[PRP] Just escaped, or did he? [Ali`dido x Suu`marle]

[Ctrl F Greenie]

Ali`dido had just spent the better part of his day avoiding a pale lioness who seemed to be on a mission to make his life miserable before he scrammed with a couple hand made bags - it wasn't like he had stolen the damned things! Some would call his swift escape luck, but those who knew him (there weren't any) would know he had a particular skill for getting out of situations unnoticed.

Unfortunately while escaping one issue he often came across others - perhaps that was the only issue he had with his particular skill of escaping. Otherwise he found himself feeling quite proud. Leaving behind the mountainside in favor of some plains, with an inevitable goal in mind he wandered uninterrupted, there were a couple trees but he found himself far to distracted to pause - even for a quick breath.

"They'll have to like them." He stated, a fact that he was already well aware of. The handiwork that went into the bags themselves had been extraordinary. The likes of which he hadn't seen before, though he hadn't tried to find anything handmade before.. The last few days had changed his input on that and he even began to appreciate the drums that he'd collected from his travels within the Nchi a trip he wouldn't soon forget.

The destination he had in mind wasn't far, but he decided to stop at a small watering hole - when he could find one that is.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

The darker lioness had been knocked out by a light; she hadn't really been sold on Adar's initial plans, but as he had explained them he had finally persuaded the green lioness to agree. Consequently, their problem child had soon been removed from the picture and would remain as such until further notice. Suu'marle had supplied Adar with an ample enough supply of the dust to keep Oa completely out for the count.

...On the one paw, he would be able to wake her up so she could eat and drink, but on the other, she would be so without her own faculties that she would be incapable of operating without instructions. The aim had been to keep her unconscious for as much of the time as possible, though leaving the rest of them to continue about their work completely unhindered. Generally such plans worked out quite well, but the green lioness had decided to lurk reasonably closely to where their captive was being held for the time being.

She might be resistant to the dust after all, and a new one might have to be used...alternatively a different dosage, but it was better for the master of poisons to be present for this rather than to have Adar do it. Suffice it to say that the lion would probably have no issue with pouring it over the sleeping lioness's face until she was overdosed and dead.

He'd never been the squeamish type.

Nevertheless, as Ali entered her field of vision Suu'marle did raise her brow in amusement. He seemed to be skulking along with several items to his name, if she hadn't known any better she'd have called him a thief. Ah, but it certainly wasn't her business to intervene in private matters, at least not without orders!

Mysses Greenie

 

[Ctrl F Greenie]

Ah-ha! The green lion had been on the right track in finding a place to lay low for a little while, nothing screamed comfort more than that of a watering hole - a quiet watering hole. He moved slowly over terrain that had fortunately been gentle to him, not very many bumps in the road meant paws that wouldn't ache to much later. Though if he played his cards right he'd stay here for the evening and begin anew the following day.

Approaching the scene it seemed serene, nothing seemed to stir and so he breathed a sigh of relief that echoed briefly while he began to unload his cargo. The bag was easily removed, over his head and was on the ground in seconds - the relief that bought was unbelievable and thinking he was alone Ali let out a groan of satisfaction. After dropping the bag he began to drop himself as well, weariness beginning to overwhelm him a small amount - he yawned, largely and raised his rump, while lowering himself into a long stretch that ended when his gut hit the floor.

"Just another night and the bags will be delivered." He said to no one in particular. His thoughts were squarely on getting the goods he'd gotten from Laini to their new homes - a couple of individuals he had happened on nearby a watering hole very similar to this, but much more lush in herbs. "Man, it'll probably be a couple more days of travel before I can deal with this." He mumbled out loud before resting his head on his paws.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

There was something to be said for the lioness's ability to simply disappear into her surroundings. It seemed that most of the Collective possessed the ability to do that, whether it be shadows or nature, they never seemed to be noticed. A blessing and a cursed, particularly if one wanted to make conversation... And yet the lioness had decided on this occasion to take advantage of the lion's inability to see her. Suffice it to say that he seemed to be like Tethys in this respect, fine when something was right in front of him, oblivious to anything near him.

Thus, the lioness soon swept around behind him. Silent as always the assassin slipped in and with scarcely a whisper she picked up his bags and proceeded to walk back to her perch. She wasn't walking terribly far, in fact she was mere stone throws away, and yet she had still pilfered his bags from under his nose to inspect. Once she had returned to her chosen spot, she soon went about looking inside the goods and assessing their general quality - all devoid of small talk.

...She'd already decided she was going to time how long it took him to realise he'd lost several items.

Overall the bags were reasonably good quality, whoever was making them was getting better as she or he practiced more. She'd seen such things before at home, but it was rather nice to see that this level of development also occurred in more 'barbaric' lands...

Abominable Greenie

 

[Ctrl F Greenie]

Ali raised his head, eyes half open and appearing to be two golden slits - he open his mouth into what became a rather large yawn which dragged his whole body into another stretch that caused him to roll to his side. The way he rolled placed him in such a way that the bags he'd acquired should have been in his immediate view. At first the empty void that filled his vision didn't alarm him, in fact he had closed his eyes in favor of attempting for a nap. Instead of that nap some internal alarm prodded him to open his eyes once more, though he wasn't sure why at first. Then slowly he came to realize that the bags he'd had nicely stacked and filled with processed animal bones, drums and other various articles had vanished.

Even as he took in the scene he didn't react, it took Ali a moment to realize that somehow, someone had stolen his own goods right from under his nose in a fashion that was much to literal for his liking. Slowly he stood up and tried to wake himself up in the process, that was a losing battle and had his bags been stolen just moments later he'd likely have slept the whole night away as the thief got away with it. "Hey!" He shouted, ears pinning against his head, then raising and swiveling about to search for any odd noises that may or may not stand out against the calm of the space he'd inhabited.

"Who goes there!?" Bewildered, exhausted and overall alarmed by the ease this individual stole his goods he was understandably becoming increasingly more agitated each time he called out. "You don't know what I have in there - but I do and it's not the antidote to the poison!" True, the lion had no idea that the individual he was yelling at had apt skills in the poison department. He was simply driven to say whatever he could to hopefully pry his belongings from the thief. "All of the goods in those bags are hazardous." He stated, wondering if there was even anyone there to be screaming at, or was he insane? Had he slept and just not been aware of it?

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

It must have been a thing the locals did here; she'd seen Tethys do that as well. They just sort of yelled in random directions and hoped that they would eventually be pointing the correct way. Unsurprisingly the lioness didn't consider it necessary to respond to his hollers, and instead she continued to extract the articles from within the bag to inspect them. Dangerous articles her fine a**, these looked more like little trinkets used to make a variety of products, none of which could kill anyone.

...Well that wasn't strictly true, the bones certainly could have with enough work.

Nevertheless she continued in silence, eventually beginning to put the articles into little rows on the ground as she peaked into the bags. She took account of precisely what was inside them. If there was anything of use, she might have several questions regarding them or to be honest, she might just take them. If his skills of observation were already failing to see her right in front of him, then he wouldn't miss a couple of things from his bags surely...

Abominable Greenie

 

[Ctrl F Greenie]

Exhausted, why did this crap have to happen when he was just simply trying to nap. Heck if he had less of a conscious he'd have quickly forgotten the bag and moved on to a cozy spot free from thieves and yet he couldn't, not when those bags had been specially made for individuals that expected him to fail. Failure was not an option here. "Cmon." He gave a final shout that displayed his sense of loss.

Then, as he finally started to really wake up a little, he spied some motion. "Are those my.." He muttered to himself, still not seeing the thief right away. To the gory butterfly all his eyes could pick up right away were the contents of his bag neatly lined up in the most peculiar way. If he didn't believe in ghosts he'd most certainly begin to do so now. Yet with all of the items laid out so neatly he still didn't see the bags themselves. "What the hell." He stated with a small growl to his tone - his frustration was very clear.

So without further hesitation he approached the items, still peering at them as though they'd been touched by some unholy being. "Could you at least return the bags?" He asked sarcastically.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Had he actually seen her, or was he simply addressing thin air?

He seemed to be looking directly at his wares rather than her, a source of amusement to be sure, as the lioness was certain she wasn't invisible when she was this close to anyone. It gave her pause for thought as the lioness regarded him thoughtfully, it was in these moments that she took the opportunity to try and see if he was blind. By the look of his eyes however, he was in perfectly health, and he didn't seem to exhibit the symptoms of anyone who was under the influence of anything untowards.

Curious...

She had known Tethys was bad, but perhaps the lions of this region truly had some sort of bizarre handicap. Whatever the case might be, the lioness had already noted that their powers of observation were decidedly lacking. It wasn't exactly worthy of any form of respect, if anything, it seemed to give grounds for concern! Alas, she would put the male out of his misery, perhaps if she spoke he might become aware of the fact that the 'ghost' was immediately in front of him.

"Bags?" she queried and held up one of the pouches. "These little things?" she hazarded. "Why would they hold any value, they are primitive..."

Abominable Greenie

 

[Ctrl F Greenie]

Had he been that tired? Had the exhaustion not gone from his eyes? Or had a lioness just simply appeared. Soon as she came into view he understood a little bit how he had missed her, but by golly would he have to explain if anyone else was witnessing this awful chain of events - hidden in plain sight.

Ali`dido didn't address her right away, instead he was taking inventory of the items he had had, of course he was sure she realized how harmless the items were in his bag by now, but it had been a solid plan before he knew that she was rummaging about his goods. "Yes, those things and don't mock them - they were hand crafted by a lioness in the mountains." He said, narrowing his golden eyes at her as he defended the goods. "Can you make bags?" He asked, hoping beyond hope that it wasn't in this lioness' ability spectrum. Though at the rate he was going she probably could make bags, meaning his defense was entirely pointless.

"Besides all of that, I'd like to point out that they function as they should, making them valuable enough in my books - these bags haven't failed me yet."

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

"I do not specialise in such things," she swept round and cast one of his empty bags towards him a s she inspected the other. "There are others who do, and their's are markedly better," she replied smoothly. It seemed any lip or attitude the tired lion might have had was lost on the lioness, she'd clearly heard worse in her time and had no difficulty ignoring it... Either that, or she heard it and simply had a thick skin. Truth be told, both were probably accurate, one needed to be able to ignore difficult things depending on their role in her world.

"Functional as they might be to hold larger specimens," she wrinkled her nose and tossed him another of his bags, instead picking up one of the bones. They hadn't be touched, she failed to see a practical use for them when they weren't sharpened. Were they teething toys for his offspring perhaps? That was the only reason she could find a need for blunt bones at this current point in time. Hell, they weren't even heavy enough to be decent shrapnel.

"They are otherwise useless for liquids -" she paused and dropped the bone back into the pile. "And for anything that could be regarded as weaponry," she shrugged her shoulders. "Their value would be lacking where I am from, but I applaud the attempt all the same," she mused.

Abominable Greenie

 

[Ctrl F Greenie]

Taking a completely different outlook on the situation he wondered if this were actually true, or had she been simply bragging. "Perhaps if it came down to it maybe there is something my bag maker could learn from yours?" He questioned casually, not entirely sure if that would be something Laini would be okay with or not and yet he felt compelled to inquire.

"To be fair I hadn't thought to carry liquids with me, though I also haven't experienced a time where there wasn't a local body of water." Ali was being frank, it was true he hadn't had a need for liquid on the run though that could change down the road of course. He grew silent as he collected both of the articles tossed his way - thankfully without damage, things could have been much worse in reality.

He watched as she eyed up the bones. "I use them for various decoration, they were added to one of the smaller bags (within one of the bags) so that they could be less dull on the outside. Laini's idea though, not mine." He admitted. "I collect them to give to cubs as well, since I've seen a couple during my time abroad in the roguelands - it seems wise to keep goods to be shared or exchanged." Ali nodded at the articles as he spoke.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

"Perhaps," she agreed, though this seemed to be an automatic response rather than any inclination to set up a meeting between her contacts and his. Quite frankly she had no idea how the pouches were made in her homeland, nor had she ever sought to find out. It had never been her area of expertise and never would be, that didn't mean she couldn't provide constructive criticism whenever it came down to inspecting them though!

No offence was intended towards his contact of course, no doubt this 'Laini' would get progressively better the more she experimented with her art, but for now Suu'marle would continue to regard the artefacts as primitive. Should there come a time when she saw something that met her own standards then she would obviously re-evaluate and offer her compliments. Not that Ali needed to know any of this either way, but she did afford him enough of her attention as he explained what everything was and what particular purpose he intended for it to serve.

Simply put, they were all toys.

"How quaint," she said finally as she slipped down from her rock and strode away from the goods she had piled up. "Perhaps if they are of such value to you, you should keep a closer eye on them, no?" she pointed out curiously. She had stolen them from under his slumbering nose after all, even if she hadn't wandered far with them...

Abominable Greenie