A sheep in wolf's clothing.

[Armaud Eden]

[SIZE=11pt]He practically trailed off into his own thoughts, missing her response altogether. He was captivated by the taste of the tobacco, not often allowed to have it with how his mother viewed smoking. Even though Gabe was allowed it whenever he wanted.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Then sets of feet became many in the distance and he felt the slightest tinge of something different, like the ears of a wolf twitching in response to stimuli. He didn’t need to look if he just felt though he struggled with the temptation. He suddenly realized that perhaps his nonchalance was landing him in deeper water than he liked.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Mmm…” Affirmation came in a grunt as he pulled the hood further over his head. “Tailrings, owls, marsupials, [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]rodents[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]...they come in all forms.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]He might have had a fleeting chance at stopping [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]her[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] from doing anything against these rogues. But if she had anything resembling a posse, he’d be nothing but a potential target. And all the while, he was finding it difficult to actually care - the frame of their view being more and more filled by the site of this unknown building.[/SIZE]

 

[Blackthorne]

[SIZE=11pt]“Tame little [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]creatures[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt],” the woman intoned, eyeing the man’s pipe briefly before squeezing herself through a crowd lined up at a food vendor, “I’m talking about wild [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]monsters[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]. Vornskr, akk akks, terentatek, nexu, zakkegs...”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The food smelled good, surprising given the locale, and her stomach growled to pause for a bite but her mind compelled her to remain on-task. Not long for now, the warehouse was only a short distance away and, rather suddenly, there were no longer any rogue figures following their footsteps.[/SIZE]

 

[Armaud Eden]

[SIZE=11pt]He moved with her, not readily providing an answer. Life was a journey and he was just beginning his, though he had known beasts and hoped to know more. A dragonsnake in the swamps of Dagobah provided for an odd friend. But those were often the best type.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Monsters come in many forms...many sizes.” He stated quietly, gazing over the various supplies of cooking meats and vendored produce. It smelled good, for what he could gather over the scent of the tobacco, but he questioned the freshness and origins and the process of butchering. A free port wasn’t the most hygienic of locations and even more so, removal from the hunt removed the joy of consumption.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]He would stick to pine nuts, for the time being. And glancing upwards towards the building, he spotted the shadow of a beast in flight, darting behind the industrial building.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“None of those creatures live where I call home. Though I had hoped to spot a Marsh Wyrm on my descent to port…”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]For science. Obviously.[/SIZE]

 

[Blackthorne]

[SIZE=11pt]Monsters come in many forms...many sizes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]This garnered a pointed stare of acidic green. He wasn’t wrong. He wasn’t wrong at all. What he was, if anything were to be assumed all things considered, was inexperienced. Or perhaps not well-traveled. Mirth crept back into the Captain’s expression, emboldening her strides the closer they drew to the warehouse. She, too, caught the flicker of wings in the sky.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Almost there.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“This home of yours sounds … [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]boring[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]. If all you were hoping to see were Marsh Wyrms you need to get out more, mate.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Purpose rekindled. Her stride picked up, taking her to a side entrance of the warehouse where she paused at the door, finding it locked.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“There’s a whole great galaxy of beasts out there…” Blackthorne took a moment to look about, peering around through the rain at the side of the building, spying an access ladder. Perfect. “Many that would have your Marsh Wyrm for lunch.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Off to the ladder and up she went.[/SIZE]

 

[Armaud Eden]

[SIZE=11pt]“There’s always a bigger fish, isn’t there?” He took her judgment for what it was. A presentation of something he couldn’t understand. Or perhaps it was simply something he had yet to experience: a need to prove something.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Gripping his hand around the wooden bowl of the pipe, he bared his teeth as he withdrew the stem and tapped against the enamel. “Different strokes for different folks I suppose, but boring helps to give more exciting moments...[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]vibrancy[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt].” [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Bitter and sweet, hand in hand.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]He stopped at the side entrance, placing a free hand against the brick. Watching as she moved upward, he looked skyward towards the falling rain as it collected against his freckled face and ginger hair. He closed his eyes as he listened to her purpose as it pushed her up the ladder.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“You are not one for the moments of stillness, are you?” Calloused hands found the rungs of the ladder as he followed behind her, unsure of the purpose beyond finding these loosed beasts that circled the makeshift rookery.[/SIZE]

 

[Blackthorne]

[SIZE=11pt]“I’ll be still when I’m [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]dead[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt],” replied the woman from above, rain dripping from her longcoat onto the hood of the man below, “and maybe not even then.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Surely death was more than stillness. Had to be something after all the chaos of the living. What was it the Elders had said in the centuries before her time?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]If I cannot influence the Gods then I will move all hell.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Something she could subscribe to given her current lot in life. Thorne reached the top and pulled herself over the edge, boots finding slick roofing metal beneath them now. After a moment to survey the roof she set off across it, slipping every so often as she slowly made her way to an open vent towards the center.[/SIZE]

 

[Armaud Eden]

[SIZE=11pt]He shook his head, doing his best not to drop the pipe to the ground below. A thing that was moving further and further away. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the answer, it just seemed an interesting choice of words.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“That’s a very serious answer…” He offered a quiet chuckle as he came up over the roof, pulling himself up on the edge behind her. Maybe he wasn’t at the point in life where things would continue invariably until his end. There was room for change. That and he was sure there were instances where she would be still.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Putting on his [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]swamp[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] feet, he stepped along the roof with an odd ease. As if slippery steps were where he belonged. Moving to the vent, he pressed a hand against the frame, vision narrowing. “A lot of effort spent on things that could have just been purchased...instead of setting them loose like you did. Given that you apparently could buy that store, rotten mold spore and all.”[/SIZE]

 

[Blackthorne]

[SIZE=11pt]The pirate gave a derisive snort at this.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]“Just because a certain way is easy doesn’t mean it’s the best way.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Besides, the only one she’d wanted was the one they wouldn’t sell. Now they would learn what happens to those who said no to Captain Blackthorne. Not that a little calamity didn’t make her grin or anything. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The slats of the vents were large enough to permit an over-sized tailring but not quite large enough to permit a Pirate and a Drowned Rat. The Captain threaded her fingers together and pushed her palms out, knuckles cracking in a symphony of pops. She grabbed the frame of the vent, planted her boots and heaved. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Inhuman strength tore it away to the loud screeching of rent metal. Blackthorne tossed the thing over her shoulder and looked in. No sign of anyone below on an empty durasteel catwalk spanning across the top of several large basins of … something.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]What was that smell? Was that alcohol? [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]She moved to sit, legs dangling in through the opening, and fluidly dropped herself in to land on the walk. Curiosity stole the Pirate’s attention strongly enough to pull her to the railing and peer over to the warehouse floor below. No one had heard them over the loud din of running machinery.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The Captain thumbed the stud on her right ear again, “Kiin, search the directory of this place for consumables of the liquid kind. What are they making here?”[/SIZE]

 

[Armaud Eden]

[SIZE=11pt]“Mmm, reverse is true as well…” He wondered if someone in her life spent too much time lecturing her about things that seemed fairly straightforward. But before he could offer another quip or sarcastic rebuttal, she move forward and literally tore the vent from the roof.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]He watched quietly, cupping his hand around the bowl of the pipe. He had seen this sort of inhuman strength before, though he was sure that Gabe and Cerusia weren’t aware of his presence. And if they were, perhaps they simply didn’t care. Either way, he just watched in silence as she performed the feat of strength with no apparent sign of exhaustion.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Gripping the ledge with his left hand, he hopped in and dangled for a moment. Feet flailing, he fell to the catwalk with a plop.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“So you...uhh, workout?” He pointed the stem of the pipe towards the open hole in the ceiling. “I mean, that’s not normal is it?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]As the tobacco wafted away from him, his nostrils flared and he looked over the edge. Wrapping fingers around the rail, he leaned over and took a deep breath. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Smelled like yeast.[/SIZE]

 

[Blackthorne]

Green eyes flickered from corner to corner, following the movement of workers below. Certain smells had the ability to be overpowering and this particular aroma of whatever they were brewing in here was working on something close to drexl dung. A hand slipped up to the collar of her outfit and tugged a length of maroon material loose to pull it over her nose.

"Wot?" a questioning glance to the questioner before following the line of his pipe upwards to her impromptu entryway in the roof. Not normal? Seemed perfectly normal to her. Where a way is not, make one.

"Haven't a clue what you're on about, Mold."

On the far side of the building a soft screech echoed from the rafters, reminding the Pirate just what exactly she was here for. The cowl wrapped around her face hid the smirk growing there, though it managed to reach her eyes well enough. Sidestepping her curious new acquaintance Thorne quietly made her way across the length of the catwalk. Several beady eyes blinked down from a steel beam crossing through the rising plumes of steam from a machine below. A few younger drakes were playing in the updraft, wing membranes billowing in the heat.

The Pirate came to a stand, hands reaching up to catch the brim of her hat as it blew back from the cycling gusts of air. She stood, leaning against the railing, and watched as one by one the little dragons swooped down from their perches to join her on the catwalk.

"Oh, but I can't take all of you with me," the woman gently crooned at the young female that came to sit the railing beside her, hand reaching out to stroke a finger along the serpentine neck, "we'll build you a better home then that awful place. No more cages."

 

[Armaud Eden]

Mold...he wasn't sure if that was an upgrade from Mate or not. His siblings had a tendency to call him what ever thing might have rhymed or related to Maud, so things like Mud were pretty custom. Mentally shrugging, he felt like it was close enough.

Dismissing her response with a lingering gaze and silence, he smiled as his nostrils flared once more and he strode upon the catwalk. Though he found himself stopping as the tailrings swooped down from the rafters, landing clumsily upon the railings around her. Placing an elbow on the railing, he watched quietly as she interacted with the younglings. Speaking with them as if they would understand. Because they would.

Following a plume of steam as it lifted from the pouncing turbines, his vision shifted from her to the other tailrings that seemed content to stay in the warm spot. Except for one, dancing along the beam and shifting her wings. Lifting his hand, he knocked his tongue. The shadowy form descended like a bag of duracrete with wings, banking at the lowest point before swooping upward and placing talons against his jacketed forearm.

She scooted up his arm and approached, the gash on her throat still present. Nuzzling up against his cowl, he rubbed his nose as he placed the pipe back in his teeth. "I'll ask her..." He whispered as he approached the swashbuckling woman.

"Could I trouble you for a piece...of your jerky?" The Tailring was noticeably excited, shifting back and forth on Maud's shoulder.

[member="Blackthorne"]​