Thief in the night...(Torii)

[John William Sarison]

A white-faced Capuchin monkey sat on a trash bin in a dark alleyway in London England. The place was filled with trash, rats and a few stray dogs, each one was enjoying the company of the monkey as he threw food out of each of the bins. If anyone took a moment to look, they would see that the monkey appeared to be on a mission, one that looked to involve stuffing its belly. But if one would only take more then a moment to look, they would soon realize that the monkey was not eating any of the food he found; he was just throwing it out. In truth, the monkey was looking for something to use to cover up his scent, something that would over power his own smell so that he could infiltrate an area that was full of large dogs. But his search was not going well so far. He had been at this an hour and twice had been forced to leave his Animagus form in order to move from one alleyway to the next; he didn’t want to attract unwanted attention to himself in the Muggle public. Monkeys, especially White-faced Capuchins, were not large in number as pets in the London area. Many a question would be raised and he would be captured in an instant.

Twenty more minutes passed and the monkey gave up his search with a soft sigh. He paused on the top of a tin trash can lid, his hands and feet placed firmly on the metal as he looked up at the lowest window sill in the alley. Crouching low so that he got a good jump in, the monkey leapt up in the air and grabbed the sill with his small hands. Smiling to himself, he pulled the rest of him up onto the sill and looked about for some kind of life below in the alley aside from the dusty rats and moldy dogs. To his surprise, a figure emerged in the darkness below. Curiosity pulled his strings and the monkey made a greater leap from the sill to a wire that ran the width of the alley. It was covered in clothes, obviously the reason it was there in the alley to begin with. He slipped on a silk garment and found himself falling toward the ground at great speed. He hit the top of a dumpster with a loud clang and lay there in shock, as if dead.

[Torii Damien]

A twist, a turn, a flick of a wand, and the young woman was blanketed in a suffocating blackness.

She emerged, toppling into a potted tree on the street corner. "Damn eyesight," she muttered under her breath, drawing the hood of her jacket higher around her face, leaving it in shadow. A quick look around showed no sign that any Muggle had seen her appear out of nowhere and smack a tree with her now reddening face. Good. She wasn't feeling up to erasing anyone's memory. Another quick glance was shot around before she took off at a moderato pace, the soles of her Reeboks the only noise on the quiet pavement. The occasional car flashed by, illuminating her features and hiding the ignited wand tip at her side, hanging in a loose grip from her slight fingers.

Her movements were slow and almost clumsy. A small silvery fox trotted ahead of her, protecting her from the dementors floating around, unseen by the few Muggles that hastily passed by. Of course, that little fox was more dangerous than the dementors. It could easily get her killed should a Death Eater traipse by. Or worse, a member of the Desmodus. That spelled death any way one looked at it. How she wished she could take her patronus' form. It was so much easier for her to maneuver on four legs than on her klutzy two. But a lone fox taking a stroll through the middle of London would seem odd. Worse, a fox with an ignited wand hanging out of its mouth.

Her eyes remained straightforward, looking for anything out of the ordinary, anything that might harm the innocent Muggles, though their murder had become little more than a game children might play after class. Cemeteries were slowly filling up with bodies, bodies with no obvious signs of death except a look of pure terror. And Torii took it upon herself to prevent their harm, to patrol the streets of London every night looking for the unusual.

She passed an alley filled with the sounds of barking. Curiosity peaked, she stepped into the dark space, her patronus faded in wisp of silvery vapor, making the air colder. She raised her wand in time to see a small white figure falling from a clothesline. With a flick of the stick in her hand, she used a Cushioning Charm on the creature. While the loud noise it made upon impact was evident, the animal would feel no pain.

The witch took a few hesitant steps closer, staring at the creature with a guarded look. Upon further inspection, she recognized the particular breed of primate and its markings. She let out a shallow sigh. "Could you make any more noise, John? I don't think they heard you on the other side of town," she said with a slight edge.

[John William Sarison]

Slowly, as if quite stunned by his fall, the monkey, now identified as John Sarison, got up onto all fours and looked at his savior. It was none other than Teresa Damien, another member of the Order of The Phoenix, and a fellow Animagus. She looked like she had seen better days, or at least that is the idea that John got upon further inspection of the woman. The fact that she was out doors at this time of night in the Muggle parts of London, didn’t strike it as odd in John’s mind at all. Quite the opposite was the thought in reality. He knew full well that some of the Order were hell bent on making sure that the Muggles were protected in this time of extreme danger, and that Torii was one of them. The small primate shook himself off and stumbled to the edge of the dumpster. Had it been Sirius Black that stood here in the alley, John would have jumped to the man’s shoulder and perched himself there, seeing as it would have been a gesture that Black would accept better than Damien. So for this reason, the Animagus took a small leap off the lid and with the soft sound of blowing wind, a man landed on the ground in the Capuchin’s stead.

He was a tall, well aged man with good taste in clothing. Tonight he was wearing a dark wool overcoat, which hid the grey wool sweater he was sporting under it. Both made his very white hair seem to glow like the moon because of their lack of color. He was smiling ever so slightly in a way that would have made anyone who didn’t know him think he was plotting their demise. With a great sigh, John pulled his wool coat around himself a little tighter as he spoke. “I had not planned on losing my footing my dear miss Damien... I blame the silk..” The Animagus looked up and pointed at the wire above that was now missing a silk gown, and held the garment up so that he could rub the dirt off of one corner of it. “How convenient it was that you happened along, I would have been in a tight spot had a Death Eater been the one to spot that attempt to force an evolutionary change that would give me wings.”

John reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand. Very carefully, he cleared away the rubbish that had stained the gown and then levitated it back onto the wire so that the Muggle that owned it would not miss it. He then returned his gaze to his companion, his face no longer holding a smile. It was as if he had just thought about how convenient it had been that she showed up, almost like she had intended to be there. “So what brings you to this cozy little spot, not here to talk some sense into me are you?”. Although his voice held no harsh tones, it was still colder than the air around them, making it obvious that his prey was worth either a lot of money or his time.

[Torii Damien]

To any Muggle passerby, watching a human talking to a monkey as if it could understand would seem barbaric. Bad enough, to see a monkey fly through the air like a trapeze artist on the average streets of London would be odd. And by the time the monkey became a grown man, the Muggle would be wondering if they were locked up in an asylum, wrapped in a straitjacket and on every drug known to man. But Torii was far too at home with the extraordinary to ponder such. She watched lazily as monkey became man, as the chain of evolution occurred before her very eyes.

She stared at the layers of clothing that adorned the man's body. Much too heavy for her taste. Her mind flitted over her loose cotton jacket, tank top and baggy denim blue jeans. Having spent so much time running with nothing but coarse russet fur covering her form, anything that even grazed her skin made her fidget. Just casting a glance at the older man's clothing sent heat flashes coursing under her skin.

Her eyes raked the article of clothing in his hands, making her sneer and inwardly gag at the paper-thin material. Torii had never been as fond of silk as some of her peers. It made her think of the whores that littered backwash towns. Trash. And the young witch had never been interested in turning out that way. Therefore, no interest in silk.

"Remind me to never allow you into a circus," she said, looking down chuckling lightly at the pitiful joke. Her body became rigid and tense at the mention of the word "Death Eater". Torii was perfectly still, as if she'd been placed under a Full-Body Bind. But, for reasons none of her fellow Order members knew, that word meant much more than a formidable adversary and a possible death. It meant much, much more. She mulled his words for a moment. A comical image popped into her head, of a monkey with wings. She gave an involuntary snort of laughter at the thought.

She watched without interest as John replaced the gown on its wire. No one would ever know it had been moved. She watched blandly as the smile was erased from his features, the serious stare a mirror of her own. She answered steadily, though his tone pricked at her curios mind. "Nightly patrol, as usual." She rubbed her eyes, ignoring the painful bruises that lined them due to her sleep deprivation. She rarely noticed how tired she got, until she really got to thinking about it, and, even then, sleep was but a luxury. "Besides, if I tried to talk sense into you, it's not like you'd listen," she continued with a shrug.

[John William Sarison]

John cracked a smile at her response, wouldn’t listen indeed. Well at least she hadn’t come here with the intention of talking him out of his pick of the week job. He turned his head a little and allowed the smile to gain in size. “So it’s business as usual? You really need to relax, even your quick four feet won’t save you if your brain refuses to send the message to them.” Usually if John said something that like, you could bet he was speaking from experience. Though this time he was only saying what was true, he himself had never really gotten that close to being a practice dummy for spells, but he knew a few people who had. Sirius had always been a bit of the reckless type, no matter what he did, you could always be certain of one thing...That he would be noticed in his work. For that reason he had come close to death a few times, or that is what John heard from Lupin. That thought brought up another...Where was Lupin?

John let his smile fade some before asking the question that had just assaulted his mind. “You haven’t seen Remus around have you? I’ve got the impression that he has gone off looking for someone again...” This impression was attained by watching how Lupin reacted around certain people, mostly couples. He was distant, and not on top of things in the meetings and that had become somewhat of a habit for the Werewolf. Black on the other hand had disappeared from the Order’s view, off on some trip John imagined, what with all the problems that had erupted at Headquarters lately he really needed it.

John looked over the alley once more, just to make sure the two of them were alone, before asking. “You want to move into a more secluded spot, I need to speak about some....Order business.” he had paused in his speech to give his surroundings another good look, before adding his last words. The last thing he needed was for some Death Eater or other dark force to overhear the words “Order” and “Business” in the same phrase and not be relating to ordering something for good business.

[Torii Damien]

She shrugged off his reasoning. "Should it come to that point, I'll just turn into a fox and gnaw their ankles off." To accent her empty words, she flashed a dazzling smile that seemed to light up the alley. Of course, a real smile was a rarity in the case of Torii Damien. Her mouth was usually thin with thought or a grimace as she swerved around dark spells the the midst of a duel. On the chance occasions that she did produce a real smile, like a vapor patronus surrounded by a million dementors it was short lived. And this dreary night was no exception. "Besides, I got an hour's worth of sleep the other night. I dare a Death Eater to show their face."

The last vestiges of her smile were wiped clean when the man asked for Lupin's whereabouts. Her silver orbs traveled upward to reflect the pale ivory floating in the sky, on the slightest sliver still submerge in darkness. "I assume he's gone off because of the full moon. I haven't seen much of Bastion either, and he never leaves St. Mungo's unless it's a full moon," she replied thoughtfully. "Because he spends the rest of his time stuffing his face," she added in a harsh undertone.

Her hand self-consciously flicked the juniper wand in its grip as her lips mouthed the words Homenum Revelio. With no human presence revealed, she gave a curt nod and tilted her wand upward, flicking it and murmuring Muffliato. Now they could converse as they moved without being heard. Any Death Eater that evaded the revealing charm would only hear an annoying buzzing sound.

Torii turned heel and began striding out of the alley, eyes continually raking the surrounding area. "Now what's so urgent that we can't talk in an abandoned alley surrounded by dogs?" she asked, aiming a kick at a terrier nipping her heel.

[John William Sarison]

John kept his mouth shut while Torii gave her explanation of MIA Lupin, and then made a face at her added information about Bastion and his eating habits. John himself could be quite a pig at times where fruit could be found, so he really didn’t have a leg to stand on when insulting Bastion. John stood in silence as his companion placed a few charms on the area and then followed when she started to leave. “Well, I’ve run into a bit of information concerning the possible addition to the Dark Lord’s forces.... A member of an ancient species has popped up on the DE’s radar, seems they are attempting to recruit him into their folds.. The species is called Feles Diabolus, heard of them?” he took a few quick steps to get ahead of Torii so that he could do a fast look around before she got there, before continuing his line of thought. “I don’t know the name of the beast, but he seems to be quite good at his job, which is assassinating anyone for a price, and he is very skilled at it, even killing us...We lost Daniel...” at this he stopped walking and turned to look at Torii. Although Daniel was not a big player in the Order, he had been one of their snitches, who had provided a lot of info about the DE’s work in the area. But he had fallen at the hands of this assassin, and it didn’t bode well if the man was indeed taking contracts from the Dark Lord.


“I don’t know if he is a DE or not, but the air smells foul and it seems too much like he is leaning toward their words. Though he could just be doing it for the money, and not really be a part of their group, but I don’t want to chance it...What do you think we should do about it? Gather more intel and snatch him up before they get him...Or take him out?”. Either way was fine with John, dead or an Order familiar was a hell of a lot better then a Death Eater. The night was getting colder as they walked, making John pull his coat around him even more. "Damned Dementors..." he muttered, as the two of them continued on their way through the streets of London.

[Torii Damien]

The witch smirked at John's reaction to her rant about Bastion's food addiction. Her face adopted its traditional serious guise as her companion finally got down to business. She nodded slowly, not watching where she was walking and proceeding to run into yet another potted tree. Still, she listened intently as John spoke. "Felus? Doesn't that mean cat in Latin or something?" she inquired. "Sorry, can't say I've heard of them. And if they're so rare that I haven't read up on them, and if the Death Eaters get a hold of them, they'll be that much harder to beat. Maybe even impossible." She paused as the wizard took the lead and a quick survey of the area, and continued listening intently as he spoke again. Her blood ran cold as she thought of the Order member who had been missing for days with no one knowing his whereabouts. Her eyes burned with moisture, which she quickly blinked away. Death happened every day, nothing could be done about it. But for someone to be able to kill without anyone knowing where the victim had gone...that in itself could wipe out the entire Order. She shook her head in disappointment. They were back to square one id the Death Eaters got their hands on an assassin of this stature.

She griamaced at the further bad news. Damn Death Eaters, she mentally cursed, [/i] if they get their grimy hands on this Felus Whatever-The-Hell-It-Is, we're dead. We might as well start digging our own graves.[/i] But she didn't voice this opinion aloud. She was the positive one, not the woe-is-us one. "If the Death Eaters offer to pay well, he'll side with them whether he agrees with them or not. And seeing as most of the Death Eaters are purebloods with heavy pockets, and our lot would be zapped before we could make it into Gringotts, I don't think we'll be able to out-pay them. Taking him out isn't an option if he's as good as you make him out to be. I think the safest and most logical option would be to gather up intel on him. Not that we have a lot of time to do so," she decided, continuing her stride. She had paused during her long-winded observation to consider all of the options. She watched as John tugged on his coat to preserve the heat. She, on the other hand, flicked her wand, and her patronus burst from the tip, winding its way around her legs, bushy tail flicking merrily.[/size]

[John William Sarison]

Again John listened in silence as his comrade spoke, only grunting as a reply here and there. But after she made the comment about gathering intel and them lacking the time, John smirked and added. “Maybe for you busier members you lack the time, but remember, I’m an infiltrator and thief, I have more time on my hands than I have stuff to do.” He watched her conjure up her Patronus and glanced around nervously for any who might spot it. John had chosen to bundle up over using his Patronus, mainly because it was too obvious for two Patronus to be seen in a Muggle area for it to be brushed away. “I do know a little about the species, but only a little, from what I heard, they are like werewolves, only a feline version and much meaner and yes, Feles is Latin for cat, the whole phrase means “Devil Cat” in Latin, so I was already listening hard when they started talking about it.” Again he let a pause fill the area for a moment, thinking hard about what they had said and how best to go about approaching the situation of gathering info on the Devil Cat. His ears were straining to pick up the sounds that happened along the path they walked. “But yes, I do agree that if they did get their hands on him, he might make it harder to battle them...And if he can rally more of his kind to join the Dark Lord also...” he trailed off and pulled out his wand, running his hands over it as he thought about the problem at hand. ‘Then we are all doomed....I need to finished my current project and get on that brute before he kills any more of our men.’

He stuck his hand out to stop Torii in her tracks, an idea had just hit him, one that might very well get him close enough to this beast so that he could assess the monster up close. “One of the DE’s that was speaking there metioned that the Werecat or Devil Cat if you will, frequents the Leaky Cauldron. If I go there and run into him, I might be able to find out what his price is, it might not just be money you know...We could use him against the Dark Lord like the DE’s did against us”. The idea was a longshot, he didn’t know what this man looked like or even if he would show up at the Leaky Cauldron.

[Torii Damien]

At least us busy members have more productive things to do than go around thieving, she thought bitterly, the corners of of her mouth twitching in disapproval. Her eyes caught his nervous glance around after looking at her patronus. She snorted, looking around herself. Hardly anyone littered the streets, and those that did were so far away that the fox would appear as a large cat or a dog, and any car that happened to drive within range would cast such a glare with their headlight's that the fox would vanish from sight. Nothing at all to worry about.

Like werewolves...meaner..."Devil Cat"... It was a start but this fraction of information would hardly graze the surface of an unknown creature. She continued listening in silence until John mentioned the one Devil Cat rallying more of its kind. "Impossible. For a creature we only have the very vaguest details on, there can not be many. Even if it might have the ability to take the form of a human, it would be easy to discover if there were more than a few." Her shoulders heaved in an exhausted sigh. That was the only hope they had to cling to with this mystery species.

She stopped walking when the wizard threw his hand out, a look of puzzlement crossing her face. The look morphed into one of curious understanding as he explained. Her mind automatically began scanning the multiple risks, the cons weighing down the pros. "It could work. It definitely could. Or it could get you killed. If you're already on this thing's hit list, revealing yourself could easily mean death. And if he or the Death Eaters got a hold of your wand, they could trace it back to St. Mungo's and ultimately wipe us all out. In the end, it's up to you, but consider the risks before doing anything foolhardy, John."

She continued on, her patronus darting ahead and sauntering back, like a runaway child being scolded for wrongdoing. "Plus, if this Werecat, Devil Cat, whatever the Hell it is is also a wizard, that will make it even harder to beat it. There are so many risks with this thing." she said with another heavy sigh.

[John William Sarison]

John thought about it again as she spoke of the dangers he put the Order in by doing this mission. True it would be quite risky, but on the plus side, he didn’t have to tell the guy who he worked for, only that he had a few contracts he needed to be carried out. “I’ll take care, though you are right, it is a risky business, but we have to try.” he watched the fox Patronus run back and forth for a while, it was a soothing act really, almost like a ballet without the other dancers. John followed Torii in silence for a bit, deciding that it was safe to take his Animagus form for a few moments, just to get a better view of the area. As she continued on, John jumped up onto a sill as he passed by it. Then jumped to another that was much higher, and then another and another, until he was on the roof. He ran along the side of the roof, glancing down at Torii as she walked. The Dementors were out in force tonight, many were just ahead of John, floating at roof level in search of prey. This ended his rooftop trek quite suddenly and he slid down a pipe that was bolted to the wall so that he landed perfectly on all fours right behind Torii. Another moment of running at her feet and the primate changed his mind and soon become John Sarison once more.

John cast a dark look at the rooftops, where quite a few Dementors were now hovering. He pulled his wand out and focused it ahead of him, just past Torii. “Expecto Patronum” he muttered, his voice a near whisper. A flash of white light emitted from his wand tip, it started off as a wisp of smoke that soon took the shape of a rather large bird. It was a Great Bustard, the last known shape that John’s Patronus had taken when he had been spotted by the Ministry and the Death Eaters. The large bird flew past both the fox and its owner, taking to the sky just at roof level. The Dementors there scattered ever so slightly, allowing the bird to return to John with a sense of a job well done. He sent it ahead of him, to run along side Torii and her fox. Tonight had been a bothersome evening indeed, but there still seemed to be some purpose to the whole thing, even if the job he had been scheduled to do would have to wait until next week.

Catching up to both is Patronus and Torii, John let out a sigh and mumbled a phrase to himself that had become somewhat of a motto of his.. “A thief in the night, is only a flicker in the eyes of others, like candle light...”