Business as Usual [Open]

The two men look back at Barlow, looking a little intimidating through their masks as one of them held a flashlight that illuminated some of the dark. They glance at each other briefly then look at Barlow, one of them shaking his head speaking in a heavy tone "No we didn't, couldn't stay to grab them anyway. We gotta go chase someone down, bit of bad history between the three of us.", the other man nods "You didn't see where a yellow-hair kid went down there? There's only a few paths down there anyway, but we could use some help, might pay ya for it."

"Help a couple of honest guys who wouldn't take money that didn't belong to them when it was right in front of 'em? I'd be glad to." He put the ticket stubs away and glanced around in the dark.

"I, uh, I think I saw somebody like that duck into a tunnel back that way just before you got down here," he said, pointing to the tunnel behind them, "Probably tried to fake you out, give you the slip." He paused for a moment, listening for distant footsteps echoing through the underground. They were faint, but his friend was still within earshot. He had to keep the two men in front of him busy, and hopefully learn what the chase was all about. "So, uh... what kinda bad history do you have with this guy?" he asked nervously, keeping up his image as a hapless civilian, "He steal something from you, or...?"

The two men look at each other silently then nod. The one on the left looks towards Barlow "We were in a group bigger than this, had a bit of a business going on. But we crossed paths with this guy and he wasn't happy with us for some reason, got the drop on us. Don't know how, we were all armed but he took half of us out. So we're chasing him down, get back what's ours.", the other man raises an eyebrow as he looks at Barlow then looks at his friend "Come on, he's getting away at this rate." They nod then start heading their way down the steps towards the darkness, holding some flashlights out to illuminate the dark as they start to dissapear into it.

"Ya don't say..." he muttered to himself. It was hard for him to belive that Frosty would do something like that. Then again, he'd only just met him. Still, he was hearing this from two foreboding men openly carrying weapons who were hunting a person like an animal, so it was best to take whatever they said with a grain of salt.

"Did this guy say anything when he attacked you, any indication of why he did it?" the carrier asked.

One of the men turned around to look at Barlow likely about to answer but the other grabbed him by the arm "Quick, he'll get away at this rate.", the left man nods then both head down the escalator away from Barlow into the darkness leaving silence for a few moments. Eventually he hears one of the men yell out "Hey, he's going that way!" Barlow could hear different pairs of footsteps sound out as they ran down the tunnel, obviously a chase was starting to happen but who would make it was unclear.

Barlow followed the sounds, sprinting and then stopping at each corner to carefully peek around. He didn't like to follow people, but this was life and death, and he needed to know what was going on, or someone would wind up dead. He had bought Frosty time. That was what mattered most. Whoever these guys were, they weren't amateurs. He had knowingly steered them in the wrong direction and it seemed they were already on his tail again. He looked ahead and saw the vague shapes of the two men running further into the dark network of tunnels. He followed quietly, keeping his head down, only landing his footsteps on the dusty wooden planks of the ancient tracks. The echo in these tunnels was strong, and even the crunch of gravel beneath a boot could travel all the way to the ears of the strangers he now pursued. He could go back to the platform. He could just go the Bazaar, fill up his pack, and leave. But that wasn't what Barlow believed. He would see this through, and no matter what had to happen, no one would die.

As Barlow chased after the two men they stopped to gather their bearings, already knowing from the lack of noise that Frosty seemed to have stopped somewhere. The silence was interrupted by the sounds of Barlow's footsteps and they both turn around, looking rather surprised to see him. The man with the gun steps forward and raises his gun aiming it at Barlow "Hey, what the hell?! Why did you follow after us?! You working with him?!", the other man raises his weapon as he glances around them at the darkness to make sure they didn't get ambushed.

"Easy, fellas..." Barlow said, standing up straight and putting his hands up, "I saw your weapons, and I know you've got bad blood with this guy. I just came along to make sure whatever problems you have are resolved peacefully." He stared down the length of the gun, at the man holding it. As difficult as it was in such thin light, he made eye contact with the gunman. "Other people use these tunnels. Can't have stray bullets flyin' around. I didn't mean to be threatening or anything like that. I just don't wanna see anyone hurt, that's all."

The man squinted his eyes at Barlow, looking like the words didn't easily affect him as normally no one would just follow a pair like them into the darkness of underground tunnels. He looked like he was about to consider firing a bullet until he heard noise behind the two causing him to turn his head. The other bandit gripped his weapon tightly but was taken by surprise as Frosty suddenly ran out of the darkness at them. The man raised his axe ready to strike at him but Frosty quickly dropped down sliding across the rough ground, sweeping his foot which knocked the man off his feet and landed on the ground with a heavy thud knocking him out.

The bandit with the gun grits his teeth and quickly starts aiming his gun but Frosty jumps up onto his feet and grabs his arm while slamming his elbow into the bandit's arm making him drop the gun. The bandit quickly shoves him off yelling out "Argh, you little shit! You tricked this guy too?!" Frosty grits his teeth as he raises his hands preparing for the strike but it came suddenly and hit him in the head knocking him to the ground. He starts to get to his feet but the man picks up his gun and starts aiming it towards Frosty while taking a step back towards Barlow, his aim off from his arm feeling hurt.

Barlow wanted answers. He wanted to know why these two were chasing Frosty, what the stranger meant by "tricked", and more than anything else, he wanted to know who was telling the truth. But if there was one thing the wasteland had taught him, it was that you don't always get what you want.

He clenched his lips tight and shut his eyes for a moment as the gunman backed away from Frosty, and closer to him. A flick of his wrist and a rubber-coated wooden baton came sliding from his sleeve. He caught it in his hand and held it tight. "Sorry..." he whispered, cracking the man on the back of the head.

The shooter stumbled forward, and before he could recover, Barlow was on him. He fell to his knees and Barlow stood over him. He took hold of the arm holding the gun, trying to wrestle it loose. He pried at the stranger's fingers, but his grip was too tight. He fired a shot into the ceiling, sending a deafening echo up and down the tunnels. Barlow grimaced and lunged forward with his free hand clamped on the man's elbow, snapping it into an unnatural right angle. The gun was relinquished to Barlow while its owner flopped around in agony on the tracks. Barlow emptied the weapon and put it into his pocket.

Frosty sighs as he holds his face with a hand and slowly gets up onto his feet, making sure the man he downed was still unconscious. He reaches down picking up the axe and tosses it across the ground letting it slide a few feet away. After a few moments of silence he looks over at Barlow with a small frown "Thanks for the help... but, you didn't have go to after them like that. I didn't want you to help out, he would've shot you if I didn't stop him."

"I think your memory's off," Barlow asserted as he looked down at the man's broken arm, "He had you in his sights before i stepped in."

Barlow was lacking his usual warmth. He didn't like hurting people. He didn't like getting pulled into situations where he was forced to hurt people. And most of all, he didn't much have patience for the people who got him there. His hand seized Frosty by the collar of his shirt and forced him against the tunnel wall, lifting him up onto the tips of his toes. "Answers. Now." he snarled. He pointed with his baton to the two masked men on the ground, "Who are they, and more to the point, who are you?"

Frosty grabs his hands around Barlow's hand as he grits his teeth looking into Barlow's eyes "Are you crazy Barlow?! He pointed a gun at you, clear as day, he would've shot you! I tried to leave you back there... and you're blaming me?!", he shoves his leg against Barlow's stomach managing to push him away a little to give himself some room "They were bandits, they tried to attack someone out there but I joined them to stop them from doing anything else! I couldn't so... I had to stop them, through force."

He sighs then looks back into Barlow's eyes, he didn't look intimidated now but instead just annoyed at how Barlow was behaving "No one forced you down here man. They were my problem and I tried to keep it that way, don't act like I dragged you into this. If you're gonna kill me, then just make it quick already."

Barlow looked at Frosty with a confused expression. "Kill you? You really think I'd follow those two down here when I saw them chasing you, get swept up in this whole mess, and want to kill you after all that?"

Barlow let Frosty down and stepped back, easing his breath. "I'm sorry. I thought they were gonna kill you, and I couldn't just stand by and let that go on. I'm just... I'm just a little worked up is all. I don't like violence, and when I end up having to hurt somebody, I... I get kind of harsh. I had no right to come at you like that. It's obvious neither of us is at our best right now."

He bent down and hoisted the shooter whose arm he'd broken over his shoulder. "This one's going into shock. I'm taking him back to the platform to get him some help. Come along if you want. Probably a better idea than going off alone, all things considered."

Frosty sighs and gives a nod as he brushes off some of the dirt on his shirt "Yeah, you're right... I shouldn't have acted like that, I just didn't want you to get involved, you could've got hurt if we didn't help each other out.", he leans down picking up the body of the other unconscious man and holds him around the back following after Barlow. He looks at him with a grin as he follows behind "I have to say, you have a lot of close-up skill there. I normally gotta rely on my sword, but you just took that guy down with your hands, do you fight with them a lot?"

"I try not to," Barlow answered gruffly as he adjusted the unconscious gunman's weight on his shoulders, "But a lot of folks out there hear 'non-violent' and think it means 'easy target'. If I have to fight, I try to just knock 'em on their butts until I can either get away or restrain them so they can't hurt anyone. But, every once in a while, I break some bones." He shuddered briefly. "Not a good feeling."

He held up his baton. "That's why I don't fight with anything more than this. Coated it with rubber a while back so it doesn't cause too much damage. Guys like this think it's okay to attack peaceful folk, someone's gotta prove 'em wrong." He glanced back at Frosty, and the blade that hung at his hip. "Where'd you get that sword, anyway?" he asked, "Stuff like that's not easy to come by, especially if it's reliable, which I assume it is since you've used it more than once and it's still in one piece."

Frosty looks at Barlow with a grin and nods "My village had it actually, think it was there for a few years. They normally don't give it to anyone, but I managed to prove my worth with wielding a weapon and so they let me have it for my travels. I've been keeping it sharp ever since then, some people attack me over it but I've always kept it safe from getting taken. I admit a gun is better a lot of the time... but it saved me a few times when I'm fighting stuff close-up, plus people seeing a guy with a sword generally makes them stay away to be safe. So I guess there is a fair few benefits to using one."

Barlow cracked a smile as he hefted the unconscious man back onto the platform. "Same goes for my baton. Half the bandits I come across attack me 'cause I'm practically unarmed, the other half steer clear of the guy crazy enough to walk around armed with nothing more than a broomstick."