RP:Ripples Reach Larket

Part of the A Line Drawn in the Sand Arc

Larket Stables

Pilar had just finished another day hard at work in the stables. Her old skills were coming back to her, and soon the stablemaster would show her some of the nitty-gritty of actually running a stable, rather than the manual labor part of it. It was intense work, but it made her happy. She walked from the stables, smelling rank, but smiling.

Perhaps the wind that blew across the stable-yard as Pilar stepped into the open air would carry a faint hint of salt and ozone, but in any case she’d probably soon catch sight of a familiar, tall and gangly frame topped with wild dreadlocks, a raggedy man in bare feet who wandered toward to the stables looking like a fish out of its element here in prosperous Larket, where such down and out people are relatively few. Mcracken paced into the yard and as he neared, the grim expression he wore would somehow translate to a general air of tension electrifying the atmosphere, stirring the horses in their stalls, causing the native songbirds to cease their busy twittering, the stablemen to pause in their labours and shiver, glancing about them for the cause of a sensation not a man among them would ever be able to aptly place into words... as if the man who approached carried with him the eye of a terrible storm, full of silence and the promise of certain destruction to come. His mismatched gaze met Pilar’s own, the gravity of whatever was on the kraken’s mind, unmistakable.

Pilar 's good mood evaporated when she caught sight of the kraken coming her way. She could practically taste the tension in the air. She frowned and approached the kraken, wondering if she had done something to irk him. Or... not done something. She hadn't been to Cenril to help the creatures, though she'd never agreed to it. Or perhaps something else was amiss. Either way, seeing the kraken here was very bizarre. "Mister... Mac?" Seems she'd dropped the "lord" bit.

Mcracken eyed the woman a moment, “M’lady.. “ he seemed to be speechless for a time, perhaps gathering his words, though his gaze remained fixated intently on hers, “Thou didst mention.. when we met, that thou didst come from the ice mountains, from .. Frostmaw..” he spoke it in way that suggested the name, if not the place itself, was unfamiliar to him. “I hath sought thee, to ask.. In thy time in that land, didst thou ever meet with a pale woman, a woman of ice.. who goeth by the name.. Emilia?” How, exactly, this oddment of a person had managed to find Pilar here was left to the realm of wonder.

Pilar nodded. "I've met her, yes." That first meeting was actually in Kelay, but that wasn't important. "I don't know her very well, and the last time I saw her was... weeks? Maybe months ago? And she was... like a different person. She had lost her memories." Pilar cocked her head. "What's going on, sir? Is she in some trouble?"

Mcracken nodded slowly, “Aye. What I need from thee is a name, a location, information on where I mayest find her family for I bear dire news of her fate.”

Pilar 's eyes widened. "Oh, no... Is she... Is she... dead?" She prayed to all the gods above and below that it wasn't true. Emilia was such a sweet person... "I... I know that the healer Sabrina and the naga Xzavior know her... Sabrina lives here in Larket, as far as I know, and Xzavior lives in southern Sage Forest. They might be able to help you."

"Nay, not dead.. taken, against her will, and mine own” There was a sense of some far greater issue looming behind Mac's words, but that was all he said on the matter, his eerie eyes shifting their focus toward the stables. “This body canst not make adequate haste on land for my needs.” From somewhere in the confines of his rags, Mac withdrew an uncut, sea-ploshed ruby roughly the size of Pilar’s fist, and held it out toward the woman, “Dost this gem seem of value enough, that I mayest exchange it for one of thy running-beasts?”

Pilar gaped at the gem. "Um... They, they aren't MINE, but... yes, this is enough for one, I think. Let me... let me talk to my boss... If he accepts, I'll bring you one. Wait here." Pilar disappeared into the stables, leaving Mac alone with his thoughts... and, perhaps, a certain naga.

Mcracken said, "Wait, Lady!" The kraken turned his face toward the stables briefly, his lips parting as if to speak further, but no audible sound came. After the space of a few breaths, he glanced back to her, "The fifth one, from the eastern end of this structure, is the beast that would suit mine needs best."

Mac lingered in the yard, cointinuing to un-nerve the stablemen, and still not one bird made a peep anywhere in his vicinity.

Pilar gave a wave to indicate she heard before she vanished from sight.

Xzavior hums curiously as he slithered in on the kracken handing Pilar a very fine looking gem, and Pilar promptly running from such an offer. "Whats all this then? Pilar working the stables and you buying a horse. I assumed you stuck close to the water."he gave Mcracken a neutral look. He didn't hold anything against him but he wasn't going to be really friendly. "What's going on about death and forcing people to do things?"

The kraken turned to cast that eerie gaze upon the naga, whose voice he’s already recognised from that day they’d met on the beach, during which Xzavior had treated the dying woman Marra with a marked lack of compassion. Perhaps Mac’s feelings about that were plain in the chill of his tone, as he spoke, “And what business is it, of thine?”

Pilar returned from the confines of the stable, leading the chosen horse. It was a fine creature, a coat like white silk gleaming even in the low light. She had deep brown eyes, like fertile earth. The horse had a light brown saddle and reins, made of fine leather and well stitched. Two bags hung from either side of the horse. Pilar looked at Xzavior, surprised. Speak of the devil and he shall appear, as they said. "Xzavior, what are you doing here?" Her feelings on him were still mixed. He had been her friend, but he wasn't acting very friendly of late.

Xzavior shrugged nonchalantly, it wasn't, but he was naturally curious and had a thing for knowing everything going on, "Just wondering is all. Who knows. If you're talking to Pilar it might just be my business." Just then he turned to Pilar with a raised brow, "Truthfully, wandering. Though I find that this may be distasteful close to a place I'd rather not visit again." He said flatly. She should know what he meant by that.

Mcracken, the whole time the naga was speaking, had been examining the mare, murmuring softly to the fine animal as he ran his webby hands down her face, across her shoulder, unbuckling the saddle as Xzavior’s speech came to end. Lifting this from the mare’s back, he offered it to Pilar, his gaze shifting back and forth between woman and naga. “Dost this.. creature own thee, Lady, that he is proprietor of thine every word?” If she took the saddle, he’d go about removing the bridle, too. As he did so, he’d add, quietly, “This one hath the biggest heart of any running beast in thy care. Glad am I, to make her acquaintance…” The horse nuzzled his arm, almost as though the animal understood him, and Mac then addressed Pilar again, “Canst thou say truly that this serpent-man is worthy of thy trust, Lady?” Like Xzavior wasn’t standing right there.

Pilar understood exactly what Xzavior meant, her eyes moving unconsciously towards the west, where that woman's house was. Like Mac, she wasn't too pleased with Xzavior declaring her business HIS business. To Mac, she offered only a shrug, and though she was confused, took the bridle and saddle from him. "You're sure you don't want these? It's easier to ride her with them... Er, have you ever ridden before?" At Mac's second question, she fell silent. She looked at Xzavior again, as if she was trying to see his very soul. After a pause, she spoke. "... Yes. He's... rougher than he once was, but... he's still my friend."

Xzavior had to take a breath with that comment. He might not be the friendliest, but the implication that he owned another's life, no matter how small a hint, was too much. "I don't own anyone, fish-man. I meant it in a simple fact that we share a few things here and there. If be it so, I may be inclined to help." He ignored the latter comment about his trustworthiness. He'd been used to being watched from the corners of peoples sight. The slight faith she had in him was nice, but what could he do with that?

Mcracken stroked the mare’s glossy shoulder again, and replied to the former portion of Pilar’s reply. “She is not too unlike a hippocampus.. a sea-creature of passing resemblance, Lady. And while I thank thee most profoundly for thy concern, I hath no need for trappings.” Grasping the horse’s mane, the kraken swung onto its supple back, his joints creaking and popping as he did so. From this mounted position, he settled his attention on Xzavior, “In perhaps the same manner thou didst .. ‘help’.. the unfortunate woman on the beach? Whom thou didst wish to die slowly.” Maybe it’d shock the naga to learn that Mac had heard those words, spoken to Marra so quietly just before Xzavior had killed her. Mcracken looked to Pilar, then, “Mayhap thou ought choose thy friends more wisely. This one possesseth none of thy kindliness. But thou art free to tell him as much as thou seest fit, regarding our business. Thou hast my thanks for this fine trade. All hath come to balance.” With that strange comment spoken, the kraken murmured to the horse again, which took a few steps toward the stable-yard gate.

Pilar looked at Xzavior, shocked. "Xzavior... It's... it's not true, is it? You didn't..." Was he truly so profoundly changed? Could she really trust him as she once did?

Xzavior rolled his eyes when he tried to throw her death back in his face, "I don't remember saying I would help. It was self defence in my opinion, seeing as she attacked first. I doubtfully believe you could have helped her before her kill count had surpassed the time it would have taken you to draw her away from the people, or even help her." Pilar's reaction made him look to her flatly, "I've killed long before this change. For a very long time. Don't worry. I didn't know either." Spoken like she should have already known that. Which really she should have, given the fact he fought so much before.

The horse continued to clop toward the gate.. The kraken on her back did not turn around, yet from his vicinity echoed back the voice of…Xzavior, which seemed to be accompanied by the slush and wash of ocean-water, the alarmed cries of gulls, its hissing tone unmistakably the naga’s own, "~Be thankful I have to be swift. Otherwise this would drag on for a bit longer~.” Not another word of his own did the kraken speak as the mare broke into a smooth gallop, carrying Mac off toward the Larket bridge.

Pilar said, "It isn't just the, the killing..." Her best friend, after all, was a former assassin and current bounty hunter. Though she disapproved of it, of course. "It's... making it slow... How could you... Why would you... That's just cruel." She looked away from him and hugged herself. "Maybe... maybe you can't help Miss Emilia..."

Xzavior looked to the kraken with mild amusement and careful noting. After all. Every moment around him was another thing he learned. This was something very valuable to know. "I didn't drag it on, however. And if you were there, you would have also known she wanted death. She died fighting and even managed to injure me." Though when he heard that something had happened to Emilia, his eyes seemed to lighten a shade as he stared intently on her, "What happened to her. Was that who the kraken was talking about? Is she in any danger?" A very strange shift in character for him, as he was, but there were some things that still triggered in his mind.

After the raggedy man rode away, all the birds resumed their twittering and chirping, while the stable’s employees visibly relaxed. The strange and ominous atmosphere had departed, it seemed, with the kraken.

Pilar was still disturbed. Wanting to drag it out was as bad as actually doing it. She started slightly at his change in demeanor. Was there something of her old friend left after all? "I... Yes, Miss Emilia was... kidnapped, it sounds like. Mister Mac, that man who was just here, needs to tell her family. I don't know anything else."

Xzavior shook his head in a rather upset manner, "Gods... it's like picking on a child..." he hadn't shown her how to defend herself or anything. Unless she considers relaxing a way of defense. Given the fact that his plan had actually worked that was truly out of the question, "I'm going to need details because I highly doubt that the kraken is going to find X. Notice how often he's around? Or how friendly he is? I'd rather get her out of whatever situation she's in before another month or so passes while we wait for that damned dragon to show." He still didn't like him for that night he had tried to do the kind thing and help her.

Pilar looked at Xzavior helplessly. "Then you better ask Mister Mac for the details. I don't know anything that can help." Hell, she didn't even know who 'X' was or his relationship to Emilia.

Xzavior sighed lightly, muttering quietly, "Great. I get to talk to him again..." after a moment of brooding he looked over at her a bit more lightly, "It's alright Pilar, I should be able to get things situated. I found her once before when Des took her," Though he kinda cheated and the night ended very poorly, "So I can find her again. I owe her that much." After all, look at what he did to her beforehand. "But I will ask you let Sabs know about this as well. She may be able to get some help or something along the lines."

Pilar nodded. "I will... Please, find her. I don't know her that well, but... she's always been nice to me."

Xzavior looked off to the side with a short, "Too nice for her own good sometimes." Looking back to her he gave a small nod, "I might as well go after him then, if he's the only one with anything." He wasn't looking forward to it, but hell, it had better be worth it. With that he made off for the red ogre. He needed a moment to think this through.