Celebutantes and Slave Trade | |
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Participants | Alison Jubilee |
Synopsis | Alison gets caught in between two Asian gang members. |
Location | Chinatown |
Time | January 2, 2016 |
Posted By | Jubilee |
Chinatown after dark, it isn't necessarily the wisest place to be alone, not with the high crime rates and the gangs running rampant. Especially this evening, a party is going on at street level, likely a carry over from the New Year's celebrations. All of the decent people who aren't currently working have long since shut themselves in their homes, sometimes peeking out at the ruckus.
What ruckus is this? Currently there are 2 men arguing with a young woman just outside of the restaurant she is working at. They had tried to walk out without paying their bill and she had quite unwisely chased after them for fear of having to make it up out of her meager tips. Angry mandarin is being chirped from all the parties at once until one of the men draws a blade on the young woman. It definitely isn't her night.
Not really her usual scene, but somehow, after starting off at Point A and proceeding through points B to F, Alison wound up at this party. Enough alcohol has been consumed to make the exact reasoning behind that a little blurry, but hey, she was just here to have fun. Now stumbling along the block, she's trying to make her way back from the festivities, having a spot of trouble finding a cab in these rough streets, and looking almost as out of place as it's possible to look. The argument is enough to distract her, partly because it's blocking the sidewalk where she would like to be passing. She halts just outside the skirmish, content to wait it out so she can get past - at least until the blade is pulled. Then she feels a need to step forward, with a protesting, "Hey!" That's all she's got figured out so far.
Once the obviously out of place white person calls out, the two men have found a better sort of prey. The man without the knife grips the young waitress by the and shakes her, muttering something low in mandarin, obviously not meant for the round eye to understand. She tosses her to the ground and turns with his knife wielding fellow toward the slim blonde. It is obvious that dental hygiene isn't on the top of their list as their smiles look like a collection of dice in their respective mouths.
A shadow flits along the rooftop and a human sized shape crouches low, against the skyline. Watching. Waiting.
On the ground the two men split up, obviously trying to flank the blonde sharing the sidewalk. The waitress? She took the opportunity to escape back into the restaurant, obviously less concerned with the unpaid bill than her personal safety, or that of her would be rescuer. The two men are within five feet of her now, unsuspecting that they might actually be the prey.
When they are at their farthest point, a young girl drops from the roof of the building, landing in a squat right in front of the knife wielding man. <"You must run now, for it is quite certain that you will be defeated."> The dark haired girl says in mandarin to the man in front of her, quite matter of factly.
"Uh," Alison ever so eloquently responds, as the guys suddenly turn their attention onto her. Hm. Bad idea, perhaps. Starting to look like she's regretting stepping up here at all, she takes a step back, looking between the two warily, trying to think of her best course of action. But an alcohol-soaked mind is not the best for figuring out plans of escape. "Look, you want my cash, you can have it," she offers in what's meant to be a calming tone. She's just reaching for her purse when the strange little saviour comes dropping down from above, making her jump and give a little sound of surprise - surely no one could blame her for being twitchy in this situation. With nothing being said in English, she's not quite sure what to make of this.
A frown crosses the knife wielding man's features and his eyes narrows dangerously at the teen in front of him. Without warning, he rushes at her, holding the knife out at his side until the very last minute when he swings into an elegant arc, meant to slash her in the face.
"Run English!" The raven haired girl yells out to the blonde as she ducks low to the swing and holds her hands out in front of her. Then a sudden burst of color errupts from her hands and against her attacker, pushing him back a mere few feet. Once the blow is delivered, the girl jumps up, gripping the fire escape and swinging herself forward with as much force as she can muster.
The colorful blast was unexpected and the man drops the knife as she staggers backward, only to make another dive for it. Unfortunately for him, the dive is interrupted by the graceful swing and the teen lands on top of him, knocking him back onto the ground. From there, it is a struggle as the two grapple each other in hopes of reaching the weapon first.
The other attacker cries out in surprise behind the blonde and makes a hasty retreat as soon as the explosion of light erupts from the Asian girl. His is not the only voice in the night as a few of the residents have mustered their courage in his wake and come outside weilding brooms and other household items menacingly.
Alison stumbles another step back until she brushes up against a wall. It's a dirty, grungy thing, and it impedes further progress in that particular direction. As the girl single-handedly vanquishes the foes, the blonde celebutante figures her help isn't really needed here, so perhaps she ought to take her up on that suggestion. Using a hand on the wall to stable herself, she starts making her way along, her impractical shoes making her wobble a bit as she skirts along the uneven pavement there.
The scramble for the knife ends with the young girl victorious as she grabs it and threatens the man, ending the short skirmish. It isn't without a backlash though, it is quite likely the running man will be back quite soon, with more friends. It is with this in mind that the young woman flips the knife into a nearby dumpster and skips along the sidewalk behind the blonde. "Hello? Hello English?" She calls out after the woman, in a completely non threatening way, of course. "I will walk you home, is this alright?" By now, she's caught up to the drunken blonde in her wobbly heels. The Asian's black boots clumping along the sidewalk noisily.
"Huh?" Alison replies a bit hazily, taking a moment to realize that 'English' refers to her. Right, that makes sense. She eyes the area where the fight had gone down, before her gaze comes back to the girl. "Yeah, um, sure I guess," she decides, after a very brief pause. "Or, you know, just to a cab. They come down this way at all?" She brings a hand up, pushing her hair back from her face, as she looks up and down the street. "I think I meant to go that way in the first place." She points in the other direction. By any stretch of the imagination, one could certainly call this a wrong turn.
A shy smile is the answer Alison receives and a slight shake of the head when the cab is mentioned. "Not during the night, no. I will walk with you until the entrance of Chinatown, they will come there." A quick glance is cast behind them and the girl hurries their pace along, not certain that their progess won't be impeded by some angry young thugs. "If I may ask, what were you doing here all alone? Did your husband not escort you here?" The blonde seems old enough to be respectably married, after all. Placing her hands in the pockets of her long coat, the young girl falls silent as she gives the woman a sidelong glance.
Alison nods a few times as the girl explains about the cabs. "Yeah, guess I can't blame them. Then again, where is safe around here these days?" She shakes her head, crossing her arms over her chest as she continues along. At the girl's question, her eyebrows go up and she glances over at her sidelong. "Uh, no. I mean, I'm definitely not married. Though there was some talk of elopement at one point." Her tone on that is wry, however, so it seems to be more of an inside joke than anything sincere. "I came for the, uh, the party? I think, anyway. Got dragged here by some people, and then of course they disappeared, so, you know…" Her drunken rambling trails off as she walks.
"Elopement? Oh…" The young coal haired woman falls silent for a few moments as the woman explains her predicament. "They are not very good friends to you, they should not leave you alone in such a place. Young ladies are often taken away and sold, you have blonde hair and blue eyes. You would fetch a good price for those men back there." Slave trade? Oh yes, alive and well in these parts and a stray white woman is like finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Once they reach the end of the block, the young girl pauses for a moment and takes a long look down each side of the crossroad and then waves Alison across the street.
Alison just shrugs her shoulders at the talk of elopement. Whatever caused it to not pan out, she hardly seems broken up over it. "Yeah, well, they aren't really friends. Just … people you know, you know?" The curse of being popular, alas. "Hell, they might still be in there, but I just couldn't take it anymore. So maybe I'm the one ditching them." This seems marginally funny to the tipsy white chick, and she gives a quiet laugh to it.
The joke must be an inside one, because the young Asian girl just doesn't understand it. A few more steps and the red gate of Chinatown is within sight. "Two blocks past the dragon gate, that is where the cab drivers will come." The Asian girl says casually as she points up to the large sculpture guards. "You will be safe there, I am certain. Those men will not pass through here, it is the territory of another group." As they close in on the giant arch, the teen slows her pace a little, drifting behind the blonde.
"Two blocks that way," Alison repeats, gesturing in the indicated direction. "Got it." That does seem simple enough. Hard for her to make a wrong turn in that case. "Guess so long as I don't run into the other group then…" She casts a glance back over her shoulder as though to make sure trouble isn't following, before deciding that, yes, chances are much better if she goes on ahead. "So hey, thanks. I'm Alison, by the way. Though you can keep calling me 'English' if you prefer. Been called worse."
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Alison. My name is Jubilee." The teen says quickly, an easy smile gracing her features. "If you like, I will watch until your cab comes, but it would be very unwise for me to cross over at this time of night." As they come up on the gate, she leaps up and grips a hold of a piece of the statue, swinging and climbing until she is sitting on the head of the dragon. It seems that no matter what the blonde answers, she will be waiting within a line of sight anyway.
"Nice to meetcha," Alison replies, returning the smile and confirming the whole exchange with a nod. She steps back as Jubilee goes clambering up the statue, before giving her head a little shake, remembering what she was doing, and then heading off in the indicated direction to catch that cab.