Post by Pandora LeAmour on Jun 19, 2009 21:19:22 GMT -5
Pandora LeAmour
Tathar Seregon
Rembrant "Styx" Devereaux
Location: Tower
Time: three and a half hours after sunset
She'd been lying there awake for nearly an hour, listening to the world around her. Everything sounded quite different in the Square compared to the Tower. The voices were louder, the sounds of the Square shops easily drifting to the Vampires ears.
However, she had an appointment this evening, and thus she really needed to get her behind in gear. Sitting up from the cot instantly, Pandora snapped her eye's open and scanned the room which was already committed to memory. Within a flash, she was out of the cot and trying miserably to adjust the gown in which she had fallen asleep in. Never would she do that again, blasted thing's were anything but comfortable.
After a few brief moments, she finally gave up, clearly realizing it was as good as it was going to get. Her fingers then began quickly working the pins from her hair, each strand falling down around her face until there were pins no more. She left those in a neat little pile in the middle of the cot, and raked her fingers through the unrulely hair.
Her paint wasn't here so there wasn't really a damned thing she could do about the paleness of her skin. Why, no one but her personal attendant had ever seen Pandora when she was NOT painted. Poor Lycan was about to really see what he had gotten himself mixed up with.
Squaring her shoulders, Pandora crossed the small back room and stepped into the main room of the Smithary, her eye's darting around to see just where said lycan was located.
He had pretty much just been holed up within the shop area of the building the entire day, save for that slight moment when he had entered to grab his journal from the floor. Everything had been closed for business for the day to keep the noise down to a minimum, although the shop had been open. He hadn't made very many sales, simply a carving knife and some arrowheads, but that was better than nothing. As she exited his room his attention snapped to her, brow raising slightly at her appearance. He wasn't used to seeing her unpainted, and only now did the sheer paleness of her skin truly catch his eyes...It wasn't really that bad, to him...but he was almost sure that she would never be able to blend into a crowd like that, and he began to look around for his cloak, muttering under his breath for a moment asking himself where he'd put the thing before offering her a greeting"Evening. I trust you slept well?"[/b][/u]
Styx had gotten up earlier than the time he was told, showed up to the tower door 30 minutes early and finally a guard told him the master was at the Blacksmith shop. He had figured a huge lycan always needed a good blade, even he needed a sword from time to time, so he walked slowly there. He scratched his head and thought about the last two or three nights. Wandering with tavernkeepers and fighting with shapeshifters in rings of fire. Stealing from vamps and being stolen from by them initially, so you decided it be best for it all to be brought back to original owners. Thinking about this place and the people in it that he had met so far, he would chuckle as he walked up to the door and knocked on it.
“Was told that I could find The Master, here?”
He looked to the sky. It was far from sunset, and he had figured that maybe the master, a beast of a man was probably off killing some poor sap during the night and forgot to come home. Afterall, the master was definitely against these rules that he kept hearing about.
Pandora gave a simple nod of her head upon hearing the Lycan's inquiry, her own eyebrows arching as he began to look around the shop. She had, of course, noticed the way his eye's seem to take in her appearance, and had she been able to blush probably would have. As it stood, there was no chance of that happening, so instead Pandora squared her shoulders. This was what she was, might as well get it over with now.
Her eye's then travelled to the window in which Portier had used as her personal enterance the eve before. It still sat there, void of glass, seeming as if it were a small door positioned quite a distance from the ground. She stared at it, and a moment passed. Then another, as in her mind, the images of what happened last eve played out in slow motion. Upon the Knock at the door, Pandora flashed back to the present, already moving before the voice called from outside. Her eye's on the Lycan, Pandora risked the move she hadn't bothered to do with the Lycan unless he was in his beastly state. She spoke to him, her lips not moving, no voice to accompany her words.
Of course, she wasn't offering him her position, but she didn't like to meet anyone outside the Tower. The voice on the other side of the door was not familiar, which only meant one thing. A new member of NightWorld. One whom wouldn't know who she was. They couldn't verywell send him away and claim the Master of the City wasn't here. After all, if William hadn't told him where she could be found, the guards outside the Smithary surely would give it away.
All she wanted was a chance to get a feel for him before revealing who she was. Better the Lycan risk that then her own head, seeing as he could at least appear normal. Were it someone whom didn't belong to NightWorld, and they spotted her like this, it would certainly cause an uproar.
She stood there, eye's pleading with the Lycan, as she waited his answer. If he agreed, she would instantly move to the small room she had just emerged from. If he refused, she'd simply be forced to let him open the door and greet who or whatever was seeking her out.
The knock had been unexpected...and the statement that the voice outside made was equally so. Who had told him that she would be here, exactly? Had the guards been blabbing their mouths to everyone in the village? He almost told the man at the door to go away, but her voice stayed his own, eyes moving to her, realising that her words came not from her lips, remembering the last moon phase he had spent within the Tower. He was not used to communicating like this, but he tried focusing once more on his words, praying that she would pick them up somehow"Aye, I can."And with that he turned to face the door, motioning for her to disappear within the dark confines of his room, brows furrowing, trying to get his expression stern as possible. With one his size, it wasn't hard to be intimidating, at least not too terribly much so, and he was trying to get his expression as close as possible to something similar to constant anger. His voice was another story.,..He had no problems with changing his tone to a growling voice, and rather than move to open the door for the man he instead called out, voice rough and deep"Enter."[/b][/u]
Now intimidation really never worked on one like Styx, and that was because he chose to face his fears in all mediocrity and in all splendor. When he heard some mumbling within, he figured that the master was just busy and that he himself was unexpected. The guy at the gate finally told him after he continued to knock and knock once the sun had set, to bug off that the Master was in the village. Well, he would talk to one guard who said the Master was shopping, or perhaps talking to some person. Another said the Master was getting a sword polished. So, he assumed, and hoped he had assumed right. Walking into the building, he cleared his throat and noted that it had nice tools and weaponry, and he was not a weapon maker per se, but he could use a good bit of any of the tools in this place for his goals if he ever needed to.
”Are you the master?”
Obviously in his mind, he would assume that his assumption was right and he grinned about that as he looked up at him. He himself was much like a Hyena. Small, but fast, and vicious if he ever got in a fight. So he figured that this lycan was either a bear, or a wolf, or maybe a huge gorilla! He had no idea what lycans could be what. He just knew that he had met a few werewolves and a one like him that he killed because the bastard was too clingy and almost had him killed.
From the back room, Pandora could easily hear the ongoings within the main room of the Smithary. She stood, her arms folded over her chest, unmoving. With the silence of all the Smithy's contraptions turned off, words simply drifted without the need to struggle to pick them up.
A small smirk came to her face when she heard Tathar's command to enter. Did she really sound so... constipated and rude? Bonus!
As the new arrival entered and outrightly asked if Tathar was the Master, Pandora found herself freezing. Had she actually breathed, she probably would have held that too. Would he be able to pull it off?
Closing her eye's, Pandora tried to get a glimps into the new arrivals mind, knowing it was pointless. She needed contact to do that. She could speak to them, but that probably wouldn't have been wise given the current positions. Instead, Pandora spoke to Tathar.
Of course, she doubted Tathar would listen. He never really listened to anyone. And thus, she waited, just as curious as the new arrival, though for completely different reasons.
He watched as the man entered....Small...The blacksmith in him nudging at the back of his mind, decades of experience letting him know that this man was most likely a dual-style wielder. Perhaps, after this little charade were over, and if he had the money, he would be interested in the two small short swords that he'd made just after coming here...It seemed that they would fit him nicely...But his other side, the beast, naggingly brought his attention to a certain feeling...That gut instinct that let him know that this man was also a Were, and he stood, just as Pandora's instructions as to how he should act met his mind. He looked to the side for a moment...wondering just how to get the point across to another kin when the idea hit him...He would follow her own instruction...but with his own flair, and he reached slowly behind his head and withdrew the rather overlarged scimitar from the clasp and setting it down in front of him, the light from the nearby lantern dancing along the pure silver edge, as well as the cruelly serrated teeth at the bottom third of this. The silver wasn't the only bit, though...The thin bronze plating coating the steel blade underneath at the spine had soaked up a lot of blood over the many, many years that he had had it...blood of both lycans and vampires and shifters and humans. Since the man was what he was, his sense of smell would no doubt catch this reeking scent, and this time when he spoke his voice very nearly shook with fury, albeit manufacted fury...He was merely doing his best to play his part"The questions are my place to ask, and you will wait for me to do so if you value your own head and hide. Now, state your business..."[/b][/u]
In truth, his comfort was about normal. That was because he had dealt with some of the most violent of people and he liked them because, he always liked a good fight. That is why he was considered so despicable. When his crew mutinied against him, he killed half of them just for the fun of it. But then again, it was close to a full moon around that time and he partially shifted where he had the claws and the fangs to do it. None of them were faster or stronger than him. And his speed played key in most of his fights. He snickered and took out two small cutlass like swords, identical with golden hilts, leather covering the handles for a good grip. He took them from behind his back and placed them down on a small table beside him. The smell had caught his nose, and he loved it! He was truly not a normal one. But then again, someone planning on being a butcher, must love blood and meat.
”You know… I figured you would be as awesome as I expected….I got me two nice ones, too, eh?”
He could smell a old damp snake fleshy like smell, which meant only one thing was behind one of the doors, but he wasn’t going to say anything. He figured that whoever this guy talked to was his own business. And in truth, he didn’t have anything against vampires, just those who thought they were better than him.He glanced from the door to Tathar and snickered a little bit more, an obvious halt in between the two series of laughs.
”I was set up for appointment at the tower with you…and then you were getting over an hour or so late….and one of the guards said you might be here.”
He said to explain his situation as he walked towards a wall full of swords, including the ones that Tathar was mentioning. They were nice indeed. If he had the money, he would like a pair of those, because short straight blades proved challenging. Maybe the master would like him and put them on hold til he got a business up? He wasn’t sure. He continued to speak.
”Some lady at the tavern said that as a new Lycan in these parts, I might need to see you for a cloak and something about rules of the land…eh, I don’t know….so… here I am.”
He would say this with a grin, still enjoying the horrid smell of rotting flesh that filled his nostrils.
Oh lord, she had never wanted to laugh so much in her life. She wasn't certain if it was because the Lycan was doing quite well in a seat of power, or because she knew she could not. From her position in the small room in the back, she was unable to see Tathar's prop, but she had heard the faint sound of an object moving. Someone had drawn something.
It was a mighty good thing that Pandora wasn't the jealous type, else she'd have been furious for being stuck out of a perfectly good line of sight to see the ongoings. Instead, she was quite content with hearing it.
State your business... How many times had she used that very sentence? Perhaps this Lycan knew her better then she thought he did. Dismissing that possibility for the time being, Pandora simply remained where she was, unmoving, listening for more of the conversation.
Some lady at the tavern... That would have had to be either Obsi or Dain, though if they spoke to him, it was more leaning towards Dain, and that was the exact name she silently passed onto the Lycan. She could have given him a speech of what to say, how to act, but he seemed to be doing quite well for himself right now, and so Pandora forced herself to remain silent. She had given him this opportunity, and Pandora still wasn't certain what to expect from the newly arrival. Suddenly the mental lightbulb clicked on.
For a moment he almost smiled...The corner of his lip twitching ever so slightly, but he played it off with a near-psychotic twist of his head to the side, emulating the actions of his old battlemaster. That grizzled old man was damn near completely mad, and it was he that the cheif looked to for the tough interrogations and whatnot...His gaze returned to Remy, then, biting back a sharp reply to Pandora's coaching in the back of his mind. He could handle this much, at least, on his own...He wasn't some inexperienced pup, after all...His jaws clenched, the joints there releasing rather loud pops as he thought for a moment....speaking as if he had disreguarded his words completely"Ah, but for that I need to know much more about you.....About what exactly you are....your professions.....anything that you think is important. And do not try and lie...I'll smell it."[/b][/u]
“Hahaha. I like that. I can smell some lies, too, ya know…”
Was he suspicious? Had he caught something about Tathar that made it that obvious that he wasn’t this Master person? Who knew. He simply laughed and sheathed back his swords. He figured that there was no need to worry about them. If this guy wanted him dead, he would have been that way already or at least they would have been in a fight where they both ended up nicely scarred. He took a seat where the swords had been, sure the table could probably hold his weight.
”Feel lucky… you are the only one that knows my name in this place…. Out of four to eight people I haven’t mentioned once my name. You can call me Styx…. I was a pirate….I guess I am just looking for some sport…maybe a place to settle down with someone from my own kind…which reminds me… you know any?”
He was still talking so casual. Why was that? Well, either way, he seemed to be a pretty happy, yet demented, kind of guy. He would take out his pipe and light it, something that most lycans gave up on after being turned. He figured that it was just the taste and feeling that reminded him of the addiction. Maybe it was something like that. But he missed the light headed ness when he got the finest stuff. Now, he had no idea of how fine it was, it all felt the same coming and leaving his lungs.
”Eh… I figured I could cross those woods and bring some meat back… I bet you haven’t had fish or beef or any of that stuff in awhile, eh? I know I saw some of that when I left my boat, got lost in that freaking wood…and found myself half starving coming into this place…”
He still held a grin, and it seemed that the smoke simple seeped through his lips like the smoke of a fire through the crack of a door. He chuckled a little bit to himself. Maybe he would find a nice lycan woman to settle down with. That was what his mind was on right now… that and the fact there was no gambling that he had seen in the last two days.
Pandora continued to listen as Tathar demanded the truth. She doubted if he really could smell a lie, else he would have been wise to her game long ago, wouldn't he have been? Or perhaps vampires didn't give off that smell. How was she to know. It's not like she was upclose and personal with many Lycans.
As the new arrival continued to talk, and quite lengthly, Pandora remained alert and unmoving. Simply listening. Styx. So IT had a name. And then that awful smell of a pipe reached her, and Pandora could take no more.
Finally, she grabbed up her cloak and fastened it around her shoulders. It covered the unpainted skin, and with the hood drawn up, which she did that very moment, it cast a nice shadow upon her face which too made that a little less pale. Then, moving from the small back room, she stepped into the Smithary's main shop, her eye's instantly finding Styx, a cold look reflecting towards him. She doubted he'd look in her eyes, especially since she was not painted.
Even Tathar was scowled at, for not having ordered him to do so right away. Since Tathar too smoked pipe, Pandora didn't expect him to consider the fact that she detested the smell and would not allow anyone to smoke such a wretched thing in her presence.
Crossing the room, Pandora approached where Tathar sat, standing over his left shoulder, her gaze remaining on the new arrival.
He merely nodded, noting everything the lycan said. His name, the fact that he had been a pirate, all of it. Now personally he didn't have anything against pirates as people, he just didn't like them as a profession...They never wanted to pay for their goods...At least until they lost the use of a limb or two, anyway. Sure, they were a decent enough sort to party with if one was into the whole loud night out type of thing, which he wasn't...Or rather, he hadn't been for a very long time, now. As for the mention of the lack of fish or beef he scoffed, but chose to answer the first query to begin with"I am a lycan, and there are several shifters abou.....Oh, hello.....Master...."His voice trailed off into a greeting once more to her as she entered and moved to stand behind him. He had forgotten how much she detested the smell of burning tobacco, and therefore had thought nothing of it as Styx lit his own pipe. He sat down, then, reclining back a few inches to listen to the exchange take place, his part played for the moment.
He didn’t know what to think at first. He was going to talk, but she seemed rather commanding. He just chuckled and tapped it on the side of the table, the embers falling out onto the floor. He was pretty sure that Vamp’s couldn’t breathe..so why would such a smell irritate them? Hmm… Maybe they could still smell.
”Anything for a friend of the Master…”
He had no idea how wrong he was. But it was their fault that it was so. He stomped on the embers and crushed them where the smoke no longer emitted from them. He just smiled to himself and wondered what to do now. He was comfortable around another Tathar, because he was a guy and he was a lycan, and then a woman comes into the picture that is very commanding and he has no idea what to say being The Master is right in front of him. And then he would say it. Tathar called her the Master. Wait….the Master had a Master?
”So you are the Master’s Master, right?”
The Master’s Masterful plan over his masterful masterpiece of a master. Say that five times fast. He grinned. He was very carefree and like many pirates. But he was fair as long as he was treated fair and he didn’t mind sampling some of his product…well everything but his alcohol. He allowed that to be one of the few things he did not partake in.
Pandora remained where she was, but the expression on her face changed. Now, it held no emotions. Tathar would recognize that lack of expression, but the new arrival most likely would not. Her voice, monotoned as she spoke once more.
Her eyebrows didn't even arch at the question. Instead, she simply remained. A talking statue, if you will. Before she even allowed him to answer, Pandora continued.
Pandora then laid a pale cold hand on Tathar's shoulder. A mark of territory, perhaps. Or maybe simply because she could.
Mentally, she added a small conversation to the Smithy whom was staring at one of his own now.
She had almost called Styx pup, but knew it would offend Tathar as well.
Her gaze remained locked on the Hyenaman. Yes, she dubbed him the Hyenaman. Just what Tranquility needed. A carefree troublemaker.
Pandora then did one thing she never tended to do around anyone. She flashed her pearly whites. She doesn't relish the reaction they tend to get, however, a Hyena sees the flashing of teeth as a threat, and Pandora wanted to ensure that he would remember that.
He very nearly laughed, then, hearing the question about whether she was the master's Master...Wasn't it obvious by this point that he had been a ploy, albeit temporarily? Oh well...He seemed a decent, if overbearing man....And he was polite enough....Maybe he would give him a discount on those blades should he want them, but that topic was neither here nor there, listening as Pandora dictated the rules as to what Styx here would be doing...Or rather, what he would not be doing, grinning to himself at the added bit about the pipe....Ok, that one was his fault, since he had probably aggravated her with his own use of tobacco...Her thought making him clear his throat slightly in answer. He was unable to come up with an appropriate response at the moment, especially since her hand was on his shoulder, but he didn't let it show visibly at all.
After she got done talking, he couldn’t help but grin and nod to her. He almost chuckled but he had a feeling this was a very serious nature. He decided it better to keep that hidden. He wasn’t sure if it was the fact he was going to answer her on the hunting thing and got cut off or that she had her hand on the much larger lycan, pushing him down a level as if Styx himself brought up a level with this one mistake. After nodding to all the rules and regulations, he actually rose his hand as if he were in school, a grin still on his face…
“Do we get to pick the color of the cloak? Cause green makes me look fat…and blue…eh too depressing… but red and black….I likes those.”
He couldn’t help it. He was sure she probably wouldn’t like that question, but he would do as she asked. Or..well… told. But he couldn’t wipe that grin off his face. He was reminded of a former captain who acted like they were some kind of army and everything had to be done a certain way. He took the pipe and placed it in his pocket. Hyena Man to the rescue! He was pondering on if he could fly. What that had to do with the current situation…? Nothing. He would just think it cool if he was like Bird Lycan man… or if he had wings.
Pandora removed her hand from Tathar's shoulder, being able to clearly see that he was having difficulty thinking with it there. God, she loved the ability to shift through thoughts and mindroll with contact. Of course, it'd be easier if she didn't need the contact at all. And not a single person knew of it. Not Portier. Not the Queen, and definately not Tathar else he not want her to touch him anymore.
Instead, she resisted the urge to roll her eyes as Styx posed his question. Her reply was simple.
And then, she simply broke the seal of her standing still and moved towards the door. Without looking back at Tathar, knowing now was not the time for another 'moment', she opened the door to the Smithary and exited into the night, the rain already beating down and the soft sound of thunder rumbling through the small realm, a storm readily approaching. She would be lucky if she made it to the Tower before soaked to the bone.
She left the two lycans to their own habits. After all, she had said her piece.
Tathar Seregon
Rembrant "Styx" Devereaux
Location: Tower
Time: three and a half hours after sunset
She'd been lying there awake for nearly an hour, listening to the world around her. Everything sounded quite different in the Square compared to the Tower. The voices were louder, the sounds of the Square shops easily drifting to the Vampires ears. However, she had an appointment this evening, and thus she really needed to get her behind in gear. Sitting up from the cot instantly, Pandora snapped her eye's open and scanned the room which was already committed to memory. Within a flash, she was out of the cot and trying miserably to adjust the gown in which she had fallen asleep in. Never would she do that again, blasted thing's were anything but comfortable.
After a few brief moments, she finally gave up, clearly realizing it was as good as it was going to get. Her fingers then began quickly working the pins from her hair, each strand falling down around her face until there were pins no more. She left those in a neat little pile in the middle of the cot, and raked her fingers through the unrulely hair.
Her paint wasn't here so there wasn't really a damned thing she could do about the paleness of her skin. Why, no one but her personal attendant had ever seen Pandora when she was NOT painted. Poor Lycan was about to really see what he had gotten himself mixed up with.
Squaring her shoulders, Pandora crossed the small back room and stepped into the main room of the Smithary, her eye's darting around to see just where said lycan was located.
He had pretty much just been holed up within the shop area of the building the entire day, save for that slight moment when he had entered to grab his journal from the floor. Everything had been closed for business for the day to keep the noise down to a minimum, although the shop had been open. He hadn't made very many sales, simply a carving knife and some arrowheads, but that was better than nothing. As she exited his room his attention snapped to her, brow raising slightly at her appearance. He wasn't used to seeing her unpainted, and only now did the sheer paleness of her skin truly catch his eyes...It wasn't really that bad, to him...but he was almost sure that she would never be able to blend into a crowd like that, and he began to look around for his cloak, muttering under his breath for a moment asking himself where he'd put the thing before offering her a greeting"Evening. I trust you slept well?"[/b][/u]Styx had gotten up earlier than the time he was told, showed up to the tower door 30 minutes early and finally a guard told him the master was at the Blacksmith shop. He had figured a huge lycan always needed a good blade, even he needed a sword from time to time, so he walked slowly there. He scratched his head and thought about the last two or three nights. Wandering with tavernkeepers and fighting with shapeshifters in rings of fire. Stealing from vamps and being stolen from by them initially, so you decided it be best for it all to be brought back to original owners. Thinking about this place and the people in it that he had met so far, he would chuckle as he walked up to the door and knocked on it.“Was told that I could find The Master, here?”
He looked to the sky. It was far from sunset, and he had figured that maybe the master, a beast of a man was probably off killing some poor sap during the night and forgot to come home. Afterall, the master was definitely against these rules that he kept hearing about.
Pandora gave a simple nod of her head upon hearing the Lycan's inquiry, her own eyebrows arching as he began to look around the shop. She had, of course, noticed the way his eye's seem to take in her appearance, and had she been able to blush probably would have. As it stood, there was no chance of that happening, so instead Pandora squared her shoulders. This was what she was, might as well get it over with now. "Quite, thank you."
Her eye's then travelled to the window in which Portier had used as her personal enterance the eve before. It still sat there, void of glass, seeming as if it were a small door positioned quite a distance from the ground. She stared at it, and a moment passed. Then another, as in her mind, the images of what happened last eve played out in slow motion. Upon the Knock at the door, Pandora flashed back to the present, already moving before the voice called from outside. Her eye's on the Lycan, Pandora risked the move she hadn't bothered to do with the Lycan unless he was in his beastly state. She spoke to him, her lips not moving, no voice to accompany her words.
"How would you like to be Master of the City for a night?"
Of course, she wasn't offering him her position, but she didn't like to meet anyone outside the Tower. The voice on the other side of the door was not familiar, which only meant one thing. A new member of NightWorld. One whom wouldn't know who she was. They couldn't verywell send him away and claim the Master of the City wasn't here. After all, if William hadn't told him where she could be found, the guards outside the Smithary surely would give it away.
All she wanted was a chance to get a feel for him before revealing who she was. Better the Lycan risk that then her own head, seeing as he could at least appear normal. Were it someone whom didn't belong to NightWorld, and they spotted her like this, it would certainly cause an uproar.
She stood there, eye's pleading with the Lycan, as she waited his answer. If he agreed, she would instantly move to the small room she had just emerged from. If he refused, she'd simply be forced to let him open the door and greet who or whatever was seeking her out.
The knock had been unexpected...and the statement that the voice outside made was equally so. Who had told him that she would be here, exactly? Had the guards been blabbing their mouths to everyone in the village? He almost told the man at the door to go away, but her voice stayed his own, eyes moving to her, realising that her words came not from her lips, remembering the last moon phase he had spent within the Tower. He was not used to communicating like this, but he tried focusing once more on his words, praying that she would pick them up somehow"Aye, I can."And with that he turned to face the door, motioning for her to disappear within the dark confines of his room, brows furrowing, trying to get his expression stern as possible. With one his size, it wasn't hard to be intimidating, at least not too terribly much so, and he was trying to get his expression as close as possible to something similar to constant anger. His voice was another story.,..He had no problems with changing his tone to a growling voice, and rather than move to open the door for the man he instead called out, voice rough and deep"Enter."[/b][/u]Now intimidation really never worked on one like Styx, and that was because he chose to face his fears in all mediocrity and in all splendor. When he heard some mumbling within, he figured that the master was just busy and that he himself was unexpected. The guy at the gate finally told him after he continued to knock and knock once the sun had set, to bug off that the Master was in the village. Well, he would talk to one guard who said the Master was shopping, or perhaps talking to some person. Another said the Master was getting a sword polished. So, he assumed, and hoped he had assumed right. Walking into the building, he cleared his throat and noted that it had nice tools and weaponry, and he was not a weapon maker per se, but he could use a good bit of any of the tools in this place for his goals if he ever needed to.”Are you the master?”
Obviously in his mind, he would assume that his assumption was right and he grinned about that as he looked up at him. He himself was much like a Hyena. Small, but fast, and vicious if he ever got in a fight. So he figured that this lycan was either a bear, or a wolf, or maybe a huge gorilla! He had no idea what lycans could be what. He just knew that he had met a few werewolves and a one like him that he killed because the bastard was too clingy and almost had him killed.
From the back room, Pandora could easily hear the ongoings within the main room of the Smithary. She stood, her arms folded over her chest, unmoving. With the silence of all the Smithy's contraptions turned off, words simply drifted without the need to struggle to pick them up. A small smirk came to her face when she heard Tathar's command to enter. Did she really sound so... constipated and rude? Bonus!
As the new arrival entered and outrightly asked if Tathar was the Master, Pandora found herself freezing. Had she actually breathed, she probably would have held that too. Would he be able to pull it off?
Closing her eye's, Pandora tried to get a glimps into the new arrivals mind, knowing it was pointless. She needed contact to do that. She could speak to them, but that probably wouldn't have been wise given the current positions. Instead, Pandora spoke to Tathar.
"Be furious. No one has the right to ask you questions. You should be irrate that he has asked it of you, m'darling."
Of course, she doubted Tathar would listen. He never really listened to anyone. And thus, she waited, just as curious as the new arrival, though for completely different reasons.
He watched as the man entered....Small...The blacksmith in him nudging at the back of his mind, decades of experience letting him know that this man was most likely a dual-style wielder. Perhaps, after this little charade were over, and if he had the money, he would be interested in the two small short swords that he'd made just after coming here...It seemed that they would fit him nicely...But his other side, the beast, naggingly brought his attention to a certain feeling...That gut instinct that let him know that this man was also a Were, and he stood, just as Pandora's instructions as to how he should act met his mind. He looked to the side for a moment...wondering just how to get the point across to another kin when the idea hit him...He would follow her own instruction...but with his own flair, and he reached slowly behind his head and withdrew the rather overlarged scimitar from the clasp and setting it down in front of him, the light from the nearby lantern dancing along the pure silver edge, as well as the cruelly serrated teeth at the bottom third of this. The silver wasn't the only bit, though...The thin bronze plating coating the steel blade underneath at the spine had soaked up a lot of blood over the many, many years that he had had it...blood of both lycans and vampires and shifters and humans. Since the man was what he was, his sense of smell would no doubt catch this reeking scent, and this time when he spoke his voice very nearly shook with fury, albeit manufacted fury...He was merely doing his best to play his part"The questions are my place to ask, and you will wait for me to do so if you value your own head and hide. Now, state your business..."[/b][/u]In truth, his comfort was about normal. That was because he had dealt with some of the most violent of people and he liked them because, he always liked a good fight. That is why he was considered so despicable. When his crew mutinied against him, he killed half of them just for the fun of it. But then again, it was close to a full moon around that time and he partially shifted where he had the claws and the fangs to do it. None of them were faster or stronger than him. And his speed played key in most of his fights. He snickered and took out two small cutlass like swords, identical with golden hilts, leather covering the handles for a good grip. He took them from behind his back and placed them down on a small table beside him. The smell had caught his nose, and he loved it! He was truly not a normal one. But then again, someone planning on being a butcher, must love blood and meat.”You know… I figured you would be as awesome as I expected….I got me two nice ones, too, eh?”
He could smell a old damp snake fleshy like smell, which meant only one thing was behind one of the doors, but he wasn’t going to say anything. He figured that whoever this guy talked to was his own business. And in truth, he didn’t have anything against vampires, just those who thought they were better than him.He glanced from the door to Tathar and snickered a little bit more, an obvious halt in between the two series of laughs.
”I was set up for appointment at the tower with you…and then you were getting over an hour or so late….and one of the guards said you might be here.”
He said to explain his situation as he walked towards a wall full of swords, including the ones that Tathar was mentioning. They were nice indeed. If he had the money, he would like a pair of those, because short straight blades proved challenging. Maybe the master would like him and put them on hold til he got a business up? He wasn’t sure. He continued to speak.
”Some lady at the tavern said that as a new Lycan in these parts, I might need to see you for a cloak and something about rules of the land…eh, I don’t know….so… here I am.”
He would say this with a grin, still enjoying the horrid smell of rotting flesh that filled his nostrils.
Oh lord, she had never wanted to laugh so much in her life. She wasn't certain if it was because the Lycan was doing quite well in a seat of power, or because she knew she could not. From her position in the small room in the back, she was unable to see Tathar's prop, but she had heard the faint sound of an object moving. Someone had drawn something. It was a mighty good thing that Pandora wasn't the jealous type, else she'd have been furious for being stuck out of a perfectly good line of sight to see the ongoings. Instead, she was quite content with hearing it.
State your business... How many times had she used that very sentence? Perhaps this Lycan knew her better then she thought he did. Dismissing that possibility for the time being, Pandora simply remained where she was, unmoving, listening for more of the conversation.
Some lady at the tavern... That would have had to be either Obsi or Dain, though if they spoke to him, it was more leaning towards Dain, and that was the exact name she silently passed onto the Lycan. She could have given him a speech of what to say, how to act, but he seemed to be doing quite well for himself right now, and so Pandora forced herself to remain silent. She had given him this opportunity, and Pandora still wasn't certain what to expect from the newly arrival. Suddenly the mental lightbulb clicked on.
~Race? Threat? Intent and purposes? Come on, Tathar, get to business and stop dickin around!~
[/b][/u][/center]For a moment he almost smiled...The corner of his lip twitching ever so slightly, but he played it off with a near-psychotic twist of his head to the side, emulating the actions of his old battlemaster. That grizzled old man was damn near completely mad, and it was he that the cheif looked to for the tough interrogations and whatnot...His gaze returned to Remy, then, biting back a sharp reply to Pandora's coaching in the back of his mind. He could handle this much, at least, on his own...He wasn't some inexperienced pup, after all...His jaws clenched, the joints there releasing rather loud pops as he thought for a moment....speaking as if he had disreguarded his words completely"Ah, but for that I need to know much more about you.....About what exactly you are....your professions.....anything that you think is important. And do not try and lie...I'll smell it."[/b][/u] “Hahaha. I like that. I can smell some lies, too, ya know…”Was he suspicious? Had he caught something about Tathar that made it that obvious that he wasn’t this Master person? Who knew. He simply laughed and sheathed back his swords. He figured that there was no need to worry about them. If this guy wanted him dead, he would have been that way already or at least they would have been in a fight where they both ended up nicely scarred. He took a seat where the swords had been, sure the table could probably hold his weight.
”Feel lucky… you are the only one that knows my name in this place…. Out of four to eight people I haven’t mentioned once my name. You can call me Styx…. I was a pirate….I guess I am just looking for some sport…maybe a place to settle down with someone from my own kind…which reminds me… you know any?”
He was still talking so casual. Why was that? Well, either way, he seemed to be a pretty happy, yet demented, kind of guy. He would take out his pipe and light it, something that most lycans gave up on after being turned. He figured that it was just the taste and feeling that reminded him of the addiction. Maybe it was something like that. But he missed the light headed ness when he got the finest stuff. Now, he had no idea of how fine it was, it all felt the same coming and leaving his lungs.
”Eh… I figured I could cross those woods and bring some meat back… I bet you haven’t had fish or beef or any of that stuff in awhile, eh? I know I saw some of that when I left my boat, got lost in that freaking wood…and found myself half starving coming into this place…”
He still held a grin, and it seemed that the smoke simple seeped through his lips like the smoke of a fire through the crack of a door. He chuckled a little bit to himself. Maybe he would find a nice lycan woman to settle down with. That was what his mind was on right now… that and the fact there was no gambling that he had seen in the last two days.
Pandora continued to listen as Tathar demanded the truth. She doubted if he really could smell a lie, else he would have been wise to her game long ago, wouldn't he have been? Or perhaps vampires didn't give off that smell. How was she to know. It's not like she was upclose and personal with many Lycans. As the new arrival continued to talk, and quite lengthly, Pandora remained alert and unmoving. Simply listening. Styx. So IT had a name. And then that awful smell of a pipe reached her, and Pandora could take no more.
Finally, she grabbed up her cloak and fastened it around her shoulders. It covered the unpainted skin, and with the hood drawn up, which she did that very moment, it cast a nice shadow upon her face which too made that a little less pale. Then, moving from the small back room, she stepped into the Smithary's main shop, her eye's instantly finding Styx, a cold look reflecting towards him. She doubted he'd look in her eyes, especially since she was not painted.
"You will put that out, Mister Styx."
Even Tathar was scowled at, for not having ordered him to do so right away. Since Tathar too smoked pipe, Pandora didn't expect him to consider the fact that she detested the smell and would not allow anyone to smoke such a wretched thing in her presence.
Crossing the room, Pandora approached where Tathar sat, standing over his left shoulder, her gaze remaining on the new arrival.
"Now."
[/b][/u][/center]He merely nodded, noting everything the lycan said. His name, the fact that he had been a pirate, all of it. Now personally he didn't have anything against pirates as people, he just didn't like them as a profession...They never wanted to pay for their goods...At least until they lost the use of a limb or two, anyway. Sure, they were a decent enough sort to party with if one was into the whole loud night out type of thing, which he wasn't...Or rather, he hadn't been for a very long time, now. As for the mention of the lack of fish or beef he scoffed, but chose to answer the first query to begin with"I am a lycan, and there are several shifters abou.....Oh, hello.....Master...."His voice trailed off into a greeting once more to her as she entered and moved to stand behind him. He had forgotten how much she detested the smell of burning tobacco, and therefore had thought nothing of it as Styx lit his own pipe. He sat down, then, reclining back a few inches to listen to the exchange take place, his part played for the moment.He didn’t know what to think at first. He was going to talk, but she seemed rather commanding. He just chuckled and tapped it on the side of the table, the embers falling out onto the floor. He was pretty sure that Vamp’s couldn’t breathe..so why would such a smell irritate them? Hmm… Maybe they could still smell.”Anything for a friend of the Master…”
He had no idea how wrong he was. But it was their fault that it was so. He stomped on the embers and crushed them where the smoke no longer emitted from them. He just smiled to himself and wondered what to do now. He was comfortable around another Tathar, because he was a guy and he was a lycan, and then a woman comes into the picture that is very commanding and he has no idea what to say being The Master is right in front of him. And then he would say it. Tathar called her the Master. Wait….the Master had a Master?
”So you are the Master’s Master, right?”
The Master’s Masterful plan over his masterful masterpiece of a master. Say that five times fast. He grinned. He was very carefree and like many pirates. But he was fair as long as he was treated fair and he didn’t mind sampling some of his product…well everything but his alcohol. He allowed that to be one of the few things he did not partake in.
Pandora remained where she was, but the expression on her face changed. Now, it held no emotions. Tathar would recognize that lack of expression, but the new arrival most likely would not. Her voice, monotoned as she spoke once more. "I am the only Master you need to concern yourself with at the moment. Now tell me, Lycan. What are your hunting limits?"
Her eyebrows didn't even arch at the question. Instead, she simply remained. A talking statue, if you will. Before she even allowed him to answer, Pandora continued.
"The correct answer is 'I do not hunt, Master'."
Pandora then laid a pale cold hand on Tathar's shoulder. A mark of territory, perhaps. Or maybe simply because she could.
"You will NOT hunt within Tranquility. You will NOT reveal your true being to anyone, and I do mean anyone, until Tathar here has approved it. You WILL report to the Tower every Moon Phase, dawned in the cloak that you WILL pick up this week after sunset. And pay attention, because I do not repeat myself. You Will NOT light that blasted pipe in my presence again, understood?"
Mentally, she added a small conversation to the Smithy whom was staring at one of his own now.
~Conflict of interest to teach this... one the ways of the Realm?~
She had almost called Styx pup, but knew it would offend Tathar as well.
Her gaze remained locked on the Hyenaman. Yes, she dubbed him the Hyenaman. Just what Tranquility needed. A carefree troublemaker.
Pandora then did one thing she never tended to do around anyone. She flashed her pearly whites. She doesn't relish the reaction they tend to get, however, a Hyena sees the flashing of teeth as a threat, and Pandora wanted to ensure that he would remember that.
He very nearly laughed, then, hearing the question about whether she was the master's Master...Wasn't it obvious by this point that he had been a ploy, albeit temporarily? Oh well...He seemed a decent, if overbearing man....And he was polite enough....Maybe he would give him a discount on those blades should he want them, but that topic was neither here nor there, listening as Pandora dictated the rules as to what Styx here would be doing...Or rather, what he would not be doing, grinning to himself at the added bit about the pipe....Ok, that one was his fault, since he had probably aggravated her with his own use of tobacco...Her thought making him clear his throat slightly in answer. He was unable to come up with an appropriate response at the moment, especially since her hand was on his shoulder, but he didn't let it show visibly at all. After she got done talking, he couldn’t help but grin and nod to her. He almost chuckled but he had a feeling this was a very serious nature. He decided it better to keep that hidden. He wasn’t sure if it was the fact he was going to answer her on the hunting thing and got cut off or that she had her hand on the much larger lycan, pushing him down a level as if Styx himself brought up a level with this one mistake. After nodding to all the rules and regulations, he actually rose his hand as if he were in school, a grin still on his face…“Do we get to pick the color of the cloak? Cause green makes me look fat…and blue…eh too depressing… but red and black….I likes those.”
He couldn’t help it. He was sure she probably wouldn’t like that question, but he would do as she asked. Or..well… told. But he couldn’t wipe that grin off his face. He was reminded of a former captain who acted like they were some kind of army and everything had to be done a certain way. He took the pipe and placed it in his pocket. Hyena Man to the rescue! He was pondering on if he could fly. What that had to do with the current situation…? Nothing. He would just think it cool if he was like Bird Lycan man… or if he had wings.
Pandora removed her hand from Tathar's shoulder, being able to clearly see that he was having difficulty thinking with it there. God, she loved the ability to shift through thoughts and mindroll with contact. Of course, it'd be easier if she didn't need the contact at all. And not a single person knew of it. Not Portier. Not the Queen, and definately not Tathar else he not want her to touch him anymore. Instead, she resisted the urge to roll her eyes as Styx posed his question. Her reply was simple.
"Certainly. But you will not be gaining entry to the Tower without the proper cloak. I assure you, you will not be missed."
And then, she simply broke the seal of her standing still and moved towards the door. Without looking back at Tathar, knowing now was not the time for another 'moment', she opened the door to the Smithary and exited into the night, the rain already beating down and the soft sound of thunder rumbling through the small realm, a storm readily approaching. She would be lucky if she made it to the Tower before soaked to the bone.
She left the two lycans to their own habits. After all, she had said her piece.
