Task One- Part One- Meeting at the cafe

Drew a new illustration for the task since I wasn't very happy with the last one. I'll keep the old one in my scaps until Coda can decide on which style he prefers. Meanwhile i'll appreciate comments on the illustration and the writing. Both of us are keen on improving and since my aim in life is to illustrate books and Coda's is to write, your feedback is very important!


Illustration drawn  and Cinder the Zigzagoon belong to
Story written and Adrian the Sandshrew belong to

Donovan the Heliolisk and PMDU belong to




Warning!= Story may contain strong language.




-------------Task One-----Part One-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



"I can't believe this!"

"Adrian, it isn't a question of what you believe or not. This is the place."
The Zigzagoon looked down at the scrap of paper clutched in her paws, then back at the establishment before her, letting out a sigh.
"It is, I'm sure of it."

The "establishment", or Kara's contact location, a small cafe down on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Baker Street, looked like hell. There was really no other way to describe it- there was a large crack in the front window, and you could see the layers of dust by its edges. Inside, the chairs and tables looked shoddily constructed, some even a little lopsided, and the large candles on the chandelier dripped a steady stream of wax onto the floor.

"I know that they needed it to be inconspicuous," the Sandshrew sighed, pulling the door open for his partner, "but why did it have to be here? This is such a step down from Cafe Obscurite."

"Whatever," the Zigzagoon muttered, giving her bandaged arm a little scratch, "Let's get this done for now. Can't say I don't agree with you, though."
She unfolded the scrap of paper, trying to ignore the suspiciously mold-like stains on the floor in front of her. 

"Cinder, is he really going to be here?" the Sandshrew- Adrian- asked, his eyes darting around the room, dodging glances from the cafe's few customers. 

"According to this message, he should be waiting for us," the Zigzagoon- Cinder- replied, turning the paper over. "That's all there is on it. Knowing Kara, she'll have given the same note to god-knows how many other teams... he'll probably have been here all day."

"What species is he again?" Adrian asked, cringing as he noticed the Spinarak webs in the corner. 
"These people let their babies shit all over the place?!" he exclaimed, blinking. "Disgusting..."

"It isn't shit," Cinder huffed, "Well, it comes from their abdomens, so it's kind of... you know what, forget it. I don't want to know."

"Hey, you two!" a husky voice called from behind them, "You're from the guilds, right?"

"Yes, that's right," Cinder nodded, turning to face the man behind them- an annoyed-looking Heliolisk sitting by the window. He had a pile of papers on the table in front of him, many of them the same faded yellow of Cinder's note.
"I told you so," the Zigzagoon huffed to her partner, and pulled up a chair. 

"Alrighty then," the Heliolisk stated, "You probably know it, but I'm Donovan, head warden for this city. So, you've already been briefed on the ninjas?"

"No, actually," Adrian replied, "Kara told us that you would explain."

"Goddammit," the Heliolisk cursed, staring toward the window, "I've been doing this all morning. Fine, here's the gist of it- there's a couple of Iaponese ninjas, one of which impersonated the Ambassador. There's a hell of a lot of teams goin' for 'em at the moment, so it's better to pick one target to focus on."

"Go on," Cinder nodded, leaning in a little closer.

"The strongest of them would probably be their leader- or we're assuming it's their leader, the Sceptile. He's the one that did the actual impersonating, and got in a pretty intense fight with Gavina a little while back. Last time we saw hi-"

"No," Cinder interjected, letting out a huff. "Waste of time. If he's the strongest out of them, every single one of the Hunters'll be targeting him. Who's next?"

A little startled by the Zigzagoon's sudden change in tone, Donovan blinked, then continued.
"So, they've also got a little Riolu, a kid-"

"Hell no."
This time, it was Adrian that did the interjecting. 
"I'm not dealing with kids," he snapped, narrowing his eyes. "I don't know about Cinder, but I'm not a goddamn social worker."

"No, I agree with you," the Zigzagoon stated, still keeping her tone dull and flat. "Besides, the Explorers would go for that one. It would probably be the easiest- unless, of course, the third member of this party of ninjas is a damn Slakoth."

Donovan blinked again, unsure how to respond, then continued.
"We don't know that much about the third one. It's an actual ninja, a Greninja."

"Yes, I know that," Adrian interjected, "That is the root word, after all. So, what about it?"

Donovan clenched his teeth together, and breathed out through them.
"Like I said," he continued, "We don't know much about him. He's been away from the action the whole time, except when he came to bail the Sceptile out. We didn't get a clear picture of his face, but there aren't too many Greninja in this city. If you find any of 'em, apprehend 'em. Considering how good this guy was at hidin' himself, he's probably sneaking out of the city right now."

"We'll take that one," Cinder nodded, "Thank you. Now, just wondering- how many teams would you say are searching for him?"

"Five or six?" the Heliolisk estimated, counting them out on his fingers. "Can't remember, honestly. Like I said, I've been doing this all morning."

"It's fine, thank you. About how many teams are on the other two?"

"Lost track," he admitted, "I'm guessin' around ten to twelve? I've been here since six A.M."

"All right, we'll be leaving, then," Cinder nodded, dropping her note in the pile of papers. "Thanks for the information. Will we be bringing him in to the Royal Guard's main offices, or straight to the prison?"

"It might be easier to take him in to one of the guild offices, and trap 'im there," Donovan suggested. "The Hunters will be waiting there for sure."

"Yes, we'll do that, then," Cinder replied, grabbing Adrian's arm as she stood up. "Oh, that reminds me- what's our compensation for apprehending the ninja?"

"The guilds are issuing 'em, far as I know," Donovan replied, shrugging. "Pretty sure the Royal Guard hasn't issued any bounties... probably wouldn't have had time to. Anyway, that's something you'd take up with Kara."

"Right, thank you."
She tugged at Adrian's arm, and he brushed her paw away, standing up and pushing his chair in.
Adrian brushed her paw away as she tried to pull him toward the door. She ignored him, staring through the soap-streaked window at the street before her. 
What was that, down at the end of the street... a Zorua, striding toward the cafe, holding an almost identical yellowed scrap of paper between its paws...
Cinder shoved her chair back toward the table, startling the Heliolisk as it smacked into the table's base.
"All right, then," she stated, holding the door open for her partner, "Let's go.


Next Part- sepia-zorua.deviantart.com/art…
Previous Part- None


Team Eloquence Application- sepia-zorua.deviantart.com/art…