Backfired Thieving

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The sidewalks of New York City were packed with people, as they normally were during the later parts of the afternoon on a sunny day. The crowds were packed close together, pushing against one another often. The combination of these factors made it a perfectly good opportunity for Aaron to try out some easier ways to fund himself. Sitting on a bench just by the outside of Central Park, he had been watching the people walk by and trying to get himself ready to make an attempt. Normally he stuck to picking locks on safes or doors and taking some money, but he figured trying something new would be a good idea.
"Excuse me, sorry." He mumbled as he got up and moved into the crowd, walking along. Okay, don't panic. Just trip, go for the pocket, grab something and go. He thought to himself. Taking a deep breath he stumbled, falling forward and bumping into a man who seemed to be fairly dressed up, probably walking back to work after a break. "Sorry about that." Aaron mumbled as he pulled out something from the suit pocket. The man just grumbled in reply and continued to walk. Smirking, Aaron left the crowd again and moved towards a bench, looking to see that what he had grabbed was a wallet. He sat down and opened it up, finding some cash inside. Well, that worked well. He thought as he looked back at his surroundings to see if there was anyone else he could find that would have something good on them.

Aaron shook his head to say no when Claudia asked him that question, starting to realize where she was going with that. They had probably just alerted any gales in the area with their display back there, and even if they didn't, better safe then sorry.
"No, I can't think if anywhere. I'd suggest someplace tall but that may not work, probably would make matters worse. We could always try and get on a subway or something else to get out of the area for a little bit. I'm to exactly the best with finding a safe place to stay in this case of events." Aaron responded, frowning slightly as he continued to think. Well, hopefully it didn't attract anything, and if it did maybe they'll take a while, give us some time to come up with a good idea.

"Alright then. Maybe we'll just stick to the more public places. Hopefully the Gales won't realise it was me who used the magic if we mingle in with a crowd," she replied, not entirely happy with their predicament. Claudia peered back around the corner, blinking. It seemed as if they were safe for now as nothing seemed to be tailing them. Not even the local police.

"Yeah, maybe. I mean I'm not completely sure how Gales work, but it could help to blend in a bit. We can probably head to a different part of town too while we're in the crowd." Aaron agreed, and started to walk away when Claudia looked around the corner.
"What, do you see something?" He asked, curious and started to lean around the corner, looking for anything unusual. He didn't see anything at all, just a perfectly normal area. He sighed in relief and turned away from the corner again, looking at Claudia.
"Well, guess we better get-" There was a loud booming sound as Aaron spoke, cutting off as he blinked, and looked back around the same corner to notice a hole in the side of one of the walls and a certain familiar bear-like creature. Oh, sh- He started to think as he pulled his Luger out from his waistband and pointed it at the creature, pulling the trigger. The gun clicked, nothing coming out of it whatsoever. At that moment Aaron remembered earlier that the taser he used to power said gun had been ejected by none other then himself earlier when the thugs turned on them, and the taser was now in his pocket, not the Luger.
"Now would be a, uh, good time to run." Aaron suggested, turning and grabbing Claudia's shoulder for a second, giving her a slight pull towards the street.

It appears that the Gales did sense you after all, Béacenfýr commented, though Claudia didn't appreciate the input in the slightest. She ignored him, instead replying to Aaron.
"Yea... I think that's a good idea," she replied with a weak smile before she took off after Aaron, not particularly wanting to end up as Gale-food. She had already decided not to stop and fight them, otherwise she risked attracting more and more Gales to the area. Luckily this one Gale had not yet attempted to call any of it's companions, but how long that would last for Claudia had no idea.

Alright, we're running. This is good, yes...now we need a plan. Aaron thought to himself as he ran onto the sidewalk, looking back to see if Claudia was still with him.
"So...have a plan on what to do yet?" He called back to her, still trying to figure something out. He heard the pounding footsteps of the Gale heading out of from the area they had just left. How long until it catches up with us? Probably not a lot of time. He continued thinking, starting to formulate a mediocre at best idea as a substitute for the time being.

Claudia had just focused on running after the Gale had smashed it's way through the wall. Béacenfýr had been saying various things to her but she had unintentionally ignored them.
"Oh god..." she blinked as she ran, Aaron looking back to ask her if she had a plan of some description. Claudia merely shook her head, "Nope! No plan..." she replied almost apologetically, "Only I don't plan on using my magic for a little while 'cause it'll only attract more of them."
She attempted to speed up a little as she heard the Gale's booming footsteps drawing nearer.

"Right, that sounds like a good idea. As long as it doesn't call for help, that should work." Aaron agreed, desperately searching for an answer in his head. Come on, you've gotten out of worse situations then this. He told himself, before calming himself down and thinking things through. High places don't work, breaks through walls, could cause collapse. Staying in open won't work. Underground... Aaron figured out and looked up as they ran, noticing that not too far away was a stairway going down to the subway station.
"I've got it! Think they can outrun a subway?" Aaron asked Claudia as he diverted his path towards the stairs, the gale getting closer with every second wasted.

Claudia blinked at Aaron's question before she too noticed the subway stairs. The plan now formed, she quickly replied to the electric mage.
"Let's hope not!"

She followed Aaron's slight change in direction, heading down the staircase and into the subway station below. They would need to be quick if they were to buy tickets and legally get onto the train. As Claudia ran, Béacenfýr spoke again.
That was rather intuitive, he said simply.
A compliment from you that isn't sarcastic? I must be dreaming. It's a shame Aaron can't hear you.

Aaron continued to run down the gray and black tiled hallway, noticing that it continued for a little more and then seemed to take a sharp turn right into what he assumed would be some kind of lobby area. I bet they can't turn very well. We'll find out now I guess. Aaron thought to himself as he reached the corner, turning and running into the larger sized room with four gate for passengers to go through to the right and machines to buy a ticket from to the left. Getting through the gate without a ticket would be difficult, guess we're buying. He pulled out the wallet he had earlier as he ran too one, before hearing a loud crashing noise, which probably meant that the gale had failed to turn and hit the wall with the momentum from running. He quickly looked to see if Claudia was still following as he pulled out a twenty and put it into the machine, and started to make as fast a ticket selection as he could.

Claudia didn't turn as she heard the Gale crash into the wall, instead running straight over to another machine and buying her own ticket. She glanced over to Aaron as he paid for his, Béacenfýr speaking her own thoughts.
Do you think he stole that money too? asked the phoenix, Claudia not replying though she knew he probably had.

Receiving her ticket from the machine, Claudia quickly made her way over to one of the gates. She put the ticket into it and then went through, meeting Aaron on the other side.

Aaron quickly pulled his ticket from the machine and ran over to the gate Claudia had just gone through, putting his ticket into the scanner box beside it and entering the gate when it opened. Noticing a subway luckily already at the station with doors still open, he decided that he would go for that one.
"So, I'd say we should take this one since it's here already." Doesn't matter where it goes, as long as it's away from here. He thought to himself after speaking as he jogged towards the open doors, heading inside and taking a seat. He could see that the gale was starting to recover, and notice what direction they had gone in just as the doors started closing and the engine started to whir, the train beginning to move. Aaron let out a sigh and closed his eyes, knowing that the thankfully short chase would have to be over now. It can't catch up to a subway train. They're fast but not that fast. He told himself.

"Sounds like a plan," Claudia replied, following Aaron over to the open train door. She hopped inside and chose a seat next to Aaron, the phoenix inside her medallion keeping her up to date with the Gale's status. Claudia had never understood how he could be trapped in a medallion and yet seem to know everything that was going on around him, however she never questioned it as it often came in quite handy when she was practicing her magic.

Now that the train was moving, Claudia turned to Aaron.
"So any idea where we're headed.. I didn't really get to check..." Thinking back, Claudia realised she should have asked the all seeing Béacenfýr to check where the train was headed. Too late now though.

"I have absolutely no idea. We can probably get off in one, maybe a few for good measure, stops and figure it out from there." Aaron chuckled as he spoke, feeling a bit relieved to be able to sit down and rest for a short while. He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, trying to think of a topic of conversation so to avoid any awkward silences.
"So...what's up with that medallion? Some kind of special family thing or something?" He asked Claudia, opening his eyes and glancing over at her. He had been a bit curious a bit it since he met her, but hadn't bothered to ask about it yet.

She nodded, assuming that a passing a few stops before getting off would be better than just getting off at the first stop as there would be less chance of the Gale tracking them down. After all that running, Claudia could probably do with a few stops rest to gather her thoughts and wonder what was going to happen next.

Just as an awkward silence was beginning to set in between her and Aaron, the latter spoke again, asking her about the medallion she wore around her neck. She blinked, beginning to speak but trailing off as Béacenfýr spoke to her.

"I've had it since I was little, though my mother said she never knew where it came from..."

Hold on. You're not seriously planning on telling him about me are you?
I wasn't asking for your opinion on the matter-
You only just met him!
And what difference does that make? He can't hear you either way, heck he might not even believe me.
And what if he does and he turns out to be some evil mage.

Claudia mentally sighed.
Béacenfýr.
What if he steals the medallion-
Béacenfýr.
-you know what happens when you don't have it.
"Béacenfýr!"

Claudia's tone held a slight note of annoyance at the bird's arguments and it took her a few moments for her to realise that she had said the last word out loud rather than purely in her head. Béacenfýr himself had fallen silent, seemingly realising that it was likely not something anyone would normally shout on a subway train. Claudia fiddled with her hands awkwardly as the few pairs of eyes who had looked over finally turned away. Her own gaze rested everywhere but on another person as she tried to find the words to explain away the awkwardness.

"Well that's strange. It doesn't really look like something that would just pop in out of nowhere. Maybe you were just meant to have it, if you believe in that kind of-" Aaron had started to say to Claudia, until she spoke up about some kind of strange name. Blinking, he went quiet for a moment before shrugging. He wondered if she had some kind of schizophrenia problem or anything of the like, but he didn't really care. She didn't seem like someone who was overly affected by something like that, if she even had it.
"What's that? Or...if you don't want to talk about it that's fine." Aaron had started to ask, before noticing that Claudia seemed a bit embarrassed or anxious, he couldn't tell exactly, about what she had said, and decided not to pressure her for any answers.