Sheryl, James, Lanny, & *Others*

The following day found Sheryl to be in a much better state of mind. While James and Lanny were overseeing a load of weapons being shipped in down in the harbor, the young woman was perched out on the rocks of a mini penninsula, with Raimi on her lap. With only a faint breeze and just a few whisps of clouds in sunny sky, the weather wasn't all that bitter in the late morning.

"Keep watching the waters, Randy." Sheryl was saying as she pointed out to the endless waves, "They like to come here and eat every morning."

Raimi

The spray that blew over them in the late morning sunshine brought a giggle from Raimi as his eyes followed Sheryl's pointing finger, looking out to sea with her. His piercing giggle was quickly stifled as she spoke, though, and the little brown eyes concentrated intensely on the waves that seemed to sprout from the end of Sheryl's finger. With a half-cry, Raimi broke his moment's silence and reached to grab her finger in both hands, squealing in delight.

Sheryl, James, Lanny, & *Others*

Laughter flowed out over the sound of the crashing waves as her eyes glistened with the look of pure and unhindered joy. "Randy, what would I do without you?" She questioned light-heartedly as she quieted her laughter at his exuberant antics. For a while, her focus was rested on him, as she waved her hand from side to side, with her finger incased in his grasp.

Out in the waves, a loud 'puff' sounded, drawing Sheryl's brown eyes back to the ocean, "Oh, Randy, look!" She declared, using her free hand to point at a black triangle that was just dipping down beneath the dark waters. Hardly before the ebony shape disappeared, two more appeared just behind it, followed by the sleek backs of the orcas. More spouts of breath were sent into the air as the two other whales took their turn to breath.

Raimi

His laughter at her joy was quickly distracted as the orca broke the surface, sending a spray into the air and bringing a look of wonderment to the boy's face. By the time the second orca had shown itself, Raimi was giving a glad cry for each breath that they spouted, and dancing a funny, jerking jig beside Sheryl that involved a good deal of graceless stumbling about and clapping of the hands. "Look, look, look! he parroted merrily.

Sheryl, James, Lanny, & *Others*

"No, no wolves." Little Wave announced, spyhopping in an effort to get a better view of the two humans perched on the rocks, "Two humans, and one is just a calf."

Tyali, renowned for his fascination with wolves and rather upset over the disappearance of his good chum Dark Star, took his turn to raise his head high above the waves. "The female is familiar - I think she's the mate of one of those males over there." He informed thoughtfully, while turning a dark eye to insepct the 'calf', "And, the little one... I think it's a male." While most of the whales were able to dicern between male and female humans by the most basic of physical differences, Tyali had honed his observations quite impressively, until he was almost as good as humans about telling gender just by the configuration of their faces.

Sheryl laughed again as Raimi broke out in an excitable wiggle of a dance. "Those are whales, sweety. Can you say whale?" Oblivious that they were being scrutinized by the large mammals, Sheryl took the opportunity to teach Randy some new words.

Raimi

Though he did not yet use many words, he understood a vast volume of them, and now recognized the format of sounds that meant Sheryl wanted he to repeat what she'd said. With an obliging giggle, he began to repeat it back to her. "W-ale. Wale. Wale, wale, wale!" This was his final, excited response as he wriggled about, at one point falling back on his rump but soon up and about again with a squirm and a smile. His thrilled squeal echoed a bit harshly on the rocks surrounding them, and now began his curious investigation of the concept of echoes. "Wale wale wale!" he cried, and "Wale wale wale!" the cliffs repeated back to him. His squeal of glee also ricocheted back to him, as did the cry "Randy Randy!", "Zelkovi kovi kovi kovi", and "Shay-shay!" as he quickly pelted out all the words he knew, waiting to see if the hidden person would call back all these words.

Sheryl, Nadeem, & Others

All the shouting got the two brothers looking towards the nearby penninsula, and sending their hearty laughter to join the echoing words of Raimi. James was particularly pleased to hear their last name reverberating out over the area. But they couldn't spare much time before they were back to work, checking over the incoming weapons and settling them into a large, nondescript van.

"Do you hear your echo?" Sheryl smiled, listening to the boy's voice bounce around off the sheer cliffs, and the resounding laughter it brought from the others working at the dock. At times like these, the world seemed perfect and safe. She would fight the world itself to keep her little makeshift family and the life they had.

It had taken Nadeem no more than half an hour to come across the whereabouts of the younger Zelkovi brothers. Though he didn't spend time observing the habits of Atroe's residence, he knew enough that the CS spent a good amount of time at the docks transfering all sorts of illegal items.

Parking his truck along the side of the road, Nadeem hefted his pack over his shoulders and headed for a nearby picnic table. There he scattered a few notebooks out, filled with Hindu writing and doodles of noteworthy characteristics on the various animals that he studied. Figuring this would buy him a reasonable explanation if the CS were to approach him, Nadeem turned his binoculars to the sky, as if watching for birds.

Arctic, Oceanic & Kori

Something caught the attention of the humpback whales. The orcas seemed to be watching something. With Oceanic older now, they weren't so afraid of the black and white dolphins. The mother and daughter pair were likely too far out to be seen by the humans, for now. Suddenly, Arctic leapt out of the water gracefully and powerfully, crashing back down into the waves. The slap of her flukes could be heard from a great distance.

Oceanic followed her mother's lead and breached.

Kori wasn't far from the humans either. The blacktip reef shark swam just below the surface, waiting for a meal.

Raimi

Raimi hadn't even been looking in Oceanic and Arctic's direction, having focused his attention on the laughter of James and Lanny, and returning with an exuberant giggle and more hand clapping. It was the sound of Arctic's flukes slapping the water's surface that turned his attention back to the sea, too late to see the humpbacks, but enough to watch the orcas again. "Wale wale wale!" He repeated again, his voice still echoing sharply through the rocks, carrying for several hundred yards into the distance before fading away. "Ras-Ras! Wale!"

But he said the name without thinking, and when he was done and had realized what he'd said, the little round face fell, whimpering once more. "Ras-Ras..." and the cliffs took up the echo once more, repeating to the world his sorrowful "Ras-Ras... Ras-Ras..."

Sheryl, Nadeem, & Others

Along with Raimi's joy, Sheryl's spiked downward as well. Like Lanny's unsettled feelings, it disturbed her to know that Raimi's 'Ras-Ras' was planned for execution, especially when he continued to dwell painfully on his missing brother. James wasn't nearly so affected by it, and had assured both his brother and girlfriend that little Randy would soon forget about Rasputin anyway.

"It's ok, honey. No need to be sad, now." She forced a sweet smile, while trailing a finger down his forehead, to rest briefly on his nose. Just a simple little thing, trying to capture his attention, "Look at the all the whales, Randy. See how- eeek!" Spotting the silhouette of a shark gliding through the shallows near the shore, Sheryl instinctively clutched Raimi tighter, even though he was in no danger of the fish right now.

It took several minutes before Nadeem ventured to aim his binoculars down briefly at Sheryl and Raimi. He was positive the little boy was the same one he had seen those months ago at Charlene's house, but he had to be sure. "There you are..." Once confirmed in his identification, Nadeem took a moment to think of his next move. If anything, he could at least assure Conan that his little brother was alright.

Banking on the chance that Conan might still be at the house, Nadeem took his cellphone out and dialed his home-number.

Raimi

What might have soon dissolved into another tantrum was easily belayed by Sheryl's shriek, which startled him and made him cringe backward into her, struggling to press as near to the young woman as possible, where he felt he would be safe.

And soon, Nadeem's cell phone rang, and, when he picked it up, a rapid tapping sounded on the line, stopping and starting again several times in a reliable: a sure fire sign that it was Conan on the other end.

Sheryl, Nadeem, & Others

Sheryl had both arms wrapped around Raimi, speaking softly to him as her eyes followed the movements of the predator, "It's ok, Randy, Mommy's got you." When the shark moved a little ways off, the young woman laxened her grip just slightly on the boy, while rubbing a hand against his shoulder and arm in a comforting gesture.

"Conan!" Nadeem responded, after listening to the alternating taps, "Your brother appears fine, as far as I can tell." It was the first thing he could think to say, besides all the questions that were bubbling in his head. Unfortunately, there wasn't a whole lot of answering that Conan could do over the phone considering his imparement, and Nadeem wished at this moment that the both of them knew morse code. He was silent for a moment in thought before speaking again, "Ok, tap once for yes and two for no - do you want me to keep an eye on them still?" There were many questions he was wanting to ask, but had to take it one at a time.

Raimi & *Conan*

Fortunately, the brief distraction had made the boy forget completely what he'd been distressed about, so when she began to comfort him more, Raimi leaned back into the embrace, smiling and cooing softly.

But at the other end of the beach, a silence reigned on the other end of the line, broken only by a heavy sigh of relief that was one of the only audible sounds Conan could make, and that so softly. Back in the house, he felt some hard-balled tension somewhere in his gut loosen a bit, and after a moment of relief and another of thought, he tapped twice on the phone's surface in answer to Nadeem's question. If Raimi was unharmed, then they had time to make more careful plans, which, of course, required Nadeem coming back home so that they could communicate better.

Sheryl, Nadeem, & Others

The double tap was a welcome response, though he didn't in any way portray that through his voice. He was ready to do whatever it took to make up for his neglect in keeping Aralyn safe, but at the same time, it was a bit unnerving to see the gang members just a few hundered yards away unloading all types of weaponry. "I will return shortly." Came his even reply, before the call was abruptly ended. Nadeem gathered up his belongings and filed them back into his backpack, before heading back for his vehicle.

Sheryl looked briefly in the direction of Nadeem's truck when it started up, but didn't think twice about his brief presence here. The young man was not known for having ties with any organizations here, nor had they every observed any weapon on him. Attention eased back to the ocean now, seeking out another means to occupy her Raimi, "I wish those boys would hurry up down there, so we can get a bite to eat already." Sheryl complained half-heartedly, while brushing a strand of hair from Raimi's face, "And Lanny is all set on getting you a trim. Maybe Mommy can fix her hair up a bit too."

Raimi

Everything was fine again as Raimi giggled and grasped once more for Sheryl's fingers, taking ring and pointer finger of the extended hand each into a fist of his own, and wiggling them about experimentally, a concentrated look on his small face.

But it wasn't long before he too grew tired of waiting, and began to call out again. "Lanneeeeeee! Jaaaaayyyy! Baaahhhh-bah-goot!" He never had been able to get the sounds of Lanny's and Jame's names right, which raised suspicions among the adults as to any hearing difficulties he might have, considering Raven's, but his hearing was fine.

Sheryl, James, Lanny, & *Others*

"Ran-dyyy!" Lanny's voice echoed back, cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify the sound. He then spared a wave at the pair before getting a nudge by his brother and returning to his work.

This produced another mumur of laughter from Sheryl, "Oh, what I would give to be a kid again." She commented with humor, watching as he was studying her fingers like one might study a tricky jigsaw puzzle. When the boy began to call out names, and his 'uncle' answered, Sherly shook her head, "You two almost done?" Almost!" Came the shouted reply, this time from James.

Cassidy*Conan

Cassidy wasn't fool enough to drive all the way here in the silver truck. It was bad enough that they had to use a van to transport the weapons without attracting more attention by bringing another vehicle here. No, Cassidy had parked about a mile away and had walked the rest of the way, a heavy limp in her step, as she still hadn't had the opportunity to dig the arrowhead out of her thigh. Even as Raimi cooed and continued to fiddle with Sheryl's fingers, Cassidy stepped out of the line of trees and began to make her way toward them. She wasn't in the typical CrypticSilver uniform, but then she almost never was, and didn't have to be. No other person would be fool enough to come to the beach in three inch spike heels, and that and the rest of her attire would make it very clear who it was that was making her way toward Lanny and James. Her face was very calm, though the eyes lit dangerously as she stopped for a moment to remove the shoes before continuing toward them in bare feet.

Above, looking from the same vantage point Nadeem had used earlier, was Conan, who was no longer even attempting to disguise his hatred for the red-haired woman that made her way slowly across the sands.

Sheryl, James, Lanny, & *Others*

She was outwordly friendly to Cassidy, but there was a certain tension felt whenever the other was around her boyfriend. It was jealousy issue mainly, and given the other's profession, Sheryl also kept Cassidy in close watch when she was near James. Quite the opposite, James had no qualms with talking to Cassidy, and casually disreguarded his girlfriend's posessive nature of him. He might be a murdering, drug-dealing, mob leader, but ironically, he was a surprisingly faithful man.

"Cass!" Lanny was the first to notice the other making her way down the rock-strewn shore. James and Sherly looked up in unison, landing their sights on the limping CS member.

"Woah, what the hell happened?" The two brother took momentary leave of their job to meet Cassidy halfway across the beach, "Don't tell me the fucking Akatsuki's did this..." James hissed as he saw the protruding shaft of the arrow sticking out from her leg. Unless she had gotten hit by a hunter's stray arrow, the only other people he knew to use bows were the ninjas.

Cassidy*Conan

Of the few people that Cassidy was on friendly terms with, James and Lanny were two of the very few who were allowed to get away with calling her by her nickname, partially due to the fact that they were the heads of the gang, and in Lanny's case, because she was rather fond of the often-drunk young man, who'd been kind to her when she'd come crawling back to the gang after her ...misfortunes. He hadn't demanded any explanations from her, and she appreciated that.

But her face was fearsome as James spoke. "Right on the money, James... why have you allowed their swaggering to go unpunished to this point? Time was that nobody who wished to keep their body parts attached would dare mess with us. What's changed?"

Sheryl, James, Lanny, & *Others*

"Things have been a little hectic lately." James responded in a level tone that was laced with warning and barely-reigned anger, not at all liking the implication that he wasn't keeping up the reputation of the gang - even if it was true that he had been slacking a little when it came to warfare with the rivals. "Where did this happen?" Letting the insubordination go without further trouble, he went on to gather what information he could.

Lanny was looking with furrowed brows at the broken shaft still, but his attention quickly shifted to Sheryl and Raimi. "Get in the van!" He called out, waving an arm to signal them over. By the look that his brother carred on his darkly complexioned face, there would be violence to be had very soon.

Cassidy

As with almost everyone, Cassidy knew exactly how far she could push James before he'd turn on her, and so the note in his tone told her to lighten up her own voice, and took the ugly look off of her face. "At the bridge," she replied, this time more calmly and rationally, smoothly shifting moods. "They sent two volleys from the trees... I never saw them. But they're the only ones in town that use red goose-fletching." Aside from her other talents, Cassidy had an extensive knowledge of weapons, enough that the other members of CS usually listened to her advice on them, and she used that influence now.

With a grunt of pain, she bent to snap off the back half of the arrow and, after briefly bracing herself, pulled the arrow from her thigh, now producing a handkerchief from her pocket and pressing it over the wound. "Not too bad... a bit of muscle damage, maybe... but no arteries pierced. Guess I was lucky."

Sheryl, James, Lanny, & *Others*

With anyone else, he would have double-checked things, but Cassidy was one of the smarter individuals and he had learned to trust her word on things. If she was sure the Akatsuki did this, then he had no doubts either. "They want to start a fight, they've got one." He turned to his younger brother, just as Sheryl was carrying Raimi to the van. "Call Carl and have him load us up. I want Daniel and and Brian to meet us at the corner of Division and Agency." Again he turned to Cassidy, turning a raised-brow look to her leg, "Think you're able to come with us?"

Lanny had dealt with bullet and knife wounds before, but he couldn't help but turn away when the arrow was pulled out. Taking his cellphone, he headed to the van with Sheryl to make the call to their cousin.

Cassidy*Conan

She noted with satisfaction that James took her word for the judgment, even as she tucked the two pieces of arrow into her pocket, superstitious enough not to want to leave anything coated with her own blood behind. She might not have said anything when Lanny headed away from the scene, but knew that James recognized her to be a keen being, and would expect it, so she finally spoke in an undertone, as if almost to herself, though she did make it loud enough to James to hear. "That's odd... I've never known him to be squeamish before."

But she looked up with a believable fake start at James' question, and gave him her grin. "Wouldn't miss it for the world." And began to make her way, completely smoothly as if she hadn't just pulled an arrow out of her leg, to the van, saying, "If you want to, you can just give me a ride to my truck, and I'll drive. It's parked in the usual place. Or either I'll ride with you. Whichever."

And, from his place, Conan quickly typed into his phone, though he only held it up for Nadeem to see, as opposed to sending it.

WELL... THAT WORKED LIKE A DREAM. NOW WE JUST HAVE TO FOLLOW THEM. COME ON. TO DIVISION AND AGENCY.

Sheryl, James, Lanny, & *Others*

If he weren't in a fouled mood, James might have allowed for a light laugh to Cassidy's comment. Instead, a simple shrug was offered, "Lanny? Don't mind him. He's been touchy about arrows and the like since he was a boy." But that's all that James cared to explain at the time as he was getting into the van and ordering the shippers to hurry up with the guns.

"Two vehicles would work better." The leader replied, and then waited until the loaders had finished transfering the last crate of weapons before he fired up the engine and pulled out of the bay. In the backseat, Sheryl was holding Raimi on her lap, since none of them had ever considered getting a carseat for the child. "You've got to be a good boy, ok? Daddy and Uncle Lanny have to take care of some things."

The van idled to a halt once they reached Cassidy's truck, "Follow us out there, and we'll park along Agency and wait for the others." And after allowing for her to get out and get situated in her own vehicle, they pulled out of the lane and headed for the enemy's house.

This is it. Nadeem thought to himself, stilling away the mounting fear in favor for a determined facade. "Lets do this." Stealing back away from the edge of their hiding place, the young man got to his feet and began to sprint towards their destination.

Cassidy*Conan

As per her usual, Cassidy tucked this little fact about Lanny efficiently away in the filing cabinet of her brain, but chose not to comment on it as she climbed into the seat next to Sheryl, since that was the only available surface other than the floor. She gave her a friendly, "Hello, Sheryl," as she sat down, but she was under no illusions. She knew that Sheryl disapproved of her, even knew that she perceived her as a threat... but she didn't really mind. She supposed that, if she had a man that she actually cared to stay with, she might be as protective. So, to that end, she generally just was distantly pleasant, and left things at that.

Raimi, on the other hand, gave Cassidy an odd glance as he peered at her from Sheryl's lap, carefully watching the process of Cassidy using her handkerchief to make a quick on-the-go bandage.

And Conan dashed off after Nadeem, keeping up easily.