Octavius nodded when Ceres suggested he could try alerting her to sudden changes. It was a decent idea, he supposed. But they would see what happened. Then, the way they wanted to go cleared, and his partner got the message. She lamented about smelling badly, and he laughed at her, a quiet, barking chuckle. She should try smelling him, he would have suggested. As it was, they had places to be. Once the woman's watery self had settled into his fur, the dog then skittered out of the alley. No one paid it any mind. Obviously it was just a poor stray that had been startled by whatever was going on in the alley. The people continued to look on curiously, while the escaping canine soon slowed to a joyful trot. He picked his way through the streets very carefully, revealing a nimbleness that most dogs of his size didn't possess in such quantity. But even with such remarkable skills, no one noticed. And if they did, they didn't care. At least most of them didn't. The captain finally struck his downfall when he heard the cry of "Puppy!" from a group of nearby street urchins. His head whipped around in their direction, ears perking up, getting ready to do something about the situation.

When he realized exactly how many children were about to descend on him, the pirate started to move faster. The kids laughed, assuming it was a game, and Octavius figured it was the perfect cover. He led the urchins on a merry chase toward his goal, knowing that people wouldn't think twice about a gang of children hounding a stray through the waterfront. Eventually, though, he was going to have to lose the brats. But that proved a lot easier than he thought, when some fellow canines appeared. None of them were pleased to see the children, though, clearly having learned their lesson. The pack was all teeth and snarls, and the urchins cleared out quickly enough, even as the pirate lord was slipping through the other end of the alley. He made a note of which way to go if he was ever in the area and needing a distraction. And then, before anyone or anything else could take a liking to him, Captain Cuttlam slipped into the yard of the tavern he had been aiming for the whole time. There was a boy splitting logs in the mud, but not much else. It looked like the place was pretty empty, since there weren't any horses to be seen in the stable. This place wasn't a frequent haunt for many locals, but the man was hopeful he'd find what he sought. If nothing else, he'd get some decent gossip and an idea of what to look for.

He picked the cleanest corner of the stable, figuring it would be best to do this sort of thing out of the stableboy's view, and then he sat, wiggled a bit, and waited for Ceres to get off. "We're here. I'd like to shake, so I suggest you hop off." he growled, wondering if she could speak when she was water. As soon as she was reforming, the pirate would have himself a good shake, and then transform. The idea was to leave him mostly, if not completely, dry. Once they were ready, he would lead the way again, but he definitely needed a chance to shake first...