Bloodhound

Bloodhound

Postby Suede » Sun Dec 15, 2013 2:12 am

Every good detective needed a sidekick. I wasn't sure but I think I may have already been given one unwillingly. But I could have more than one, and you always hear about those guys with their stalwart companion dogs going off on adventures. True, this one wasn't exactly a dog, and I sure as hell wasn't going to call her one outloud. And she was supposedly very much human looking most of the time according to the innkeeper, but damnit I had a mental narration to keep up with.

So I needed a dog, and anyways if I had someone with a good sense of smell that could... you know... speak, it would make finding the crazy lady's body a bit easier. That's how I wound up where I was today, stuffed into a few extra coats and sitting under one of the trees across the road and down the street from the Dagger. Dulcie said the wolf came to the Dagger, and I sure wasn't going to go stomping through the forest looking for a predator. Something less scary, like a squirrel, would probably try to kill me out of starvation anyways.

I crossed my legs and my arms, pointing myself towards the little fire I had made on the side of the road. No one had complained about that yet. I'd been coming out here for the last few days, staring at my own puffed breath, as I tried to catch sight of someone that looked like a werewolf that maybe wasn't going into the tavern itself.
User avatar
Suede
Member
 
Posts: 894
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2003 4:00 am
Location: Georgia

Re: Bloodhound

Postby Dulcie » Sun Dec 15, 2013 2:21 am

She stuck out like a sore thumb and while she didn't have the word "werewolf" tattooed across her forehead it was easy to see that there was something different about the woman who emerged from the woods.

Kacela rarely travelled into the town any longer since she had Kals had built their home. He was grieving however, a lost sister that she felt as strongly as if it had been one of her own. There were comforts that she couldn't offer him, like a warm cooked meal that had simmered long over a fire with spices and meat that wasn't still raw with blood. Her mate deserved an evening of some comforts familiar to his kind and Kacela had determined that she could aquire these comforts from the tavern and bring them home.

She approached the tavern with the cautious gait of an animal, less comfortable on the open road than she had been in the forest. She was different than the average Myrkener in a number of ways. To begin with her skin was the color of rich chocolate, a rarity in the town, and she wore clothing that was crudely fashioned of leather, though she hadn't bothered with shoes or a cloak, walking through the open air as if the bite of the cold didn't touch her. Strapped to her back was a quiver of arrows and a bow. Perhaps she was a ranger and not a werewolf, but that didn't explain why her feet weren't freezing.
User avatar
Dulcie
Member
 
Posts: 806
Joined: Sun May 18, 2008 4:00 am

Re: Bloodhound

Postby Suede » Sun Dec 15, 2013 9:36 am

I saw her coming a mile away. Tall, dark, and dressed like a wildling from the south. If this wasn't someone that could be a werewolf then it was just one more of Myrken's oddities that I could write off as not being my mark. I probably should have asked Dulcie for a better description anyways. With a grunt I dragged myself off the poorly cleared ground I'd been at and kicked some dirt over my fire. Werewolf or not I was going inside for something hot and inebriating.

If I walked just right I could intercept her partway to the tavern, and I thought about saying nothing until I got closer, but that idea didn't last as I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Do you know you forgot your boots?" Smooth as always, you charmer.
User avatar
Suede
Member
 
Posts: 894
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2003 4:00 am
Location: Georgia

Re: Bloodhound

Postby Dulcie » Wed Dec 18, 2013 12:44 pm

She turned at the comment about boots and paused mid-step, the behavior so animal like as she turned her upper body in one smooth motion, leaving her poised for further movement, but able to view the person who spoke to her.

"I do not need boots." She said simply. Her accent was thick, and quite foreign in comparison to the accents heard in Myrken Wood. Clearly the common language was still one that she was learning.

She looked at him again with a slow, almost unsettling, quiet regard, and for that moment the man might feel that sense of being watched by something that was absolutely a predator, her deep brown eyes scanning over his form with a cool regard that seemed to be taking in every detail about him.

"You watch me?" Her tone both curious and spoken as a statement of fact. "Why?"
User avatar
Dulcie
Member
 
Posts: 806
Joined: Sun May 18, 2008 4:00 am

Re: Bloodhound

Postby Suede » Fri Dec 20, 2013 2:22 pm

I do not need boots. I resisted the urge to make an insulting pantomime and repeat her works back to her. Only just. She was staring at me, and I was staring right back and covering up a lazy yawn with one hand while trying to speak around the noise at the same time. "I heard you have a good nose, if you are who I think you are. I need to borrow it."

Hopefully not for long, I didn't need to get even more stares for wandering around town with a woman than I already did. And anyone crazy enough to walk around in winter without anything resembling sensible clothing was going to draw attention. It might have been smart of me to feel a bit intimidating by the fact I was being regarded like lunch, but I generally consider myself too stupid to appreciate those sorts of things, so I just put on my best ingratiating smile.
User avatar
Suede
Member
 
Posts: 894
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2003 4:00 am
Location: Georgia

Re: Bloodhound

Postby Dulcie » Sat Dec 21, 2013 4:19 am

"You speak strange." She observed, continuing with her curious look before she began to cross the distance between him, moving with long, powerful strides in her step that hinted at a strength that could easily bowl a man like him over.

"I do not understand these words, 'borrow my nose'. Speak what you mean." Her tone was insistent, a little impatient as her trek for lunch had been interrupted, and hungry werewolf was never a particularly good thing. Close as she was now he could see more details about her, perhaps the most notable being that there was not one flaw about the woman, no scars, no scratches, no frost bitten flesh. She didn't shiver in the cold, it as if it didn't even seem to touch her. If he knew anything about prints he would see that the tracks she left seemed to leave a much deeper impression than would have been expected for a woman of her height, as if somehow she could be heavier than what she seemed.
User avatar
Dulcie
Member
 
Posts: 806
Joined: Sun May 18, 2008 4:00 am

Re: Bloodhound

Postby Suede » Thu Dec 26, 2013 2:04 am

"I speak like an educated gentleman, thank you." A cough into my hand to smother my fake show of offense. She came stomping in my direction like an angry bull checking to see if I was ready to stick on its horns. I did an admirable job of not being intimidated, only taking one step back to maintain a little bit of my personal space. I should have expected how hard it would be for any woman to resist the hat.

"What I mean, Miss... dense." Take that as you will, heavy or slow to catch my words. "Is I need someone with a bit of a unique way of viewing things. And interesting talents." I took a long look at her state of dress and the lack of goosebumps on her arms, then shrugged and beamed a smile in her face. "I need to find the body of Rhaena Olwak and I hear you have a nose for sniffing things out. A bit of wolfish skill."
User avatar
Suede
Member
 
Posts: 894
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2003 4:00 am
Location: Georgia

Re: Bloodhound

Postby Dulcie » Fri Dec 27, 2013 1:55 am

When he spoke she'd get a puzzled look on her face, and an expression of deep concentration, as if she had to translate each and every word that he was saying. She still didn't understand the first half of what he had to say, but being as how it sounded mostly like rambling and that useless little talking that humans did she assumed it wasn't that important anyhow.

The last statement she understood and the recognition of the words was quite clear on her face. Rhaena Olwak's body, sniffing things out. Those were words that she knew the meaning of.

"Rhaena is the sister of my mate." She began, giving him a cautious look. "Why do you need her body?" She knew there were people in this place who sometimes had nefarious plans for the undead, and she had no intentions of letting any harm come to her sister in law, whether in this life or the next.

"The people here burn bodies. Hers is not among them?"
User avatar
Dulcie
Member
 
Posts: 806
Joined: Sun May 18, 2008 4:00 am

Re: Bloodhound

Postby Suede » Fri Dec 27, 2013 12:23 pm

"The owner of that fine establishment beside you." A hand wave towards the tavern, carefully just because of the the way she was eying me up, and the other hand tucked carefully in a pocket where it could grab something good for causing concussions. Just to be safe. "She asked me to find the body. Why? Bury it, Burn it, dress it up in frilly clothes. Didn't ask, don't care. But she said she was a friend and wanted to see it taken care of."

And I used the chance of exposition to put some space between us. Mate... really? Oh, this woman either had a poor grasp of the language or was a bit of a loon. A few steps to the side, making sure I didn't lose sight of her entirely. I resisted the urge to shiver from the cold or the looks. "I am offended by what you'd suggest I'd want to do with your sister-in-law. As for what has happened to it. I poked my nose around and no one seems to know. There's no record of a burning."

Was she following along? She seemed to be, though she looked a bit confused. Would I offend her by talking slowly and loudly?
User avatar
Suede
Member
 
Posts: 894
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2003 4:00 am
Location: Georgia

Re: Bloodhound

Postby Dulcie » Sun Dec 29, 2013 2:30 am

She considered what he had to say, sniffing at the air near him. The innkeeper's scent wasn't fresh or strong on him, but considering what she knew of the woman it made sense. She knew that Kals didn't have problems with her and the woman had always treated her fairly, even after it became public knowledge about what she was.

"You are not lying." Stated as a fact, not a question. This time she seemed to understand what he was saying a little better than the time before.

"What do you need me to do?"
User avatar
Dulcie
Member
 
Posts: 806
Joined: Sun May 18, 2008 4:00 am

Re: Bloodhound

Postby Suede » Sun Dec 29, 2013 12:15 pm

When she sniffed at me I leaned back at the waist and gave her a funny look. Remember Seasons, you're getting her to help BECAUSE of that nose.

"Lady, I'm a lot of things but a liar isn't one of them." I was a bit offended by the suggestion, but I couldn't hold it against her too much. From what my asking around revealed besides a lot of nothing was the fact that this dame had a bad reputation around town. Apparently her ideas of right and wrong didn't exactly line up with the civilized ideals of folks from inside the city. I liked that sort of girl, meant she had that sort of viewpoint on life that was a bit more reasonable. Pity she'd probably kill me if I told her she was my faithful sidekick for now.

"What I need is for you to come with me tonight to break into Rhaena Olwak's house, and sniff around. Find the scent of her body, or whomever had it and where they went." And while she was doing that maybe I could find some more tangible clues of value. Bloody well better not be a necromancer.
User avatar
Suede
Member
 
Posts: 894
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2003 4:00 am
Location: Georgia

Re: Bloodhound

Postby Dulcie » Mon Dec 30, 2013 9:27 am

"Many men lie. I do not trust just words." She assured him. She listened for what he asked then and inclined her head slightly in agreement. She didn't have moral issues with breaking and entering, at least not when there was a greater cause at stake. She could have gone into a long explanation about how everything really belonged to everybody, but people seemed to stop listening after those sorts of conversations.

"Yes, I will do this. I will need my other shape to find their smells, they are very old now." She looked at him, waiting for a reaction. He knew enough to find her, then she figured that he knew fairly well what she was. "This will not frighten you? Fear is not good near a wolf, fear means you are prey." Logistical questions really.
User avatar
Dulcie
Member
 
Posts: 806
Joined: Sun May 18, 2008 4:00 am

Re: Bloodhound

Postby Suede » Mon Dec 30, 2013 12:35 pm

"I can't argue with that. I find punching someone a few times gets the truth out, myself." Bribery probably worked, but I didn't want to be giving my hard-earned money to some yutz with questionable information. I'd rather spend it on something useless for myself. Maybe if I was being expensed for a job, but I didn't usually want to waste the money of someone desperate enough to bother me, either. She asked about fear and I couldn't quite hold back the bark of laughter that passed through my lips.

"Lady, I've been through enough to know I'm too stupid to be afraid when I'm suppose to be." She couldn't be that bad, anyways. I'd seen wolves before and she wasn't that large of a woman. "You can be sneaky with your other shape?"
User avatar
Suede
Member
 
Posts: 894
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2003 4:00 am
Location: Georgia

Re: Bloodhound

Postby Dulcie » Tue Dec 31, 2013 2:44 am

For the first time since they started talking her expression changed and she laughed, her lips set into a broad grin as she chuckled and shook her head with a clatter of her braided hair.

"No, there is nothing good for sneaking in my other shape. I could come with you in this form, but I would need to take something away for the wolf to scent and follow. It is a better tracker than this shape." Apparently she didn't have a problem with stealing either.

"When do you wish to go?" She asked finally. She was a woman of action, she hated lingering around, or scheduling appointments. If something needed to be done she would simply do it and that would be that.
User avatar
Dulcie
Member
 
Posts: 806
Joined: Sun May 18, 2008 4:00 am

Re: Bloodhound

Postby Suede » Fri Jan 03, 2014 11:41 am

"Now. Well, tonight. Could you get dressed for the occasion after we get there? I'd rather not draw the attention of bringing a big announcement of our presence with me." If she couldn't be subtle that was the best solution in my mind. Little attention, nothing missed because she didn't have the nose for it. Perfect answer. And it wasn't quite night yet, so there was no point in wandering into town to get noticed heading in the direction of Rhaena's house ahead of time.

"Why don't you meet on the south edge of the market an hour of sundown? That way we aren't really seen together in case people get grumpy about breaking and entering." At least she was laughing. I preferred laughing scary women than not, unless it was maniacal laughter.
User avatar
Suede
Member
 
Posts: 894
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2003 4:00 am
Location: Georgia

Next

Return to The Broken Dagger



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests

cron