A Matter of Trade

A Matter of Trade

Taking place sometime after the Festival of Renewals, and before Iron Core's trek into the Ruins. Frost Tail sets up a small trade expedition to travel to a Southern village.

----

"But Papa!" Ice Paw pleaded, "What if I get in trouble... or get caught in the rain?"

Frost Tail shook his head, "Tlaetiaf has agreed to stay behind to check in on you. You know you can count on her."

Ice Paw's expression saddened as she moved in to nuzzle her father's nose, "But, I'll miss you... why can't I go?"

Frost Tail accepted the nuzzle, feeling the cold of his daughter's aura seep in. Luckily, he was used to the cold. "I need you to keep an eye on things here for me, and besides... the road can be dangerous." Ice Paw shot a worried look, and Frost Tail chuckled, "I'll be fine, I've made this trip before. Now help me get ready."

----

Frost Tail arrived in the clearing/village square, with a pack of provisions and trade goods. He followed his way to the agreed meeting place, a little food stand, out of the way from the square, and waited for the others to arrive.

----

OOC
OKAY, just a few notes for our beginners. OOC and OOS mean 'Out of Character' and 'Out of Story' You can use these to leave a note at the end or beginning of a post. IS and IC mean 'In Story' and 'In Character' you use these to say you are done speaking out of character.

Frost Tail is currently waiting for others to show up for the trip. If you want to participate, just reply. I highly recomend meeting up before getting to the stand, with another person, or two, so you don't have to rely on my to continue/reply, immediately XB

Iron Core arrived in the square with the faint magical hum of solid steel casually floating behind him. The more he thought about it, the more he questioned his reasons for leaving. His supplies were running out, and he couldn't spare any to trade, and yet he agreed to come to this trip because he 'heard something interesting'? This wasn't what he had told Frost Tail, of course, instead saying that he doubted that there would be enough people to defend both themselves and their supplies. This wasn't completely true, he knew that Frost was a competent combatant, though whether or not Iron Core was better at fighting was often debated between the two.

Still, armed escort? Odd role for a blacksmith to fill, Iron Core thought to himself. He spotted Frost at the food stand, and made his way over.

Lady awoke to the warmth of the rising sun casting its soft rays across the sky. The clouds drifted by slowly as he raised his head from the downy feathers underneath his wings, and observed the sky as the hues changed from blue to gold, much like his own feathers.

Boy, did he look dazzling under this light!

He carefully smoothed his feathers into place, then jumped off his perch in the tree. He walked over to the nearby river to glance over his reflection, forcing himself not to take too long, as he had other plans for the day.

Yesterday he had followed that feisty green-eyed beauty as far as he could before he lost him. Lady was certain that Marrow was still in the area, and he had his bets placed on a certain tree-- the unusually deadened one that was oddly surrounded by a number of rotting corpses. His Marrow certainly had a strange hobby. But while it went against all of Lady's sensibilities, he desperately wanted to glance into those spirited green eyes again. It would take more than a few maggot-filled foul-smelling deceased to deter him!

'...Not much more, admittedly.' Lady thought as he approached the tree. The stench was nasty and the decor absolutely atrocious. But! He would brave this much for his sweet squirrel! He flew into the tree, landing on a high branch. There was no way he was going to walk through the piles of rotting flesh, even as an illusion. He peered down, scanning for a suitable place for a squirrel to be.

There was a hole in the middle of the tree with a convenient perch to land on. Lady flew down, landing without a sound. No leaves rustled, and the branch didn't shake. It would be a strange scene to anybody watching, but Lady did not feel like putting the extra effort into his illusion-self, not this early in the morning. He looked into the hole, and--Aha! There was his darling, looking even more adorable curled up under the morning light. He even slept with that bone of his, how cute! Lady ducked his head into the hole for a closer look.

Marrow sensed a shadow creep up over her and slowly opened her eyes. It took a second or two for Lady's presence to register in her brain. Suddenly, at that quick moment of realization she took her bone and slammed Lady's head. She quickly jumped up and slammed his head again. "GET OUT!!!" She held her bone up over her shoulder getting ready to swing again.

Lady flinched at the sudden movement of the bone as it came down upon his head. He had been expecting this response--just not so soon. He noted in his mind that Marrow was a very light sleeper, as the bone came down on his head again. But--

"Those fiery green eyes! Burning brighter than the morning sun! Oh, how I have longed to see you, my enchanting Marrow~!" He said, springing back up.

Fern woke up early that morning. One reason was that she was simply an early riser; the other was that she had to get to the meeting place in time. While she was a fast runner, the square was still a fair distance for her, and she did not want to be late. She grabbed the small bag she packed and ran out the door. There were interesting plants in the south that could not be found in the area, and she was always excited about discovering new species. Fern arrived in the square, spotting the others.

"Ah, hello! I hope I'm not late!"

Marrow took a final swing hitting him out of her house as he sprang up. Instantly, she stepped out of her house onto the branch just under the exit. She jumped off the branch and landed in the pile of rotting corpses, which cushioned her fall. She hopped up and out of the pile and ran off as fast as she could.

Lady winced at the squelching sounds the corpses made, but gave chase. "Marrow honey~!" He shouted as he flew down. He ran after the squirrel through the bushes until he could no longer see him. Marrow sure was fast! But now Lady knew where he lived, and surely Marrow would come back eventually. "I'll be waiting for you, you feisty thing!" Lady called after him, and headed back to the tree to wait.

As the morning rose, Jack's survival senses kicked in, when they detected movement not so far of the tree he was resting on. For some reason, Jack liked to sleep on trees, reminded him of an old habit by one of his mothers, and reminded him of home.
Ice Paw's father, Frost Tail, left home without his daughter, which struck as odd in Jack's mind, and decided to approach Ice Paw to know why she wasn't going with her father.
While he contemplated Frost Tail walk he also stretched his limbs slowly, trying to wake up his body in a calm fashion. "No need to rush my curiosity afterall" he thought.

As he climbed down from the tree his thoughts went back to the Renewal's night, anytime he'd stumbled upon that kind of celebrations, his thoughts always went back, way before Elizabeth, to his childhood, to his father and his mothers.

And as he hummed an improvised tune enjoying the morning sun, he got close to Ice Paw, and greeting her bowing his head he said
"Good morning Miss Paw, terrific day we're having don't you think? Say what were your father up to? I got a glance of his departure from the tree I was sleeping on" And pointed one of the trees near the Cryomancer's home.

---
OOS, I hope they don't live under a cave, or on a fortress, because if they do, then I fucked up big time and you can proceed to delete this xD
I felt like staying with Ice Paw and talking and stuff :3

Marrow continued to run until she approached the square. She glanced up from her run, and upon seeing other people, she instantly put on the brakes, sliding into the back of a nearby tree. "Oof!" She tried not to make a sound, and slowly peeked around the tree to see if they noticed, hoping that they did not.

Demon's claws dug in the tree's branch deep while he clung to it for dear life. He had no idea where he was, he assumed it was some sort of cliff. This was just much too long to be stuck in one place, there was no way he wanted to stay here, and although he disliked help from others, or even being near anyone else, he was left with no other option. He opened his mouth to start calling for help, but stopped, there has to be some other way! Slowly he moved one of his back legs, searching for solid ground that he could get down from. This was useless, he'd been trying that all night. When he went to move his leg back to cling to the tree again, he slipped and slid just an inch. This startled him and he let out a single yowl while all his fur fluffed up.

The town center saw its business of active bodies hustling towards their destinations. To many of these critters, a simple day lies ahead, perhaps a simple errand, maybe a trade. In this square--like in any village gathering--if you look hard enough, you will see the fantastic few who are beyond the ordinary, seeking an excitement only adventuring and its services can provide. This was true in the age of the Mages, and it is true now. In this square, a select few fit this description; one lays just near a food vendor.

The tinted orange resilience of the salmon is no match for the moxie of the mink's bite. Virgina may not have caught the already-dead-and-sold fish, but she sure is wrestling it like a fresh catch. Chunks of fibers submit to the weasel's frenzy as she happily chews her morsels, sneaking in a little dook when she can.

Obtaining food from traders is mildly uncommon for Virgina; she is certainly capable of hunting, and does hunt further away from the cities. However, right now she is waiting for her next assignment... and got a tad bit hungry. Feeling well fed, she awaits her new comrades and employer.

Keeping his eyes on his work, Rusty continued preparing fillets amongst the busy village square. It was a good business day so far, some of the trades providing interesting trinkets, which was always a delight for him. His paws were slimy from handling fish, so he preferred that the buyer put their trading item in or beside his backpack behind the counter.

The polecat only very recently started trading here, nearly after the Festival of Renewals had ended. The small supply fish and fishing tack he offered was usually out of stock by the end of the day. This kept him the busiest he had ever been on his travels, and it took a few days for him to adjust, but he relished in the rewards.

As he gutted a fish, he thought about his latest customer, another unfamiliar face. She was a mink, a bit smaller than him in size. She seemed happy with her purchase. Rusty looked up from his little fish booth to survey the scenery. Some gatherings of various villagers dotted around in the square. He spotted the mink again, standing alone not too far from his booth. Well, she did indeed look happy with her fish. Rusty smiled and looked back down to his paws, as it was impolite to stare for too long.