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The Quivering (Open)

Started by Listenbeastie, February 06, 2013, 06:25:57 AM

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Listenbeastie

"We're going to the palace, obviously." Mr. T responded sarcastically.

He seemed a little less guarded around her but it wasn't long until he returned to his usual, awkward self. "We're headed to the Bug Eye Tavern. Its one of the few places outsiders are safe, mainly because its close to the docks and its owned by some couple of foreigners who sparked some sort of miracle to get things started here. I dunno if its a really good place but the bartender's not bad. I think." The boy tapped his chin while avoiding a ruined boot lying in the path.

While they walked he inspected the bolt with more than a little interest. Did that man really excrete that? It seemed unlikely. Why was it there? It had fallen pretty harshly.

"Say, where are you from, anyways? You look... weird. Even for an outsider. Unless you're one of those Essra-- Esi-- Tan people from that place I can't remember the name of right now." While he spoke they reached a fork in the road but he hardly even paused. They were walking down a broader path, now, and the ruin of a city's worst was growing less present while the salt smelled stronger and gulls became more common.

Corona Starfire

"Okay, I trust in your words, Mister T!" She laughed while placing herself next to him once again as they walked. Her cheery demeanor only continued as they moved forward. She noticed that he seemed rather interested in the crossbow bolt he found on the ground. It was possible he really was hoping to sell it, but she couldn't imagine the going price being very high. Then again, she had no idea what the economy was like here. She said nothing else until he began questioning who she was.

Nina frowned but in a manner that showed she was more amused than hurt. "I look weird huh? Well I'm so sorry!" The girl laughed. "But you pose a very good question. See, I don't know where I'm from!" Nina shrugged, then looked at the back of her hand. "If those Essi people are usually tan I don't think I'm one of them." It's true, her skin was more on the pale side. "But I guess I don't look like I'm from here, huh..." Now she really did frown, apparently disturbed at the thought. "I must have some form of amnesia. I don't remember anything from before we met. I'm sorry, Mister T." She gave him an apologetic look, indicating that she legitimately was upset at not being able to answer his question.

"I guess I'm hoping after some time passes I'll be able to remember. Getting some food and a place to sleep first only seemed logical..."

Listenbeastie

With caution the lad lowered the bolt to his side, almost pausing in order to study her form again. "...Not even a wit?" Once he was done the lad picked up the pace again. "This is gonna be harder, then... Mmmph." They were almost there; the path had started to open up to the docks. The place was springing with life as words were exchanged among the many people and supplies were moved about. There was a string of buildings nearby.

"You're gonna have to move carefully. Bump into the wrong guy and we're in trouble." Ty didn't hesitate to walk out into the swarm of people. "And try to follow me, eh?" It would prove harder than it looked, but not entirely impossible.

Corona Starfire

Nina seemingly didn't hear him at first, perhaps due to her amazement at the amount of people in this area of the port town. The place certainly was lively. She received a few strange looks - likely from people distrusting the obvious foreigner - but paid them no heed. Either she didn't notice them or didn't care. One dirtied man even gave her quite a perverted look, apparently not caring that she was foreign at all and instead filling his mind with indecent thoughts of her. That, too, she ignored.

She looked at him and nodded when he told her to be careful. Then, following his instructions, the girl followed him. When the crowd became thick, however, she reached out and grabbed his hand. "It will be easier to stay together this way." She smiled. She seemed fairly competent at staying out of everyone's way, at least. For the most part.

--

Soladan the elf moved quickly through the crowd. He kept his hood up so that the majority of his face was shadowed, making it difficult to see. He caught notice of the young silver haired girl - she was hard to miss admittedly - walking behind that same boy. Quickly he made his way towards them, agilely moving around the townsfolk as if it was nothing new to him. He was concerned that the young boy she was traveling with would catch on if he followed too closely, so he was sure to keep his distance as much as possible. He swore quietly at the sight of that stupid cat sitting yet again on the girl's head. Although, he was certainly delighted when he suddenly saw the cat jump off the girl and run off through the crowd of people. Either it was scared of the commotion or it saw something tasty such as a mouse.

--

When Colt jumped off her head, she glanced at him but simply smiled, seemingly unconcerned.

Listenbeastie

Despite her competence as they began the boy constantly glanced back in order to make sure she wasn't falling behind. After all, with the trouble he was going through the boy wouldn't appreciate losing her in the docks. His calm was briefly shattered once his hand was taken; he nearly spun on her and his eyes grew huge and dangerous. Luckily she spoke before he could turn entirely and, in an attempt to divert back to the task at hand before questions could be asked, the lad tugged on her hand to hasten the trip. "Yeahsurefine."

Luckily for the elf he was too caught up in his tension to have noticed at first but the act left Tye in a period of heightened alert. He picked up the pace and studied his surroundings constantly, shoving a man who was holding a small crate just as he was about to collide with them. The little guy had no time for yelling matches.

As they grew closer to their destination he began speaking. "You'll probably like the patrons. They're less formal than Thanati locals. Its typically better that way, but it'd be best if you walked in alone. You wouldn't care, right? I don't have time for this." There was just the slightest strain in his voice. Had she done something wrong? Not intentionally, at least.

Corona Starfire

Nina noticed that he seemed to grow somewhat uncomfortable after she had grabbed his hand, but paid no heed to it. "Excuse us, sir!" The girl cried out after Tye bumped into the man holding the crate. "You're going to hurt someone, Mister T." She whined soon after, apparently not thrilled with the fact he had acted so rude to someone.

When Tye spoke, she started to frown. "I thought you wanted me to pay you back with a meal? Now suddenly you have something to do?" Her tone implied more so that she didn't believe him, and not that she was actually hurt by his words. "Are you afraid of going inside, maybe?" She could tell he was uncomfortable, although she wasn't certain why. Maybe he wasn't used to hanging out around girls? That thought hadn't even crossed her mind until now. Nina began to wonder if maybe he was embarrassed due to holding her hand, and suddenly giggled.


Listenbeastie

The man with the crate turned his head to watch as the two scurried along, calling back, "Watch it!" before reluctantly returning to his own business. When Nina had brought up the subject of fear he turned again, blurting, "ItsnoneofyourbusinesswhyI'mgoin'-- but now that you mention it, might not be a good idea for me to go inside. I-I mean its fine, really, I just think there are some people I should avoid and all you'll understand later I think." She successfully made him resort to babbling without giving context. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) they reached the entrance of the tavern. Not as many people were crowding around it but there was clearly quite a bit of noise coming from inside.

Near the entrance there was a pale-skinned, passed out drunk cradling a mug in his arms like a child. Near him there was a bald woman frowning at them with mistrust and what could be shame. The door to the tavern was ajar, revealing that there was, indeed, quite a few people there.

"Well what do you want to do?" He glanced back from the entrance, studying the crowd simply so that he might look away from her.

Corona Starfire

When they had finally reached the tavern, Nina finally let go of Tye's hand as she looked around at the various people in the streets. Still, none of them seemed familiar. If she really had been traveling with two others as she had thought, then they apparently weren't anywhere nearby. Logically, they must have been separated at some point prior to her arriving here. Why else would they have wandered off?

A bald woman nearby gave her a strange look, but Nina simply smiled and waved in a friendly manner as per her usual demeanor. To her, it seemed as if those who were bald were so because of some sort of punishment. She wasn't sure what crime caused one to be shaved as punishment, but the girl decided not to look into it much.

"So, who are these people you should avoid? Bullies?" She asked, curiously. "It seems like there might be a lot of meanies here." The girl frowned. "But does that mean you're just going to hide from them? You seem stronger than that, Mister T!" She reached out to grab his hand again, intending to pull him inside along with her if possible. "Come on, let's go inside! We can get something to eat and you can tell me more about the city!"

--

Meanwhile, as the young girl and boy conversed in front of the tavern, Soladan the elf casually made his way into the building. Since the two had never seen him, there was nothing really suspicious about a single elf man with a hood simply walking passed them and into the building. After all, his appearance was fairly typical for the crowd hanging around or in such a place anyways.

Once inside, Soladan glanced around at the crowd before taking a seat at the bar. He glanced at the guy next to him - who was completely distracted by an obviously uninterested woman - before ordering a drink. It wasn't anything complicated, although it turned out to be the exact same thing the patron next to Soladan had ordered.

Upon retrieving the drink, Soladan sipped it until the liquid was about 1/3 of the way gone. Then, in a quick motion when he was sure no one was looking, he removed a handful of something from his coat and dropped it into his beverage. In a single, quick motion, he slid the beverage over to the distracted patron next to him and, in return, took that man's drink instead. He downed the replaced beverage in a single gulp before placing the glass back on the table.

The patron next to Soladan laughed at something the woman he was attempting to woo had said, then took a large gulp of "his" drink. He apparently noticed nothing strange with it.

Listenbeastie

"Uh, I don't think you understand how this wo--" he trailed off into a surprised noise as she yanked him into the tavern. As they entered the mumbling became the roar of a lively crowd.

A captain and his crew were in one corner of the room, taking up quite a bit of space and playing games while celebrating a successful trip. Near the crew there was a group of men and women in blue masks, studying the two newcomers dangerously. Though most of the rest of the bar held random laborers and locals there were a few interesting people there. A huge man in a suit of armor tucked away in the back of the room, a foreigner with ruddy hair squatting nervously beneath the table of two gamblers and a hooded fellow with a pair of bodyguards seeming to mind their own business.

At the counter there was a bartender with a small mustache and delicate pair of glasses. He was  treating one of the half-drunk patrons while shooting a newer one a suspicious look, if briefly. Then a bald, bulky man in a trench coat slapped him on the shoulder and whispered something with a glimmer in his eye.

__________


The bartender waved him away, "Not a chance, Wilder! This place is chaotic as is!"

Wilder, the bald one, simply grinned toothily. "Ahh, c'mon mate. I'll pay ye' back fer it. Y'know I always do." This gained an irked look from the bartender as he walked away to address someone else. The conversation was disjointed already so the fellow wasn't bothered by it, that grin turning into a fond smile as he peeked down at something beneath his seat. Well, he could have just been looking down at nothing, but who knows.

That's about the time he caught a glance of the ruddy haired kid slowly reaching for a bag on someone's hip. The patron didn't seem to notice and the lad was surreptitious enough to take it and quietly get away.

"...D'aww." The noise was almost completely covered by the sounds of others speaking around him.

Corona Starfire

A look of wonder overcame the girl's face as they walked inside. She stood there for a moment, taking in the entire view of the inside of the establishment. Something about this exact moment gave her a weird feeling, one she couldn't describe. She wasn't even sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Nina wondered if maybe part of her amnesia was trying to clear up, and maybe this feeling stemmed from her remembering something. Whatever the reason, she felt as if coming here was the right thing to do.

"See? It's not so bad in here, is it?" She smiled at Tye, still holding his hand and, in fact, clasping it tighter now as a look of excitement crossed her face. "Ooh, where should we sit? And what would you recommend as a meal choice? Aww, I think anything would be good, ha!" If Tye didn't give her any sort of direction, she would end up pulling him around the tavern lost in her own curiosity and carefree excitement. She seemed not to mind her appearance when others were concerned, and just like earlier would either ignore the strange looks or smile and wave back at them as if she somehow misinterpreted the strange look as a greeting. No matter how low-brow the patrons ended up being, the girl didn't seem to mind at all.

Although, it was admittedly a bit strange when she softly patted a seemingly random patron's shoulder as she was passing by and whispered "don't worry, she'll be okay" in a sympathetic tone barely loud enough for the man to hear. This random, awkward, strange event would be followed by the girl acting in her typical carefree self, as if nothing had happened. The patron looked up in her direction with a confused face, but in a manner which proved that whatever Nina had said to him was somehow relevant, regardless of how little sense it had made that she had said it.

Unless Tye gave her some sort of direction, she would continue in a random manner before she finally picked one of the few small tables that wasn't occupied. And she clearly had no intention of letting go of his hand until they actually sat down.

--

Soladan noted that the two kids made their way into the tavern. His objective completed, he placed an amount of money on the counter before making his way outside without incident.

Listenbeastie

Once they were seated the boy shot her an angry stare. "You know I don't like how you think you can just go and grab my hand like that." he whined, rubbing his poor, delicate wrist. The silliness of his statement aside, the lad really did seem very uncomfortable with physical contact. She'd have to work harder to become his friend but she still had a chance (because she was offering food.)

In the crew's portion of the room two sailors started arguing loudly. A burly, ruddy haired man shook his fist at a shorter fellow with dark hair and skin. In turn the short one stepped up onto the table, two oddly shaped, bandaged objects that seemed to be a part of his pack bumping into the ceiling. He cussed at the man in a foreign tongue before challenging him to a fight. To which the pale man responded by tackling him.

The rest of the crew cheered and watched while the bartender looked on in a mixture of agitation and horror. Nearby, Wilder withdrew a whistle and started approaching the scene. As he arrived he blew on the whistle; enough to distract most of the patrons. In the sudden silence the man grinned and said, "Now we don't have fighting in the tavern.... but, if you'd prefer, we could all make our way out back and start organizing this fight. Eh?" Then most of the patrons expressed their approval and started making their way out. Some lingered, including the dark man and his bodyguards as well as a single blue-cowled fellow and the guy under the table.

"Come now, come now!I'll be taking your bets today! Just call me Wilder!" And so the betting began.

Tye also wasn't very eager to watch the fight. The bartender actually seemed rather relieved, able to address those who chose to stay at the counter. One of the bar wenches was approaching but was briefly distracted by another patron's request that she clean some things up while the rabble was gone.

Corona Starfire

Nina giggled as Tye complained about how she held his hand. "You know, you're complaining about it now but I'm sure you're stronger than I am, Mister T. If you really didn't want me to hold your hand, why didn't you just pull away?" She smiled, before noticing the fight going on at the other side of the room. She watched as the man named Wilder took control of the situation and turned the whole thing into what appeared to be a money making scheme. She frowned at the whole thing, not really liking the idea of someone turning a quarrel into entertainment instead of simply breaking them up.

--

Soladan returned to where Gallas had been waiting. From that alleyway, they had a fairly good view of the port, the tavern which the young girl and boy had entered being included in said view.

"All set. Have you prepared the spell?" The Elf said as Gallas adjusted his robes.

"Yeah, I'm good to go. What's this going to do, again?" Gallas asked nervously. Soladan never did tell him, after all. The only thing he knew was that this spell would trigger whatever it was that Soladan had placed into a man's drink. This would apparently help them catch - or maybe kill - that ridiculously cute girl somehow. He still wasn't happy with the idea, but orders were orders. Maybe this hesitance was the reason Soladan didn't give him the details.

"Don't worry, just cast the spell already. Err - oh, wait!" It was nearly too late, Soladan had to smack Gallas upside the head to get him to stop. "Dammit, hold on a second!"

"W-what!? What's wrong!?" The human fidgeted after being smacked, completely confused.

"That man over there! What's he doing outside!?"

"Who?" Gallas looked around, not sure who Soladan meant. A bunch of people had left the tavern though, apparently interested in some sort of fight between two others.

"Gah! He left the tavern! We can't use him now! It won't work!" Soladan slammed his fist on the wall in frustration. He didn't expect that man to leave. After all, he was half-drunk and relentlessly flirting with a woman who clearly wasn't interested. Soladan suspected she was sticking around simply because the man was buying her drinks. But apparently a fight broke out which interested the man more.

What was with this stupid girl!? This was the second time she somehow avoided his schemes.

At the very least, the poison in that man's system would last for twenty four hours... maybe he could still be used somehow...

--

"So, Mister T." She said in her typical carefree tone. "What do you recommend for food here? Anything special?" Not that she was in any way a picky eater.

Listenbeastie

Tye was more than a little irked by her observation, folding his arms. If he was pouting it was hard to tell but he wasn't so caught up in it as to not answer her question. "Ah... I don't really look at..." hesitating to say it aloud, the boy rubbed the back of his head and whispered, "...You know, menus and stuff. I don't really, uh... pick."

The fight was already going outside and had become quite a sensation.

The dark man lifted a hand and one of the bodyguards shot him a displeased look. They seemed to have a staring contest before the guard sighed in defeat and reached under the table, withdrawing a lute and beginning to tune it reluctantly. Then the dark man gave the other guard a look and he lifted his hands defensively, looking around before tapping the table experimentally. This pleased the dark man, who began to quietly compose something even while the first guard was still tuning his instrument.

The fellow in the blue hood wouldn't stop staring at Nina and Tye. He almost seemed... nervous.

Soon the music began, the strumming of the lute quick and belligerent. The second guard awkwardly drummed the table while the hooded one waited a bit. Then he- she?- started to sing a tale of a king and his men clashing with an ancient demon.

Meanwhile, the kid under the table explored the recently vacated seats the crew once filled, stuffing objects like food into his mouth and pockets. It didn't seem the staff noticed; or cared.