[SE] Stop, thief!

"Don't let it get away!" Tal hollered to Maea, balancing precariously on a root walkway beneath Stormbreak. Boreal circled slowly just below, tilting her broad head from side to side to keep her companion in view above her as she stayed near enough to surge upwards and steady the Messenger if he started to slip.

He was inching out along the roots in pursuit of a four-winged raven with unsettling amethyst eyes that cawed derisively at the courier as it hopped along just out of reach. It was clearly taunting him, and the reason for his pursuit was obvious in the gleam of a bright red gem against the Void Messenger's black feathers. It was attached to a black iron ring that was, unfortunately, currently held in the bird's heavy, sharp-looking beak, hooked in such a way that it didn't simply fall out when its new owner cawed.

The courier made a sudden lunge and the bird hissed as it flapped heavily away, missing a few tail feathers that were now clutched in Tal's hand. Of course, he was now face down and hugging the root he'd been walking on with both legs and arms, swearing a blue streak under his breath as he glared at the corrupted bird.

---

Void Messenger (uncommon): Feathers as dark as the void they traverse, these ravens serve as messengers for the infected, carrying whispers tainted by the void's influence. To the uninfected, their cawing echoes with an otherworldly dread, an unsettling harbinger of impending darkness. Where their 4-wings cast shadows, anxiety follows, a manifestation of the void's unsettling grip.

MAEA

It was not as easy to hunt this bird as it should be. Not because it was fast and clever and the Grotto was a hopeless place to navigate. Ni, but there was something beautiful over the creature, void touched though it was, and the thought of killing it was somehow painful.

But it had stolen Tal's ring. Which more or less sealed its fate.

"Move aside," she called out, and angled her arm in position. The burning chakram hummed as it gathered speed around her finger, and with a flick of the wrist she sent it flying at the void Messenger. Hoping it would land. Wishing it weren't necessary.

Isn't it lovely, all alone?
Heart made of glass, my mind of stone

Tal didn't even care about killing it so long as he got his ring back, but since it was a void critter he also wasn't too picky about how they accomplished that particular task. (Though even if it hadn't been one of the creepy purple-black fauna, he wasn't exactly the type to use a delicate touch.) However, there wasn't much 'aside' that he could move at the moment, so he settled for keeping flat on his stomach while Maea flung out her chakram and watching as it curved around towards the bird of ill omen.

It croaked and flapped harder, dodging around a vertical root at the last second so that the chakram became stuck in the thick wood. The sizzle of burned feathers wafted through the air, however, testament to just how close Maea had come to finishing the job right then and there.

Its flying was growing more erratic now that it was missing a handful of tailfeathers and one of its wings had been clipped. It fluttered to a new perch and let out a dreadful caw that echoed through the grotto, sending a sensation of malevolent, ghostly whispers to surround the two mortals who challenged it.

Tal shook his head and got shakily to his feet, edging forward to retrieve Maea's weapon and toss it back to her with a grimace. "I really fuckin' hate how eerie these Void-things are," he admitted. A shudder ran down his spine as a second caw seemed to scrape across his grave. "So much for hopin' they hadn't made it into Stormbreak yet."

MAEA

Clicking her tongue in vexation when her aim proved less than true, Maea wiggled forward through the tangle of roots until she was almost even with Tal. She caught her weapon when he passed it along and ran a finger along the edge to check for damage.

"I don't know about hating them... sure they are unpleasant, but so are many other creatures in Caido." Klaws were on her list there, and those skull stealing crabs in the Feverlands. Nevertheless, she shot Tal a thin smile, understanding of his frustration. "I'm more worried about the way they're spreading. If we take this one out it should be one less to worry about." As if in response the Void Messenger let out its caw, raising goosebumps down her spine until it felt like all her skin crawled.

Logic, that one. Grimacing, Maea passed the chakram to her tail and vegan to edge forward again, trying stealth this time to get closer to the ring thief.

Isn't it lovely, all alone?
Heart made of glass, my mind of stone

"Sure, an' I can be weirded th'fuck out by them, too," Tal declared confidently. "Not likin' Void stuff doesn't mean I can't not like regular ol' Caido stuff that's fucky." There was at least one double negative in there, but that had never bothered Tal before, and it wasn't going to start now. He reached out to grab a thinner root at shoulder height to balance himself and pulled his Dagger out of its belt sheath.

A glance over at Maea showed her being sneaky, so Tal figured he should keep the bird's attention on him in the meantime. He scowled at the Messenger and waved his weapon, letting it catch a glint of the shadowy light that filtered through the Grotto. 'Hey! Stupid bird! Look over here! An' gimme my ring back!" He raised his voice and tried to shift to another walkway-root away from the one Maea was on, but the root cracked ominously as he settled his weight on it and the courier froze. "Uh... fuckin'... Void vulture..." he continued, though more weakly as he surreptitiously tried to shift to a safer foothold.

MAEA

Stalking quietly along the narrow windings, the Ancient used her hands to steady herself. Smaller and lighter than her friend, she had less trouble navigating the roots and managed to get within a few feet of the corrupted mata mata before it noticed her.

And though it was a bit dangerous, though it might be better to just use her dagger - she couldn't resist the impulse to shift when she leaped for the void creature.

Changing mid air, her black garbed silhouette turned to white fur and blued steel stripes. Massive paws struck out for the serpent like creature and managed to slap it into a knotted tangle of roots. Now dazed and squawking miserable, it couldn't slither out fast enough. A moment was all it took for Maea to pin the thing beneath massive paws, and it took immense self control to not bite down on it.

But touching the thing was bad enough. She didn't want to find out what might happen if she tried to eat Void matter. Holding its wriggling form, the Molten Tiger glanced back to Tal, wishing he would hurry over to reclaim the ring. Before she turned purple too.

Isn't it lovely, all alone?
Heart made of glass, my mind of stone

"Oh shit!" Tal's curse rang out as Maea shifted, from pale, horned woman to sleek molten tigress and he had a sudden, terrified vision of the roots beneath her snapping as she landed, sending her plunging down, down, down to the ocean far below.

And the rocks that thrust up from the battering waves like hungry teeth.

He flung himself forward, not sure what he'd do if his own roots broke beneath his boots but hoping he could figure it out on the fly, but it was already over. The roots had held, the tiger was successful, and Tal breathed a heavy sigh of relief as he saw that not only was Maea still on solid-ish ground, but that she'd caught the creepy ring thief! "Hey, nice job!" He managed a shaky grin as he edged towards her. The corrupted mata mata struggled beneath her paws, shrieking a banshee screech that had the courier wincing and tilting his head away from it.

It only bought the bird a few seconds before he recovered enough to lash out with his Dagger, careful of Maea's form so close to the beastie. Even though he was still ten feet away and Tal's blade was nowhere close to it, the bird jerked and went suddenly silent. The blood began to drain from it, coating the roots and dripping down to scatter in the winds beneath the Grotto, though its dark feathers hid the location of its death wound.

Tal worked his way the rest of the distance and wriggled past the tiger, trying to avoid her molten stripes so he could lean over and snag the ring, working it free from the sharp beak that now hung loosely open. "Thanks, Maea. You're a lifesaver. I'm lucky I ran into you!"

MAEA

Only once the feathered snake was dead did the tiger shrink back to the Ancient form. Her hands were stained with the blood; she half raised them to her mouth several times before catching herself. Scraping off the gore onto the roots felt like a waste - briefly she worried about anything that grew from these winding Grotto walls - but it was better than accidentally poisoning herself.

"Happy to help however I can," she smiled, when her hands were mostly clean again. "It's not what I had in mind for the day... but probably more interesting than shopping." Looking around, she knew she likely never would have sought out a place like this on her own. It reminded her of the Fingers, somehow; if they lingered long enough there was a good chance they might find more trouble to entertain themselves with.

"Wanna explore more, or head back?"

Isn't it lovely, all alone?
Heart made of glass, my mind of stone

Tal looked at Maea's bloody hands and grimaced, fishing a handkerchief out of his pocket and wordlessly handing it over. Might have been nice to have some water magic at a time like this, but they made do with what was available. "Interestin', sure. Mebbe a little too interestin'!" He scowled down at the body of the Void Messenber and after a moment's hesitation he sent Boreal a mental warning and then toed the carcass off the roots and into free fall.

After looking the ring over to make sure it wasn't damaged, he pocketed it carefully. He definitely wanted to get it properly cleaned up before he wore it again after it had been in the mouth of a void beastie! Now he just had to try not to lose it again before he could find a jeweler in Stormbreak to check it over and disinfect it.

No sooner had he done that then Maea's question brought his head up. He peered around the coiling roots with a frown, brows beetling in thought. "Um. We should probably head back..." he admitted, trying to be a responsible adult. And it wasn't like he was usually a big risk taker or anything. But he'd heard about the smuggler stashes down here - every skyship captain did, sooner or later - and if one thing was stronger than his wariness, it was his greed. "But we prob'ly won't be back anytime soon so... long as th'roots hold us, we can poke around a bit," he decided, flashing Maea a sheepish, guilty grin. "Might even find some treasure down here, if we're lucky!" Preferably unguarded!

MAEA

Her responding grin was wry and understanding. "Perhaps a slight detour on the way back won't be amiss, then," she suggested, and got to her feet. Careful about where she stepped, she looked around for a fork in the webbing of roots that would take them horizontally rather than up or down. They definitely wouldn't want to go down.

"What kind of treasure would be worth keeping?" she asked him, eventually picking a path that would bring them left, perpendicular to the direction they had come from. "I've grown too practical for looting - all I can think of wanting is a better pair of boots."

A wave of a foot showed her own to be on their last breath. Scuffed and worn thin, she could use an upgrade before Deepfrost.

Isn't it lovely, all alone?
Heart made of glass, my mind of stone

"Just a li'l one," he agreed, his grin broadening as Maea enabled him. He joined her in scouting out a path that led further under the city, testing his footing carefully as he picked his way through the darkly shadowed underbelly of Stormbreak.

"Y'know... I didn't really ask about that," Tal admitted, sweating a little as he only now thought about the kinds of treasures that might be stashed by smugglers. "Uh... prob'ly illegal things, actually, or they'd be goin' through th'front gate. Drugs an' shit. Or stolen stuff like fancy jewels an' things?" Though he'd started out glum, his tone perked up towards the end. "Mebbe we could get a reward if we returned 'em?"

...Or get in trouble and blamed for the thefts to begin with. Fifty/fifty, really.

He peered down at her boots when she mentioned it and wrinkled his nose, nodding agreement. "Yeah, c'n see why y'want new ones. What about usin' that big ol' tiger shift t'do some huntin' an' trade meat for boots?" Or the whole ass hide of whatever she killed, for that matter!

MAEA

Ducking under low hanging sections of the tangled ceiling, she wrinkled her nose at the mention of drugs and stolen goods. "Call me prude, but drugs have never held any appeal to me," she grunted, between shifting her footing between the roots in search of better perch. "Nor stolen goods - I had this really interesting piece of ghost whale bone some years ago. But some fucker stole it from me, and if I ever find him..." Leaving the threat hanging, she shook salt white hair from her face with an offended huff.

"That's a good thought, though. The hunting. So far I've mostly eaten what I catch." And set her sights on smaller game, in the hopes of one day getting used to the bloodlust and the way it tampered with her mind. "I just... It's not easy. Learning to be a whole new thing."

So far she thought she was doing a decent job of adjusting. But no one had asked anything of her so far either, so Maea had a suspicion that there were trials still to come.

Isn't it lovely, all alone?
Heart made of glass, my mind of stone

Tal shrugged, then realized that Maea couldn't see him as she forged ahead. He cleared his throat and nearly ran into a hanging root nose-first, stopping just barely in time and crouching to sidle under it. From below came a distinctly draconic snicker in the momentary silence between gusts of wind. "Nah, I'm with y'there," he agreed. "Drugs'll just get y'killed on th'Tundra or in th'air. I don't touch 'em, myself, an' I won't carry 'em, either." And he would deliver a great many things, some very dangerous indeed.

He managed to shift over onto a thinner root that at least had more headroom over it, and he balanced carefully as he put one foot in front of the other along it. "Uh, but... sorry t'hear about that bone thing." It seemed inadequate, and he cleared his throat awkwardly, unsure of what to say. "I, uh... I'll keep an eye out for it? What's it look like?" That much wouldn't hurt, at least. He could manage that.

Tal stood up on his tiptoes - very carefully - to better peek into a hollow between two roots, just in case. "Yeah? Guess I can't really imagine it," he admitted. "I've always just been one thing." A carol of lizardy laughter earned a glare down past his feet. "An' no one asked you!" he informed his companion with a huff. Resolutely ignoring her, he turned his attention back to Maea. "I mean, I guess th'thing about startin' out all over again is that y'can... I dunno. Choose t'do somethin' new, since you're already bein' somethin' new?" His face screwed up in thought and he shooed away a spider that was hanging in front of his path. "Any ideas about what y'like doin'?"

MAEA

"That's a good stance, I respect it." Maea flashed him a smile. Drunkenness was one thing, but the vice of drugs made her uncomfortable; it was a relief to know that others held similar beliefs.

She waved off the awkward sympathy for her lost item. "Don't worry about it, I'm more annoyed than grieved," Maea assured him. Pausing to let him catch up, she thought back to the impromptu battle that ended with the bone in her possession. "It's longer than I am tall, and weirdly light. Looks like a huge rib bone, really - not something you'd overlook if you saw it." How anyone was hiding it she had no idea; most likely it had already been fashioned into something else or discarded as useless. She had no hopes of ever getting it back.

Sparing a moment to make sure that the spider Tal brushed from his path really only was a regular spider, Maea hummed thoughtfully as she considered his meandering words, and fell in behind the Messenger so that he could choose the path for a while.
"I... no, not really. I know what I used to want... most are things I can't have now. Like moving to Halo, and studying magic, and serving Ludo." Drawing out her chakram to help cut a tangle of fine roots from a section of the tunnel to make passage easier, she shrugged, "I guess I still like reading, and learning new things. Traveling. A friend offered to let me join her healer's guild, so there's that, but none of it really... It doesn't feel like my things, if you know what I mean? Not like this courier thing you're doing, or..." Failing to find another comparison, Maea waved a clawed hand in a general encompassing gesture, hoping he would get the gist anyway.

For all the options she had, and all the things available for her to choose - nothing really spoke to her on a personal level.

Isn't it lovely, all alone?
Heart made of glass, my mind of stone