The Average Day... (Xeona)

[Cowlquape]

Cowlquape strode down the alleyways. People were criss-crossing through the city, going here and there; carrying on with their lives. Cowlquape himself had recently re-evaluated his life; and he was ready to join all these people, with their carrying-on.

Dull clouds above him. Cumulus. Rainy-looking. Oh Nykan Fall; how we all adore you, he thought to himself. That was funny to Cowlquape; he actually did enjoy Fall — but what a gloomy state of affairs this was. He would have smiled at that bit of humor, had his face ever taken anything besides his concentration scowl.

Yes, he certainly didn't look happy. He didn't look mad, either! Just... Concentrated. As he walked down the alley, hands buried in his pockets; his eyes scanned everything. He could notice it ALL. The cracks etching in the stonework of some adjacent buildings, betraying their true age of roughly 100 years. A broom leaning against a doorway that had recently been used, due to the copious amount of dust trapped in its fibers. A little girl stumbling around, a confused/sad look on her face; obviously having lost her mother in her blissful wandering. And a couple meters down, a mother keeping a watchful and worried eye on her wandering daughter. Nothing could escape Cowlquape's notice.

He unsheathed one of his hands from its pocket-abode and tapped his black cane on the stone walkway. He was nearing his destination. A rickety old building where he was sure he'd find some clues to a certain nemesis of his... A man who Cowlquape was determined to pay back, even after his recent attitude reform. A man who deserved no forgiveness.

Soon he saw it before him; holes in the walls, grass and vines sprouting from crevices, cracks that would probably never be repaired. It was clear to anyone that this two story house was abandoned.

Cowlquape halted for a second and peered at the building. Orange shingles, white peeling walls, wooden supports on a awning possessing and abundance of holes... A weak door hanging loosely by some bolts with a faint foot print near the handle; a smashed window and a rock laying near a pile of glass... Spats of blood drops on the front steps...

It was a spooky place. The typical haunted house appearance. Neighbors claimed to have seen the Lady in Purple near it before; but Cowlquape dismissed them as rumors and paid them no heed. He was certain, however, that the previous inhabitants of this abode had met a particularity gruesome fate.

Well, no more waiting around was necessary. Cowlquape tapped his cane on the ground a few times, hiked his pants, and with a sigh strode up to the door and entered the building.

[Xeona]

Xeona was inside a abandoned house, searching for supplies he could use in one of his pranks. Usually, abandoned houses contained lots of great supplies, but he had no luck in this house. The first floor contained almost nothing of interest, apart from a few important-looking papers behind an old drawer. Xeona didn't give up, however. There had to be something he could use.

In the middle of his second rundown of the first floor, a unknown man entered the house. Xeona had never seen him around here before. What could he want in a fallen place like this? This man reminded Xeona of himself when he was younger somehow, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what. He was invisible, but he had made a mistake earlier, misplacing some unimportant items, and said items were now falling to the ground. There was no way the man wouldn't notice this.

Boxcode by Savio

[Cowlquape]

Cowlquape froze.

A few blood drops dotted the floor. Nothing too extensive. They lead to the stairs in the back. There was an abundance of dust; some had been swayed and affected as if something almost weightless had brushed against it. There were some drawers pushed up against the back walls, bordering some rickety looking stairs. The smell of musty old wood; and something else that smelled something like... death.

And an old candle stand fell. His entrance could not have caused that.

He paused to think for a moment. No one was killed here; at least not recently. The amount of blood was too small to have caused death; and Cowlquape knew where the blood was from already. This faint smell of death was not from any occurence in this building's near history. There was something else going on.

Cowlquape gripped his cane in his hand; almost looking as if he was holding an imaginary sword.

"Who's there?" he questioned into the apparent emptiness.

[Xeona]

"Of course it had to be something..." Xeona thought as he went behind the man, still invisible. He materialised with the words: "I am." It wasn't really the answer the man wanted, and Xeona knew that. He quickly said something a bit less tricky, and a tad more serious. "Where are my manners today? I'm Xeona. May I ask for your name?"

After the man had answered, Xeona asked: "Well, I know for a fact that nobody enters here without a reason. What is it?" A straight-on question maybe wasn't the best thing to ask here, but Xeona was curious. What was he doing here, anyway?

Boxcode by Savio

[Cowlquape]

Two words, supposedly answering his question, materialized behind Cowlquape. He spun around quickly; expecting the worst. And, by standards, what he saw wasn't exactly what you would call welcoming.

It was a ghost.

The ghastly fellow re-introduced himself, using his name "Xeona". Now, as formalities should proceed, Cowlquape's own name was expected.

However, it's not often you find yourself in idle company of a ghost. Cowlquape's rapid mind adjusted quickly, to his benefit, and Cowlquape correctly, and gentlemanly, proceeded with said formalities.

"My friends and enemies call me Cowlquape," he answered.

His curiosity was piqued. A ghost in THIS house... but Cowlquape dismissed the idea of a recent death. A murder had NOT been committed here... however, the owner had been killed...

Ghosts. Known to be a bit unpredictable. Cowlquape's kind of people! Maybe this ghost could help him with his search... chances are it had rummaged through this building. Maybe it had found the clue that Cowlquape needed...

The ghost asked him a pointed question. Interesting... Cowlquape sensed genuine curiosity. It seemed a bit like it was an act of setting aside all small talk to get right down to business. Cowlquape ran the scenarios down quickly in his head. Tell the ghost you're hunting a man? Tell the ghost that this house most likely holds answers to where this said man is? Tell him that he believes the death to the owner of this house was a staged distraction?

"Well," Cowlquape said, in a friendly manner "I'm trying rather hard to find someone. I've got a good feeling that this place might help me find that someone." Cowlquape was, of course, interested in the ghost's intentions. "You weren't, perhaps, searching for something similar?"

[Xeona]

Searching for someone? It did sound pretty shady, but it wasn't like Xeona had something brighter up his sleeve. "Not really searching for a man... I'm searching for things for my... Let's call them "projects"..." He had a feeling that this man, apparently under the name Cowlquape, didn't tell him the whole story, so why would he do it?

Xeona still thought that Cowlquape reminded him of himself, not by the looks, but something else, something that couldn't be seen. It was something deeper than that... He did interest Xeona. He wanted to know more about him. If he played along, he might get some more info on him. "Want some help with finding what you're looking for?"

Boxcode by Savio

[Cowlquape]

It was a half-genuine offer, but welcome all the same. A ghost... how exciting, eh?

Cowlquape took a few steps, like a brief thinking pace. Just a few steps; with a tap of his cane on the ground every few feet. The tapping noise helped him think. He looked at the ground as he did, considering his options; allow the ghost to help him and deal with any dangerous mishaps later, or release his plan to a certain terrible deed. "Projects" was a euphemism, of course. The phrasing and everything spoke of a mystery behind that word. And why hide something with a euphemism? Cowlquape's best guess was: in return to his own hidden details. In any case, Cowlquape wondered what sort of projects a ghost might have...

Just a friendly invite.

"Oh how helpful of you to insist! And perhaps in the process, we shall find some "materials" for your projects, mmm?" Cowlquape compromised. "I know a bit about this place, you know. Just haven't had the chance to thoroughly check it out for anything important, like a ring... or flower petals... or perhaps... some sort of papers?"

[Xeona]

This was all going the right way for the both of them. Cowlquape was going to get clues about this mysterious man's whereabouts, and he even offered Xeona to help finding some of the things he'll be needing. When he mentioned papers, he turned towards the drawer where he had found the papers earlier. "I think I got something... Wait here for a second."

He headed over to the drawer and, sure enough, the papers were still there. To Xeona, they didn't look like much. Only papers with things written on it. It did seen to matter to Cowlquape, however. "One step closer to finding out what he wants with this man." Xeona thought to himself. He headed over to Cowlquape once more and showed him the papers."Were you looking for something like this?" Not being able to hold the papers still due to lack of training, he handed them over. They had to be of some importance.

Boxcode by Savio

[Cowlquape]

The ghost, Xeona, brought to Cowlquape a few papers from somewhere behind a drawer. What a helpful fellow! Looks like things were going to become clear alot faster.

Cowlquape took the papers and peered down at them. He studied them for a brief second. "Deeds," he said blankly, "To a horse."

He studied the papers for a while longer. So, the blighter had gotten himself some transportation... That would explain the death. These papers weren't the possessions of the man Cowlquape was hunting; they were the papers of the man who owned this house. His death must have been related...

It became clear.

His old gang... Sunberth... Hometown... It makes sense. He needed a way to travel to Sunberth; and, lacking the legal means to purchase a horse, he did it illegally - that is to say, he spilled innocent blood for a cheap rendezvous with his crew. He'd still be on the road... for awhile.

Cowlquape looked back up and smiled at Xeona. "Well, this is certainly something I was looking for," Cowlquape was an honest man, "Now, lets see if we can help with your 'projects', shall we?"

[Xeona]

Xeona was pretty disappointed in Cowlquape's response. Nothing that he could use to figure out more about him. Then he figured something out. The papers seemed important. He didn't bother looking closely at what was written on it, something about this man. He now sincerely hoped that Cowlquape would leave it behind, which didn't seem likely.

When he said that they should search for things for his project, Xeona reminded himself of something. The house did have two floors. maybe there was something more on the second floor... "Sure thing! The second floor might have something of interest..."

Boxcode by Savio