A Thief's Company [Private]

“Not bad…”, Setsuna said to himself under his breath, as he walked over to, Dante. The call he heard, confirming him that the crate had been found. He quietly walks over to, Dante, and upon reaching him, he gazes over towards the crate. The details all matched up, plus, he was glad he didn’t try to move if, before telling him. The proved that he could indeed listen. Screwing up in these types of situations is one thing, but screwing up during a job can caused yourself, and possibly the whole crew to go down. There were no second chances, no oops, nothing. A f*** up is a f*** up.

'Looks like it’s all there, hmm, I wonder just how heavy this is?', he asked himself mentally. Setsuna, then walks over to the crate, and stands right in front of it, with in arms reach. He inspects the idol before grabbing the top edge of the crate, and pressing his weight against it, tilting it forwards slightly. As he thought, it was indeed heavy. He then places it down and moves to the right side. “Alright, go over to the other side, and help me lift this… carefully. I know I don’t have to tell you this, But, I’m going to tell you anyway for peace of mind. When you lift, use your legs… alright?” He said, waiting for a reply before squatting down and gripping the edges with his hands.

“We’ll move this crate near the right corner near the entrance.”

Should, Dante agree, the two would carry the crate towards the location; Setsuna spoke of, with Setsuna leading the way. With that done, the next object in question would come next. Fortunately for them the nest three crates weren’t all that big, a foot wide at the most, the height being no bigger as well.

Dante watched as Setsuna came over to inspect the thing inside as he took a quick look at other crates in order to see if he saw any other crates with distinguishing features about them as this one did but he couldn't find any. He would get his confirmation that what was inside was indeed what they were looking for as Setsuna pressed his hand on the top and seemed to inspect the weight of the crate. From what Dante could see it was certainly going to be pretty heavy. The damn thing looked to weigh a few hundred pounds. He hadn't expected to get in a workout today but it looked he would need to make sacrifices in any schedules he had if he wanted to get things alright with his own affairs. This was a chance to some money and he was certainly in need of it.

Upon Setsuna finishing his weight inspection he asked Dante to get over onto the other side and help him lift while making a comment about making certain Dante lifts with his legs. He had already made his way to his adjacent side while gripping the undersides of the crate as he would then give Setsuna a face akin to someone asking another 'Are you serious?' upon being told to do that. He would be told that they were to move the crate over to a corner near the entrance where the wheelbarrow happened to be. He had questions about whether or not it would be better to move it closer to where they were so they didn't have so far to walk but he decided to keep quiet as he felt getting some exercise might help him in his future endeavors.

"Moving it over to the corner. I got it."

Saying that he pulled upwards with all his strength as he took note of just how out of shape he was with how the crate lifted slowly upwards. He had taken the suggestion to lift up with his legs to heart, though, to make certain his back didn't give out as he would move the crate over to where they were supposed to as he would place the crate near the wheelbarrow as he was previously instructed. He would give a small sigh of relief upon letting the crate hit the ground as he stood up and placed a few hands behind the small of his back in order to stretch it out.

"Whew... Another moment or two I'd have crapped out my spine."

One down and three to go, Setsuna said in his mind as he was now done lifting the crate, looked back towards the warehouse. However, for a moment, his mind focused more on, Dante. He figured that he might as well try to learn more about his possible partner in the heist he had planned for in the future. Who knows, perhaps in knowing where, Dante usual hangs out, he could look him up for future jobs.

“So, Dante where were you going before we met? I assume you had plans?  Also, Go look for the two green crates, with white Xs on them. I’ll go look for the all red crate and meet you back here”, he walked towards him and stood in front of him.  

After his answer, Setsuna would make his way towards the back of the warehouse.  While pulling a hand cart, he squints his eyes in search of the red crate. He pulled in gently, as he didn’t want to make too much noise. The red crate would contain boots of different sizes. As of the green crates with white Xs, they contained uniforms of different sizes too. These were definitely needed, for the heist. As he looked around, high on the balls of his feet, he finally comes into view of it. Fortunately for him, it was placed on the ground level floor, easy access. However, right before he lifts it with the hand cart, he draws his sword, and uses it to crack it open slightly, views the navy blue boots at an angle.

‘There you are, and just like he said. They aren’t too old, so they won’t draw too much attention. It’s almost as if they didn’t change the design or the insignia for years. All that is left is the uniform; hopefully the moths didn’t get to them’

With that, he places his katana back into his sheath, and uses the hand cart to lift the box onto it, so that now, the cart itself was now balances on its two wheels, Setsuna holding it by the handle bar. Setsuna couldn’t wait have all his supplies ready. The debt that he was in, it felt like it could be achievable now. 7,500 ryo is a lot of money to owe someone, and Setsuna doesn’t like to owe others. Especially those who are very connected in the Black market, Setsuna sighs at the thought.

As he pulls the heavy cart, he heads back to the corner where the other crate is. Whether he sees, Dante there or not, is up to chance. The heavy labor he was doing made him feel glad he wasn’t alone in this, task.

Dante was in the process of rubbing his shoulders and rolling them around in order to get his bones in back into good places as he closed his eyes and took some breaths. Turned out the box was heavier than he expected which meant that he had been very lax with his training. He would need to address that with some training, or a lot in his mind, as a simple statue was child's play to some ninja he used to know. Once he was all done getting his stretches in he took notice of Setsuna coming towards him asking questions... Not exactly unexpected seeing as they were both strangers to each other with the only similarity between them being that they were both after money. Didn't know why he was coming up to his face to ask such questions, though. Maybe to test his spine to see if it had any backbone to stand up to people? Either way he gave his answers honestly since they weren't really questions he had anything to hide for.

"Well I was actually searching for some materials to help me out in completing a weapon I'm developing. One of them I can find on my own out in the wilds. The other is something that's going to cost a bit. Figure I do a few odd jobs, pull all that dough together, and I'll be able to get it no problem. You can't really trust bandits you run into on the roads these days. They either run into trouble and aren't able to walk away with anything or they succeed in their robberies and they have what can barely be called chump change for me to shake out of them."

Dante gave a sigh as he heard of the next crates that he was now supposed to search for and he looked around the room while giving a thumbs up to Setsuna in response to him speaking about green crates with white Xs on them. He didn't have to look too hard as the crates around the warehouse were multicolored to the point where a majority of them were purple and gray while a majority were a tacky yellow. He was able to find both boxes on the same shelf beside each other as he wiped the dust off the tops of each one and wondered what could've been inside each of them. He hadn't been told the specifics of what was inside them so he tested each one to see if either of the two were heavy. They weren't all that heavy until he placed one on top of the other and tried to carry both which he couldn't help but let out an audible grunt for once he lifted the two into his arms. He would make his way back to where the two had been talking while putting the two crates beside the crate that had the idol inside as he stood up and stretched out his back once more.

‘Figure I do a few odd jobs, pull all that dough together, and I'll be able to get it no problem. You can't really trust bandits you run into on the roads these days. That’s good to know, at I know your serious, and in need of money’

Setsuna will remember that.

After all the boxes of interest were secured, Setsuna looking towards them one after the other, he looks back towards the entrance of the warehouse. Now, it was time for the hard part, moving the equipment to the other secured location. He would do so, with the help, of his new acquaintance, Dante.

Setsuna, eventually fully agreed to work with, Dante. This heist he planned wasn’t too overly complicated, and would provide a good chance to see if they could work together concisely. A test run, so to speak. Who knows? Perhaps these two could have a pretty good lucrative career together. Setsuna then turns towards, Dante as he just arrived back with the crates. None of them were damaged from what, Setsuna could see. He shakes his head side to side, watching Dante place the crates down and rubs his back. However, Setsuna kept his mouth shut, and moved on, since there was one more thing he needed to make sure, Dante was good on before moving the equipment, and talking about the job.

“So, Dante, before I explain the job and its take, I need to know one more thing about you. Are you good with your current, arsenal? Your techniques I mean; I need to be sure you can pull out if this job goes wrong for any reason? I mean, we could both trade what we know, that way we could both be prepared for any variables.”, Although Setsuna knew the chances of both of them getting caught were actually pretty low, he still didn’t want, Dante to get captured. He hasn’t actually proved to Setsuna that he wasn’t a snitch. Setsuna had no plans of getting locked up again, like he did in the now demolished, Volcano village. Normally, he would spend more time getting to know the people he was going to work with, but time was of the essence. He was on the clock and needed to get this 7,500 ryo back The Employer within the time frame he was given.  

‘I don’t really know much myself, but perhaps maybe I could get him to show me a few things too. I mean, he did talk about building a weapon, so perhaps he is a weapon user, maybe. Besides, anything could help, hell, I’d do anything just to be rid of that damn, Employer.’

Dante had just put down his crates and was in the process of rubbing his shoulders before he turned to Setsuna and saw that he had a question regarding Dante's skill with weapons. Dante had seen that Setsuna kept his blades close to him and it gave him the idea that he was possibly as skilled with weapons as he was. Regrettably Dante was not as skilled as he was hoping he would be by now, his self training allowing him to be able to take down normal riffraff no problem yet left him with much to be desired if he ever went up against another ninja of some caliber, however he wasn't going to admit to that anytime soon. This was a stranger to him, after all, and he had to make certain that he didn't come off as someone who couldn't hold their own when there's discussion about whether or not Dante is worth being an addition to... whatever it was that was planned.

"Well, as it turns out, the whole reason I'm in the process of coming into some money is so that I can be able to finish a weapon I'm in development of. It's initially a pretty huge weapon, though, so most of the techniques that I've trained are designed strictly for swords. Don't let that fool ya, though. I can still make a kunai or shuriken do the tango on multiple people on a battlefield."

Setsuna had made it clear that he was wanting Dante to know how to handle himself. He was going to make certain that the message he could do just that was loud and clear.

"Depending on when this thing going down you have planned happens, though, I just might have my weapon ready before then since I honestly just need a little bit more time to complete it. As far as trading skills with each other I'm down for that. You seem to have a good handle of those katanas of yours. When we get the time for it I wouldn't mind a little training session or whatever for show and tell."

This was true. He had initially only need a few more thousand ryo as he had recently been confirmed a location where he might be able to find materials necessary to complete his sword. Upon finishing he would wait for Setsuna's reaction.

The more, Setsuna continued to talk with, Dante, the he began to feel comfortable around him. He wasn’t some crazed random, volatile individual that didn’t require, Setsuna constantly look over his shoulders. However, that didn’t mean he fully trusted him, no. That was far beyond that, this was just confirmation that, Dante wasn’t a person under suspicion. Like, Setsuna stated before, the job they were going to pull off wasn’t complicated, so a thorough background check wasn’t really needed. “Alright, after we move these crates to the other warehouse, we’ll do just that”, he said while moving to the side and then made his way towards the selected crates near the wall. He loads up what he could on the large wagon nearby, leaving the rather large crate for, Dante. Once again, he was glad to have crossed paths with, Dante. Setsuna would have preferred to make one single trip, as opposed to two. “You can use that dolly (Or hand truck, some people call it that, idk lol) over there to move the big crate. If you need help, let me know. If not follow me”, he said. Everything was cool; Setsuna would be seen leaving the warehouse, along with, Dante should he follow.

Later, the two would arrive to another warehouse within the black market should Dante follow, Setsuna gaining access to it with ease, being that he had a key to it to begin with. No breaking into this warehouse, since this warehouse belonged to, The Employer. Although he was in debt, Setsuna was given a location to drop of his payments; he never was allowed to give the Employer his payments directly in person. Setsuna never really understood this practice; he always found it odd at first. However, the more he dwelled on it, the more he realized that it actually wasn’t a bad idea. He figured it was a policy to keep him from being exposed to anyone he’d prefer to remain clean in their eyes. However, this time was different, since the owner was never aware of this certain, deposit...

Once Setsuna finished opening the warehouse, he looks towards Dante.

“Alright, we will place everything in this warehouse, I’ll go back and cover them up later. Now, about that training session...”, he finishes, showing interest in what Dante was capable of.

((Since, Dante isn’t around anymore I’ll just cancel this topic. =[))

Want to claim from it or no?

I didn’t really do nada, so no thanks bud.