RP:Blessed Cat Salesdryad
Part 2 of 3 of Karasu's initiation to the Syndicate of Shadows.
Summary: Karasu begrudingly hauls her way to Frostmaw to retrieve a weapon for Magik at his request. Out on Lake Frysta, she meets Tsuola, a curious dryad with a penchant for general mischief. The kindred souls develop a foolproof plan to make it past the frost giant guarding the hut. With the bow in tow, Karasu only mildly injured due to her own carelessness, and a new acquaintance made, the mission is completed.
Lake Frysta
After venturing for some time down the path, you finally reach a large clearing as the secretive mountain path opens up to reveal a hidden lake among the frosty hills. Mostly frozen over, the sizable lake surface is spotted by a sparse number of ice fishing huts. It becomes rather apparent that the ice must be of considerable thickness to support these giant-scale fishing shanties; the largest among them lined along the northern wall by various designs of fishing poles which appear to be for sale. To the west, a semi-solid water fall spills over low cliffs, capped with a thin layer of glistening ice.
Karasu always hated the cold. She hates it moreso now that she’s on a mission to the middle of nowhere to retrieve someone else’s weapon. Karasu clutches a crystal close as she treks through the snow, a bright copper pelt marked with runic patterns seeming to be the only source of color in the frozen wasteland. The teleportation stone had cost her what little gold she had left since she Mage’s Tower, and she prays that it’s worth every coin it was worth to get back. From between some trees, she could swear that she could see the hut in the distance. Midnight leopard ears swivel around as she keeps an ear out for any sign of the frost giants. So far so good. Her ear twitches suddenly, picking up on the sound of something like a branch swaying out of time with the wind. With a huff, she ducks down by a tree, spinel eyes searching the area for movement.
Tsuola has sharp eyes, but in her effort to scan the treeline thoroughly, she misses Karasu effectively disappearing from sight. This leaves Tsuola baffled. Karasu's breath is noticed, however. Curious. While watching what she interprets to be strange fog, her head slowly tilts to the side. An invisible creature? A vengeful frost giant spirit? Too low off the ground, she thinks. A spirit her size, then. Or one of the imps playing one of their pranks. She is uncertain. So she waits, still as a statue, and watches. Not entirely still, actually. If one looks hard, the dryad's torso slowly turns while her feet remain rooted to the ice, following Karasu's breath to see where it goes.
Karasu for a few glorious moments believes herself to be fooling the lookout as she inches towards the huts. A few more steps is taken, and she glances around to where just down the shoreline, a giant rests against a chair with his hands folded on his stomach. At first glance, it might seem as if he is relaxing, but even from the distance away, Karasu can tell that he is occasionally scanning the area for threats. Steel eyes fix onto the dryad before looking away. It seems that this woman is not a threat to them, but surely if he believed her to be seeing something, he would have called out? She glances back to Tsuola and tenses. Surely she had been facing the treeline where Karasu had come out of before. Had she been careless with covering her tracks? Was she not invisible? Karasu lets out a silent breath and shivers to stave off the cold, and she realizes what it is she is looking at. Despite the lack of irises, Karasu can follow her gaze to the billow of fog that dissipates soon enough. It seemed that this disguise had -three- limits. The woman looks back at Tsuola, then to the guard, then back to Tsuola. “Are you with them? The frost giants?” Her hesitant voice calls out.
With her eyes focused solely on Karasu's breath, Tsuola pays the resting giant down the shoreline little mind. She's careful to stay out of their way unless curious about what they may be doing, which has led to little lessons like how to fish, especially on the lake. Otherwise, she typically keeps her distance to avoid being stepped on. When a voice hits her ears from the fog, she blinks with surprise. So there was something out there. An invisible creature. Not a spirit. ...Maybe an imp. Her eyes narrow to a puzzled squint while she attempts to ascertain what is producing the voice. What a strange question. Perhaps the dryad is right, and this is a very clever imp that wants to tease the giants? This may be fun to observe, or join in with. Lips turn upwards at their corners with a grin, and her head shakes slowly. “I am presently with no one,” she answers. “But I could be if I am needed. Are you with anyone? Or with any...body? I cannot see you.”
Karasu needs a moment to process the dryads’ reaction. Smiling was definitely not something she was expecting. Was she accustomed to spirits that spoke to her? “N... no. I would very much prefer that you would not be with them.” Karasu gives a cursory glance around. “I do have a body, but I would like to remain unseen here, if that’s alright. Those frost giants have something that belongs to--” Come to think of it, saying ‘guildmate’ or ‘associate’ would be dangerous here. “-- my friend.” Sure, why not. Magik did say that if she did this for him she would be in his ‘circle of trust.’ That counted enough to not make it a lie. Karasu scratches the back of her head, an action unseen by the other. Another plan of action was needed here; there was no way she could approach with such a visible flaw in her invisibility cloak. An idea strikes her. It was a cheap trick, but it was better than nothing. “If it’s alright with you, can I borrow this hut here for a moment?” She raises her hand to motion to it out of conversational habit, and awkwardly lowers it again.
Tsuola had many questions she wanted to ask. What is this person made of? How did they make their voice leave their body this way, unless their body is there, but unseen? Her free hand almost hesitantly reaches out to see if she may find a limb or a face near her that spoke, but decides not to. The frost giants took something? She frowns at this. How...like them. Most of them, anyway. Some are quite kind. “The hut is not mine to give, but I believe you may enter. There are no giants inside.” She sidesteps in what she believes is out of Karasu's way. “I can be with you if I am needed,” the dryad offers, “But if I am not needed, I will be watching.” Not a threat. Her trek home to the trees can wait. This is more interesting.
Karasu mulls the request over with the idea she has in mind. Given the stranger's reaction to the bit of information dropped, it seemed she would be willing to help the cause, even if she did not know what for. The halfling catches the glint in her eye and the playful twitch of her jet black lips as she says she would watch regardless. Ah, now she understood. This was something Karasu as a tower-bound student knew for years: pure and simple curiosity. "Would you like to help me play a prank on them? Come, before they start to question why you’re talking to thin air." Now this was getting fun again. Karasu takes the last few steps needed to enter the hut, making sure to cover her footfalls still. Once inside, she lowers the hood and looks around the simple furnishing for a moment before starting the incantation. Tsuola would only see a flash of sapphire light before it fades away to reveal a leopard spotted cat with eyes as bright magenta as the flowers of the winter berry bush. Despite being a wildcat, she only comes up to Tsuola’s knee in height. The cat closes its eyes in greeting as it shakes any remaining snow off of herself. “Surprised?”
Tsuola 's smile widens considerably at the offer, and nods. Without a word, she follows Karasu into the hut. She hangs back just a bit, closer to the entryway in case she may end up in the invisible creature's way. The light startles her enough that her arms begin to instinctively reach up to shield her eyes, but slowly lower when the flash is gone, and before her stands a wildcat. That talks. Now this is entirely unexpected. Her hands clap together excitedly once she has set her lantern down. “Delighted,” the dryad exclaims, grinning. “What would you like for me to do?” A better question might have been to ask what exactly the wildcat may be looking for, but the item was of little interest to Tsuola. Helping and having some fun while doing so was much more pertinent to her.
Karasu bristles with excitement matching that of the dryad. “Easy, just carry me over and ask if they’ve lost a cat. Don’t mention I talk, obviously. Oh, and mention that I was wearing a collar that bore the symbol of Aramoth on it. Frost giants love anything having to do with that God.” Karasu sits back on her hind legs and claps with her front paws, a sight sure to be adorable to anyone watching, especially a member of the shadows that was much better at staying hidden than she. “Oh, what should I call you, my dear partner in mischief?”
The request is simple enough. While she doesn't know the entirety of Karasu's plan, Tsuola can at the very least do this part. She bends to scoop up the wildcat, replying while doing so. “You may call me Ghost,” she offers. “Some know me as this. And what do I call you? Are you a ghost of a sort as well?” Once she has Karasu hopefully comfortably in her arms, she begins to walk out of the hut and toward the giant the two of them noted previously, sitting in his chair. The dryad walks a bit slower than usual, moving with care to not accidentally drop the feline. “My watchful friend,” she calls to the seated giant, once she is close enough to get his attention. Tsuola makes a point to stand hopefully just out of its reach as well, in case she may need to flee. “Are you searching for your cat?” With care, she lifts Karasu up just a bit for the giant to see. “I found her looking for food in that hut over there.” Her head nods toward the very hut in the distance behind her. “Aramoth's collar was around its neck, but fell off. A blessed cat, perhaps? A lovely one, nonetheless.” The dryad frowns. “I don't want to leave it alone in the cold.”
Karasu gives a brr as Tsuola scoops her in her arms. Transforming into a cat was still new for the arcane stewardess, but this was her first time being held. Huh. She could get used to this. “I think Kitty will suffice.” Should anyone come asking around in regards to something being retrieved from the giants, her real name was better left unknown. “When circumstances are better, perhaps I should come back to greet you in my real form.” As they walk towards the other hut, the guard eyes the dryad warily, rising up in his chair. The man had only been given one task: keep strangers away from entering the hut. But Tsuola was no stranger; he had seen the monochrome woman drifting in and out of the trees many times, and had even shown her the proper way to stoke a fire just a few weeks prior when she approached to ask. Still, trouble had brewed in that time and he could spare no caution. When Karasu is lifted, she does her best to knit her features together to look as pathetic as possible, complete with a sad mew. “A blessed cat?” Pale brows knit together as he looks over the strange duo. He supposed there was no harm in asking the other patrolmen if they had known any soldiers who used a wildcat, as tiny as it was, for perhaps sending messages between one another. With a grunt in affirmation, he stands and opens the door to the cabin to allow her entry. “You can set it down in here and I will ask my comrades about it when we change shifts.”
Tsuola nodded. Kitty. Knowing it would be best not to try continuing a conversation with her new acquaintance, as would rouse suspicion with the giant and his comrades. Instead, she smiled at the giant and gently set Karasu down on the ice, and knelt to give the feline a little scratch behind the ears. At least now, speaking directly to her might not appear odd. “It was very nice meeting you, Kitty. I hope you find your home and what you were sniffing around for.” She casts a glance at the giant. “Might've been sniffing around for some fish, I'd think.” The dryad looks down at Karasu again, giving her a gentle pat on the head before standing back up again. Does she leave now? She is known for standing still in places for an unusual amount of times, watching the world go by. Maybe it wouldn't be unusual to do so now. But her lantern...Her gaze shifts back to the hut they were in before and she turns to leave and retrieve it, unless stopped.
Karasu rubs her hand into Ghost’s hand in thanks. In the back of her mind, she wonders if these scritches are better than the one the other Provost gave her. The giant nods in understanding. “Hard to get fish with the lake the way it is now. Should only be a few more weeks before it thaws enough for the fish to rise to the surface, I reckon…” As the guard makes idle chit-chat with Tsuola, Karasu trots into the doorway of the cabin and stands on her hind legs, motioning for her to try to get out of here soon. When the winter willow looks at the cat, the guard looks back at Karasu, who falls onto all four paws again and rubs her face against the doorway affectionately. “Hah, she acts more like a housepet than a messenger.” Karasu freezes, almost tempted to transform back just to beat the giant for such an insult. She redoubles her face-rubbing and overall display of being cute until he turns away, to which she reciprocates. As she walks further into the cabin, the door swings shut with a stray burst of wind. The inside is a mess, seeming to be brimming with confiscated goods loaded onto a sled to haul back into Frostmaw, presumably to either resell, repurpose, or distribute back amongst the guards. Karasu utters the incantation needed and rises up to her full height to rummage through the pile. Her hand brushes against something that immediately makes her recoil with a stifled scream. Found it. The stewardess blows onto her burned fingers as her free hand undoes the snaps that keep her invisibility cloak in place. Careful not to touch it with her bare skin again, Karasu wraps up the bow in her cloak and withdraws the crystal from her pocket. Mission accomplished. She starts the chant to teleport back but pauses. Careful not to be spotted immediately, she tiptoes towards the window, where she sees Tsuola starting to turn away from the frost giant who keeps his back to Karasu. Spinel eyes lock onto the pure black ones of the dryad, and she gives a wide smile and a wave. As dangerous as it was, this was the first time in a long while that she had actually had a bit of fun. Content with her haul, Karasu repeats the incantation and presses the pale green crystal to her lips. Then she is gone.