Felicity and Rioko meet up with Drevik, and then the things just go crazy (A Halyard, LP, and trying-to-find-Xander log)
Halyard Village: Fishery
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Halyard Village ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The fishery of Halyard Village... smells like fish! COnnected to the dock,
the fishery has an open-air market feel to it. Wooden planking beneath your
feet creates the floor and the sky the ceiling. The preparation area, where
the ifsh are gutted and prepared and packaged for sale, is littered with
Various carts and sorting tables, which have various implements setting on
top of them or stabbed into them, in the case of the gutting knives.
Meanwhile, the area of the fishery where the fish is actually sold is a good
deal cleaner, but no less fishy. This is the area furthest from the water, a
covered strip of wooden planking where tables are set up. During peak hours
each day, the tables are covered in pounds and pounds of fish, just waiting
to be spirited away by some lucky buyer.
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Visible Exits:
[D]ock
Hares: Felicity 'Lissie, female.
Foxes: Rioko, female.
Enemies: Who knows? :o (sorry :P )
If one were to glance at the vixen waiting at the entrance to the fish market one would notice that: A. She was rather fat. Fat enough that the sweater she struggled to flatten out across her torso would keep rolling up slightly around her waist. B: Her fur was black. Pure black. Midnight black! Why would Rioko dye her grey fur this color? Because it contrasted very well with the orange silk trousers and sash that hung at her side. And two because everyone knew black was the most inconspicuous color! Assassins always dressed in black robes to avoid detection! Not that Rio knew many assassins to validate this claim but that was besides the point.
The vixen also wears an orange painters cap on the top of her head And the tip of her tail is white.
And then a black haremaid appears behind her! Why did Felicity dye /her/ fur black? Because it was the only colour that would actually cover up all her random fur colours that change and blend with each other in such a peculiar fashion that her attempt at making herself al brown only resulted in her kicking an innocent Recruit who asked her what happened to her arm. She is wearing her regular dark red tunic and green pants that she dons when she's off duty. Yet she's on duty now! How ironic. Eyeing some of the merchants nervously, she whispers, "I 'ope these disguises work....." She clutches the messenger bag at her side, which holds her sword....just in case things go haywire.
The vixen nearly has a heart attack as the hare appears behind her. She recovers quickly, "What in the blazes took you so long? And...why did you dye your fur black? You know what, never mind." This is going to end in flames, she just knows it. "Ok, so word around the tavern is that there is no slave market in town. But there are quite a few beasts in town shady enough to deal in what we are looking for if there ever was one. The name Drevik kept coming up in the tavern and supposedly he runs a business down in the fish market. I managed to get a meeting with him. I told him that I'm a smuggler and that I have some hot merchandise that I can't move on my own in the port. You can pass off as my...body guard I suppose."
Felicity nods and secretly straps on her sword. "Alrighty, then, I can do tha'." She peers at the beasts in the market again. "'Opefully I won't be recognized.....I think I'll pretend to be mute. My voice is kind of recognizable." No duh! "What'll ya do if 'e does try to do somethin' sneaky....like enslave /us/?" Looking around, she adds, "Y'do 'ave yer glaive, right?" Some of the merchants have spotted the duo and are trying to sell them knife-ish thingies. The hare ignores them.
"Why would I need my glaive? I have YOU to protect me oh miss high and mighty Long Patrol member!" The vixen laughter becomes serious, "It's actually a dead give away to who I am and I would rather angry slave dealers NOT have an easy way to find me later on." She turns for the fish market, "Besides, there's a chance they would just take it away from me."
The fox steps lightly into the market. They don't have to wait long before they find Rio's contact. A weasel in a simple grey cap is chopping up fish in the back corner of the market. The weasel eyes the fox wearily before leaving his post to knock on the door to the shop behind him.
"Now remember mate, just keep cool." The fox whispers to the hare. The door to the shop opens and a massive mass of wolverine squeezes through. The beast towers over the both of them. His body full of muscle with gold piercings across his ears and face. His head fur is done up into a mohawk. "You Snapclaw?"
The fox doesn't reply. She just sort of shrinks where she stands, staring up into the eyes of the wolverine.
Felicity follows the vixen, unable to argue with her any more. But boy, does she look upset. That is, until the contact walks out the door. The haremaid /almost/ forgets her need to pretend to be mute, but remembers barely in time. Holy smokes.... She sidles up close to the fox and inconspicuously /pokes her in the back/. Seriously? Stupid vixen is going to KILL BOTH OF THEM AND POSSIBLY ANY BABY BADGERS IN THE AREA. The haremaid is not fighting down panic, no. She's letting it show on her face like a frightened person.
The most appropraite reaction when facing a wolverine Rioko would agree... Even the wolverine doesn't seem to take offense to the frightened looks he is getting. "Er, yes! I'm here to meet..." she leans in to whisper, "You know who."
The wolverine raises an eyebrow but says nothing. He grunts and gestures for them to follow. The room beyond is sparsely furnished. A table with some cards on it where a fox just as heavy set as Rioko sits waiting for the wolverine to presumably return to the game. Unlike Rioko though this red fox is simply burly with muscle to his arms. And a spiked club to his waist...
Behind the table is a stair well leading to a basement. "Down the stairs. Take the door to the left. Remember to show respect." The wolverines voice seems to boom in the vixen's ears.
Felicity jabs the vixen again, harder this time. Oh, for the love, whoever this person is, he has a wolverine and a fox with a FREAKING SPIKED CLUB as bodyguards. This is literally the worst thing to have happened all day. And the haremaid can't say anything, so she just gives what turns out to be a crazy smile as the wolverine booms out his command. Respect. Yeah. She can probably manage that.....
"Will you stop that." The vixen hiss under her breath to the prodding hare. "Just...just stay cool. Ok?" She steps inside, brushing past the fox at the table he turns and winks to her with a smile. Rioko just cringes. She steps quickly down the stairs to find the basement to be stocked full of cargo. Boxes full of spice, incense, fish. It all mixes together about as well as one expects. The smell of incense grows stronger as she nears the door.
She gulps. They could still turn back.
The fox steels herself before entering the room. NO. She's seeing this through. She is totally going to earn her reward for this.
The door opens to a medium sized room. Light spills forth from paper lanterns across the rafters. The smell of incense is strong here. A rug covers the stone floor. Cushions are spread out across the floor as seats. In the far back a small sand lizard lounges in a bed of cushions. He wears a leather jerkin with the chest left open. His scales are yellow and tan combined together in a swirl like pattern. Coiled around him like a pet is a small garden snake. Both regard the two almost like prey.
"Welcome! Welcome!" He says happily, gesturing for them to sit.
Felicity does not stop that, but she does manage to just barely stay calm. When they're not in earshot of anyone, she hisses in the vixen's ear, "We're goin' to DIE, y'bloody idiot!" But then she stays silent, and after giving the vixen one last jab to try to communicate her growing panic and displeasure, follows the vulpine into the room. BUT NO ONE MENTIONED THE SNAKE. The haremaid just about loses it, and has to bow her head in a false show of 'you're above me' (whatever in the what that's called) to hide her growing TERROR. This cannot possibly end well....stupid vixen.
Stupid vixen? Stupid hare! She's the one who trusted Rioko in this! It's all Fel's fault! The fox follows the hare's example and bows. "It's so nice to finally meet you in person Drevik."
"You as well, Snapclaw was it? Anyway. My beastsss uptop say you are in need of getting some hot merchandise out of the city." The snake hands the lizard a goblet of wine with its tail. Drevik takes it and sips it down. "Jewels? Contraband?"
The fox slowly takes a seat, struggling to keep on her cushion with out falling off of it. "Contraband not of the...inanimate object type. My...employer, yes, my employer hired me to move some cargo through Halyard and word on the street is you are beast to do that."
The lizard raises an eyebrow until he realizes what she is talking about, "Ah, living cargo." Why couldn't she just say 'slave'? "Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem. Where do you want them to go? The islands, to Mossflower or the meat markets?"
The fox is taken aback by the lizards candor. She...did not expect this much...lack of resistance. "You make it sound so easy." She laughs nervously, "I had no idea there was a slave market in town."
"Market? HA! No. Halyard is much too small for that. Cargo hardly ever stays in town before being shipped off to it's destination." While the fox reels from the fact that such things are possible in Halyard the lizard leans back on his cushions, "Living cargo is however, rare. Possible, but rare. And costly."
Felicity is not stupid; she's just naïve and desperate. There's a difference. She sits beside the vixen, having no trouble at all staying on her cushion because she's not FAT. She is also indescribably happy that she volunteered to play mute; she wouldn't be able to say anything intelligent right now. So she just listens...and no, she has no money on her. She's not stupid. While making it look like she's not looking, she stretches her neck a little and looks for any windows, just in the offchance that they have to make a quick getaway.
The fox crosses her arms, serious look on her face. "How much?" The sand lizard tilts his head to one side, "I find myself a reasonable person...100 gold peices per head."
The fox practically explodes. It's what she thinks a smuggler would do at least, "A hundred? I can only sell those slaves for 50! No dice mate."
"Actually you could only sell a slave for 20 copper these days. Something you would know if you were an actual smuggler." The fox's heart stops as Drevik finishes his wine. "Oh don't look shocked. It wasn't that hard to spot the moment you walked in the door. You hardly look like smugglers. Your both dyed your fur black, a color which even silver fox's don't come in by the way." He sets the goblet down on the floor, "But you found me in a humorous mood and it was entertaining to watch. So why don't you tell me who you REALLY are? And stick to the truth...like your lives depended on it..."
Felicity nearly chokes, then she slowly turns and glares at the vixen. "I 'ate you right now," she says, understanding the need to be honest like nothin' else. Jabbing the vixen in the side again, she turns back to the lizard and says, "Sah, I'm lookin' for a missin' badgah Dibbun. I 'ave reason to believe that he's a slave, but /possibly/ not fer sale." Jabs the fox again, just for good measure. "'E is of vital importance, and I must find 'im. 'Tis the truth, sah," she adds. She has said this entire thing in a very respectful tone, but has left off the fact that she's in the Long Patrol. It...doesn't seem like a wise idea to mention that just yet.
The lizard listens quietly, only once does he licks his own eyeball but otherwise still stoic and still. The vixen whimpers at each prod to her side. It's starting to get sore. "Please sir. We didn't mean no disrespect. He's...the son of friend. He was taken from his family by a cruel beast. We just want to get him back. And the blimy long patrol can't find their own cotton tail if they tried."
"A badger you ssay? Hmmm," Drevik ponders for a moment, "Nope. Haven't seen one." He says all too happily. The lizard stands to his full height. Which is...decidedly shorter than both beasts. "While I find your concern for kidnapped baby badgers oh so touching, I think you have more pressing things to worry about now...like telling me why I should let you walk out of here /ALIVE/." The snake on his shoulder hisses at the party.
Yeah...it's safe to say this has all gone to pot.
Felicity has been covertly looking for a window, and at the Long Patrol jibe she refrains from biting the vixen's ear. At the demand made by the lizard, she shrinks and glances at the fox out of the corner of her eye. "Well.....I can't speak for m'/friend/ 'ere, but I c'n tell you that I 'ave a REALLY big family" the army is like a family, right? "an' some o' my brothah's are /awfully/ big. I don't think you'd want them snoopin' around should I go mysteriously missin', wot!" It's the best she can do.
The lizard raises an eyebrow. "oh?" He snaps his fingers and the door opens behind them. The wolverine has to stoop low before stepping inside. Even at his full height the beast has to stoop to avoid bashing his head against the ceiling. The wolverine regards them menacingly, cracking his knuckles together and growling at them.
"Before I command Snarltooth here to break...well, everything...did you have any other last words?"
The fox opens her mouth as if to speak but all that escapes her lips is a pitiful squeak. Her fur seems to turn white as her life flashes before her eyes.
"Oh, fer.....I'm a member o' the Long Patrol. There! Happy? RUN!" Lissie pushes the vixen to the side, draws her short sword, and leaps at the lizard, all in one, fluid movement. She goes to hit the snake on the head with the pommel of her sword while grabbing at the lizard's neck with her other paw, trying to get him in a headlock.
Chaos ensues. The lizard stands back, reaching for a slender dagger hidden from view. He is but a moment too late. The hare hits him across the head and he recoils in pain, slipping on his bed of cushions. His pet garden snake goes flying from his shoulders.
The wolverine howls with rage. Ready to swipe at the hare regardless of who she is hiding behind Snarltooth ignores the vixen for the moment. After all, what is a pudgy little fox going to do against him?
He thinks before Rioko kicks him in the shin, tripping him and sending him flailing as he falls towards his boss and the hare that holds him hostage.
Felicity goes to pick up the lizard and rolls out of the way of the wolverine, whether or not she was actually able to grab the reptile or not. If she did succeed, she will now put him in a headlock and hold her swordpoint at his neck, ignoring the fact the she accidentally sliced her [own] leg. "Rioko! C'm'ere, please!"
The lizard hisses in anger as he is put into a tight head lock. For a smuggler his bark appears worse than his bite. Of course when one goes around employing wolverines... the larger of the beasts falls flat into the cushions, skidding across the floor as he does.
"InsSSsolent rabbit! Do you know what I'll do to you for thisSSs?" He flails his arms until the sword point is pressed against his neck. Rioko appears shortly there after. She bites back a yelp of fear as the wolverine begins to get back on his feet, eyes glowing yellow in the faint light of the room. "Easy fella! One more step and your bread and butter has his throat slit."
It feels...odd for such a statement to escape her own lips. Even about such a weasel as this lizard. A small part of her is a bit giddy with excitement though, realizing that she is threatening a wolverine, a WOLVERINE, and it appears to be listening...for the moment.
"You WILL call off your wolverine /and/ any othah of yer little cronies or I WILL slit ya throat. D'we 'ave an understandin'? Oh, and I don't really /care/ as to 'what you'll do t'me', 'cause I'm takin' you to the propah authorities if y'don't cooperate." She's also turning him in, period, if she can, because he's a jerk. She starts slowly shuffling to the door. "Rioko, love, try t'find somethin' to usa a weapon, please, wot?"
Felicity is grumpy so there.
It's understandable, all things considered. The lizard lifts up his chin, as if this will put him farther away from the tip of the blade. "A-are you going to just stand there? Stupid brute! What do I bother paying you for? Do something!"
The wolverine twitches an ear. He seems to ponder what exactly /to/ do for a long moment. Finally he shrugs and decides to do something constructive.
His giant paw makes a SWOOSHING sound as it cuts through the air, and the lizard, his claws raking against his chest, middle and belly. The lizards jaw drops, "I...I immediately regret everything I said..." the lizard collapses forward face first onto his bed of cushions and is no more.
Leaving the wolverine with no reason to forstall mauling both the fox and hare. "Fel...you...you remember how you said to run?" Rioko gulps edging herself towards the door, "I think that was wonderful advice...don't you."
Felicity watches this in....shock. Let's go with shock. After a few seconds, the vixen's words sink into her mind and she goes to grab her paw and drag her up the stairs. "You'rerightitwasverygoodadvicelet'sRUN RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN!!!!" Running, she tries to drag the vixen with her to the upper floor.....
The hare hardly has to drag Rioko. Faced with death via Wolverine Mauling the vixen is hard pressed to find a reason to hesitate as she dashes out the room and towards the stairs. Standing above them at the top is the other guard. The big red fox looks, confused. "What's going on down there? What's all that racket?"
"Lars! Stop them! They killed the boss!" The wolverine shouts back as he leaps to pursue their quarry.
At this the fox draws his club, taking a swing at the first beast to come up the stairs...
Felicity is behind the vixen. Surprise! "Aaahhhhhhh THIS IS NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING!" Facing downstairs, she adds, "I'm gonna 'urt you when we get out of 'ere!" Optimistic in her despair, this one.
"Noted!" The fox [Rioko] says through clenched teeth. She grabs the fox's wrist as the club comes at her. The vixen steps close, letting the momentum of the fox's swing bring him up and over her shoulder, effectively throwing him down the stairs towards the charging wolverine.
The fox may not look the part but she was a bouncer for a reason. "Sure, blame the fox for all your troubles." The vixen says as she continues up the stairs and towards the door.
Felicity ducks so she doesn't get hit. "Fine! I will! How did you do that?? AAaaahhhh, can we block the door to keep them from getting out so soon? You're the one who snuck us in 'ere like this! You're older than I am" (but not by much) "you're supposed to NOT get us stuck in situations where we could both DIE HIDEOUS DEATHS AT THE CLAWS OF A WOLVERINE!!!" To say that the haremaid is agitated is a complete and utter understatement. If this were a nightmare and not life, she would be beyond the bedwetting stage and on to the screaming incoherently stage. She just bypassed the wetting herself because she's awake, so the vixen is getting the full effect of an adrenaline-filled young hare. YOU'RE WELCOME.
For Rioko this is just another day in Halyard, this time however there just happens to be a wolverine instead of a horde of hares chasing after her. She is the first out the door, slamming it behind Felicity, "Quick! Find something to bar the door!" The vixen shouts, then darts away from the door and into the market.
Felicity darts out the door and half turns around.....just in time to see the vixen run away. "'EY!!" She gives chase, her lithe, muscular Runner's legs helping her gain upon the chubby vixen. "Get back 'ere!"
The fox doesn't get far. Either on purpose or because she is out of fighting shape. Regardless the vixen is breathing hard by the time the hare catches up to her. Standing by a wagon at the end of a long row of merchant stalls. "Get in!" she snaps, trying to grab the hare by the shoulders and toss her head first into a barrel full of fish.
Felicity merely goes to grab hold of the vixen's ear and hang on like a limpet while refusing to be thrown in with fish. "Aftah you, love, wot!" She goes to yank the vixen into the fish by her foxy ear. So there.
The beast yelps loudly as she is thrust head first into the barrel of fish. Her tail and legs dangle out of the barrel and flail about in the air as Rioko struggles to right herself.
Meanwhile, behind them the wolverine bursts through the door...quite literally kicking it off it's hinges.
Felicity goes to kick the vixen further into the wagon, then hops in and will basically land on top of the fox unless she moves. "Ah..../the wolverine just came out!/" she whispers. The wet from the fishies is making her black fur dye come off. Joy.
The vixen is too busy being shoved further into a barrel of fish to complain about being shoved into a barrel of fish. There are garbled, muffled noises as Rioko disappears inside. The crowd parts for the wolverine and his bloody claws. He crouches low, sniffing the ground like a wild animal. He turns his attention towards the wagon full of barrels of fish, growls in frustration and keeps on looking. The fox guard is no where to be seen.
Felicity, after shoving the vixen in the barrel, hides herself in a different barrel and gets covered with disgusting fish. Eeeeww. She hides rather breathlessly and doesn't peek out from under the fish, her ears plastered to her head in fear, hidden under the stinky fish. She'll let Rioko risk peeking out and possibly getting caught. She probably deserves it, anyway.
There is only silence. Whether or not the fox dares to poke her head out of the barrel and risk having it lopped off by a fearsome wolverine remains to be seen. A moment passes and it seems like an eternity until the sound of voices draw near It's hard to make out what the conversation is or who is talking, but soon the barrel rocks as it is lifted up.
"Oi! I must be getting old or this is quite the catch! It seems heavier than this morning." Says the voice of a beast as the barrel begins to move.
Felicity stifles a 'meep' as her barrel gets picked up. Oh, dear....should she wait, or a Hare-In-The-Box thing right now? She decides to wait a few more steps and hope they aren't ready to dump the barrel yet...
Hope is fickle it seems as the lid pops off and the barrel turns sideways, dumping the fish out into a sorting room floor belonging to one of the many shops in the market place. Fish slide onto the floor along with the hare.
Suffice to say it [gives] the otters handling the barrel a shock.
Of course. Lissie leaps up and manages to not fall because of slippery fish. "Thank you, laddies! Y'just saved me from a slavah, and I am indebted, wot!" The black dye has mostly come off of her fur and smeared all over the fish, leaving both lagomorph and icthids looking rather queer. Bowing, the haremaid turns and goes to run away as fast as she can with such slippery things underfoot.
"What in the sam hill was that all about?"
"Heck if I know? Hey! Miss? What are you doing in our..." begins another otter. They go searching for the hare but she is already long gone. Confused and a bit angry they return to their cart. "Of all the nerve!" says one otter as they lift another barrel to the sorting floor.
"Hiding in a barrel, who on earth does that?" They tip the barrel in their paws over to spill out it's fish but...nothing comes out. The otters give it a little bit of a shake and something wet and furry begins to slide out. Swollen and full Rioko sort of just oozes onto the floor like an eel. A small pile of fish skeletons fall out behind her along with uneaten fish. The fox let's out a belch as she sits up, dusting her self off and nodding her thanks to the otters before scampering off, paws clutching her gorged midriff as she does.
The otters can only stare, turning to the fish and then the departing fox. "Oh come /ON/!"
Thanks for reading!
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