Completed A Bizarre day

[Licearsvansan]

Winter 512, day 11.

Cold air blew through the holes in Svan's cloak and cloths. In his uphill quest to gather stars, Svan had fallen through trees, into walls, and off one or two roof tops. Light wounds and scrapes littered his body, but he shrugged them off as he knew they would heal in time. His clothes however were not so fortunate. On his clothes seems were unraveling, and there were so many tears that one might mistake it for intentional. Normaly unconcerned with how he looked, the cold was forcing Svan to shell out a few coins to buy something that had a few less holes in it.

Svan looked up at the building before him and frowned. He had been told by a stranger that this building was the great and wonderful market place of Alvadas. However from what Svan could see, it was anything but. It was a rather small unimpressive market, and there was not a single window in sight. "I imagine the only thing this place could sell would be mildew", Svan muttered softly. Looking down at the hand below reaching out from his cloak, Svan counted out a number of stars. He had spent the past few days hunting stars whenever the weather permited his coldblooded self to do so, but he had only amassed a small number of the little lights. Along with getting new clothing Svan hoped to gleam more information about these stars.

Shoving the stars back into his pocket Svan walked foreward into the market. What he was met with took his breath away. His hands grasped the weather beaten hood of his cloak and pulled it off to get a better view. The Bizarre, as this market was known, was bigger than any market he had ever seen. Vendors of all sorts set up shop, and a light with no origin filled the halls.

As he gazed around the stalls Svans hand fell to his coin purse. It was all but burning with desire to be spent, and who was Svan to stand in its way?

[Samantha Grenth]

Samantha stalked around the corner. The city had yet again shifted over the night and left Samantha lost as to where the Bizarre. She had wanted to check out the prices for a possible cloak if she decided to go ahead and travel north to visit the Vantha. There was talk of a large beast that was evading their grasps and was wanted dead.

Samantha let out a breathe of relief when she heard the loud noise of the market as she got closer. Finding the familiar building that often confused new comers Samantha grinned at the sight of a tattered man standing before it. The man pocketed something and strode forward.

Samantha smirked at the man as she saw just how unused to Alvadas he was. His hands fell on his coin purse just as Samantha had entered the market. Shaking her head Samantha stalked up beside the man, "If you want to actually be able to spend I suggest putting your purse somewhere it won't easily be grabbed."

Samantha herself actually had her money in her vest once again. The air might be getting colder but Samantha felt very little of it so she kept to her revealing clothing. "If I was a petty thief I could have had that purse and walked on. The market is large and it's easy to slip away." Samantha let her tiger eyes slip to the man before she started forward.

[Durvekral Wormwood]

Durvekral one-handedly held a grapefruit as he stood next to a very popular produce stand. The food stand was popular enough that he was able to blend into the crowd of people who were scurrying around for their week's nutrition.

Today, he wore his green, yellow and brown linens. It would be unfair to say that he was disguised as just an average citizen of Alvadas. This was because he was not working. He had no practical need of his darkly-shaded, leather armor. He was, in truth, an average citizen of Alvadas today.

These stretches between jobs were excruciatingly boring. It was during these time periods when Durvekral would seek out these public places in order to observe the locals. His was not a crowd watching venture for any purpose of entertainment. He was here to study these people. The city of Alvadas was honest in its demented form of mischief and malice. The people of Alvadas, on the other hand, seemed determined to maintain this farcical charade called civility. This was why he had to study them. If he was to survive, here, he'd have to understand each one of these potential assailants.

Today, he watched (to his knowledge) two humans at the Bizarre. The female seemed to have a special interest in this human male. It was interesting, her gaze didn't seem the gaze of one who was smitten or even particularly impressed. Durvekral followed her visual field with his own. She was eyeing up the male's money. "Cute," he thought, as he watched what was sure to become an incident of pickpocketing. Much to his surprise, this crime was never committed.

Soon the man was paying the same amount of attention to his own money! She had drawn his attention to his failure in personal security! This is why he watched these people! It was exactly why he needed to study them! What deeper, more insidious plot did the woman have in mind that she first needed to lull him into a false sense of security? For what reason did she have to feign caring and honesty? Durvekral silently chastised the man on the possibility that he trust this convenient stranger. Durvekral would never fall for the false generosities of a wily female!

[Licearsvansan]

Lost in daydreams of all the ways he could spend his cash, Svan didn't manage to notice the tigress until she spoke. Startled, Svan choked on his own breath. A small cough was the best he could do to regain his composure, and with a quick glanced he realized just how exposed his money purse was. Ashamed of having allowed himself to be so vulnerable, Svan combed a hand through his hair and gave a coy smile to the woman. "Well I guess the opportunity for a good first impression has gone out the window hasn't it?" Svan seemed to have a knack for bad first impressions. "You see, I've been traveling lately and, as I'm sure you know, there aren't many pickpockets outside of the city. Well I guess there are still bandits, but usualy they have the sense not to bother me.", Svan explained. Of course that was only because most sane bandits prefered to pick prey a little easier than a giant snake person. "All but one that is." Svan smiled and rubbed his belly as he happily reminiced.

Svan was quickly freed from his thoughts as he noticed the woman was walking away. Petch, I guess my second impressions are just as lousy... Svan picked up a light pace to keep up with the woman, tucking away his money purse as he did so. "Um, thanks. I guess" Showing appreciation was still obviously a foriegn concept to the dhani. "My name is Svan, you wouldn't happen to know where I could get some new clothing here do you?" Svan lifted the grey cloak that hung loosely around his shoulders. It was almost an act of the gods that the tattered thing was still held together. "I promise I'll make it up to you if you can show me" He looked back at the tigress and gave a toothy grin a half a size to big to be completly honest.

Distracted as he was, Svan was all but unaware of the man watching the snake and tiger from afar.

[Samantha Grenth]

Samantha held back a growl in annoyance as the man stumbled to catch up to her. She breathed through her nose and listened to the man, slowing her pace. She could pick up a slight draw on the 's' in his words but it was very...faint. Samantha rose an eyebrow. Hiding secrets of his race? Was he ashamed?

Samantha's respect for the creature lowered even more. "My name is Svan, you wouldn't happen to know where I could get some new clothing here do you?" he lifted the grey cloak that hung loosely around his shoulders as to prove a point. He continued to talk and Samantha simply nodded, she didn't need this man's promise. She didn't trust him to keep it anyway.

Samantha was tempted to simply leave the man to find way's on his own but Samantha figured he would end worse without her help. Crossing her arms she decided she would bargain, "I see no use in hiding one's self. Drop the act and I'll see to it we get you new clothes with out having to pay unreasonable prices price."

Samantha could feel eye's on her. She had felt them since she walked in the market but payed no head, it was normal in a sorts for her. But this gaze felt..itchy. Taking her eye's off the lying man Samantha looked around. Her gaze landed on a dreary creature with a horrible sense of style. Her tiger eye's flared a look of annoyance at the creature before turning back to Svan, "It seem's we have an audience. But if he want's to chat he can simply come. No use in hiding behind produce." Samantha said it loud enough that if the creature was listening they would know she was not pleased nor amused by this act.

Samantha hadn't upset anyone, to her knowledge, during her trips and jobs. Actually she needed another job. Her money was slowly running thin. She'd barley have enough to grab a good deal for a coat and maybe some ration's if she wished. Not that she really needed them.

[Durvekral Wormwood]

Durvekral met the woman's glare and heard her comment. He knew that he had been spotted but this didn't spur him into action. The only action that he took was to flash a subtle, almost insulting grin. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction of approaching after he had been caught. Instead, his stare no featured a smile to show that he knew that he had been found out.

It wasn't a particularly threatening or challenging smile. It wasn't a smile to convey the thought that Durvekral might have some secret plot against the woman. It was a mildly taunting smile, though. It was the smile of a man who would defiantly stare at the two individuals whether his observation was a secret or was blatantly obvious.

In all truth, Durvekral hated the idea of being noticed here in the busy market. But as he considered, what were his options now? To engage with these two strangers and attract unwarranted trouble? Or maybe he should flee. He could vanish into the crowd or into an alley.

"And," he again thought to himself. "What good would that do? Rouse their suspicions? Stimulate their memory and have them hunting for me for weeks?" At the same time that he was hesitant to invite trouble, Durvekral wasn't shallowly afraid, either. Sure, he was generally afraid but the threatening, hateful, loveless world warranted such an emotion. He didn't find himself particularly afraid of this situation or of these two people. Durvekral reasoned that his best option was to stay firm, if not a bit cocky, and continue his unsettling stare without being directly combative.

But for now, he would have to keep moving. The two had begun to walk away. There was no point in trying to remain stealthy but would have to do the same unless he was going to focus his attention elsewhere. These two seemed like a mildly entertaining form of distraction. Moreso than anyone else in the market at that moment. He decided to pursue.

Much to the annoyance of the purveyor, Durvekral carelessly dropped his fruit, causing it to roll to the ground. He walked away from the fruit stand with little interest in the angry shouting of the fruit merchant behind him.

[Licearsvansan]

"I see know use in hiding one's self. Drop the act...", Alone these word were fairly harmless. However when she spoke them there was a potent venom that struck Svan deeper than he knew any words could. She was calling him out on his pride. HIM! It would have been less rude of her to simply spit in his face. Svan's mind through out a slew of insults so vulger that even he felt that he would need to wash his mouth out after saying them. He barely managed to keep hold of himself, the taste of cool blood trickled through his mouth as he litteraly bit down his tounge.

To add further injury, It seemed that there was another person listening in on them. Had ANOTHER person noticed Svan's true nature? Svan had half a mind to shift to his dhani form, and show them both just how "proud" he was of his dhani stomach! Unfortunately, Svan was still bound by the same hidden set of rules that had kept him from being in his prefered form in the first place. Svan was quite aware of how well liked the dhani where. He had the scars to prove it. Svan closed his eyes, tilted his head down to the ground, exhaled deeply, and allowed himself to properly analyze his situation.

First he had to address the issue of having his cover blown. Svan's eyes flicked up towards the woman. He gave her the briefest of glares, one held just long enough for her to get the message and not a moment more. It was a harsh look that both begged her to keep Svan's secret, and damned her for insinuating that he had no pride. Returning to a cooler attitude Svan spoke smoothly, "You're right, its rude to hide my true personality" , Svan placed a subtle emphasis on the last word so that she would understand the real meaning of what he was saying. "This pathetic ruse of kindness is little more than shyke. However, when you are like me and find that others respond poorly to your real personality...", He was now speaking through grit teeth, "You begin to learn that sometimes its simply most convenient to play by their rules. At least when others are watching." Svan gave a quick glance towards to crowd around them and looked back at the tigress. It was fairly obvious that Svan disliked hiding his other forms, but he realized it was a neccassary evil. He gave her a half-smile and continued. "As I'm sure you can imagine it tends to help keep a few less fists in my face, and a few more knives out of my back.

Svan turned to the other figure he had been alerted to. "Unfortunately it seems it still doesn't keep some people from bothering me." Svan assumed that this newcomer was following him so that he could cause the dhani harm in one way or another. Why else would he be spying on him? Svan certainly didn't have the looks or skills to give any positive reasons for following him. Unfortunately for Durvekal, Svan had been jumped one too many times to allow the symenestra a chance to stalk them unimpeded. Still angry from the lioness's remark, Svan walked towards the man with a grim look on his face. Svan steeled himself, expecting the spy to either lash out or retreat. "You have till the count of five to explain yourself before I take your skull and-" Svan decided to leave the reprecusions of angering a dhani to the man's imagination. Whatever the man came up with was sure to be less severe than what Svan had planned for him, but that was perfect for the dhani. He just loved the look of suprise they made when he revealed just how creative he was in punishments.

[Durvekral Wormwood]

As Durvekral noticed that the man actually cared to approach, he sized up the situation. The woman had little patients for others and was undeterred in her self confidence. She managed her way through the Bizarre swiftly and firmly. She was familiar with Alvadas, she knew it well. The man, however, wore tattered clothing. He appeared to be under the impression that there was a stationary location from which to purchase...anything. Whereas the woman seemed intolerant of any other person, he was caught up in introductions.

Durvekral wasn't foolish enough to read this as weakness on the part of the male. He simply recognized unfamiliarity on his part. If he wasn't an alien in this city, Durvekral surmised that he had to have been new to Alvadas.

There was a moment of worry as it seemed that Durvekral had attracted an unwanted confrontation. Suddenly the Symenestra felt a bit more comforted knowing he always had his 3 cold steel finger razors, one of which bathed in Phantom Shell poison. Worse case scenario he knew that he could resort to a quick slash of the razors and a true Symenestras-style acrobatic escape.

As the man approached, Durvekral concocted a little game. This was the way that Durvekral was made to operate. His Symenestran bones were brittle and fragile. He had speed and agility but not cunning and strength. He didn't work with the tools of hammer and swords. His craft was in forgery and lies. It was the art of investigation and subterfuge which Durvekral had chosen to pursue. His chosen blade would not be housed within a sheathe, it would remain at the tip of his tongue.

He interrupted Svan while offering a smile which expressed a truthful sense of self-interest but promising no threat to Svan. "My name is Velanos Firefern."

"I find myself at the market on business of the Triad." This was a weakly veiled allusion to the lie that he was a member of the Womiyu...specifically that he was a Listener. It was the perfect lie because the very nature of the job, of his lie, demanded anonymity. "I'm going to advise you to use caution," his smile grew a bit softer. "We've been tracking the girl for some time now. She's a practiced assassin and by Uldr's blade if she hasn't caused us months of grief before we finally caught up to her."

He knew that there was a mild risk in his lie. It was, perhaps possible that a real Listener had been walking past but at the volume that he was speaking, the Listener would have to literally bump into him and have a particular interest in his conversation in order to really hear any of this. Sure, the Listeners were on daily patrols to keep the city safe but in a city the size of Alvadas there was simply no way that they could pay attention to every conversation in the city. As an added bonus, Durvekral realized that a newcomer to the city wouldn't call for more elaborate details in this lie such as why a Listener was identifying himself or why the Speakers had permitted the Silencer's to observe in the streets without a prior intervention by the Speakers.

He spoke softly but loudly enough for Samantha to hear. His lies were meant for both of them, not just one or the other. This game of deceit involved secrets, for sure, but not secrets between the two. Not knowing that either of these two, namely Samantha, were anything other than human, Durvekral continued.

"Don't worry, sir, you are safe for the moment. The square is covered by disguised Silencers waiting to pounce at the first sign of danger."

At this moment, Durvekral turned to Samantha. "Oh its a dizzying dance that we dance, isn't it?" He smiled wryly at her like some kind of old friend. "We still haven't gathered any real evidence against you," he shook his head as if he was wistfully regretting some silly past mistake. "You're good at what you do...Maybe the best I've ever seen but one day you will slip up, and we'll have all the evidence that we need!"

The only hiccup now would be if the female read enough threat to engage. Although, Durvekral felt relatively secure for the moment. If it was his lie that was meant to keep the man from attacking him, the truth that genuine Speakers were present to break up any combat was meant to keep the woman at bay.

[Samantha Grenth]

Samantha could feel the hackles rise of everyone that heard the creature speak words of venom against her. In way's he was right, her hands were stained with blood. Actually stained wouldn't be the word, more like she had bathed in it. She was no assassin by his counts, but a bounty hunter at best. But this foul being knew how to play. Narrowing her eye's she no longer paid heed to her first 'target' as the foul creature put it.

"I wish for you," she paused making sure she had his attention but also to keep her mind sharp and aware the moment's of those around her, "to do a simple task. Listen to the riddle I have to speak."

Not waiting for a reply she simply continued on, her voice going low but still sharp, "By night they fight, For time of day too bright. Deep into death, with wallowing breath. When they slip, it's unto their own tip." Her voice was full of venom. She had no idea who this foul thing thought it was but he was true on the Speakers.

"If I wanted to have him dead I would have done it in the deserted alley that lay's 30 feet before this place. But things come at a price and as there is none above his head at this time there is no use. Blood comes with a price, wouldn't you know." she could smell it now, the faint aroma of death or poison, "But don't mind me, what harm can a simple tigress do that matches a snake." Samantha might have not known what Svan was ,even with a hunch, she clearly saw this foul creature who dared threaten her in her home.

That's when it hit her. Letting a spark of madness show in her eyes she spoke one last time," Do you want to know a secret?" she leaned in close and whispered, " The people of this town fear and respect me for a reason. What do you think will be their reaction when someone they respect is suddenly on the ground bleeding and you two are still standing? You won't be welcome here, no you'll be outcast or worse, caught in your own trap. Did you notice over 40 feet from here their is a Speaker? Of course not" She leaned back and let them think over it, while she thought of the weapons that a merchant had his back to, she could here his muffled voice talking to customers who were busy trying to sell their own items. So easy would it to be frame if she felt the threat was there enough.

Her smile turned viscous, her abnormally sharp teeth showing. If this man wanted to play, she would play. She was great at her job and he had reason to up her for it. Battle scars were that of very few but the fierceness and hardened mind were molded to be deadly for survival.

[Licearsvansan]

Much to the suprise of the dhani, the gaunt man he had confronted stood his ground. However instead of fighting, the man simply explained his buisness. Unfortunately Svan had no idea what the triads or seekers were. As far as Svan knew they could be a cult of rainbow chasing loons. The man's clothing seemed a bit more autumn colored than rainbow colored though. Despite this, Svan still did his best to listen carefuly and try to decode what the man was saying. It seemed to dhani that this man wasn't tracking him, but rather he was following the girl. Svan couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief. If the man wanted the girl, he could have her for all he cared. The tigress however, didn't seem so keen on having her reputation trashed in front of a crowd like this.

Ha, the little shyke deserved to have her name tarnished with the charge of being an assassin. She nearly told everyone that I was a dha-

-"But don't mind me, what harm can a simple tigress do that matches a snake."

I'll rip her arms off. I'll rip them off and break her legs with them when she tries to run. Then I'll take out her petching spine and BEAT HER TO DEATH WITH IT! is what he said in his head. On the outside he had deftly deflected the accusation of being a snake at the other man by turning his head toward the stalker as the words rolled off her tounge. Luckily the word "snake" could have a number of meanings, and Svan doubted that anyone's first thought upon hearing the word "snake" would be to suspect a dhani.

Having avoided yet another catastrophe created by the sweet Samantha, Svan was able to turn his attention back to the conversation. Samantha was livid. "If I wanted to have him dead I would have done it in the deserted alley that lay's 30 feet before this place.", and now so was Svan. This woman was either ridiculously full of herself, or far more dangerous than Svan could hope to imagine. Whatever the case was, there didn't seem to be much doubt in her mind, and that sent a chill through Svan almost cold enough to force him into hibernation.

The dhani shook free his fright, and thought carefully on his next move. Right now Svan could easily make an escape and continue on his merry way through the market. However, if he ran he would be branded a coward. Now, after she had challenged his pride, looked down upon him, insulted his abilities, and nearly anounced to everyone that he was a dhani, Svan was not about to back down. He didn't care if she was some kind of snake killing legend, Svan's pride had been called out, and he never let a call like that go unanswered. Answering it through was the hard part. As far as anyone else could tell, Svan had no reason to be upset. He had to craft an excuse to fight this woman without revealing that he actualy wanted to fight her. With severe concentration Svan managed to hide his rage and spoke smoothly and calmly to the tigress doing his best to work the persuasion he was so proud of, "Listen, I get it. You're mad. You're angry, but a fight here would only serve to put innocent lives at risk. I doubt these people would respect you at all if you didn't bother to consider the dangers a fight would pose to them. Instead, lets settle this like adults. A duel, him versus you. I don't care where or when you want to have it so long as no one else is put in uneccassary danger. And to make sure that he comes," Svan stepped foreward. "I'll keep watch on him. Should I fail, then I will fight you in his place." The dhani carefully worded his speech so that it would give her stalker an opportunity to avoid a messy conflict while giving her the fight she seemed eager to have. There was no trace of falsehood in what he said either. Every bit was true, and Svan would happily watch a fight between her an this new other man if there was a chance she could still taught a lesson in humility. Svan practicly prayed that this plan would work. Right now he wanted nothing more than to feel her face under his boots. Of course like all things, this was far from full proof. She could easily deny the duel, and Svan would be forced to spend the next bell and a half relieving his stress out on the first unfortunate fighting dummy he could find. There was also a grave danger in this plan. Here in the market, he was softly warmed by the insolated heat of the many warm blooded shoppers. Not to mention that a place with so many do-hickeys, thinga-ma-jigs, and who-za-what-its, Svan could practicly create a counter to anyrhing that she could throw at him. Improvisation was after all his favorite fighting style. He eyed the swords behind the woman too. She likely thought herself clever to back herself close to a weapon like that. What she couldn't possibly know however was that Svan had not a short sword, but a swordbreaker in his scabbard. Well that and if Svan kicked her back with full dhani force, he might even be able to get her impaled on one of those spears sticking out a vase behind the counter. Unfortunately, Since he wasn't choosing the place, he ran the risk of having to fight outside in the cold, and without any of these wonderful toys to aid him.

This was what troubled Svan. While he was confident he could beat her in the market place, he was not so confident he could do it in a place of her choosing. To make matters worse, it seemed she had the reputation of a trained killer, one Svan feared might be found of snake skin belts.