RP: How to Lead a Unicorn to Market

Rilla would normally have stayed away from Kelay, it had always been the wrong kind of busy for her liking, but some things were worth saving and Mesthak with his tavern seemed like a good enough cause. Plus to the East and West there were safety concerns that made people-watching much more challenging. So along the well-trodden path she went, leather jacket pulled around her thin frame, black boots were silent against the dirt. With a quick whistle, a pair of yellow eyes emerged from the shadows of the trees and then the whole animal: a teenaged black wolf with oversized paws that thunked against the ground with every step. Rilla tossed a blade up, caught it and tossed it again, black steel with a thin, smooth handle. It glinted in the light from nearby buildings, but after a hoard of zombies, she wasn’t too worried about assailants. “Colin, quietly please.” She sing-songed, shaking her head and looking to the wolf who trotted just ahead of her.

Elnura is leading a small unicorn along who is clearly trying to drag its' feet, "Get along you.." The half-duergar's race is difficult to ascertain unless one has actually seen the offspring of a duergar and a human before. Her dark gray skin is difficult to see beneath her enveloping cloak, "You're going to market. They think veal tastes good? They ain't had nothin' yet!" She smirks lightly and continues to all but drag the unicorn who is slowly accepting the fact that it is not yet time to stop for grass.

Jinfeng had been out of town for... a while. He'd not been in any town for a while, even. More than a year, if he remembered time passing accurately, and there's no reason he wouldn't. It had gone uneventfully, for the most part. He'd gone into seclusion shortly after a tournament he'd entered the year before, and in doing so realized that while he was strong, there were those in this land which were strong in their own right, and he'd need to train more in order to reach anything approaching their league. So train he had, and now he'd returned to society without much fanfare, the martial artist's clothes and body freshly washed, cleansed shortly before entering town. It'd be improper to arrive dirty and stinking, after all. And soon, he'd come across an... interesting pair of women, which caused him to pause in the road for some seconds as he processes. One leading some sort of horned steed with a rope, and with much effort, it seemed, and the other flanked by a great dark wolf and apparently juggling a knife. Curious, though he'd grown to somewhat expect that of this land.

Rilla’s shoulders stiffened at the sudden voice, ducking towards the brush and looking past to the newcomer with her unicorn. Colin, unfortunately, did not get the message and the lanky wolf continued forward a moment longer. His head whirled side to side, looking for Rilla as his hackles began to stand on end and he squared up with the woman and her horse. With this, Rilla sighed and stepped back out with another whistle, her hands on her hips. “Colin, now.” She said sternly. He turned and fled, going back into hiding in the brush behind his master though yellow eyes peeked out from within. “You’re not honestly thinking about butchering a unicorn, are you?” Rilla asked incredulously, eyebrows raised and jaw set as she tilted her head to look past the woman to her steed and then at their other observer. “Unless he’s done something to you, perhaps murdered your firstborn or stolen your coin-pouch?” Rilla shrugged sarcastically, though a hint of a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “What do you think, sir? Would you eat this unicorn?”

Elnura peers at the wolf, stopping in her tracks, however at Rilla's question she relaxes again, especially since the wolf doesn't appear to be in the attacking mood, "It's not me who will be butchering this thing.. if it even gets butchered. I'm just going to sell it at the Cenril Market. Whatever they decide to do with it is their choice. These creatures are rare, a baby even more so, I'll make a killing!" She glances at the human for a moment as well but doesn’t say anything. She stands at all of 4'8" tall.. probably shorter than either of them?

Jinfeng is, indeed, a little taller than the woman hauling the strange beast, though not by particularly much, only surmounting five feet by a scant inch or so. And he had been drawn into this conversation, which was awkward, he didn't have much say in it and, all things considered, didn't have much context to go on regarding... unicorns, was it? "Ah, excuse me, I may not be the best to ask, as I am from afield." He chuckles weakly, shaking his head. "But it is a magical beast, yes? It would be better and more profitable to sell it at auction, as a pet or, should you find one who could use it in this... place... as an aid for cultivation. Mere subsistence seems... Wasteful." He frowns, leaning forward. "May I touch?" The question seemed directed more at the unicorn than the woman, as in his experience such things were significantly more intelligent than she seemed to give it credit for, and if it was being drawn along by a mere rope, it likely had plans of its own on the way.

Shifting her weight, Rilla eyes the smaller woman for another moment before moving on to the man. Although Rilla was slight at best, she stood several inches taller than the pair. With a smile she steps back, crossing her arms over her chest and nodding. “I can’t fault the logic,” Rilla laughs, “but you might want to try carrying food with you. If you feed him from your hand when he wants to stop you won’t have to drag him.” Shrugging, she moves to examine the animal from a distance at another angle. “They’re beautiful animals, is he wild-caught? You don’t look old enough to know how to breed one yourself. Colin was, but with wolves, I think you want them to be wild. Gives them the mistrust you need to make a good watchdog.” Glancing over her shoulder at the pair of eyes once more, Rilla nodded.

Elnura squints a bit, "How I came across this... creature is a pretty long story and an auction is out of the question. It goes to Cenril Market!" She glances around, "I guess I could find it some food. Could be one of its' last meals. I might feel generous. It will take a while to get to Cenril too and I don't want this thing looking starved. You could be on to something.. especially since the grass further east gets less.. Lush." Elnura eyes Jinfeng when he asks to touch the unicorn, whipping her dagger out, "Not a chance! Back off"

Jinfeng watches Elnura when she whips out the dagger, an eyebrow raising, his hands folding over his stomach. "Well, that's curious. I merely wanted to touch the creature, and you become agitated. Is there a reason for the hostility?" He seems... unconcerned, either reasonably sure she wouldn't attack or... well, either way he didn't seem worried about the weapon. "Additionally, you deliberately take the least profitable route to selling this likely quite valuable creature, and are capable of forcing it to follow you with naught but a rope. I am beginning to see why you would avoid an auction, no doubt they would expect some form of fraud. Even a beast of middling calibur would snap your rope like a blade of grass, were it not to wish to follow you."

Rilla laughs, though concern flashes across her face as brows pull together slightly. “Ah, I’m not just a pretty face, you know.” Rilla jokes, tapping her temple with one thin finger. “They like apples and carrots in particular. Hmm -” She pauses, raising a finger to indicate that they should wait as she pulls her bag around her back to rummage through it for a woven bag within. “I tend the animals at the Warriors Guild headquarters, I’ve usually got something -” she stopped when a blade was produced, palming something, closing the bag and tossing it towards the waiting wolf. The man seemed to have the fighting under control, but Rilla had other concerns. That little black blade is produced once more from inside of her sleeve and with one easy motion, she threw it to sever the rope - though her intentions are not theft, I the narrator assure you - the blade passing straight through and into the sand before she steps towards the horse as well, hand outstretched with a piece of apple as she leads him backwards - or attempts to at the very least. Who can resist fresh apple?

Elnura isn't watching the human anymore, he clearly does not have thiefy designs on her unicorn, and she isn't going to confirm that she stole the unicorn. Her attention is now on Rilla, her unorthodox methods being... interesting. Regardless the vampire works too quickly for her to react on time to stop it either way, "Huh.. and I can.. lead the unicorn to Cenril like this?"

Jinfeng raises an eyebrow. "If it is a unicorn, it would likely be easier than leading it with the rope, yes. Of course, I doubt you could find a buyer at the market in any case, few would have the funds to afford such a creature, and those that do would know better than to expect them to remain theirs for very long, either due to escape or some passing noble claiming it." Once she seemed to have relaxed, he'd take a step toward the unicorn, and, assuming it did not shy away, reach up to pat it on the neck. Assuming it was the genuine article, he'd know pretty much immediately, feeling the familiar buzz of energy crawling beneath its skin common to all such magical beasts.

Rilla can’t help herself, really. Walking the unicorn back a few steps, she lets it take the apple from her palm to eat. Nodding she looked back to Elnura. “You’ll have easier time leading him if you have something he wants and are willing to give it to him.” Rilla rests a hand on the animal’s neck, smiling as he nudges her for more. From in the bush, Colin creeps forward slightly, his muzzle poking from the underbrush to get a better look. “He’s right, and if two perfect strangers can see that you’ve stolen him what makes you think others won’t notice and say something.” A wicked grin flashed across her face and she pats the unicorn’s neck. “My advice? Keep him around, get comfortable with animals before you try to peddle them. Looking like an amateur is a great way to lose money and get caught.” Her posture is loose and she shrugs the idea off casually, though if one looked a little closer they might spot the other blades, one strapped to her thigh, the black of the hilt blending in with her leggings, inside of her jacket more, and the tip of a blade peeks just out of one sleeve. Rilla isn’t exactly the good guy, but sometimes she gives good advice. “But I’d steer clear of Cenril. Zombies and such. I blame the necromancers, but this time it seems like some kind of virus.”

Elnura isn't exactly experienced in stealing animals and it seems that it shows. She snorts, "Right.. yeah.. okay you're probably right about that. Keep the thing around until it's used to me and then sell it? Can't argue with that. I usually deal in... non-living.. things. This creature coming into my possession is.. like I said.. a long story." Those words were meant for both Jinfeng and Rilla in truth, "You learn something every day looks like.."

Jinfeng chuckles, unable to quite contain himself. "Wait, your actual plan was to take this creature into market and... just sell her? as if she were livestock?" It takes him a moment to recover and continue onward. "In any case, I would suggest keeping the creature, to be honest with you, since she's seemingly taken a liking to you, given that she is going along with your... interesting method of control. As a magical beast, she will likely run faster, tire slower, and remain more loyal than any natural creature, making her an excellent mount once grown. In addition, were this land not unfathomably ignorant, you would be able to use clippings from her mane, shavings of her horn, and other such things as materials to create medicines to aid in cultivation of your inner strength, or for other purposes, which would likely sell significantly better than the creature itself, being both renewable and less costly, and thus available to a wider demographic."

Laughing, Rilla nods. “I’m definitely right about that.” She agrees, running her hand along the length of the animal as she inspects it. “Non-living things, huh?” Waggling her brows, Rilla turns, seemingly satisfied that the unicorn at least wasn’t injured. For a moment she studies the human as he speaks, nodding along. “I don’t know about that last bit, but I think he’s got the right idea. Don’t need me here.” With that Rilla whistled and back out popped the wolf from in the bushes. “I wasn’t joking about the virus though, that’s real. The Halloween party was a real bloodbath and not in a fun way.” Rilla quips, retrieving her bag and slinging it back over her shoulder and scratching Colin underneath his dark muzzle as he eyed the new people suspiciously. “I know you can probably take care of yourselves, but keep an eye out for bulging purple veins. If they bite you, it’s over.” Her hand waving dismissively, Rilla offers a slight smile. “Anyway, I have business and now I’m running late.” With that Rilla was off again, hands in the pockets of her coat as she hugged the sides of the road, periodically disappearing into the shadows and away from view until eventually, she was gone.

Elnura blinks a bit, "I'll be selling her.. eventually. But yeah I should definitely let her get to know me first. Don't want to spook any traders. Either way the rest isn't your business, the creature is in my possession, no one else's." At the talk of zombies she blinks again, "Just more complications on the road.. probably better not to travel at night eh? Well I will be taking my unicorn and heading off to an inn somewhere... a place that lets me take it in my room with me too. No way am I leaving it in a stable."