IC: Jan 23, 1997. While the Moot was in progress... Wharf, Pier Two(#1122RA) The creak and sway of the rotting boards are in sync with the gentle slap of water against the pylons. Only the sections of the Pier jutting far into the river have fallen into disrepair. The sections nearest the bank are still is fair condition as some commerce still occurs by way of the river. However, many goods that were once shipped via the waterway are now shipped overland which is cheaper and faster. The wharf stands as testament to an older time, when the River was a lifeline for the city. Beyond the warehouses lining the banks to the west, the black asphalt strip of First Street can be seen. Contents: Ripley Bill(#2507PJc) Obvious exits: First Street Bill's Desc: Bill looks to be in his early teens, just hitting the puberty and pimples stage. Blonde hair is kept in an erratic and short trim with the exception of a foot-long rat tail in the back. His eyes are a fair blue, contrasting sharply with his rough and calloused freckled skin. His ears, unlike most city youth, are unpierced. Insofar as fashion goes, his clothes look, well, mismatched. He's wearing a pair of purple pants that are far too long and baggy. A ragged T-shirt is covered by a lime-green polyester sportsuit. Ripley's Desc: The man before you could be a model for any men's fashion magazine. His short red hair, dazzling blue eyes and perfect smile, coupled with a self-assured grace in every movement he makes sends out an aura of competence but not necessarily likability. He currently wears new khaki chino trousers and an expensive-looking button-up shirt. Around his shoulders and neck, a sweater is loosely tied, and his feet are clad in shiny brown loafers. A silver Rolex is worn on his left wrist, which he occasionally glances at, as if waiting impatiently for something to happen or someone to arrive. Hazmat's Desc: A tall, gangly sort of girl in her late teens, just under six feet tall and somewhat skinny. Pale, pale hair hangs in lank strings about her face and shoulders, somewhat greasy. Her features are ordinary enough, too narrow to be considered really attractive, and her nose is crooked. Grey eyes with a constantly blood-shot appearance watch the world with quizzical intelligence, and her long-fingered hands seem rarely still. Her clothes are dirty and secondhand; the plain grey sweatshirt is worn to holes at both elbows, and the faded blue jeans are blackened at the knees. The clothes fit tolerably well, but not perfectly, having been made to fit someone of her height but larger mass. The off-white sneakers are brandless, and the battered brown trenchcoat is rather too big for her. Her pockets bulge with assorted junk. Bill is seated on a crate outside of the Wharf Rat's usual hangout. He's got a small pocketknife and is whittling on a cheap piece of wood. Judging from the pile of slivers piling up on the ground, he's been here a while. The wood doesn't appear to be taking any particular shape. Hazmat moves in near-silence, Ragabash gifts masking her scent even as they make her difficult to notice to those not looking right at her and for her. Hands in pockets, she scans the otherwise empty wharf with a faint frown, then moves up behind Bill. Ripley stands in a shadow, just within sight of the ragabash as she makes her approch, if she were to look back. He does his best to duck into a shadow, standing still and observing silently. Bill seems unaware of Hazmat's approach or Ripley's existence, so fixed on whittling he is. The cheap piece of wood is lovingly turned a few degrees so the unattended side can be whittled upon. Hazmat's wiry body tightens slightly, and then _moves_, silent and swift as any predator, switchblade fleshing out of her pocket as she grabs the boy by his collar and pulls him off his seat. In an instant, he's down, with sharp, cold steel at his throat. Bill drops both wood and pocketknife upon impact, managing an 'Ooof!' that echoes off the cheap steel of the deserted warehouses at Hazmat's impact and upon impact with the ground. Wide-eyed, he opens his mouth to complain about the treatment, but the sharp feeling at his throat cuts off the response with a careful swallow. Ripley puts his hands in his coat pockets, watching with the same cold detachment he would if he were watching a fellow surgeon perform a procedure. The only thing that betrays any emotion is the licking of his lips in anticipation of the kill. Hazmat straddles the backwoods boy, keeping the switchblade at his soft throat as she gazes, a moment, into his eyes. Quietly: "Yuh scared?" Bill's expression makes the question redundant. Very slowly, slower than molasses, he moves his head in an affirmative, careful not to accidently have additional pressure added to the knife's blade. Ripley continues to wait, watching. His hands move a little in his pockets as he watches, and a little smile crosses his face. Hazmat bares her teeth; it's not a grin, nowhere near a grin. "Yah," she says. "An' now --" Her hand moves, slashing open throat and jugular with swift professionalism. "Yuh dead." Ripley steps out of the shadows at about that time, moving swiftly to look the boy in the eyes as his life drains from him. "Dogboy?" he asks Hazmat. Bill's eyes manage to bug out even farther as the steel parts through flesh. Blood ejaculates from the wound with the fading pulse of his heart, accompanied by a raspy gurgling. Now, Bill struggles for life, too late to save it. Then, the brief bout of thrashing ends forever. Hazmat's head comes up, the bloodshot eyes flashing anger until she recognizes Ripley. "Nah. Dogboy woulda shifted, 'r frenzied, 'r somethin'." Ignoring the spattered blood, much of which stains her hands now, she pulls the switchblade from the boy's throat and works at slicing off the scalp. Ripley watches Hazmat do her thing. "I'm hungry. When you're done, perhaps we could go somewhere and talk... about things. About Becca, in particular, and some other things in general. I'll pick up the bill." Hazmat glances up again, eyebrows raised, obviously interested. She flashes the other Dancer a smile. "Oh-kay. Fuhst I wanna spread th' corpse 'round. This is Wharf Rat's territory, I wanna mess it up, see?" She pulls the scalp free of its skull, raggedly, wasting no time. Ripley leans against a wall, finally taking his hands from his pockets. In them are a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He fires one up, watching casually. "Go at it, kid. Work up an appetite." Hazmat flashes Ripley another Haz-grin and goes back to work on the corpse, using her knife rather than her claws. Poor ol' dead Bill's body gets thoroughly mutilated, gutted, disembowled, bits spread out more or less randomly. Finally, Hazmat cleans her knife off on the boy's shirt-tail and pockets it. Her own clothes and face are still rather bloody, but she seems relaxed, happy, pleased with herself. Hazmat, in afterthought, pockets the scalp, rat-tail and all. Ripley, looking Hazmat over, comes to a decision: "We'll order take-out." He tosses his half-smoked cigarette into the remains of the corpse and starts out away from the wharf. Hazmat trots off after Ripley, tunelessly humming "The Minstrel Boy" under her breath and not giving poor ol' dead Bill a backward glance.