Placeholder The Shadow beneath the Hood (Job Thread)

[Infilia Snowsong]

Date, Time, Location

Winter 56th 516av
Surprisingly, Winter still has yet to arrive Queen Morwen has probably not traveled across the world of Mizahar yet and hopefully, she had tried to spread her Winter love here on Mizahar; Alvadas especially. Without Infilia being able to progress with her dream to become a world known performer, Infilia had to resort to different tactics. The Snowsong hadn't had one thought in mind how she'll earn her money. She had her hood on, and her clothing that Alexander had bought for her some time ago, and now he had vanished. Poofed out of existence, and left nothing behind. The Vantha was sure that he had a good reason to leave three Vantha behind and not tell them goodbye.

The part when Alex hadn't said goodbye was what truly broke her heart, and Alex worked up all of that trust to just- just throw it away and had never looked back. Physically, one could see her eye color change to a hue of red. Anger; anger boiled slowly in her insides and she was frustrated at Alex and his sudden disappearance.

But what if he's dead? Infilia wondered to herself- he could've been dead, the soldiers here that protected Alvadas probably had found out about his protection and persuaded or maybe even Killed Alex at the thought.

It was fairly bright, and quite warm-up the only reason that Infilia had her hood up was because she was a Vantha, and she wanted to avoid being sought out by other people her in Alvadas. She wasn't ready to die, not yet anyhow. If things ever get too dangerous, she'll be prepared to accept her fate. The goddess of death is probably laughing at her, maybe she even taunted Infilia to be afraid of death and dying. Was Infilia afraid of death? She couldn't be streets of dying, it wasn't a thing she would normally believe in.

The streets of Alvadas were busy, busy as normal. Infilia wondered what the probability of bumping into another Vantha would be. I mean, I did get to see Nemori again. Plus... Avara seemed quite nice too. She sighed again, she looked up from the aged stone streets and observed her surroundings. She figured that if she's going to be hiding like this for the rest of her life, she'll need to practice learning the possible layout of the city. At least.... get a feel of what happens within the cities borders.

She averted her glance as a couple of people passed her, they probably thought her as peculiar, but there are a lot of people that could be wearing hoods in broad daylight. Infilia took a turn into an alleyway, she cursed as it appeared to be a dead end- she turned to face the streets again.

"Dead end, dammit."Infilia cursed in a mumble, Ionu seemed to not enjoy Infilias presence, and Infilia was afraid of the dangerous traits that Ionu possessed.

Infilia turned to face the alleway once more, and there were some homes on this street, but there was one building- wait it wasn't a normal building at all. Nothing in this city appeared as "normal," what was normal in this blasted city. Though, she could hear her name call out to her. It echoed through the empty street, and Infilia slowly walked towards the cave. Infilia only prayed that today wouldn't be the end of her life, she hoped she could still see tomorrow. She crept closer, and closer, until she stopped at the entrance of this cavern...

What was she going to get herself into? She was definitely afraid of death.

WC=600

[Infilia Snowsong]

Date, Time, Location

This cavernous building, was surely something. It appeared to have smooth surfaces, wet even, and it seemed to have been fortified to look more of a home for wild animals. It is a very vast cave complex, and it seemed that there were tunnels that led into different parts of the complex, Infilia could only assume that they were rooms of some sort.

In the middle of the cavernous complex lied a makeshift campfire, one that looked like it truly took time to build, and it reminded the Snowsong of the wilds outside of Alvadas. Although, the majority of the lands were plains, it didn't really matter to her. The Vantha was truly nervous, and she gingerly ambled towards the counter where there was a dark haired man standing behind, he gave Infilia a strong whiff. He sneered, and eyed Infilia quite morbidly.

Korin was this man, and he looked quite dashing really. Infilia could see the ripped tears in his muscles under that short sleeve shirt of his. She kept her hood up, and made sure to avoid eye contact, as her eyes played a big role in determining the kind of person she was.

"I can sense the nervousness on you..."The brunette spoke in a hushed tone and licked his lips and smiled rather peculiarly. Infilia shrunk down a few sizes inside, and she wondered how he had known, was he like one of those Kelvics, but definitely not a polar bear, like Morwen guards were. Well... they were more Dire than anything normal.

"Yes... nervous am I," Infilia spoke in a fairly quite tone and she stuttered a bit, sliding her feet across the cavern floor.

"What are you in here for?" The man hissed and leaned in closer, he grabbed Infilias shoulder and she silently made a Yelp as she was pulled at the edge of the counter, hands dug into her shoulder blade. Infilia assumed that the other animals could definitely sense her fear by now, and she decided that she should make things quick.

"Come for job." Infilia offered to the best of her ability she shuttered as she could feel her blood rush towards her shoulder as the man continued to hold onto her with his nails.

"Job, what job?"The man snarled, he eyed the other Kelvics, Symenestrians, and Zith as he leaned in closer, teeth barred, he tried to get a better look at the woman he was holding, but Infilia looked as far away as she could, he can always just take the hood off.

"Secret job, secret." She repeated frantically, but co tinued as quite as she can. Infilia hoped for the best that the man would have some sort of job for her. She wondered if there were a lot of people here in Alvadas who o ly worked under cover.

WC: 1072

[Infilia Snowsong]

Date, Time, Location

"Secret job?" The man questioned again, he growled it this time, and pulled Infilia even closer than before, Infilia shook with fear, but just slightly, her eyes were a purple hue under that hood of hers and she made sure to keep her gaze adverted elsewhere. She really regretted wandering into this cavern, but, her way back to the Main Street was cut off, no thanks to Ionu. Infilia didn't really know how to respond to many things in the common tongue and she wondered what to say next, but Korin grip seemed to have loosened on her shoulder. Infilia was slowly lowered and she turned to face Korin, but kept her head down, as she continued to face the cavern floor. She noticed a small pool of dried blood, that wasn't hers, that was left on the cavern floor. She wondered why she hadn't seen it before.

"Your looking to work under cover?" Korin had asked, Infilia slowly thought about what the man said and converted the human tongue into her Vantha language to understand the properties of what the man spoke. Under cover was what she was looking for, as she truly can't perform at this time of year, since most Vantha were being hunted.

"You're lucky I didn't cut your throat, girl."Korin snarled, his grip eventually relaxed and was lightly resting on Infilias' shoulder. He looked around, and gazed at another man, Infilia assumed that that man who stood by the fire was another Kelvic, just like Korin, since Korin stated that he could sense her own Fear. Fear was one of the seven major emotions that expressed how we could feel as a person. Fear can be very distinguished.

"Do you see that man, the one with the red hair?"Infilia turned, and looked at Morons finger, and then quickly followed the direction that the Kelvic was pointing. She did find the man, he talked to a small group of what looked like humans.

"Yes... see the man I do?" She replied curiously, she continued to observe the man, as he distracted the others and picked off a small coin purse from one of the other men, as he continued to talk.

"He's been stealing from my customers. Gathering information from what I see to. I need you to follow him, you find out the general location of where he normally lives, and I can put an end to this charade." The man looked at Infilia, though Infilia was watching the man, and she registered most of what Korin said.

"Repeat... can you?" Infilia asked cordially, she looked down at the edge of the desk in embarrassment as she felt ignorant about not understanding the common language properly. She must make it a goal from now on, to try and study the common tongue.

"Follow the man home, find where he lives..."He paused as he waited for Infilia to nod, though Korin was really curious as to why she kept looking down, since he wasn't really going to do anything, but if she didn't start doing anything... Korin would kill her himself. "Can you do that for me?"

Infilia thought it over for a couple of ticks, and she contemplated if she could do it for him or not.

"If you can, I'll even pay you if you manage to steal something valuable of his." Korin added, it would seem like a plus to other stiff woman compared to Infilia. Infilia thought it as a bribe, she wondered dhow much exactly the man would give her. "Name, what's your name?"Korin asked, Infilia thought about giving Korin her name, but she also wondered if the Kelvics could sense lies. She wondered a lot.

"Can do it... I can." She paused as she quickly thought of a name, and the first thing that came to her was the color red.

"Name, me, Red."

WC: 1716

[/color]

[Infilia Snowsong]

Date, Time, Location

"The common tongue doesn't seem to be your strong suit,"Korin snarled, his temperament sounded more displeased than anything. Infilia felt a surge of guilt rush through her, and hoped to the Gods that he didn't sense her regret. Infilia just simply nodded, and continued to pray silently, that her eyes wouldn't change color when she would seem emotional, as she talked to the man.

"Red, listen to me, make sure you don't have the man stealing from my customers. No. Stealing."Korin spoke in a demanding tone. The Kelvic attempted to look at Infilia again, and the Vantha jumped when she had almost forgotten that she called herself Red. Red was just something to name herself so that she could make things harder for others to distinguish who she really was.

"Make sure, man no steal." Infilia nodded, she raised her head, but did not bother to look at the Kelvic before she ambled her way towards the crook that kept snagging money off of Korins customers.

WC: 1883

[Chameleon]

"...and probably about two men tall, definitely two men wide. All blue, too, darker than the ocean is blue, somehow. Didn't quite believe it myself, you know, not at first. And - mind if I borrow this - he stood like this, sword in his hand as if it were just a toy and he a child." The red-headed man reached forward, snagging the sword from the man he had addressed and held it loosely by the hilt, as if he needed to demonstrate his point. More importantly, however, he had drawn the sword beside the bag of gold, which was now being shifted towards his own pockets. None of his audience had noticed the move - too distracted by his stories to think they were being robbed. It was a sly move too, hidden by the blade of the sword and a quick movement. He hadn't even blinked.

Unlike his audience, however, the man wasn't blind, and he quickly spotted the approach of the girl, shooting her a large smile before gesturing her nearer. Making space just for her, he took her in, eyes searching for money, but pretending he was interested in the woman herself. She was tiny thing, compared to him, at least, and she covered her face, shielding herself with a large hood that hid most her features. The man, if she came closer, reached forward, trying to pull it back slightly with a smile. "I bet there's a pretty face behind that," he winked, trying to excuse himself as he leant forward, other hand reaching round to try snag a bag or purse or whatever she could hiding under that cloak.

And if she batted him away, tried to stop him, or anything else that resulted him in not succeeding in his attempt at stealing? He wouldn't act any different, and continue to speak with the rest, paying a little more attention to the girl by his side.

"Anyway, where was I?" he started, then spoke of fighting an Akalak three men tall, beating him with only a small knife against a huge sword (and flexing his arms throughout the story as he flashed a smile towards the girl). Clearly trying to impress her, he stayed directed towards her, although his eyes did wander at the arrival of new listeners - especially the ones that carried loose change on them.

Once his story was told, he challenged the listeners to an arm wrestle. One interested fellow decided to join, and stepped forward, both resting their arms on a nearby table. While the focus was drawn to the top, where the two men battled it out, both arms shaking with the movement, a watching eye would be quick to spot the theft going on there, too. His other hand moved under the table, reaching out towards the challenger's money bag and fingers running over the knot quickly. It wasn't long until the bag was firmly in his hand - and he won the arm wrestle.

"A celebratory drink, perhaps?" he extended the invitation over to the hooded girl, giving her another wink. Perhaps a bit of alcohol in her would bring that hood down.

[Infilia Snowsong]

Date, Time, Location

The man opened up a space for Infilia, she wondered how important this man might feel. Her eyes... they were a hue of purple, and a lust of a rose red as the man inched closer to her. Infilia didn't feel too comfortable; and she was yet again, confused by the man's actions. Though, the man attempted something that Infilia had half expected the man to do. He had attempted to pull down her hood, Infilia quickly reacted with a jump; and she had moved her hand as quick as she could over the top of her hood and she pushed the man's hand aside. She wasn't aggressive about it, she was mostly passive. She didn't like to be aggressive, it wasn't really her norm to follow.

"I bet there's a pretty face behind that," he winked, Infilia caught the wink, she knew he winked. He was trying to flirt with her, any girl would have noticed it, and Infilia wasn't blind. She was pretty observant for the most part. Though, she worried as she fought against the environment, the fight for survival wasn't exactly how Infilia had hoped for. It wasn't right what Queen Morwen did to her people; Infilia felt betrayed although, she could try and understand the Queen's motives of her irresponsibility. But, she decided to not think on it so much; as she thought about it, she felt more betrayed and hurt as she continued to.

Infilia thought about responding to the man; though she didn't know how to react. Though, Korin would definitely pay her some respect for dishing out a man who Korin did not admire. Plus, he probably didn't appreciate the fact that she was a Vantha, that might've been looking for trouble.

Again, Infilia wasn't much of an aggressive person to begin with. She never was, and that's what her parents had adored her of, although Infilia did play with the other kids who were of her generation. Though, she didn't have very many. It was after the man told the story of fighting an Akalak three men tall; Infilia had to scoff at his nonsense, the man had barely looked muscular enough to take down an Akalak. Though, it could be possible; perhaps he was just wearing heavy clothing, which concealed his muscles.

The storyteller, had challenged an interesting man with an arm wrestle. Infilia lowered her head to her side, and crouched beneath the table, she was doing her best at being stealthy, as she observed the storyteller pickpocket the other man's coin purse. The man won anyhow; he offered her a drink. Should she accept the offer? She wasn't much of a drinker, she would barely even drink wine... she didn't know how much alcohol her body could consume with her small frame. She looked at the man, she took a breath and smiled weakly under the hood.

"Some... wine?" Infilia translated through Common as best she could. It was a good thing that the rest of the Snowsong Hold had wanted her to learn more of what the humans speak. It was a struggle for her definitely, but she figured that it would get better... soon. She stood up from the bench, and 'glided' across the cavern floor. She sat upon the adjacent seat from the man, so that at least half of her face was concealed, and that half would be the one that the man wouldn't be able to see. The hood relinquished a distant shadow that coursed among her face. Infilia knew she was pretty.

WC: 2473

OOCI wouldn't mind taking this thread a little deeper. At least until Infilia could get a chance to expose the man. Seeing how I need a couple more words...

[Chameleon]

The man's attempting of getting the girl to respond went mostly ignored, much to his distaste. It wasn't like he was a woman-charmer, or particularly handsome, but his attempts never failed this badly, especially from a woman who had seemed to be interested by the way she approached. And the way she watched him - she definitely seemed interest in the arm wrestle, despite having scoffed at his previous claims. Perhaps she was playing hard to get - yes, that had to be it. Well, if she was playing hard to get, he was going to play along too.

As she moved to a table, he floated over to the bar, asking for two drinks, for him and the "pretty lady". He kept his voice loud as he did, using the stolen money to pay for the drinks and sending a large smile towards her. Still with a hood, it seemed - was there something she was hiding? A scar, a deformity? It interested him, and as he approached with two glasses in his hands, he ducked quickly to one side, trying to catch a glimpse from under the hood before she moved to hide it again.

Then, he settled on the seat, placing her drink in front of her and resting his head on his hand. The shadow across her face tempted him, and he was certain that she was holding this up just to tease him. Under the darkness lay a smooth jawline and pretty lips, but nothing more. He reached forward, once more, in an attempt to catch the hood in his fingers and lift it back.

"Enjoy your wine," he grinned as he spoke, before taking a long drink of his own, "So, tell me, what brings you here, of all places? Alvadas, the Wolf's Cave... what brings you to me?" He raised an eyebrow slightly, shuffling forward on his seat. His knee touched her leg, and he let it stay there for a while, waiting for her to make her move.

Before anything particular could happen, a disturbance in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he let his focus drift from the hooded girl towards it. "Hey, who took the money?" came the voice, and at once, the red headed man tensed. There was a flicker of worry in his face, then everything softened, and he leaned forward even more, almost close enough to see under the hood without even having to move it. His red hair flopped over his face, and he let it rest there, keeping the moment intimate to keep the others away.

With his voice soft, he kept his motives hidden, although he was unaware of how much the girl knew. "Let's go somewhere. For a walk. Somewhere less busy, so we can talk more easily," he whispered, letting each word trace towards her. Without waiting for a response, he found her hand, tried to pull her up lightly. His eyes flickered to the group searching for the money as he subtly pulled his coat forward over the money. Hoping the girl hadn't figured anything out, he took another step, returning and keeping his eyes on her. "What do you say?"

[Infilia Snowsong]

Date, Time, Location

The man gave Infilia her drink; she smiled, a merely weak smile. Wine... she knew that water wouldn't do for the man, if she had to get this man out of the Wolf's Cave, the better for Korin's customers, and the better for Korin. Plus... Infilia would be left some coin in return as well... she was the first to pick it up and drink from the smooth liquid. The red wine slithered down her throat, it gave Infilia a slight tickle, she cleared her throat. Her hood still on top of her head, her eyes were still displaying a purple hue as; she was still worried. She had many reasons to be worried, and if she was exposed... who knows what this man would do to her?

The red headed man rested his head on his hands, like he was a child; bored. Infilia genuinely pressed her hand against one of her cheeks and sighed, she leaned forward a bit, just to get a better look at the man. Her curiosity was something impressive, but she was fragile, and she had to be careful. This man had a couple freckles that adorned his face, and blue eyes, tan-like skin and some muscles. His face looked tensed, Infilia did her best to read the man's face. Her face could be barely noticed, her hair was blocking apart of it now, and her hair was pretty long...

The man made his move again; he attempted to look at her, Infilia blushed, and turned her head, she looked away, she didn't know what to say in the human tongue, but she did feel a little uncomfortable... perhaps it was just this place, or maybe it was her, maybe it was the wine... so many maybes. Infilia took another slow slip of wine before she placed it back down on the table before her.

"Enjoy your wine,"the man said. Infilia smiled warily, she had a bad feeling about the man. Though... she had a bad feeling about almost anything really. "So, tell me, what brings you here, of all places? Alvadas, the Wolf's Cave... what brings you to me?"Asked the red head. His knee touched her leg... Infilia gasped very lightly, she furrowed her brow, her expression concealed underneath her hood, still.

"The Cave... called me?" She answered her best, she hoped that the man wouldn't call her out on her poorly spoken common. "Ionu, she... teased me?" The Snowsong added, she took another sip of her wine, before another outburst came from the man that the red head had arm wrestled before. She looked, and the man who was going angry, seemed very anxious and too baffled to realize that the man he had arm wrestled was the one whom had actually stolen the money. It was a smart move, Infilia had to thank Korin for the head's up. Infilia rested a hand gingerly on the man's legs, her body tingled and fought against her actions. Her other hand shook with worry.

"Let's go somewhere. For a walk. Somewhere less busy, so we can talk more easily,"Infilia nodded. She decided to leave the glass of wine on the table before the man would pull her up.

"Okay...?" Infilia responded confused, Infilia was kind of hoping that the men looking for the coin purse would find this man right here, but of course, this man knew what he was doing. If Infilia did anything, the man would probably strangle her before he would be strangled... so Infilia had to be truly careful. She followed the man, when the man wasn't looking she looked over to Korin, he nodded and smiled weakly over to her.
Part one was done... she just had to discover the other locations of where the man goes.... but for now, all Infilia had to do was follow the red headed thief.

[Chameleon]

As she spoke, he nodded along, pretending to be completely focused on the girl and her words. He was interested, of course, even with her denying a peek of his face, but all of a sudden, he had more pressing issues that worried him - and not even the most beautiful face behind that hood could stop him. Even the hand she reached out to rest on his leg - he wished he didn't have to move and start again, but some problems were far more problematic than others.

At least she was eager to move. Fairly, although the tone of her agreement wasn't the most certain. He pulled her up quickly, taking a step away with both speed and a lack of it. Making a quick exit was, of course, what he wanted, especially with the group who were now searching around for it - even making claims that it could have been stolen - but running out would make it obvious. He had plans to return to this place, to return to his thieving. He had had closer shaves before.

Ignoring everyone else, he kept his eyes on Infilia, stepping towards the exit. Careful not to take a look behind as he slipped out into street, he was ignored by those who thought he was simply a man with a girl at his side. After all, there were far more shiftier characters inside the Wolf's Cave they were interested in.

Once they had exited, the red headed man debated what to do. Disappearing from the scene of the crime was, of course, a priority, but he couldn't make things obvious to Infilia. His thoughts were clear in his eyes, and the silence as he debated to where to go, what to do. Finally, he turned to her, grin in his eyes, although they still flickered warily towards the door and back. "You said... you said Ionu had teased you. Clearly, he, or she, knew what she, or he was doing. How about you take us somewhere, somewhere where we can be more along? What you say?"

Clearly, he was avoiding taking her to any place that connected to him - even with a girl, who knew nothing in his eyes, he wanted to be careful. It would take a little bit of persuasion, but he was also aware he had no real excuse not to take her to his place, if she had any reason not to take him somewhere of her own. He was simply praying on the fact that she was going to go along with what he said, like she had done before with the whole coming outside thing. Then again, she was still wearing a hood, so what could he know?

[Infilia Snowsong]

Date, Time, Location

It felt damp, the weather outside, it must be just Infilia- she thought that she was digging herself a big hole, one that she couldn't get out of. She knew that if she ever did build herself a hole too deep for her, she would have to find a way out of it. Though... she couldn't think of a way out, not this time, this time she doesn't have Alex to protect her, though she still has her father's angle knife, but she'll only use it if she's in extreme danger. She didn't know how much danger she would be in... this man seemed really dangerous- and he really wants to see what's under her hood.

She could possibly scare the man, pretend that she's angry, which would cause her eyes to burn a fierce red hue. It could scare the man, he could think that she was one of those dark colored winged creatures that torment people, and capture them... whatever they were called (Ziths). Or, she could just run, Ionu did open the streets back up to her, perhaps she was just waiting for Infilia to get caught by those men back at the Wolf's Cave? Or maybe... Ionu had something else in mind for her, something that she can't escape from?

Infilia carelessly followed the red headed man into the streets, he asked her, if she had a place to stay. Well... she did, but she didn't want to share her whereabouts with a strange man, and he could definitely call her and the other Vantha out- and he'll definitely do it all for the money. She couldn't risk that, and she also didn't want to exploit Nemori and Avara. Especially Avara; since she's family, and she lived with Infilia and the other Snowsongs at the Snowsong Hold back in Avanthal.

"You sure... no bring me... your place?" Infilia figured that letting the man to take a peek behind her hood wouldn't be such a bad idea. This city is so large, he wouldn't find her once she ran from him... "After all... Still new I am. Need a man's help, me feel... lost?" Infilia asked confused, and beneath her hood her eyes matched her confusion with a shade of purple.

"I can give you look... at my... beautiful face?" She encouraged the man as they turned down an alley.