Hawk and Teige weren't the only ones to think of relocating to the roof as the fighting got smokier and smokier. The violent orange sunset fell across three people crouched at the edge of the roof, peering down over the ledge at the mess below. The wind had picked up and was blowing the smoke east in thick plumes.

"Hey!" Teige greeted the three on the edge of the roof, "you fellas have enny idea what the fuck's going on?"

Two of them looked up. A grey-skinned young woman with short-cropped dark hair and fearsome teeth--wearing a dull blue uniform shirt and, oddly, a spotty seal skin tied around her waist--sneered and answered, "What's it look like?"

The man next to her wore the same blue shirt and had the legs, horns, and ears of a goat. His eyes were half-hidden behind thick square glasses and a fringe of wild, curly hair. "It's a raid," he said, "or it was."

The third, an entirely normal looking girl with broad shoulders and coppery skin, ignored them. Hawk parked himself at Teige's shoulder as the faun man went on.

"They've been packing goblins up for weeks into those black trucks and hauling 'em away," he said. "The Royal Order caught 'em at it, this time...they tried to raid the trucks, y'know. Next thing you know, people are jumping out of their human suits to join in the fight. I guess people've finally had enough," he mumbled, and rose from his spot.

"Whoa whoa whoa wait, now," Teige said hastily, waving his hands, "those are government trucks. Are you telling me the government's selling people into the trade now?"

Hawk moved forward and quietly took the faun's spot at the edge of the roof, peering down into the smoke below. He tucked his wings in tightly, but the grey-skinned woman still gave him a dirty look.