Searching for a stranger [Quest - Done!]

[Tigeress]

She started when the presence made itself known, but regained her composure immediately. He may not have noticed, but she was equally as jumpy, though her reason was excitement more than nervousness. She'd been waiting for this chance for some time. When he introduced himself, she fought the urge to raise an eye or let the mild amusement she felt inside slide across her features. Well, she could only assume he was quite knowledgeable when it came to whatever she was to pack, for she couldn't see any other use for someone so... jittery. It didn't bother her though, but Queens had earned the right to be... picky.

"Lawrence is fine for me. I am Sekhmet, and I do indeed plan on working my way into the Queen's favour in order to be his King." She really didn't need to respond to the rumour mill or justify any of his words to her, but she was terribly polite sometimes. It was rare, but it did occur. She allowed a fleeting smile to grace her features before turning to look at the small assembling of her belongings on the bed. Didn't want to make the man feel like he'd done anything wrong, though it seemed he'd already convinced himself otherwise. His gaze didn't go unnoticed, and she allowed herself a smug smirk. Yes, the girl still had it. And she intended to use that to her advantage on this little quest, she intended to use damn near everything possible to her advantage, as failure was quite simply not an option. If over-succeeding was possible, however, that was what she aimed for.

"So, what will I be needing to pack for this mission, and in what? I don't mean to be rude, but I really do not intend to keep the Queen waiting and would like to finish this as soon as possible." Again, a fleeting comforting smile was given, normally she might have let him set the pace, but she needed to get used to commanding those under her if she truly intended to do any good as the Queen Rai's potential King.

[Kiki]

Sera and Tigs receive 1 tokens each, to be redeemed in Ashwin's Shoppe. This will automatically be added to your recorded totals in the shoppe. Congratulations, and keep up the good RP!

[seraaches]

Lawrence flushed deeply when she first spoke, and he didn't seem very likely to regain his composure any time soon. He fumbled out a list and continued to stammer. "O-oh! Y-yes! Qu-queen R-rai gave me th-this list." He was mentally kicking himself, trying to get his stumbling tongue under control. He smoothed the paper out nervously before trying again with more success. "Here w-we go! Uhm, rope?"

The rope was only the first of a myriad of items that the Queen suggested for the woman to bring with her out to the Marsh, ranging from the unsurprising rope and including such things as lotion and hand pick axe. The raccoon seemed vaguely baffled at times, though he marked the items Sekhmet didn't have so he could fetch them.

A knock at the door interrupted their work, and Lawrence sent the woman a questioning look, uncertain if he should go open it or wot.

[Tigeress]

A bemused look slipped over her face for only a moment as she listened to the unusually jumpy man continue on as she requested. The items were not at all surprising at first, and then... genuinely unusual. Enough so that she wondered just how much she didn't know about the marsh, and if she had enough time left over to study up a little. Probably not, but the best she could do was to go prepared as ordered. She had significant doubt that this Queen would send her on a blatant suicide mission, not just over a little court gossip.

She eyed Lawrence at about the same time that he eyed her, then glanced to the door. "Lawrence, please get that while I finish packing this." She said calmly, not giving away anything to whoever might be outside. She didn't know who it was yet, and she rather liked her personal details to be kept personal. No need to let anyone out there know what she was doing or why, unless it was Queen Rai himself, which would be a pleasant surprise. Normally she'd have gotten the door herself, but having a lower ranked card in the room meant she could afford a little caution. She fingered the knife absent-mindedly, not truly sold that someone would risk their ass sneaking into the courts with the intent of killing a potential King-to-be, but it had happened before, and there were those paranoid and power crazy enough with the want to do it... though the maniac cat had been far from her mind lately.

The bag before her sank with the weight of all the things in it, and just as she finished re-settling the coil of rope she'd disturbed in favour of hiding a few items, she called out to whoever was knocking. "Who is it?" Her voice was pleasant but rushed, she didn't like being interrupted when she was truly set on something. A quality that pushed her into the courts even when she'd initially thought them to be best avoided. Even Sekhmet, couldn't argue with Sekhmet.

[seraaches]

Lawrence gave a small bow at the woman's words, then hurried to the door and pulling it open cautiously. A familiar ram stood there and the raccoon stepped back in some surprise. "Samid! Wot are you doing there?"

"I need to see her Excellency," the Morganberry replied, golden eyes alighting on the woman and his expression lit up with determination. He moved past the other man and Lawrence fell back uneasily. "Your Excellence," the ram bowed to the woman, before rising again to meet her gaze easily. "I wanted to warn you again; take care with this one. He is... very difficult." The ram seemed to want to say more, but there was definitely a check within his stance.

The Selkie Lakes raccoon cleared his throat with a hint of disproval and the ram glanced back at his fellow Heart and his ears flicked back as well, a sign of agitation. "Just... take care, milady." He bowed again, deeper this time and quickly retreated from the room before the woman could really ask any questions, leaving only the raccoon in his wake.

[Tigeress]

She was startled by the appearance of the ram, only because there was a certain... wildness to his expression. He seemed vaguely spooked at something, and she could only hope there wasn't a messy event recently occuring that would impact her quest at all. She winced at the idea, but apparently murder was on her mind a lot lately. This thought was justified only a few moments later as she stood, arms thoughtfully crossed and watched the ram with a gaze holding steady even in the presence of such unsettling of a warning.

"Thank you, Samid. Your.. concern is appreciated." She mused the last part more to herself than anyone, as the hand that came up to brush her lips thoughtfully, stifled some of the sound of her naturally commanding voice. That came from a small secret vocal career that she hadn't told anyone about. Anyone. She had noted with great curiosity the way in which the ram hesitated, what was keeping him from extending his warning? Ah, the Queen perhaps. This was a test after all, and if she couldn't handle the heat, well, she'd be out of the kitchen. If he'd given her much more heads-up, well, she could only imagine the consequences.

However, his warning did show her one thing, she seemed to be in the company of trustworthy individuals. They barely knew her, but they already showed a respect that shouldn't be so easily won over by someone who was not yet even a King. The ram could have easily just stayed out of it, lord knows he'd done His part, from what she'd seen. She stored this information at the back of her mind and turned to Lawrence, her expressions not at all betraying the workings of her mind as she pretended to shrug off the entire thing. "Shall we continue, then?" She glanced only once at the door before turning back to the ever-expanding suitcase. Her lack of cockyness might have been a virtue at this point, as from what the ram had said, she didn't think she'd be the one calling the shots right away. Who was this powerful yet insolent stranger?

[seraaches]

The raccoon jumped when she spoke to him again, his gaze had been locked to the door from the ram's exit. "Ah, yes, your Excellence." He moved quickly to her side and verified one last time that she had everything on the list provided from the Marshdweller Queen. With a pleased nod, he closed the last pack and stood to bow again to the Jack. "That's everything! I'll see you two hours after dawn at the main entryway into the Palace. Sleep well, your Excellency." With that, the raccoon bowed his way out; leaving the woman to her own devices for the rest of the night.

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In the morning, the nervous looking Selkie Lakes raccoon shifted impatiently at the gates. He was very nervous based on wot the Queen had told him the night before and he held an envelope in his hands with a name other than his written across it.

[Tigeress]

She had assumed she might be leaving in the night in order to be at the proper location for the day, but dawn made sense as well. It just meant she'd have to have another quick nap, as there was no way she was getting a restful sleep at this point. Which worked fine for her, she ran on very little sleep when it was required. "Thank you Lawrence, sleep well." She watched him leave and then quietly turned to look at the assortment of packs, going through the list of everything inside them. strange... very strange... she mused, but the Queen would know more about how to handle this mission than her, after all. She knew nothing about this abusive contact of his, only that he had to be... dealt with.

She went through a practiced circuit of sparring and shadow boxing with herself before settling into bed. When her packing aide had left, it had been going on 11, now just past midnight she was running out of things to do with herself for another five hours until the sun came up. She might have explored the palace a little, except after dark that never seemed to be a good idea. Besides, by now she'd seen almost everything relating to her or of relative interest. Between pacing and reading and meditating she managed to pass enough time until she could fall asleep. She gave herself three hours to nap and set a small cuckoo clock to rouse her, just in case.

---------

She had woken early enough to shut off the potentially noisy geared device, just out of sheer anticipation her body had woken her up, it seemed. She had remained dressed in the simple leather ensemble, it wasn't exactly the most easy material to take on and off, so all she needed to do was refresh herself quickly with a few splashes of cold water from the tap, and grab her bags. She did this quickly and found she'd still be almost 20 minutes early. Oh well. She took off at a slow pace, making her way out of her room and through the corridors that she knew would lead her to the gate. She only passed one court member while moving, and they didn't stop to question her, which was a relief.

When she arrived, she saw the familiar form of the raccoon and waved from afar so that he would see her coming. Not that the fire-coloured tint to her fur and wings didn't make her very... ah... distinctive in the courts, but it was still polite not to sneak up on people. He had already been scouting the area for her it seemed, anticipating that she might be early perhaps. She came up to him with a subtle smile, "Good morning, Lawrence." She eyed the envelope in his hand and raised an eye curiously. "Who might that be for?" The writing was very neatly handwritten and from this angle it was illegible, as most handwriting was.

[seraaches]

Lawrence seemed relieved to see the woman, answering her wave with his own enthusiastic one; at least until he remembered that some decorum was required today. A few small bags rested near his feet as well.

"G-good morning, y-your Exellence!" he greeted her as she drew near. It might be easier to notice the tired set to the raccoon's ears and how his demeanour wasn't quite as bubbly as it had been the night before. Either Lawrence had stayed up late or he wasn't exactly a morning person. A small yawn testified to the truth of either option.

"Oh, yes," he said quickly, embarrassed that he had yawned in the presence of a would-be King. He lifted the envelope and presented it to the woman so the writing could be easily read.

Sekhmet

The scrawl was almost easy-going in its presentation, not formal and still nicely legible. Within the envelope, the entire letter was written in a very formal, slanted style.

Your Quest shall lead you into the Josiggy Marsh; an area fraught with danger and peril. Your guide has a map of where to go, but be warned that the Marsh adapts often and you may find yourself surrounded by new features not forewarned by this piece of paper. Be ware.

Your guidelines are as follows: You cannot use magic against your target. You cannot use physical force. As expected, you also may not kill your target.

You have one month's time, though this Quest should not require that long. We anticiate that a woman of your skills should complete this Quest in two weeks.

Good luck and fair winds.

Queen Shinrai

The last name was written in the same scrawl as across the envelope. Lawrence respectfully waited for her to finish reading, keeping his mouth shut as though through sheer effort. Curiousity lit his features, however, and he seemed to want to know wot was written as well.

[Tigeress]

She liked the normally bubbly little raccoon, and hadn't noticed her enjoyment at his presence until he spoke. Something certain to start off her day was nice, a familiar face before she left everything familiar behind her. "Thank you." She said quickly as she studied the flat length of the letter now held up in the raccoon's hands. The lighting caught the ink annoyingly well and she had to shift to find an angle where her body blocked it out. She was a bit taller than the male so she had to lower her head down to be able to see well, but she didn't want to be rude and pry it from his hands after he'd tried to extend it so perfectly for her to read without her having to drop her bags and do it herself.

Her expression changed three times throughout the letter, intrigue at the description of the marsh and what might be inside, and outright puzzled surprise at her specifics regarding the stranger, and then a flattered pleasantness at his comments about her capabilities. Well, she didn't need her weapons anymore, that was for sure. But she'd keep the leather outfit, she'd still need to protect herself, more than she anticipated before, actually. She removed a small hidden dagger from her clothing and opened a sack, slipping her hand into the lining that she'd cut open in a spot to reveal a match to the one in her hand. "You may as well take these back to my room, from the sounds of things, I won't be able to use them." Her face was slightly grim at this, a new strategy was required.

With a slightly mental sigh, she tightened the laces on her leather vest, which had an... interesting effect on a particular part of her female anatomy. She'd have to rely on the one thing she'd been relying all her life- feminine charm, smooth talking, and the ability to use her body to get what she wanted. It was both relieving and concerning at once- she'd spent so long trying to be ladylike and respectable that she almost forgot her wild and flirtacious ways. Even then, her uncertainty kept her from being able to act out a pro performance, she had already decided. What if he didn't go for that sort of thing? Hell, what if he didn't even swing that way? She had previously decided in her younger years that all men were weak at the knees for a little booty, but in her adult years, she'd found otherwise.

Biting her lip thoughtfully, she cleared her throat and nodded her head to her companion. "I am to head to the Josiggy Marsh, you have a map for me? I'm not allowed to use force- of any kind- with this man... It is obvious His Majesty wishes me to find another means of persuasion." She let the dry hinting of her voice show through, she didn't feel she had to hide the specifics from Lawrence, though she wouldn't give him permission to read the letter. It was tacky, she felt, to let someone else view a personal message.