OOC: Open to Mountain Cats.. and maybe some others? For SHENANIGANS! Post here (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=18243.0) if interested in joining!
It had been a while since so many of the Mountain Cats gathered at once. Cats were far from pack creatures, and their leader cared little for being social. However, after word filtered in that the Soot Wolves were sinking their fangs into some noble alliances... There was an idea proposed from a likely source- just the snot nosed kid who was still too young to be taken seriously (or considered a man by most standards!); but their leader perked up at the suggestion to pick at the richer traders, not the nobles, for their hands were in the incoming gold more so than the 'old wealth' passed down through inheritance.
Clint West was never taken seriously, but now he was beaming as the idea was agreed upon. That they would seek out potential allies among the traders- and what better way to do that than to scope out who's doing business at a party?
Of course, at that such a plan, the Cats were immediately turned off. They were no snub nosed aristocrat, and had no idea how to even consider infiltrating such an event without making it obvious of their intentions. Naturally, Clint offered his own services! He had his own invitation, after all, but it was mostly dismissed...
That was, until their leader, Khanna Dey himself, decided a few savvy cats ought to give it a try. Why not? The wolves were doing it...
It was time to one up them and get some new turf and funds, which seemed to be a day to day battle for them all.
On the day of the event, Clint wore the biggest shit eating grin, and red bow-tie to go along with it. His blonde hair was slicked back and he wore a classy white suit. Their parents were surprised how enthusiastic their son was, but questioned it little (as they often did), and soon the West family was heading towards this little Spring Fling, and as the carriage rolled in through the gates, Clint peered out the window, trying to check out if there was anyone here he might know- Mountain Cats or other wise.
Ah, what an exciting day it would be! And the engagement was to take place outside- what luck! It was much easier to sneak in a cat like that- and the grounds here were huge, with a wide front courtyard and perfectly manicured lawn, a fountain at the entrance of the hedge maze, and a small track of woods near a meandering stream full of trout that filtered into a large pond at just the edge of the property, where geese and ducks floated about as spring time flowers came drifting lazily onto the shimmering, mirror like water.
Nevarynne sat stiffly by the fountain, huddled under a dainty parasol. Her violet eyes darted about her surroundings, memorizing every face, every crack and imperfection on the buildings, and most importantly, the location of every single shadow in the vicinity. She couldn't help but feel quite naked and vulnerable in a setting such as this. Social intrigue was far from one of her specialties and frankly, was quite down low on her list of things she was willing to do for the Mountain Cats. But still, it was on the list, and she agreed to it without complaint. She even dressed up for the event at the request of Khanna Dey. The violet lace on her poofy silver dress complimented her eyes, her silver hair was done up in an intricate french braid, and she even wore a touch of rouge on her dusty face. Her unusual attire made her feel quite self-conscious, but perhaps deep-down, she also felt quite pretty.
There was absolutely no doubt in Tomcat's mind that Khanna would be pissed that he took it upon himself to join the party. The captain hardly ever got to do anything fun being constantly stuck down in Cerenis, but now was his chance to socialize. Besides, it was because all of his time in the port city that he knew just about every wealthy trader there was. Surely Khanna would find value in that. Maybe. Hopefully.
Furthermore, this would give him the chance to mess with other Cats. See he was an uncommon sight in the Scratching Post, there was a significant number of Mountain Cats who had never seen him before, nor knew who he was. This usually led to shenanigans and fun times. However, those that did know him would recognize him immediately as he was still wearing his usual attire, though it was much cleaner and higher quality so he looked a bit more like a wealthy merchant instead of a dirty pirate.
As he scanned the crowd and mingled his eyes came upon someone he knew was a Cat. He had heard rumors about her, and judging her very distinct appearance, there was no way it wasn't her. With a cheeky grin on his face, his approached Nevarynne silently from behind.
"You seem a bit uptight, lass," he told her. "Loosen up or ye'll blow your cover for sure."
Keeping her eyes forward, Nevarynne uncrossed her legs and slouched a bit. "Is this 'loosened up' enough for you?" she asked, her voice carrying no hint of irritation or disdain.
Tomcat chuckled at her response and plopped down next to her at the edge of the fountain.
"Not just your body," he said. "You're way too serious all the time. Don't ye ever have any fun? This is a party. Sort of. At least until the boss shows up and scolds me."
"I'm not always serious," Nevarynne said as she turned to face Tomcat. "Sometimes I have fun. Just... not this kind of fun."
"Well then what kind of fun do you have," he asked. "Cuz it doesn't seem like we have the same idea of fun."
Just then a waiter walked by with a tray of glasses of wine. Tomcat quickly got up, grabbed two, and returned to the fountain. Instead of offering one to Nevarynne he drank them both down almost immediately.
"Rich people must be some real lightweights. I'm ain't even a little buzzed, and I've had eight of those already."
Nev gave the man an awkward half-grimace, half-smile as she watched the man double-fist the two glasses with ease.
"People-watching is fun... " she said quietly. "Like, uh, that man in the blue dress shirt. The one talking to the lady in the Burgundy dress. He walks with his head held high, but he never seems to pay much attention to his surroundings. It's almost as though he lives in his head. And the woman... Look at how her eyes are wandering around the grounds nervously. She's a bit too jumpy."
"That's cuz I betcha he don't give a damn about his surroundings," Tomcat replied. "Those rich snobby types care only about themselves. As for the woman, she prolly thinks she don't belong here. Probably not from a rich family, more than likely is here with a guy that is rich."
Tomcat then turned to Nev.
"So what about you? Ye hardly seem the sociable type. Why are you here? Surely it ain't just cuz the Cats asked ya to."
Well this was fucking perfect. Vayrin had no intention at all of making an apperance here. Wherever "here" was anyways. She couldn't really remember. The girl had fucked up again. Why did she have to keep ending up in these kind of situations? All she was doing was trying to feed herself! Instead she found herself in a much undesired predicament. She awoke hazily to the sound of people. Her green eyes slowly batted to confirm the source. Vayrin witnessed an entire crowd of rich looking individuals all dressed to play the part. However, she stuck out like a sore thumb. If the tattered rags and cold iron chains clasps around her wrists and ankles didn't do it, the small puddle of blood dripping from her nose onto the floor below would...
Standing tall next to her was a very large armoured fellow, who seemed to be in a conversation with some of the rich older gentlemen. She couldn't really make out what they were saying, but every now and then, he'd gesture to Vayrin while the other two stared with a hungry gleam in their eyes. Her head throbbing with pain she could barley remembered what had happened.
It must have been a few hours before, or maybe even a day. Vayrin had been wandering around like she always had when she spotted a halted carrige on an old forest road. It seemed to belong to a noble, as it had been finely decorated, and the well groomed man had been standing outside talking to a armoured guy on a horse. Of course, Vayrin's hunger had gotten the better of her, and she knew a noble usually had enough money to buy a feast! She made the mistake of tryig to sneak into the carrige from the other side, not noticing the guard posted in from who had apperantly heard her footsteps. She felt a hand on her shoulder and was klocked right out! So this is why she found herself the way she did. This is what nobles did to theiving girls...
Evident by wooden board hanging around her neck as she knelt on the ground, it had a high price on it. She was being sold as a slave at a party of rich folk...
Fucking perfect.
"That girl..." Nev's violet eyes locked onto the girl in rags, voice was hardly above a whisper. "A captured thief, bound and brought upon this estate to be sold as a slave." Deep down, Nevarynne felt very sorry for the girl, but her stone-cold face and flat voice showed no sign emotion.
Tomcat followed Nev's eyes to the thief girl. Unlike Nev, he didn't care at all about the poor girl's predicament.
"Well, that's what happens when ye get caught," he said with a shrug. "Ya think anyone will actually buy the lass?"
Tomcat was right. As bad as she felt for the girl, she knew that this was her fault after all. "Yes," she replied confidently with the same cold tone. "She blonde and young and a girl."
Tomcat cocked an eyebrow at that.
"What does any of that have to do with getting caught," he asked. "You're a girl too, ya know."
Nev's eyes remained locked on the girl. "Not being caught, on being purchased."
"Ah, yes," he agreed. "I'm sure there are plenty snobs here who wish to tarnish their reputation by buying her at a gathering like this. He won't have much luck trying to sell a brat like that at a fancy party like this."
Tomcat contemplated silently for a moment before speaking again.
"Let's go talk to her."
Nevarynne wordlessly pushed herself up from the fountain and stood under her parasol like a towering statue. She nodded at Tomcat to lead the way.
Tomcat paused for a brief moment when he realized just hiw freakin' tall Nev was. Then, he made his over to the thief that was for sale.
"So what did ye get caught taking," he asked. "Or rather what did ye get caught trying to take?"
Vayrin's head throbbed with pain as she steadily tried to plan her escape... this area seemed to be heavily populated, but the vast majority didn't seem like they would be able to subdue the girl if she managed to break these chains... She steadily looked up at them, testing their strength as the guard watching her was too distracted trying to sell her off to someone. That's when a voice spoke directly to her. She looked over to see two rather odd looking individuals.
She raised an eyebrow, and simply said: "Girl's gotta eat..." She noticed her voice was much quieter now, and it seemed like with every note of speech the back of her throat burned... They had roughened her up before, that was for sure..
"I'm sure your new master'll feed ya," Tomcat jested nudging Nev with his elbow as if to try to transfer his sense of humor over to her so that she'd also find it funny.
"But you're definitely going about it the hard way, lass."
Vayrin sputtered, and whinced in pain as a few drops of blood left her lips. If one were to remove her rags, they'd find her body completely battered and bruised. She had taken many beatings before this moment, and it was beginning to show itself more vividly now.
"I d- don't understand what you mean..." She coughed again. This action caused the guard to turn his head. "OY! SHUTUP YOU FILTHY CUR!" He yelled angrily, quickly brining up his foot and slamming his sole into her chest. Vayrin let out a yelp of pain before falling on her back, the chains tangled behind her, causing more strain to her arms as she breathed heavily with her eyes closed. the guard turned his attention to the two new individuals.
"Sorry bout that. This one's got some attitude, but with enough discipline she will serve you well for any services you wish..." He gave a hungry smile before turning over to Vayrin, and grabbing the back of her neck, he hoisted her back up to the girl's knees. "I'm sure she's well worth the price..." He said again, pushing his nose to her neck and giving a perverted sniff as Vayrin stared with hatred, but couldn't speak through her heavy panting.
Tomcat reach out, grabbed the guard by the nose and gave it a twist. He forced the guard two steps backwards before finally letting go.
"I'd have you keep you're grubby extremities away from the merchandise," he said turning off the pirate talk for the moment. "You're depreciating the value."
Tomcat squatted down in front of Vayrin and took a close look at her. After several seconds of examination he stood back up.
"You better not be asking much for something that's been beaten up this badly. That's just bad business practice."