling from his mouth as he gave the two a nervous look.

"Now? But we need to use the money to help with Lyra's let rot first- We're not ready to try something like that, especially with how her condition is-'' Joshua had become animated, his arms gesturing out with every word. His face began to twist into frustration.

"I'm aware, Josh." Lily's stern tone cut the bigger man off. His gaze whipped over to Lily's. "I'm taking her to the markets to find some medication for the rot."

"But that still doesn't explain how we're going to make it topside." Joshua deflated slightly, satisfied in the knowledge Lyra wasn't going to be abandoned to her leg rot.

"We won't make enough, no amount of A Tier jobs in the next week or so will gather us enough money for the medicine and a citizenship. Not unless you do another job for Krass." Timothy piped up, his tone nonchalant as he thought out loud. His face suddenly scrunched up, like he had licked a particularly sour lemon. His gaze darted to Lily's, scrutinizing her.

Lily held Timothy's stare with a blank face. Her posture was lazy as she sat on the chair. His face morphed into shock when he finally found what he was looking for in her expression. Joshua's confused glance at Timothy caused the lanky man to speak up.

"You're going to do another job, aren't you?" Timothy's tone was accusing, his face souring as he shook his head. "You can't be serious, Lily. He'll get you killed."

"Lil-" Joshua started, his mouth opening and closing once he saw her sharply raise her hand to cut the pair off.

"You're absolutely right. He's dangerous, a loose-cannon. But if I do one more job for Krass, we'll have enough to get topside, without sacrificing Ly's health." She straightened up, pulling her hat off the table and placing it back on her head. "After that? We're done with the underground. No more Krass, Vex, District one. No more drug runs, or avoiding Ravagers. Just us and the sky."

Silence filled the air between the trio. Timothy frowned in thought as Joshua fiddled with his hands, his anxiety readable on his face. Lily sighed, grasping the hands of both men, she stared at them firmly.

"Things are only going to get worse down here. It's a powder keg, ready to blow at any second. The longer we wait the more likely we are to get caught in the crossfire. The gangs are already grasping for each other's throats and couriers are just going to be caught in the open." Her firm tone loosened, growing softer. "You are the only family I have. I'll be damned if I let some scummy gang violence get you killed."

Timothy's shoulders sagged, his form softening. Joshua in turn tensed, his grip on Lily's hand tightening as he let out a long sigh, coming to terms with their messy situation.

"Fine…" Joshua conceded. "You've got a point. We can't risk it any longer. We'll double our efforts and try to leave once you've finished the next job for Krass… whenever he contacts Lady Caroline."

Timothy frowned but otherwise didn't object. Lily let their hands fall from her grip as she felt her tense body begin to relax. The sound of the wooden door opening caused the three to turn their gazes to Lady Caroline, who had just entered the room. She paused, taking in the somber looks on each of their faces.

"Someone died or something? You three look like you were just informed that wall rose was breached." Lady Caroline grunted, her face blank as she took in the trio.

"Nothing, just your daily bullshit of the underground." Timothy waved off, his expression unreadable. Lily suppressed a frown, feeling a pang of guilt in her chest at pushing her friend so hard. Joshua relaxed his posture, going back to leaning on the table as Lily shuffled her chair in the direction of Lady Caroline.

"Mm-m. Tell me 'bout it." She muttered, her face darkening for a moment before she returned her gaze to the three. "Busy day today boys. Three each. Labels say where too." Lady Caroline handed the men their packages, her tone flatter than usual.

"And of course, my lucky star." Lady Caroline passed Lily two packages. "You've got one for the Dwellers. delivery of Forrent per usual. But you got a strange one today. It's a high risk- District three. Danno what's in it but best keep away from those Ravagers. Good luck Doll"

With that, Lady Caroline leaves, the heavy wooden door sounding louder than usual upon her exit. Lily felt the packages in her hand. Once feeling awfully different then what she is used to. Tucking the items into her personal Satchel, she looked over to her two friends.

"Stay safe okay?" Her tone was concerned, as she stared at the two firmly.

"Could say the same for you." Timothy replied, his tone was bitter, but his eyes gave way to his concern. Lily merely nodded, her words wouldn't do much to make the other man feel better. With a quick wave, she slipped past the heavy door and through the crowd of patrons.

Sucking in a thankful breath of air, free from the sweaty, sick smell of the tavern. Lily made her way down the paths that would lead to District Four. While the bigger the number meant the more poor and dangerous the District was, something in her gut told her to arrive there first, and she often listened to her gut.

Trips to District Four were common from District one. Plenty of the miners were nice, and oftentimes appreciative of the work the Couriers did. It was the drug addled and desperate that also lived down there, that proved a danger. Especially if you take the far less patrolled routes. One for the older forms of drugs that had been passed around the underground was known as Tyrentic. Tyrentic was a muscle excellerent, made you bigger and stronger, but was highly addictive. As well as constant use of it often deteriorates one's mind, often making those who use it frequently more prone to aggressive outbursts.

This would be fine however, but after years of use, people were often rendered to highly aggressive, and incredibly strong shells of who they used to be. Their one and only agenda was often finding more sources of Tyrentic. The worst part however was that the smart people started bribing them with Tyrentic. They'd feed their addiction to have a walking, angry being of muscle to point at anyone they didn't like.

Lily shuddered at the memory. She had only really encountered a handful of the Tyrentic addicts and while most times their blinding rage meant that they mainly acted on impulse, making it easy to slip away with a few tight turns and the right alleyways. There was one time, where she almost didn't manage to escape.

At this time she was still only fresh to being a Tier A courier. Not yet fully vetted and only recently had been running in the more dangerous parts of District Four. She had taken a wrong turn, and ended up face to face with an incredibly muscular man, who upon noticing her questioned if she had any Tyrentic. Lily had heard of these, The Tyrentic addicts and her first instinct was to run.

Apparently that pissed it off. It had charged out of the alley so quickly it managed to grab onto the back of her coat, pulling her with it as the being crashed into a rotting building. She could still remember the sting of the debris that followed the beast's carnage.

She had scrambled up just in time to miss a particularly nasty swing of Its fist, her feet moving on instinct as she bent her body back, performing a backwards handspring, although her landing was rough, her body unused to performing those twists after so long. She hadn't time to recover as it came charging at her again, with quick feet she dashed down another alley, hearing its body skidding before it collided with another building.

She had looked over her shoulder, eyes widening as she caught sight of its bloodied body still managing to pull itself upright despite its complete lack of care for itself. After that she hadn't stopped running till she made it back to The Couriers Rest.

The memory still made her shudder. And I still haven't even seen a titan. The thought made her frown outwardly. She wasn't sure what would be worse, The Tyrentic addicts, or Titans. Maybe she felt worse about the Tyrentic addicts because after all, they are humans. But that could be said for titans too. Maybe there really was no real difference.

Tyrentic addicts; the titans of the underground. At least they didn't eat people. Lily scoffed at her inner musings. Her feet took her down one last alley before she finally found the compound where the miner group she had been looking for Dwelled.

"Ho! Courier!" The sound of a gruff, dirty looking woman called her from the front of a very shabby looking gate. The entire of the District was far more run down then its District siblings, the miners were honest, but often ignored. "Good to see ya lass! C'mon through here."

Lily ducked her head as she entered the compound, her eyes taking a second to appraise the Dirty woman. She had brown hair cut close to her head, the front of it slightly longer. She had warm green eyes and her face was covered in grease and dirt, a pair of goggles sat on her head. The brown haired woman led Lily towards the Compounds lobby, squeezing behind the counter as she flashed Lily a smile.

"Guessing you've got our most recent delivery for Forrent?" Her tone was pleasant but there seemed to be an edge to it, almost like she expected Lily to take off with the drug in the very next second.

"Yea, here." Lily scrounged out the deliveries of Forrent, placing them on the counter and turning back to the woman, carefully strapping her satchel back in place. Lily tilted her head. "Something wrong? You seem awfully tense."

The woman blinked, her eyes skittishly glancing around before she dropped her voice low in reply.

"There's been… Some trouble recently." She paused, another look around. "The Ravagers have been causing us problems. Moving into our territory and generally causing resistance for our Couriers... The miners are getting angsty about the lack of Forrent."

Lily frowned in response. The other day she ended up making detours after finding Ravagers prowling around Peddler territory. It seemed like the Ravagers were pushing hard against their neighboring Districts. What's gotten into them.

"Do you know why they're pushing into District Four?" Lily ventured, hoping to gather some form of intel before she stepped into their territory.

"Apparently some big-shot thug is staying there in District Three, Ravagers reckon he's helping them."

"He?" Lily pried, the responding shrug told the short woman there was nothing else she was going to be able to get together. "Alright. Well, I'll be off."

"Stay safe out there, Courier." The lady called out, Lily gave the woman a loose wave as she started in the direction of District Three.

She fumbled with her Satchel, pulling out the delivery ledger; it described a building not too far from a Tavern, deep in the heart of District Three. She frowned, there was no other name on it other than a first name. It'll have to do, she'll figure it out.

The sound of shuffling caused the woman to pick up her pace, the faster she was out of District Four the safer she'd feel. Her eyes darted between alleyways as her ears perked for any sound. Her heartbeat began to thunder in her ears. She didn't mind the Dwellers, but she certainly minded the rest of District Fours residents. Her eyes locked onto familiar border markings, checking for nearby Ravagers she slipped past, heading in the direction of her next job.

Ravagers weren't inherently bad, but they weren't fond of Couriers, and Couriers aren't fond of them either. Their protection racket scheme was oftentimes attempted to be enforced on the Couriers. That wasn't taken lightly so the relationship between the Ravagers and Couriers is strained at best. While not all Ravager groups would try to beat couriers into paying their taxes, some would try it and frankly Lily didn't want to try her luck with being in the open. Not with the Ravagers' new found courage they've been flaunting about.

There it is. The building was fairly decent, all things considered it wasn't rotting or half collapsed. Though she supposed if it was a high-risk job she shouldn't be surprised the resident had adequate living. She paused at the door, her gut feeling oddly heavy as she rapped her knuckles on the door. Once, twice, thrice. A pause and two quick more. A Courier's knock.

Lily took several steps back, waiting a moment before the door swung open. A tall well built but somewhat lanky man stood in the doorway, he gave Lily a questioning look.

"Whatcha want kid?" Lily outwardly scowled. Clicking her tongue at the long haired man.

"Courier." She stated flatly. Her hands moving to her satchel as she fished out the oddly weighted item and read the name on the ledger. "You're Kenny?"

"The one and only." He held his hands out, flashing the small woman a rather sardonic smile. She returned his smile with a weary stare, passing the taller man the package before taking a few steps back. Her instincts didn't like being near him.

"What, you afraid or somethin'?" Kenny gave her a once over, holding his package in one hand, clearly finding amusement in making the woman uncomfortable.

"You reek of bad news," She stated plainly. "No offense." Kenny let out a bark of laughter, Strange sardonic smile widening.

"You've got good instincts, I'll give you that." Kenny waved her off, like she made a joke. "D'ya know what's in here?"

"Not a clue." She willed herself to stay composed, she couldn't remember him, but her mind was screaming Danger, Danger! She knew who he was, the name rang a bell but without checking her diary she wasn't sure she could recall.

"Let's figure that out together, huh?" Kenny pulled a knife out, swiftly ripping the package open and pulling the item out.

It was a gun.

Lily felt her whole body tense, now she definitely remembered him. Kenny the Ripper. Serial killer of Sina, underground thug, right hand of the Reiss family. Probably the last person she wanted to meet face to face. Kenny eyed her, and Lily was unable to suppress her nervous tap of her foot.

"Not fond of guns are ya?" He questioned, raising the barrel to point directly at her. Her eyes locked onto his golden orbs narrowing as she could feel her body tense in anxiousness. Her palms began to get clammy as her right reached for her crude knife.

Kenny's eyes narrowed, his gaze scrutinizing as the two were locked in a stalemate, waiting for either to make a move.

"You're a fighter," Kenny lowered his gun, seemingly satisfied with whatever he was searching for. "Not afraid to stare death in the face. I can respect that."

Lily dropped her stance, but her hand remained on the hilt of her Knife. She stared at him with a suspicious gaze, her eyes watching every movement.

"You can calm down now, not gonna kill ya." Kenny flashed Lily another smile. "What's ya name kid?"

"Lillian Carter." She scowled, her posture relaxing. "And for the love of the walls, I'm not a damn child."

"Ha! You remind me of someone, you know?" Kenny chuckled. Lily raised a brow in response. "Just a brat of a kid I knew."

"Lucky kid." Lily rolled her eyes, her hand slipping off her knife to instead shove itself into the pockets of her coat.

Kenny paused for a moment, he eyed the gun he received and then looked back up to her. His expression changed, like he made a decision. He held out the gun to Lily, the grip facing towards her as he held the barrel.

"Take it."

Lily gave him an incredulous look. Not only was he handing her a gun, but it was also an incredibly rare item to have underground. She couldn't help from outwardly blanching at the mere suggestion. Kenny merely shrugged.

"I got plenty more. Was just a gift for a job well done I suppose." When Lily had still yet to take it, he shook his hand once more. "I gotta feelin' you're gonna need this more than I. Take it."

With a hesitant glace, she reached her hand forward, her fingers sliding over the grip, taking it hold of it firmly and pulling it from Kenny's grasp. She gave him another weary look.

"Still don't get why you're giving me a gun."

"Guess I'm bored. Figure if anything, something fun will happen with it in your hands."

Ah. That was definitely something very Kenny to do. Satisfied with that awfully honest answer, she tucked the gun in her belt, under her coat in order to obscure it. Glancing up she shifted awkwardly on her feet.

"I…Appreciate the… interesting company but I have shit to do." Lily tightened her blue scarf around her neck, backing a few steps.

"S'alright, Be seein' you, kid." Kenny bidded farewell, flashing one last Sardonic smile before he passed back through his door, shutting it promptly behind him.

After she was sure she was a generous distance away from Kenny's residence, she tugged out her leather bound diary, flipping idly through the pages as she leant against a building hidden in the shade of an alley. Her golden eyes darted from page to page, her fervent search for the name "Kenny".

She stopped her flipping, her eyes landing on the name Kenny Ackerman. That sounds awfully familiar. Her eyes skimmed over the rushed dot points of her short list on Kenny. Words like Serial killer and Future MP certainly rang a bell, Kenny the Ripper was also there. But something about the man made Lily believe he was more important than just a serial-killer-turned-royal-lapdog. She paused, her eyes catching the words Titan. Upon further reading, she had scratched out something about Rod Reiss.

Oh. That.

She could only assume they were talking about the gargantuan titan that was Rod Reiss and the utter shit-storm that followed. Lily cringed, her memory was worse then she last recalled, she'd have to revise her diary sometime soon. For now however she'll focus on making it back to District One. Lyra still needed to get her medicine.