Information

Vinette has a minion!

Loaf the Sleeping Rat

Vinette
Legacy Name: Vinette

The

Dawn Bumbus
Owner: Amane

Age: 11 years, 6 months, 1 day

Born: September 16th, 2014

Adopted: 11 years, 6 months, 1 day ago

Adopted: September 16th, 2014

Nominate Pet for Spotlight

Statistics

Level: 36
Strength: 84
Defense: 33
Speed: 29
Health: 32
HP: 32/32
Intelligence: 56
Books Read: 55
Food Eaten: 1
Job: Head of Competitions

Dreams of escaping past the docks under the star-streaked sky... with nothing but freedom ahead of me.

...Only to wake up in the same bed once again.

Beautiful, spirit-freeing dreams, broken by the same leaky ceiling, uncomfortable mattress and realization that the real world still exists.
Perpetual night, spontaneous taxes, silent kidnappings. All this and more pushed onto our once-pleasant seaside town by a mafia-esque band of sleazeballs. I hated them; and they hated me, too, for skirting around them and their ludicrous rules all the time.

I'd taken to thievery a year ago, after a massive fight with my parents. I couldn't stand their "lay down and take it" attitude anymore, or the way they treated myself and my brother. I figured I was fast, good at being quiet and alert, and I'm definitely small enough to squeeze into anywhere that isn't a literal mouse hole. Even if I couldn't put a huge dent in those scumbags' plans, I could at least stick a big, annoying thorn in their sides!

Tonight, I wanted to get a little more bang for my buck when messing with our fat-walleted captors. I'd overheard talk from one of their less cautious guards that they were staging another kidnap-then-ransom operations soon. Wasn't sure who was getting nailed, but the guard at least let their meet-up place slip. Moron.

I cautiously clambered up the side of an old, fire damaged warehouse, just above where they were supposed to meet. I crouched and waited. And waited... yep, kept on waiting...As I checked my watch, it finally occurred to me that something might be wrong. They'd almost caught me before, probably got a decent look at me, even; I never thought they'd be smart enough to toss me a red herring.

But they proved me wrong.

I threw myself back, down on the brittle roof, just as a bullet whizzed by. "Oh sh--!!" was all I could gasp out before another one zipped by. I rolled onto my side and braced my elbow with my hand, then slammed it into the roof as hard as I could. It broke through, and down I went, landing rough on the ground (but still on my feet). I scrambled up and out through a hole in the back wall, but a couple mob guards rounded the corner right after me.

As fast and nimble as I was, I knew couldn't outrun a bullet here. Not at this range, not with two guys... I was done for.

Everything felt slow... and terrifying. I heard them fire. I felt heavy. Suddenly, I felt light... and... a little squished around my stomach? There was an unfamiliar arm around my waist. I came to my senses and looked up, my eyes still a little hazy.

A boy was carrying me. A broad shouldered, muscular boy, with a very baby face. "How... what?? Point blank range... how AREN'T we dead?"

He glanced at me for a whole second, then continued concentrating on running. "Not just me here. And don't worry. We're good-- like you, Vinette."

I almost seized up at hearing my name. "How do you--?! Never mind. It can wait until we're away from the shooty guys." I grumbled. "But for future reference... call me Vi."

"Mm..." was his only response. I finally took a moment to glance behind us. I could only make out the shapes of two ridiculously colorful people trying to catch up to us. The guards who ambushed me earlier were on the ground, motionless. Good.

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The loudly-dressed duo who'd been tailing us caught up eventually, and they all took me through a series of empty buildings, I'm guessing to get those trashmasters off our tails. It worked, and we made our way down several flights of stairs to what I guessed was their base of operations.

Finally Mr. Baby-Face set me down. I plopped down in a chair immediately, exhausted out of my mind.
"Thanks for the save, guy. Uh, all three of you, I mean." I gestured lazily towards the other two, who I finally got a good look at. Both women. One of them held a calm, charming air... almost playful. Her short, multicolored hair waved almost unnaturally around her stout face. Even through the armor she wore, I could tell she was pretty ripped... nice.

The other was taller, more lithe. Short light blue hair and a sassy face... a sassy everything, actually. Her outfit screamed "80s dance party", and she was admiring-- get this-- a very large machine gun, as though it was her first born.

Before I could fill the air with questions, the shorter woman walked up to me and formally bowed."I'm Charlotte. The gun enthusiast there is Penelope, and the boy who carried you is Quatro."

"Good to meet you..." I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. These people were downright weird. But whatever, I wasn't that normal either, and they did save my life.
Before I could speak, Charlotte spoke again. "We already know you, as suspicious as that sounds. We've been keeping tabs on you for a few months..." she continued, pacing slowly across the room. "We were hoping to recruit you."

I furrowed my brow. "Recruit me for what, exactly? What even..."

Penelope chimed in, hefting her machine gun onto her shoulder with ease. "If you wanna screw up more of those goons' plans, we're the guys to stick with. Simple!"

"Who the heck is 'us', exactly?" I said, in a more annoyed tone than I intended.

Charlotte came up to me and looked me right in the eyes.
"Purpose." she paused, then went on. "That's what we're called. What we stand for. And there are a lot more of us than you see here. We all want this town back as badly as you do..." she stopped for a moment, then went on; "...but if you're hesitant to join us, we have some... unfortunate incentive for you."

I didn't like the sound of that. "...What do you mean...?"

"I know." she patted my shoulder. "I promise you it isn't. It's regarding tonight's ambush... they threw you off for a reason."

"To knock me off? That was the impression I got, with all the bullets flying at me."

"Not quite." Quatro mumbled. "Your uh... your brother..."

My eyes flashed. I felt chills down my spine. "...No..."
I thought about it. A kidnapping... an overly-careless information-wielding guard...
...They had Jessi.

I glared daggers at the ground the whole time I thought. I remember the one time I'd tried to get him to join me, to help me try to drive out the scum that overtook our city one by one, but he had always been horribly timid. His face was constantly buried in his computer, or however many books he could fit in his hands at once.

He has absolutely no fight in him at all.
He's also mute.

I was beyond furious. I wanted nothing more than to crash into their base and shake them down, to save my frail, fearful brother, before they could do anything to him.
...But I knew I couldn't do it alone.

Finally, I met Charlotte's welcoming, but serious eyes.
"Count me in."

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(Base profile coding by Nuke)
(Profile art by Paladin_703)
(Graphic/coding edits, story & pet overlay by me)