i've got a dark alley -- joining

[Shadow]

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[sub]who in the hell was benjamin burkett? if someone were to ask the brunet such a question, he would have no answer. who was he, really? he could remember no time when he wasn't fighting for survival. his mother had once told him stories of the world, and he had grieved over it when he was younger. he had been born two decades too late. the power had gone down when he was only a year old, leaving him with only wistful tales of yore that his mother loved to tell to him--before she had lost her mind, at least.

he had made it nearly to a safe place, yet he wanted to lie down and not get up again. this new twist of fate had taken its toll on him, and he hadn't even fully reached his destination yet. but as the buildings of the northstar district began to come into view, the man felt an exhausted smile tug at his lips, pulling one corner upwards in a relieved smile. he was nearly there. "hey... hey!" his words were broken up by coughing. god, his throat was so sore. "anyone here? i need someplace to stay for, for a while."

//short but i finished it so
/shrug
[/sub]

[div style="width:400px;letter-spacing:1px;text-align:center;font-size:9pt;font-family:times new roman;color:#5C3317;"][i]THE POETS ARE JUST KIDS WHO DIDN'T MAKE IT

[SITRI—]

( track for tomorrow since ive got a headache ! )

[Advay.]

[align=center][size=8pt]Advay was often around, luckily enough, and often outside of the gates, despite that being a looked down upon situation. But what the hell, he was the head of trade around here; trade master really, and the alpha of a pack of three dogs who would defend him with their precious, much more worthy lives. Advay would do the same for them in a heartbeat. That being said, they were plenty capable of protecting themselves, thats why Advay had been out hunting, now returning with two rabbits in one hand and a half eaten squirrel hanging from his Husky's mouth. As he came up to the guy, he realized he was calling into the territory. Well, now or never, he told himself. What was he supposed to say to this guy? Hey, I'm from the district, uh, but I'm out here. Just for right now? No, that was dumb. There was no need for him to explain himself, right? Anxiety knotting his stomach, he spoke with his usual socializing-induced stammer. "W-w-weapons d-down and-and I-I need yo-your name."

[rue]

Gemma had followed Advay out here in hopes of finding something interesting, but it seemed like the closest thing she was going to get to an adventure was this random guy walking towards them. Unlike Advay, she didn't seem to be nervous at all, and ended up stopping a foot or two away from the stranger, a toothy smile gracing her features. "Don't worry, they're just 'safety precautions'. You can come inside after that." She assured him, using air quotes to emphasize safety precautions. "So.... what made you decide to come here? Why not Flintlock or the Badlands? Did you need some water?" What can she say? The ability to ask way too many questions came naturally to her.

[spoiler=oh, how the mighty fall]
NAME: gemma arabeth coleman
NICKNAMES: gem, cole, germ
AGE: 14
SEX/GENDER: female

APPEARANCE: to be honest, gem looks more like a boy than a girl. she has light brown skin from being outside all the time, and a scrawny, muscular build. she has curly brown hair, though it is shaved to the point where there's barely a centimeter of it remaining, and her eyes are a dark brown / almost black. another thing to note is that she's missing a few teeth / has a large gap in her two front teeth, along with the fact that her chest is almost completely flat, something she’s proud of. 

CLOTHES: restating what was said before, gem tends to look, and dress, like a boy. you can normally find her in a dirty white undershirt and brown work pants with cotton hand wraps and nothing to cover her feet. occasionally she can be found in an almost comically large grey overcoat, one that was presumably given to her by her parents. but in truth, she probably stole it from someone.

PERSONALITY: gem can best be described as a fighter. fierce and unyielding, she doesn't let anyone tell her what to do, and dislikes authority figures. to go with this, she's a rulebreaker, and while she doesn't activity look to make trouble, she somehow always gets into it. maybe it's because she's always provoking people into fights, or just because she's so goddamn stubborn at times. though once you get to know her she'll prove to be fiercely loyal, and tends to treat everyone she knows as if they were family. so what if you don't like her non-stop pestering and inconvenient wrestling matches? in her opinion, it comes with the 'friend' job description.

THINGS TO NOTE:
1: she likes to steal stuff, so don’t be surprised if your belongings go missing
2: she tends to start fights, and will finish them. though she’s against breaking bones / killing people[/spoiler]

[Shadow]

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[sub]weapons down? do i look like i've got any weapons? he wanted to ask, but by some stroke of luck he managed to hold his tongue. dumbass. perhaps wanting to insult someone right after he met them wasn't in his best interest, especially seeing as he needed to be allowed to stay, but he couldn't help it. it was just a part of his nature, he supposed, and became more amplified when he felt like he'd just been hit by a truck. "benji burkett. just...just call me burk or benji," he ground out, caught up in the soreness of his throat once again.

he hardly paid any attention to the dogs--benji definitely was not an animal person, and in his eyes paying attention to it would draw its attention to him, and then he'd have a dog, if not all three, all over him. yeah, not happening. so he carefully avoided glancing anywhere below the chest of the other, until the younger one came along. they were...a girl, he thought, but he wasn't sure. he offered a grateful smile to them, trying to keep up with the questions. "This is the only place I know about. The Northstar District, formerly called St. Peter's. It's supposed to be safe. And yes, some water...would be appreciated." It wasn't that he wasn't in a talking mood--though he was never in a talking mood, so that could be a reason as well--but speaking made it feel as though there were  nails scratching angrily at the back of his throat.

//ic opinions, i'm sorry he's salty i love advay i swear
[/sub]

[div style="width:400px;letter-spacing:1px;text-align:center;font-size:9pt;font-family:times new roman;color:#5C3317;"][i]THE POETS ARE JUST KIDS WHO DIDN'T MAKE IT

[Advay.]

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[size=8pt][font=timesnewroman][color=#877361]
Advay, being himself, still wasn't happy with the situation; most of that could be blamed on the fact that he had been nearly two months now without his Moksha, and that was starting to wear on him more than just breaking down in his room and cuddling his dogs at night. Not that he let anyone know about that. "Gemma, learn s-some respect for-for-for the positions around y-you," he snapped, looking towards Benjamin with narrowed green eyes. "Benji, w-welcome t-t-to the Nor-northstar, I-I'm A-A-Advay, the-these are my dogs," he motioned to them. This kid didn't seem to have weapons, at least, Advay didn't think any idiot would try to sneak them past an alpha with three large dogs.

Advay was already thinking on a way to start letting his pups know the smell of gunpowder. Maybe he'd teach Atlantis; since he was the youngest. He paused and sighed slightly, reaching into his layers, as he wore many to be able to hold items and avoid getting cold. It was getting a bit chiller around here, at least. Compared to his near heat stroke summer experience. From an inside, or perhaps outside, pocket, he produced a half bottle of clean water, and handed it out to Benji. "He-here."