[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/OfFDTqI.png[/img][/center]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/pfmCiHw.png[/img][/center][hr][hr]Event: Cold Comfort [@Tackytaff] / Characters: Yuliya, Penny [@Force and Fury][hr][hr]
[color=f7976a]“Something’s bugging you.”[/color] Penny stated it matter-of-factly as they walked, her voice barely more than a whisper as she glanced over at Yuliya. Both were at the back of the group but, while [i]she[/i] had the very reasonable excuse of having one leg, the Vossoriyan had no such explanation for her loitering. Yuli scratched her head as she dragged her feet on the trail. She had to talk to someone - or they were all going to be misled by this dumb kid's plan to hustle them. She hushed her tone, to hide her words from the yasoi and the hegelan who were presumably of better hearing than her human counterparts, all the while keeping a watchful eye on the runt. [color=pink]“This is a swindle. This kid want the begemot for himself. I think he will lure it back to hegelan land and kill it there, make himself small fortune.”[/color]

Penny narrowed her eyes. It made sense, but it also seemed a little farfetched. A [i]lot[/i] had to go right for that to work, and he hadn’t exactly been the most approachable until quite recently. There’d have been better ways to convince them to help him if this really was some sort of swindle. It was Yuliya, though, and Penny was loath to just ignore a warning offered in good faith, or so she would assume. [color=f7976a]“That’s… alarming,”[/color] she admitted. [color=f7976a]“What makes you think so?”[/color] 

[color=pink]“Begemot tusks are worth lot of money. Even to us. Any that get near mountains are hunted.”[/color] she whispered, pondering a moment before speaking once more, a little more opinionated this time. [color=pink]“It annoys me that he might trick us, but it annoys me more they want to save this beast. These people starve, their grain gone, and if my suspicion right, all we do is line pockets of some hegelan crafter.”[/color]

[color=f7976a]“Maybe it’s a trick,”[/color] Penny admitted. [color=f7976a]“If it is, you’ll see me push a kid off a cliff myself,”[/color] she snorted. [color=f7976a]“No word of a lie.”[/color] She did not like being doublecrossed or deceived and if she had learned anything from her father it was that poor faith actions needed to be dealt with in exactly one manner: with ruthlessness. [color=f7976a]“Problem is, if he was really trying to gain our trust to hoodwink us, why steal our food? Why go after Nazih with vein-bulging rage?”[/color] She shook her head. [color=f7976a]“It just doesn’t make sense.”[/color] She pursed her lips for a moment. [color=f7976a]“A [i]lot[/i] of things don’t make sense here, actually.”[/color] The Perrenchwoman let out a groan. [color=f7976a]“Uuuugggghhh. It would all be so much simpler if we could just blow up the villains and be done with it.”[/color]

Were it not for the hunger she was currently experiencing, Yuli might have let out a giggle. Alas, she was stone faced and contemplative. ‘Why’ indeed. It would be easier if they could just smash some shmuck’s head in and be done with it, but they were stuck in a rural trail, following some hegelan kid to lure out a fucking begemot. All the while, those two tree huggers were making the job so much more troublesome as they were so insistent on keeping the beast alive. Hell, Yuli was a big fan of the beast as well, and she didn’t exactly enjoy the idea of killing it needlessly, but people would always come before beasts in her eyes, no matter how majestic. [color=pink]“Even if this isn’t scheme, these people need food. We need food. I don’t care about keeping animal alive when 200 people are hungry. And I don’t feel like helping kid who stole our dinner, or making lovebird feel good about themselves”[/color]
[color=f7976a]“Well, then what say we turn the tables here: use the kid to lure it out and then pound it to pieces?”[/color] She shrugged. [color=f7976a]“I don’t like it any more than you do, but it is [i]us[/i] and not other creatures who are made in the Gods’ image, and if people are threatened, their wellbeing should be our primary concern.”[/color] Penny slowed up to hop over a little rocky ridge. [color=f7976a]“If the townspeople ask why they should give us their grain or meat, then we just tell them the truth: we need to lure the beast out in a predictable place - somewhere safe - so we can deal with it.”[/color]

Yuli sighed. Not a sigh of exasperation, but at annoyance at her peers that weren’t Penny. Why couldn’t all people be so reasonable. Alas, it was only those 2 that had sense currently in her eyes, and she thought for a moment that perhaps they would be able to handle it. It was then - she remembered - that a 5 moons wildblood Zarina could barely take one, and often was on the receiving end of a beatdown. They would need help, and probably to use at least a few of the manabrews that they had on hand. [color=pink]“It’s good idea. But just us two can’t take it, especially if they sabotage us. Maybe Marz could help. I feel better about giving him tusk than random crafter in city. Maybe the other Parrenchi? Is he strong? ”[/color] she looked at Penny, hoping deep down that the answer was yes. 

Penny smirked. [color=f7976a]“He’s Perrench,”[/color] she bragged, [color=f7976a]“‘Course he’s strong.”[/color] She waited a moment for the mirth to die before nodding. [color=f7976a]“He is, and he’s f- a friend. I know him. I…[i]mostly[/i] trust him.”[/color] she snorted, finding the need to cover for her earlier slipup. She’d almost said ‘family’. She hadn’t come clean to Yuliya completely yet. She wasn’t sure why. [color=f7976a]“Haha!”[/color] she laughed, [color=f7976a]“You know, I almost said, ‘and he’s friend’? Your speech patterns are rubbing off on me, Yuli.”[/color]

Yuli cocked an eyebrow at the ‘slipup’. Perhaps it was the way she suddenly shifted to a comedic approach, or the fact she was so nervous, but it didn’t sit exactly right with her. Were they secret lovers? No, no shot. And no-one would just pick up on her broken avincean. Especially not a smart girl like her. Eh. Whatever she was hiding, she’d get it out of her later over some booze. [color=pink]“Then let’s get him. I will talk to Marz, you talk to Yevin? Yavin? Why so difficult name? ”[/color] she spoke, frustratedly toward the end as she struggled to grasp Parrench linguistics. Alas, they had a plan in motion. Perhaps they could grab more, but the rest seemed vehemently opposed to killing this beast and leaving the village to its fate after it was lured away. 

[color=f7976a]“Four of us is still risky,”[/color] Penny admitted. [color=f7976a]“Worse comes to worst, if it’s either help us or the village gets trashed, I think at least Silas, Nazih, and Esmii will help.”[/color] She made a pensive face and lowered her voice further. [color=f7976a]“Still, it’d be nice to have a backup plan or a bolt hole, no?”[/color] She regarded Yuliya questioningly, hoping that her friend possessed answers that she currently didn’t. The Vossoriyan hushed herself a bit more than normal, as she wasn’t exactly sure that she should be sharing her abilities in this, but alas, she trusted Penny with her life to be frank. [color=pink]“I can teleport us. I am not confident in moving other people, but I think I could. I have been practicing. We have some ace in sleeve though.”[/color] she spoke, as she pulled her anti-magic box from her breast pocket, and a bandolier of mana shots from inside her thick coat. [color=pink]“With these, I think we can. Me and you are strong, and if your friend half as strong, it might be enough.”[/color] she whispered far more confidently than she felt on the inside. The images of watching Zazzy fight one still flashed through her mind, but they had numbers. It wasn’t a bad bet.

Penny pursed her lips and nibbled on the lower one for a moment, running some scenarios through her head. [color=f7976a]“Then that’s what we’ve got… hopefully. I think it’ll be enough.”[/color] She shrugged. [color=f7976a]“Dami knows it has to be.”[/color] They were stopped now, as the others in front of them had come to a halt. [color=f7976a]“You go convince yours, I go convince mine?”[/color] [color=pink]“Da.”[/color] spoke Yuliya, nodding and wandering over to the hegelan she liked far more than the brat. Penny took a deep breath and headed towards her cousin.