Rebels - Closed

heyo! i'll just save this post for characters. and maybe one day. sheets. :")

- Jun Kitamura ( main )
- Odette Fontaine ( side character a )
- Zephiel Bowen ( advisor/side character b )

umummmm i don't think so?? i'll be sure to ask if i have questions tho xD

Rory had been sick for much too long. The child was getting worse and worse by the day, and Ari knew she couldn't lose her brother. The boy, fourteen years younger than Ari, had become more of a daughter than a niece to her. Especially after Cai's sudden death. And despite his valiant (though weak) attempts at hiding his fear, she could tell how worried Titus was at the the thought of losing his youngest brother, especially so soon after losing his oldest brother.

It was, of course, this dedication to keeping her family alive that led to Ari standing in the shadows of the world of the rich. She'd left Rory with Titus, promising the boy that she'd be back soon. Well, she should be.

Her thoughts wandered to her brothers, only snapping back to reality when the sound of heels on concrete permeated the are. This part of town was almost silent, though she could hear the festivities happening within the world that was so close, yet so vastly different, to hers. Ari quickly sidestepped a pile of, well, she wasn't quite sure what it is, but it smelled like death. She found herself holding her breath as she followed in the woman's steps. Next came the little dart she'd bought from a shady man on her side of town. He had promised it would only put the women to sleep. Ari wasn't sure if she believed the man or not, but she had no intentions of sticking around to learn if he was right or not. Instead, Ari held her breath before darting forward and sticking the needle in the woman's neck. She raised her hand to cover the woman's mouth, silencing her small outburst of surprise. A few seconds later the body became heavy in her arms and Ari dragged it to a shadowed alley, knowing that would be her best way to avoid detection.

Once she was sure she was safe, Ari carefully propped the body up against the ruins of what must've been a large building at one point. These ruins seemed to make the division between rich and poor, so Ari was surprised she'd actually found someone wandering this close to the order. Maybe she'd had a little too much to drink, or had been coming this way to avoid detection by someone. Well, Ada didn't care. All she cared about was the fact that the unlucky woman had fallen right into her grasp.

She did feel bad. This individual had done nothing to her. It wasn't the individuals that Ada hated. It was the rich, as a society. They saw themselves above people like her. As if she and Titus and Rory didn't deserve proper medical care or enough food simply because they'd been born on the other side of the ruined buildings. It was disgusting. Purely unnecessary and benefitting only a small minority of the population. Based on the sounds of the party not too far away, Ari could only assume that the minority didn't care. It left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Ari carefully undressed the woman before taking off her own clothes and pulling the woman's dress over her head. It really was beautiful. Purple and gold. The design was perfect, painstakingly done by hand. And it was clean. Clean, new clothes were hard to come by where Ari had grown up. She took a moment to run her hands down he smooth fabric. She could feel the quality. The dress hung inches above her feet. Ari quickly took her worn shoes off and slipped her feet into the woman's heels. The shoes were slightly tight and the dress was shorter on her than it was likely meant to be, but Ari knew she wouldn't find the perfect fit. Hopefully this at least looked acceptable and she could pass it off as waiting too long to find her dress.

The finishing touch. Ari grabbed the woman's mask. It was purple to match the dress, with intricate golden swirls dancing around the eye holes. She pulled it low over her face, enjoying what was likely to be the only moment Ari would ever be wearing clothes so fancy. So beautiful. So expensive. She couldn't help but feel her heart flutter at getting one night of luxury. Though she knew she had to slip in and out, she also hoped she'd be able to snag a drink or two. Sample the fine dining of those above her. Maybe even have a dance or two with some mysterious man that would never see her face. The thought intrigued Ari. Her main goal was the medicine, and she knew it, but she also didn't know how she could pass up a night like this. It would only come around once in her life.

Ari took her time practicing with the heels she'd stolen from the woman. They weren't comfortable at all and she had come darn close to breaking her ankle more than once. However, she knew the mud brown shoes she normally wore would give her away. Not only did they not match the dress, but she knew none of these rich little ladies would ever find themselves within twenty feet of Ada's shoes. The heels were a necessity, as much as she hated to admit it.

Once she was fairly confident she could walk in heels, Ari focused on the next priority she had. Etiquette. Needless to say, she'd lived a very different life than the pampered princess she'd be portraying tonight. Where Ari came from, you ate with your hands, took what you wanted (even if it belonged to someone else), and didn't trust anyone unless you wanted to wake up one morning with a knife sticking out of your back.

In preparation for this heist, she'd studied the rich from afar. She'd observed one or two other parties, but paid close attention to their day to day interactions. How they talked. How they walked. How they held themselves and how they feigned interest when others were speaking. After all, she knew none of them could actually think beyond themselves. That was the only explanation as to why they kept everything for themselves.

As well prepared as Ari was, she couldn't prevent thoughts of failure from running through her mind. Any little slip up could cause the purple and gold mask to be ripped from her face, revealing no that she did not belong there, as she seemed to believe. Then she thought of Titus and Rory. Titus had been so devastated by the loss of his older brother and she couldn't imagine the pain he'd go through if she never returned. He'd be the sole caretaker of their youngest brother. Could he do that? Ari wasn't sure. And Rory... he'd been too young to understand the loss of his oldest brother. He'd cried for a few nights, not understanding why Cai never come back to him. Would he be old enough to understand now? Would he get it when Titus explained that Ari was never coming back? Well, Ari could only hope she would make it back. It might not matter whether or not Rory understood because Ari wasn't sure how long she'd last without the medicine.

Pushing the thoughts aside, Ari grabbed the woman's purse. That would be key in grabbing the medicine she needed. The dress had no pockets and it would be obvious if Ari slipped out of the party early with the medicine in her hand. All she had to do was sip it into her purse, somewhere away from the prying eyes of the rich. Hopefully they'd all be either too drunk or too wrapped up in themselves to pay much attention to Ari or her activities. Well, she wasn't Ari tonight, Ari decided as she rummaged through the woman's purse. She pulled out a work ID that identified her as Bianca Weatherstein. Tonight, Ari Foster was to be Bianca Weatherstein. Bianca Weatherstein was Ari Foster. They were the same person for one night only and, despite the situation, Ari knew she'd have to live this night to the fullest. It would be her only night like this.

She finally hid Bianca's body as good as possible. This place wasn't much of a hot spot anyway, so she'd hopefully stay hidden until she woke up, if she woke up. By then, Ari planned to be long gone. She planned to be back with Titus and Rory, out in the falling apart building they considered home.

See, the way their section of the city was built meant that there was no new buildings out there for the poor. They were forced to build huts as if they were cavemen, or live within whatever semi decent ruins they could find. She'd always stared up in envy at the towering buildings that housed the rich.

She still had her blue gaze in the buildings as she followed the sound of the music to where the festivities must be taking place. As she neared the party, she straightened her back and walked with the aloof air of the other women she saw. She was engaged in conversation once or twice and kept it simple. Yes, she had been looking forward to this party for a while. No, she hadn't come with her husband. Yes, she made it a goal to keep up with the politics of this glorious city of theirs. She could barely keep her lip from curling in disgust when she praised the most charitable work of their leader. After all, how could one be as selfless as the man that was donating books to the children at school. A wonderful and benevolent leader. Meanwhile, Ari had seen ten kids only that week lose the battle against sickness or starvation. And the leader simply ignored their existence while doing what he could to make the lives of these children better. The thought filled her with bitterness as she pictured her own niece. Leo's last request as she held her dying brother in her arms was that she protect Titus and Rory. And she intended to do just that.

Ari thrust her chin into the air as she joined the crowd of people flowing into the building. The harsh lights were a stark contrast to the star filled sky outside and heat from the many bodies packed into the building was already making Ari sweat. She wasn't used to being too warm. She was used to searching for warmth as the cool breeze washed over them and poked its way through the thin blankets her people used as their only protection against the air. But she shook her head.

One night. That's it.

Ari grabbed a drink from a passing servant, sipping on the liquid. It was much sweeter than the alcohol that could be found or by her. Surprising, really, that they would keep the easier stuff to themselves and let the stronger stuff fall into the hands of the poor. Of course, how much of that was given to them? It was much more likely that the alcohol had either been stolen or made by one of the more well to do members of her world.

She finished off the glass quickly, handing it to another servant. She turned herself around and found herself in the arms of a man. Though the mask covered his face, Ari could almost see the sharp angles of his features and felt his hands resting on her hips.

"You're looking gorgeous tonight," the man said, his eyes roaming up and down her dress. Ari found herself wondering for a second if this man knew Bianca. She had looked similar to Ari, and it would be hard to notice the slight differences, such as Ari being only a few inches taller.

"As are you," Ari replied, her voice quiet. She didn't know what Bianca's voice sounded like, but the man didn't seem to pick up on any hints that she wasn't who he thought she was. Or she could be overthinking and he was just some rich player that had planned on finding any single woman and taking her home tonight. That was something Ari couldn't afford to do. The second the mask came off, any hope she'd had of staying hidden would be gone.

The man swept her into a dance, pulling her among the other couples on the floor. Though she'd thought of doing this tonight, Ari couldn't escape a nagging sense of fear. So much could go wrong, especially when she didn't even know how to dance. But she just followed the man's lead as he took her through the well rehearsed steps and she even felt herself smiling as he spun her in a circle. She laughed as she was pulled close to his chest again, only returning to her original goal once the dance ended.

"I'll be right back, my love," the man said. Ari was slightly confused by the title of 'my love', but watched as the man made his way to what she could only assume was the bathroom.

Good. This would give Ari the time she needed to find the medicine for Rory. It hadnt yet been released to the public, and she knew this was the only place she could find it. She quickly ducked out of the crowd and made her way to the edges of the room where she could watch the partygoers dance and talk and drink. She tightened her fingers around another glass from a passing servant and supper from it as she casually ran her eyes over the selection of food. When no eyes were on her, she'd managed to slip a few bites into her purse for Titus and Rory later on.

But that wasn't what she was here for.

No.

Ari's eyes locked onto a bowl of what could only be the medicine she'd heard of. She made her way to the bowl, eyes lighting up, but she came to a stop when she saw it guarded by the man that she'd danced with. He was grabbing a pill himself, inspecting it between two fingers. When he saw Ari, his eyes lit up and he dropped it back into the bowl.

He closed the distance between them, arms around her once again. "Would you like to grace the dance floor once again, my beautiful lady?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper as his eyes finally lifted from her and scanned the crowd of partygoers. "Or we could always slip away a few minutes early. I know a man who could always get whatever we miss..."

She didn't detect any menace in the man's offer, but still shook her head. "Actually, my love," she said, using the same title he'd used for her, "I could use a drink." She was now glad she'd dropped her half finished glass wherever she had.

"Of course," the man said, a small smirk playing at the edges of his lips. He disappeared to find a servant that provided alcohol to the partygoers, leaving Ari alone with the bowl of medicine. Luckily the tables were set up in a separate room from the rest of the party. While she could see the partygoers, none were paying much attention to her.

Knowing this was her chance, Ari dug her hand into the bowl and pulling out a handful of the medicine. She wasn't sure how many doses she needed, and she figured extra wouldn't hurt since the disease was affecting many children in her part of town. She grabbed another handful and dumped them into her purse. Luckily, the bowl looked almost unchanged.

She then turned, frowning when she came face to face with a man. Based on the clothes, she could tell that it wasn't the man that had pulled her into a dance. She froze, mouth and eyes wide opened, as she came to the realization that this was it. She'd never be going home to Titus and Rory.j

IM SORRY I WROTE IT A WHILE AGO AND JUST GOT CARRIED AWAY XD
Don't worry about it. I get that you have a life outside of here. Take all the time you need