Take What You Can, Give Nothing Back [Sanct!]

[Paladienne]

"So where are we going this time?"

Nathime looked up from the parchment in her hand toward the speaker, that deep voice rumbling through her bones like thunder rolling across the plains. The giant dragon beside her had his head cocked to the side so that one large eye could peer down at her, attempting to read the piece of parchment in her hands, his pupil expanding as he tried to decipher the scrawling hand there. She smiled, turning the parchment toward that large lilac eye, watching the striated bands of colored muscle contract as his pupil adjusted, again trying to focus on the writing on the parchment. The hawk that had delivered it ruffled its feathers and shot off Nathime's shoulder, disappearing into the distance as quickly as it had arrived.

"It seems," Nathime started, "we're going to a small town near the border. It appears there's been some thefts of very valuable items there, and apparently someone was killed when they confronted the thief."

The dragon snorted as he lifted his head and looked up toward the sky, his wings rustling as he adjusted them. His gunmetal-grey scales rustled like leaves in a breeze as he crouched down, stretching out his foreleg to allow his rider to climb up to the saddle between his shoulders. "I don't see why *we* are the ones who have to go."

"Because, Kaillen, we're the closest and we're available." Nathime rolled the parchment up and slipped it into a pouch on her belt. Then she climbed onto Kaillen's back, settling into the saddle and strapping herself in. "And apparently there's no one else who can or wants to do it. Catching thieves and murderers is for rookies and those who don't have responsibilities, apparently."

Kaillen rose to his full height and made a rumbling noise low in his throat, as if he was displeased by her response. "Just because we don't check in regularly, or come back to say hello to anyone, they send us the unwanted dregs."

Nathime leaned forward and patted Kaillen's scaly neck. "Now, now. This could be quite easy. And if it is, then we can brag to everyone about how easy it was, and that they're lazy, soft-bellied marmots for not wanting to take on something so simple."

Kaillen laughed and spread his wings, tamping down with his hind legs to shove them into the air. A few quick flaps took them further away from the earth and higher into the air, and then he adjusted himself in the direction they were to go. Nathime leaned low in the saddle, thinking about the contents of the missive. A couple of thefts of valuable items and a murder. Not usually something a dragon rider was sent to take care of. But she knew that it had to be something more dangerous, something simply *more* than what was written on that parchment. And they would soon discover what it was when they reached the village. Until then, Nathime watched the horizon as Kaillen flew, his powerful wings eating up miles with every stroke. They would make it there by duskfall, she hoped, or just after true night, which meant that their investigation wouldn't be able to start with the next dawn. That was just fine, she decided. The trail wouldn't go cold. And even if it had, Kaillen could pick it up without fail.

They would find this thief. They would find the murderer. They would stop them and bring them to face justice. Nathime clenched her fist and swore that she would fulfill this job as quick as she could. Then she and Kaillen could go back to their mundane lives of patrolling the border and ensuring the peace of the country.

----

It was almost moonrise when Kaillen landed on the outskirts of the village, careful not to let his wings cause too much disturbance and wake those that had already fallen asleep. As soon as he landed, Nathime leaped from the saddle to the ground, then waited for Kaillen to make himself comfortable. They had already decided that he would remain outside the village and wait for her. There was no point in revealing all their cards before they had even begun their investigation. Giving him one last pat on the snout, Nathime started walking toward the village's entrance, a hand on her sword's hilt. It wasn't meant to be a threat, but she didn't know what she was walking into, and she wasn't going to take unnecessary risks.

Entering the village, she saw a few people still about even with the growing night, mostly people heading home or heading to the local tavern. They gave her odd looks as she passed, but she ignored them. She was dressed in riding leathers and light armor, nothing people out this far usually expected to see in a dragon rider. That was fine. Nathime was used to having strange looks cast her way and people underestimating her.

She decided to head for the tavern and see if she could find the village elder, or whatever passed for government here. She wouldn't stay the night in the village - they made her uncomfortable - but introducing herself and listening to rumors would prove far more useful to her than it would to stumble around blindly in the dark.

[SanctifiedSavage]

Esylvisthre didn't exactly enjoy traveling alone. Since she was functionally blind, it was much more of a hassle than she wanted it to be – but sometimes she had to. Events would play out that she and her friend would need to spend some time apart, likely because they'd made a mess in some other place, ad she'd amble off as the blind seer she was atop a black donkey. Harmless, by all appearances.

Harmless in general, really.

She didn't think of herself as a monster or a thief, even if anyone who really knew her and what she did would affix that label to her firmly. Karga didn't care enough about anyone outside himself to think about it. What did he care if some peasants in a town he didn't know the name of lost things they thought were valuable? Or died?

If anything, Esylvisthre's hobby was at least interesting. Gave him something to watch when he wasn't perusing over stolen literature that might be of use.

The unfortunate side effect of anywhere Esylvisthe might stay was that people would notice when things went missing. Depending on the size of the town, suspicions were generally cast her way because she was new. The stranger. The odd one out.

She could usually cast those aside because she was blind. One of the town's wench's hadn't exactly bought the act and had come sniffing around her tent at the end of the main street, so Esylvisthre had just killed her. Magically, of course. The small seer couldn't really overpower anyone.

But now there were stolen goods and a missing person.

The seer sat at a table in the tavern and idly listened to the various, wild rumors that were flying about. People talking about their neighbor who might've flown off the pot handle, suspicions cast at a shop owner who had always seemed on edge of late. No one really looked her way anymore.

What blind lady could commit murder, after all?

Karga rest on her shoulder. An oddity that had caught most people's attention when she'd first arrived, but he was just part of the scenery now. An odd bird whose gaze might be a little off putting and intense, but he was an odd bird.

One of her small hands remained wrapped loosely around her cup, half full of water.

[Paladienne]

Nathime entered the tavern, pausing to take a look around and gauge the mood in the room. Few lifted their heads from their glasses or conversations to look at the newcomer, but those that did studied Nathime a little too longer for her liking. Still, she knew better than to start a commotion and simply started to cross the room, acting as though she knew where she was going and what she was doing here. Her small stature and odd looks were bound to catch anyone's attention, and anyone who wanted to mess with her would find themselves on the floor rather quickly. Of course, if someone wanted to have a chat with her, Nathime was more than happy to oblige.

She could get more information out of someone when they didn't know she was trying to get information out of them, after all.

Nathime settled on a barstool and caught the bartender's attention. The portly man took his time in waddling over to her, instead of answering her promptly. He served several more drinks and snapped orders to the cook in the back of the house, and then finally, finally came over to Nathime and slapped down a meaty hand in front of her, as if he were trying to intimidate her.

Nathime just stared at his hand for a minute, then looked up into his eyes.

"Who might you be?" the bartender asked, his voice rough like tumbling stones.

Nathime only smiled. "I was sent to help. If I might, I'd like to speak to your elder or mayor or whatever the leader of your village is called."

The bartender's eyes flashed, but rather than any malice, there was skepticism and uncertainty. Nathime was used to that. She was small and thin and didn't look like she could wield that sword that was sheathed at her hip. But looks were deceiving. She knew that first hand. And if there was any trouble to be had, well, all she would have to do is let out a sharp whistle and her friend would arrive in a flurry of wings and temper to put a stop to it.

After looking her up and down - as far as he could see, anyway - the bartender stepped away from Nathime and headed to the other end of the bar, where he leaned close to a small group of men and began speaking in low tones. Nathime watched out of the corner of her eye, patient as ever. There was no need to be in a rush, after all. She was only here to help catch a murderer and find a thief. If the village elder decided her assistance was no longer needed, she would leave.

It looked like it was the opposite.

The bartender returned to her and gestured with his chin to the group of men he'd been speaking to earlier, who were rising from their seats and disappearing through a curtained doorway to the back of the establishment. "Wait five minutes, and then follow them."

Nathime raised her brow but nodded.

[SanctifiedSavage]

It wasn't entirely out of the norm for someone with more expertise to be called in. Esylvisthre couldn't see this person, not of her own volition, but she felt the subtle change in the room when the door open. A newcomer. Someone strange. Perhaps it was time she moved on, then? Overstayed their welcome.

She let out a soft sigh and rolled her shoulder a little. Karga took the hint and flapped up and into the rafters. He could eaves drop, see if there was anything of note they should be worried about. Esylvisthre could use him as a listening device, of sorts. As she did now, letting the raven shuffle along the rafters to get close and see what he might overhear.

He'd also have to lazily fly after and listen, then, too.

It required some concentration on the seer's part, so she stilled in place and seemed, well, much as she had before. Sitting harmlessly in the corner.

[Paladienne]

After a moment, Nathime rose to follow the men into the curtained back room, moving cautiously in case this was a trap. What she found was no trap at all, but people who were bent with worry. They feared for the safety of their people and their village, and feared for their belongings suddenly walking off under another's power, and they were worried that this epidemic that they claimed to have would just get increasingly worse as time went on. Nathime took the seat they offered her and listened as they spoke of the thief incident first. She closed her eyes slightly as she took in the details as they were described to her, and she listened without asking questions until they were done.

Then she asked if they knew what had been taken.

They did, and provided her a small list.

She asked if anyone had seen the thief.

They said no, no one had seen the thief, except the person that had ended up dead.

Nathime asked if they had investigated the scene of the crime and they replied that they had. They told her what they had found, showing her little bits of evidence they had collected. Nathime studied it all in silence. She wished that they hadn't disturbed the scene so much, but then, she couldn't expect the villagers here to understand how much things were dependent upon evidence. She couldn't expect them not to try to solve their problems on their own before requesting help. She listened and then she told them what she was going to do.

"First," Nathime said quietly, "I'd like to look at the scene of both crimes. And if it's still available, I'd like to look at the body."

The men were quiet, but finally the elder spoke. "You will have to settle for examining the scenes. We've already put that poor soul to rest, and have observed the rites of burial. It would be sacrilegious to return that to the earth."

Nathime nodded, understanding. "That's fine. If it pleases you, I'll start at first light?"

The elder nodded. "Someone will be waiting here for you. Do you have a place to stay for the night? Unfortunately, we were not expecting someone so... soon."

Nathime smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She could read between the lines easily enough. She rose from her seat and offered a small respectful bow to the elder. "Don't mind me. I can look after my needs on my own."

She left the room then, glancing up at the rafters when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of wings. Frowning, Nathime entered the common room again in time to see a raven settle on the shoulders of a woman in the corner, who was idly toying with the handle of her mug. Certain that the woman would be someone to talk to, Nathime started to head in her direction.