Unnatural

[Amarith Waterspring]

Cassidy Aaronson was aboard the ferry traveling to Sylest. She had been sailing for several hours now and would be arriving very soon. Cassidy watched the waves beat against the ship as she thought. She and her family had been traders and traveled around the country and she had, consequently, picked up a lot of random bits of information, some were useful, some were something she heard and quickly forgot about. Some were just too weird to ever find a circumstance to need them! Cassidy was currently thinking about the last time she had wandered off away from their trading group and gotten herself lost (which happened a lot). Her father and mother had gone out and searched half the village before finding her and returning with her to the camp while keeping a firm eye on her all the way. As she was absorbed in her thoughts, a sailor said to another creature "We`ll dock in just an hour. Not to long now. Best get settled for now. It`s not so long you`ll be sleepin` afore we land, but there`s no point in just standin` `round. We know what we`re doin`." Cassidy thought "I know you know what you are doing, but I wish you knew how to make this trip faster. I`m already sore from sitting so long!" Cassidy shifted her legs and pulled her cloak around her more tightly, as the winds were harsh. She settled down into her state of semiconsiousness once more.

[BlueRose]

Selva shrugged and bit into her own apple, speaking around a mouthful. "It's not treating me. Just like always, it's hitting me over the head with a stick." She swallowed and grinned  conspiratorially. "Got some pretty good loot from the pockets of one of the poncy ladyfolk on the high road though. Have to wait a moon or so before I sell, but that'll be some coin in me pocket." She took another bite of the apple. "Been watchin' me folks' place. Da' fin'ly took a run for it. Prolly went down th' coast." Looking at Rayne, she turned the question the other way. " 'Bout you? Any luck lately?"

"Well, at least ya got somethin', right?" Rayne said with a wink and a bite of her apple before answering her friend's question. "Eh, alight, I suppose. Haven't managed to nick anythin', though, but I imagine I'll be able to scrounge, but maybe what I've found tonight'll be a good omen, eh?"

Selva scowled. "Don't scarper off a'ter omens. Only leads a mot inta danger." She finished her apple and tossed the bits she couldn't eat into a nearby bin. "A'most got caught by d'soljers t'day. Got to uppity a'ter lootin'." Selva found herself falling into a street accent. She relished the tiny feeling of superiority that she got every time she realized that her time pickpocketing higher ranking creatures gave her a better handle on speech. "Had any run-ins? D'soljers been crackin' down 'ard."

[LT Sandpaw]

Sven had lost his chasers and was now wondering the city pulling a loaf of bread from a passerby's basket. Munching hungrily on the loaf he almost ran into a fisher cat, noticing the creature at the last second he swerved making to go around when he stopped dead in his tracks.

Spinning Sven faced the larger creature a look of surprise stamped on his face.

"Great fur an famine ain't you the cat that had the smoke an nearly killed me?" He gasped in a loud whisper glancing around quickly to make sure no beast was listening.

[Cornflower MM]

Selva scowled. "Don't scarper off a'ter omens. Only leads a mot inta danger." She finished her apple and tossed the bits she couldn't eat into a nearby bin. "A'most got caught by d'soljers t'day. Got to uppity a'ter lootin'." Selva found herself falling into a street accent. She relished the tiny feeling of superiority that she got every time she realized that her time pickpocketing higher ranking creatures gave her a better handle on speech. "Had any run-ins? D'soljers been crackin' down 'ard."

Rayne raised an eyebrow at her friend's accent, but merely said, "Well, at leas' ya got away. I've seen a few beasts gettin' arrested after gettin' a little too cocky." She also tossed the remains of her apple away. "Eh, nearly got caught a few days ago. I got a tad. . . . . . Upset. But I got away after a bit a' twists and turns."  She confided. She'd gotten a bit mad after a high-ranking beast had knocked into her, throwing her into a bit of mud. Rayne had started yelling at the mouse who'd done it, and then suddenly there had been two mice. The guards who had been coming over to no doubt tell her off had suddenly developed a bigger interest in her, and Rayne had run.

[Unimaginative]

Canny backed up, glancing from side to side nervously.
"No?..." he said, his paw moving to the Scimitar at his waste.

[LT Sandpaw]

Seeing the cats sword Sven backed away holding up his paws.

"Hold hard there, I ain't going to do nothing, quiet now don't make a scene that's the last thing either o' us needs." Winking at the cat Sven motioned for Canny to follow him heading inside a nearby ally that looked deserted.

[The Skarzs]

Haenrok waited for a while before speaking again to the squirrelmaid. "If you don't mind my asking, what exactly is your. . . 'magic'?"

OOC: Sorry for the wimpy post. . .

[Unimaginative]

Canny cautiously followed Sven into the alley, still keeping a paw on his Scimitar.

[BlueRose]

Selva scowled. "Don't scarper off a'ter omens. Only leads a mot inta danger." She finished her apple and tossed the bits she couldn't eat into a nearby bin. "A'most got caught by d'soljers t'day. Got to uppity a'ter lootin'." Selva found herself falling into a street accent. She relished the tiny feeling of superiority that she got every time she realized that her time pickpocketing higher ranking creatures gave her a better handle on speech. "Had any run-ins? D'soljers been crackin' down 'ard."

Rayne raised an eyebrow at her friend's accent, but merely said, "Well, at leas' ya got away. I've seen a few beasts gettin' arrested after gettin' a little too cocky." She also tossed the remains of her apple away. "Eh, nearly got caught a few days ago. I got a tad. . . . . . Upset. But I got away after a bit a' twists and turns."  She confided. She'd gotten a bit mad after a high-ranking beast had knocked into her, throwing her into a bit of mud. Rayne had started yelling at the mouse who'd done it, and then suddenly there had been two mice. The guards who had been coming over to no doubt tell her off had suddenly developed a bigger interest in her, and Rayne had run.

Selva was suddenly nervous. What Rayne had just said about being upset might sound normal to a passerby, but to Selva it denoted the presence of The Thing. She knew that to get upset was to lose control. She began unwrapping and re-wrapping the dirty bandages around her head shakily. In the forest, other beasts with The Thing were fine to be around. In the city, it was almost a death sentence.

If anyone noticed the alley getting darker faster than usual, they put it down to cloud cover on the horizon.

[Wylder Treejumper]

Brenn was an expert at accents. He had originally picked them up as entertainment, but soon found them very useful for all sorts of things. Walking up casually in full view of the rabble and pickpockets so as not to startle them, he set about pretending to look for some food in the slushpile. After a short while, he struck up a whispered conversation with a young female otter next to him. Putting on a street accent was easy enough, though he was careful not to use one from Sylest so as to avoid suspicion. "Wha's the big knockabout 'ere? I sawed some fellers out in them woods ou'sider der city gettin runabout by some tin'eads. I heared this city were good pickin's, so I camed down ter' see, but it be seemin purty risky ter me."

[Faiyloe]

Alarie looked away at the question and sighed. "it's... It's like sparks and lightning and things. I... When they tried to burn me..." Her voice shook and she looked back down at the painful scorch mark on her arm and bit her lip before continuing "The rat who was holding the iron, he... I... He got shocked pretty bad, the lightning shot up the bar an afore I knew it he was lying on the floor...  he didn't move... he just lay there and didn't move... ,"   

[Faiyloe]

A fire burned in the hearth of the lounge room, the light outside had gone and curtains where drawn by servants to keep out prying eyes. Pheidon stood by the hearth leaning against the mantle be hind his fathers chair. Osullad sat in a large uncomfortable looking armchair, which resembled more of a throne than an armchair.  Feva lounged on a heavily cushioned couch while Rhima sat on a pile of cousins on the floor her back resting near the foot of the couch.

Rhima took a grape from a bowl of fruit sitting on the table and popped it in her mouth. "I heard rumor that four new magic beasts grace our prions." She said.

"It was only three the fourth, a rat was to old to have magic," Pheidon said intent of pointing out his sisters flaws.

"Three is still good, more than we have had at once in a long time," Feva said

"I fear though that our methods are not good enough, We will never be able to catch them all this way. We are to lenient. Imagine what would happen if one of them eluded us long enough to become independent. "  Pheidons said.

"Many betray themselves before then and the others are turned in by our spies," Feva said reassuringly.

"Perhaps he is right, We should start making the executions public inducing fear in those who would think to appose us," Rhima said.

"No..." Osullad said finaly speaking. "That would make them martyrs. It would give their following even more fire. Some times uncertainty is more powerful a tool. They will continue to just disappear. However we can round up some of their following and execute them in the main square. That might get people thinking,"

"Let us also advertise the rewards involved in turning in a magic beast," Feva said "Some beast are motivated even more by wealth than they are by fear,"

[BlueRose]

Brenn was an expert at accents. He had originally picked them up as entertainment, but soon found them very useful for all sorts of things. Walking up casually in full view of the rabble and pickpockets so as not to startle them, he set about pretending to look for some food in the slushpile. After a short while, he struck up a whispered conversation with a young female otter next to him. Putting on a street accent was easy enough, though he was careful not to use one from Sylest so as to avoid suspicion. "Wha's the big knockabout 'ere? I sawed some fellers out in them woods ou'sider der city gettin runabout by some tin'eads. I heared this city were good pickin's, so I camed down ter' see, but it be seemin purty risky ter me."

Selva turned with a small jump and then blinked up at the squirrel. Her bandage was in her paw instead of around her head, so her milk-white eye contrasted heavily to her brown fur and the lengthening shadows in the alley. The ottermaid shrugged, her face schooled into nonchalance after the initial fright. It would seem odd if she already knew about what happened in the forest. "Dunno. D'soljers don' yammer 'bout what they been doin' on ev'r street corner." She wrapped her bandage back into its place and looked back at the stranger. "S'not a safe place t'be for anybeast 'round 'ere nowadays. D'cod 'oo tolja there were pickins ere of any kind pulled one over on ya." She let  hostility show through in her last sentence. There wasn't enough food for all the streeties the city already had, much less for travelers.

[Wylder Treejumper]

Brenn looked at her thoughtfully. "Maybe 'e did, maybe 'e didn'... Or maybes, the pickin's be in places other'n what yer lookin fer in..." He smiled slyly. "I gotten me a pretty good deal this mornin'." He reached into a pouch at his belt and showed her some bronze and a few silver coins. "Seems plenny roun' here fer a good pickerpocket. Them tinheads are so tied up in that armor, and them heads is so high from thinkin they's invincible, they don't be keepin good track o' their purses no more. Not the least after they'm haved a nice drink..."

Brenn was playing a dangerous game. He had to get her curious, and maybe a bit impressed with him, but at the same time rub her fur the wrong way a bit, just enough for her to get a bit competetive. He needed to have someone to learn the area from...

[BlueRose]

Selva almost laughed. Two could play at that game. She pulled a face that was impressed, curious, and riled up at the same time; a look that would undoubtedly be more impressive could she use both eyes. "Where'choo get that?"

She knew it was a ploy for information, she just needed to play along until she found out what information exactly. She knew there had been an arrest earlier, and if this squirrel was asking about the ruckus in the forest, it could be that the arrestee had described a young ottermaid with a bandage over her eye. This stranger could very well be a spy.

OOC: No rhyme intended, I swear.