Serious: The Zenith Masquerade - Merc Work for Fun and Profit (Closed)

The sun was bright and hot; it was those two things that Seppy liked least about it. The ceaseless yellow glare made for a world of high visibility, and the baking heat muddled and intensified the smells of human and garbage to the point where tracking was more torment than trade. The awnings that overhung the many market stalls on the island's main drag provided the only cover to be found at the center of town; it wasn't much, but for what little shelter it gave Septera was thankful.

Though the tracking was a chore, Seppy was familiar enough with his partner's scent that he had little trouble finding his way back to her. He wasn't certain if she disliked the heat as much as he did, but something had told him she was uncomfortable. Though they'd each made a considerable haul on their hunt back on the last island, the duo was left without lodging once again. This time it was not for lack of money, but lack of availability of lodgings; this island seemed to be in the midst of a big annual festival. Festivals meant crowds, and crowds often meant pirates. Uncomfortable or not, there was hunting to be had.

"Ey, Mew~!" Seppy called out, his voice singsong and happy. With his typical feline gait he wove past the last stretch of crowd to bring himself into the shadow of a tall building that she'd been waiting under. As soon as he'd pranced up to her, he held out his right hand and put on his biggest, happiest smile.

"Gotcha somethin' fer th'heat!" In his hand, Seppy held a waffle-cone heaped with three scoops of white ice-cream, cold steam still pouring off into the smouldering air. "I didn' know what kinna flavour y'like, so I gotcha the popular one." His smile was hopeful, his excited yellow eyes almost without pupil from the glare of the sunlit world around them. In spite of the heat and distance he'd gone, her ice-cream looked like it'd just been served up.

As soon as he'd handed off hers, Seppy lifted his other hand to his mouth. His smile faded a bit when he saw that the bright red scoop of sorbet had gone missing. All that was left in his cone was a small puddle of warm pink fruit-juice; he'd only had room for one cone in the shadow of his own body as he'd rushed back through the streets. Ever the optimist, he quickly ate what was left of it and turned his attention back to the white-haired girl.

"Neeways, I heard some good stuff comin' back," Seppy said, licking his hand clean. "Some kinna festival goin' on, 's a big deal. 'Summer Maskyraid' or somethin' like that. Ev'r one gets tagether 'n' puts on fancy clothes 'n' masks 'n' stuff. Goes on clean through th'week." Giving a feral grin, he crouched low and gave a look around before leaning forward and speaking in a low, secretive tone.

"Someone said 'at 'coz that everyone's got masks, nobody can knows who's who," Seppy began, his volume raising slightly with each word, his excitement becoming more evident. "Lotta pirates like ta use this fer robbin' 'n' stuff. If we kin get some masks, blen' in 'n' all..."

The animalistic hunter rubbed his hands together in anticipation. Spotting a bit more of his melted treat on the back of one, Seppy paused to lick his hand before continuing.

"We kin make even more'n last time, without gettin' all beat up!"

Miyu licked the icecream thoughtfully, looking at the sky. Now that it was in her hand, it melted so fast she had to hurry and finish it before it was all gone.
She didn't think Seppy realised how right he was about all he had said... At least not about the part that went from her point of view...
Oh, it had been long ago when she had been on a festival the last time... On the island she was from, they'd have one every year, with a big fire and flowers and pretty dresses.
She smiled.
"Yes, of course! I love festivals!"
Getting back into her role as a bounty hunter, she added:
"And it makes those pirates easy prey once you've figured out who they are."
She couldn't bring herself to smile at that part, just saying it had been hard.

((I think my wall of text posts are chasing prospectives away...))

Seppy nodded enthusiastically once again, tilting his nose up to the air and then back down. He seemed to be testing the air, searching for something. When he couldn't find whatever it was he'd been searching for, the hunter came back to the here-and-now.

"It'll be easy 'nough. Jus' gotta bait 'em out," Seppy stated matter-of-factly, craning his neck back to get a better view of the street. "But firs'..." Seppy whipped his head back forward, smiling brightly and pointing at a store in the distance, down the road a ways.

"Firs', we gotta get some disguise too!"

"Come on then!"
Miyu was getting giddy with happiness. Pushing back the thought of hurting someone was easy when you had the perspective of going to a festival!
She almost ran towards the store.

Slinking along behind her, Seppy nearly forgot about hunting too. Miyu's natural cheeriness was infectious, and by the time they'd reached the store he was already thinking more about what sort of costume he'd wear than he was about what sort of bounties they'd catch.

The store was a sort of old, antiquated place with a large selection of very formal clothing from all manner of cultures. A kindly old lady minded the counter, with two children, by their looks sisters, walked about the sales floor straightening gowns and refolding slacks. The older woman greeted the pair with an impossibly warm, wrinkly smile.

"Oh! Welcome, you two," she began in a voice rich with experiences, tales, laughter, and love. "Are you here for the festival...?" Seppy nodded, and she clapped hands as tiny and frail as an dry tree branch together.

"How wonderful! Please, take your time and look around. I'll put some tea on for you in the meantime. If you need any assistance, just ask Jules or Becca," she finished, turning to head behind a curtain into the back room. The two girls curtsied politely as their names were spoken, before walking over to them.

The younger girl - looking no older than six - who'd responded to 'Becca', nervously circled past Seppy to step up next to Miyu. Her hair was a light shade of pink, medium length and just a bit curly at the ends. She had happy blue eyes, and just a handful of freckles.

"Gooday, miss! My name's Becca...I'm an 'prentice seamstress! I helped make some really nice dresses, Ma Mei says." Her smile was bright and infectious, revealing a tiny gap between her front teeth. "I have one that'd go well with your hair...not that it's as beautiful as your hair, but it's white!"

While the younger sister was assisting Miyu, the older one mustered her courage and stepped up infront of Seppy. She had longer, straight hair, a darker rose colour than her sister's. Her eyes were of a brighter shade of blue than Becca's, but looked more suspicious than happy. Though she wore a forced smile, Jules couldn't bring herself to look up and meet Seppy's eyes.

"Begging your pardon, sir, but I don't know we've got anything'll fit you here," Jules stated flatly. "If you'll just wait outside-"

"Jules!" the kind, tired voice of the old lady called out. Rushing from the back, the matron the younger girl had identified as Mei walked around the counter and over to Septera, taking one of his hands.

"Forgive the child, sir, she's a bit wary of men of your impressive build. Both are, bless them," she apologized, leading a very confused Seppy away from Jules, who stared at his back accusingly. "Had some trouble with them, but I can tell the good ones."

"'S fine, rilly," Seppy insisted, not quite sure what had just happened. His normal dumb smile returning, Mei jumped back with a bit of a start.

"Oh!" she breathed, staring at his double set of long, sharp canines. "Forgive an old lady a shock. Your teeth are..."

"They're really sharp!" Seppy bragged, not understanding why the response seemed to worry his gracious host. She smiled back at him all the same and lead him over to a tall, ancient looking wardrobe at the back of the store.

"I've got some in your size in here. My so...a young man much your build had worn these. They're all very reasonably priced, and some are just perfect for this masquerade. Take some over there, behind- that's right, behind that divider over there, and try them on."

"Yah, thanks," Seppy answered, opening the wardrobe up and shuffling through the suits hanging inside. Draping a few over his arm, he made his way to the partition Mei had indicated and stepped behind a changing screen.

"'M ganna try these ones on, Mew!" Seppy called out louder than he needed to, as if somehow being unable to see him might also make his hunting partner unable to hear him as well. "Jus' go lookit what ever y'wan' inna mean time!"

Much less loud, Miyu answered: "Okay!" ang turned back to the girl, Becca.
"Well, aren't you just so sweet? Show me those dresses, then."
She knew she'd need a lot longer to find something than Seppy would... At least she didn't have to worry about shoes... Hopefully, there weren't any splinters on the ground.

Becca nodded cheerily, taking Miyu by the hand and leading her over to a the dressing rooms. She let go and ran off as soon as they'd gotten there, showing back up a moment later with a simple white dress wrapped in storing plastic.

Pulling off the plastic sheaf, the little girl held the pristine white linen up to her own body, twirled around once, and then held it out to Miyu, grinning ear to ear.

The dress itself was a masterful work, simple and elegant in the eastern style, much like a yukata. It was adorned with white gossamer lacing in floral patterns throughout, giving it a shining, ephemeral quality. There was a sash sewn about it to lend further to it's eastern styling, made of a brilliant and smooth pearlescent material.

"Ma Mei did most of the work, but I helped with the pinning!" Becca announced proudly, shoving the dress at Miyu.

Just as the pirate had been handed the dress, there was a startled gasp and a crashing noise. Mei lay on the floor, a terrified look on her face, staring at the space above the dressing screen behind which Seppy was getting changed. Swaying jovially in the air above it were a pair of narrow, shining purple tentacles with flat, barbed tips.

The two girls followed Mei's line of sight; Becca simply froze up while Jules let out a piercing shriek. Seppy rushed out from behind the divider, his broad mouth frowning, topless with a pair of tight-fitting shiny red pants on.

"Wha!? Huh!? Who's goin' on!?"

Upon realizing that the strange appendages were actually attached to the man's back and not some strange monster that had sprouted from the shadows, Mei calmed down slightly. She stood up and moved over to Jules, whom she held protectively.

"I'm sorry sir, it's none of my business who...what you are..." she shakily began, her eyes never leaving the spines at the tentacles apexes, "...but if you'd kindly leave, you'd do an old woman's heart a lot of good."

It took the clueless hunter a moment to put two and two together, his frown deepening when he got exactly what was going on. Seppy grabbed his own clothes off the top of the screen, walking towards the door. Right before sulking out, he turned around and tossed a handful of large beli notes at the middle of the floor. It was enough to buy a full set of armor, much less an outfit.

"Fer th'pants," he said in a low, quiet voice, his tentacles folding up and coiling against his back, his empty backpack being slung over them for cover as he walked out to the street. "An' take yer time, Mew. 'M gunna get s'more icecream."

For a ruthless, murdering bounty hunter, he looked very much like a child who'd just been bullied.

Miyu wathced her companion leave. The poor guy. He hadn't deserved this.
She looked at the dress. It was beautiful, yes, but...
Instead of trying it on, she placed it on a chair carefully and ran after Seppy.
At the door, she stopped and turned around one last time.
"I'm sorry, I'll come pick up the dress later, if that's okay."
She bowed quickly and left without waiting for an answer.

By the time Miyu made it back outside, Seppy looked like he'd forgotten all about what happened inside. He was crouched down, scanning over the crowded street with an ADDish intensity, his eyes flickering between the many people as they went about their business. His tongue was sticking out between his lips at the corner of his mouth.

"Hey, done already Mew?" he asked, standing full upright for a moment, looming over her as he stretched out, before resuming his usual bent half-stance.

"I seen a couple'a guys so far, real shady lookin' sorts. Tagged 'ere scent fer later." After a moment he frowned, looking her up and down. "An' why come you don't gotta dress?"

Miyu looked away. She couldn't tell if he was acting or not...
"Uhm, about what happened... I'm sorry..."
She didn't feel like it'd be okay for her to just go back in like that.
From below, she looked at his face, trying to find any evidence of his thoughts there.

If there were any thoughts there, they were of the incredibly smooth, criminal kind that never left behind any evidence. As it were, the confused and clueless look to Seppy seemed entirely legitimate.

"About wha' happened...?" Seppy asked, tilting his head a bit. He closed his eyes in intense thought as he tried with all of his might to remember some important happening further back than five seconds ago. His yellow eyes flew back open, a broad smiling splitting his lips.

"Oh, righ'! But y'weren' th'one 'at kicked me out," Seppy finally responded, putting a hand on Miyu's shoulder. Throwing his regular clothes over his shoulder, he looked down at the very flashy red pants he was wearing.

"An' I got some cool pants, too!" he announced, flashing a victory sign briefly. "Still, y'should at leas' get th'dress. An' we gotta get some masks, too!"

"I'm sorry," a voice came from behind the pair. Mei walked out of the shop, the wrinkles around her eyes deep and creased with concern. "That wasn't...right of me, at all. Please don't think too poorly of me, but I...well, you don't see that often, and..."

Seppy turned his universally magnanimous and cheery look to her, any hurt she may have inflicted upon him as good as forgotten. This seemed to upset the old lady even more, as she looked away from his all-forgiving gaze.

"Here, this dress will look beautiful on you," Mei said, stuffing the dress into Miyu's arms. "It's just about your size; if you need it altered, there's a place right up the road that will do it for you, for free, if you buy something else there." Turning with a grace and dignity unusual for such a tired looking old woman, she turned back into her store, the bells attached to the door jingling lightly as she stepped back in.

A moment later, the roll of money Seppy had offered up from the pants fell out onto the ground. As the hunter reached down to pick it up, he noticed the scornful face of Jules in the store window, staring at him and, moreover, the money, with intense anger.

"Well, it all worked out, see?" Seppy announced, his fingers closing right above the money, leaving it infront of the door. Turning about and gesturing up the road, Seppy let out a short sound that was halfway between a cat's trilling meow and a laugh."

"Brrrrrah hahaha! 'Ere's some good people here, Miyu. Let's catch alotta pirates for 'em, 'kay?"

Miyu still looked a little worried, but she wiped this look of her face with a smile.
"Yes. Hey, can we go to that store the woman mentioned? I mean, I really want to try this on first, and we still need masks, right?"
Was he really okay?
Well, if he wasn't, then he obviously didn't want her to worry about it.

Seppy nodded, continuing down the street. His eyes darted back and forth from one side to the other, lingering for a moment on each sign as his undereducated brain puzzled through the characters and words to find the meaning. At last, he stopped and pointed at a shop who's sign had a picture of a thread and needle on it.

"Tha's probly it, righ'?" He asked, stalking through the crowded street without so much brushing a shoulder in spite of his size. Reaching the other side, he held the shop door open for Miyu and then followed in himself.

This store had a much more modern look to it than the last, and was also filled with all manner of costume and mask, most of them draped over shelves or stands in haste to capitalize on the rush. There were a number of others who were browsing, trying on masks or holding up clothes to their frame and checking themselves out in mirrors.

"I'll finda mask," Seppy stated resolutely, nodding, his tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth with the effort of his thought. "If we buy it then it'll...he'll, I mean..."

Scratching his head, Seppy waited for Miyu to remind him just what exactly happened if they bought something there.

"There was...it was about your dress, righ'?"

Miyu smiled. Somehow, it was kinda cute when Seppy tried to think... like watching a three year old trying to solve a riddle...
"I'll take care of the dress, you take care of your mask, okay?"
With that said, she headed for the counter and looked for an employee to ask for help.

While Miyu was being aided in her quest for alterations by a clerk, Seppy was sifting through masks of all sorts, trying them on one after another and peering into the mirror. Finally, he'd found one that well suited him.

"Whadya think, Mew?" Seppy asked, tapping on Miyu's shoulder with the mask on. When she turned around to look, his masked face was only inches away from her own.

[OOC = Mask looks like this.]

Spoiler:

Miyu made a noise that sounded a little like "Hreeek!", accompanied by a face fitting that noise.
After her brain kicked back in, telling her that this was not, in fact, a complete stranger who came back from the dead to eat her, but Seppy, she settled for not panicking and instead just searching support in leaning against the closest wall.
"M-maybe... there's something... more... subtle?"
It wasn't like Miyu was so hot about catching criminals, but scaring them away wasn't what she had in mind, either.

((Sorry to always keep you waiting, Gore. Posting here is sometimes tough for me to get around to. I'll try to keep it moving a bit faster...thanks for putting up with my slowness in the meantime, though!))

Nodding, Seppy put the mask down right where he was standing. He wasn't sure why they needed to be subtle at a masquerade, but he wasn't about to question a hunter of Miyu's expertise, skill, and experience. His time with her would not be wasted; he would take their partnership as a valuable information exchange.

Searching around the store, he finally found something that suited him. The mask was a plain, matte white affair, shaped like a half-baloon. It had two eye-holes, but no other adornment. Taking his catch in hand, he broke it in half, jagged splinters of plaster along both halves edges. Seppy walked up to the counter and handed over both halves.

"'ll take this one," Seppy stated decisively, reaching into his vest for his money.

"But...sir, this mask is broken..."

"Nhnn. I broke it," Seppy explained. The clerk seemed dumbfounded. Seppy took the top half of the mask and put it on, into place. He then placed the second one just a bit below it, the two jagged ridges giving the mask the look of a strange, fearsome face with razor-sharp maw opened wide. The clerk clapped appreciatively.

"How clever, sir! As you wish, as you wish. That'll be five thousand beli."

Smiling brightly at the compliment, Seppy handed over his payment. His teeth shone brightly through the opening in the mask, and the clerk briefly questioned his own sanity. Deciding not to worry the details right before a masquerade, he decided not to ask and simply accepted it.

A short while later, a female clerk came back with Miyu's dress. She handed it over, smiling the whole while.

"It's beautiful, miss," she stated, admiring it. "Surely something like this isn't just for playing at masks, is it?"

(It's okay. It's worth the wait, anyway.)
"Uhm..."
Miyu wasn't sure how to answer, so she decided to ignore the question with a friendly smile.
"Do you have any plain masks that'd fit the dress? I don't really care about the..."
She looked around and saw Seppy.
"Hrgh..."
Well, it was better than the last one....

Somehow, Seppy had managed to attach the two halves of his mask together to create a hinge, a small strip of black cloth behind the opening hiding his face and completing the mask. As he spoke, the two halves closed and opened a bit.

"Sinz I got this one, y'can don' have t'pay fer yer dress-changey-thing, righ'?" Seppy smiled behind the mask, looking down at the dress. Before he could think of anything else fittingly stupid to say, the girl who'd altered the dress came back over.

"Begging pardon, but this is all I could find that might work," she stated apologetically, handing over a mask. It was a simple glossy white affair, the sort that covers the eyes and nose only, the outer rim studded with fake pearls, a row of white feathers jutting from both sides. "I might find another if I take more time to look, miss..."

"It doesn' even have any teeth," Seppy mourned.

"This will be just fine, thank you!"
Miyu said and hastily took the mask out of the womans hand.
Hopefully, she could make Seppy forget about the lack of teeth and keep him from thinking- or talking about it further.

"Well...alleast it'll keep 'em from seein' yer face, righ'!?" Seppy loudly announced, not sure who he was announcing to.

Certain he was forgetting something, Seppy wandered off into the backroom of the store. He was still wearing the sparkly red sequined pants he had doned earlier, at the last place; something needed to be done about that.

"Ayo, Mew!" Seppy cried, bursting out of his changing room. He now had a sparkly red top to match his pants, and was still wearing the strange broken mask. "I figured it out!"

For the third time that day, Miyu made a noise not comprehensive to most human kind, though maybe it might have meant something along the lines of "your mother looks like a hippo and your father was a cowardly dog!" in the language of some small tribe somewhere the other side of the earth.
In the language spoken by her, it was simply: "Hrmglph!"
To make sure she hadn't hurt his feelings, she put a smile on her face a moment later.
"Well, yes. Very, uhm.... extravagant. You'll definitely have people looking."

"Lookin' at me...you think so?" Seppy asked, his voice growing thin and high-pitched. His masked face looked down at his glorious red sequins, then back up at her. After several rounds of this, he let out a defeated sigh, his bizarre mask oddly expressive of his loss.

"Alrigh', alrigh'. I mean, I figgered in a mask-raid, flashy was gonna be like, sneaky an' wha'...I mean, righ'? It can' be th'same as normal, or I'd...I mean...righ?" the hunter ramblingly inquired, scratching his head. Not certain whether he would blend in by being outrageous or mediocre, he wandered into the back again.

"I goddit this time!" Seppy asked, stepping out improbably quickly in an entirely new costume.

This time he had a proper, fit, expensive looking black suit on, a pale green shirt in place of the standard white. His face was hidden by a mask, the skin ashen white, with giant mustachios, a sinister grin, and a monocle. He wore a tophat with a band the same colour as his shirt, and carried a matching black cane. A black opera cape hung about his shoulders, his tentacles hidden beneath, giving him a crooked, stooped appearance in conjunction with his typical exaggerated slouch.

"Nyeah! 'll collect all th'morgages! Nyahahaha!"

Miyu couldn't help but look at him astonishly. It was such a nice change.
And somehow, it made her feel proud, like a mother whos kid had just given her the third badly drawn picture of the day. Only this time, the picture was looking like something that would have made Leonardo Da Vinci happy after the before-experienced catastrophes.
She smiled.
"Yes, that's perfect! It looks wonderful on you, Seppy!"
And, before he could change his mind, or clothes, she turned to the woman who had given her tha mask.
"We'll take that, please!"

Nodding and hiding Seppy's old, sparkling outfit before he remembered that he'd already paid for them, the woman rang the pair up. Seppy reappeared a little while later, his plain-clothes back on, the back with his new getup slung over his shoulder, resting alongside his false backpack.

"Alrigh'!" he cried, stepping up to pay the total. As soon as he had, he turned towards the door and rushed out. Stopping before he stepped back out into the street, Seppy turned to look over his shoulder.

"'M gonna go see some ears 'bout the buzz on this mask-raid," Seppy stated. "Jus' have some fun 'n' stuff. Fine us a place t'stay, too, if y'can. 'll meet up with ya inna bit. Got two whole days t'kill, so make sure to have a good time, righ'?"

"Seeya t'night, Mew!" With a final wave, Seppy vanished out into the hot, crowded streets.

((I feel bad, doing all the NPCing, like I'm railroading you. Feel free to add your own ideas, NPCs, exposition, whatever. I don't mean to seem like a jerk, hehe; it's just a bad habit born from too much GMing. It'd be nice if we could get another player or two in here...I seem to be like RPer Repelant on this site.))