Shade of Desert Night

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

First topic message reminder :

Contrast: that was the name of the game in the desert. No two people, two days, two nights were alike. The cool, stern merchants who peddled their goods with all due seriousness were contrasted by the young, cloaked and adventurous desert children, who found all ways to make their fun in the vast ocean of blistering heat. The sweaty, stern and muscled men who worked their lives away in the ore mines, toiling endlessly in the subterranean atmosphere were contrasted by the lean and fierce men belonging to the hunter’s guild, who seemed to grow thinner and faster by the day. Even the chatty, social kindness found in the housewives of the area was to be contrasted – by the women slaves which were so often peddled as either tools for sex or housework, who knew no emotions whatsoever.

But among all of these, there was no starker contrast, than between desert days, and desert nights. With little to no cloud cover, and such dry air flowing slowly through the air endlessly, very little heat would ever remain well into the evening. This was, of course, unfortunate, but it would not stop this man. Rashn, or Bakr, as was his merchant name, would sit firmly, not stopping his trade simply for some cold air. While the day proved to be mild in terms of business, it had been quite interesting. That young, white haired one, Jyn’Rai as he called himself, was a person unlike any the merchant had come into contact with before. He seemed to be rather energetic and kind, without too much worry. While he certainly had his own problems and worries, he did not show them. It was similar, the merchant thought, to him himself. Neither showed their emotions readily, but they masked them in completely separate ways. “Another contrast.” He mumbled to himself slightly. With that, he would glance across the streets, noticing so few people out and about at such a late hour. It was expected, naturally, with such a frigid chill through the air. To non-locals, it wouldn’t be that bad, but it was absolutely freezing to a desert commoner’s standards. But surviving this was necessary to make a sale, and if it was to be rewarded with profit, the man would surely do it without flinching or question. Normally only freaks frequented his caravan at nights, but even freak’s money was good to him, and they were often easy targets for bartering with, since their sociopathic tendencies usually led to their fixating on one single object which they would give nearly anything to obtain. Suffice to say, they were good for business.

Unfortunately not many seemed to be out, this evening, and the man considered throwing down his tent cover and calling it a night. He’d naturally be awoken early when all the others would come out to play and peddle alongside him, so it’s not like sleeping in and missing some hours of work was a possibility. With that thought, but not yet totally convinced the night was over, the man would slink back into the carriage and lay his head down, dangling his feet over the end of the carriage as his gaze was cast to the sky; his wares sat tirelessly to either side, and the camels tethered to the carriage hawed tiredly. He mentally apologized to them, but knew they were accustomed to it. “Should no one come in the next few moments,” he told himself quietly, “I’ll just go to bed. Staying up isn’t good for my health, and… even I’m starting to get cold.”

Mystic Elder

Iskra followed Nori into the store after first taking a short march around the tent, sniffing and ensuring nothing suspicious remained in the area before making her way into the tent after him. She was moderately responsive to his voice, not really minding that at the moment she appeared to be his "pet". Such a thing might have bothered her in the past, but there were more important things to concern herself with now.

By the time he announced her name in front of the other two merchants, she was sitting quietly, observing the two sleepy merchants before her. The idea of a business relationship was still a half-formed idea in the hyena's head, so her immediate thoughts were that she should take the time to make sure that all three of the men knew that they meant business and that they would tolerate no silliness, "they" being the beast and her friend. So she snarled.

She didn't lean forward into the gesture or bristle or attempt to look threatening at all, she simply made the sound for the space of perhaps three seconds and then fell silent.

[ EXP: 215 || +1 TEXP (2nd thread) ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

Rashn’s eyes would wander momentarily to the figure lying itself down on the floor as it made its presence known. It was not really giving her a look, in all honesty; it was more of a check that that was, in fact, all she was doing. So long as she did not lose control in the middle of the shop, there was no problem with acting how a normal beast would. Rather, it was actually something he felt he should encourage, though he had no idea how. On the opposite side of things, the butcher and his sons were obviously put off by having a wild beast resting its body in the midst of their floor. It was as if she was the center piece to a living room where rich old bastards would come and complain about meager nothings. That reaction, the merchant noted, was not what he wanted. The more they were focused on her, the less they were focused on him. Every bit of their attention that was ignoring him was a direct reduction in effectiveness to every bit of bartering he aimed for. With that noted, he realized he needed to make sure, contrary to his previous thoughts, that Iskra would remain mostly silent and non-aggressive. With a smile, he would look down to the ‘pet’ hyena at his side. “Calm, Iskra.” His tone was, again, uncharacteristically light.

Moving from that, he would begin in conversation with the head butcher. He was quick to point out where he acquired the meat from, and the effect of that was fairly obvious. Instantly, the man, though he attempted to feign his previous indifference, was intrigued. From there, Rashn also brought up what a good deal he was able to get off of him, and how he was not a meat merchant himself. “Then what would you be interested in such bulk amounts of meat for?” was the obvious question that came from the butcher, to which another creepy fake-smile etched itself onto Nori’s face.
“Ah! Well, it was just… such a good deal, I couldn’t pass it up. That’s why I’m here now! Surely you don’t trade meat for only meat! You must have some other goods in your possession; some that I’d be more likely to trade in.” It was clear to the hulking, cleaver brandishing meat-carver what the angle was that Rashn was getting at now. His demeanor seemed to change as he thought to himself about the deal in detail. With only a moment’s hesitation, he asked to check the quality of the meat. To which, of course, Rashn would answer by hauling its case onto the counter and unsealing the lid. With obvious interest, the man would begin rummaging through the bleeding barrel to inspect everything in detail. It was at this point that the red-headed one would inspect his partner. Hopefully, she was still full from before…

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

For a moment, Iskra thought to tell Nori to speak to her in full sentences. It was a minor thing, but she imagined he must be busy to resort to speaking to her in these shorter phrases that she'd often heard farm boys call to their dogs in. Perhaps she was being too sensitive, but he was working and she was there to support him, so she remained silent.

The hyena yawned widely and got up to all four of her feet. It might be smart to stay out of his way, though clearly he wanted her support if he asked her to come along.

Yet, for an animal she was fairly intelligent, and as an intelligent creature she found herself becoming bored in short order. Perhaps she could do something less troublesome to stay out of the way.

Initially, she sniffed the merchant as he paused to see how she was doing, though how exactly she went about it might have made the red-haired man uncomfortable. She stood on her back legs to her full height, which was sufficient to allow her a rest for her front-paws on his shoulder so she was inhaling around his face.

Only briefly after that, she'd quickly nip off his necklace and redescend to the floor, the entire procedure very sudden and not having taken more than five seconds between her initially on the floor and her in the same position, experimentally gnawing the jewelry.

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

Discomfort was obvious as the nose of Iskra made its way around Rashn’s face in short order. He instinctively flinched and pulled back, his safety-bubble once again being penetrated and his personal space invaded. It was admittedly not as bad as when she had sensually huffed her breath on the back of his neck, nor as annoying as when she had traced her slobbering tongue along the downside of his cheek, but it was still rather… unpleasant. When she nipped away his necklace, he instinctively reached for it back, gripping it by one of the ripped ends. Rashn never had a mother to teach him not to take something from a dog’s mouth, which was a lesson he arguably could’ve used in the current moment.

“Ahem… I, hate to interrupt,” the butcher said, feeling more uncomfortable by the minute. Not only was the beast acting oddly, it was also not listening to its owner. If it were to want to attack them, then it was likely that he would be unable to stop it. This was not comforting, to say the least. “but, everything in here looks to be in great shape. Everything’s in order, and I’d like to go through with the purchase… Then, it’s only the matter of discussing the amount?”

It was a bad position to be bartering in, but he did not want to give up the necklace. Even if it was cheap leather and served no purpose, it had a dual-worth to the man: number one, he hated giving things up, regardless of the cost. And two, it was one of the few things that he had on his person when he awoke from the ‘Dawn’, though he still had no idea as to what the hell the Dawn even was. Regardless of that fact, he wasn’t going to just give it up. The woman had stolen food from him: she would not get away with this as well, especially not within the same day. Tugging away and fighting against the beast’s teeth, he would call for her to drop it. “Enough, Iskra!” followed by muttering a few choice words under his breath that only she would be able to hear, along the lines of, “You’re ruining everything…!”

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

The hyena found this a somewhat entertaining game. It was like in the days of her subadulthood when she'd play tug-of-war with another young one, though it'd be something sturdy like a shoulderblade or a tail or a long bit of spine or something.

But as things were, she could tell that whatever this was, the merchant didn't want her ruining this object. She had some idea of value, though it was only developed a small bit. Value inherently belonged to living things in her mind, but she was starting to have a paradigm shift.

As such, she slowly loosened her jaws and allowed him the necklace back, not repentant herself, as she was still learning. Mentally, she put the necklace into the category of things that she didn't plan to mess with for various reasons and resolved to leave it alone until it was reassigned again.

With a wide yawn of nonchalance and a short stretch, she curled up on the floor once more and watched the happenings through her interested, blue eyes.

[ EXP: 203 ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

“Thank you,” he muttered softly, stuffing the leathery object back into the folds of his thing pantlegs. Turning from the beast, who lay now on the floor as if nothing happened, he would go back to the matter at hand: the deal. “Sorry about that!” he would say, trying to make up the face he lost in the eyes of his companions. With a smile across his visage once again, he would get back to business. “Yes, well! I’m glad you’re interested. What do you have exactly? I’m open to pretty much anything that won’t expire, and even some that will!” This act was hard to keep up, but it would have a fairly good effect. In fact, he was surprised things were moving so smoothly and quickly. It was as if the god of merchant-eering was on his side. Of course, he did not believe in such a thing. He even said so before, though it was mentally and only to himself. Rashn still wanted to avoid getting back into that topic of conversation with Iskra. She was… weird about that stuff.

The butcher would nod silently to his son, and as if reading his mind, he would disappear. Similar to before, silence would overtake the room as if it was a tradition not to talk as things were being gathered. From the back door, after a moment, the son would return with two wheelbarrow-like objects trailing him. Inside were several crates whose contents were unknown, but the elder butcher would begin naming them off one by one. Rashn did not note anything in particular he wanted or needed, but there were various things, like breads and wines, that he could still sell fairly well. While bread expired, it also moved fast, so it was worthwhile to check it out. “Mind if I take a look?” he asked with his false kindness stinging at his lips.

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

Iskra yawned widely, once again bored by the proceedings. She imagined that following this merchant around might entail much more boredom in her future should she decide to persist in her chosen path of following the merchant to and fro.

Yet, just because he'd so kindly beckoned her forward didn't necessarily mean that it was his job to keep her entertained during the proceedings. Her childlike level of understanding in the bartering process did make her antsy, but she didn't want to ruin things for her camel-owning friend. After all, his knowledge of trade might come in handy one day, should she need to negotiate with a large group of humans for any reason. Even with her not even knowing where to begin on the subject, she could tell that he was an expert.

Before Nori finished asking permission to look, she was already poking her nose into the wares on a rather literal level, examining with her eyes and nose the crates and taking guesses at their contents. She could, of course, smell bread in one of them, but she had very little concept of processed foods other than the cooked and preserved meats she'd occasionally come across. The idea of a dish made out of plants mashed together and somehow made into something that... wasn't a plant at all... well, such a thing would be beyond her fathoming.

[ EXP: 269 ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

It wasn’t until this point in time that Rashn really seemed to realize how little regard for other people’s privacy Iskra had. Probably, it was linked to the fact that animals often made habits out of sniffing each other’s posteriors and licking their privates in public. He shouldn’t have expected anything in the form of personal respect from her, and it was silly to think that he would get it. Like a small child, he assumed, she just didn’t know any better. And even though he had that excuse, he had no real way of explaining it to the butcher and his sons. He couldn’t come out and admit the truth of her identity to them, so he was forced to just try and play it off as if it were nothing.

“Ahaha, well, she’s fairly friendly, aren’t you Iskra?” he would say, as the two of them seemed to inspect everything in unison. Even if she was being annoying, it didn’t change the fact that everything offered for trade was of fairly respectable quality. The bread looked fresh and firm enough, and the bits of cloth were not torn or shredded. Some spices, and some amounts of raw materials such as lumber and smelted ores were to be found as well. Rashn asked how much of the metal bars he would be willing to part with for the same amount, and, not satisfied with the answer, the two began to talk the business of numbers yet again. He subliminally felt sorry for Iskra, as to her, they were probably sounding like they were speaking in another language, like how he felt when she was explaining her religion to him.

Eventually, obviously flustered and annoyed from a combination of Nori’s inability to settle for less than exactly what he wanted and from sheer unadulterated sleepiness, the butcher would finally give up and cut a deal giving him about 90% of what he was asking for. Satisfied with this, Rashn agreed to trade the barrel of meats for two crates of smelted steel bars, and a crate of fresh breads. A good deal, if he did say so himself. Bowing his head, he would thank the man for their business, and turn to leave, somehow fumbling around all three crates stacked atop one another. “Come now, Iskra. Let’s leave the men to their business now.”

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

The demon didn't find much interesting in the crates. Mostly rocks, or so she called "metals" in her head. She knew that they had the potential to become things of hurt, as the humans and higher spirits made a habit of creating fake claws and teeth out of the heart of Terra because their claws and teeth were insufficient to kill anything. Perhaps she only needed one of those things to be a more potent hunter and warrior in her humanoid form.

But those thoughts weren't for tonight. She was dreadfully tired from her journey and, having accompanied Nori to this most recent place, figured she'd have to sleep soon. After all, she had a long day's journey ahead of her when Paike was high in the sky again, and this little oasis was not a pit stop she could afford to extend on her trip there.

And yet, she thought as she walked a few feet ahead of the merchant and climbed into the cart before he could put the crates down, she'd never forget this person.

She had something very important to ask him before she went to sleep, however. She waited patiently for him to finish placing his new wares where they needed to be.

[ EXP: 235 || +1 TEXP (1st post last post) ]

Intern Rep! : 10 Location : GARhalla

With some level of finesse, the merchant would raise his foot and kick off the hook, disengaging the latch and allowing the back gate of the carriage to fall quickly to its open position. Rashn’s face would quickly deteriorate back to its natural scowl of indifference as he slid the crates into the carriage, moving the things about to allow for minimal movement and shifting mid travel. From the cart’s side, he would take two large, thick cloths and some length of rope, tossing the protective ‘rugs’ over the crates and tying them on to cover them from wear and tear, or, in worst case scenario, spilling. It would also go to help against theft, if it were to happen. He doubted he would run into any bandits within the near future, but it was good to be safe just in case.

Moving to the front of the carriage with a tired groan, he would slide into his pilot seat and grip the reins, a loose and inattentive look taking over his face. It would take a moment, but his gaze would slowly turn to the animal sitting next to him. An eyebrow would raise, but no words would come out at first. The short pause would be followed by a simple question, along the lines of “You’re still here?” He was honestly bewildered as to what more she wanted. Rashn was not one for travelling partners as a rule, so if it was that she was after, she was S.O.L already. Or perhaps she just wanted to mooch more food off of him. With a quizzical look, he would follow up his earlier question with a single word: “Yes?”

Mystic Elder Rep! : 31

It wasn't until after she'd tried to formulate the question in her head that she realized she wouldn't be able to ask it to Nori. She had many words for smells in her head, but none of them were communicable to the weary-looking entity before her.

But she'd learned much this night. Oddly enough, she felt that she was bothering the man with her presence and that she'd have to prove herself to him somehow. It was an odd thought, one that wouldn't have occurred to her had she not seen how he operated.

So with that, she resolved to court the man with gifts.

With a short hop, she'd removed herself from the cart and she trotted gently off across the sands. It was a good night for walking. The desert didn't seem particularly dangerous in the cool of the darkness and by morning she would have found a shelter and possibly found her way out of the sand lands.

But she would not forget the strange lessons she'd learned and the odd things she'd seen. She'd take them with her and repay the human later for his kindness.

[ EXP: 212 || +1 TEXP (5th post) ]

» Desert Howl *
» Desert Walkers *
» Troublesome Negotiations [Desert]
» Night Shadows
» Stay Night