A small Fae curior can be seen fluttering down the road toward town square. He is briefly distracted by the changing of the leaves and the smell of fresh apples, ripe and ready to fall off the trees. He catches himself suddenly, and straightens his hat, reminding himself he's on important business. He makes it to the town square before stopping again. The Fae appears lost and a little frightened.
The Fae nearly jumps out of his skin when the Angori drops from his tree. As the curior shuffles to the nearest tree, his hat drops into a puddle of mud. The Fae hides behind the tree; he pokes his head out after a period of time to see the Angori still standing there.
Slipping from the Tavern, the sight of Bambi and what appears to be a small fae courier catches the eye of Katerina. Briefly, her eyes narrow in curiousity and she approaches the pair just in time to hear the Angori say "...before, are you lost?" The fae seem terrified, jumping behind a near by tree.
The little Uordeq drops her hood, raises her mask, and looks at the winged male before quietly asking, "Who are you looking for, little one?" Her voice was gentle and not meant to frighten, but to soothe. She took a better look at him as he peeked out from behind his tree and blinked a little. It was the same fae as before. The one who had brought her Akon's letter mistakenly. A small smile curved on her lips, and though it was rather unreadable, the fae may mistake it for a friendly one.
"Are you looking for a female Uordeq again, my friend? Do you have more news from Dwarves or the Shadelands?" Her voice remained in the soothing, soft tone when she spoke again.
The Fae comes out from behind the tree and walks up to the Uordeq, on the way picking up his hat and brushing it off. He straightens it on his head.
"Hello Ms. We met once before." He says, with a half mumble. "Uhm, Yes," He confirms, "A Female Uordeq. A Message from the Shadelands." His eyes go wide with apprehension. "How did you know?"
"It was simply a good guess, I suppose. Patterns seem to fall in line like that around here, little one, if you care to notice them," She replied, still smiling. "Do you have a name to go with, or would you care to give your message to me once more?"
She pulls out a pouch of cookies and a few pieces of silver to pay the fae with, "Here, for your troubles and hard work."
The Fae's eyes light up as he snatches the cookie out of the Uordeqs hand and begins nibbling away at it.
"Oh. Uhm." He stutters, wiping the crums from the coat. "The message is for a Ms. Katerina from Jastrey, This town. Do you know where I can find her or maybe Ms. Glimmer?"
"That would be me, Katerina Cassitran. If you'd like I can get Miss Glimmer or this Angori fellow here to verify that." Katri answered with a small chuckle at him as he gobbled down the cookie. "Is it from Aleksei Cassitran, or a man named Dimitri Romanov? I'm expecting one from either of them."
The Fae's eyes go wide as if he had forgotten something. He shifts on his heals a bit.
"Well, uhm, It's from..." The Fae pauses thinking. "Ms Glimmer said to look for a Deki in all black who looks scary and likes to exude power. But that's what they all do. So I think... it wasn't Dimitri. No, I would've remembered that. But I don't think it was Aleskei either. Uhm..." The Fae pauses. "A- Something. I'm sure of it. Al, Alex, Aly Alexis." He continues going over names that start with Al. "It could've been Pesky Aleskei." He says with a giggle.
The Fae pauses for a bit. "Not sure if it's this Alyial fellow. But he was scary, his name started with an A, and he said he knew you. He didn't send a letter, persay. He gave me a message to give to you." The Fae pauses for a brief moment. "Uhm. He is alive, well, and free of danger. What you heard is true, but the Uordeqs are preparing a retaliatory strike. He Said, Ms Cassitran should not return to the Shadelands. He also sends this," The Fae produces a single black rose from his bag. "He said, Stay Safe, my Darling Katerina."
Katri listens carefully to the message and nods, before gingerly taking the rose from the fairy. Home. It reminded her so very much of home. "Thank you, very much. It was exactly the message I hoped for."
She hands the entire pouch of cookies to the fae, "You do your job well, and quickly. May the Immortals bless you. Ut Nocte dirige te, umbras tueri te, et integumento abscondere gradus." She patted him on the shoulder as she quitely gave him the familiar Uordeq blessing.
Upon Katri's approach, Des feels slightly on edge, unsure of what to expect. But he just takes a step back and crouches to not seem so threatening, but adjusts the direction he faces so it doesn't appear that he is bowing to the deki. He just waits for a reason to speak.
When he is finally turned to for confirmation, he gives a slight nod of approval toward the fae. He still is unsure of what is going on exactly, but for some reason it feels important, and Katerina hasn't thus far directly affected him in a bad way.
As the fae leaves with the gift of cookies, he sees Kisera out the corner of his eye, but was more fixated on the black rose. "What does that mean?" Des queried towards the female deki.
Katri turned to face the pair of Angori and toyed with the velvety petals of the rose in her hand, "It means I'm staying put in Jastrey, Desiderio. Out of the war."
She drew her mask back down over her face and tugged her hood back up lightly. Her eyes flickered to Artemis and she gave a small smile, "The plan, my dear, is to stay put and stay quiet- to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible. The same as always. Anything futher, I'll discuss with you in private later."
The little fae grabs the pouch of cookies in exchange for the black rose. He takes one out and gobbles it down. "Thank you miss. I don't know what this all means to you. But I'm also not paid to understand the mail I just deliver it." The little fae pauses to brush crumbs of his coat again. He slaps his hat against his knee, trying to get the mud out. He turns to Des. "you gave me quite the fright, Mr Intimidating. Quite the fright indeed." he says, nodding.
The little fae grabs the pouch of cookies in exchange for the black rose. He takes one out and gobbles it down. "Thank you miss. I don't know what this all means to you. But I'm also not paid to understand the mail I just deliver it." The little fae pauses to brush crumbs of his coat again. He slaps his hat against his knee, trying to get the mud out. He turns to Des. "you gave me quite the fright, Mr Intimidating. Quite the fright indeed." he says, nodding.
The horned one they call "Bambi" just turns his head and snorts, "Hmph. Sure whatever..."
He starts to walk away, but slows his speed a bit and walks in a slight radius to he location. In a low voice, "It is slightly noble of you though, to not want the town drawn into the fight... just be sure it stays that way. I'm not likely to side with slavers."
Then he curves the trajectory of his walking path away from Katri and enters the tavern from the side entrance to avoid suspicion that he was in conversation with the deki.
"You are quite welcome, my fairy friend." Katri remarked to the courier with a slight nod. "Just know you've brought me some very pleasing news today and enjoy your cookies."
She eyes Des from her peripherals as he half circles back toward her to commend her for being "noble" rather grudgingly. She gives the smallest of smirks and nods just enough for only the Angori male to notice.
Timothy takes another cookie from the bag. This one he eats slower, savoring the taste. "Oh, you're quite welcome, Ms. Cassitran." He checks his coat, and smiles, seeming quite pleased with himself that he refrained from getting crumbs on it. He shifts on his feet, nervously. "Uhm," he begins with a stutter, "Ms. Cassitran, these cookies are delicious and all, and I don't mean to insult you or imply insufficient payment, but..." Timothy's voice trails off slightly. "do you know where I can find some apples?" He asks, afraid of how the uordeq may respond.
"I'm afraid I don't. Though, it seems Artemis here says there's some in the Tavern. I'd say I'd trust that enough to look there. By the way, I don' think I've managed to catch your name?" The small Uordeq gestured after the horned female. She seemed unphased. The whimsical and ever changing nature of the fae she had run across in her time away from the shadelands made little from the race surprise her. Then again, being around Miss Glimmer may have just numbed her some to the fae.
Timothy's eyes go wide for a moment. "Oh, Ms. Cassitran. How rude of me. So sorry." He offers the Uordeq a low bow. "My name is Timothy Wiggles of Her Majesty Festivia's Court of Summer. I am one of her majesty's trusted Fairy Mail Couriers and I am at your service." He stands up straight, and grins, obviously proud of the fact that he remembered the entire spiel.
"Pleasure to meet you, Timothy Wiggles." Katri dipped her head politely to the Fae. "If Artemis was correct, you'll find your apples in the tavern, over there."
The dark haired Uordeq pointed to the building that she had lead him to last time he was there. The Shadey Corners. She paused a moment to see if Timothy needed anything else, before heading off on her way down the road out of town.
Watching from his usual favorite tree, the agile angori spots the fae after seeing something in the periphery of his eye. After waiting for about a minute, Desiderio ceases his alchemy practice and rappels down from his vantage point and approaches cautiously up to a hiding spot to get a closer look..
After seeing that the fae doesn't seem as hostile as many other beings that plow through town, Des walks closer:
"I don't think I've seen you in town before, are you lost?"